No-Carb

[Tigress]

Going back to the OP, I also hate it when people try to foist their eating habits on to me. I've been a vegetarian since I was a baby. It's not an animal rights thing. It's not a health thing. It's not a diet. I just don't like to eat animal flesh.

People somehow can't get that concept through their thick skulls. And they love to give me unsolicited advice about how I'm not getting enough protein. Or I'm eating too many carbs. Or how I need to make sure I get all my vitamins. Or how I'm going to waste away. Or how I'm going to blow up like a balloon. And they like to give me a dissertation on how to eat healthy while scarffing down a Triple Big Mac with cheese and calling it "Atkins."

I've lived to be 28 while eating plants, roots, tubers, milk and cheese and my doctor has told me that I'm pretty healthy compared to my peers, so I think I'm doing just fine. And my secret to losing weight? I eat only when I'm hungry. If I'm sad, depressed, or bored, I find something to do. I drink a ton of water. I toss around 200-pound guys twice a week. I stomp away on a dance pad 3 or 4 and do calesthenics. My second job involves lifting and carrying 10 - 20 pound computers all day.

No secret. Really. Everything your doctor said is true. There are no shortcuts and you're not going to lose weight unless you are willing to change your habits. You can't drink a diet soda after eating a whole bag of pork rinds and lose weight. Deep-fried, highly-processed chicken nuggets are not healthy, even if you cut them up, mix them with mixed greens and call it a chicken salad. Eating fast food every day will make you fat.

Oh. And you still have to exercise. Don't like to sweat? Tough luck, fattie. Suck it up and start moving.

[Catwoman2965]

No secret. Really. Everything your doctor said is true. There are no shortcuts and you're not going to lose weight unless you are willing to change your habits. You can't drink a diet soda after eating a whole bag of pork rinds and lose weight. Deep-fried, highly-processed chicken nuggets are not healthy, even if you cut them up, mix them with mixed greens and call it a chicken salad. Eating fast food every day will make you fat.

Oh. And you still have to exercise. Don't like to sweat? Tough luck, fattie. Suck it up and start moving.

I agree; there are definitely NO shortcuts, and I've found that you really have to want to do it and make the commitment if you are ever going to succeed. My issues are a. i LOVE food and LOVE to eat b. working 65+ hours a week at 2 jobs leaves little free time and c. i HATE to exercise. I was doing ok for a while, going to the gym, but i went on vacation, and then sprained my ankle badly...so I'm finally at the point where i can go back to working out.

I've also found it VERY hard to try and eat healthy when I';m never home, and tired when i finally get home. Again, no one to blame but myself, but...I sometimes use that as an excuse. It definitely is a lifestyle change, and while I've made some changes, I have a long way to go. THen again, seeing the photos of me from my cruise where i resemble a beached whale does wonders for the motivation part!

[Ill_Used_Heroine]

*sigh* I did it once, 6 years ago ... lost 90 pounds. Ate right, worked out 5 days a week.

Now it's creeping back on, and I don't know what to do, because now I have tennis elbow, bursitis, and lower back problems from work. And with the weight slowly coming back, I'm afraid that I'll hurt myself if I start lifting again. I never did use anything heavier than 5 or 10 lb. weights, though. I guess it's a matter of starting light and slow.

I never did know where that motivation came from years ago, cause I was always fat. I still can't believe I went from a size 24 to a size 12. Just wish I could get it back again, you know? Cause I'm really feeling it, now.

[Sharsarannon]

Several months after I started doing Atkins, people noticed a change in me. First of all, they noticed my mind was much sharper...my attention improved, as did my reflexes and ability to think quickly. I can tell you my head was clearer than it had been since I can remember. Those of you with sugar issues probably know what I'm talking about. They noticed I'd lost fat and gained some muscle definition. My skin cleared up and my hair was shiny. People remarked I looked "happier" or "younger" or "I dunno, you just sort of...glow."

Quick question for you- Were you one of the people on the boards who mentioned being an 'aspie'? And does what you've been eating help with that?
I ask because I have AS, and I've found that a certain amount of proteins balancing the usual bread staple out a bit really helps. I do better with eggs, chicken and fish as almost one third of my food.

[RecoveringKinkoid]

No, I was chronically hypoglycemic. Your brain runs on glucose (actually, everything runs on glucose) so if you are too low on your blood sugar all the time (and more people are than realize it) you get confused, disoriented, and fuzzy headed. It's harder to think. Your muscles run on glucose, too, so your reflexes and energy levels suffer as well.

You'd think a hypoglycemic would need to eat more sugar, but if the problem is an overactive pancreas making more insulin than you need (and it usually is), more sugar makes the problem much worse. The sugar-insulin roller coaster plays havoc with your body and metabolism. Not to mention it overtaxes a pancreas that is not firing on all pistons as it is (starting the sufferer down the road to diabeties.)

