I had an interesting conversation with an acquaintance of mine on Facebook recently. I've lost a little weight over the past year and three months, as you might have noticed.
Owl in Black 3 by *Windthin on deviantART
Rachel and the Birch Grove 25 by *Windthin on deviantART
I told her the truth, which is that I lost this weight by cutting calories and increasing how much I exercise. However, she decided that I actually did it by "cutting carbs."
Now, I have a lot of food allergies, so when I planned to lose this weight, I decided not to restrict any categories of food within my calorie limit. Since I don't eat lard, olive oil, or avocado by the bowlful, I figured that was reasonable. But no, she made up her mind.
I asked her why she said this, and she cited a weight-loss "guru" who insists, apparently, that this is the only way to lose weight.
I've also been investigating research into weight-loss, which seems to be very trend-based and often contradictory. Now, I know what worked for me, which was cutting calories, continuing to substitute lower-calorie foods for higher-calorie ones, and increasing exercise as I went along. I'm now up to eight reps of 600 curls per arm every day at work, I stand all day long and even seek out more opportunity to stand up at home, and I rarely feel deprived or hungry on my (roughly) 1500-1700 calorie/day food plan.
But I'm asking the scientific-minded community here, the experts, the weight-loss successes and failures, everyone willing to make a suggestion or contribution...who should I believe? Clearly not the "cut carbs" guy, who I recall as being a Mr. Lustig (?).
Good health!