Diet?

[fusangite]

Btw, no offense to anyone here, but ignore all the low carb nonsense. Your body must have
carbs, they are its primary source of energy. Just avoid (or at least minimize) refine carbs:
white bread, sugars (cut out the soda, but some fruit each day is VERY GOOD) and all the
other junk most food manufacturers stick in to make up for a lack of taste and shelf life.

Justin, everyone's body is different. I went off the Atkins Diet in April and began running 4.5 miles a day 6 days a week. I ate only whole grains (brown rice, multigrain bread, and even whole wheat pasta which I despise). I gained 20 pounds. I've had to radically reduce my carb intake just to stop gaining weight.

I'm glad the healthy lifestyle plus exercise thing was enough for you but for some of us, it still doesn't quite cut it. By the way, Atkins, like South Beach involves you gradually increasing your carb intake until your weight stabilizes.

But the main reason I recommended Atkins on this particular thread is that it stabilizes your blood sugar rapidly and keeps it stable and that's crucial if you're simultaneously battling depression.

 

[Shemeska]

The way I understand the low-carb thing is that, given a traditional 1st world diet, your body has such a surplus of carbs that it no longer needs to digest fat to get energy. Your body stops producing the lipid-digesting enzymes it would need to convert fat into blood sugar (ATP etc.)

If anything a traditional 1st world diet has more fat and protein than say the average 3rd world diet.

Largely the 'science' behind low-carb diets is absolute BS. They may work, they may work well for some people, but they won't work for the reasons they might claim. Ultimately it's just having a net calorie deficit in your diet so you lose weight.

FWIW I'm a type 1 diabetic, thus prone to more weight gain, and I lost around 55 lbs in about 6 months, and have kept it off completely for around 7 years now. Moderate mix of pasta, low fat meats, and tons of vegetables. What you eat doesn't necessarily matter so long as you don't jack your cholesterol through the roof by only eating meat etc, and so long as you're not suffering from any vitamin deficiency or amino acid deficiency, it's just the calories that you're eating and that's the bottom line for any diet.

So, your body starts using hunger as its blood-sugar monitoring system. Whenever your blood sugar goes too low, you get the urge to snack.

This is inefficient -- it takes a little while for freshly eaten food to turn into blood sugar, and there's a good chance you will over-snack beyond what your body originally was "asking" for -- and any excess gets turned into fat you will never digest.

Atkins, and other low-carb diets, make you ravenously hungry for 2-3 days (up to a week I think) because your body stubbornly clings to the "hunger" method for blood-sugar regulation before giving up and making lipolyzing enzymes. Once lipolysis (digestion of fat) starts, your body has a ready supply on hand -- your own big fat butt! -- and it digs in with gusto. Hunger goes way down, because there's a steady supply of blood-sugar coming in, and you are better able to eat what you actually need.

There are probably lots of other ways to thin down, but if your body is no longer even looking at fat as a source of energy, low-carb can help jump-start that process. Doctors have urine tests that can tell you if you are producing lipid-digestion enzymes.

I'm sure it's possible to lose weight while staying hungry, but IMHO being hungry sucks, and I would not be a happy camper if I had to feel hungry all the time.

-- N[/QUOTE]

 

[Eolin]

Last time we did this I posted about lemons, yogurt and master cleansing.

And last time, I was fasting. Which I am now as well, as of today.

Grow in your awareness of what you eat and how it makes you feel. You'll stop eating the crappy foods. And then weight loss will follow as a result.

 

[Nifft]

If anything a traditional 1st world diet has more fat and protein than say the average 3rd world diet.

Sure, but think about it this way: if you give a child of 5 six brussel sprouts and one small candy, there is a decent chance that one or more sprouts will be eaten.

If you were to instead give the child a pound of candy and six pounds of sprouts, there is a good chance no sprouts will be eaten -- even though there are more sprouts!!!

Carbs are metabolized preferentially.

Anyway, that's my story and I'm stickin' to it.

-- N

 

[Shemeska]

Carbs are metabolized preferentially.

Anyway, that's my story and I'm stickin' to it.

-- N

Eh. If you eat 2000 calories a day of pure sugar, and have a daily caloric need of 2000 calories, you'll stay the exact same weight. If you eat 1000 calories of pure sugar the next day, you'll lose a bit of weight. If on day 3 you eat 2000 calories of nothing but bacon grease you'll stay the exact same weight. Day 4 you eat a mix of sugar, fat and protein at 2000 calories total you'll also stay the same weight.

All that matters is total caloric intake. Sugars just happen to be metabolized faster, reaching the blood stream and hitting glycolysis in your cells quicker than that bacon grease might be broken down by secondary pathways. Not metabolized 'more', just metabolized faster. But ultimately 2000 calories of bacon grease = 2000 calories of sugar = 2000 calories of protein. Obviously a smaller amount of fat will produce the same number of calories as carbs or protein, just based on the caloric density per gram.

The only thing that a carb restricted diet will do better is appetite suppression, simply because fatty foods tend to make you feel more full compared to simpler carbs, etc. Type I and II diabetics might be better off on some model of this two, but it's very easy to screw up and double your cholesterol if you're not careful, which is why I wouldn't suggest Atkins to the majority of people.

