Which method leads to faster weight loss, counting carbohydrates or counting calories? I have personally tried both methods and both work. They have their pros and cons just like any other diet method. People swear by both so I decided to do some research and add my personal experience. For some of my facts I just googled both carbohydrates and calories.
Carbohydrates are basically a large group of compounds such as sugar and starch. Some examples of these are grains, pasta, and breads. Some fruit has carbohydrates as well. I know that things like bread and pasta take longer for out body to break down. Most diets that you do that are based on carbohydrate counting tell you to limit your carbs. Your body does use a certain amount of carbs as fat burning fuel. I counted carbs for a while and it worked pretty well. One of my main problems was find the correct carbohydrate count.
Plus I am a girl who loves to have bread or pasta either one will do. I am currently doing better with this and hope it stays that way in the future. A downfall is that fried chicken is low on the carbohydrate scale but HUGE on the calorie scale. You just have to be careful with what carbs you decide to feast on. Don’t think that counting carbohydrates means you can eat so many donuts or pizza’s a day and still lose weight. That is just not how it works. You have to eat healthy carbs such as fruits, wheat grain, beans, or vegetables.
<i>Fun Fact: There is 875 grams of Carbohydrates in 1 pound.</i>
Calorie is a unit of energy. All foods have calories; some of them are so low in calorie count that it takes more calories to digest the food. Most of these foods are vegetables and fruits such as apples, oranges, broccoli, and celery. These are eaten raw to get the “Negative” calorie effect. I, personally, have had more results with calorie counting.
Since 1990 all foods sold in the United States must have a calorie count on the package which helps out with us calorie counters. Also when you go to a restaurant you can go to their website and find out the calories. Some restaurants have the calorie count on the menus. The average American needs to eat 2000 calories to maintain their weight.
<i>Fun Fact: 3500 calories is equal to 1 pound.</i>
I use an application called Fitness pal to log all the food. I also have a hand written journal that I use as a backup. The application tells me the calories in the portions and you can find most food. If I can’t find the calories on the application I end up just Googling the food. Counting calories is easier for me since the application I use tells me the calories I have burned in any exercise that I do. That helps me stay in the calorie zone that I am aiming for. I counted calories last year and ate about 1200 calories a day plus I worked out. I lost around 12 pounds the first month and I felt fantastic. Then I lost motivation because of personal problems. I am back on this wagon and I WILL hit my goal.
All in all both are great ways to go about dieting in a healthy way, it just depends on your preference. Which do you prefer? What kind of results have you had with either of these in the past? If you haven’t tried these what diet do you use? What results have you gotten?
Thanks for reading and I can’t wait for your responses!
Never to late to lose weight! 