Posted on 07/16/2003 11:57:41 AM PDT by Timesink
Edited on 07/22/2003 2:46:46 PM PDT by Jim Robinson. [history]
A host of sinful foods have been demonized as the root of obesity and poor health of American adults and children. Fast food restaurants have been sued, accused of contributing to customers' obesity because their food tastes too good and they tempt us by advertising. Taxes are being proposed on foods deemed fattening or bad for us, namely, anything with meat or fat, that is fried or processed or that is sweet.
True, it’s much easier to find someone or something else to explain their portly predicament, but this will rarely result in weightloss. BTW... This is a fun thread!
And what do you get? A lot of fat people who are hungry all the time!
It's the hunger, najida, that Atkins eliminates. Hungry people are going to eat something, and a couple of small slices of cheese satisfies the hunger better than a plum or a banana, which leaves you still hungry.
Once we get the hundred or so pounds off the really overweight, THEN you can start with the fine points of grains and fruits.
Let me say this again: The fact that people gain weight after getting off of Atkins says nothing about Atkins. It says a lot, however, about how undisciplined Americans are.
As to risks, the best overall "diet" is Ornish's veggie plan, but who wants to eat like that?
The fact that vegetarians look like zombies ought to tell you that THAT'S not healthy, for sure.
Hey, one of my jobs this last year was working for a group doing gastric-bypass....this was following a stint working on a University Hospital Oncology unit.
Yes, obesity is rampant...but I took dozens of diet histories from these people. I was scared spitless by the shear number of folks who thought eating platters of pork chops, pounds of cheese (and NO fiber, NO FRUIT NO VEGES) was OK...and they couldn't understand why their cancers were growing so friggin' fast....
With the GPB folks, it was varied...some were eating too much fat, some too much sugar, some too much meat....bottom line
PORTIONS are the problem. Of all foods, carbs, proteins fat, etc..
And lastly, if you have to supplement your diet, then it means you should be eating it. The absorption rate is questionable, and often it is the combination that makes the food work (ie, the anti-oxidant in the presense of a lignin type fiber, or lycopene in the presense of a high acid food).
Actually, the only sacrifice it takes is not eating high glycemic carbohydrates. A low carb, high protein eating plan, combined with moderate exercise, will get the weight off.
If you want to KEEP IT OFF, you've got to decide you're going to eat and exercise like that for the rest of your life.
If you like vigorous exercise, you should keep right on doing it.
But it's simply not true that losing weight requires hard work. It doesn't. It requires discipline.
Most Americans don't have time to work out two hours a day, and they won't, no matter what anybody says.
~~sigh~~ read what I wrote. For some bizarro reason, there is a all or nothing mentality here. You are supposed to eat a wide variety of foods, together. Have that cheese omelet, with wheat toast with olive oil spread.
Have that apple with a slice of cheese for a snack.
Have wheat pasta with meatsauce, a salad a peaches for dessert.
Have a bedtime snack of high fiber cereal and skim milk...toss in some nuts and banana slices. That is what we have always advocated....again, it is the portions. For me, it is overall health that I advocate.
I know! I was raised on a farm and we worked hard and played harder. We also ate lots of what we were growin'....corn, potatoes, peas, beans, cows, pigs etc. And my mother was the worlds best baker...always something wonderful on the counter when we came in from playing.
Mixes and processed foods were unheard of then, and well, we had a Coke on our Sunday visits to grannies.
And were the pork chops FRIED? No fried food on Atkins.
We're never going to agree here, najida, as the Atkins plan is just now getting peer reviewed. He was always considered a freak, even as those who tried his plan lost weight, lowered cholesterol, lowered blood pressure, and felt the best they've ever felt while their doctors were scratching their heads. Now, the scare tactic is "well, you're clogging your arteries." What bunk.
What you and your cohorts have recommended in the past required too much work from already overworked Americans. Counting calories, and watching portion sizes is just not getting the job done. We've got to try something else.
Atkins is simple, easy, and it works. I've done it for six years, and will never go back to eating potatoes, or bread, or rice, or popcorn (which I love) again. I did a treadmill test last month, and had better readings than I had ten years ago.
No. It is "all or nothing," at least for me. I haven't drank a glass of milk in 20 years. Milk is for children.
It's not the portions. It's the HUNGER. High-glycemic carbs and processed carbs make people HUNGRY. There's even an old joke about needing to order pizza after a Chinese meal to satisfy the hunger. (Glutamates are the main culprit in chinese food, along with the mountains of rice.)
BTW, I never eat bedtime snacks, as I'm never hungry.
This is fine if it does not effect your energy level. I don’t know about you but without a moderate amount of carbs I feel like my ass is dragging and my workouts are lame. It can be discouraging.
”If you want to KEEP IT OFF, you've got to decide you're going to eat and exercise like that for the rest of your life.
I agree but you make it sound worse than it is. Once it becomes habit, like anything else, you get used to it and don’t miss the larger portions dread going to the gym.
“But it's simply not true that losing weight requires hard work. It doesn't. It requires discipline.
I agree but if you are a man, you might not just want to be a skinny guy and muscle mass is not just going to happen on it’s own. Not only that but a little more hard work means a little less discipline is needed when considering what to eat. It’s the extent of the discipline (regarding diet) that causes most people not to stick to it.
”Most Americans don't have time to work out two hours a day, and they won't, no matter what anybody says.”
I don’t have time for it either (and here we touch on another type of discipline). I work 60plus hours a week, commute over an hour to and from work. What do I do? Wake up at 5am, throw on my gym clothes, grab my business garb, and head off to the gym. Is it fun? No. Has it had a huge effect on my appearance, self confidence, and health? Heck yes.
That's an awful lot of weight to lose in such a short time, even for somebody who started out as heavy as yourself. It's taken me 3 and a half months to lose 55 pounds and that was with walking 7-10 miles every day. Anyway good luck with the rest of your weight loss and stay healthy!
Of course, most Americans watch several hours of television a day also. Much of that mindless sitcoms and insipid reality shows.
I exercise 2 hours a day and it's hardly put a crimp in my busy day. I simply get up an hour earlier than I used to so that I can walk for an hour before starting the day. I also use my lunch hour to get the other hour in. If my business does not allow for it that day, I just walk an hour after I get home.
Like you said, it doesn't require hard work to make this lifestyle adjustment. It just takes discipline. I've explained to others how I was able to find the two hours and all they have is excuses why that could not work for them. But the reality is, they just don't want to wake up at the crack of dawn because that might cut into their TV time from the night before.
I have discovered that the low-carb/walking approach works best for me. Now I haven't cut carbs to the extent that Atkins advocates but I've been down to 70-100 carbs a day since April 1 and have never felt better in my life. My carb intake would be even less if I didn't use sports drinks like Gatorade and Propel Vitamin water. With all the walking I do, water isn't enough, especially on hot days.
If fairness to Atkins, his book does warn that it would be dangerous to combine his diet with a low-fat diet. I believe that is when your body starts burning muscle. So long as you take in enough fat and protein, your body will not turn to burning muscle. If it did, I'm sure we would have heard about it by now, given that millions of people have adopted this way of eating over the past few decades. Believe me, the medical establishment hates Atkins and they would have nailed him to the wall years ago if it could be proven his diet was a "death trap."
Propel has few, if any carbs. I believe its sweetness comes from a blend of mostly sucralose and a little fructose. On the other hand, Gatorade is loaded with carbs.
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