One week experiment... low carb to low fat!

It's understandable that you'd be confused at this point. So many different takes on the "right way" to lose the weight. My advice...(may as well add it here! :-) is go with all food groups in a balanced way. Most times when people go for a more "radical" approach it eventually catches up with them in some way (loss of muscle mass, being tired all the time, being scared of certain foods, moodiness and hormonal spikes, etc.). Being scared of certain foods (ex. sweets) and feeling they'll take over if you go out to shop makes me think you've deprived yourself so much of them that they've taken on their own power. Make your focus staying within your calorie goal and if, at first, sweets win out...eventually you'll most likely cut back on them so you can fill up with more filling and nutritious foods. Whatever you choose to do, wishing you good health!

have u tried losing weight on a balanced diet?

/thread


no need to complicate things.. Eat at a deficit of no more than 1000 calories and try not to overthink things right now.

RULE 4: SLASH YOUR INTAKE OF REFINDED FLOURS AND GRANI

Doesn't matter what you eat, it's the macro breakdown

RULE 6: EAT APPLES AND BERRIES EVERY SINGLE DAY

This is not imperative by any means

RULE 7: NO CARBS AFTER LUNCE

Meal timing is pointless

RULE 10: NO ARTIFICIAL SWEETENERS

why?

RULE 11: GET RID OF WHITE POTATOES

white potatoes are fine.

RULE 12: MAKE ONE DAY A WEEK MEATLESS

why?

RULE 13: GET RID OF FAST FOODS AND FRIED FOODS

Once again, it's macro count not the food you intake. Just need micronutrients (vitamins/fiber)

RULE 14: EAT A REAL BREAKFAST

You don't even have to eat "breakfast" if you don't want to

RULE 16: BANISH HIGH SALT FOODS

Why? A good water intake combats this anyway

RULE 18: GO TO BED HUNGARY

This means nothing.

RULE 20: EAT SNACKS IN BETWEEN MEALS, DON'T LET YOUR BODY GO INTO STARVE MOOD, IT WILL STORE YOUR FAT IF YOU DO.

LOL, and the worst rule of all of these. Ok so if I'm on a calorie DEFICIT to lose weight, I'm going to suddenly go "starve mode" if I don't eat for a couple of hours and STORE fat? No. Just no

Everything quoted is a load of crap. Sorry

I do most of the listed things and have burned tons of fat whilst doing so.

Some quick responses below:

1.. It was all going nicely, then the weight loss stopped, reversed, stopped again and so, after a bit of up and down, I am back where I was ten days ago. To me this is a waste of ten days! I should have lost at least 3 or 4lb in that time!

That's fairly common on low carbohydrate diets, in my experience. Plateau for awhile, then lose weight pretty quickly, then plateau for awhile...etc. I've had times where I've plateaued, weight-wise, but lost inches. I'm guessing it had something to do with water retention, but I didn't bother looking into it too much.

I think, in terms of days wasted, any time that you spend on the diet of your choosing and following it appropriately is not wasted. At the very least, you have another set of data points that you can use to make changes going forward.

2. I have a cold and my body is calling me to eat fruit. This is incompatible with Atkins.

It's generally incompatible with ketogenic diets or atkins induction. Atkins after several months, to my understanding, incorporates some fruits.

3. Many people on MFP have lost over 100lb simply by calorie counting and NOT low carb or Atkins. Many keep on telling me that *carbs are not evil*. Many people claim that dieting is all about CICO and nothing else matters.

It's definitely possible to lose weight via calorie counting. I think this discussion gets into a lot of extraneous issues which never end well - diet maintainability (I prefer to eat a VLC diet and find it more maintainable) being the primary thing. I think that, most of the time, when people discuss CICO, they minimize the complexity of the equation.

4. Some people believe it's good to shake up your metabolism or "keep the body guessing" by changing your diet now and again.

That's true -- some people believe that. I'm not sure how valuable it is, but why not? It's your diet, you get to choose what you want to do.

5. Eating the Atkins way blunted my appetite so much that I have not felt hungry even after an 18 hour fast followed by vigorous water aerobics. I'd like to see if Atkins has permanently re-trained my appetite, or whether eating low fat is going to make me ravenous.

Generally appetite suppression is a benefit of low carbohydrate diets.

6. Eating the Atkins way killed my sweet tooth, stopped me bingeing, taught me to live without anything sweet in my diet. I'd like to see if Atkins has permanently destroyed my sweet tooth or whether eating fruit is going to cause sugar cravings.

Come back and let us know your findings. I'm interested in this.

7. Eating the Atkins way stopped me from having any stomach problems. I've never had constipation, diarrhoea, wind or indigestion . I'd like to see if I get digestive troubles once I eat low fat.

