Atkins help....

Have you actually tied proper dieting? How can you say you're "fat" from carbs. Carbs are 4 kcal per gram. It's the same as protein. Granted, protein has a higher thermogenic effect on the body but it's not going to make a huge difference.

Maybe post up your diet/exercise plan for the last few months and then you can find something that is a little healthier than Atkins.

The calorie count is the same as protein, but the break down is different. I read a lot about not consuming too many carbs, Jillian Michaels, Bob Greene, and we all have different body types. I know that carbs has a negative effect on my body. I have minimized the number of carbs and lost a good amout of weight in a short period of time. As soon as I began to eat those foods again, I gained weight. My exercise remained the same, but the increase of carbs changed.

I am trying to find something that works for me. Can't keep battling over the same old six pounds. I want to lose not be stagnant.

I am hoping that some bright light goes off somewhere :-)

Thanks a ton!

You have some misconceptions about carbohydrates. The breakdown isn't that much different. Granted, carbohydrates turn into glucose to be used as energy but fat and protein do the same thing when blood sugar is low and nutrients are needed. This is done through ketosis and gluconeogenesis.

Also, of course you lost weight when you cut carbs out. Carbs hold water. 1g of carbohydrate holds about 3-5 grams of water. If you cut that out, you're going to hold less water. That does't mean you're losing fat, it just means you're going to weigh less on a scale.

The things that "work" for you would be based off of science and not what Jillian Michaels or other unqualified people say. Do it the smart way, not the unhealthy way. You don't need the Atkins diet to lose the last 5 pounds.

You should also be a bit more careful about spreading misinformation. Ketosis does not turn fat or protein into glucose as you stated above in your first paragraph.

Similarly while it is true that you may experience water-weight loss on a ketogenic diet, you very likely also will lose body fat. There are many peer-reviewed studies as well as volumes of anecdotal evidence which support this. Your second post implies that you won't lose body fat on such a diet. Are you explicitly stating that?

As to your comments about science, I think you need to do some more reading yourself.

[snip]

On a ketogenic diet, people also consume less calories by default. I was consuming on average 2500 calories for weightloss before I went in to a ketogenic diet... I'll be lucky if I get in 2000 i do my best to get those calories in. Of course the more protein will help with nitrogen retention and of course resistance training will also help persevere muscle mass.

What is also interesting is that if you consume too much protein it can throw you out of ketosis due to the high glycogenesis. I think protein can use up to around 50% for glycogenesis. This make fat highly important in this diet, since it has no effect on insulin plus it really helps satiety.

I think that is true in my case about fewer calories eaten on a ketogenic diet however I also tend to lose more weight than my calorie deficit would predict. Some of that is likely water weight yet my body fat measurements (I use a BF caliper and also a Tanita BF scale) have also dropped over 7% and my hips and waist have gotten noticeably smaller over the last 4 to 5 months.

I've been tracking calories here for a couple of weeks and before that on a spreadsheet I created and I find that unless I have something really enticing to eat like smoked babyback ribs or Conecuh sausage (that was yesterday, ymmmm), I generally eat fewer calories than what I've planned to eat. One reason for this is that all of my old midday carb cravings have gone completely away.

In addition, doing something active every day, which for me consists of at least a daily 45 minute dog walk along with tennis and strength training three or four days a week, puts my maintenance calories at a level I have difficulty meeting unless I force myself to eat. Because I play tennis, I've been experimenting recently with targeted fast absorbing carb intake right before and during play so that I have enough energy to run for 2+ hours.

I test myself with keto stix every few days now just for kicks but I can generally tell now when I'm in ketosis. I almost never test at extremely high ketone levels unless I'm very dehydrated. On the other hand, I control my nutrient percentage intakes carefully enough so that I rarely knock myself completely out. You are absolutely correct that while controlling the amount and type of carbs is the cornerstone to this type diet, your fat intake is equally important to making it work effectively.

All the above is strictly my opinion, so YMMV.

Have you actually tied proper dieting? How can you say you're "fat" from carbs. Carbs are 4 kcal per gram. It's the same as protein. Granted, protein has a higher thermogenic effect on the body but it's not going to make a huge difference.

Maybe post up your diet/exercise plan for the last few months and then you can find something that is a little healthier than Atkins.

The calorie count is the same as protein, but the break down is different. I read a lot about not consuming too many carbs, Jillian Michaels, Bob Greene, and we all have different body types. I know that carbs has a negative effect on my body. I have minimized the number of carbs and lost a good amout of weight in a short period of time. As soon as I began to eat those foods again, I gained weight. My exercise remained the same, but the increase of carbs changed.

I am trying to find something that works for me. Can't keep battling over the same old six pounds. I want to lose not be stagnant.

I am hoping that some bright light goes off somewhere :-)

Thanks a ton!

You have some misconceptions about carbohydrates. The breakdown isn't that much different. Granted, carbohydrates turn into glucose to be used as energy but fat and protein do the same thing when blood sugar is low and nutrients are needed. This is done through ketosis and gluconeogenesis.

Also, of course you lost weight when you cut carbs out. Carbs hold water. 1g of carbohydrate holds about 3-5 grams of water. If you cut that out, you're going to hold less water. That does't mean you're losing fat, it just means you're going to weigh less on a scale.

The things that "work" for you would be based off of science and not what Jillian Michaels or other unqualified people say. Do it the smart way, not the unhealthy way. You don't need the Atkins diet to lose the last 5 pounds.

You should also be a bit more careful about spreading misinformation. Ketosis does not turn fat or protein into glucose as you stated above in your first paragraph.

Similarly while it is true that you may experience water-weight loss on a ketogenic diet, you very likely also will lose body fat. There are many peer-reviewed studies as well as volumes of anecdotal evidence which support this. Your second post implies that you won't lose body fat on such a diet. Are you explicitly stating that?

As to your comments about science, I think you need to do some more reading yourself.

I think he was talking about the gluconeogenic amino acids and glycerol from triglycerides. Obviously if you eat too much protein on a Keto diet they'll become TCA intermediates.

The second part he was talking about was probably muscle/liver glycogen depletion and the water lost from that. Then of course comes the fat loss afterwards...