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Well, on Atkins you can cheat also, not that big of a deal. I can eat strict Atkins for 3 week....then go out and eat 2 Jumbo jacks with fries......then go right back onto Atkins.....not that big of a deal. It is not like you will fall off the face of the earth if you go off plan while doing Atkins.
You're not paying attention.
I did NOT "cheat" on WW. I ate those cakes WITHIN the plan. WW doesnt say you can't eat cake. You just have to track the points. The day I had them I went well over my daily amount, and had to use up most of my weekly points. So i just stuck closer to my daily limits the rest of the week. If I use ALL my weekly points, and "eat" all my activity points, I can still lose weight on WW, just much more slowly.
I did South Beach, which is a pretty reigned in version of some of the other low carb diets. SB focuses on lean protein (chicken breast as opposed to a cheese burger patty with bacon), veggies, limited fruits, limited whole grains, nuts. Cheese is allowed but you are supposed to watch yourself with it. At first, I found that I could eat a fair amount of nuts/cheese and still lose weight. But after a point my weight loss slowed down and to keep losing I was then faced with rationing those goodies, too, along with my beloved carbs. Might as well count calories and eat what I want to eat.
My cholesterol numbers were darned good on the low carb diet. But my numbers are decent on my current diet (which seems to resemble WW quite a bit) and exercise regimen.
I have pictures of myself after my weight loss on SB and I have pics of myself after achieving the same weight through diet/exercise. I look much leaner in my diet/exercise photos. Maybe I would have achieved better results if I had strength trained while on the low carb diet.
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SB sounds closer to WW than Atkins is to WW. I still feel more comfortable with WW, and with the AHA anti-sat fat approach (I dont care to argue that again, its MY reading of the research, etc)
AFAICT, within WW you COULD do a SB or even Atkins approach, you could do an AHA approach, or even follow that dude ( i forget his name)who thinks AHA allows too much sat fat (and that that is why AHA diet doesnt get as good results) Its that flexible. Personally (and based on my doc) I prefer to limit the sat fats, and consume more of the "good fats" - I've been eating lots of nuts(my go to food when I have extra daily points to use up), and lots of olive oil.
If you eat what you want all the time you'll continue to gain. Why not go on something thar allows you to eat what you want 2 meals a week? It's called Dukan & is the French version of Atkins. It provides structure & guidelines about what & how much to eat.
Quote:
Originally Posted by Jesse69
My quality of life depends on eating anything I want, including carbs, fast food, rice, cookies, cakes and candies. I just don't overeat on that stuff and I mostly don't gain weight doing this. I don't govern my diet with complicated meal plans and my diet varies. I've eaten a carb breakfast for many years and I never suffered malnutrition. As an asian I eat rice a lot too, so I can never give up rice.
Hard core road bikers bike soo much they can pretty much eat anything and they burn off those calories. But I got sick of biking so much. I guess for anybody to maintain their weight they have to do enough exercise.
It's just that after reading that Atkins book I said to myself I can't live a low carb lifestyle. South Beach sounds like a better diet plan for me. But maybe I'll just adopt some theory from it and eat low carb before and after a workout to enhance workout weight loss. It's just depressing I have to bike 1600 miles just to lose 15 lbs. So I'm thinking a little bit of a diet plan + bike workouts again + some weight training will help me lose weight faster.
I was 162.6 lbs this morning and I like to keep it at 145 lbs.
But I fear it will change my metabolism and food reactions such that if I went back to eating carbs I'd gain the weight back.
Probably very likely, especially if you don't increase your exercise or go overboard with carbs (which it looks like you're already doing ...).
Quote:
Originally Posted by AnonChick
So you're too lazy to get up 10 minutes early and nuke a small bowl of oatmeal with a fistful of raisins, and pour a glass of orange juice, and stuff a handful of snap peas in a plastic baggie for a midmorning snack.
