Active Low-Carber Forums
Atkins diet and low carb discussion provided free for information only, not as medical advice.
Home Plans Tips Recipes Tools Stories Studies Products
Active Low-Carber Forums
A sugar-free zone


Welcome to the Active Low-Carber Forums.
Support for Atkins diet, Protein Power, Neanderthin (Paleo Diet), CAD/CALP, Dr. Bernstein Diabetes Solution and any other healthy low-carb diet or plan, all are welcome in our lowcarb community. Forget starvation and fad diets -- join the healthy eating crowd! You may register by clicking here, it's free!

Go Back   Active Low-Carber Forums > Main Low-Carb Diets Forums & Support > Low-Carb Support Focus Groups > Pre-Maintenance & Maintenance
User Name
Password
FAQ Members Calendar Mark Forums Read Search Gallery My P.L.A.N. Survey


Reply
 
Thread Tools Display Modes
  #91   ^
Old Fri, Oct-02-09, 20:21
kaarren's Avatar
kaarren kaarren is offline
Senior Member
Posts: 332
 
Plan: Atkins
Stats: 204/173/150 Female 5'5"
BF:
Progress: 57%
Location: SW Missouri
Default

This is quite interesting! Just checking in to keep up with you. Thanks!
Reply With Quote
Sponsored Links
  #92   ^
Old Thu, Oct-15-09, 12:40
Demi's Avatar
Demi Demi is offline
Posts: 26,664
 
Plan: Muscle Centric
Stats: 238/153/160 Female 5'10"
BF:
Progress: 109%
Location: UK
Default

Quote:
October 12, 2009

Let’s Talk About Grocery Carts

By Lynn Haraldson-Bering


A few days ago I went grocery shopping. It was an ordinary shopping trip. Bought the usual – veggies, fruit, beans, yogurt, and a (fabulously priced ginormous) pack of fresh chicken breasts for my husband. When the cashier rang up my order, she said, “That’s the healthiest cart of groceries I’ve checked out in a long time.” Immediately I thought, Cool! Someone noticed! A few seconds later, however, I thought, Oh, how sad. Someone noticed.

What was in my cart should be in everyone’s cart.

I’ve been called judgmental by RTR readers when I say things like that, but I assure you my attitude is not holier than thou. I truly and sincerely feel bad when I see carts loaded with pop, frozen pizzas and ice cream, and pushed (or in many cases, driven) by someone 50 or 100+ pounds overweight and often with an overweight child riding in the seat. This is a typical scenario here in western Pennsylvania. Money plays a huge role in what groceries people buy, but so, too, does convenience and lack of real nutritional education.

We can talk all day about “personal responsibility.” I mean, most people should just “know” that a quarter pounder with cheese and a super-sized fries isn’t as healthy as a grilled chicken sandwich and an apple, right? But in observing the food buying habits of the general population, it’s clear that the bombastic nature of food advertising and the convenience of fast food and packaged meals that raw fruits and vegetables, bags of beans, and cartons of yogurt really don’t stand a chance. Especially when foods like yogurt get dressed up as “healthy.” When manufacturers add crushed Oreos, M&Ms and Gummy Bears to the carton, is it any wonder people would say “I had yogurt for breakfast!” and really think they ate something good for them when in fact, they ingested a ton of sugar and very little protein or calcium?

Hmmm….

How can someone embrace personal responsibility for their food intake and the repercussions of its consumption on their health when advertising and simplicity (zap it in the microwave!) trump solid nutritional information sources? Nutrition labels are confusing and quickie news reports (let’s face it, we’re a nation of “news in a minute”) of fats and carbs and the newest food trends are confusing.

So how do we get more fruits and vegetables and lean proteins into the carts of Americans?

I know we’ve discussed elements of this topic before, but I’m curious how you decided to get educated and how you know now what foods are best for you? What sources do you rely on for solid nutritional information? Are articles like this one from Yahoo helpful (8 Foods That Fight Fat) or do you find them simplistic and condescending?

My own nutritional education started years ago and is ongoing. I don’t jump on the latest trends or believe everything I read, but I am often as confused as the next person as to what foods or components of food are “good” or “bad.” However, when the cashier at the grocery store calls my cart of food “healthy,” it bolsters my enthusiasm for nutritional knowledge and staying the course. So, too, do moments like today when I was at Sage Meadow, our local health food store, buying low-sodium vegetable broth. Pat, the owner, only had two boxes on hand and another customer showed me the vegetable broth cubes. While I like the cubes, I told her, I use them sparingly because they have substantial fat in the form of palm oil. I didn’t say it in a snotty way, but I still felt like I was being judgmental and so I said to Pat, “But you know me, I’m always watching that kind of thing.” Pat said, “Well, that’s why you’ve kept your weight off.”

