New Year: weight loss tips

[WildBill]

It is a popular myth that carbs make you fat.

If you have an excess of blood sugar then your pancreas releases insulin and lowers your blood sugar by converting the excess to fat.

Glycogen, actually.

[Morgan]

I have to agree with Mr. 72 here.

Here's teh thing... there are some odd diets that do indeed work...for certain rare individuals. And by WORK I mean "assist the individual to lose weight in a healthy manner which allows for fat loss but not muscle loss and continues to provide proper nutrition."

However, most of them don't work for SQUAT for REAL for MOST people. And Adkins is a huge offender under this criteria.

My GI diet works in general because it replaces the emptiest calories... the glucose calories. It's essentially a diabetic diet, and it works specifically for me probably because I have a family history of diabetes, so "we" respond well to non-diabetes inducing diets.

Everyone is a little different...but there are some diets that I'd personally suggest avoiding as first, second or third attempts. I'm not a professional, but as someone who's done sports training of myself and others for over 20 years, I have a fair bit of research and experience. Any diet that has you eating in a manner you can't CONTINUE TO EAT for the rest of your life should be avoided from the get-go, unless you're completely desperate and under a doctor's care.

[Abraham]

Morgen,

Bingo!

My approach is easy to maintain for life.

As it is, I've been doing the no lunch routine for many years now and it works.

At one point, I had to take steroids for a severe medical reason and gained thirty-five pounds. Prednisone creates an artificial appetite that cannot be denied. You will overeat. I dropped that weight in a reasonable amount of time once I quit the steroids using my simple plan.

Ultimately, it is a eat less, move more routine and it works.

There's a lot of eye glazing/pontificating blather out there replete with equations that drone on and on about weight loss. But, it's really simple. Eat less. Move more. It works!

[TDDude]

Six years ago I got finally got disgusted with my weight.

I purchased a used Adkins book and did what it said to do.

I lost around 100 lbs in 6 months and all I did was what it said and DIDN'T CHEAT AT ALL!!

I'd been counting calories for years with squat for results.

Functionally, the Atkins diet is just a calorie-reduction plan. However, it is not a healthy way to eat for the rest of your life. Neither is eating too much carbs a healthy way to eat.

Just counting calories won't do it. You have to know what your metabolic rate is in order for the calorie count to be meaningful.

Atkins diet is one of those that, if you stick to it, it is nearly impossible to eat too many calories.

Counting your story, I have heard of exactly one person who did not gain back all of the weight they lost on the Atkins diet.

I just want to add be very careful with the atkins diet. I did it for about a year and lost 50lbs but I went back to my old ways (wish I hadn't) and gained it all back. Now my body doesn't like carbs at all. I gain a lot of weight from very few carbs now so I have to really watch them.

I'm always amazed at the number of people who claim that Adkins doesn't work. And sometimes this comes from folks that knew me when I was a slob.

All it takes is discipline. All any diet takes is discipline. Any weight loss regimen will require a permanent lifestyle change. Once the weight is off, of course it's going to come back if one goes to the old ways of eating. That's not an Adkins issue. That's a fork, knife, and spoon issue.

Two things happened on the DAY I started Adkins:
1. My acid reflux which was keeping me from ever getting more than 3 hours of sleep at a time was gone. It never come back. Even if I didn't lose any weight, this issue alone was worth it.
2. I stopped being hungry all the time. I would have to remind myself to eat. It turns out that with me at least, the carbs would basically make me hungry sooner. If the truth can be said, this hunger management angle is the real secret to Adkins and why it can be so successful.

Adkins probably won't work for everyone but I feel confident saying that it will work for anyone who actually works the plan. Barring health reasons for the obesity, I don't see how the point can be argued. All I have to do is point at myself.

My wife started it with me and couldn't stick to it but before she fell off the wagon, she too lost a bunch of weight.

For me, it was the easiest thing I ever did. It was easy probably because I've never been one to be picky about what I eat. I do like breads and desserts but I don't crave anything.

Now I mostly eat foods that are prepaired at home. Very little comes out of a can or a box. Jason's Deli is my favorite casual restaraunt. I enjoy a good dessert but I don't eat the rest of the pie for breakfast the next day. I'll have a few chips with a sandwich but I don't eat the whole bag while watching the tube. I'll bake a batch of cookies for my kids but I don't pull out the shotgun when they go after my share.

Like I said, keeping the weight off HAS to be a lifestyle change. Not just a diet for a few months.

