Basically just that! I'm curious to see what everyones thoughts are on this. I've counted both seperately before, and now am counting both. What does everyone else do?
I count calories as my "plan"... but I watch my carbs too. Not like a hawk or anything, but I watch them to know when I'll have a little extra water weight the next day.
I have found that I use my calories badly when I count calories...like wasting them on cookies instead of real food. When I watch carbs that is not a problem for me.
I count calories but I don't bother counting carbs - I have never needed to. Refined carbs, as far as I am concerned, count themselves - I have no interest in spending calories on them. I do eat quite a lot of fruit, though, and a high-protein cereal has turned out to be a very convenient breakfast for me, and my regular lunch is a turkey sandwich on whole-grain bread. So my eating isn't low-carb even remotely.
That's just what has worked for me - plenty of people find that low carb works for them. The only way to know for yourself is to try the science experiment - pick an approach, try it for 6 weeks or so, and see how you feel on it.
I sort of do both. I count calories and choose lower carb, higher protein options, but I don't worry if I happen to have a higher carb day here and there. I never actually sit there and count out my carbs though.
When I DID count the carbs of a typical day, I found I was eating a pretty low carb diet overall.
I find that eating more protein and less carbs has helped me with my strength training and overall fitness goals. I still lost weight at the same rate as I did when I wasn't worrying about carbs, though, as I ate the same amount of calories.
I have found that the ONLY way I can lose weight is to eliminate processed carbs from my diet. The only carbs I get are from veggies and fruit. I am pretty much addicted to simple carbs, I can't handle even small amounts. They make me hungrier and I always end up over eating or binging.
I do intuitive eating, little to no sugar/artificial sweeteners, whole grain- little to no white four, and make sure to eat lots of veggies/fruit/meat.
My diet is relatively low carb but definitely not that low carb either. I also make myself aware of the calorie content in food but don't ever sit down and count them.
I, like some of you, cannot handle processed carbs, such as junk food, chips, candy, white anything, etc. If I eat it, it'll lead to a binge no doubt. I did, however, add some creamer to my coffee today as a treat. I'm planning on counting calories, and keeping an eye on my sugars & carbs. I know I do best with protein/healthy fats, veggies & lower carbs. I dont plan on sticking to a hard number, but keeping it under a certain number most days. I like what someone said ... Try it for 6 or so weeks & then reevaluate. That's my problem ... I need to stick to it for long enough to see changes I was feeling icky on Atkins so I changed it up. I was hungry on cc so I went to Atkins instead of just sticking it out & letting my body adjust. Thanks everyone
I count both, but carbs before calories. I'm doing the first phase of Atkins so I have to stay under 20 net carbs. I count calories because I find it easy to undereat because I don't get hungry and I want them above 1200 at the minimum.
If someone asks me, I always say "just watch my calories" and that is my priority, but I do focus on making sure that I limit my carbs and junk.
I can lose weight either way, but if I let myself eat junk, I stay hungry, miserable, and not feeling good the entire time.
If I eat real foods with lower carbs and the most natural sources it makes a world of difference in how I feel.
It also makes a difference in my tummy not feeling bloated and yucky all the time. I've had that experience where you have dropped x number of pounds but your belly is sticking out more, and you feel grosser than you did before.
I just ballpark calories and don't count carbs at all. On occasion I have nothing but carbs for breakfast or lunch. My evolving motto is to eat what I want within my 2,000-calorie allotment, as long as it all shakes down as reasonably healthy over a week or so. So far it seems to be working for me (fingers crossed).
I've been calorie counting for a while, watching m y carb intake but not very closely. I know from before when I paid lots of attention to my protein I felt way less hungry. So I started counting carbs today. I am shooting for 75g carbs at most. Meanwhile staying within 1200calories.
Though I already notice it's gonna be easy staying within those calories because I am not even remotely hungry. I started this because I kept going overboard on candy. When I was calorie counting before I lived on my own, there just wasn't any candy around. But now I live back home and theres candy/carbs everywhere so my calories are spent way more on carbs than they were before. That made me decide to start counting them strictly.
I count carbs. As much as I LOVE them I have to limit them. I tried calorie counting many times and no matter how hard I tried I wasn't able to lose unless I cut my calorie intake to 1000 or less. I was always starving and pretty darned cranky to boot!
Now, on a low carb WOE, I can comfortably consume between 1500 and 2000 calories a day and have been losing weight without being so hungry I want to gnaw my own arm off.
The first time I dropped significant weight I got within 20 lbs of goal. It was all calories then and it was the late 90's.
PCOS, pregnancy, gestational diabetes, and insulin resistance/syndrome X/hypothyroid? That's not enough any more. It's got to be calories, carbs and quality of food. I spent most of this last decade figuring that out and yoyoing. Ugh.
Carbs vs. Calories ... what do YOU do?
