Weight Loss

[Emma_William]

Hi all,

I am trying to loss weight and also trying to find a balance between Calorie and Carbs intake per day. Any form of guidance and healthy recipes idea will be great.

Thanks

Emma

[TheAwfulToad Visitor]

I'm afraid you're looking for a middle ground that doesn't exist. A lot of people attempt this and tie themselves in knots, because the two methods are diametrically opposed.

Carb control is based on the idea that:

1) Bodyfat has a physiological purpose (energy storage) and if you're carrying too much of it, it's because your body has erroneously decided that you need it;

2) Your body knows its own energy requirements but gets confused if too much of your food is in the form of carbs (and too little in the form of fat).

If you restrict starchy carbs and replace them with lots of non-starchy veg, meat, eggs and dairy, your body will stop maintaining excessively-large bodyfat stores. Some people take this to extremes ("keto") on the basis that if reducing carbs is good, then no carbs is better, but there seems to be no physiological need to do this. Eat meals that aren't starch-based, add some fat, and eat until you're full. This works reliably for 80-90% of the population.

Calorie-counting is based on the idea that:

1) "A calorie is a calorie", so eating fewer calories is best achieved by eating little or no fat;

2) You can arbitrarily limit your food intake below appetite demand, and get no backlash from your body except fat loss.

Both of these propositions have been shown by experiment to be incorrect. Certainly some people achieve success just by eating less, but they often make several other changes at the same time (including reducing their carb load) and then say, ahh, it must be because I reduced my calories. No. It's mainly that they deleted the junk food and snacks, and started eating proper meals. Statistically, though, 95-97% of people who attempt weight loss via caloric restriction have failed within 3 years, reverting to their original diet and regaining their original bodyfat percentage.

[moreless Administrator 7 stone]

Hi and welcome, Emma_William

You may find this interesting phcuk.org/wp-content/upload... and for extra help with cutting carbs, you may wish to follow this forum too healthunlocked.com/lchf-diet

You'll find recipes in Topics and will get a lot of guidance with meal planning and menu ideas on the daily diary.

Follow this link to our chat thread and a list of all the activities we run. We've found active participation to be key to success, especially with our weigh-ins and Daily Diary.

healthunlocked.com/nhsweigh...

To make navigating the forum easier, we've put all the information you'll need in a newbie pack and here's the link

healthunlocked.com/nhsweigh...

Please take the time to read it carefully, so that you're able to enjoy everything that we have on offer.

We ask that you also read this important information about internet privacy and security, especially as you appear to have used your full name.

healthunlocked.com/nhsweigh...

Wishing you all the best

[Lytham 3 stone]

Hi, I do lchf and don't count calories, which is good for me, as I was never very good with calorie counting and ended up with far to many "guesstimates"!

Would you like to join our Christmas Challenge? Here's the link, hope to see you there! x

healthunlocked.com/nhsweigh...

[Annekelly58]

Sorry Emma, I'm useless at that. The blind leading the blind. Good luck with it though.

[BridgeGirl Administrator 2 stone in reply to Annekelly58]

I hope you’ll read the reply above from TheAwfulToad as that could clarify things for you. And the links moreless has given will help you plan a new way forward.

Have a good week 😊

[Annekelly58 in reply to BridgeGirl]

Thank you. I read that but will have to study it harder to get to grips with it. Really useful.

[Hidden]

I was trying to do both and got completely bogged down with all the counting. In addition I was constantly thinking about how many calories I could have for my next meal which lead to constantly thinking about food and feeling permanently hungry. X

[Hidden]

I agree it is important to eat at least 2 balanced and healthy meals (breakfast and lunch) until you are full, whatever your type of diet. Dinner should be lighter as you are heading off to bed.

We have a idiom where I am from stating sleeping is like eating and when one goes to bed it is the same as dining. Meaning it is more important to have a good night sleep and eat like a poor at night. Sleep plays a big role in weigh lost. You would tends to give in more into your cravings with lack of sleep.

If you do like snacking limit it to healthy snacks (like fruits/Greek yogurt/kefir/tea with no sugar/plant based milk) and avoid juice, crisps, salty nuts and chocolates. Increasing water intake is a good way to avoid snacking as we tends to mistake being thirsty with being hungry. So trying water first might stop you from snacking.

Exercising also is important. I tend to loose more weight when I do cardio regularly. 20mn a day is ideal, first thing in the morning even before breakfast 😂!

I am not a dietician nor an expert and the above tips comes from life experience.

Best of luck to all of us on an healthier lifestyle.