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Old Mon, May-12-03, 15:04
cc48510 cc48510 is offline
Senior Member
Posts: 2,018
 
Plan: Atkins
Stats: 320/220/195 Male 6'0"
BF:
Progress: 80%
Location: Pensacola, FL
Default Re: "Calories, not carbohydrates, make you obese"

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Originally posted by gotbeer
Let me start by saying I have never been on the Atkins Diet, and never plan to be. I do, however, know many people who have tried this program.


Here is problem #1...she is talking about something she has never tried.

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For starters, I don't like the word "diet." To me that means "temporary." When you go off the "diet," you go back to your old ways of eating and you haven't learned anything about your habits. The best "diet," in my opinion, is and behavior modification. Remember, I believe in the 80/20 philosophy; it's what you do 80 percent of the time that will make a difference in your life and behavior. The remaining 20 percent is life.


Agreed. That is why Atkins is superior...it can be easily be maintained for life.

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According to the Atkins Web site, "one meal can destroy your weight-loss program for the day, and set it back for the week." Huh? There is absolutely no way that one meal can sabotage a week's worth of effort. It's all about moderation, not deprivation.


One screw-up can knock you out of Ketosis and induce cravings. The whole point of induction is to put you in Ketosis and to reduce cravings. That is why you must go back to induction in such cases.

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For those of you not familiar with the Atkins Diet, you basically are supposed to omit most if not all carbohydrates from your diet. The program even goes so far to say that if you frequent a burger chain, eat a bacon cheeseburger and toss the bun.


Not true at all. 20g of carbs are allowed during induction. During OWL, Pre-Maintnance, and Maintnance carb intake will increase to a level that will cause neither weight gain nor weight loss. For some people, this can be 100g or more. For others, it is 30g. It is an person by person issue.

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Say what? Let's forget about the weight-loss arena for a moment and think about your heart. What is that bacon cheeseburger, without the bun, doing to your heart? Fat is fat!


Fat is fat. But, when your body is in ketosis...that fat gets wasted rather than stored. Only when fat is stored can it cause heart problems. Fat can only be stored when insulin is present. Insulin is only present when carbs or certain artificial sweeteners are eaten. No insulin no fat storage. Less carbs = less insulin = less fat storage.

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Whatever weight-loss route you decide to take, it is input versus output. Take in fewer calories than you burn, and you will lose weight, guaranteed. But I am very skeptical of any "diet" that eliminates any food or food group. We need to eat a variety of foods from all of the food groups. In a fast-paced, super-size meal era, we need to eat the appropriate quantities.


In Ketosis, you waste most of your fat and protein intake. This is why you can eat more calories...because you are throwing away most of your calories. Your body is operating on a huge caloric deficit...but, feels full. Hence, the reason it can be maintained so easily.

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I agree with Atkins on one thing: If you eat these types of carbohydrates you will gain weight. However, it's not carbohydrates that make us fat. Some people don't even realize that vegetables and fruits are carbohydrates. How can we possibly be asked to omit this very important food group from our diet? It isn't realistic or even possible.


Atkins suggests eating alot of green veggies. In fact, on OWL I've eaten as much as twice the RDI of veggies...all those from green (non-starchy) vegetables, high in fiber and nutrients.

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The best "diet" I can find does not require you to eliminate any one food from your life. If you omit something, you will crave it. If you crave it, sooner or later you will give in to temptation and overindulge. Instead, I recommend satisfying your craving with a taste and you won't feel deprived.


Not the case...once you stop eating something the cravings are bad for a while...but, will go away. I stopped eating eggs (Directly. I.E. omeletes, scrambled, hard-boiled, etc...) in 1988. I had no cravings for them after a short while. I only began eating them again in 2003, after going on Atkins, and that was not due to craving, but rather the fact that without there aren't many low-carb breakfast choices.

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Many of the people I know who have tried the Atkins Diet have experienced temporary weight loss. The key word here is temporary. I have also noticed that people on this type of carbohydrate-restricted diet become irritable. They tend to need more sleep than they used to, find it impossible to exercise, etc. because they lack the energy. The reason is they aren't eating any carbohydrates.


Perhaps, she should look a little more. I am less irritable and need less sleep than I did before going on Atkins. I exercise more than before...namely because it is so much easier when you are 70 pounds lighter and have normal blood pressure.

