Low Carb vs. Low Fat

Low carb vs. low fat from Melissa, who has been on both.

"I know some have seen that one still averages out to two pounds per week at the end of the year, regardless of which plan they're on. The difference, I think, is that on low-carb you enjoy the foods you're eating a heck of a lot more, and cravings and hunger are under control. With low fat, it was about denial. 'I'm hungry, but I shouldn't eat right now because I can't afford the calories.' With low-carb, it's 'I know I should eat something because it's lunch time according to the clock, but I'm just not hungry.' That's a HUGE difference to me.

"The other difference is body fat. There is truth to the notion of burning body fat instead of sugar for energy. On low fat, my body fat percentage never seemed to go down, according to my scale. On low-carb, my body fat percentage has gone down from 50% to 43% in a very short time. And my lean muscle mass has improved.

"I'm not totally knocking my previous diet. It has its uses, and it got me down 75 lbs and helped me educate myself about what is appropriate eating and definitely got me used to eating a lot more vegetables. But I'm much happier on low carb..."

From About.com's Weight Loss forum. Melissa has lost a total of 93 pounds so far and is low carbing on Atkins. She has 57 more pounds to go. Her weight loss journal is here.