Low Fat, Low Carb, or Low Calorie

[ercarta]

Let's discuss the pros & cons of each of these diets. I want to know what worked for who and why?

I need to lose weight and I don't know what road to travel. I lack the patience to use trial & error as a method...

So let's begin with Low Carb diets as this is the most popular.

Question:
What are some experiences with the Low Carb methodology? Does it help yield actual results or is this all just theory?

[bonacera]

Didn't Dr. Akins die from a heartattack?

[zipbow]

I think a balanced nutrition is healthier than those low-carb/Akins diet.

Besides, low carb diet is probably the worst way to lose weight, unless all you're looking for is a temporary weight loss. From what I know, as soon as you begin to intake carb again, your "lost weight" comes RIGHT BACK. It's probably a lot like you losing weight from dehydrating.

Keep a regular eating habit, light on dinner, try not to eat within 4 hours before you go to bed, and regular exercise. That definitely would help.

[bonacera]

I agree. I believe in a balanced diet as well. Actually, I believe in tasty food. :D

[ercarta]

First of all, what is a balanced nutrition?

Secondly, with regards to Atkins, you are never supposed to dramatically increase your carb intake ever again. Once you have completed Induction you are supposed to increase carb intake gradually until you have found your critical carb maximum for weight maintenance. This is the carb intake level you must stay at forever unless your body goes through some kind of change.


I think a balanced nutrition is healthier than those low-carb/Akins diet.

Besides, low carb diet is probably the worst way to lose weight, unless all you're looking for is a temporary weight loss. From what I know, as soon as you begin to intake carb again, your "lost weight" comes RIGHT BACK. It's probably a lot like you losing weight from dehydrating.

Keep a regular eating habit, light on dinner, try not to eat within 4 hours before you go to bed, and regular exercise. That definitely would help.

[ercarta]

What do we know about Low Calorie diets. I know a lot of nutritions take you down this road. Is there a reason for that?

[sanity]

Calories measured energy... the excess of which is converted by your body to fat for storage. Reduction of calories forces your body to stop storing excess as fat. Further reduction forces your body to start using stored energy from fat. Or at least thats what I remember from high school bio.

But, I thought people who try these reduced calorie diets were the classic weight yo-yo people who suddenly binge and gain everything back and then some.

[wishiwas]

Try Weight Watchers. If you are too busy for meetings, do it online.

It's the healthiest 'diet' out there. I firmly believe in 'everything in moderation.'

[ercarta]

What's moderation? Will I be measuring my food in ounces, inches, or what?

[07310]

Read the labels on the food packaging, look for the amount of calories and fat in a portion, I think the daily intake of calories is around 2000-2500 per day, not sure about fat,( 60-80 g?) If you want to lose weight try to be under these #s. Stay away from fast foods!

[ercarta]

I can't be bothered. That's too much mental energy spent to look at every label of everything I eat. Isn't there another way?

[wishiwas]

Yes, there are other ways.

With Weight Watchers, you count 'points' and the foods are assigned 'point values.'

There are nifty Palm Programs to do all of the counting for you, too.

[ercarta]

Let's talk moolah shmoolah. What's the cost of your Weight Watcher program? As you know by my Money Talk thread I am looking for a return on my money these days. I am certainly not looking to be sunk by a weight program. I've become a parsimonious spender and I have reached the point of no return. No one gets my money. That's it, I draw the line. ;)

Occam's Razor - a scientific and philosophic rule that entities should not be multiplied unnecessarily which is interpreted as requiring that the simplest of competing theories be preferred to the more complex or that explanations of unknown phenomena be sought first in terms of known quantities.

[bonacera]

Okies.. Enough worry about points, calories, programs, and etc...
However, streess is also another big cause of weigh problem..

