"Low calorie" has certainly meant deprivation for me in the past whenever I followed low calorie/low fat programs. I can understand how anyone with experience with that form of dieting would be wary of adding calorie management into a low carb WOE. I would never want to repeat the cycle of hunger, deprivation, and being physically run down that was the kind of experience I had with low cal/low fat.

For me, low cal/low carb is a very different sort of experience. Sure, I am not hungry, but I don't think it's only a "hunger" thing. I think I'm am able to fuel my body so much more efficiently with low carb - even at managed calorie levels.

With my weight loss so far, I'd say that the low carb metobolic advantage does play out in both a feeling of sustainable energy through the day as well as significant weight loss potential without consciously managing portions. For me, the weight loss part tapered off after a while and I think that's most likely due simply to the fact that my size changed to the point that it matched my LC portions of the time. Even when my weight loss ground to a halt, I certainly had the low carb benefit of a kind of robust health that I've never been able to achieve with low fat. (Low fat actually caused some horrible connective tissue problems for me.)

I'm curious to see how other people progress in their weight loss and whether calorie management is a tool that can reignite the weight loss part of LC for people who's bodies appear to have moved into a weight maintaining mode. That said, when I first started calorie counting I wasn't getting the same level of benefit that I'm getting now. My start was with Calorie King software that let me track intake only. I just had too much daily variation in activity level for that one to be really successful for me. Fitday PC lets me manage the three things (cals in, cals out, and carb level) than have the most influence on my personal weight loss. It also has tools to track mood, fatigue, etc and relate them to either eating patterns or even weight loss. I don't find those things influential in my loss (since mine don't vary) but I'm sure that for some people those would be major weight loss or gain drivers.

As I blather on and on in praise of calorie tracking, don't let that feel like I'm implying that you need to follow the same path. I think it is important for folks to understand why a few of us are so enthusiastic about this and in what ways it has helped so they can make their own decisions on whether there might be something in it for them. However, I can certainly really relate to your need to make sure that your weight management plan doesn't add disruption or distraction to the rest of your life balance. (That's very much how I am with exercise, and I have strong personal resistance to doing any exercise that I percieve as "artificial" and not in keeping with enhancing whole body functionality in normal life situations.) I think the only long term "win" for any of us is based on personal balance, and that needs to be defined individually.

Lynda