^None so far. Far from it, in fact. I’m eating more vegetables, which has somewhat led to a POO (Power Of Oneness) effect the past few days.
Remember, I’m not going on the Atkins diet. I’m just trying to eat less sugar and bread and pasta. I still eat vegetables.
Heyo Greenie,
I’ve been reading this book called The Primal Blueprint by Mark Sisson and thought it might be helpful in your weight loss endeavor. It explains that human evolution dictates that we are not supposed consume and burn carbs as our primary energy source. We were programmed to be fat burners and our carb requirements are easily fulfilled by fruits and vegetables, so there’s no need for grains whatsoever. A diet high in ‘good’ fats and low in carbs is the way to health. It’s a compelling argument IMO, and once you adopt the lifestyle it becomes easy to maintain because you are not subject to blood sugar spikes and crashes and associated hunger signals.
^Easy to maintain is relative. I did what was basically Atkins just for the hell of it a couple years ago. No doubt it works. Pounds shed right off. But is it sustainable? For me the answer was a definitive “hell no.”
I’d rather shave five years off my life than exclude pasta, pizza, and beer from my diet. Thankfully, it’s not too hard to have the best of both worlds. Carrying excess weight is the main problem. You can eliminate that by simply burning more calories than you consume. Doesn’t even matter what kind of calories you eat. Guys have done this eating nothing but fast food. Of course, you can do it in a healthier way and just eat a balanced diet that could be made up of 40% carbs.
As long as you keep your weight down (particularly the abdominal weight) and eat well you’ll be fine. Eating a low carb diet may add marginal benefits to your physical health, but, at least for me, it wreaked havoc on my mental health.
^that’s a recipe for failure according to this book and i tend to agree. first with that much carb intake, you are going to have blood sugar spikes and crashes that will create cravings for more carbs/sugar. it’s nearly impossible to maintain the will power to limit total calories. or you end up needing to work out like a maniac to maintain weight. people who do this tend to gain 1 or 2 pounds per year in body fat and end up with some kind of metabolic syndrome into their 50s. the fitness routines required to maintain weight are too strenuous and lead to burnout and ultimately failure.
If you give it a chance (say 1 month), your hunger and food intake will naturally go down when you become a fat burner. you’ll have no desire to eat foods heavy in carbs. yes someone eating carb heavy may die only 5 years before a ‘primal’ eater, but the quality of the last 20 - 40 years is exponentially better for the latter. grains and sugar create all kinds of problems including all sorts of inflammation related illnesses and immune deficiencies, dependency on medications which lead to innumerable side effects – this all according to the book.
From my own experience and watching how certain family members eat, i tend to agree with everything in the book.
…btw, the book does not endorse an atkins type diet for long term weight maintenance. it’s not really ‘no/low carbs’ as much as it is ‘no bad carbs’ (grains, legumes and sugar). it doesn’t even endorse portion control as long as your carb intake is derived from fruits and vegetables.
^Well then, you and I are obviously now enemies. Let’s stick to discussing gold and outlandish Libertarian ideology.
That’s not very convincing IMO. For sure, low carb diets have their benefits, but you could conversely argue that humans have evolved to adapt to a carbohydrate and dairy based diet since the inception of agriculture, so the diet optimal for the “primal” homo sapiens wouldn’t be relevant today. There is a book called “10,000 year explosion” that discusses how evolution may have accelerated in the past 5-6k years due to the transition away from hunter-gatherers and the introduction of agriculture.
My opinion: I think low sugar, and low carb diets are a great idea if you have a bad family history of diabetes and obesity (like me). The main issue here is that gaining/losing weight isn’t just about calories in/vs calories out, eating carbs raises your insulin levels which pushes your body to store more fat, so cutting carbs is an obvious way to reduce weight.
On the other hand, if you have none of these problems, I don’t see the need for these diets.
I’m still a believer that if you cut junk and eat three well balanced meals per day with reasonable portion sizes, you’ll be golden. Favour fish over meat. Favour veggies over all. Fresh food always. Nothing from a box or bag. You’ll be fine and won’t have to starve yourself. No need for a fancy diet.
Where did you play, the lingerie football league?? In real football, a 6’1" 219 lb lineman would get crushed like a deflated beachball.
^ Nicely done!
No way. Anything common sense doesn’t work in the USA.
It’s all about purchasing a fad over there.
I’ll agree here, and to me this is the easiest thing to maintain long-term. You also don’t have to explain to everyone in social situations about your exciting diet (that is unless you want to). Reminds me of something I saw recently:
“An atheist, a vegan, and a Crossfitter walk into a bar. I only know because they told everyone within two minutes.”
@Turd - thanks for sharing. I’ll look at it.
So far, I’m doing good on the carb-cutting thing. I’ve cut out almost all sweets (I did have ice cream with my daughter last night), but I’m still having trouble giving up the Coca-Cola.
But this does sound a lot like what I want to do. I just want to eat a lot of meats and veggies, and not eat the bread and sugar.
As an aside, does anybody know the facts related to drinking aspartame? That is, I’m having trouble switching from soda to water. I wonder if switching to Crystal Light or something would be better. I know aspartame is not good for you, but is it relatively better than soda. (Remember, I’m only talking once or twice a day.)
Just drink carbonated water for awhile. Flavored. It will give you the bubbles and a bit of flavor (though not cola). Even if you drink 10 of them a day, thats fine.
I’m convinced aspartame causes testicular cancer. I have no data to back that up.
This is how I kicked the soda habit. Now I drink only water and tea. But unflavoured soda water.
Ze Germans have something called Apfelschorle. It’s apple juice with bubbles. I take that instead of coke zero.
How goes it greenie? You check out that book? I have to say I’m really loving this diet (although I hate using that word for it because it’s a lifestyle, not a fad or gimmick). After six weeks I feel complete freedom from having to worry about maintaining energy throughout the day. Once you reach homeostasis it becomes effortless; you eat when you feel your energy slipping, that’s it. It used to be the case that having an empty stomach meant having zero energy and the need to devour something ASAP. Having plenty of energy (from burning stored fat) while having an empty stomach creates an immense freedom that is difficult to describe. Eating good, fat rich food is immensely satisfying, but if I skip a meal it’s no big deal.
I highly recommend this for you greenie, and anyone else.
^
eat dem macadamian nuts Turd like Grok. haha! I aint a big fan of the workout regimen that guy describes though. I like to torture my body.
Just had sparkling water for the first time. This is awesome.
Sent from my iPad.