I'd rather eat whatever tasty food I want to eat and worry less.. :)

[jacfield]

I was watching a show on CNN regarding different diets. Apparently, some pple did some research on losing weight. I believe there's some registry for people who managed to lose weight AND kept the weight off AFTER losing weight for a year. It indicated that you have to be
1) determined to lose weight
not those "ccan't be bothered" type. You have to plan. There' sno quick fix. All diets will work for you, if you goal is to lose weight. But if you want to keep it that way after you lose it, you just have to do it the right way. Incorporate healthy habits to your lifestyle.
Exercise regularly. THeir research shows that people who kept their weight exercise at least 1 hr per day.
Watch their diet, low carb diet won't work in keeping ur weight off. It might help you lose 5-10 pounds in 6 weeks, but you will gain it back even if you slowly introduce carbs....

If you're really determined, try figuring why you want to go on diet. Do you want to lose weihgt? do you want to become healthier?
THen examine your diet. Do you simply eat too mcuh? Do you have bad habits like eating sugar/fast food/ice cream/junk food a lot? DO you favored a lot of meat, or a lot of carbs...then just act according to your own habit.
If you eat too much junk, cut it down.
If eat too much, cut it down slowly....just eat a small portion.
drink more water also helps.

[atrauben]

Low fat, low carb, Atkins, The Zone, South Beach, calculators, points, calories, etc., etc., on and on and on.....

How many people have been on a diet only to "fall off" and gain the weight back?!!

Diets don't work because
1. they are based on deprivation and trying to follow a list of specific foods or supplements, gimmicks.
2. they don't take into account that you are an individual living in your own individual body.
3. they don't teach you to listen and trust your own body.
4. they don't take into account your whole life. Instead they only focus on food.
5. they don't teach you to balance their life so food will not the sole way for you to get nourishment out of your life.
5. they don't encourage you to think about health or to eat healthy food.

I'm a RN, Nutrition & Holistic Health Counselor working with people to help them make changes in their lives through nourishment with whole foods, lifestyle choices and stress reduction techniques so they can live a more energized, balanced, enriched, healthy life. From weight loss to pregnancy, fertility issues, menopause, cholesterol, low energy, sugar cravings, to learning to provide better nourishment to themselves, I work with clients with all sorts of issues because healthy food, positive lifestyle and stress reduction techniques are very important to good health. Besides counseling, I do health food store tours, cooking classes, write an online health & wellness newsletter and will be facilitating a holistic health book group at B&N.

I love my work because it's about empowering my clients to take responsibility for their health and I've had great success working with people that want to lose weight, but I won't work with people that are stuck in diet mentality. If you are interested in learning more about my services check out http://www.wholehealth.net.

Who can take better care of you than you can? It's your life, aren't you worth it? As New Years Resolution time approaches, isn't this a great time to get a jump start on being healthy?

Feel free to contact me to ask about the holiday special I'm running for an initial consultation.

Happy Holidays!

Anne Trauben, RN
Nutrition & Holistic Health Counselor

WHOLE HEALTH NUTRITION
A Mind-Body-Spirit Approach To Optimal Health & Well-Being

917-523-5168
www.wholehealth.net
anne@wholehealth.net

[Nic]

Any diet plan has got to include plenty of exercise, especially if you want to lose weight healthily rather than simply avoid gaining it. And fat-burning exercise really means more than a gentle swim in a pool or half an hour on a jogger watching TV. If you want to lose weight and you're not, you just need to do more exercise. It's as simple as that.

[PHXguy]

Any diet plan has got to include plenty of exercise, especially if you want to lose weight healthily rather than simply avoid gaining it. And fat-burning exercise really means more than a gentle swim in a pool or half an hour on a jogger watching TV. If you want to lose weight and you're not, you just need to do more exercise. It's as simple as that.
Exactly! A balance between diet and exercise. Diet alone won't bring optimum result, vice versa.
In my experience, start with avoiding red meat, eat a lot of fish, vegetables, no bread/potato/rice etc. No soda, no desert. Divide meals into smaller portions so we eat less but more often to help spread out the intakes.
Good luck! ;)

[ercarta]

Maybe I'll look into the diet again. It makes sense to reduce carbs. I remember in high school my football coach wanted us carb up to become more massive. So it only makes sense that if you reduce your carb intake that you will inevitably lose weight.