Bingo. She was absolutely right. I have to look out for myself because no one else will. It takes a lot of reading and planning and education to keep 170 pounds off. But being realistic, I know most people don’t have the time or energy to invest in nutritional education as I have. So how can it be more accessible? How do we make veggies, fruits and proteins "normal" in the American grocery cart?
http://refusetoregain.com/refusetor...cery-carts.html
Reply With Quote
  #93   ^
Old Fri, Oct-16-09, 07:37
GlendaRC's Avatar
GlendaRC GlendaRC is offline
Posts: 8,787
 
Plan: Atkins maintenance
Stats: 170/120/130 Female 65 inches & shrinking
BF:
Progress: 125%
Location: Victoria, BC Canada
Default

Quote:
How do we make veggies, fruits and proteins "normal" in the American grocery cart?

How indeed?! And how do we make it understood that healthy fats are NOT fattening??
Reply With Quote
  #94   ^
Old Sun, Oct-18-09, 13:34
Demi's Avatar
Demi Demi is offline
Posts: 26,664
 
Plan: Muscle Centric
Stats: 238/153/160 Female 5'10"
BF:
Progress: 109%
Location: UK
Default

Quote:
October 18, 2009

Maintenance 101: What Did YOU Learn?

By Barbara Berkeley


On Saturday, I had the opportunity to meet hundreds of people with diet and weight issues at the opening of the new TriPoint Medical Center in Concord, Ohio. The community open house for this gorgeous facility was attended by approximately 7,000 people. As medical director of weight management services for the hospital system, I was there to lecture and to encourage visitors to register for our weight loss programs.

Whenever I talk with people about weight issues, I come away with impressed with two things. First, I am amazed at how interested people are in learning more about nutrition. Despite the glut of information in magazines, on TV and on the web (or perhaps because of it), most people are deeply confused about what to eat. The second thing that always impresses me is how few dieters are able to keep the weight off permanently. Of course helping with that issue is the purpose of this site. I hope that some of those I spoke with on Saturday are reading our site today and that they will become part of our internet community. Refuse to Regain is a blog about maintenance, but it is meant for anyone with a weight issue, whether they are just beginning to lose pounds or have kept them off for years. If you are new to us, Lynn and I hope you will explore our site and become active contributors!

The first year or two of maintenance is like a course in yourself. It can yield fascinating and very specific information if only you decide to show up for school.

Most people who finish a weight loss return to a modification of old habits. Habit is the operative word. If your previous dietary style made you fat, it is likely to do so again, even with modifications. If you couldn’t control the elements of your eating plan in the past, re-exposure to those elements will probably lead to a similar fate in fairly rapid order.

During the weight loss phase, most of us are very wrapped up in our progress. This self-examination is often lost once the weight comes off. I tell my patients that the principles of weight loss are pretty much the same for everyone: 1. Reduce calories enough to force the body to burn what it has in storage, and 2. Reduce insulin enough to facilitate that process. Maintenance is a different ballgame. The rules vary widely. The only way to discover what works for you is to discover YOU.

For this reason, I suggest that new maintainers think about the first couple of years as a basic science experiment. Experiments require staying educated on your subject, close observation, recording of results, and a well-planned way of changing variables. Research also works best when it is dispassionate. By this I mean that your maintenance experiment needs to avoid emotion. If a scientist does an experiment and gets an unintended result, he or she does not indulge in agonies of self-blame. In maintenance, it’s important to look at results with curiosity but not with frustration. If one method isn’t working, draft another strategy and record results.
If you are just beginning your maintenance experiment you may be uncertain as to how to proceed. Here are a few suggestions. No doubt our experienced readers will offer others.

1. Work on the type of structure you need. Do you do best with Points, calories, portion control, or simply with diet changes based on daily weighing?

2. Identify your trigger foods. These are the foods which you really must avoid. Most people find that there are certain things they simply can’t eat moderately and that they feel a sense of peace once they are eliminated.

3. Tread carefully around your food addictions. Foods that you have eaten for pleasure can be addictive, but they are not always triggers. You may be a chocoholic but actually be able to control chocolate consumption. On the other hand, bread may cause you to fall off your diet.

4. Observe your reaction to salt. Salt acts like carbohydrate does in causing water retention. It can cause unintended weight gain that is hard to get rid of. The most common source of salt is restaurant food (have you ever really tasted the soup in most restaurants??) If you note that you are gaining after eating out, be careful of foods that may be hiding salt.

5. Pre-plan your reversal strategy (and refine that strategy if it doesn’t work). Every maintainer needs a way to quickly reverse small regains. What will that be for you?

