THere.
Now Terry can see which basic scientific principles you misunderstand and help you.
Why would YOU be on his ignore list?
Billy
THere.
Now Terry can see which basic scientific principles you misunderstand and help you.
Why would YOU be on his ignore list?
Billy
No, it’s biochemistry. They overlap, but they aren’t the same. As you mentioned, metabolism plays a part. If you starve yourself, your body starts slowing down, holding onto its energy reserves. And there are other factors, like the fact that it requires more energy to digest protein than it does to digest carbohydrates.
Correct. And not so correct. I have an overweight friend whose metabolism seems to have really slowed down. He keeps trying to lose weight and has a very hard time. He described to me how little he eats (which I believe he is accurately reporting). He eats like a bird. He is starving himself but it’s not working. How can that be explained? He’s not a couch potato. He’s not extremely active in an athletic sense, but he leads a busy life, which includes bike riding and being a volunteer EMT.
Hi, Jason. I’m glad you are here. Excellent point. I forgot about that one. I’ll have to analyze my eating behavior more closely…
More good points. I’ve read somewhere that the feeling of satiety is slow to arrive. If you eat fast, you can overshoot the mark.
I’m okay with Terry’s input. But now that I think about it, yeah, he’s an active guy. He can probably eat anything he wants and not ever have to deal with a weight problem. He’s right in a sense (as is Gadge). If I were to become super-active, how could I not burn off all my excess fat? As long as I didn’t start eating more due to the increased activity. It’s also hard to become very active when you previously were not. Seriously overweight people don’t possess sufficient fitness levels to endure vigorous or prolonged exercise. I hike and canoe and sometimes inline skate and even unicycle on occasion. I can do that stuff every day, but I don’t have the motivation or willpower to get out there every day, in spite of it being fun. I have a lot going on. Other demands that involve chair time. I’m just not driven to be daily active. There’s resistance. Just as Terry’s spirit would revolt if he were forced to lead a sedentary life. I’m fighting a lifestyle inertia of sorts.
I guess I’m saying that there’s truth to Terry’s and Gadge’s remarks. But it’s very hard. And for some, they have a metabolic disadvantage. And like I said, you can exercise like crazy and develop a ravenous appetite as a response. Should you ignore the hunger pangs? If you respond to your increased appetite a bit too enthusiastically, you can actually gain (fat) weight. Another metabolism complication in action. Also, fat and protein provide satiety longer than carbs. You just won’t feel hungry for a longer time. And on Atkins ketogenic diet, appetite seems to be suppressed, thus reducing your caloric intake. Both are metabolic advantages. Why make it harder than it has to be?
Atkins requires exercise. They are adamant about it. I’ve already lost 15 pounds – the Terry way – by being more active and watching portion sizes (with no specific “diet”). Now I’m trying to get turbo-charged.
Dave,
OK when you MUST be in the chair, be in the chair. I know all about that.
But when you don’t have to be in the chair and you need some motivation to exercise, you can also use caffeine without any concerns. Coffee, tea, JOLT, stay away from methamphetamine or cocaine.
r u doing the Unithon?
Billy
I’m in the chair right now. I’d like to be in the kitchen right now making homemade biscuits and drenching them in butter. But Dr. Atkins says I can’t. I can eat all the butter I want but I have nothing to put it on. I went caffeine-free three or four years ago. Not going to switch back. And I kicked my cocaine habit once. I’m not going down that path again either. Okay, I never did cocaine.
Don’t tell Raphael, but I’m not sure. I was planning to go this year, but now I’m not sure.
Actually, before I started riding three plus years ago, I was almost 170-175 lbs, and at 5’11’ I had almost a 35" waist. Yes, that’s not obese or extreme, but for me I’d never been that heavy before becoming a piano tuner, which meant that I was mostly sitting a lot. The pounds started creeping up little by little until my clothes didn’t fit anymore and I was “suddenly” about 25 lbs heavier at 175, and it wasn’t muscle!
So I started riding and trained HARD almost every day, literally sweating my you-know-what off and my lungs needed a full 1/2 year to stop burning after only a few-what are now easy-miles. Little by little I started feeling better, stronger, and the pounds and inches started coming off until I leveled out at my current 142 lbs and a 29-30" waist. This took at least a full year. As to the “eat anything” part, well in a way that’s true…now that I ride every day and burn it off, so I can literally have my cake and eat it too!
It was an uphill battle in the true sense but if I’m anything, I’m determined once I make up my mind to see it through and reach my goal. But it doesn’t stop just because you reach it. You have to do it for life, and it becomes a way of life. I think the hardest part about getting in to shape and shedding the pounds is to STICK with it and not quit!
Once your body adapts it becomes much easier and you even look forward to the exercise. It’s that “adapting” part that can take some time, but it’s so worth it! MUni and unicycling in general has changed my life in so many positive ways, and I will never stop…or at least go on as long as I can.
And btw, I did clearly state in my earlier post, that there are some people who may have medical issues; and/or other problems that could make it much harder if not impossible to attain the same results as the average person. I get that.
They always leave me in the dust. I’m hoping there’s someone who might want to take it casual for the first 10 miles or the last 10 miles.
