The latest “Neurotically Your’s” cartoon deals with Atkins. Yes, it’s nasty and bitter and does play along with the burgers and bacon myth.
So why watch it? Cuz it’s fucking funny!
I love Foamy.
A nutrient class? Simple carbohydrates like sucrose, glucose, and fructose are a nutrient class are they? And complex carbohydrates like the starches found in potatoes are nutrient classes too huh? You know what we’ve got here? We’ve got someone who knows enough to a self appointed authority. That’s fine, I probably come across that way too. The difference here is that you sound like you’re talking out of your arse.
I’d love to know something then… if a simple carbohydrate like sugar can be absorbed through the digestive wall straight into the blood system, and a complex carbo hydrate has to take longer via the liver, how can they both be nutrient classes and not food groups? Escpecially seeing as how minerals are defined as non-calorific requirements, and carbohydrates are chock a block full of calories?
All this talk of “impact carbs” merely confirms that the Atkins people look at you and laugh all the way to the bank.
Nonetheless, best of luck with your weight loss. If you lose what you want to lose, at some point in the future you’ll finally work out it was due to fewer calories eaten than calories expended, but between then and now, enjoy the fantasy that is Atkins and ketosis and all things low-carb.
Sadly though, Boo Boo Foo, even though The Fad-kins Fans lose weight because they are consuming less calories than they expend, they will have to deal with all that artery-clogging goop that they are shoveling in their gobs at some point down the road.
[Fred Sanford]
“Elizabeth! I’m coming to join you Elizabeth!” (clutches chest)
[/Fred Sanford]
They’re looking at serious kidney and heart problems and most off them won’t even keep the weight off anyway.
I was just in Roseville, MN with a friend yesterday for lunch. As we’re driving up the main thoroughfare we pass by a Midas whose billboard said something to the affect:
We thought it was humorous.
No serious endurance athlete “carbo-loads” anymore. It’s bad strategy – often leading to carbo-unloading somewhere on the race course (from one end or the other). You try to build up your glucose stores 3-5 days before the event, but the days of eating a big pasta dinner the night before your marathon is stickly for the newbies.
Gatorade and power bars/gels are made to quickly replenish glycogen stores and electrolytes lost during a race. Definitely not something to be eating and drinking while sitting on the couch. In fact, generally only water is needed if your exercise is about an hour or less.
For weightlifters and bodybuilders (not the same thing, BTW), eating carbohydrates immediately after lifting is vital to replenish glycogen so your body doesn’t start breaking down muscle instead.
This is what (seems to be) working for me. I work out at Bally’s and they have this thing there called “Body Gem” (or something, it’s hard to heard WTF they were saying over the music and the groans of pain). It’s kind of a brethalyzer type thing that supposedly measures your resting metabolic rate. You breath into it through your mouth for 5 minutes with a clip on your nose. Not sure how it works (CO2 production rate?). Anyway, they came up with 1830 cal/day, which sounded reasonable as I’m a programmer and not active at work.
I put myself on a simple low-calorie diet of about 1350 cal/day of mostly veggies, fruit, meat and whole grains. I avoid sugars and simple starches and fatty food (very high calories in fatty stuff). I eat about 6 times a day and that really helps me to not feel hungry. I also try to track my use of energy during workouts. I keep all this in a spreadsheet that tallies my caloric input and output and any deficit or surplus. I average about a 1000 cal/day deficit. According to many sources on the web there is about 3500 cal in a pound of fat. My weight loss so far (5 pounds) has been consistent with what the spreadsheet predicts I should have lost by caloric deficit assuming all the caloric deficit is made up by breaking down fat and not muscle.
OK, so I know this is the pit and GQ so I’m supposed to rant about stuff so, umm, fuck you all you goat-felchicng bastards and all that sort of thing… 
Ketosis is not a fantasy. I’m down 2 more pounds today, from Tuesday. Contrary to what you said in your previous post, that the “bread was not the deciding factor,” IMO, it was the deciding factor. It was the carbohydrates in the bread, specifically. My body is in ketosis, that is, I’m burning fat for energy.
I do not count calories at all. I use real butter on my food. I eat till I’m satisfied. I don’t do any type of portion control, other than not stuffing myself. I have no idea how many calories I eat each day… and yet I’m losing weight.
I used to eat lots of bread and pasta and potatoes, and drink lots of regular soda. Once I got all that out of my diet, and got myself into ketosis, I started losing weight.
I agree with the OP, that the “Lo-Carb This” and “Lo-Carb That” has gotten way out of control and more than a little ridiculous. I just know there are people out there who’ve never read the book, and just think, “Oh, I can eat low-carb and lose weight!” and then just buy low-carb candy bars and ice cream and shakes and think the pounds are going to just magically disappear. It’s like when all the low-fat junk came out several years ago… people seemed to think they could scarf down a whole box of cookies because there was no fat in them. What they didn’t realize was that when they got rid of the fat, they replaced it with sugar to make up for the taste, and that they still had the same number of freaking calories as regular cookies and ice cream.
Hmmm, BBF, according to my animal nutrition classes, there are six nutrient classes. Carbohydrates, proteins, fats, vitamins, minerals, and water. This basic classes are often broken down into sub-classes, but those are the basic classes. According to every health class I’ve taken since the second grade, there are four food groups. Grains, meat, dairy, and fruits and vegetables. Each food group contains multiple nutrient classes. Food groups and nutrient classes are NOT the same thing, at least by the measure of pretty much anyone I’ve ever met.
I’m not surprised you’re confused, though. I mean, if your reading comprehension is so faulty that you think I’m on the Atkins diet, I could see how you spend a lot of your time being confused.
Should have been “the pit and not GQ” of course.
