Should DH & I count calories or carbs for the next six weeks?

[Maskin]

DH & I could both do with shifting a couple of stones and we’ve decided we’d like to do something about it! We’re thinking of a six week kick start but the problem is that we have different ideas for how to go about it, yet both think we need to be doing the same thing for reasons of practicality.

I fancy counting calories; I love potatoes, rice, pasta and have a sweet tooth. The idea of having to give all these up even for six weeks horrifies me

DH thinks we should go low carb. He’s all about the cheese and cream, is happy enough with dark chocolate and doesn’t care much for potatoes etc.

Any advice?!

Portion control plates are good for encouraging more salad/ veg, and sensible portions of carbs/ proteins. So if I was doing spaghetti bolognese, the spaghetti in one quarter, bolognese sauce in another and salad on half. Enough of what you enjoy without going hungry.

DH and I did the NHS healthy eating plan 2 years ago and both lost 2 stone in 12 weeks, taking me from 11st (overweight according to BMI) to 9st (mid-low healthy range). We've both managed to keep it off as well. I am an absolute pig, I live for food and nothing had ever worked for me before. I thought I would always feel hungry and dissatisfied but I didn't. It's taught us so much about healthy eating, and we've kept a lot of the habits we picked up. I always tell anyone looking to lose weight about this - honestly if I can do it then anyone can.

www.nhs.uk/live-well/healthy-weight/start-the-nhs-weight-loss-plan/

Sorry I meant to say - on that plan you can still have a bit of more or less everything, which is why it worked for me. I couldn't stand the thought of actually giving anything up either. It's about choosing wholegrain over white, reduced salt and fat options, home cooking as much as you possibly can. Some great recipes to try on the app that you can download

I think when you low cal you generally find you naturally reduce your carb intake anyway. For me i want as large a portion size as possible for the calorie count and that generally means uping you veg and lowering your carb. So pasta sizes dropped from probably in excess of 100g a portion to 40-50g.

But low carbing means cutting out/down some odd stuff like butternut squash which is rich in nutrients and milk which is really important for calcium etc. (Seriously trying to get anywhere near enough calcium on any diet is really hard). Either way a good multivitamin isnt a bad idea. Most people in Britain should take vitamin D anyway

If you eat 200cal and use 199 ypu will lose weight if you eat 200cal and use 201 you will gain. Whether you low cal or low carb that is true. So do what works for you.

I get the whole competition thing, but eating differently is a pain to cook and shop for and you miss any economies of scale. Its also pretty rough if one of you is eating steak and the other one can only look longingly at it

I have been lower carbing since January (due to aforementioned Low Carb Boot Camp thread).

I was not overweight and only wanted to lose half a stone. Therefore I have not been as strict as I should be.

I have lost a stone and a half, including 6" from round my waist. I started as a size 12 and I tried on some size 8 trousers today which fit perfectly. Thoroughly recommend it.

Ooh lots of replies, thank you, will have a read now.

I find when I cut down on the carbs, I feel fuller for longer.
I have an insanely sweet tooth, and I still have treats in moderation. This helps me a lot.
First time I cut down carbs. I stopped everything straight away. Bad idea. I find cutting down on them a lot better.

Low carb for me, have been LCHF for 3 years now, and have no desire for sweet foods, and rarely feel hungry. It's tough if you love potatoes and bread, but perseverance pays off quite quickly, and weight loss is apparent early on.

Thanks for all your posts. I think I am going to stick with counting calories and DH is going to stick to low carb. I proposed the idea of a completion but he didn’t fancy it, which I was surprised by!

Ultimately I just don’t think I can take the idea of having to completely exclude any food group. It’s just not practical in my life and I think it’ll be too fiddly.

It’s going to be a bit of a pain as it means buying different versions of the same things (e.g. full fat vs low fat Greek yoghurt) but hopefully we will be able to share a lot of the same foods such as lean protein, fruit and veg.

Perhaps I should report back at the end of October with an update