Weight Loss Thread

Soooo...Two weeks into Atkins (well tomorrow is day 14). I have lost 13 pounds. I went from 312 to 299. My cravings are gone. The sugar withdrawal is gone. My HEADACHES are gone!

Silly question for those that have done this diet or similar. Did you re-introduce carbs/sugars back at all? I am really not missing the breads or sugars. Will my ass die or some shit if I keep this out my diet? I am taking a men's one a day to help with what I might be missing. Also I am wondering how much red meat a person can really expect to eat, and stay healthy.

Man that testosterone talk really killed this thread didn't it?

Congrats Brahma! Keep up the good work!

Is there a reason why you chose the atkins diet as opposed to just "dieting"?

Just a note, but you aren't really missing vitamins and stuff when you aren't eating lots of carbs. The vast majority you consume are chains of sugars for the most part.

Reducing carbs in your diet has several effects. One, if you reduce but not cut, you are lowering your available energy stores (important when lifting, which I know you do~) and you are more than likely going to notice a lack of oomph in the gym. This highly depends on how much you were consuming in the first place, but unless you go into ketosis (summoning Khane) your body isn't going to switch over and start using other stored energy in anything even approaching a similar manner, so that could be a negative. Two, reducing carb intake (300lbs is a -big- ass dude) in most people is an effective weight loss tool, because by and large people have no fucking idea how much they are consuming on the daily. Starbucks is sugar coffee. White bread is basically sugar without anything else going for it. Soda is sugar water. It's incredibly easy for a lot of people to consume 1/4 to 1/3 of their daily allowed calories on the way to work, before they eat a single thing. Three, in the end, it comes down to managing caloric intake. Foods that are high in carbs tend to be less filling than foods that are high in fats or protein. This translates into less hunger cravings when you "spend" your calories each day on foods that take longer to digest and will keep you feeling sated for longer.

Carbs aren't inherently bad, it's just that people on the fast-food lifestyle or eating pre-packaged shit tend to over-consume the shit out of them compared to their activity levels. If you were one of those guys who drank a couple of sodas/beers each day on top of just eating normal stuff, you were probably 1000ish calories over your needed amounts, which means you steadily get bigger on the average. Simply cutting the "extra" carbs out of a diet usually puts people down into normal levels, where they can eat a sandwich and not gain 1/8th a lb from doing so.

I lost 30lbs from just reducing my overall calorie intake by about 20% (well and lifting/exercising, but that's not really that much compared to diet) across the board. It helped that I wasn't a soda/Starbucks fanatic or had a related caffeine addiction. The people who -need- to cut carbs mostly out of their diet are those poor bastards.

So while I'm not an Atkins proponent, I will say that it's totally safe to add carbs back into your diet and you'll have no ill effects... as long as you keep your lowered caloric totals the same. Just adding breads and coffees and sodas and shit into your diet without changing it will only be a bad thing.

mures_sl said:

Man that testosterone talk really killed this thread didn't it?

Congrats Brahma! Keep up the good work!

Is there a reason why you chose the atkins diet as opposed to just "dieting"?

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Because I pretty much just needed to give up breads and sugars. I thought that would be easier than trying to control portions at my size. Plus I REALLY need the proteins since I lift heavy weights. Seemed the best fit when you put that all together.

Now that I can actually put tangible results to my "sacrifices" I can start to trim down the meals a bit. I have started with breakfast. I have gone from 4 eggs and cheese with a side of bacon, down to two eggs and no cheese. So far I haven't missed the eggs or cheese. I am not craving anything come lunch. Next I will introduce dinner, which is my largest meal, since I am starving after the gym.

Rezz hit the nail on the head. The "oomph" at the gym just isn't there. My strength seems sapped. BUT I will stick with it. I set a reasonable goal of 280 by end of July.

Brahma_sl said:

Rezz hit the nail on the head. The "oomph" at the gym just isn't there. My strength seems sapped. BUT I will stick with it. I set a reasonable goal of 280 by end of July.

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There is no way to cut without seeing at least a bit of strength loss, so I would manage your expectations accordingly. It shouldn't fall off a cliff though. If it does, go back to maintenance for a while before cutting again. Ive gone from 203 to 160 on a lowish carb diet, over a 2 year period. I started on strict atkins, and over time have added some carbs back in. I weigh all my food and hit my macros, (currently at 45P/30F/25C) which my body seems to enjoy. I still almost never eat bread, pasta, cereals, soda, beer etc. My carbs now come in the form of sweet potatoes, apples, bananas, dark chocolate, small portions of rice, vegetables etc. I will say you really need to enjoy meat eating and fat in order to make it work, because that is where all the energy comes from on a diet like this. I found that to keep my energy for the gym, I drink a shot of espresso and eat a banana about 2 hours before the workout. That seems to help a lot.

White rice is basically my #1 carb source. And generally carbs are cut because the other two macros stay pretty constant: high levels of protein to build/maintain mass, fat to keep your hormones in check. Therefore, carbs are the only thing left.