6. Observe the effect of exercise. No one knows exactly how much will help to keep you stable. So keep a log that includes your activity, frequency of exercise and weight response. If walking is doing the trick, you don’t necessarily have to escalate to running. It is probably also possible (although not recommended) to maintain without exercise.

7. Set up some personal dietary rules. Maintainers often bristle at the idea of rules preferring to say that they will never rule out any particular food. OK. That principle can be part of your rule package, but what’s the rest of it? No one says you have to follow your own rules – after all, you created them – but having rules gives you a plan to shoot for. Follow, then observe the result. If the plan isn’t working, it’s time for an overhaul.

8. Observe the situations and environments that cause trouble for your diet. One of the most powerful tricks a maintainer can employ is keeping physically away from food. You may observe that being at home is toughest because food is always as close as your kitchen. Work on physically removing yourself from food by asking that food be kept away from you at work and bringing nothing into the house which triggers you.

9. Keep a number of basic, “safe” meals in your rotation. Feel free to eat these frequently and to experiment only when you feel quite anchored in maintenance.

10. Most importantly from my point of view, do all that you can to keep insulin stimulators low. Insulin stimulators are the starch and sugar foods including whole grains, pasta, cereal, bread, potatoes, rice and sweets. Insulin is the fat storage hormone. As long as it is not deployed, you can’t store fat. When it IS deployed, you can’t break down fat. So keep the carbs (except for fruits and veggies) LOW.

If you are a successful maintainer, please help us by sharing the things you’ve found out about yourself. The more models we have, the more possible paths we all have to try. While the basic outline above is a general scaffold, it says nothing about individual experience. What lovely, strange and unique things have you discovered as a result of your own maintenance experience. We would love to hear. Leave a comment or send us an email at refusetoregain~gmail.com.
http://refusetoregain.com/refusetor...-you-learn.html
Reply With Quote
  #95   ^
Old Sun, Oct-18-09, 19:14
Enomarb Enomarb is offline
MAINTAINING ON CALP
Posts: 4,838
 
Plan: CALP/CAHHP
Stats: 180/125/150 Female 65 in
BF:
Progress: 183%
Location: usa
Default

I think this is a really good post- and #10 says it all for me!
thanks, Demi
Reply With Quote
  #96   ^
Old Mon, Oct-19-09, 03:42
Demi's Avatar
Demi Demi is offline
Posts: 26,664
 
Plan: Muscle Centric
Stats: 238/153/160 Female 5'10"
BF:
Progress: 109%
Location: UK
Default

Quote:
Originally Posted by Enomarb
I think this is a really good post- and #10 says it all for me!
thanks, Demi
You're welcome

I also feel that it's a very good post, not only for current maintainers, but also for those approaching maintenance, and even those who are still in weight loss mode. As Barbara says, if you don't change your mindset and you habits, then you'll end up right back at square one again.

It happened to me, and it wasn't until I finally realised, and came to terms with the fact, that I can never go back to the way I used to eat if I want to remain slim, that maintenance starting working for me.
Reply With Quote
  #97   ^
Old Mon, Oct-19-09, 08:08
Judynyc's Avatar
Judynyc Judynyc is offline
Attitude is a Choice
Posts: 30,111
 
Plan: No sugar, flour, wheat
Stats: 228.4/209.0/170 Female 5'6"
BF:stl/too/mch
Progress: 33%
Location: NYC
Default

Quote:
Originally Posted by Demi
You're welcome

I also feel that it's a very good post, not only for current maintainers, but also for those approaching maintenance, and even those who are still in weight loss mode. As Barbara says, if you don't change your mindset and you habits, then you'll end up right back at square one again.

It happened to me, and it wasn't until I finally realised, and came to terms with the fact, that I can never go back to the way I used to eat if I want to remain slim, that maintenance starting working for me.

And once you got it....it all got so much easier, didn't it?
For me, it was kind of like a light went off in my head as I was losing my weight. It dawned on me that I'd have to keep eating this way or I'd gain it all back.... one more time. OMG! What a thought.
I think that was when I started to play around with adding back the good carbs and learning which ones worked for me or not. I think that eliminating wheat from my plan was big for my body.
I actually went there and left a post for them.
Reply With Quote
  #98   ^
Old Sun, Oct-25-09, 02:13
Demi's Avatar
Demi Demi is offline
Posts: 26,664
 
Plan: Muscle Centric
Stats: 238/153/160 Female 5'10"
BF:
Progress: 109%
Location: UK
Default

Quote:
October 24, 2009

Maintenance: The Lovely, Strange and Unique

By Lynn Haraldson-Bering


Barbara asked in her last blog, “What lovely, strange and unique things have you discovered as a result of your own maintenance experience?” I’ve been thinking about my answer to this all week, but realize I don’t have much to add to what so many of you already wrote.

