Trading while trying to lose weight on Atkins

Quote from franklin:



Ha! Obviously you have to do all that exercise to compensate for what you're eating.
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actually, i can do it either way. i PREFER to do a lot of exercise. it's good for me, i enjoy it, AND it allows me to eat more food. exercising a lot is especially good for when i want to lose fat. when i want to lose fat, i exercise as much as possible, so that i can eat as much as possible and still lose fat.

ROCK
 
Quote from ROCK SOLID:

i have totally given up on this thread. people just don't listen. this thread is so full of bad advice it is just absurd. it really is the blind leading the blind and that is no joke. people are throwing out diet tips left and right, yet they have no idea what they're talking about...although they THINK they do. this thread is probably a bunch of fat asses exchanging diet tips! and above all, most people won't do what it takes even if they knew the right thing to do. being in perfect shape, i totally understand why only like less than 1% of the population is like me. it's a lot of work every single day. btw, "diets" are not the way to go. IT'S A LIFESTYLE CHANGE. go ahead and go on some diet, lose a few pounds, then return to your normal habits. you'll be a fat slob again in a year or so.
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For the most part I must admit I agree with your point, because I have an idea anyone maintaining an Atkins diet once they lose the weight they intend is probably in for a rude awakening once it's over. And I agree fitness is a lifestyle rather than a dieting theory or something you magically expect to find in a bottle.

However, this overall standpoint still doesn't alleviate the confusion behind why the Atkins diet works, support the people who are using the diet to reach their optimal weight, correctly address what you need to do once you get there - nor does it account for people such as myself who have been strapped to a desk and computer for years at a time while my body mended to the point I could actually exercise again. Prior to this diet I was averaging one 1000-calorie meal a day and was still gaining weight. Sure, work out and do lots of aerobic activity and you can eat whatever you want. The concept doesn't exactly take a wizard.

Bottom line: I see no reason to keep degrading people who are making a conscious effort to lose weight and get back into shape. And the fact is, since most of the carbs people ingest come from junk food anyway, I also see no harm in acquiring the discipline to read the labels and count them up.

So, for the record, here are the primary factors behind why a low carb diet will help you rapidly lose weight:
  • The reason you get hungry has nothing to do with the amount of food in your stomach (and the fact is, most overweight people eat more out of habit or oral fixation rather than because they're hungry anyway), or even the overall digestive process. The reason you get hungry is because your body has decided it has used up the energy it has become accustomed to being supplied through whatever method - whether this supply is food, stimulative drugs, or complex anti-oxidants.
  • Your body creates and stores fat for two primary reasons - as an energy reserve and as a primary contributive filter to your endocrine system (your skin is actually a secondary filter; any water and toxins eliminated through the skin must pass through the fat layer first). In the overall scheme of things, having too little body fat is easily as detrimental as having too much. Remember back when Schwarzenegger and Ventura did "Predator" in Panama? At the time both of those guys were so low in body fat they had to be hooked up to IVs for several hours a day during filming because every time they sweat they risked being heat casualties.
  • Carbs being ingested will get converted directly to complex sugars to be used as fuel during consistent physical activity. If there's less activity than it takes to burn the resulting sugar, it turns into fat. Big surprise there, huh? Most of them actually remain quite undigested however, and leave your body as solid waste.
  • Despite how good of shape you're in, if your body is accustomed to getting a lot of carbs and you drastically reduce their intake, your body will then turn to the most abundant available source of easily absorbed nutrients: Your muscle mass. This is why only counting calories as a dietary measure hardly ever works for long. Only after your body equalizes (won't give up any more muscle) will it then start using its fat stores for energy replacement.
So stacking all this up, it is fairly easy to see why the Atkins diet succeeds. You're all smart people so I'll let you add it up for yourselves. Personally, I am unable to see where the diet misses or creates any glaring holes.

I am wary of one primary thing however: As a general rule your body retains the same amount of fat cells throughout your life (excepting stuff like liposuction). You do have some replaced that you lose through waste elimination, but that's about it. What this means is people get fatter and thinner by the cells expanding and contracting rather than increasing or decreasing in actual number. So once you have a fat cell that's used to being 2-8 times its normal size and you rapidly deplete it, what exactly happens? I assume you're left with something resembling a flat balloon for awhile, but will the cells resume their original shape over time?
 
Quote from ROCK SOLID:



I RAN 3 MILES TODAY, LIFTED WEIGHTS, AND I COUNT MY CALORIES THROUGHOUT THE DAY. THAT IS HOW IT'S DONE!! WHAT DID YOU FAT ASSES DO TODAY?!

ROCK
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WTG! YOU ARE ROCK SOLID!

