Harold Groot wrote:
Doug Freyburger wrote:

Eat as much as you like yes vs no - Incorrect. Atkins stated that
without any cravings people will naturally reduce their portions.
It's not true for everyone so Atkins was wrong, but it's true
for a lot more people than the ones who think it going in.

It may be worth noting that Atkins changed the wording in his plan a
bit over the years. In the beginning the words were much closer to
"Eat all you want". While it did mention that desire ought to
decrease, it still pretty much said "all you WANT", and that's what a
lot of people recall. And WANT isn't always about hunger.

The low carb plans I've read are about the physical drivers of hunger.
They don't address the psychological drivers of hunger. To me it has
seemed there's an implication that once the physical drivers are taken
away the psychological ones will also go away. I understand that's a
lot to read into a failure to cover a topic - If these books covered
every topic keeping them up would count as resistance training. Almost
no one has the patience to read a thousand pages or more.

As it is there are diet books about the physical drivers and there are
diet books about the psychological drivers. There is a dearth of
material that merges the two schools of thought. At very least if
there's a physical driver for hunger no amount of "fix your head" work
is ever going to help, and if there is a psychological driver for hunger
no amount of "turn off all of the cravings" is ever going to help. Some
amount of team work should be done on the two topics.

As usual with all diet plans one size does not fit all and no plan is
for everyone no matter what the author of that plan says. Some dieters
will do fine by finding food that does not cause hunger. Some dieters
will do fine by working through mental issues. I figure for a lot of
people who have seen partial success in both attempts that some way of
doing both would work. A book on the topic would tend to suffer from
lack of focus. Then again Eat Right for Your Body Type had four focuses
and it was popular.

In later versions he said it more like this: "If you are hungry, then
go ahead and continue to eat. Once you are no longer hungry, stop
eating." This made a significant difference for some, because there
are a lot of people who eat for reasons other than hunger. They may
simply enjoy eating - good food is a sensory delight. Food may be a
comforter (just like Mom used to make) or a stress-reducer (while I'm
paying attention to the food, I'm NOT paying attention to what my boss
said earlier today when he chewed me out). And so on. Dr. Atkins
tried to make it clear in later editions that THE LACK OF ACTUAL
HUNGER was the proper signal for when you should stop eating.

When it comes to hunger until the last 10-20 pounds I think "an ounce of
prevention is worth a pound of cure" is the better strategy. Most low
carbers have no cravings and so they can live without hunger. Early on
many of us eat what it takes to turn off the cravings. With low carbing
we have found foods that do not make us hungry. So to me we have the
ability to use our food to prevent hunger from happening in the first
place.

View our low carb food as a hunger prevention system and that does not
point to eating only when hungry. It points to eating before hunger
starts. This in turn points to gradually decreasing our portion sizes
as we lose. It would be a gradual but constant tuning. Was there loss
without hunger? Decrease the portion sizes. Was there hunger?
Increase the portion sizes. End up eating the smallest portion sizes
that allow you to never get hungry in the first place. For many
this metohd should work well until the last 10-20 pounds. The anecdotal
evidence I have seen suggests hunger is needed for the last 10-20 pounds
but that still gives a lot of time completely without hunger but losing
anyways. This idea is not present in the Atkins plan nor is it present
in any of the other low carb books I've read but it does not violate
the directions of any of them either as far as I can tell.

I think it's fairly obvious once you've broken out of the mold of "only
eat when you are hungry" that treats food as a cure for hunger not as a
preventative for hunger. "An ounce of prevention is worth a pound of
cure".