Correcting my post from last Friday: Weight loss requires a net daily burn of 500 kcal per pound of weekly loss.
Diets go through fads, just like everything else. For a while fat was Insanely Bad, then it was cholesterol, now it’s something else. But no fad can change the cold equation: Eat a balanced diet, and burn more carbs each day than you eat from all sources.
There’s lots of good advice in this thread. The question for the OP is, which advice are you going to rely on?
Your link gives all the info out there (another one). The correlation is observed, but no mechanism is known.
the common misconception about ketogenic diets, such as Atkins diet, is that once you get rid of the carbs you don’t have to count your calories.
BULLSH1T.
that bullsh1t was invented for marketing purposes, people wanted to hear that they dont need to count calories so that was what they were told.
the reality is its all about calories, you can eat low fat, low carb, or anything in between, the differences are subtle. i have done both low carb and low fat in the past, and now i am just eating regular food, about 30% carb 30% fat 40% protein.
as for steroid use, here is my picture from 2 months ago, at 219 pounds 5’10"
the fact that fat has 9 calories versus 4 for carbs is not a good reason to get rid of fat. because fat can be more satiating than carbs.
the fact that you burn more fat when you don’t eat carb is not reason enough to go low carb. so you eat more fat and then you burn more fat, are you losing weight ? no.
on the whole, people lose weight more easily on low-carb diets, but they also lose more muscle on them, for this reason bodybuilders never use straight low-carb diets.
the more popular approaches right now are either :
1 - to use low carb most of the days but have a carb-up or a refeed every few days to replenish muscle glycogen and thus slow down muscle catabolism.
2 - use low fat diet, but avoid high glycemic carbs.
i might have to try approach 1 some day, known as a cyclical ketogenic diet ( CKD ). there are whole online forums dedicated to CKD. as many believe it to be the best.
Link
Seconded! WW is so simple and effective, and it WORKS. You don’t have to go to meetings. You can subscribe online and pay for 1 month. After that 1 month you will know the program completely and you can continue on without paying for the service. They have an excellent, very active message board that is free and provides excellent support. No special foods, no hunger, no excercise if you don’t want to. There are men there who have been in your very situation before. I can think of one in particular. He has been successful in losing over 100 pounds and has kept it off.
Please, please do not try any crash diets. You’ll most likely end up hurting your metabolism and health and limiting your chances for long-term weight loss.
I tried the Atkins diet while in my early teens. It helped me to become a vegetarian, anyway 
I tried limiting the types of foods I ate. I tried dieting all week and then eating what I wanted on Sundays. I tried slimfast and working out. I became vegan (for moral reasons as well as health.) I still wasn’t healthy and had a terrible diet nutrition-wise, and quickly got bored of dieting. I’ve probably heard about or tried every diet conceivable, and the only one that I have ever see work long-term is restricting your calories in a healthy way and sticking with it. WW provides the safe guidline to do so. By following the points program you stay in that weight loss zone between starvation and overeating. You eat enough to be full and happy, but not enough to be uncomfortable. My mother, sister, brother, and myself have all lost weight in the past and kept it off using a similiar method.
I honestly believe that the reason so many diets fail is because they fail to address the long-term issues that come with being overweight. Issues such as emotional connections to food and what to do after you acheive your weight loss goal. So many people lose weight and then gain it back because they do not have a plan for how to eat after they’re “skinny again”. Alot of these programs are not sustainable. (Some are, but support and information can be lacking after the initial weight loss phase.)
It surprises me that people believe that you have to starve/cut out certain foods/excercise yourself to death to lose weight. People who are naturally skinny generally don’t do any of these things*. The idea that some people can eat anything and everything that they want and still stay thin is a myth. If you watch the eating habits of most thin people they eat things that they like, but they do not consistently eat them in the large quantities that many overweight people do. I now eat all of the things I loved to eat before, but I do it in a NORMAL and healthy way.
Excercise is not necessary for weight loss. It is VERY helpful in many ways and health-wise it’s pretty darn important, but you can lose weight without it. I’ve known a few people who have done it. What is necessary is changing the way you view eating habits, and making a decision to commit to a healthy lifestyle.
Good luck!
True you can lose weight without exercise. But you’ll still look like shit and be flabby. You’ll also lose a lot of muscle mass along with the fat.
Don’t go for fad diets. It is a lifestyle change a person that heavy needs. Learning to eat right and exercise are very important in making that change. Weight Watchers may work, but who wants to have to buy that crappy food the rest of their life? And I know lots of skinny people not in near as good a shape as I am in. If someones goal is to just be skinny (which can be unhealthy as well) then they need to realize that after weighing 300 lbs. and then to just become skinny without gaining any muscle tone they still won’t look very good. At least not when they look at themselves in the mirror naked.
There’s no need to overdo exercising. That’s the problem with us fatty’s we tend to lean towards excess. Moderate exercise and changing the way you eat is really all it takes to become a healthy person. I’ve lost over a 100 lbs. in about a year and a half and will be down to my ideal weight within 6 months. Probably sooner, but who’s counting? Hell, right now I’m just ecstatic that I’m 41 and can still have sex for hours at time like I was 21. And being able to walk up a few flights of stairs without getting winded still makes me grin like the cat that ate the canary.
Bottom line:
Don’t listen to anyone that tells you not to exercise or that you don’t really need to. They don’t have a clue.
Fad diets may work but in the long run it’s a lifestyle change you need so you can lead a normal life. Being stuck on Atkins or WW doesn’t accomplish that goal. WW may be the lesser of the 2 evils.
When you fall off the horse, get back on and don’t beat yourself over it.
Celebrate your accomplishments with a feeling of pride, not food.
Don’t give up!
Good luck!
A few things -
Agreed. But it can be done, and it ultimately depends on what your goals are. Given his weight and stated preferences I think it’s more important to focus on a healthy diet first and add in excercise as he sees fit. Many people find starting an excercise routine a little bit difficult when they first start losing weight but easier over time.
Have you ever been on WW? Know anything about the program? You don’t have to purchase food. I never have and doubt I could if I wanted to, given the vegan thing. WW is a program that restricts your calorie intake while taking into account fat and fiber content and nutritional value. You eat your own food. You just count it using the points system. Basically, simplified dieting for people who don’t want to do the math themselves or haven’t had experience with losing weight. It’s set up so that you lose the weight in a healthy amount of time (an average of 1-2 lbs per week) and it teaches you the tools that you need to keep it off. It also has a built-in support system, which can be crucial for someone trying to lose weight. The things needed to follow WW are -
SD weight watchers support (and info) thread
Again, agreed. But his main goal was to lose weight for health reasons. My opinion is that he should focus on the diet first and add in excercise as his energy level improves. If he can walk while doing it, great. If not he should focus on what he’s able to stick with without being overwhelmed.
As I said, WW is not a program you are “stuck” on. You’re probably following the program now without realizing it. Once you have the tools they teach you you can continue on yourself without ever needed to associate with the WW corp ever again.
Excellent advice!
BTW, congrats on the weight loss, and good on ya for doing it the right way.