Weight Loss help

Look381i

--That's one of the beauties of Atkins. Your body never thinks it's starving because you can eat plenty of calories. It just metabolozes them and your own fat rather than trying to store or hoard fat.

2LAP

And I guess that you know this from using your intra cellular telescope or your vast reading of the scientific papers (or from the Atkins material).

Opps, broke my self imposed posting ban on this thread There has been some rubbish (with only a little sense since my last post on this topic) and with no one oposing it (i.e. a very bias thread)

PS. Lots of people have posted that Atkins is low calorie; so who do we believe Look381i Don't forget (as many Atkins users posting on this site seem too) that the Atkins has a number of phases and the maintenance phase alows quite a lot of carbs (to quote another poster in this thread '40% of the calories from carbs'). I don't think that even the Atkins Company believes that carbohydrates are as bad as they allow Atkins fans to believe!

HellonWheels

Carbs are GOOD for you, and vital if you do aerobics, esp. cycling. As someone who has bonked severa; times due to forgetting to take in enough carbs, I can attest to that.

Furthermore, if I went on ATkins I'd be throwing up and diahhreaing all the time. My body cannot metabolize large amts of fat in foods...once I overeat my fat limit for the day, I get really sick. For my IBS and possible lipase definciency I need to take in a lot of complex carbs and limit fat to no more than 20% a day.

__________________
"He who conquers himself is the mightiest warrior"--Confucius

Look381i

--I thought I had composed and sent a detailed reply to this earlier, but I don't see it. I tried to make three main points:

(1) Those who don't read Atkins' book carefully (or at all) often rely on inaccurate characterizations of what he advocates. He does not advocate a no-carb or extreme-low-carb life long diet. Only the early stages are heavily restricted. He does advocate healthy carbs, especially ones that do not induce strong insulin uptake (often described as having a low glycemic load).

(2) I eat all the calories I want, from densely caloric foods (eggs, meat, cheese, cream). Perhaps I do take in fewer than on my long-time diet of pastas, veggies, milk, bread products and fruit but I doubt it. I'd be very surprised if my body thinks it is starving.

(3) My story is admittedly just another anecdote, one of several in my own friendship circle, but they do confirm that Atkins provides a remarkably easy and effective way to lose fatty weight. Anecdotal evidence such as mine has apparently triggered some research on the subject that supports Atkins ideas. A recent news story alludes to some: http://www.cnn.com/2003/HEALTH/diet...y.ap/index.html

As I said in an earlier post, the results are counterintuitive. They do not conform to current mainstream scientific thinking. Atkins' explanations (re fat burning, insulin dependency, etc.) provide hypotheses that should be subjected to rigorous testing. In the meantime, I'll continue to ride centuries on a breakfast of bacon & eggs and water and a couple of low carb Atkins or Endulge bars along the way, and lose as much weight as I choose (5 pounds to go, perhaps another two or three weeks) before finding a maintenance diet that includes more carbs.

2LAP

Another post by me, sorry

Sorry, it does seem that you have a better understanding than some other Atkin users that say 'all carbs are bad'. What a shock they will have when they have to start introducing them in other phases of Atkins!

Most people have a problem with the first phase which is very 'unhealthy'. I'm not so sure how the 'healthy carbs' recomendation is different from mainstream 'healthy' eatting recomendations. I think what often takes people by surprise is by how different the 'carbs' they eat are different from the 'healthy carbs' (particularly when I heared one american say - I miss pankcakes and syrup for breakfast! in the canteen last week).

Are you not concerned about the health risks of these foods as well or feel that you are missing out on health benefits by cutting out on fruit and veg? You must be eating fewer calories if you are losing weight.

Well done, on the weight loss. Other anecdotal evidence has also trigered concern, so I don't think its quite plain sailing for the moment.

And please keep us updated and good luck; I think you would be surprised about the scientific literature on the topic (Atkins isn't that way out, just that it has some practices (particularly in the early phases that science would suggest are dangerous/not advantagous to deiters/health).

Ellenz

[QUOTE]Originally posted by rsalazar
Hi,

Glad you asked! Ever hear of the product ELoad? http://www.eload.net/ Go to this site and read more about it.
My husband is an Eload sales rep in Austin, Texas, you'll be able to find the product at some of the local bike stores and gyms in Austin as well as through out the United States.
If you absolutely cannot stay away from the carbs, remember to pick the right ones, Nuts, Peanut butter, wheats etc. and remember to eat them 4-8 hours prior to your work out/cycling. Obviously, the more hours on the bike, the more calories you'll burn, and you'll trim down, just make sure you're giving yourself the right nutrition before and after your rides. You can lose weight by being conscious about what you eat and staying on that bike. And try that ELoad! My husband won 3 out of 4 criteriums recently and the 4th was due to non-participation. You can surely bet, he'll be using ELoad during the Ride for the Roses event. Good Luck!!
I am not a doctor, nor do I play one on T.V. this message is intended for informaton only. Should you choose to follow any of the above it is on your own accord. I am not responsible for your weight loss or the added hours you may find yourself on your bike thanks to the Optimum performance ELoad helps provide. Remember the Chamois Butter for happier cycling!

Look381i

--For those on Atkins, most high glycemic load foods, including those with sucrose, are ordinarily to be avoided completely. Atkins dieters have converted to fat burning mode, which, if weight loss and endurance are goals, seems to work fine.

I have been on the induction phase of Atkins for seven weeks. After perhaps two weeks my cycling returned to near normal speeds (17-23 mph) and endurance (centuries) and after four weeks to full normal. I am looking for a no/low carb electrolyte drink supplement, though. Know of one?

For competitions, introducing high glycemic index carbs are probably advised.

