Starch (Carbs) Is the Devil! ... So is sugar!

[Lady_X]

I think when it comes to food.. people need a diet that they can stick to, whatever that is.

For me, thinking about whats carbs or what's proteins is too much for me.. I don't want to THINK about food that much. I'd rather have a substitution diet where I can look at calorie counts and have that be enough for me.
And in the Army, I don't get to choose what I eat. They have set meals.. so even if I decide carbs are bad--if carbs are given at dinner and I'm starving, I'm eating them. The MRE's are god-awful for you diet-wise, but they're food and energy in a package and people get hungry doing work.

I think if you find something you can stick to at ALL, it's way better.. But I've never been a fan of swearing off an entire food group.

i feel the same as this...

it's just not going to be a long term solution unless you enjoy eating nothing but protein and non carb veggies.

i did a low carb thing for at least a couple of years.

i got way too thin and had to start making sure i ate whatever i wanted on the weekends to make up for it. i was doing it for fashion show stuff where i needed to fit the sample size otherwise i wouldn't have done it so long.

it was sort of miserable. i don't like meat that much anyway...so i drank a lot of low carb protein shakes when i couldn't be bothered to think of something new to eat.

i prefer to eat yogurt and fruit or oatmeal then a cheeseburger sans bun

so...just figure out what sort of food makes you feel the best...if it's healthy carbs just make sure you're working it off

low carb diets totally mess up your metabolism and it takes awhile to normalize.

i gained super easy after coming off it..but thankfully years later it's back to normal and i don't have to think about it much

 

[swordpath]

Both have an effect. The amount of food has more of an effect, because it's easier to eat 10% fewer calories than it is to burn 10% more calories. The fact that our normal daily activity burns, say, 2000 calories, and running a mile burns roughly 100 calories, you'd have to run 2 miles to burn off 10% ... or you can just put 10% less food on your plate.

Kind of... Exercise boosts metabolism in general, and not just while exercising. So I wouldn't advise just to eat less because it's easier. A higher metabolism means a body that's more efficient at burning off fat, and also the very important benefit of cardiovascular health that comes from aerobic activity.