I’m working on losing a few pounds I’ve gained, so I could totally relate to Claudia who has gained back some of her weight loss. Rather than ignore it, she’s tackling it. When I’d gotten to some illusive weight “goal” in the past, I always regained because I went back to my old way of eating, just like Barbara wrote: “Most people who finish a weight loss return to a modification of old habits. Habit is the operative word. If your previous dietary style made you fat, it is likely to do so again, even with modifications.”

Gee, and I thought I was the only one! Oh the emotional pain I put myself through when I couldn’t maintain a weight loss. But I had no tools! I honestly had no idea how to do it. I didn’t ask questions or even know who to ask. I just figured I’d lost weight so I could go back to eating again. But like Judy said, “To keep it off, eat the way you ate to lose it.” Sounds so simple, but if you lost weight by starving yourself or depriving yourself of everything you like, chances are you’re not going to keep eating the way you did while you lost weight. That was always my problem before.

It’s only when I got curious about what makes my body tick that maintenance became more fun than tedious. As SueT wrote: “Gathering this scientific information about ME, knowing MY body and MY idiosyncrasies, has set me free.” Set me free. I like that phrase. I was a slave to the scale for so many years, a prisoner in my own body, both when it was heavy and when it was thin, because I didn’t understand it. My mind short shrifted my body, saying, in a way, “Just feed it and it will be happy! Now move on to more important thoughts!” But so many of my thoughts and subsequent actions revolved around the fear and loathing I had of my body. Still, it took me years to understand that I had to consult my body, and to understand what it needs and doesn’t need in order to be “set free.”

Linda made a great analogy about the kind of commitment it takes to maintain: “Weigh maintenance is like marriage. You don’t make the commitment once, but you re-make it every day. You make it a priority in your attitude and behavior…You re-make the decision every day, or several times each day.” Or several times each day. We’re not only confronted with but bombarded daily by refined, processed, and non-nutritional foods and its advertising. People bring it to share at work, it’s in restaurants and grocery stores, and so much of it tastes great and for a split second (or perhaps many split seconds) I might think, “If only I could have just one bite…” But instead of impulsively caving, I think, “Is this worth it? Do I really want to eat this?” Even if the answer is yes, the fact that I thought about it is a far cry from the days of eating whatever whenever.

Something Sharilyn wrote really struck home. “It’s sort of lonely,” she wrote, “but I must view this as an investment in my future.” Lonely. I guess because there are so few of us who choose to eat and live the way we do in reduced-weight bodies that it is often lonely and isolating. Many people just don’t “get it.”

I used to make excuses for how I eat, apologizing almost for refusing to consume something offered me at a restaurant or party. But I found my voice and gave myself permission to be my own boss and to stick up for my dietary needs. I’m not rude or overly demanding, but I inquire about the way foods are prepared, and I’m completely comfortable saying “No” to food that is not part of my plan, even if it was “made for” me. If someone really knows me, they know NOT to make me food unless they’ve discussed it with me first. Not even cupcakes made by a sweet, adorable child.

A few years ago I read a thread on the Weight Watchers board in which a woman posted that she just “had” to eat a cupcake made for her by her niece. I wrote back that no one “has” to eat anything they don’t want to eat. If you want to eat it, eat it, but be honest with yourself. If eating that cupcake is going to make you feel bad about breaking the promise you made to yourself to eat healthy, then don’t eat it. Eating it because you’re afraid of hurting someone’s feelings is not staying true to yourself and it’s not going to solve the problem in the future. There WILL be more cupcakes sooner or later.

Food should not equal guilt. If my niece made me a cupcake, I’d thank her and then tell her why I don’t eat cupcakes. There are plenty of tactful ways of saying no to food. Just ask the Girl Scouts who knock on my door every year!

Still, it can be lonely always sticking up for your food choices. Not many people understand. But that’s why maintenance is, as Barbara said, a whole other ballgame. And the lovely, strange and unique things we learn about ourselves is an ongoing education.
http://refusetoregain.com/refusetor...and-unique.html


Judy, nice to see you quoted here!
Reply With Quote
  #99   ^
Old Sun, Oct-25-09, 10:34
LSU Fan's Avatar
LSU Fan LSU Fan is offline
Registered Member
Posts: 558
 
Plan: atkins
Stats: 175/165/150 Female 5ft 2in
BF:
Progress: 40%
Location: LOUISIANA
Default

I so agree and can't wait to get to just "WOL - WOE" I might would buy the girl scout cookies (just to be nice) and give them away. Thanks for your nice post.
Reply With Quote
  #100   ^
Old Sun, Oct-25-09, 10:56
Judynyc's Avatar
Judynyc Judynyc is offline
Attitude is a Choice
Posts: 30,111
 
