Lately I've read a lot about how conventional wisdom is wrong. To lose weight, low cal diets don't work, calories in calories out is wrong. Science is now backing a low carb diet with high fat. Anyone read Primal Blueprint? Why We Get Fat and What To Do About it? The Calorie Myth? Anyone else follow a low carb-high fat diet?
Low Carb-High Fat
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Fit_mommy
Cathlete
The only carb I enjoy besides fruits and veggies is sweet potato. I have given up all breads, grains, pastas, beans, etc. I am basically following the paleo style of eating. I load up on fruit/veggies, lean protein and HEALTHY FATS such as nuts, nut butter, avocados, olive/coconut oil, etc and I love it! I used to swear by the low fat diet, using non fat sprays to cook my food in and low or non fat dressings on my salads. Not any more! Now I use mostly coconut oil to cook with and olive oil on my salads. It's delicious and I am losing weight/body fat!
As a side not, I got my cholesterol checked last year while still eating "low fat" and it was slightly elevated. I got it checked again this year, a few months after going basically paleo, and guess what? No more elevated cholesterol!
As a side not, I got my cholesterol checked last year while still eating "low fat" and it was slightly elevated. I got it checked again this year, a few months after going basically paleo, and guess what? No more elevated cholesterol!
Whenever you cut out a food group, chances are you lose weight. If you cut carbohydrates, your body does not store as much water. For 1 g of carbs the body stores 4 g of water. That's why you lose weight so quickly with low carb.
Eventually, it is calories in and calories out. Even in the maintenance phase of low carb high fat diets people rarely eat more than 2000 calories. I can even get away with eating 2800 calories and maintaining my current weight if I eat whole foods and not the junk that is readily available in the USA. Do not eat anything with preservatives and sugar, do not eat anything that comes in a box, can, or bag and see if you would not lose weight without looking at the calories.
I find this blog highly interesting on the subject if calories matter or don't:
How do some cultures stay lean while still consuming high amounts of carbohydrates? « The Eating Academy | Peter Attia, M.D. The Eating Academy | Peter Attia, M.D.
I eat a lot of bread, whole grain rye and wheat. I make my bread and I only put water, salt, flours/grains and a little yeast in it - no sugar, milk, eggs, fats, etc. what a typical American loaf of bread has.
The country's obesity problem is not caused by real foods - it's caused by the processed foods that are actually not fit for human consumption.
Eventually, it is calories in and calories out. Even in the maintenance phase of low carb high fat diets people rarely eat more than 2000 calories. I can even get away with eating 2800 calories and maintaining my current weight if I eat whole foods and not the junk that is readily available in the USA. Do not eat anything with preservatives and sugar, do not eat anything that comes in a box, can, or bag and see if you would not lose weight without looking at the calories.
I find this blog highly interesting on the subject if calories matter or don't:
How do some cultures stay lean while still consuming high amounts of carbohydrates? « The Eating Academy | Peter Attia, M.D. The Eating Academy | Peter Attia, M.D.
I eat a lot of bread, whole grain rye and wheat. I make my bread and I only put water, salt, flours/grains and a little yeast in it - no sugar, milk, eggs, fats, etc. what a typical American loaf of bread has.
The country's obesity problem is not caused by real foods - it's caused by the processed foods that are actually not fit for human consumption.
Peter Attia was even on Dr. Oz a couple weeks back. I've decided to cut out the carbs: grains, sugar, bread, pasta, potatoes. The only carbs I eat now are through vegetables and fruits. I've added more fat to my diet, coconut oil, butter, olive oil, coconut milk, heavy cream...bacon! I've noticed I'm not starving all the time! I can go hours without a snack.
I've also cut out the steady state cardio. "Chronic Cardio". I walk and lift weights, soon I will start biking and sprinting outside. For the first time in a long time, I feel refreshed, energetic and healthy.
I've also cut out the steady state cardio. "Chronic Cardio". I walk and lift weights, soon I will start biking and sprinting outside. For the first time in a long time, I feel refreshed, energetic and healthy.