Exercise is so important. But we're talking to "certifiables", RS. Skulls are too thick, we can't get thru.

Now, GET IN THAT SQUAT RACK! GIVE ME ANOTHER SET OF 20!! :D

PUMP IT UP!!!!!
 
anybody have tips on how to get motivated to start exercising?

I try now and then, I have a complete oceanfront home gym w/stairstepper, treadmill, full nautilus setup in my living room, but it mostly just gathers dust.

I'd rather be doing just about anything else, then sitting there exercising.

What motivates you all to actually do the exercise? I'm almost 40, used to go to the gym for years, but nowadays, exercise I see as more a 'necessary evil" instead of something fun to do, so I don't do it.

ideas anyone? I may end up hiring a personal trainer to come over a couple times a week, that way at least I know if someone's going to come over, maybe that will motivate me.

appreciate any ideas (any of you use a trainer? pros/cons?),

ken
 
Quote from Ken_DTU:

anybody have tips on how to get motivated to start exercising?

I try now and then, I have a complete oceanfront home gym w/stairstepper, treadmill, full nautilus setup in my living room, but it mostly just gathers dust.

I'd rather be doing just about anything else, then sitting there exercising.

What motivates you all to actually do the exercise? I'm almost 40, used to go to the gym for years, but nowadays, exercise I see as more a 'necessary evil" instead of something fun to do, so I don't do it.

ideas anyone? I may end up hiring a personal trainer to come over a couple times a week, that way at least I know if someone's going to come over, maybe that will motivate me.

appreciate any ideas (any of you use a trainer? pros/cons?),

ken
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why does exercise have to be fun? i'm in pain as i exercise. it is not fun, it's work and it hurts like hell. i exercise for health & longevity.

i just do it. :-/
 
IMHO,

The best way to "exercise" is to pick a sport you like and start playing it. I have always hated exercise, but love sports.

I have started playing tennis and it is helping immensely.

nitro
Quote from Ken_DTU:

anybody have tips on how to get motivated to start exercising?...
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Quote from welo:


Bottom line: I see no reason to keep degrading people who are making a conscious effort to lose weight and get back into shape. And the fact is, since most of the carbs people ingest come from junk food anyway, I also see no harm in acquiring the discipline to read the labels and count them up.
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Excellent point (as well as the others in your post).

The "eat less" and "do more exercise" chanters have been around a long time and not doing much good (typically young people with high metabolic rates who get a lot of exercise and think "guts" is all it takes to get things done :)). One's long-term health gets much more complicated as one's metabolism slows, the effects of some of that youthful exercise show up in joints, and the 10-20 major diseases faced by aging adults start to rear their ugly heads.

I need to take a break for a few days from this thread, but will leave my fellow low-carbers with another food tip: The best sugar-free chocolate I've found is,

Guylian Dark Chocolate (No Sugar Added)

8 squares = 28g = 1/3 bar
117 calories
9g fat
0g carbs (maltitol)
2g protein

IMHO, this stuff tastes as good as dark chocolate with real sugar, and you won't need to be eating 8 squares at once (I'm satisfied eating one square (15 cals) as a treat after lunch, and even 6 squares is less than 100 cals).
 
Quote from FasterPussycat:

never ceases to amaze me how intelligent (ostensibly) people just can't put it all together... :-/
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Yes, I agree. People like YOU.


You rant and rave and rant and rave yet you seem to be completely insulated against any rational evidence that challenges what you 'know'.


At the most basic level, why is it so difficult for you to accept that, in the short term, the Atkins approach may be an effective way to shed excess fat? If the evidence says that low-carb, while perhaps a questionable diet in the long run, is an an effective and efficient first step towards long term health (insofar as it enables fat loss and promotes attention to detail and discipline)?

I know your style is to caste desultory insults, under the guise of being an "in your face" badass, but on this topic you're even making the solidly rock headed Rock Solid look good.
 
Quote from Ken_DTU:

anybody have tips on how to get motivated to start exercising?

I try now and then, I have a complete oceanfront home gym w/stairstepper, treadmill, full nautilus setup in my living room, but it mostly just gathers dust.

I'd rather be doing just about anything else, then sitting there exercising.

What motivates you all to actually do the exercise? I'm almost 40, used to go to the gym for years, but nowadays, exercise I see as more a 'necessary evil" instead of something fun to do, so I don't do it.

ideas anyone? I may end up hiring a personal trainer to come over a couple times a week, that way at least I know if someone's going to come over, maybe that will motivate me.

appreciate any ideas (any of you use a trainer? pros/cons?),

ken
More...


Not meaning to be a smart ass, but it's people you that keep the "magic pill" industry in business.

My guess is that until the way you look and feel become important enough to you that all the "tips" in the world won't add up to much.
 
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