I feel very strongly that diet is linked to many of the maladies and problems that are so prevailent these days. What is accepted as standard western diet is a joke. It's a wonder we don't all die of malnourishment (well, I suppose you could say we are, when you consider diabeties and heart disease are rampant and they can be affected by diet.). I wouldn't be the least bit suprised to find that diet is linked to Aspergers and Autism. I'm not saying it is, because I don't know. But it would not shock me in the least.

I can't imagine stabilizing your blood sugar could hurt. And I would think it very well may help. After all, like I said, your glucose levels are directly linked to how your brain functions.

Also, I forgot to mention earlier that while I don't think all doctors are quacks and useless when it comes to figuring out what sorts of healthy lifestyles are for you, they are in no way the end-all-be-all. Doctors are humans, and humans come with their own agendas, biases, close mindedness, and out and out blinders, just like everyone else.

Many doctors are against Atkins because they haven't bothered to learn about it. They "know" what every else "knows"...that "a no carb diet is bad for you." Some of them don't like it because it goes against traditional convention. Some are only interested in prescribing their pills so they can get a kickback from the drug companies. Some are just idiots.

A severely hypoglycemic friend (who was veering dangerously into the red zone for diabeties) had a doctor tell her, and I quote, "I'd rather see you get full blown type 2 diabeties than go on Atkins." I asked her, "Okay. Your prick doctor would rather you get diabeties than control your sugar with diet. He has no problem with you going on the needle. How about you? You have a problem going on the needle?" Guess what? Predictably, she had a problem with going on the needle. Go figure. A coworker with high cholestrol had a doctor just prescribe Lipitor to her from the get go. Not even the slightest mention of possibly controlling her diet. Nope, straight to pharma. By the way, there's evidence that those sorts of drugs are terrible for your organs. And that for women, there's not much evidence that they even work at all. But hey, he's getting his nice little kickback, so to hell with her.

I had one cement head tell me I needed to eat more sugar to control my hypoglycemia. He must've had stock in the company that makes insulin. That's like prescribing gasoline to put out a forest fire.

(And we won't even talk about the asshole that x-rayed me after I separated a rib in a fencing tournament who then asked me if "a fence fell on me." And the one that prescribed an antibiotic to treat the ringing ears of a friend who'd been hit in the head by a two by four. But I digress...)

Suffice it to say, doctors are handy, but they are not the last word. If I'd followed the advice of a doctor when first diagnosed with my problem, I'd be a diabetic by now. If I wasn't dead from wrecking my car (driving with low sugar is like driving drunk. I got REALLY LUCKY.).

[Zell]

No carb diets are only good for you for a temporary amount of time. The lack of carbohydrates in your body forces your body to create a substitute for carbohydrates out of some vital nutrients in your body. Plus, denying yourself of carbs is going to rob you of energy for exercising. That's why you usually eat a big bowl of pasta a night before a race.

[Sharsarannon]

No, I was chronically hypoglycemic. Your brain runs on glucose (actually, everything runs on glucose) so if you are too low on your blood sugar all the time (and more people are than realize it) you get confused, disoriented, and fuzzy headed. It's harder to think. Your muscles run on glucose, too, so your reflexes and energy levels suffer as well.

I wouldn't be the least bit suprised to find that diet is linked to Aspergers and Autism. I'm not saying it is, because I don't know. But it would not shock me in the least.

I can't imagine stabilizing your blood sugar could hurt. And I would think it very well may help. After all, like I said, your glucose levels are directly linked to how your brain functions.

.... If I wasn't dead from wrecking my car (driving with low sugar is like driving drunk. I got REALLY LUCKY.).

Thanks for replying! Diet doesn't cause AS or Autism as far as we know, but some psychiatrists think it can be used to help it. Some people with AS actually get kind of sick if they don't get enough proteins. Like me, I am finding out lately.

A low carb diet for me would not be healthy, but neither is one that's mostly carbs the way my roommates seem to eat, or the way I used to eat.
When is almost as important as What, too. When I keep my blood sugar level or compensate for sugar by eating greens and proteins too, I stay more comfortable.
I keep a bag of candy in the glovebox of my car in case I get stuck someplace without nourishment of any kind, so I can suck on one and get a little emergency support if I get so low I need that kind of boost. Luckily I haven't had to do that in ages.

[Seshat]

Now it's creeping back on, and I don't know what to do, because now I have tennis elbow, bursitis, and lower back problems from work. And with the weight slowly coming back, I'm afraid that I'll hurt myself if I start lifting again. I never did use anything heavier than 5 or 10 lb. weights, though. I guess it's a matter of starting light and slow.