Plan: No sugar, flour, wheat
Stats: 228.4/209.0/170 Female 5'6"
BF:stl/too/mch
Progress: 33%
Location: NYC
Default

Quote:
Originally Posted by Demi
http://refusetoregain.com/refusetor...and-unique.html


Judy, nice to see you quoted here!

hehehe Thanks Demi!
I didn't know I had been quoted. Its nice to know that someone reads my words!!
Reply With Quote
  #101   ^
Old Sat, Oct-31-09, 07:47
Demi's Avatar
Demi Demi is offline
Posts: 26,664
 
Plan: Muscle Centric
Stats: 238/153/160 Female 5'10"
BF:
Progress: 109%
Location: UK
Default

Quote:
October 30, 2009

Ignore It and It WON'T Go Away

By Lynn Haraldson-Bering


When I was a kid, my mother’s advice whenever I’d come home upset after some boy teased me was, “Ignore him and he’ll go away.” Unfortunately I applied the same advice to a lot of worrisome things in my adult life, including my weight. When I paid attention to it for a few days, I’d actually lose a few pounds, but soon after I’d ignore whatever diet I was on and just hope the pounds would magically go away.

When I began my rapid 100-pounds-in-four-years weight gain in 1999, I was afraid to ask the doctor, “Why am I gaining so much weight?” Maybe I had some dread disease or maybe being on an antidepressant, that’s just how life was going to be from then on? Instead of asking the question, I ignored the weight and hoped it would just go away.

If it’s not edited out, that’s one thing you’ll hear me say on Monday during my “before story” on the Today Show when I’m inducted into the Joy Fit Club.

I was one of several people featured in Joy Bauer’s book, “Joy LIFE Diet,” published in January. Joy Bauer is a dietician and nutritionist and is regularly featured on the Today Show, especially twice a month when she inducts someone who has lost more than 100 pounds through diet and exercise into her Joy Fit Club. On Monday, I will be the latest inductee.

My segment will air during the 10 a.m. hour, called the “Fourth Hour” of the Today Show, but not shown in all markets at 10 a.m. For instance, in Pittsburgh it airs at 2 p.m. and in Minneapolis it airs at 11 a.m. I’m sure it will be on the MSNBC website at some point and I’ll post a link to it when I find it.

Anyway, back to what I was saying before about ignore it and it will go away. I know I’m preaching to the choir here, but surprise, surprise! Excess weight – especially hundreds of pounds – doesn’t just go away. It takes complete and total concentration and commitment, which I was able to accept and envelop once I stopped ignoring the problem.

I have a history of ignoring problematic issues, particularly as they pertain to my body. Take last Saturday for instance. I was painting the hall stairs and my knee popped. As you know, I have severe osteoarthritis in my knees and they need to be replaced, so it’s a common thing to have one of them pop out of place. But this time was different. The pain shot up to my right glute and stayed there for days.

I was afraid I had a bulging disk or had developed more arthritis or bone spurs. For days my mind went wild thinking, “What could it be?” I dreaded another “You need surgery” diagnosis. (To-date, I’ve had eight surgery diagnoses. It would take me years to recover if I had them all! LOL) But rather than ignore it and hope it would go away, I got curious and began by seeing my chiropractor. Twenty minutes later, she had a spot-on diagnosis: I had an inflamed tensor fasciae latae muscle that was pulling the tendon on the outside of my thigh, thus causing the knee joint to dislocate. She did some (yow!!) massage and ultrasound, showed me some stretches, and told me to massage the muscle and tendon with a tennis ball and Styrofoam roller a few times a day and apply heat to the area.

Twenty-four hours later, I’m a new woman. I slept well last night, not only because the pain had subsided, but I was emotionally relieved that I didn’t have to solve the problem by going under the knife.

Isn’t it usually the case that what we fear is more daunting than what is real? I knew the last time that if I was going to lose weight, my attitude and many of my behaviors had to change or I’d gain it all back. Ignoring that reality and allowing those feelings to sit in the periphery of my mind made the concept more scary than it turned out to be in real life. Once I faced my fears head on, and dissected what it was I really wanted and what was important to me, I was able to lose weight. Same thing with my tensor fasciae latae muscle and a few dozen other things in the last few years. I’m trying to be confrontational tonight, too, as I anticipate the whole Today Show thing on Monday. “I won’t say something stupid. I won’t say something stupid,” is what I keep telling myself. Again, the future is scary. The unknown is unnerving. But just knowing that is a huge step in the right direction, the direction of change.
http://refusetoregain.com/refusetor...nt-go-away.html
Reply With Quote
  #102   ^
Old Wed, Nov-04-09, 11:47
Demi's Avatar
Demi Demi is offline
Posts: 26,664
 