I eat a lot less when I eat full fats, too. One is not tempted to eat junk when you had a satisfying whole foods meal.
Eating processed foods is one of the greatest risk factors for chronic diseases such as heart disease and cancer. Many mental illnesses can be traced to chemical imbalances that are caused by the chemicals in our food, too. We simply cannot trust a billion dollar industry to do what is right for the consumer - and that leads to not trusting the FDA, too. Most huge food companies are affiliated with Pharmaceutical Companies. I think the FDA approved about 5000 chemicals to be added into our food supply, the European Union only approved 5 of those 5000 chemicals to be added into their food supply.
I found Dr. Attia's article about how sugar feeds some cancer cells very interesting.
Justinef
Cathlete
Skatch - perhaps Cathe read your question - see this week's blog
Cathe Friedrich - All Calories Are Not Created Equal: Why Eating Less and Exercising More Isn’t Always an Effective Weight Loss Strategy
The Gary Taubes book really made sense to me. I know that, for me, moderate fat, a decent amount of protein, and consuming carbs only as vegetables (perhaps a small amout of fruit - berries), just really seems to work.
Michael Pollan's In Defence of Food is a great read. Eat real food, mostly plants, not too much.
Cathe Friedrich - All Calories Are Not Created Equal: Why Eating Less and Exercising More Isn’t Always an Effective Weight Loss Strategy
The Gary Taubes book really made sense to me. I know that, for me, moderate fat, a decent amount of protein, and consuming carbs only as vegetables (perhaps a small amout of fruit - berries), just really seems to work.
Michael Pollan's In Defence of Food is a great read. Eat real food, mostly plants, not too much.
ReneePruitt
Cathlete
I am not sure because I got on the tail end of the talk radio program but, I heard a man saying that a lot of the food companies have been sold to some of the tobacco companies. He was saying that since 80's obesity has risen 5 % every decade till now it is 2 in 3 adults are not overweight. And he was doing research and u know how tobacco co put addictive additives into the tobacco well now since buying a lot of the processed food company's they have done the same with the food!! I was wondering had anyone else heard about this as well?
lisa_la_machina
Cathlete
Renee, check out the book "Salt Sugar Fat" by Michael Moss. It's a fair and informative look into how the big food giants get us hooked on their food products. And yes, big tobacco owns most of the major food processing companies in the U.S.
Yep - HFCS and the flavor enhancers the industry is putting in our foods are highly addictive. But the addictive nature of the processed foods is not the only reason for our obesity problem: Additionally, the serving sizes, the big plates and glasses are reasons for our weight gain. When is the last time you actually had a 5 oz. glass of juice and a 8 oz. glass of milk? Restaurant serving sizes used to be a lot smaller, less than half what is served nowadays. Furthermore, we do not move anymore and not matter what you do in your daily hour of exercise, it will not make up for a sedentary lifestyle. It's the little activities we do not do anymore that kills our metabolism, such as cooking from scratch, doing dishes, walk the dog, sweep the floors, walk to the stores, typing on the typewriter even, taking the stairs, etc. We sit in front of the computers/TVs/Smart Phones all day, pick up our food without effort on our part, use a voice recognition program to do the typing for us - those things make us fat.
Grains have been around since the beginning of civilization and every time peoples could rely on grains for nutrition, great civilizations developed. People are omnivores: any food in its natural state in moderation. IT IS THE MAN-MADE PROCESSED FOODS THAT IS KILLING US - not whole grain flours or rice.
I have to disagree on this. Your diet counts way more than how much you move. I have a physically demanding job, I walk the dog for an hour a day and worked out for an hour everyday, Cathe or running/cycling/swimming....and I'm overweight. I was always starving. I ate what I thought was a "healthy" diet, including whole wheat pastas, rice, bread, fruit, non fat dairy. Now I'm for the first time actually satisfied following a low carb, high fat diet. Carbs spike your insulin, making you hungrier, causing you to hold onto fat. I'm now seeing food differently.
dorothyrd
Cathlete
I also disagree. I am an avid exerciser, but until I started limiting my carbs I did not lose weight. I have lost 50 pounds and by eating the amount of protein my body needs I have succeeded in adding muscle mass. We as a nation have been misled about the importance of grains and other carbs and it is starting to finally come out.