It depends -- if you believe low carb cured your stomach problems, you might be fine. It's possible your diet just created a situation where your body tolerated the food better, and they can come back. Let us know.

8. As I have not tried low fat calorie counting in many years, maybe my metabolism has healed and can take a more varied diet.

Awesome.

9. I am really looking forward to eating a wider range of foods, especially sweet, crunchy, fat-free foods. It will make such a change from eating only greasy, meat foods.

I would suggest that if you were only eating greasy meat foods, you weren't actually following a VLC diet properly.

10. I worry that my high-meat diet isn't doing me any good because of the hormones in the meat and the grains in their diet. I cannot find any grass fed meats.

I don't worry too much about any of that.

11. I have suffered with a lack of energy and feeling depressed. I've had three attacks of hypoglycaemia this year.

This is a legitimate medical concern, and could be a driver for dietary change.

12. Many people say it's better to graze all day, eating little and often, six small meals a day and no fasting, rather than what I have been doing which is fasting 18 hrs then eating 2 big meals in a 6 hour window.

Many people do say that. It's of dubious benefit, though.

13. It will be MUCH easier to eat out in restaurants if I am only counting calories.

This is actually likely incorrect. Calorie counting at restaurants is at best a dicey guess -- and the nutritional information they post online rarely corresponds well to what you actually end up eating, except in restaurants with extremely high production controls.

Wow who resuscitated this old, dead thread?

I'm doing fantastically well now on a high fat almost zero carb ketogenic diet. So long as I keep to it, that is - I've had a couple of blips, and felt rotten physically and mentally. This is good as it keeps me on track.

Off keto I gained 9 lbs in a few weeks, back on and I have lost 14lb in 8 weeks. I think that tells me what I need to do....

I was wondering what your progress was, well done you!!
I did Atkins myself years ago and found it great for surpressing the appetite. I find the more carbs I eat the more out of control I am with carbs and it becomes a battle with myself. I regained the stone that I had lost in a month on Atkins in about the same time, and went carb crazy for a few months after. I didn't diet or exercise for a few years after that but was always active so stayed at the same weight. I was by no means obese, just more padded than I wanted but I have always loved eating. I love chocolate and crisps and missed them on the atkins. Now i am doing intermittent fasting every day (eating over an 8 hour period like you were) and I find it curbs my hunger hugely. I then get to eat all my daily cals over two meals, so I am full after each one. This suits me down to the ground and the battle is over. I am glad you didn't listen to people who say your body will store everything you eat after you 'starve' yourself. Going 18 hours is hardly starvation! And the more regularly I eat, the more my appetite increases. There is scientific backup for this on leangains.com and the stubborn fat solution. And they are two guys who know what they are talking about!!

I am going to eat like this for life. I think Atkins is great for teaching you to eat protein regularly and large amounts of it. I had digestive problems when I was on it, so quit after a month or so. (was resorting to laxatives to 'move things along'). Now I still focus on protein, now that I am calorie counting. I have a tin of tuna at lunch, fish or bacon for dinner, proteinpow.com brownies or other protein baked goods for dessert, and beef or pork jerky for snacks. Protein and fat are the missing key to weight loss, I definitely agree. Starchy carbs for me are the devil, I only have them with protein.

Well done on your journey and I am delighted you have stuck to it

Fabulous! Find what works for you and keep using it. I agree with you completely that keto diets work best for certain people, especially those with a genetic predisposition to diabetes.

Sometimes those who are the most informed can also be the most unwilling to open up to new scientific data that refutes their old belief system. I know because I was one of them and crinkled my nose at low carb diets. They seemed to contradict everything I was ever taught about so-called 'balanced diets' and nutrition. Many people (especially as we get older) lose the ability to process carbs the way we used to. I've been a vegetarian most of my life, not a junk food vegetarian, a whole grain, brown rice, veggies, fruit, tofu, low-fat -- all the things we are taught are healthy. No matter what I did though I started gaining and gaining, then I discovered that my blood sugar was sky-high. Severe diabetes is very prevalent in my family. I researched around to see what worked best for lowering blood sugar and decided to give Keto a try. My blood sugar went down to normal almost immediately and has stayed there ever since.

I recommend a lecture given by D. Chistopher Gardner at Stanford School of Medicine (a vegetarian over 25 years) discussing the results of his year long research study into 4 different diets (Atkins, Traditional, Ornish, Zone -- A to Z ). The results took him by surprise. If the link below doesn't work, search on You tube for: "The Battle of the Diets: Is Anyone Winning (at losing)"

http://youtu.be/eREuZEdMAVo