Hi gwilson (sorry I don't know your first name),

I am sorry to hear that your parents have had some health problems. Hopefully they will pick up lots from your WOE.

I posted this on another site last night:
I did a before and after Waist to hip ratio measure today when I needed a break from all the heroin trials and overdoses (study for today). I was suprised to see it hasn't changed much. Now it is .84 and before weight loss it was .88. The PP book says 0.8 or less shows a hip and leg pattern for fat distribution and greater than 0.8 is the abdominal pattern. Unfortunately I still come in the latter category. (for any one interested in working this out it is on P136-139). So you can see why I want to lose more body fat.

Wa'll commented that he though I had come down a lot in the ratio. I still would like a smaller wsist and to get it below .8 at least ratio wise.

So both our challenges now are to reduce waist sizes. Exercise and continued LC of course I imagine is the way. I wonder if Pilates would help as that strengthens core muscles?!

Trisha

Hi, has any one who has been on maintenance for 6 weeks or more found this to be the case? I am rather sceptical!

quote:
--------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Fat Migration
I read in an old book, "The Woman Doctor's Diet for Women"

quote: "However, the subcutaneous fat in a female is genetically programed (ice cream cone shaped and pear shaped) to be of a certain thickness, which means that if you lose too much from one area, your body will take fat from another available area. This is called redistribution; the process of moving the fat is called migration. I like to tell my patients that you lose from the head down, but redistribute from the feet up. You can never tell immediately after stopping a diet ( though we on Atkins plan on never stopping) what the final form of your body will be, because this migration of fat takes about six weeks longer. You can't see the migration and redistribution while you are still losing steadily, because layer after layer of fat is being eliminated too quickly for the process to be discernible. You will notice it only after you have slowed down or stopped losing altogether. Your face, arms, neck, and breasts usually appear to get thinner first, thinner than your lower extremities because up above there is less fat to lose. Then you will see your waist, hips, and stomach, and finally your legs decrease in size (I got everything else, but my stomach and hips are the ones holding out on me.). Women who are 10 pounds away from their ideal weight will come into my office demanding to know, "When will I lose these?" (pointing to their chubby legs).
"Last", I reply. And not just last, but last of all. If you get your weight down and hold it down for a few months, you will see an interesting change in your figure begin to take place up to six weeks after you've stopped dieting (again it's a WOL not a diet for weight loss alone): those unsightly legs will get thinner and your face will become rounder. But you must tolerate a thin drawn face while you are achieving a total slim look. You face will take on a proper amount of subcutaneous fat after you've finished losing.
Many women let their faces be their guide when they diet, but you can see from what I have told you that that is not a good indicator. However, in the older female it might be well to stop short of pencil slimness, in order to preserve some additional subcutaneous fat in her face to prevent wrinkles."
There it is (with my asides )
Elihnig

Well...I agree that I lost weight on my upper body a lot faster...but as for changes after maintenance...hard to tell because the weight training throws in a curve ball I think. I think the ONLY true statement for me is that women hold on to weight on the hips and thighs. Oh and my back...can't seem to lose the back fat LOL!

Lisa

I simply crunched the numbers going from 0.88 to 0.84 puts you at half way towards 0.8

Wa'il

Hey Trish sorry my name is Gale...yup just like the wind..lol I have to agree with Lisa about the weight training. My body is doing some weird things..lol history--- stopped smoking March 21. Starting resistance training about April 10th. As of late, the scale says I am up about 8 pounds yet my clothes all fit approximately the same. Now here is the strange thing. my calves are bigger [good thing for me] my butt is bigger [good thing] my chest is bigger [is ok] my back is slightly more toned, I have way more definition in my arms. I have much more curve to my waist YET my waist is an inch bigger! I will keep working at it because I do feel great. Oh ya my appetite is huge aswell.

Hi Everyone,

Lisa in regards to the quote I can't comment yet as I am still in weight loss mode. I have found with me though that losing weight around my hips and legs happened easily as with the rest of my body really. Jusy proportionally I had more around my waist and tummy region to begin with I now still have more their now.

Wa'l, Yes I am keen to get below the .8 mark on the waist to hip ratio. I would have been there in my teens, twenties and early thirties. Having children in my mid to late thirties changed the ratio significantly! Ha! That is also when my sweet tooth became uncontrollable.

Gale, I have been back doing weights since the beginning of the year and I definitely have muscles that I can see on arms and legs. If I was doing machine work at the gym (I am doing free weights at home) my butt would be firmer too!

It is interesting your comment about the waist meaurements increasing since doing weights. I hadn't thought of that happening. Are you doing a lot of abdomenal exercises?

I find exercise a good natural appetite suppressant for me.

Trisha

Im not doing any more Ab work than I used to I just switched from doing cardio, toning 4-5 days a week to cardio, toning 3 days a week and resistance training 3 days a week. I have just read in this forum that one explanation for me gaining inches and not losing at this stage is because it takes awhile for your muscles to start burning off the fat. I have definitely developed more muscle but maybe I havent gotten rid of much of the fat that is covering them up yet. I should know in the next 6 weeks I would think.

I do my abdomenal exercises the days I do my weights which is three times a week. When I used to go to the gym years ago I did abs 5-6 times a week. I read somewhere (it may have been BFL) that it is important to have a day's rest which is what I do these days. Do any of you know how important this is? I am sure I was slimmer around the midriff doing the exercises every day!

Gale I will be interested to hear if you do find the weight does start coming off in a few weeks.

I would love to do Pilates to strengthen my core muscles but the only class down here clashes with me picking up the children from the school bus.

Commenting on first post here.....
Well said Lisa!!
I'm coming up on 4 months of maintenance next week..... and you are right, it's still hard work sometimes! You have to watch everything that goes in the mouth (just like before) and you have the good days and the days when you can't resist a little cheat (just like before)
At first 2 pounds up on the scale blows your mind but gradually you learn to live with the 3 to 4 pound fluctuation.
A high carb day is immediately followed by 2 or 3 lo carb days... you just continue to tweak and learn what works for you!

Congrats and best of luck to all the LCers!!

Ellie