Make an appointment with a physiotherapist. Organise it with your regular doctor, so he can inform the physio of all your physical problems. The PT should be able to help you devise an exercise plan that (a) you enjoy, and (b) will not cause you any further damage.

My own problem is pain, but I'm getting treatment for that so (cross fingers) I'll actually be able to enjoy exercise instead of it being a painful and difficult chore.

I keep a bag of candy in the glovebox of my car in case I get stuck someplace without nourishment of any kind, so I can suck on one and get a little emergency support if I get so low I need that kind of boost.

I keep nut bars. They're not as immediate, but I eat them when I feel myself starting to need it and they keep me going for a while.

[RecoveringKinkoid]

I used to keep a roll of lifesavers in the glove box and in my bag for the same reason. You can slip one under your tongue and the sugar will hit almost immediately.

Though since I've started the low carb thing, I haven't really had to do that unless I messed around and got my sugar out of whack again. The fat intake plus the low amount of carbs keeps me from needing to do that very often. Which rocks. I keep my diet controlled I don't even need the extra meals.

Eating a big bowl of pasta the night before, say, a big race I would argue isn't going to do much for you. Pasta will be burned up and turned to either energy or fat hours before your race, if you eat it the night before. Professional atheletes carb dope before an event because they have little body fat to burn, and their energy levels will drop if they don't have sufficient fuel. Most of us, though, have lots of extra fat to burn.

The lethargy and exhaustion of too-low carb intake only lasts until your body remembers what all that fat it's storing is for. You body will not like having to dig into that stockpile for energy. But once it does, it's like rocket fuel. You will feel like crap for as long as a week once you start low carb as your body uses up all it's glucose. Then it will start to manufacture glucose out of fat. This is why it is vitally important not to try to do low carb while doing low fat. You really CAN hurt yourself doing that.

You can do a no carb diet for a very short amount of time in order to kick start your fat burning, if it's stalled or you are particularly insulin-resistant. But even Atkins only recommends you try this in extreme cases, and only then for a very short time.

[Killer Bees]

I'm on Atkins but I don't follow it religiously. I make sure I get fibre every day and I always have a cup of veggies with any meat I eat. And it's always lean meat.

I've cut out sugar and junk food and anything made with white flour. And it's doing me the world of good. I still drink full strength coffee, but the decent stuff. And I use cream and a little sugar it in.

You can't completely cut out anything that is healthy. Also, having the right frame of mind helps enormously. I also exercise every day, except for either Fridays or Sundays.

And the weight is coming off.

But you can't eat a burger without the bun and say you're on Atkins. that's just ridiculous.

[Broomjockey]

(And we won't even talk about the asshole that x-rayed me after I separated a rib in a fencing tournament who then asked me if "a fence fell on me." ).

Wait, was he an ass, or an idiot? 'Cause that strikes me as idiot unless there's more to the story. Which with someone that stupid I'm sure there is.

[RecoveringKinkoid]

I carefully explained how I was injured (hard epee to the chest, lunged into my opponent's attack...in SCA fencing, we don't have right of way, so simultaneous lunges are fairly common.) Got hit with a blunt rod of steel with a rubber cap. Wasn't wearing chest protection...my own fault. I wanted him to understand how I was injured. Then he said "So...a fence fell on you?"

He was an asshole for not listening to his patient. He was an idiot for saying what he said...well, that and not listening to his patient.

But you can't eat a burger without the bun and say you're on Atkins. that's just ridiculous.

It is, and the number of people who think that's all there is to it annoy and frankly disgust me. I don't even try to help people anymore unless I really have evidence that they are serious. It's a waste of my time. People claim to have read the book, then ask me if they can have grits for breakfast. Or they go on about how they just want a way to quick start while they read the book and ask me for some basics. Then a week later they are walking around with a Coke in their hand. Why waste my time?

Now people ask me for pointers because they don't feel like reading all the stuff. Sorry, my only pointer is read the books.

It's all these "Atkins posers" that give the lifestyle a bad name. People who do it profoundly incorrectly, then claim that "Atkins made them sick." It's really sad, because it is something that can really help people.

Here's a thread I started on an Atkins board I'm on in which I illustrate just how much spin is put on dietary and nutritional info by the media and others with an interest in creating hype. http://livingtheatkinsway.tribe.net/...a-ef256180cc2b. It contains some links that show some pretty serious spin.

[Andara Bledin]

Atkins followed his diet. Not only did he gain a lot of weight he also died of a heart attack when his doctor told him he needed to exercise. He was so overweight his heart couldn't handle a slow walk up the street.

