I am not trying to start a flame war here but i simply have lost about 35-40 pounds of bodyfat (28 % to 16%) and I did it on a moderate carb diet. However, I bodybuild, and one of the most important things inn bodybuilding is spiking your insulin levels with 35-60 carbs after a workout. Anyway, I didnt choose the low carb diet to lose fat. Even though I think it is effective, I think its more of a fad. I'm 16 years old and I know that a lot of people think i do not know what I am talking about. But like, if I continued bodybuilding on a low carb diet, iwould lose a lot of the lean muscle that i have gained. Everyone says that only protien rebuilds damaged muscle cells but also, carbs are important too because I need to fuel my muscles with carbs even during the repair stage. So anyway I just wanted to hear from other peoples views on the low carb diet.
thanks

First of all, I would like to say that I do not think of atkins as a fad. Although some people might treat it as such, I think of it more as a healthy way of eating for life.

Also, I would like to say that I do not believe this is true. I myself do not bodybuild, but my father does and is also on a low carb diet. When he started atkins he was at about 40% body fat. Now, he is at about 18%. Since starting, he has NOT lost any muscle, only gained muscle. I also do light weight lifting, and my percent of fat has only gone down.

Hullo xojera,

I confess I'm rather curious as to why you would bother joining a low carb forum, when you clearly don't wish to follow any kind of low carb eating plan.

As for calling low carb a fad, um, well, the first successful low carb dieter in modern times was Banting, who very successfully lost weight by low carbing over 100 years ago. And of course our caveman ancestors ate low carb - starch type crops only appeared around 10,000 years ago. before that, it was pretty much meat and vegies. And if you do a little research (which I strongly suggest you do before you go any further) you will find that many diseases only appeared when mankind began eating more carbs in the form of starches.

You could start your research with "Studies" on the green menu bar at the very top of the screen. Then I suggest you have a good look through our LC Research/Media forum.

Oh, and if you look through our exercise forums, you will see that many of our members very successfully combine weightlifting with low carbing. Do read Dan's story for a very successful loser who is a weightlifter and body builder: http://www.lowcarb.ca/stories/story015.html

All the best to you.

Rosebud

I'm just curious about why you chose to put "Atkins" as your plan?

I bench pressed 400 pounds for reps on 100g carbs a day. It's nonsense that you would lose lean mass low carbing; in fact, low carbing spares lean mass. I have no idea where you got the idea that you would lose muscle low carbing, but it's a source you should think twice about listening to in the future.

Ditto for me,

I am a trainer, and I train a lot also.

I achieved my best strength and muscle gains on less than 75 grams of carbs per day.

No muscle loss at all.

Flash forward to the 1950s and before, back when bodybuilders and lifters did not use steroids because they did not exist.

They lived on low carb diets, the «steak and egg» diet and the «protein powder and cream» diet.

Do a search on Vince Gironda, the Iron Guru from the 50s and 60s in bodybuilding. Look at the diets he advocated for mass gain.

All low carb, high fat diets.

Of course, bodybuilders nowadays are much bigger, so they must know what they are talking about right?

LOL, especially since the only book read listed in the profile is South Beach.

Oh well, whatever trolls... oops, I mean turns... your crank

Not sure why you think nobody here can understand this. Check this thread on cortisol management from 2003. Note item #5 where it says "5 Steps to managing your cortisol levels."

And you're completely wrong about 'losing lean muscle' on a low-carb diet. For lean muscle, what matters is your protein intake, not your carb intake. As someone said, it's protein-sparing.

There's plenty of room on this forum for somebody like you, even if you go on a higher carb cycle from time to time. We're not that picky as long as you're nice.

There's a lot of bodybuilders doing some form of low carb at www.bodyrecomposition.com.

Low carb has been around since the 1800's when a guy named Banting first made it popular. Then in the 1970's Atkins wrote his first book and it got popular again. So, if it is a fad, its a lot older than you are... in fact, its older than your great-great-grandmother, almost certanily.