Diet and excercise

[loseyourname]

If you stop eating salt only you can lose a good 5 pounds just off that because of the water weight. AHHH i can't stop typing ..... more later.

Of course, if you really want to lose weight fast, you can always dehydrate yourself. The Atkins diet will work; there is no doubt about that. But it is not healthy. You really shouldn't stay on it for more than a couple of weeks. Also, the low-fat diet will achieve the same results, but it takes longer.

I really think this low-carb obsession is getting out of hand. Maybe the stats will prove me wrong, but I haven't seen any difference in the American population - people who were fat before still look fat. The problem with these people isn't a carb problem, it's a discipline problem, and it's also a genetic problem.

By the way, I've got another 8 pounds to go to get to 180. I finally topped 170. And you're all short.

[Siggie]

How are low carb diets lame? It's been proven that carbs were the culprit for all this obesity. 20 years ago they thought it was "NO FAT" and everything started coming out 98 or 99% fat free. But what do you know people were still getting fatter and more obese, the numbers were multiplying. It's only recently that they figured out that they were wrong and that the carbs were the enemy.



Ok while it's true it's more about the money then health to these companies but low carb products ARE effective if you know what you are doing. And NO low fat and low carb diets are completly different. Also, I agree while the Atkins thing might not be too healthy, there are different kinds of low carb diets. The Atkins diet makes the body go into ketosis while just a low carb diet that has at least 100 grams of carbs a day won't make you go into ketosis and you will still lose weight in a healthy way. But in my opinion even if the Atkins diet is a little bit unealthy, as long as you don't do it for too long it's not as bad as some people think. But if you're unhealthy to begin with or have heart or other problems I wouldn't recommend it. Anything less than 100 grams of carbs will make your body go into ketosis, but for most it needs to be in the 30-60 range to really go into ketosis. Also you said just eat healthy carbs like potatoes and rice. Those two are Complex carbs and you definitely need to stay away from those if you are trying to lose weight or get definition. You want to have unrefined carbs. Any carbs you have on your low carb diet need to be simple carbs and not complex and theres a big difference between the two which people mistake a lot.

Proven? Really... show me the proof. Show me ONE good study.

I never said low fat and low carb were the same. I said they acheive similar results. Now here's how that was arrived at. Two groups of similar people went on diets... one group got low carb and the other got low fat. At first low carb lost more, but slowed down. At the end of the study, the length of which I don't recall, the groups did not differ in weight loss.

The population at large is still getting more overweight now too if that's your measure of effectiveness. Not a very good measure.

And as for dissing my potatoes... I lost much more weight and felt MUCH better doing "Body for Life" type diet than I did w/ Atkins.

When I did Atkin's my vision would go black and I'd get dizzy evertime I stood up and eventually I fainted. Mmhmm... It was good.

[patlajan]

How are low carb diets lame? It's been proven that carbs were the culprit for all this obesity. 20 years ago they thought it was "NO FAT" and everything started coming out 98 or 99% fat free. But what do you know people were still getting fatter and more obese, the numbers were multiplying. It's only recently that they figured out that they were wrong and that the carbs were the enemy.

All of this obsessive compulsive calorie counting can be avoided by eating balanced meals, and spending more time on cardiovascular exercise. I avoid eating too many sugary foods too. But I don’t feel the need to know exactly how many calories are in my graham crackers. When I seem to be putting on weight in certain areas I run an extra mile on the treadmill. Problem solved.

We have an obesity “epidemic” because many people don’t exercise at all. They go from the car to the office and from the car to the house. They’re burning calories in double digits while putting in over 2,000 per day. No matter what they eat they would still be overweight.

Calories are calories, no matter where they come from

[patlajan]

This belongs in the Diet and Excercise thread. This thread is dedicated to how much Balley total crapness sucks.

[SagGal]

You can eat whatever you want whenever you want as long as you excercise properly. If you're a person who doesn't like to excercise then you basically just have to watch what you eat or, just eat less. A lot of people tend to gain weight simply from boredom. For example, if they have nothing to do they go for the fridge. Just eat when you're hungy, but if you absoulutely need something to chew on, get a baby carot or some sort of vegetable. Baby carots are great way to lie to yourself. You just ate something that was not fattening. If you can't handle that, then you should excercise.

P.S. Green tea helps you lose wight.

[omniscient]

By the way, I've got another 8 pounds to go to get to 180. I finally topped 170. And you're all short.

how tall are you? im exactly 6'0 and weigh 210 right now. So I'm trying to lose weight and you're trying to gain weight, if only this was reversed (sigh).

[omniscient]

as for dissing my potatoes... I lost much more weight and felt MUCH better doing "Body for Life" type diet than I did w/ Atkins.

When I did Atkin's my vision would go black and I'd get dizzy evertime I stood up and eventually I fainted. Mmhmm... It was good.

The "Body for Life" diet is very similar to the one I am on now. I already said the Atkins diet isn't for everyone and for those that try it they shouldn't go too long on it. As for losing more weight I would have thought you would have lost more overall weight with Atkins than "Body for Life", but some people are different when it comes to metabolism and how many calories they burn regularly.