I for one NEVER want to go back to the fat slob I was before. I like going to bed without a box of Tums on the nightstand. I like being able to fit in my car without having to roll in and roll out. I like not having to pay for an extra plane ticket. I like being able to sit on the bus and fit with someone sitting next to me. And I really like it when a receptionist looks at me with a coy smile instead of a pained expression.

Rant over. God Bless

[mr.72]

I'm always amazed at the number of people who claim that Adkins doesn't work. And sometimes this comes from folks that knew me when I was a slob.

I think I actually suggested that it will likely work if you stick to it, being as it is basically a vintage calorie-cutting diet in a new dress.

All it takes is discipline. All any diet takes is discipline. Any weight loss regimen will require a permanent lifestyle change. Once the weight is off, of course it's going to come back if one goes to the old ways of eating. That's not an Adkins issue. That's a fork, knife, and spoon issue.

The beef (pun intended) with the Atkins [note the "t" in Atkins] diet is that the change you make in your eating habits under the Atkins scenario is not, in fact, a change in eating habits and food selection that can be sustained for your lifetime without leaving you at higher risk of secondary health problems.

The theory that is the basis for the Atkins diet may make it effective only for a type of person who can tolerate depression of their metabolism to the point at which you can fuel your body only with metabolism of fats. Of course the word "metabolism" as it applies to the effect on your body weight is almost completely couched with great mythology.

I have no desire to argue that the Atkins diet cannot be effective for weight loss, and in your case clearly it has. However, I still would never advise it because while it may have the net effect of causing you to lose weight, it does not have the net effect of improving your general health besides changing the number on the scale. In fact it may be an overall detriment to your health. I would point out that becoming a meth addict will also cause you to lose weight, much faster than the Atkins diet. And contracting AIDS is a sure-fire way to lose weight. In fact, one easy way to lose weight is to start smoking a couple of packs of cigarettes each day. These methods are not advisable because they destroy your nominal health in the process. The tradeoff for weight loss is not worth it (I am citing extreme examples).

Since fat requires a large amount of oxygen for metabolism, then to limit your body to be fueled only on fat metabolism necessarily limits your metabolic rate. You cannot just magically raise your VOmax or lung capacity when you stop eating carbs. A trained athlete might be able to sustain a high metabolic rate while burning fat all the time because their lung
capacity is huge, among other things. But for nearly everyone who needs to lose more than 20 lb of weight, they are not trained athletes with great lung capacity and a healthy cardiovascular system. When these people need to accelerate their metabolic rate higher than the "fat" speed, if they do not have a consistent supply of carbohydrates they will break down muscle tissue out of necessity.

Like I said, keeping the weight off HAS to be a lifestyle change. Not just a diet for a few months.

That's absolutely right. And that's why you should be very careful about which diet you choose, and be sure that the one you choose is something you can sustain for the rest of your life.

If you eat normally, and you gain weight by eating normally, then you normally eat a few more calories than you expend. It's very simple math. There is a rate at which you normally gain weight. For me it's about 5 lb per year. So if I were to go on a diet, lose 50 lb, and then return to my normal eating habits, then if I haven't affected my metabolism during the diet (or if it is not affected due to something else such as aging or testosterone levels etc.) then I will regain that 50 lb in 10 years. Many people I have known who have done the Atkins diet regained all of the weight they lost at a highly accelerated rate when they resumed eating normally. For some of them, they had gained only a couple of lb each year for decades, then did the Atkins diet, lost 30 or 50 lb, and then gain it all back in less than a year. Weight that took them 20 years to gain while eating normally took them only one year to gain after the Atkins diet. This is undeniable evidence that the Atkins diet depresses your metabolic rate!

I am glad the Atkins diet worked for you, but I still advise against it. And by the way, I have absolutely nothing to gain by advising this. I am giving away my tool and system for weight loss for free. My system does not prescribe what you may or may not eat.

[TDDude]

the Atkins [note the "t" in Atkins] diet

You mean I've been misspelling Adkins all these years??

I admit, I never really understood why it worked so thanks for the lesson. I just figured that with the "Low Calorie" this and "Low Calorie" that we all see advertised, it just had to be a marketing gimmick and not really anything that I would want to eat in order to lose weight. Then, when the pounds just started falling off of me I stuck with what worked.

Since then, processed food has come to the point of almost being poisonous. I'm waiting for the day that the nutritional powers that be start justifyingly attack High Fructose Corn Syrup". "They" have tried to scare the public with just about everything else but HFCS so far seems to have escaped the ire of "60-Minutes".

I basically maintain my weight now by (trying to) not eat anything pre-processed. It's virtually impossible to find any food that doesn't have HFCS as the sweetener. Those foods do exist but they are hard to find.