This has been an interesting thread but bottom line is that everyone is different and their bodies process foods differently. Some people do better with high fat low carb while others do well on low fat higher carb. You just have to experiment with it and see if it works for you and more importantly you can live with it.
Justinef
Cathlete
I recently read The Dissident Diet by Dawn Waldron - she explains insulin resistance really well, and one phrase especially struck a chord. She calls her way of eating the 'Diesel diet'. Some cars run on petrol, some diesel - it's just a matter of knowing which and fuelling correctly.
murfmom
Cathlete
While I agree that processed foods are primarily to blame, I don't agree that whole grains are innocent because we have genetically modified wheat so much that's it's completely changed from what our grandparents ate. I recommend Gary Taubes' books, as well as Wheat Belly (I think the author is William Davis.)
desertambrosia
Cathlete
I too thought that a high carb low fat diet was the best, and when I was younger it worked for me. But the older I got the less it worked. Grains in this country are genetically manipulated, especially corn, wheat and I won't even touch a soybean. I've switched to a high fat, low carb diet, and I've never looked back. Fruits and vegetables are my carbs. It's true grains today are not the same grains our grandparents ate. Everyone is different. Finding what works for you is half the battle.
Candiceena
Cathlete
I would love to hear more from others who have input into this...
I recently broke up with my boyfriend, moved into my own apartment, and have been doing "much better" with my workouts and eating habits. It's been about 5 weeks since I moved into the new place. The last week has been bad because I've gotten the flu and haven't been eating great but the previous 4 weeks I was doing really well - whole foods, cooking myself dinner, getting my workouts in regularly, etc.
It'd been a while since I'd worked out consistently so I do have to admit I went back to my FIRM workouts to start off with.
But I was surprised to find that I was really constantly tired and was feeling really beat up by my workouts. So I have been thinking maybe it's my nutrition? I've been eating CW-style "healthy foods" - fruits, veggies, low fat dairy, whole grains.
I literally DREAM of completing a 5-month STS rotation or the Bodybuilding rotation but I look at myself now and think there's literally NO WAY I could do that because just doing some 30 min FIRM workouts is zapping all my energy.
I recently broke up with my boyfriend, moved into my own apartment, and have been doing "much better" with my workouts and eating habits. It's been about 5 weeks since I moved into the new place. The last week has been bad because I've gotten the flu and haven't been eating great but the previous 4 weeks I was doing really well - whole foods, cooking myself dinner, getting my workouts in regularly, etc.
It'd been a while since I'd worked out consistently so I do have to admit I went back to my FIRM workouts to start off with.
But I was surprised to find that I was really constantly tired and was feeling really beat up by my workouts. So I have been thinking maybe it's my nutrition? I've been eating CW-style "healthy foods" - fruits, veggies, low fat dairy, whole grains.
I literally DREAM of completing a 5-month STS rotation or the Bodybuilding rotation but I look at myself now and think there's literally NO WAY I could do that because just doing some 30 min FIRM workouts is zapping all my energy.
irongrl
Cathlete
That has been my experience too. When I was in my 30's and training for marathons I did very well eating high carb and very low fat. Once I got into my mid 40's that stopped working as well. For me, higher fat and lower carb works better now.
ReneePruitt
Cathlete
I agree with this!! Because the only time I list weight was when I did a low fat high carb diet !! I lost 70 pounds! I only gained back after 15 yrs because I stopped exercising and started eating fats again and meats that was fried yuk. Then I tried high protein and I gained 10 pounds!! And got kidney stones.
Now I am confused basically but I am starting to do better by eating fruits veggies and peanut butter and I try to limit my intake to just when hungry. But I do over eat and I make sure if I over eat it is on fruit of veggies and yes popcorn. This is working so far for me. So I think it is a combo of calories but the nutrient density of the calories. Can and will the body use it or store it? I'm not sure but I am experimenting and enjoying the process as I go !!