Low Carbs, No Fats... Is It Really Healthy?

[Attalus]

I have been on low-carb diets three times, and each time I lost the amount of weight I wanted to, and my cholesterol and triglycerides went way down. Even Atkins doesn't say no carbs, as Larry correctly points out, just 20 g. a day or less during the two-week induction period, and 60 gm or less daily thereafter. I am now in month seven of an Atkins diet, have lost 46 lb., and my cholesterol and triglycerides have gone down, back to normal.

[Rataxes]

Tell your dad that your body practically ceases to burn fat while you have alcohol in your blood. And there isn't a diet in the world that can make you lose weight unless you have a calorie deficit.

[T/-/alali]

Thats the thing, he won't listen....

[Ilander]

subliminal messaging, record you saying it, and then sneak it in and play it while he's asleep!

[T/-/alali]

heheh, he snores too loud to hear anything in his sleep....

[Ilander]

I wonder if snoring burns calories?

[T/-/alali]

I doubt it.

[Sir Kenyth]

Think about it this way. The two things that have been blamed for weight gain and unhealthy weights are fats and carbs. Guess what the only two things your body uses for raw energy are? When you take all fad diets into consideration, the bottom line is that prolonged excess calories and deficits in nutrients are bad for you. Boy, there's brain surgery for ya! The reason you can eat more protein calories than normally with sugar is that your body has to digest the protein, and then make the enzymes to convert the amino acids into sugar. That takes extra energy. It strains your whole metabolism. It also floods your body with the by products of this process and strains your waste removal systems (kidneys). We are not carnivores and are not meant to subsist on totally protein diets.

[Gangrell]

Originally posted by Rataxes: And Gangrell, 20 pounds in 2 weeks? You sure you aren't exaggerating those numbers by quite a bit? A tenth of that weight loss in that period is what is considered safe (meaning little loss of muscle tissue). It's practically impossible, except for very obese persons, to lose more than 2 pounds of body fat per week.

It was either two or three weeks, probably three, it was last summer when I did it so I can't remember it that well. But no, that's not exaggerated, you'd be amazed how a little exercise goes a long way. I just walked two miles everyday and whatever weight I lost, I just worked with weights afterwards to build myself back up. (And I watched what I ate too of course)

[Rataxes]

Gangrell, without involving the precise mathematics, let me just say that for any normally overweight person, it is impossible to burn 20 pounds of fat in two or even three weeks, let alone with as little exercise as a 30 minute walk per day. You sure you didn't also greatly decrease your calorie intake as well during that period? Walking for 210 minutes would barely burn half a pound. Now I'm guessing that you had probably stuffed a lot of food and/or liquid in you before weighing yourself the first time. It's not unreasonable to measure a difference of 20 pounds within two weeks time, but I'd be willing to bet that at least 80% of those 20 pounds consisted of water, glycogen, half digested food and muscle tissue.

[ 07-10-2004, 05:40 PM: Message edited by: Rataxes ]