[Crimson Glow]

Nah, calories are not calories. Depending on where they're coming from, they burn at different rates, effect your metabolism differently, different contents are advantageous to different systems in your body, etc. For example, every gram of protein and every gram of carbs are 4 calories each. The chances of excess protein going to fat are a LOT harder than carbs. Even within carbs, there are different types that burn at different rates and are therefore on different scales of difficult in turning to fat. And the new big argument: Sugar alcohols (maltitol, glycerol, etc.). These DO add to the calorie content of a food, but manufacturers of low carb bars didn't list the amount contained within their products for the longest time because they argued it doesn't impact you in any way, shape or form. The FDA finally passed a law about 2 years ago saying that the sugar alcohol amount HAD to be stated, and it must be listed under carbohydrates. This is the reason you see 25 gr on the back of the label of a "low carb" bar, and the front says "Only 3 'impact carb'". They also made it illegal to use the term low carb since the FDA hasn't established what that is. Anyways, point is, there is usually a decent chunk of this stuff in any low carb food (candies, bars, breads, etc). It is necessary to hold the products together since the "traditional carbs" are missing. Only powders and ready to drink shakes don't have them. But these calories don't effect you at all (supposedly, anyway). So, moral is, all calories are not created equal.

As for the Atkins type diets, the reason most people feel sluggish and tired is because of the severity of carb deprivation. He has you doing 20 carbs a day during the 2-week induction phase. Problem is, brain function alone burns up 35 carbs a day. Every single process in your body burns energy/carbs to do its job, from digesting your foods, to thinking. So it’s not that the diet doesn’t work, it’s just stupid. I mean, if you have enough self control to eat no carbs all day, how come you can’t just turn really bad food away instead? How did you get to this weight to begin with if you have this much control over your impulses? “Hmmmm…..do I continue to pig out and tell everyone I’m merely doing this to chase my ambitions of being the next Anna Nichole Smith, or do I suddenly find enough control out of no where to cut out carbs and get down to a healthy weight through a not so healthy process?” It’s all or nothing with some people, I guess.

P.S. Green tea helps you lose wight.

Yeaaahh, it's as effective as using cortisol blockers to reduce stress, and in turn, allow you to lose weight.

Anyways, as for the getting away with eating what you like if you exercise, that's fine if you're doing it merely for looks. But don't forget the toll you're taking on your cardiovascular system. Being thin doesn't mean you're not clogging your arteries. The only way to prevent that from happening is to eat right (everything in moderation). The "3 square meals a day" crap we were taught in school is just more of the FDAs incompetent misinformation. It's great for slowind DOWN the rate you burn calories at (your body interprets stretches of long hours without food as starvation, and slows down the metabolism as a reaction, accordingly). By far, the most ideal way to eat is 5-6 smaller meals a day, fist sized portions of everything, each meal containing around 25 gm of carbs and protein each. You'll have to fluctuate the actual amounts a bit with your body weight, type, reaction, etc. This alone has many benefits to it. For starters, you'll feel better because nutrients are coming in on a smaller, more consistent basis instead of having the big ups and downs. You'll speed up the metabolism because your body sees calories coming in in a timely manner. Also, you'll avoid catabolic state in which your body has been out of protein long enough, that it will start tearing down muscle tissue looking for it. Oh yeah, and the exercise. I get a kick out of all the scrawny, anorexic b*tches that come in looking for fat burners. You know why you're so thin and still look "fat" and flabby? Because you have starved your muscles of nutriends by not eating, which ironically, has eaten away your muscle as well as your fat, you DOLT! There's nothing left beneath your skin but bones!! Calories are not the enemy. Lazyness and lack of self control are, as with most things in life.

So yeah, to recap, Atkins: retarded trend. Dieting without proper nutrition, cardio AND weights: You're a DOLT! And 5-6 small meals as outlined: do it, or don't bother breathing!

*pats everyone on the head* Sorry if that happened to offend anyone, but consider it tough love, people. It's tough love.

[winoman]

I think the (America's weight) problem is more from being sedentary - sitting in front of the TV munching chips & such - not eing active enough - and eating big meals right before going to bed...

balanced diet is key - and don't forget your veggies! (and speaking of I had a friend who lost over 100lbs on a carrt diet...he constantly was munching on carrots and was too full & tired of eating to pig out on much of anything else...

Still - I think the obsession with weight (like - "I must be 100lbs") is a bit sad & silly. And people should accept who they are more...sure - try to stay in god/decnt shape - but don't obsess (particularly folks who feel they have to meet some image put forth by society/TV/advertisers etc - your really falling into a sad trap...)...life is too short...

[loseyourname]

how tall are you? im exactly 6'0 and weigh 210 right now. So I'm trying to lose weight and you're trying to gain weight, if only this was reversed (sigh).

I'm 6'2", and it takes a lot of effort for me to stay at or over 180.