Low Carb Diet (atkins)

pink68

Hi all. Can i join in?

I need to lose between two and three stone to get back to a reasonable BMI and have struggled inthe past to stick to any diet for longer than a week.

I've spent the last few days reading this thread whilst at *cough* work, and started trying the low carb (but not the full blown atkins) on Monday.

But whlst cooking the tea tonight i've lapsed big time and eaten a mini chocolate swiss roll and a handful of the kids pasta.

Someone tell me there's still hope for me.....

tinkerbell84

Best I can recommend is that you take some time, choose a diet and then read the book for that diet cover to cover (twice if possible).

If that doesn't get you in the mood to go for it hardcore, nothing will.

It's about mindset.

Ted_Hutchinson

Time spent being sedentary and weight gain in healthy adults: reverse or bidirectional causality?
I've previously mentioned the fact that because of my underlying condition I achieved my weight loss without any extra exercise at all and I regard myself as a very sedentary person. (The fact I am unable to exercise is not a reason for you take it easy though)

In this study they measured weight, BMI and waist circumference and quantified activity levels. then after 5.6 years they repeated the measurements.

• Sedentary time associates with overweight at any given timepoint.
• Overweight at the beginning of the study predicted inactivity after 5.6 years.
• Inactivity at the beginning of the study was not associated with overweight at the end.

In conclusion, our results suggest that body weight, BMI, FM, and WC predict a greater amount of sedentary time in healthy, middle-aged whites, but the amount of sedentary time at baseline was unrelated to any of the obesity indicators at follow-up.

So what this research is showing is not consistent with the idea that inactivity causes overweight.

It is consistent with the idea that overweight causes inactivity.

It also maybe that both sedentary behaviour AND fat storage are caused by something else.

Because the body compensates for extra exercise with demands for more food, (hunger) then changing the diet to eliminate those foods that raise insulin and encourage fat storage/retention, will be more effective than exercise because exercise doesn't address the root cause of the problem.

Ted_Hutchinson

pink68 wrote: »

Someone tell me there's still hope for me.....

While I agree with tinkerbell84 that it helps to understand what you are doing and why you are doing it I'm not sure it's worth buying a diet book. I spent my time reading The Diet Delusion and that really isn't a Diet Book, as it is a detailed look at the history of nutritional research over the last century, showing how it has gone wrong and led health professionals to end up promoting policies that increase obesity rather than reducing it. If you've an hour to spare you can get a flavour of the book from this video of Taubes Berkeley lecture.
If you search this thread for Taubes you will find a post where I've put the main points of his book but fundamentally he thinks obesity is not the result of excess calories, it's the deregulation of the bodyweight homeostasis system. The cause of the problem lies in the system of regulation by the hormones insulin, leptin grehlin.

These feedback loops influence what the body does with calories, as well as how much and when we eat and they also regulate our activity level. If there is too much insulin, too little leptin, or the message from the insulin or leptin isn't being registered by the brain /tissue, insulin resistance and/or leptin resistance has occurred. This is like a wrench being thrown into the gearbox, the whole system is disrupted.

You need to understand that Raised Insulin stops your fat cells from releasing fat to be burnt as fuel Raised Insulin also tells your fat cells to grab circulating fat and sugar out of the blood and store that. When your blood insulin level is low that is a signal to fat cells to release their contents into the bloodstream to be burned by other tissues.

The excess weight you need to lose is from your fat cells, not from your muscles, so the key is keeping insulin levels low by avoiding wheat (and things made from wheat) and other grains while also keeping your refined carbohydrate intake as low as possible for weight loss. That helps solve the deregulation of insulin problem.

But you also need to avoid all sugars (that's any ingredient ending with OSE glucose, fructose, sucrose etc) except the occasional fruit, It's fructose, particularly high frutose corn syrup, that causes leptin resistance and as leptin resistance precedes insulin resistance, impaired glucose tolerance and then obesity, we have to regard this as the prime suspect.

We also have to be aware that anything that tricks the brain into thinking something is sweet is as bad as sugar and fructose, for the regulation of those feedback loops that control the hormones, so retraining your taste buds, to accept lower levels of sweetness, is important.

HC_2

Hope you have a lovely holiday, Shykins. :beer:

Pink68, good luck with starting again today. Once you've got into the mindset, as Tinkerbell says, you'll be fine. That'll only take a few days. It's probably harder when you have little ones - all those mini-snacks lying around, and leftovers. :rolleyes:

I made Blue Cheesy Leeks from the IPD cookbook last night, using blue-veined Brie rather than proper blue cheese because that's what I had open in the fridge, and they were absolutely fantastic.

pink68

Thanks to all those who replied. i agree it's about mindset and am going to just take each day afresh.

Had a strange thing happen this morning, as i say i've been easing myself in slowly really and have still had one coffee each morning (naughty i know) but today for the first time in years I have woken up and actually NOT WANTED ONE!!!! I already feel so much more perky and where as in the past I've always had to be in bed by ten to be bearable in the morning, last night I was up doing the chores and then had a nice long bath and read a book and didnt feel tired enough for bed til almost eleven.

If this is how much better I feel when i'm only playing at it I cant wait to see how i feel when i master it!

Sazbo

Hello my lovlies :wave: Welcome aboard pink :wave: Made me laugh when you said you read this thread whilst at *cough* work - I tend to post on here whilst I'm at *cough* work too;):D I also think it is important to get your head around the principles of low carbing before you start - it is a very different (ie counter-intuitive) mindset to conventional low-fat diets and takes some getting used to The guys on here are a fantastic resource and incredibly helpful and supportive :T

Shykins we look forward to receiving your card:D Do pop by and say 'hello' and we promise we won't quiz you on what you've been eating... well... not too much anyway:D

Busy day at work today, so I better get on. Salad, h/m coleslaw and cold chicken for lunch today. Dinner I think is going to be lamb chops and broccoli and/or salad. Like Tinks, I've been struggling to get through all the water now the weather is cooler, but I'm not a fan of herb/fruit tea... hmm will have to have a think on that one.

Have a good day everyone :wave:

Much love,
Sazzy xxxxxxx

HC_2

pink68 wrote: »

I already feel so much more perky and where as in the past I've always had to be in bed by ten to be bearable in the morning, last night I was up doing the chores and then had a nice long bath and read a book and didnt feel tired enough for bed til almost eleven.

That was one of the first things I found too, Pink. Within a few days of starting the LC diet, my previously almost irrestistible urge for a mid-afternoon snooze was a thing of the past. I'd always assumed it was eating fat at lunchtime (BLT sandwich and crisps, for example ) that was the culprit but I presume now that it was carb that was responsible for making me want to nod off.

pink68

I have a question..probably for Ted as he seems quite a guru on this stuff!

I am prone to mood swings and sometimes even depression. The last few days in addition to the lack of tiredness my mood also seems more stable. Are there any studies that link low carb diets with helping depression?

just a thought...must go get some lunch now!:j

Sazbo

pink68 wrote: »

I have a question..probably for Ted as he seems quite a guru on this stuff!

I am prone to mood swings and sometimes even depression. The last few days in addition to the lack of tiredness my mood also seems more stable. Are there any studies that link low carb diets with helping depression?

just a thought...must go get some lunch now!:j

Hi Pink Depression is something I have lived with most of my life. To be honest, I'm not sure how much difference a low-carb regime has made to me in that respect. But due to a variety of different interventions, I do believe I am at long last beating that cursed condition! :beer:

I think there are indications of a connection between blood sugar levels and mood - but as you say, Ted's the man for info on that:D

Sx