Plan: Muscle Centric
Stats: 238/153/160 Female 5'10"
BF:
Progress: 109%
Location: UK
Default

Quote:
November 04, 2009

It Takes Two

By Barbara Berkeley


I don’t know how many of you make it a habit to follow the glut of weight-related research studies that are released each day. I try to hone in on those studies that seem novel or important. Despite trying to be selective, I am often rewarded with a DUH! experience. So many of these studies seem to ask the same questions and come up with the same conclusions. It makes me wonder why we are spending so much money to prove the obvious.

Here’s an example. This week, a study from the University of Houston reported that fitness levels decline after age 45 (big surprise, right?), but that people who stay at normal weight, don’t smoke and are physically active stay substantially more fit. Researchers looked at data on 3,429 women and 16,889 men collected between 1974 and 2006 before releasing the following conclusion: "These data indicate the need for physicians to recommend to their patients the necessity to maintain their weight, engage in regular aerobic exercise and abstain from smoking," Excuse me, but….DUH!

While the conclusions of the Houston study seem obvious, they still present a problem. In my world view, it’s simply not enough to tell people to exercise and maintain weight. Let me digress for a moment to explain why.

Recently, I rejoined a gym. I’d been absent from this particular gym for quite a while after leaving to follow my favorite aerobics instructor, Joe, who had decided to work at another place. But when Joe decided to move out of town several months ago, I rejoined the original facility. It had been eight years since I’d been there, and when I returned, I discovered a mini research experiment laid out before my eyes. The women who had been in my classes eight years before were now almost all overweight and were significantly less fit. These women are all avid exercisers. They still take multiple aerobics classes weekly. Despite this, a significant majority no longer look fit, weigh much more than they did, and can no longer exercise at high intensity. I suppose you could look at the Houston study and predict this decline, except for one thing. This decline has not been true for me personally. I still run, play singles tennis, and take aerobics classes that are as vigorous as the ones I took 10 years ago. My weight has not increased. From this, I must deduce that a deterioration in fitness and an age-related increase in weight are NOT inevitable. (At least not up until age 61…my current age). What to make of this?

I believe that this is a case of “It takes two.” During weight loss, many of my patients will do everything that is asked of them to control food, yet will refuse to exercise. In the case of the women at my gym, they were happy to exercise, but probably were not vigorously controlling the foods they ate. Some exercisers simply “lean” too much on exercise. By this, I mean that they have the unsupported belief that exercise is a cure-all. Others believe that restricting calories is a cure-all. There is, indeed, a cure-all, but it is the consistent combination of proper fuel with proper body tone. These two elements are actually one. They cannot be separated. Because maintenance is supported by two equal pillars, it isn’t enough to counsel patients (as suggested by the Houston study) to exercise more and “maintain their weight.” For people like my gym companions maintaining weight equates with exercising more. This advice essentially gives the same direction twice. Long term fitness requires a tough two-pronged attack. Proper fueling. Proper exercise. Got to have both.

While the Houston study made me yawn, a second study that appeared this week provided the “Wow” experience. This fascinating research from the University of Alabama reported that as few as 80 minutes of either aerobic or resistance exercise stopped the reaccumulation of the specific kind of fat you want to avoid—visceral fat. Visceral fat is the highly dangerous adipose that accumulates inside the abdomen and lives around and inside vital organs. It is visceral fat that produces dangerous chemicals and which sends fatty acids into the bloodsteam. It is visceral fat which is responsible for the byproducts of obesity: hypertension, hyperlipidemia and diabetes. In this study, a group of 45 white women and 52 African-American women were treated with a weight loss diet and either aerobic, resistance exercise, or no exercise. After weight loss was achieved (about 24 pounds on average), the two exercise groups were instructed to continue their activities at a rate of 40 minutes twice weekly and the non-exercisers were told to continue being sedentary. At the end of one year, those who continued exercising (either resistance or aerobics) had regained ZERO visceral fat (!) Those who quit exercising, or never exercised to begin with had regained about 33 percent of their visceral fat.