Your strength honestly shouldn't drop, what should drop is your ability to hit tons of volume. And that may be what you're referring to. But your 1RM should stay near the same range, you'll just have more trouble performing a 3x10 workout, etc.

Keto is a great tool to lose weight. I don't believe it's a great way to live your life unless it somehow improves your condition of living beyond weight loss (see people with seizures).

Brahma_sl said:

Because I pretty much just needed to give up breads and sugars. I thought that would be easier than trying to control portions at my size. Plus I REALLY need the proteins since I lift heavy weights. Seemed the best fit when you put that all together.

Now that I can actually put tangible results to my "sacrifices" I can start to trim down the meals a bit. I have started with breakfast. I have gone from 4 eggs and cheese with a side of bacon, down to two eggs and no cheese. So far I haven't missed the eggs or cheese. I am not craving anything come lunch. Next I will introduce dinner, which is my largest meal, since I am starving after the gym.

Rezz hit the nail on the head. The "oomph" at the gym just isn't there. My strength seems sapped. BUT I will stick with it. I set a reasonable goal of 280 by end of July.

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Thats cool, if its just to diet then I wouldn't worry too much about staying strict with it. I've been obese my entire life, tried multiple fad diets and I just wouldn't stick with them; granted I was much younger at the time. All I do now is watch what I eat and move around. I was really strict with myself the first 2 years, but now I'll pretty much eat whatever I want, just not all the time. Like for mother's day I went to a big family gathering at the aunt and uncle's and on top of the bbq, someone brought cane's so I had a couple of chicken strips and piece of texas toast, my cousin who is a trained chef brought crawfish pasta so I had to have some of that, and there were these two delicious looking cakes. Cake is usually something I have no problem passing on, but these things looked amazing so I got a slice of each and split it with the wife and they were amazing. So because I went ham on Sunday I've been strict about what I eat this week and been doing a little extra each day. This has been the only thing I've been able to stick with and why I call it a lifestyle change and not a diet. I think when you put yourself on a diet its too easy to break it and say well I guess that's over and go back into old habits.

Itlan_sl said:

White rice is basically my #1 carb source. And generally carbs are cut because the other two macros stay pretty constant: high levels of protein to build/maintain mass, fat to keep your hormones in check. Therefore, carbs are the only thing left.

Your strength honestly shouldn't drop, what should drop is your ability to hit tons of volume. And that may be what you're referring to. But your 1RM should stay near the same range, you'll just have more trouble performing a 3x10 workout, etc.

Keto is a great tool to lose weight. I don't believe it's a great way to live your life unless it somehow improves your condition of living beyond weight loss (see people with seizures).

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Yeah, strength itself isn't going to drop, but you're not going to get the same overall workout without some form of energy to keep you going. It makes getting decent gains while on a reduced carb diet an uphill battle, esp. when you are already lifting 300+ on bench etc. Big guys just need more energy, and reducing your carb intake is directly cutting down on your energy stores.

Yes, carbs are the only source of energy our bodies use. I'm not sure why people even drink protein shakes. And fat? Why bother eating it at all, it isn't even a source of energy.

So according to Rezz eating fast food and other shit, processed garbage doesn't have any effect on our bodies, it's all just psychological, but cutting down on carbs will mean you just have no energy stores. Ignoring the fat that carbs, especially simple carbs, are on demand energy and not stored energy at all. If you want to talk about energy stores that's all protein and fat.

Brahma, have you actually read up on the Atkins diet? A few things I can already tell you aren't following:

1) The more you exercise the more carbs you can eat. The first two phases of the diet focus on ketosis but in phase 2, which you can probably go into right now, you are supposed to be upping your carb intake by 5g of net carbs every day until you get knocked out of ketosis. Then you back it off that last 5g so you can stay in ketosis while still eating carbs (you don't have to do this but it's much easier to stick with the diet when you aren't trying to stay at 20g of carbs a day)
2) Yes, you definitely will be eating carbs. And you SHOULD be eating carbs. Sugar gets re-introduced in the form of fruit and yes you can eat bread and pasta even on Atkins.

Most people have no idea what that diet is even about, so please take the time to actually read the book or all the information on the website. Do not just do what 90% of the population does when they hear the word "Atkins" and stop eating all carbs and only eat red meat, believing they know exactly what a low carb diet is about.

Also, the "keto fog" is a definite thing. It lasted about a month for me the first time I did Atkins and it's kind of a strange feeling. Almost like the kind of feeling you get after having gotten over a stomach virus. Just kind of groggy and out of it.

I went from 280lbs to 180lbs in 10 months when I did it the first time. I also happened to start lifting around the same time and at first it was really slow going but after I had adjusted I put on a lot of mass and built a lot of strength. In 18 months I was over 1000lbs total on the big 3 lifts and I did Atkins the entire time. When I started I couldn't even military press 40lb dumbells and was barely able to bench 135.

Ugh I'm not getting into another keto debate. I did it myself, it works, but I just don't think it's a practical lifestyle.