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Our diets are supposed to consist of 55-60 percent carbohydrates, with 48 percent being complex carbohydrates, including starchy and fiber-filled foods, such as whole-grain breads, cereals, pastas, rice, potatoes, beans, fresh fruits and vegetables. The recommended percentage of fats in your diet should be 20-30 percent of your total calories with protein consisting of 12-15 percent.


These are the misguided USDA suggestions. These guidelines have only been in place for the last 30 years. Prior to that...low carb was normal. In 1965, the average man ate more calories, 38g more fat and 75g less carbs than he does now. More importantly, he ate more green veggies, less starchy veggies, and refined carbs such as white bread and sugar. Whole grains have no nutrients which cannot be had from green vegetables and Low-GI fruit.

IMO, the USDA pyramid was designed for what people would eat rather than what was healthy. We all know that anyone would be better off eating Broccoli, Spinach, and other nutrient-rich green veggies, than eating low-nutrient starchy veggies. But, people prefer starchy veggies (potatoes, corn, etc...)

Same goes for grains. bread is addictive. That is why it is easier to get 6-11 servings of bread than an extra 4-8 servings of vegetables. But, noone can deny that the vegetables are a much healthier alternative.

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According to the American College of Sports Medicine the average adult American should eat 0.8 grams of protein per kilogram of body weight. If you are on a high protein "diet," you are eating way more than that. Do you know what happens to the excess protein we ingest and our body doesn't use? Our bodies either convert it to fat or it is excreted through our urine. This means that Americans have the most expensive urine in the world!


What's her point ??? The wasted fat and protein is why we are able to eat more and loss at the same time. So, you are wasting most of what you eat...but, you are losing weight and getting healthy which is more than worth it.

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An article in the April 9 Journal of the American Medical Association concluded that among published studies, participant weight loss while using low-carbohydrate diets was principally associated with decreased caloric intake and increased diet duration, but not with reduced carbohydrate content.


Compared to their highest caloric intake, which are usually those immediately preceding Atkins...yes, they reduced calories. But, overall that is not true. For 3 years before Atkins, I ate 5K-8K calories a day, with 800-1200g of carbs. But, to compare my current 2-3K calorie intake against my 5-8K calorie intake just before Atkins misses the bigger picture.

That is that in 1996/1997 I went on a deprivation (LF/Low-Calorie) diet. Eating only 1-1.5K calories a day, it took me 6 months to loss 22 pounds. Yet, would you believe that I lost 22 pounds, yet didn't even lose a single pant size.

Even though I had reached a level weight-wise that was considered healthy (albeit on the high end), I still lacked energy. I could only run 1/4 mile without stopping. The diet had only succeded in decreasing weight...but, it didn't decrease it in the right places. Granted my face looked slimmer...but, the fat on my chest (that around the heart) had not budged, leaving me as unhealthy as before...while having a "healthy" BMI.

I've been on Atkins for 4.5 months. I have lost 70 pounds and 5 pant sizes. In the last 3 months, I have lost 7/7/7...that is 7" off each: Chest, Waist, and Hips. More importantly, the inches came off the chest first...This means that the fat around the heart was the first begin coming off on Atkins.

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In summary, calories, not carbohydrates, make you fat. Burn off more then you take in and you will lose weight. Eat a variety of foods while watching your portion size. Try to concentrate on keeping your fat intake below 30 percent of your total calories. Eating healthy may not only result in weight loss, but will also help prevent cardiovascular diseases and diabetes.


Somewhat true...That is the beauty of Atkins...you use (through waste) more calories than you take in. Thus, you lose weight. I get plenty of variety: Beef, Pork, Fish, Chicken, Nuts, Seeds, Berries, Cantelopes, Boskovich Spinach, Romaine Lettuce, Iceberg Lettuce, Red Cabbage, Green Cabbage, Cheddar Cheese, American Cheese, Monterrey Jack Cheese, Motzerella Cheese, and on and on and on.

It has improved my cardiovascular. Unfortunately, I didn't get the book before going on Atkins. I got the book a week later...so, I don't have any Cholesterol/Triglyceride readings from before Atkins. But, I do know that my Blood Pressure has decreased from Hypertension to Normal.]
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