Recent research indicates caffeine is a performance enhancing drug with no bad effects, and measurable improved performance among athletes, whenever they actually use it (placebo had not effect–good science.
Billy
Agreed. You’ve explained why teenage girls who “starve” themselves to lose weight never really drop the pounds they want. This is why you need to kick up your activity level, if you go that route. It forces the body to use those reserves, vice conserve.
Empirical evidence: can be gathered every other week at SERE School. Students of all adult ages (17-40+), activity levels, and body types are thrown out in the woods with no food. The typical student has little more than one cup of rabbit stew in the 6 days of the course. It is starvation, pure and simple. BUT the studs are kept on the move, expending a hell of a lot of energy. “Someone I know” did the course and lost 6 pounds in as many days; he was 6’2" and 160 to start with. A 5’5" male, 220 Lbs lost 15 lbs in the same amount of time. Typical results fall inside this range.
Wanna lose weight?
How much you commit to steps 1 and 2 will dictate rate of weight loss.
Every God’s Gift to movie stars fad diet I’ve seen seems to have these elements, they just try to nuance them, mask them, or ease you into them.
Terry, thanks for posting your story. It’s inspirational. But like we both said (oops), metabolism and other factors can make it even more difficult.
Now that I’m understanding you better (and not partially dismissing your ideas because I somehow figured that you never had a weight problem to deal with in your entire skinny, super-fit life), do you think I’m denying myself the opportunity to transition into a more active lifestyle? Meaning, by taking the easy route, a weight-loss diet, rather than purely exercising the fat off, do you think I’m delaying or jeopardizing developing the habit of an active lifestyle?
I am exercising. Not enough. But I’m improving. And the clock is ticking. Because I’m probably going to drop the diet after I lose the weight. Most people who do that regain everything they’ve lost. I’ll need an increased metabolism and activity level in order to keep the pounds from returning. In other words, I have to develop an active lifestyle. I have to develop additional muscle mass in order to increase my metabolic rate. I have to develop a fitness level such that I can engage in a meaningful amount of sustained exercise. Otherwise, the pounds will return. My plan is to slowly develop an active lifestyle while simultaneously losing weight on Atkins. It’s faster, plus the less overweight you are, the easier it is to be active. I’m still hoping someone will comment on my overall plan. What do you think? Are you against Atkins (remember I already happily eat a high-fat diet)? To me it seems okay to use both an eating technique and physical activity to lose weight.
For once, I agree with you. I read a study last month about triathletes using Diet Coke to pep them up during races, to great effect. It seems most of the bad juju we were told about caffeine was actually caused by the other crap in the caffeinated beverage (like 800g of sugar. . .).
actually, you should think of new permanent lifestyle, not diet.
Smaller portions. Yes. “Healthy” foods? Maybe. Whenever I hear someone say they are going to start “eating healthy”, it raises a red flag with me. If you buy into the upside-down USDA Food Pyramid and the lipid hypothesis (if so, you should read The Oiling of America), then you are going to avoid fat and replace healthy fats with heat-labile (polyunsaturated), high-Omega-6 vegetable oils. Eating healthy means different things to different people. You have to get it right.
I haven’t owned or watched a TV in about 7 or 8 years.
Eat the wrong kinds of foods and your energy level drops. You are tired all the time. You can’t exercise much. Or maybe you have food allergies that are slowing you down. Or you have sleep problems. Forget about exercising; you can barely make it through the day. While part of me agrees with you (and Terry and Gadge), the other part of me says it’s not that simple. You are basically indicting all overweight people as being lazy and weak-willed. I don’t think they are.
Some people are chronically dehydrated. They can mistake thirst for hunger. Also, people can be overfed and malnourished. I once made a concerted effort to eat more nutrient-dense foods. Guess what happened? My appetite diminished. My body got everything it needed, so it didn’t crave more. But feed the body crap and it will get a little of the nutrients it needs, so it says (through the hunger signal), feed me more! I need more of that crap! The unhealthy foods (like you say) make it difficult. There’s a lot of government- and industry-supplied misinformation about what “healthy food” actually is. I think those unhealthy foods are excess empty carbohydrates. Enter Dr. Atkins. Traditional fats. Protein. Vegetables. Limited high-sugar fruits. Exercise. And the absolute avoidance of refined sugars and flours and all the tasty processed foods made out of them. Controlling the insulin response.
Eat healthy and exercise basically describes the Atkins diet (again, unless you buy into the low-fat propaganda). It’s far from the ideal diet, but it’s also far better than the Standard American Diet.
Thanks for your post I appreciate the meaningful and positive dialog. I don’t know enough about the Atkins diet-or any other-to comment on it. I basically eat like I always have, some good some not so healthy, but with the 6-7 day MUni/coker rides, it’s the way I pay the piper. There was one week when I didn’t ride due to being sick, and I GAINED back several pounds! So if I want to stay at the weight and fitness level I’m at, I have to keep doing what I do to burn off excess calories, and keep my metabolism up. But luckily, I love it and look forward to riding ever day!
