Weight Watchers Challenge

[Melsa]

Hi Everyone,

I was reading the Weight Watchers magazine the other day and their nutritionist (who is very respected) answered the following question:

My friend is on a high protein diet and is losing weight faster than I am. Why doesn’t WW support such diets?

The answer: ‘Most of the current high protein diets are low in carbohydrate, forcing the body to use it’s muscle glycogen stores and also to break down protein to form glucose (we can’t convert fat to glucose). Each of the 600 or so grams of glycogen is stored in the body with 3grams of water so the loss of glycogen results in water weigh loss. More water is lost as the body excretes the left over parts of the protein. The WW programme is designed for long term fat loss. When people loss weight fast, most of it is back in 6 months with a few bonus kilos.”

What the heck does that mean? I can’t actually work out what she is trying to say. Any ideas?

Cheers

Melsa

[Karen]

Doreen answers your question very well in this link:

Too much protein? (http://forum.lowcarber.org/showthread.php?s=&threadid=6022&highlight=protein+absence+of)

This is what the WW woman should have said:

Insulin carries glucose to your cells to be used as fuel. Some of it gets converted to glycogen and is stored in the muscles and liver. What is left over gets turned into fat. The fatter you get, the less responsive to insulin your cells become. The more carbohydrates you eat, the more insulin is produced, creating insulin resistance. Lots of glucose remains in your blood, turning into more fat. This is where carb dependency sets in: your cells aren't getting the fuel they need and the excess insulin drives your blood sugar below normal range, so you eat more carbohydrates.

Of course, that would have done nothing to keep WW viable. THis concept of quick weight loss and gaining it back comes from people whom Atkins terms as abusers. And he's right. People who use his plan as a quick weight loss diet, then go back to eating the way they ate before either because they never read the whole book, never read the book or became smug.

Karen

[Melsa]

Hi Karen,

Thanks for that. I am a devotee of Atkins and knew not to be swayed but I couldn't even understand where she was going with the glyogen 3gr stuff that she mentioned.

Thanks for clearing it up and for the thread, that was interesting too.

Melsa

[eebee]

:mad:
I am irritated by these claims that only low carb dieters put all the weight back on again and with interest.

It is well documented that this happens with all the low fat diets including Weight Watchers! I and no doubt many here have first hand experience of this phenomenon.

I worked with awoman who had been Weight Watcher of the Year. When I knew her she was very very overweight to the extent that she would only work night duty so no one would see her. Very sad.

I lost heaps on Jenny Craig but 2 years later was heavier than I had ever been in my life while eating a normal sort of way and trying hard not to gain weight.I am convinced this diet was th eworst possible thing I could have done to lose weight.I am still trying to recover from it.Maybe we need a Low fat survivors group- on second thoughts maybe this is it!!

[Melsa]

Here here! :wave:

[sammiejam]

after 3 days on jenny craig i was so hungry i fainted!!

also the food was so gross that on day 4 i gave the "steakette" strips with bbq sauce to the dog and he wouldn't eat it. And that dog eats ANYTHING. So that was the end of it for me.

i dont know why these people (WW and JC) dont wake up and start low carbing their food. I suppose if they did that people would lose weight and not come back, the way they do it, they have people paying for a life time as the weight can not possibly stay off. Did the WW of the year woman keep it off??

[Melsa]

According to the article 'yes' but they very rarely show people who have managed to do it for a long period of time (2 or 3 years) and I wonder why that is....

I have been told that the Atkins diet is a fad, is dangerous for my health, will not be able to be sustained etc. I disagree . Unlike every other diet I have been on this WOE provides me with a realistic, achievable way of eating that I am actually enjoying. I very rarely feel hungry, I know I am being healthier than I was before and better than that I am shifting a little weight. 2 thumbs up in my opinion!

Cheers

Melsa

[Reymi_VZ]

Anyone remember that line from Knotting Hill?

Julia Roberts, at the dinner party says "I have been on a diet since I was 17, so I have been hungry for over 10 years."

That is exactly the case of WW, JC, LnE etc. Every single person I know that didn't stay on a very strict and unfun diet after (IF) they lost their weight (myself included), gained it back with extra.

[klynne]

On the Weight Watcher point system, I lost 50 lbs in three months! But what I was eating was high carb foods with little or no protein, so by the time I was done, I was skinny with no muscles whatsoever! I am now doing Atkin's and although it has only been two weeks, I have lost fat and my muscles have become firmer through my exercise routine. Through this diet, I am now getting the protein I have been lacking since I was a teenager on a lo-cal diet!!!

Though I don't want to knock WW because it was successful for me for a time, I will say that WW is a DIET and not a WOL!!! Who want to count points their entire life????

[Melsa]

Hi Kirstie,

I couldn't agree more. One of the things I love about Atkins is that I can be flexible with portions based on how hungry I am am, not on how many points I have left. I don't want to diet anymore. I want a way of eating that is suited to me and my body and that is exactly what I have found in Atkins.

Cheers

Melsa :wave:

PS. Plus I have lost 4 kilos in just over 5 weeks which also makes me happy!

[Jesper]

The answer: ‘Most of the current high protein diets are low in carbohydrate, forcing the body to use it’s muscle glycogen stores and also to break down protein to form glucose (we can’t convert fat to glucose). Each of the 600 or so grams of glycogen is stored in the body with 3grams of water so the loss of glycogen results in water weigh loss. More water is lost as the body excretes the left over parts of the protein. The WW programme is designed for long term fat loss. When people loss weight fast, most of it is back in 6 months with a few bonus kilos.”

We see uninformed and ignorant comments like this all the time. Snippets of information that, taken in isolation, makes the low-carb diet look bad.

What this person is trying to say are two things; (1) that all the weight you lose is water; and (2) the body has to break down muscle to glucose to continue to function.

Lets just analyse this for a second. It is true that by not eating carbs you use up all your glycogen. When you lose glycogen you lose a lot of water. But what she fails to mention is that you normally use up all your glycogen within the first 48 hours. Weight losses after 48 hours can not be explained by loss of water! And of course, we as educated people know that weight loss after 48 hours is mainly made up from losing fat :).

Her second hypothesis is even more ignorant. Yes, it is true that the body cannot convert fat into glucose (well, almost true, the body can actually produce around 15 grams of glucose a day from fat, but that's another story!), but that is quite irrelevant. The body can convert fat into ketones which mimicks glucose. We all know that the body and brain is more than happy using ketones instead of glucose!

It is also true that the body can convert protein (or Branched Chain Amino Acids, BCAA) to glucose, but only under certain circumstances. If you eat enough fat and quality protein (this is why a quality protein supplement is important) you will not cannibalise your muscles. As a matter of fact, in my experience with 100's of people, muscle loss is much more prominent in the low-fat diet.