Actually, I said that.
How do you know that is the deciding factor?
O.K., first you said that you eat mainly chicken, fish, and green vegetables. NOW, you are bragging about how much saturated fat you eat. Well which is it?
So then you believe it’s impossible to eat fewer calories unless you counted them? I explained before that if you eat a lot of green vegetables, you’ll cut your caloric intake, because the green vegetables don’t have very many calories. You don’t need a calculator to understand that. It’s just common sense.
Again, you are crediting the “ketosis” without any proof whatsoever. You are accepting Atkins’ word as gospel. Pasta and potatoes have calories, but SO DOES FAT. Replacing pasta and potatoes with green vegetables will cut your caloric intake. Replacing past and potatoes with fat will NOT cut your caloric intake. It’s not that you stopped eating carbs, it’s that you are eating green vegetables. You are crediting some metabolic sleight-of-hand, when the simpler explanation is fewer calories in = less weight gained. You don’t have to eliminate carbs, you just have to eat more vegetables and less of everything else. Or just less, period (Although I’m loathe to say this because last time I said it in this forum I got accused of being some sort of bigot. 
)
What you said before was that you eat whole, fresh foods that you prepare yourself - chicken, fish, and lots of green vegetables. STOP RIGHT THERE!!! That’s all you needed to do in the first place. Everything else is irrelevant - eliminating carbs, being in ketosis, drinking 72 glasses of water a day, not eating any food that starts with a “B”, using copper utensils, spinning around 3 times after you eat. Doesn’t matter what else you do, if you’re doing what that first sentence says, you’ve already succeeded.
Exactly. The lesson here is that there is no “magic bullet” for losing weight. You lose weight when you engage in healthy eating habits and exercise, not because you elimated carbs or eliminated fat.
Okay, sorry about attributing the quote incorrectly.
I’m not bragging about how much saturated fat I eat, I’m just explaining that I don’t use margarine or any of those low-fat butter replacements. Most diets tell you to get rid of the butter first thing.
Proof? I’m crediting the ketosis with the proof that I weigh nearly 70 pounds less today than I did a year ago.
No, for me the magic bullet is being in ketosis. There have been times when I’ve gone out of ketosis and I stopped losing weight. I don’t gain any back, or maybe just a couple of pounds, but when I start eating too many carbs, and go out of ketosis, I don’t lose weight.
http://www.cnn.com/2003/HEALTH/diet.fitness/10/14/lowcarb.mystery.ap/
At the end of the article, one guess as to the reason was that the ones eating higher calories probably cheated less and possibly exercised more since they were more satisfied.
Amen brother…
I have been on Atkins for about 10 yrs and I am sickened by all the ‘low carb’ ADV out there lately. Also I find many products are low carb/low fat - they just don’t get it, except for some basic foods, they are mutially exclusive. If I do get a 'treat; that is low carb, I sure as heck don’t want low fat!!!
I do a bastardized version of Adkins.
Really, I just limit carbs to control blood sugar (Diabetic).
Thing is, I really have to cut out flour, potatoes, rice and sugar. Because if I eat bread and potatoes, then I *fucking craaaave * bread and potatoes, and then I end up OD’ing on Krispy Kremes. I am a bottomless pit where these foods are concerned.
The high protein option is altogether different. I allow myself to eat as much as I want of the meats and cheeses. It’s just that I don’t want to eat that much of it.
It’s a difficult thing though. It’s very boring in the 1st stage.
But count me in with those sick of the “lo-carb” ads. And what the fuck is this thing with the “net carbs”. Sugar - fiber = net carbs? If I wrap a krispy Kreme in raw twine, does that mean it has no “net” carbs?
Deadly,
We talked about that study in another thread awhile back. It’s very interesting, but there are other studies that contradict it. The consensus seemed to be that the matter is not settled yet.
Biblio,
I was wondering how you know when you’re in ketosis. Do you pee on those strips? What do you mean by “start eating too many carbs”? I mean, if you all of a sudden started binging on mashed potatoes or something, I can see how you would gain weight, but does eating a piece of bread really completely unravel your diet?
No, I don’t think a reasonable diet would tell you to completely get rid of butter; just use it in moderation.
I bookmarked that site when you posted it originally. When I get to my goal weight, I’ll register, I promise. I want to make sure Atkins get the credit it deserves.
blowero, yes, I know I’m in ketosis by the little pee strips. I finally figured out that it’s fairly easy for me to slip in and out of ketosis.
By too many carbs, I mean too much bread or sugar or too many nachos. My husband likes nachos while watching TV at night or on Sundays while relaxing. That means corn chips and refried beans. I can resist them most of the time (even when I’ve made them), but sometimes I just want a few.
Back in December, I knew we’d be going to parties and there’d be holiday treats and we’d be going on vacation after Christmas, so I just said the Hell with the diet and ate what I wanted. I gained about 2 or 3 pounds. Like spooje said, once I start in on the bread and potatoes, I just want them all the more. Once I get past the cravings, I’m fine, but if I give in, I’m like a crack addict.
Well, I probably should let this whole discussion go, but I guess I’m like a crack addict for arguing.
What you are describing is a situation where you went off your diet and over-ate. I’m still not seeing what ketosis had to do with it. This isn’t rocket science. You gained a couple pounds over the holidays, just like everyone else does. It wasn’t that you had carbs, it’s that you had too many. Too much of anything will cause you to gain weight (except non-digestible things, of course). Now, I’m sure you will come back and say that’s not what happened - you seem to have a way of saying something and then coming back and saying that’s not what you said. But I don’t think I’m misconstruing “I just said the Hell with the diet and ate what I wanted”. If you just say “the Hell with the diet”, you’re gonna gain weight, ketosis or no.