Atkins died of a head injury. What, precisely, led to the head injury is unknown because it's really none of our business.

Heart attack is not always related to fat or weight. Heart attack can also be related to stress, and Atkins had a history of hypertension. Why he had the health issues he had is something only his doctor, the coroner, and possibly relatives and friends know.

Bingo.

Me, my main issue, along with many other people's, is simply that I'm at a Zero-Sum point in my lifestyle. I don't consume large amounts of calories but I'm not burning significantly more or less than I eat, either, therefore my weight stays stable. I'm overweight by the same amount (varying for water-weight) every day. People simply see their diets as the easier of the two options in adjusting the Cal In - Cal Burn = Weight Change equation.

[snippage]

What I need to do is get off my fat ass and exercise. The big problem is that I don't have a negative body image, which means, with no health issues, I have zilch in the way of motivation if it's not uber-convenient.

Heh. I'm almost completely non-active. I'm a computer geek and bookworm with a slow metabolism. I've been maintaining the same basic weight/build for the last decade. If I exercised more, I'd lose weight, but obviously losing weight isn't important enough to me that I bother to exercise. *shrug*

My favorite are all of these "miracle" foods that will just make the pounds melt of with the fine print that includes exercise. Never mind the fact that just the exercise alone will do almost precisely the same thing...

I've had people telling me that I eat too much...and that's why I'm a bit, um, roly-poly around the middle. Er, no...that's not the reason. It's because I sit on my ass all day at work, and don't get out much to exercise. Yes, going to the gym helps, but it takes *forever* to get into shape.

I'm actually planning to start doing yoga, myself. All sorts of benefits, and not a lot of money/equipment to get started.

Going back to the OP, I also hate it when people try to foist their eating habits on to me. I've been a vegetarian since I was a baby. It's not an animal rights thing. It's not a health thing. It's not a diet. I just don't like to eat animal flesh.

[snippage]

Oh. And you still have to exercise. Don't like to sweat? Tough luck, fattie. Suck it up and start moving.

You don't have to sweat. There are a lot of different exercises that don't make you sweat that can still have the desired effect.

For example, swimming can be extremely healthy while being low impact and very easy on the joints. However, because water leaches out body heat extremely well, it has a tendency to increase hunger until your temperature goes back up to normal levels.

Well, of course I'll share! And they're always better with milk!

Cow's milk is not really all that good for you. Not only can you get the calcium you need in your diet from other healthier sources, but the fat in the milk cows produce is designed to make little cows into big cows. If you are really set on drinking milk, it would be far better to get your milk from an animal that was at least close to the same mass. My mom gave us milk from our goat when my brother and I were little and we were living on the ranch.

^-.-^

[wagegoth]

I've had both milk from our own cow and milk from a neighbor's goat. When I first tried 1% milk it reminded me of the skimmed cow milk we drank. The cream was removed to make butter, my mother leaving just a bit behind to make the milk a little richer, as real skim milk is quite different from what you get in the store.

Goat milk is naturally homogenized, at least for a while, so you can't skim the fat.

Calves get big because they drink gallons of milk. If a human drinks a couple glasses of milk, and their system properly digests milk, they aren't going to get fat from it.

I like fresh goat milk, not the kind you can purchase in a store. I've tried a couple of different brands, and it's just not as good as our neighbor's. I buy certain kinds of organic cow milk (usually 1%), and have been much happier with the taste.

A friend who, along with her sons, is normally dairy intolerant, found that she and the children could drink raw cow milk without problems.

[wagegoth]

No, I was chronically hypoglycemic.

I got lucky. Over twenty years ago, a chiropractor told me to be sure to eat protein several times a day, along with taking chromium to control my hypoglycemia. It works great.

I wouldn't be the least bit suprised to find that diet is linked to Aspergers and Autism. I'm not saying it is, because I don't know. But it would not shock me in the least.

Since my son and I are both on the Autism Spectrum, I've been doing a lot of reading. ASDs are definitely genetic. That said, if someone on the spectrum has a food allergy, it's only going to make things worse. We are both gluten intolerant. Most ASDs aren't, but some are, and the problem they have is that if the person who is ill is already having communication difficulties, isn't feeling well, and is being treated by a doctor who still believes gluten intolerance is rare (1 in 1,500 as opposed to the more accurate 1 in 100 here in the U.S.), they are going to suffer and possibly even die.

A coworker with high cholestrol had a doctor just prescribe Lipitor to her from the get go. Not even the slightest mention of possibly controlling her diet. Nope, straight to pharma.

An attorney I used to work with dropped his cholesterol completely with diet. He doesn't want to go on the medications. It is also more common for doctors to prescribe medication to female patients, instead of pursuing more testing and alternative treatments.