But I think you’re on the right track and you clearly are putting forth good ideas. You’re only 44, so you can accomplish your goals, I know you can. Just don’t try too much at once; that’s what some people do and they end up frustrated and quit. Take things easy and build up your routine slowly. The hare and the turtle thing. You’ll be successful, I know it!
Sometimes I feel like I’m repeating myself too much in this thread. But… I’ve talked extensively about my plan to build a new lifestyle. So yes, I couldn’t agree with you more. It’s like you took the words right out of my mouth. Unless you are saying scrap the diet and just be more active.
Also, I hate the word “diet”. To me, it implies fad diet, or lack of knowledge of nutrition, plus setting yourself up for failure. I also don’t like how the meaning has been twisted. Before Atkins, I ate a high-fat diet. I wasn’t “on” a “diet”. Diet simply means what you eat. Part of the diet of monkeys is bananas. The monkeys are not “on” a diet (as in weight-loss diet), they have a diet. We look at what they eat and call that their diet.
I’d rather say that I’ve decided to mediate the insulin response by reducing or eliminating sugars and starches that easily convert to glucose in order to control the insulin-related utilization and storage mechanism of excess glucose. Eliminating insulin spikes and dips will avoid the false feeling of hunger. The message of insulin? Store what you can as glycogen, then store the rest as fat. I’m also curbing my appetite, which will lower my daily caloric intake, by self-inducing a state of ketosis, which may or may not also confer a stored-fat-burning advantage. Lastly, I’m becoming more active.
That sounds better than picking out the latest fad diet book because it was written by a celebrity or because the book has a pretty cover or catchy name.
The vegetarians are noticeably absent in this thread. Aren’t you guys going to give me a dose of my karma? I’m eating almost nothing but animal products! Come on! Tell us what’s on your mind!
Have you looked at the south beach diet? Somewhat similar, but I think it’s better than the “eat all meat” diet.
The basis of the diet is to eat foods that have a low glycemic index.
That sounds like something I read here. I think they (and you) make a lot of sense (except I’m not convinced you really need to buy the stuff they’re selling).
I don’t really like diets that take healthy stuff out of your diet. A low fat diet is not healthy if it makes you stop eating enough fish and vegetable oil. A low carb diet is not healthy if it makes you stop eating enough vegetables.
You sound like you know a bit about what’s good for you and what isn’t.
Good luck.
If you could be a bit more specific, we’ll try to satisfy you.
But if you’re asking vegetarians to be sadists to your masochistic impulses, you should know that vegetarians are less hostile, aggressive, violent, or rude than meat eaters.
Let’s irritate Dave by reminding of this basic truth:
actually, you should think of new permanent lifestyle, not diet.
Though he claims to know it, he has only taken it in in a “neck up” manner.
Okay, here’s the deal. Atkins is not a “just eat meat” diet. It allows for plenty of vegetables. In fact, it requires them. And once you advance beyond the initial weight-loss stages, you will be eating even more vegetables and fruits.
I am currently eating more vegetables on Atkins than I did previous on the Dave Lowell diet.
I don’t so much think of it as a “diet.” It’s a controlled carbohydrate way of eating. This is incredibly important. For the first time in my life, my pancreas is taking a break, not having to pump out insulin all the time. For the first time in my life, I’m not feeding the bad bacteria in my intestinal flora with refined sugars and flours. For the first time in my life, I’m not suppressing my immune system by eating refined sugar and flour. Forget about the weight loss issue – I want to follow this through and see where it leads. Better sleep? More energy? Better mood? Better overall health? Increased insulin sensitivity? Better metabolic functioning? Longer life (read about the effects of insulin)?
I’ve temporarily cut out refined junk foods (white bread, white rice, pasta, sugar-laden foods) and replaced them with more vegetables than I was previously eating. Don’t worry, I plan to add back limited quantities of that junk food when I go off the “diet.”
Atkins is not ideal. Perhaps if you emphasized lacto-fermented foods and beverages and bone broths, plus added back grains that were properly prepared (soaked or sprouted), you would come closer to the way the Weston A. Price Foundation recommends you eat.
Here are a few articles by Dr. Ron Rosedale on insulin and leptin. I read one of them many years ago on Dr. Mercola’s web site, but this other web site has a lot of good articles all in one place –
Dr. Ron Rosedale –
Insulin and Its Metabolic Effects
Diabetes Is Not A Disease Of Blood Sugar! (I do not have diabetes, by the way)
Diabetes and Leptin Connection
The following is a fabulous presentation by Sally Fallon and Dr. Mary Enig, president/founder and vice president, respectively, of the Weston A. Price Foundation –
The Oiling of America or use the link to the original article on the WAPF site
Also by Sally Fallon and Dr. Enig –
And Dr. Weston A. Price himself, a doctor (dentist, actually), who traveled the world in the 1930s to study isolated populations that were eating their native, ancestral diets. He examined their overall health and dental health and he studied in great detail what they were eating. This study would be impossible today.
I’ve been quite enthusiastically vocal with my views against vegetarianism. I thought that it would be nice, in fair and well-deserved karmic reciprocation, if a few vegetarians or vegans stopped by to tell me – nicely or otherwise – why I’m making a mistake.