Loosing weight with tracking food

[loosingweight]

So this is my first time with a Fitbit. So far so good and I’m loving it. But I’m new to the tracking food thing. I’m still learning on how to eat properly and eat more fruits and veggies. What I want to know, is tracking calories good? Or should I be tracking carbs? How do I know how many carbs to eat each day? What can I eat that’s not gonna spike up my carb intake? Can this really help me loose weight tracking carbs and calories and steps? I burn more calories than I take in, to me eating over 2000 calories a day for my body type seems like a lot and I feel like I’ll gain more weight. Should cals in vs cals out be the same or is it good that I’m buring more calories? I need a lot of help LOL

[WendyB]

Moving to the Management Forum so you can get a better answer

[HokieHoo]

There is no perfect solution that works for everyone. If it works for you and you are getting the results you want, then do it. If it isn't working for you, then try something else. 

I track calories and don't bother with any other 'macros' (carbs, fat, etc). I do this because calories seem more widely available and it works for me. I eat fewer calories than I burn and I am losing weight- so I have not needed to try tracking carbs. But a word of caution, it has been my experience that it is easy to underestimate what you are eating and overestimate calorie burn. So I use a kitchen scale and 'round up' or overestimate on everything I eat and I let fitbit calculate my calorie burn (using Charge with HR tracking) and do not enter manual calories burned. I think this results in underestimating my calorie burn (or at least getting closer to reality).

If you think eating 2000 calories is too much, set a lower target. If you are losing too quickly, you can adjust and consume more calories. If you are not losing weight, you can adjust and consume fewer calories.

The only way to know if what you are doing is working is to track it. That is where fitbit helps. Don't get overwhelmed with tracking too much and then you burn out or stop tracking because it was too complicated. Don't get obsessed with Fitbit not counting your steps or calories perfectly- Fitbit is not going to calculate things perfectly accurate. But Fitbit will be consistent and you can use the information and your progress on your goal (weight loss) to see whether your plan is working. My suggestion is to start small and, if it isn't working, make an adjustment. Be realistic about how long it is going to take and remember you are trying to create healthy habits that will last a lifetime. 

[Dominique]

Calories are the most important factor in weight management: eat more calories than you expend and you will gain weight, eat less than you expend and you will lose weight. How you split your calories between macronutrients is less important. You can achieve the same results in terms of weight loss with a wide variety of macronutrient splits.

Keep in mind that calories burned reported by Fitbit is an estimate. Your Fitbit may well overestimate. You will find out over time (the scale will tell you).

[loosingweight]

Ok great, so less calories is obviously the way to go. But what about carbs, some are good but too many isn’t. How do I watch those and also how do i know how many to eat? Doesn’t that weigh into the factor of loosing weight? I’m getting into a better work out habit. 

[WendyB]

Here is an article about carbs hope it helps

https://www.mayoclinic.org/healthy-lifestyle/nutrition-and-healthy-eating/in-depth/carbohydrates/art...

Every thing in moderation is ok. Don't forget about healthy fats as well as they are needed.

Oils, Nuts, avocado etc

[Dominique]

The amount of carbs you should eat is largely determined by your activity, because one of their main purposes is to fuel your physical activity (carbs are also your brain’s preferred fuel). That is, unless you decide to retrain your body to use fats as the primary source of energy (which is what proponents of low-carb diets do). Sedentary people only need to eat so many carbs, since their energy requirement is rather low. OTOH, very active people need to eat a lot more carbs, and can get away with some "bad"/"unhealthy"/junky carbs like icecream, pizza and sugary stuff. Carbs don’t make you fat, overeating is what makes you fat, regardless of what you overeat.

Now if you want to lose weight, you need to be smart with the source of your carbs, and favour carbs that offer the most bang for your buck, i.e. will provide fullness and the fiber & micronutrients needed for health. Exemples of "good"/"healthy" carbs: oatmeal, whole grain bread, rice, sweet potatoes, fruits, root vegetables.

[Daves_Not_Here]

There are conflicting schools of thought as to the proportions of protein, fat, and carbs one should strive for.  The one thing people seem to agree on is to reduce consumption of highly refined flours and added sugars.  Following up on @Dominique 's recommendation to eat healthy carbs, here are some things to reduce or eliminate - donuts, white bread, sugary sodas, cookies, crackers, sugary cereals, etc.

In my case, I find these tend to spike my appetite and cravings for more.  Just knocking these out made weight loss a lot easier.