It is worth noting that there was some regain even in the exercisers (perhaps related to the lower levels of exercise required by the study), but that none of it was inside the abdomen.
Once again, the case can be made that exercise is a vital element in weight maintenance. But it is not the only element. It takes two. We tend to rely too much on one side of the weight loss/maintenance equation, a rookie error that can lead to disaster. A balanced approach is needed because nature has designed us with bodies that seek balance. Proper Fuel. Proper Tone. It’s a beautiful thing.
http://refusetoregain.com/refusetor...-takes-two.html
Reply With Quote
  #103   ^
Old Fri, Nov-06-09, 23:13
SidC's Avatar
SidC SidC is offline
Senior Member
Posts: 1,960
 
Plan: Atkins
Stats: 160/103/115 Female 62 inches
BF:
Progress: 127%
Location: Edmonton, AB Canada
Default

Quote:
Originally Posted by glendarc
How indeed?! And how do we make it understood that healthy fats are NOT fattening??


The media does seem to have succeeded in demonizing trans fats (rightly so.) But the regulatory bodies gave up decades ago on trying to educate people about the difference between saturated and unsaturated fat, deciding it was simpler to tell people that fat was bad.

And so now we have a plethora of "healthy" low-fat foods, with tons of sugar and salt added to compensate for the lack of fat. This is not progress.

There has been good PR attached to the Mediterranean diet, which uses good fats like olive oil, and low-glycemic index diets (which are a lot like Atkins, hush.) But given the decades long witch-hunt on fat, I think it will have to be a stealth campaign.
Reply With Quote
  #104   ^
Old Mon, Nov-09-09, 04:59
Demi's Avatar
Demi Demi is offline
Posts: 26,664
 
Plan: Muscle Centric
Stats: 238/153/160 Female 5'10"
BF:
Progress: 109%
Location: UK
Default

Quote:
November 08, 2009

The Wind Beneath My Bike Pedals and Hiking Boots

By Lynn Haraldson-Bering


As you know – and why Barbara and I write this blog – it’s not easy finding people who can relate to weight maintenance. Like many of you, I’m more than familiar with reaching goal. I’ve done that dozens of times in my life! But I’ve always been a big rubber ball, bouncing back up the scale the minute I hit that magic number. “I can eat again!” was always my mantra.

Why this time at goal is different has many aspects, but one of the most important reasons is that maintenance inspiration is right here in my own house. My husband is maintaining a 22-pound loss since July 2005, and has introduced me to a way of life I never aspired to: fitness.

Larry’s story is a familiar one. Thin – as in really thin – in high school and college, he gained more than 20 pounds when he went to graduate school. He says it was a change in metabolism, but he also had quit smoking and wasn’t as active as he’d been before. At 23, he took up running (a little known sport at the time) and Purdue had an indoor track (which saved him from freezing to death during the winter). Within a year, he was an avid runner. It was his legs that first attracted me to him in 1996. I’d known him for several years, but didn’t realize he was hiding such bodacious legs under his professor style Land’s End khakis until he ran past my apartment one afternoon. “Damn…he looks good!” I thought as I watched him until he turned the corner.

Fast forward several years.

A study in the New England Journal of Medicine found that our risk of obesity increases 37 percent if our spouses are overweight, 57 if our friends are overweight friends and 40 percent if our siblings are overweight. I don’t know if any of my friends or siblings can “blame” me for being overweight, but Larry certainly could. As my weight increased by leaps and bounds from 1999 to 2004, his crept up, too. Much more slowly, but an increase nonetheless. By the time I began losing weight in January 2005, I’d gained more than 100 pounds and he’d gained 25.

Bending over was tough, he said, because he could feel the weight in his mid-section. He went from a 31-inch to 34-inch waist. Unbeknownst to me, he declared his gain “ridiculous” at the same time I started losing weight. We never talked about my weight and I didn’t share with him that I was losing weight until I’d lost 15 pounds (which, starting at nearly 300 pounds, wasn’t noticeable). When he “confessed” that he wanted to lose weight, too, he started eating like me.

Six months later, he was down 22 pounds and back into 31-inch jeans.

Larry and I had a few things in common, but no real uniting or consuming interest. Losing weight together brought us closer and eventually we turned into the one thing I never envisioned myself to be a partner to. We became a “fit couple.”

Before 2007 (well after I’d started this journey), if someone had told me I’d look forward to physical activity as a couple’s pastime, I’d have said, “Exercise? Together? Larry and me? Blech!” Being together meant dinner, a movie, a party. Vacation was spent with my butt firmly planted in a lawn chair. But two years ago when he got me in a canoe for the first time since summer camp in 8th grade, and especially when he bought me my first bike in 28 years when I reached goal, our relationship changed from “You go your way, I’ll go mine and we’ll meet back here in a few hours” to “Let’s hit the trail!”

Now we plan our weekends around the North Country Trail. We’re hoping our next big vacation will be a return to the Adirondacks where rather than me sitting on shore watching him fish in a boat, I’ll be in the boat with him AND accompanying him on the mountain trails instead of driving all around them.

Me capable of maintenance? Me an avid hiking and biking enthusiast? These are things I never thought myself capable of or interested in. But I have a secret weapon.