And carbs are still more efficient than fat for energy, you know this. I'm certainly not saying protein and fat can't give you energy, but they're secondary to carbs for a reason. Obviously you can get stronger while using fat as your primary energy resource, but no matter what you use as a resource you're going to be less efficient in a caloric deficit. If it came across as "carbs cut, no energy," I certainly didn't mean it that way. I'm just saying carbs are the easiest macro to cut or bulk on. You could be a fucking 100% carb diet and still have no energy in a deficit... and you'd probably be tired all day because your insulin is fucking out of wack.

As for "keto fog," same. I was fucking tired all day long for the first two weeks maybe. Never experienced "metal breath" or anything else, maybe some headaches during the initial process, but after that it was smooth sailing.

Glad to see the crusade is still alive and well. Also, your reading comprehension and overall knowledge of the how the body works continues to astound me. Mostly the lack thereof.

Carbs are the first energy store the body goes to. If it wasn't stored, why does it take a couple of days after a refeed to get back into Keto? But to say it's "on demand" and not stored is absolutely incorrect and you should feel bad for stating it. Along with continuing to misrepresent what I said about McCheese's claim.

The funny part is, nothing I stated in my response to brahma was incorrect, but you came in on the Insufferable-Cunt-Mobile and decided I said things that I did not.

Keep the Atkins/Keto crusade alive!

Glycogen - Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia

Just to continue what Rezz is stating.

Rezz_sl said:

Glad to see the crusade is still alive and well. Also, your reading comprehension and overall knowledge of the how the body works continues to astound me. Mostly the lack thereof.

Carbs are the first energy store the body goes to. If it wasn't stored, why does it take a couple of days after a refeed to get back into Keto? But to say it's "on demand" and not stored is absolutely incorrect and you should feel bad for stating it. Along with continuing to misrepresent what I said about McCheese's claim.

The funny part is, nothing I stated in my response to brahma was incorrect, but you came in on the Insufferable-Cunt-Mobile and decided I said things that I did not.

Keep the Atkins/Keto crusade alive!

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Actually yea, that was really stupid. I'm not even sure why I said "not stored energy at all". I guess It's just because everything you say in this thread makes my head spin and that whole "fast food it just a frame of mind" shit was enough to make me never take anything you say seriously in this thread again.

This is what I was posting in reply to:

reducing your carb intake is directly cutting down on your energy stores

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This is what I am replying to and it's completely incorrect. Eating less carbs doesn't cut down on your overall energy stores if you're eating fats or protein instead.

But to also imply that you simply won't have energy if you are on a low carb diet is equally as absurd. Your body looks for energy from carbs then fats then protein, like you said. So why are you pretending if you are eating less carbs the body won't be able to get energy from those other sources?

Eating a banana at breakfast isn't doing shit for your 6pm workout that a hard boiled egg isn't also doing.

And keep pretending I'm an Atkins crusader. The guy asked a question specifically about Atkins and you gave him bad information. Unfortunately for me I also said something stupid and now I have to listen to you act like you actually know what the fuck you're talking about.

Nah.

Rezz, perhaps you didn't read. Khane lost 100lbs in 18 months while taking his bench from 135 to ~335. Benching 335 at 180lbs is a world-class lift. Most men would need more than 18 months to do that and also tons of food, but Khane did it on a caloric deficit. I know you didn't realize you were talking to such a goddamn master, but now that you do, you should probably apologize.

Eidal still jelly he's so outclassed.

It was 100lbs in 10 months. And my 1RM was 345 after 18. Get it right.

I really have no problem cutting pasta, breads and the like. Not missing it at all. No cravings in the least.

I did the carb starve thing, and now I get my carbs from the protein shakes, and the small amounts of fruits and veggies I am now eating (fist size lets say) with my meals. I pretty much just cut the junk food and cereals (I LOVE Fruity Pebbles) out of my diet. THAT was hard. Still kinda is. Mind over matter I guess.

I think I can stick with this as long as I have alternatives to curb that sweet tooth. I have started drinking diet root beer for that. I honestly can not tell the difference. I also have an Atkins bar when I get home from gym, so I am cool. No boxes of cereal before bed sucks...but whatever.

Khane_sl said:

Apology.

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Sort of accepted.

You're still misquoting me, or at the least misrepresenting what the quoted text was about. We were talking carbohydrates in a non-ketog individual. If you are legit arguing that reducing your carbs without being in ketosis is NOT a legit negative on your energy to do... anything, then I don't know what to tell you.

You're making some big assumptions from a post that wasn't about the topic you think it was.

Anyway. Atkins is a decent diet. It's not better than most other diets, as long as you keep your caloric intake under control. Because in the end, that's the end all, be all of weight loss.

And yes, you are literally the single person who keeps telling everyone that they don't know what they are talking about regarding Atkins. You lost 100 lbs, knew the professor, etc etc. You are the authority. That's where my crusade remarks come from. Nobody else is making the claims you are regarding the diet. You're the lone person who -really- knows what is up with a fad diet.

Rezz_sl said:

If you are legit arguing that reducing your carbs without being in ketosis is NOT a legit negative on your energy to do... anything, then I don't know what to tell you.

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Could you elaborate?