Ellenz

Information about Carb intake.
As Posted on the http://www.eload.net/eload.htm site.
The ideal sports drink supplies optimum amounts, and type, of sugar (carbohydrate, or "CHO"). Why? Because sugar supplies much of the energy required to train and compete. Athletes can burn between 40-150 grams of carbohydrate per hour, depending on ambient temperature, sport, gender, body size, exercise intensity and many other factors. Our bodies do not store a lot of carbohydrate, so it is easy to deplete our carbohydrate reserves (carbohydrate is stored as glycogen, located in our muscles and liver). On average, our muscle cells store about 325 grams and our livers store about 110 grams of glycogen (18). Since each gram of carbohydrate has 4 Calories, this translates to about 1750 Calories - NOT MUCH! As these glycogen reserves start to deplete, which they can do within as little as 1-2 hours of strenuous exercise, blood sugar can start to fall (19), leading to several performance related problems including lack of energy, headache, dizziness and the dreaded "bonking" or "hitting the wall" (20, 21, 22). However, there is a caveat, namely that research has clearly shown that the higher the carbohydrate content of a drink, the slower its' emptying out of the stomach, and the more its' potential for causing stomach cramps and nausea (23). Combine this with the fact that when hot and sweaty, drinks that are too sweet can also promote nausea by sole virtue of their taste i.e. too syrupy, leaving a "pasty" mouth feel; therefore, a drink with too much carbohydrate can actually be detrimental to performance for many reasons. It turns out that the amount of carbohydrate for optimal gastric emptying lies between 4-8%, or 40-80 grams per liter (22, 24, 25, 26, 27). However, in practice, drinks with carbohydrate content above 5-6% taste too sweet and syrupy when performing in the heat, contributing to nausea. In fact, one study defined this further by concluding that a 5.5% carbohydrate solution was optimal (28). Drinking a drink that is too sweet may be why you are diluting your current sports drink beyond the mixing instructions on the label. This dilution phenomenon compounds electrolyte problems even further, because now you are ingesting an even lower amount of electrolyte per liter of fluid. Therefore, a practical optimal range for carbohydrate is probably up to 6%, or 60 grams/liter, resulting in maximal gastric emptying, intestinal absorption, taste and subsequent fueling, and minimal "nausea factor" and "pasty" mouth feel. e loadTM weighs in at an optimal 5.4% carbohydrate. By comparison, fruit juices and cola drinks have between 10-15% carbohydrates (100-150 grams/liter), and some of today's traditional sports drinks have up to 8% (80 grams/litre) carbohydrate content!

2LAP

Please check out the forum rules about advertising a product; as for selling the benefits of carbs as you will see from this thread there seem to be two types of people 1) those on Atkins and 2) those that are not. If you read over some of the last posts you will see my views, I think you are fighting a loseing battle.

Look381i

--This seems to be true only for those who are carb and sugar reliant. I have discovered that once my body adjusted to lipolysis or ketosis (fat-burning) as opposed to sugar or carb burning, I don't have to worry about the bonk, so long as I have either eaten sufficient fat and protein or have extra body fat stores to draw on. I eat virtually no carbs at this point and lack of endurance is not an issue. If I lack anything, and I am not sure that I do, it might be my overdrive gear for exceptionally long maximum efforts (at or near VO2max).

2LAP

Something that differs between fat and carbohydrate metabolism is the rate at which energy can be supplied. Energy is supplied at a very slow rate while carbohydrate at a faster rate. When you have the bonk you slow down to the speed at which energy can be supplied by fat.

Obviously, if you ride slowly enough you could go on forever without eating carbohydrate as the rate of carbohydrate use would be quite slow and so can have endurance without being glycogen loaded. On the other hand, higher intensities require energy from carbohydrates and fat to fuel the muscular contractions so quickly lead to glycogen depletion and the knock.

Without carbohydrate in the diet the body simply can't perform at these higher intenisties for very long or on repeated days. The need for carbohydrate in exercise performance has never been questioned; unlike the questions about the role of CHO during weight loss and health (i.e. the basis of the Atkins diet).

Sorry for the simple reply (I have just come in from training) I can expand if you wish.

Ellenz

Thanks so much! I will keep that in mind. No harm was intended.

2LAP

No probs, you can join my team in the promotion of carbohydrates.

SoCalCruising

It's been a long time since I sat for exercise phys., but I did do grad-level work in that area. As I recall, one of the results of the "training effect" was a shift to higher usage of fats as an energy substrate while at rest, thus allowing the body to conserve carbs for the bout of work. I have always used this in dietary "strategy". When I want to lose fat, I exercise hard (aerobically) and reduce fat intake. It is comforting to think that I am burning more fat while typing this than I would if I wasn't training. Before you comment, I realize that the lowering of calories is ultimately responsible for the weight loss. What I said was that it is comforting to know that I am "liberating" fats from storage with this strategy.

I am generally, as you may guess, on the side of a low-fat, roughly 60/40 carb/protein split diet. It just melts fat for me. Others may well be different. In fact I know they are. My son-in-law can eat huge amounts and stay thin, while his wife (my daughter) works her butt off and gains weight by looking at food (a bit of an exaggeration).

I'd really like to add that there has been little (but some) talk about ruffage and its importance in the diet. Last I looked, long transit times in the gut were associated with colon desease, specifically colon cancer, while high motility rates had the opposite correlation. Ruffage aids motility, when combined with copious amounts of water. Anyone on a low-carb diet, without supplimemts (e.g., wheat bran), will be challenged to eat enough ruffage. High ruffage diets also reduce the gut's efficiency of digestion (from something like 97% for most folks, to 5-6% or so less, on average). So, I believe that a well-rounded diet should be recommended, and one that includes adequate amounts of ruffage (i.e., resulting in 18-24 hr. transit times for ingested foods).