While I do wholeheartedly agree that a breakfast of cookies is wildly inappropriate on a daily basis, your calling the OP "lazy" may not necessarily be the truth since you don't have all the facts of his/her daily life. And your substitution of raisin bran and OJ -- loads o' sugars there, too -- isn't much better than the cookie.
I actually bought this new Atkins book from Barnes & Noble and I got the Nookbook edition. I read it halfway but I realized I can't eat Atkins style on the Lifetime Maintenance Plan. I loves carbs and will eat cookies, candies, cakes, and my favorite, high calorie high carb - pecan pie. I can safely eat carbs without gaining weight. So why subscribe to an Atkins lifestyle?
While I wouldn't exactly say one needs to subscribe to an "Atkins lifestyle," one reason to stop eating the carbs you describe is because they not only contain no nutritional value, and they aren't healthy in other ways. Obviously, if you are eating these things in very small quantities, and eating very healthy otherwise (unprocessed fruits, green leafies, veggies, legumes, nuts, healthy proteins and oils) you are probably ok.
I am able to eat refined sugary carbs without gaining weight, and I did eat this way for a long time-- until I got sick. It was only then that I learned about nutrition and began eating well. I still love refined carbs but I eat them in very limited quantities or not at all. But it is for the sake of my health, not my weight.
That being said, I don't think starchy root veggies are all that bad. I eat loads of carrots and potatoes are rich in nutrients if the skins are left on (and they're not fried!). I also get the majority of my protein from beans, nuts, and fish-- no poultry, dairy or read meat, which is a bit non-Atkins. It's ok to pick and choose what works for you but refined carbs not making you gain weight is not really a good reason to keep eating them, in large quantities anyway. Your goal should be to concentrate as many nutrients into each calorie as possible.
Jesse I would recommend the book "Eat to Live" as a nutritional guide. You don't have to follow it 100% (he suggests a mostly vegan diet) but the basic concept of eating for nutrition is sound. You can continue to have the addictive carbs in small quantities but the rest of your eating should be nutritionally rich.
Quote:
Originally Posted by AnonChick
So you're too lazy to get up 10 minutes early and nuke a small bowl of oatmeal with a fistful of raisins, and pour a glass of orange juice, and stuff a handful of snap peas in a plastic baggie for a midmorning snack.
Not to quibble but dried fruit (raisins) and processed fruit (juice) are big no-nos on a low carb diet. It would be much better to eat the fresh grapes and eat an orange.
Last edited by mermaid825; 04-01-2011 at 12:48 PM..
While I wouldn't exactly say one needs to subscribe to an "Atkins lifestyle," one reason to stop eating the carbs you describe is because they not only contain no nutritional value, and they aren't healthy in other ways. Obviously, if you are eating these things in very small quantities, and eating very healthy otherwise (unprocessed fruits, green leafies, veggies, legumes, nuts, healthy proteins and oils) you are probably ok.
I am able to eat refined sugary carbs without gaining weight, and I did eat this way for a long time-- until I got sick. It was only then that I learned about nutrition and began eating well. I still love refined carbs but I eat them in very limited quantities or not at all. But it is for the sake of my health, not my weight.
That being said, I don't think starchy root veggies are all that bad. I eat loads of carrots and potatoes are rich in nutrients if the skins are left on (and they're not fried!). I also get the majority of my protein from beans, nuts, and fish-- no poultry, dairy or read meat, which is a bit non-Atkins. It's ok to pick and choose what works for you but refined carbs not making you gain weight is not really a good reason to keep eating them, in large quantities anyway. Your goal should be to concentrate as many nutrients into each calorie as possible.
Jesse I would recommend the book "Eat to Live" as a nutritional guide. You don't have to follow it 100% (he suggests a mostly vegan diet) but the basic concept of eating for nutrition is sound. You can continue to have the addictive carbs in small quantities but the rest of your eating should be nutritionally rich.
Not to quibble but dried fruit (raisins) and processed fruit (juice) are big no-nos on a low carb diet. It would be much better to eat the fresh grapes and eat an orange.