 

[Zander]

I have been counting calories and exercising more over the past couple of months, and it's working. I walk at least 30 min a day, sometimes I do that twice, I add occasional light weightlifting in between and sometimes bike riding or hiking.

I've been calorie counting and exercising more and it's working for me too.

I stay under 800 cals per day input, sometimes less than that. I've increased the amount of fruit in my diet and have eliminated all chocolate, icecream, cookies, pizza, beef and other high sugar, carb and fatty foods (unless they occur in a low calorie ready meal).

I walk 1 - 2 miles per weekday and on Sundays. On Saturdays, I walk 5+ miles, for a total of 14+ miles per week. I also do two hours of martial arts per week. In all, I spend about 1500 - 2000 cals per week exercising, that's equivalent to burning roughly 2+ days worth of food.

I have been on this programme since the end of May and have already gone from being officially obese to overweight. I hope to be in the normal category by mid September.

 

[Impeesa]

To the original poster: before even worrying about counting carbs, check into your eating schedule. As you've mentioned, it's hard to keep a good schedule doing shiftwork - I know, I'm doing 12-hour shifts this summer (sets of 2-3 shifts with 2-3 days off in between, alternating days and nights). It'll take some extra effort, but try to make sure you're getting 3 real meals a day, and cut out any sort of snacking. Then, make sure those meals are a single 'regular person' size.

If you're looking for a good form of exercise, try swimming. Take a little time to learn how to do it properly (easier said than done, I suppose - I swam competitively for a little over 9 years). Once you've got that, you can put in an hour or two about twice a week and burn off calories like nothing. It's the best low-impact full-body workout you can get.

Edit: Let's pick on Zander there. He does a fair bit of exercise, and keeps his intake down to 800 calories a day. He's had success losing weight. Contrast with pro swimmer Michael Phelps - he takes in 8000 calories a day (that's ten times as much, kids), and maintains an Olsen-twin build swimming ~6 miles a day. Granted, most of us don't have a spare 2-3 hours a day to spend exercising at the pool, but you get the idea.

--Impeesa--

 

[Hijinks]

I don't think it's been mentioned, but if you drink lots of water, you'll feel fuller longer. Crystal Light makes some tasty powders that you can mix with water for a 5-calorie-per-serving drink that still counts as water servings. The red grapefruit is the best.


Also, I read in Fitness magazine a while back that unsalted, unbuttered popcorn is an excellent snack. 1 cup = approximately 100 calories, and only 5 carbs, no fat. I might be misremembering the exacts there. Now, I don't put salt on anything - I just enjoy the natural flavors of food - but most people I know salt their food, so most people probably wouldn't find unsalted, unbuttered popcorn pleasant tasting, but I enjoy it quite a bit, and it takes care of that late-night tv-watching craving.

 

[Queen_Dopplepopolis]

I used SlimFast to help me lose my first "chunk of weight" - 15 lbs about 15 months ago. Though I would prefer to drop about 15 more lbs, I've managed to maintain that weight loss.

SlimFast taught me a lot about how much I should be eatting in order to lose/maintain. Upon realizing just how much I was eatting (especially for dinner!) I was able to really shift my portion sizes and feel pretty good about myself.

 

[Justin]

Justin, everyone's body is different.

Of course. However, the human body is built to operate in a particular way, within a range.
So while people's metabolisms and other medically specific needs (e.g. diabetes) will create
huge variations, most people function generally the same way.

I went off the Atkins Diet in April and began running 4.5 miles a day 6 days a week. I ate only whole grains (brown rice, multigrain bread, and even whole wheat pasta which I despise). I gained 20 pounds. I've had to radically reduce my carb intake just to stop gaining weight.

Obviously I don't know the specifics of what and how you were eating, but foods like those
you mention are typically very calorie-dense. If you were used to eating Atkins, heavy
fat-based foods, you likely got fuller faster. Carbs are generally not filling (excepting high
fiber foods, and even then...), so it is much easier to splurge on carb calories. Protein and
fat are much more satiating and low-carb/high-protein/high-fat diets usually lead to eating
less volume and therefore less calories. [ I'm sure the above paragraph could have been
written more succinctly. :\ ]

I'm glad the healthy lifestyle plus exercise thing was enough for you but for some of us, it still doesn't quite cut it. By the way, Atkins, like South Beach involves you gradually increasing your carb intake until your weight stabilizes.

My understanding of the diets is that SB is marginally better for you than Atkins because it
does allow for more carbs and is more balanced. However, the fundamental problem I see
with Atkins specifically is that it forces the body to use its backup energy production
mechanism, lipolysis (fat-burning), exclusively. Once you have a bit too many carbs (and
it doesn't take much), your body slams on the brakes and reverts to glycolysis (sugar-
burning).

Also, every gram of glycogen your body stores requires three grams of water to be stored
as well. So while you're on a low-carb diet, you have basically depleted your glycogen
supply and thus don't need the extra water. Once you go off it, your body will suck water
back in like a sponge and you will put on several pounds immediately.

But the main reason I recommended Atkins on this particular thread is that it stabilizes your blood sugar rapidly and keeps it stable and that's crucial if you're simultaneously battling depression.

You're right there. One of my best friends is an endocrinologist and she's told me that diets
like Atkins are good in the short term for diabetic and near-diabetic patients to
help their blood sugar level. I didn't know about the depression, so thanks for the info.