[SunsetRunner]

I’m a firm believer in watching carbs over watching calories. I’ve done both sides tracking calories and tracking macros. If I had to pick a winner, it is most definitely tracking macros. Take a few days to track what you are currently eating. Take the average of those days to find out how many grams of carbs you currently eat. Decrease carbs by 25%. If you still aren’t losing fat, decrease carbs by another 25%. Do it every 2 weeks until you find that sweet spot where you are losing fat. Once you find it, don’t decrease carbs anymore until you stop losing fat again. Keep protein at 1-1.5g per pound of bodyweight and fat at 0.5g per pound of bodyweight. As you decrease carbs, increase protein. Before I started watching carbs, I had gone down to something like 1200 calories a day not paying any attention to macros. I got to a point where I was no longer losing fat and was always tired and I craved carbs all the time. After I started gradually decreasing carbs, I now eat about 2,300 calories, am still losing fat, have way more energy, and no longer have cravings. At first, when I started decreasing carbs, my calorie count equated to about 1,500 and was losing weight way too fast. I had to increase my calorie intake to slow it down. I no longer count calories. I’ve done it so much that I have a good idea as to what is in my food. Once you get down to the body fat percentage you want, you can afford to eat more carbs. You don’t have to be tired and hungry to lose fat. It’s your choice.

[loosingweight]

Thanks for your input that helps. I have started to do both and found that watching both calories and carbs are working for me. I mean we need some carbs just good ones. I’ve lost some weight since I’ve started 😁

[NickiRandi]

Sooo How much weight have you lost? 

[Dominique]

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@SunsetRunnerwrote:

I’m a firm believer in watching carbs over watching calories. I’ve done both sides tracking calories and tracking macros. If I had to pick a winner, it is most definitely tracking macros. 

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Well, calories are still the primary driver of weight loss (or gain), but what you probably mean is that hitting certain macro goals automatically results in a caloric deficit, without having to count calories. This can be caused by things like the higher thermic effect of food (TEF) of protein, or the higher satiety provided by fats (for the same calorie amount). However, you can have the most perfect mix of macros and still gain weight, if total calories exceed your requirements.

[SunsetRunner]

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However, you can have the most perfect mix of macros and still gain weight, if total calories exceed your requirements.

True, to a point, but because protein can boost metabolic rate by 20%, you can actually get away with eating more calories and not gain fat. A study published in the 2016 issue of the Journal of the International Society of Sports Nutrition showed the group the consumed 1 gram of protein per pound of bodyweight gained 3 pounds of muscle but did not have a significant amount of fat loss. The other group that consumed 1.5 grams of protein per pound of bodyweight had an average of 5-pound fat loss in addition to the 3 pounds of muscle gain. The group that consumed 1.5 grams of protein per pound of bodyweight ate 500 calories more than the group that ate 1 gram of protein per pound of bodyweight. In that study, they used trained subjects. A similar result was shown in a research study at McMaster University done with obese subjects. In this study, subjects from the group consuming 0.5 grams of protein per pound of bodyweight (while being in a caloric deficit) had no muscle gain and some fat loss, about 5 pounds. The group that consumed 1.5 grams of protein per pound of bodyweight, eating the same amount of calories as the other group, gained 3 pounds of muscle and lost an average of 10 pounds of fat. All I can really say is I eat well above the calories I use to eat and have far better results watching macros than counting calories.

[Dominique]

A high protein intake indeed has known benefits during a weight loss phase: it helps with lean mass retention and provides more satiety. However, I would be quite surprised if the studies you mentioned stated a high protein intake would "boost metabolism by 20%". Maybe some blogger misinterpreted the studies and jumped to an incorrect conclusion? Can you link to the actual studies?

Metabolism is driven primarily by energy balance: if you consistently overeat over some period of time, your metabolism will increase, so as to match the increased energy intake (homeostasis: your body tries its best to maintain your current weight). Of course, if you try hard enough, you will "win". Otherwise nobody would ever be obese. If you consistently undereat (as when dieting down to a lower weight), your metabolism will decrease, again so as to match the lower energy intake (homeostasis again at play). When people try to diet too hard, i.e. lose too much weight too fast, they usually hit a wall (the dreaded plateau), as reported on several occasions on this forum lately.

Even in extreme weight loss scenarios ("biggest loser" style), the decrease in metabolism is "only" 12 to 15 percent. Therefore it would be quite surprising an intervention as simple as eating a lot of protein would result in a 20 percent increase. Maybe there’s confusion with the thermic effect of food (TEF)? Protein has the highest TEF of all macronutrients, 20 to 35%. However, just because 20-35% of the calories consumed with proteins are not converted into fuel for your body doesn’t mean your metabolism is boosted by the same amount.

Then there’s the argument someone very lean and muscular would have a higher resting metabolic rate (and therefore a higher overall metabolism) than a person the same size, but less lean and muscular. It is true, but the difference is minimal.