Indecisions: I keep flipping back and forth between low-cal

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douglernerold
douglernerold Posts: 57
in Motivation and Support
There is an interesting, but very long (72 minutes!) lecture by Gary Taubes, a science writer for the New York Times and the author of "Good Calories, Bad Calories." If you have the patience to watch it all, it's interesting.

http://video.google.com/videoplay?docid=4362041487661765149#

I keep on swinging back and forth between low-fat/low-cal and the low-carb theory. I still can't find the "just perfect" combination, but if you listen to that lecture you become convinced that scientists have been discovering and rediscovering the effects of carbohydrates on fat gain for almost 100 years now and yet keep on ignoring the conclusions of their own research.

The only things about his lecture which bothers me are:

1. He never returns to his original slide showing the huge takeoff of obesity in the U.S. starting in the 70s to explain how it all fits in.

2. He doesn't really explain how countries, like Japan, with a relatively low percent of obese people are ok on extremely high-carbohydrate diets (loads of rice) and generally very low fat. Maybe that works because of the low amount of fat for the insulin to metabolize?

My own diet was getting out of control so to get appetite under control (I think everybody will at least agree that certain carbs stimulate appetite) I've been doing carb restrictions since 12/26.

What this means is that I'm having very few carbs, but lots of fats (butter, mayo, olive oil), macadamia nuts, chicken with the skin on, fatty meat and fish and cheese. Just a few vegetables and no fruits.

Since the 26th my cumulative weight change has been:

12/26 start
12/27 -0.9 lb
12/28 -2.2 lb
12/29 -3.1 lb
12/30 -3.1 lb
12/31 -4.4 lb
1/1 -5.7 lb

So what to make of this?

doug@still trying to figure things out

Replies

  • mccorml
    mccorml Posts: 622 Member
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    i believe it really doesnt matter yes ketogenic diets tend to burn more fat it also lowers your energy you need carbs to have energy naturaly so i believe calorie counting and just eating like a normal human being is the only way to be successful on diets the whole high carb low carb can be good if you want to cut the fat off but your still gonna have to maintain i find it easier to stick to a diet thats food i like rather than do something that im more likely to fail at.. just saying :)
  • douglernerold
    douglernerold Posts: 57
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    Maintaining has always been my big problem. Over the years I've lost 100+ lb by just calorie counting 5 or 6 times. But I can never keep it off. I always end up regaining all my weight. After about 700 days "something" happens and I just start eating more. It's like all my fat cells are screaming "feed me" and I lose control.

    I don't know what's "natural" anymore.

    doug
  • servingthealiens
    servingthealiens Posts: 144 Member
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    I'm a firm believer in low to moderate fat, and calories in/calories out. The first time I did MFP I wasn't eating a high fat diet, but I wasn't eating a low fat diet either, and I lost 8 pounds.

    If you can lose the weight but you can't keep it off, that just means that over time, you revert to old eating habits and consume more calories.

    IMHO, all the "science" behind diets is relevant, yes, but for the average person (ie, not a performance athlete or with specific dietary goals), what was said above holds true: eat food that normal people eat, in normal proportions. Exercise. Done.
  • douglernerold
    douglernerold Posts: 57
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    I'm beginning to think many people (including me at times) fall into the trap of thinking "if it works for me it must be universally true."

    It could very well be there isn't a one-size-fits-all diet approach suitable for everybody.

    There must be a reason why 90%+ people who lose weight regain. Yes of course, they end up eating poorly again. But why? I've gone 700+ days counting calories without even once being tempted to go off my diet and lost 100+ lb each time. So I know that method also works - at least temporarily. I wouldn't say "done" though because after 700 days something changes and I end up falling of the wagon, regaining, and can't stop myself.

    Something must be going on to trigger this if it happens to so many people.

    doug

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