[PHXguy]

I would agree with everything except the red meat.
My diet is basically red meat in all it possible permutations (where I come from, that is almost the only thing we eat). I do not understand why people here are so paranoid about red meat. We eat it and we do not have obese people as here in the USA.
My personal experience with red meat is saturated fat which is not good, not to mention high colesterol effect. I still eat it sparingly, not paranoid about it. Fish contains better fat (Omega 3) which is beneficial to our body. But it all comes down to a healthy and balanced diet however you achieve it. Many roads to Rome. ;)

[bonacera]

Speaking of fats, what about hydrogenated fats?

During hydrogenation, the unsaturated fat becomes more saturated and when the food is processed with hydrogenated oils, the food become another health hazard: trans fatty acids.

I think every food package should include how much hydrogenated fats they use, along with saturated fat in their nutrition info..

Dostitos used to be made with hydrogenated vegetable oils and now there is a new product that does not use hydrogenated oil. I tried it and actually it tasted better than the previos one. :)

[ercarta]

Speaking of trans fat, does anyone know what the difference is between I Can't Believe It's Not Butter & Benacol? There is a huge price gap between the two!

Secondly, what do you call these foods, they are not butter nor are they margarine? :confused:

[bonacera]

In July 2003, the FDA ruled that food manufacturers are required to list the amount of trans fats contained in each product on the nutrition label. Food manufacturers have until January 1, 2006 to list the amount of trans fats on their labels. Trans fats will be listed on a separate line, under the amount of saturated fats.

Since the FDA does not believe they have enough data at this time to determine an appropriate intake of trans fats, a % Daily Value (%DV) will not be listed on the label for the time being. The FDA predicts that three years after trans fat labeling is available, it will prevent 600 to 1200 cases of heart disease and 250-500 deaths a year.

[bonacera]

Secondly, what do you call these foods, they are not butter nor are they margarine? :confused:

They are "spreads," which is basically like margarines, but contains less than 80% fat. Margarine must contain 80% fat according to federal regulation, so I guess they had to come up with a new term, "spreads." ;)

[bonacera]

Speaking of trans fat, does anyone know what the difference is between I Can't Believe It's Not Butter & Benacol? There is a huge price gap between the two!


Interesting!! I just found out that I Can't Believe It's Not Butter is now available without trans-fat on their website. I usually prefer real thing over margarines, but this makes me rethink about buying margarines.. ;)


To limit the amount of trans and saturated fats in your diet, follow these four simple rules: (from http://www.tasteyoulove.com/tfLanding.asp?section=box3)

1. Use olive, canola oil, or no trans fat margarines (like I Can't Believe It's Not Butter!®) instead of butter, stick margarine, or shortening.
2. Avoid fatty meats and deep-fried foods.
3. Look for foods that don't have vegetable shortening or partially hydrogenated oil mentioned on their list of ingredients.
4. Choose lower-fat chips, crackers, cookies, and other processed foods - the lower the fat, the lower the trans fats.

[sanity]

Waning low-carb craze hits businesses
Research says number on diets peaked in February
http://www.cnn.com/2004/HEALTH/diet.fitness/12/20/lowcarb.decline.ap/index.html



....finally

[ercarta]

"Spreads" is such a broad term. A spread could be anything. I thought there'd be a more specific term for these foods. Thank for trying.

;)


They are "spreads," which is basically like margarines, but contains less than 80% fat. Margarine must contain 80% fat according to federal regulation, so I guess they had to come up with a new term, "spreads." ;)

[bonacera]

I know a "spread" can be anything. I think that's why they are using a word, "spreads." It is basically margarines, but they cannot call it margarines because there is less fat than required to be margarines uner FCC regulations. On the other hand, it is not butter either since it is made out of the vegetable oils, instead of milk.

[bonacera]

There is FAQ about margarine vs. spreads at http://www.tasteyoulove.com/faq.asp?section=faq