I don't count carbs anymore and haven't for a number of years. I just take everything in moderation. EXCEPT of course in November and December. My mom makes the best cakes, cookies and pies. I'm always good for an extra 5 lbs after Thanksgiving/Christmas/New Years. However, I just go back to sausage & egg breakfast, some sort of meat Salad for lunch, and a meat & green veggie supper for a couple weeks or a month and the 5 lbs go away. Then, they stay away for another 9 months until the next thanksgiving.

Anyway, I’ve enjoyed the debate and as usual, I've come away more informed than when I started.

Now, where did I leave that new pistol I bought????

[TexasComputerDude]

the atkins diet can and does work great if you can live that way the rest of your life.

I just fell back into some of my older habits. It is a really hard diet to follow once you burn out on the food.

[mr.72]

the atkins diet can and does work great if you can live that way the rest of your life.

Especially since the end of your life will come up much more quickly due to high cholesterol, heart disease, and vitamin deficiency.

[anygunanywhere]

the atkins diet can and does work great if you can live that way the rest of your life.

Especially since the end of your life will come up much more quickly due to high cholesterol, heart disease, and vitamin deficiency.

My cholesterol and triglycerides were lower when I was on the Atkins plan than any other time in my life prior to my current situation and this is discussed in the Atkins literature. My physician then said I had the bloodwork of a marathon runner and I was eating three eggs, bacon, and cheese every morning.

I just could not sustain that lifestyle.

I am now on Lipitor.

BTW, if your cholesterol and triglycerides are high look at your adult beverage consumption. The alcohol affects liver function.

Anygunanywhere

[stroo]

Be careful with Lipitor. I took it for years before I realized I was having a lot of reactions to it. In fact, I didn't think it had any side effects. The problem is the reactions come on slowly and can be attributed to other things. They include things like fatigue, loss of energy, loss of memory, loss of mental ability, joint pain, and peripheral neuropathy. Doctors also don't like to attribute the problems to lipitor because it works so well at reducing cholesterol. Since I have been off of it, I have regained energy, am not as fatigued, my mental functions and memory have improve a lot and my hip pain has been reduced. Having said that, my right hip has been I believe permanently damaged to some degree and I will be dealing with peripheral neuropathy for the rest of my life.

So be careful with Lipitor or any other statins. The doctors love them and tell you they don't have any side effects. The truths is that for some people they do.

[mr.72]

Cholesterol meds are a solution looking for a problem. To think that just lowering cholesterol will improve your health is to confuse cause with effect. People with low cholesterol may be more healthy than those with high cholesterol. But the low cholesterol is an effect of their lifestyle that makes them more healthy, and the cause is a difference in lifestyle, not merely the cholesterol level.

[TexasComputerDude]

After reading this post and applying it I'd like to announce loosing 10lbs since it first posted. whooda thunk math would help me lose weight lol.

my dr. was very pleased.

[jbirds1210]

After reading this post and applying it I'd like to announce loosing 10lbs since it first posted. whooda thunk math would help me lose weight lol.

my dr. was very pleased.

congrats! Now take a walk around your neighborhood while holding a 10 pound weight in your hands....it will help you to remember just how much weight that is.

Jason

[mr.72]

After reading this post and applying it I'd like to announce loosing 10lbs since it first posted. whooda thunk math would help me lose weight lol.

That's 10 lb in 6 days?

It has to be mostly fluid weight.

10 lb = 35,000 calories. That means your metabolism has to be an average of 5833 calories higher than whatever food you ate during that time. Even a pretty active and fit person doesn't expend more than about 3000-3500 total calories per day. You could stop eating altogether and unless you were riding in the Tour De France during those 6 days you would not be able to lose 10 lb of fat in 6 days.

But I am glad this is working for you. It will continue to work in a predictable fashion (not 10lb/week, but more like 2 lb/week) as long as you can stick to it.

FWIW I have lost 5 lb since I started this 10 days ago. That's an average of 3.2 lb/week. This is not a sustainable rate either, but it is a believable fat loss amount. According to the "Sums and Averages" tab, my average metabolic rate is 3492 calories/day and my average caloric intake for the past 10 days is 1901 calories/day. So I am burning nearly 1600 more calories than I am eating each day, on average. I know from doing this program a few times before that my real average metabolic rate is probably going to wind up being about 3200-3300 calories after six months of measurement.

[DoubleJ]

How does one calculate where their best heart rate is for working out.
I know, those elipticals at the gym have a nice little thing on there that tells you what *zone* you're in, but I know from previous experience that it is more detailed than that.
and how does that change? I know that as your cardiovascular system gets stronger, your zone is going to change...