I’m glad they flashed to Larry’s smiling face during my appearance on the Today Show last week. He deserves every bit of recognition for my success. He is my hero and maintenance inspiration.
http://refusetoregain.com/refusetor...king-boots.html
Reply With Quote
  #105   ^
Old Sun, Nov-22-09, 04:28
Demi's Avatar
Demi Demi is offline
Posts: 26,664
 
Plan: Muscle Centric
Stats: 238/153/160 Female 5'10"
BF:
Progress: 109%
Location: UK
Default

Quote:
November 21, 2009

A Skillful Holiday to All

By Barbara Berkeley


Negotiating success in maintenance reminds me of so many things: balancing on a bongo board, walking a tightrope, learning to sprint on tiptoe through a vast field of food, negotiating a temptation-jungle with blinders on. We tame the hungry lion with nothing more than our wits. We balance on the tip of a skyscraper-high food pyramid and all the while…we dance.

Maintainers are artists. They are skilled professionals. Their tricks and focus put others to shame. Don’t try this at home. Maintainers are the Cirque du Soleil of the diet world.
Like the final act of any circus, the end of the food year is our crucible, our most daring trick.

From Thanksgiving to Christmas, it will all be thrown at us. The cocoa, the cookies, the emotion, the cinnamon, the chocolate, the tear-jerker movies, the alcohol. We will need to somersault, leap and dodge in order to avoid being annihilated. And who will be triumphant? Not the most virtuous. Not even the most deserving. The ones left taking the final bow will be the most skilled.

I am now entering my sixth year of Primarian eating. Tonight, I prepare myself like a gladiator getting ready for battle. I sharpen my swords, I gird myself, I imagine the inevitable pumpkin-scented opponent. I am determined to remain standing at the end of it all. Are you preparing too?

My skills? Nothing fancy. Sometimes it’s mastery of the most basic techniques that gets a maintainer the furthest. So here are some of the skills I’ve practiced over and over. Hopefully, they are routine by now, ready for deployment as the year’s food circus comes to a close with its final eating lollapalooza:

1. The Old Scan and Plan: Don’t ever get caught in a corner. You should know what’s coming and have a plan to counterpunch. Imagine each holiday situation in as much detail as you can way before it ever happens. Plot a course through the food challenges. When the day comes, mentally check off each situation as you enact your plan. It’s your private game.

2. The Switcheroo: Everyone’s there for the food. Except you! Switch your reason for being at the dinner, family gathering, office party. You’re there to gather information by finding out at least one thing you never knew about five people in the room. You’re there to advance your career by finding someone at the party who can give you a lead. You’re there to see how many people you can get to ask you about your weight loss and how you did it. You’re there to change someone’s life by inspiring them to eat healther, be more like you. Set a goal. Keep track.

3. The Stare Down: For advanced maintainers only! For the true gladiator, there’s nothing more enjoyable than challenging yourself to a direct face-off with the food that used to control you. If you’ve passed the invisible barrier that separates maintenance junior (early maintainer) from SLIM (senior level maintainer), you might enjoy this trick, which is the equivalent of facing down a lion with nothing more than your expression. Go to the table, look at everything, and laugh. A good, loud, internal “HAH!” and a head toss help a lot.

4. The Dress for Success: Wear your best looking and most form fitting clothes. Let them talk to you as you negotiate that dangerous territory. The pressure of snug clothing will remind you of what your body has achieved and prevent you from filling up.

5. The Bring Your Own: A good trick for buffets, pot lucks and other challenges too. Bring a safe dish and make it something you can really load up on if there is little else that fits your rules. Generally, these clean, simple dishes go fast. After all, everyone recognizes healthy food…even if they don’t want to admit it.

There are lots of other tricks I use, but enough about me. Do you have holiday skills? Send them in. Tag them with a punchy name and include a short description. Let’s share the wealth! You’re not dancing alone, you’re not fighting alone, you’re not balancing alone. You’re part of a growing acrobatic troupe. A veritable army of skilled maintainers. Are you ready for the challenge? If so, I salute you!

“Merry Christmas to All and to All a Good FIGHT!”
http://refusetoregain.com/refusetor...day-to-all.html
Reply With Quote
Reply

Thread Tools
Display Modes

Posting Rules
You may not post new threads
You may not post replies
You may not post attachments
You may not edit your posts

vB code is On
Smilies are On
[IMG] code is On
HTML code is Off



All times are GMT -6. The time now is 11:06.


Copyright © 2000-2024 Active Low-Carber Forums @ forum.lowcarber.org
Powered by: vBulletin, Copyright ©2000 - 2024, Jelsoft Enterprises Ltd.