I was referring to fresh orange juice, not the crap you get in cartons in the supermarket. Fresh, as in, you cut an orange in half, press a half over a plastic do-hickey, the juice comes out the bottom, and you drink it. That's not processed.
Also, this poster has already said she has no intention of cutting carbs out of her diet. I was telling her that it isn't even the carbs, per se, that's a problem. It's the SUGAR COMBINED WITH LACK OF NUTRITIONAL VALUE FOR BREAKFAST that's causing the problem.
So, again - math:
Sugar + (no nutritional value) = bad thing.
No sugar + (no nutritional value) = bad, or potentially neutral and pointless thing.
Sugar + (nutritional value) = not so bad thing.
No sugar + (nutritional value) = preferred thing.
Some sugar + (high nutritional value) + (lower carb) = excellent thing
No sugar + (high nutritional value) + (low carb) + (decent fiber) = totally awesome thing.
As you can see by my scientific, mathematical chart above, I am addressing the posters preference for Sugar + No Nutritional Value by recommending (some sugar + high nutritional value + modest carb + decent fiber), which is a compromise that any reasonable person would have no objection to embracing.
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SB sounds closer to WW than Atkins is to WW. I still feel more comfortable with WW, and with the AHA anti-sat fat approach (I dont care to argue that again, its MY reading of the research, etc)
AFAICT, within WW you COULD do a SB or even Atkins approach, you could do an AHA approach, or even follow that dude ( i forget his name)who thinks AHA allows too much sat fat (and that that is why AHA diet doesnt get as good results) Its that flexible. Personally (and based on my doc) I prefer to limit the sat fats, and consume more of the "good fats" - I've been eating lots of nuts(my go to food when I have extra daily points to use up), and lots of olive oil.
I gotta agree about the sat fat. I like bacon and burgers on occasion but I can't imagine eating them all the time. I feel so much better when I eat lean meat/low fat dairy/veggies/fruit/whole grains/nuts/healthy fats with occasional sugary/starchy treats.
If I had things to do over again, I would have done South Beach phase 1 for the quick initial weight loss and then when my weight loss slowed I would have transitioned over to a WW (or calorie counting)/exercise plan. Instead I just started eating carbs again and gained all of the weight right back. I had to lose that weight again when I began my current diet/exercise plan about a year ago.
The low carb diets are great tools for taking those first pounds off quickly and getting your blood chemistry back into shape. But WW is a better long term approach, IMO.
Last edited by springfieldva; 04-01-2011 at 02:56 PM..
I did NOT "cheat" on WW. I ate those cakes WITHIN the plan. WW doesnt say you can't eat cake. You just have to track the points. The day I had them I went well over my daily amount, and had to use up most of my weekly points. So i just stuck closer to my daily limits the rest of the week. If I use ALL my weekly points, and "eat" all my activity points, I can still lose weight on WW, just much more slowly.
Yikes, I think I prefer to eat "low quality" foods on a very irregular basis and consider it a "cheat"....eating junk every day...nope.
I was referring to fresh orange juice, not the crap you get in cartons in the supermarket. Fresh, as in, you cut an orange in half, press a half over a plastic do-hickey, the juice comes out the bottom, and you drink it. That's not processed.
Doesn't matter. Carb for carb, processed orange juice has just as much sugar as organic, fresh-squeezed orange juice.
Yikes, I think I prefer to eat "low quality" foods on a very irregular basis and consider it a "cheat"....eating junk every day...nope.
Under WW you can avoid cake if you choose, of course. Probably most eat it rarely.
But eaten in small amounts one could eat some every day, and still lose weight, and still get more than adequate amounts of all nutrients. Personally I don't find the categorization of foods as "junk", bad, etc all that helpful. There are foods I need to eat in limited amounts at most, foods I need to eat less of, and foods I need to eat more of, in order to lose weight and be healthy. Within those limits, if I want to enjoy a little of a given food every day, that is my choice.
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