Can a low-carb diet fail if you take in too many calories?

It sounds like you're just kind of improvising your low-carb diet.
With most people it helps if you pick a specific low-carb plan
(Atkins, etc.) and stick to that. Just cutting carbs might not work
unless you have specific guidelines to stick to.

"Ernie Sty" wrote in message ...
I have been doing low-carb for a while, but I haven't been watching my
calories.

I had been on a very low-fat diet, limited to 2000 calories, and I lost a
LOT of weight, but the cravings became too much and I started binging on
lots of junk food and not counting calories.

I've switched to low-carb because LC helps keep away the cravings, but so
far I have only stopped gaining weight (which is a victory in itself) but
have not lost any. I may be eating too much. I try to stick to three meals
per day with no snacks, but I seem to be eating a lot of high-fat foods. I
know fats are necessary, but is it possible to eat so much fat that you
won't lose weight even keeping the carbs under, say, 20 grams per day?

Or maybe I am just not being patient enough. I think I will wait a couple
more months (I am 298 now) and see how it goes.

Hi Ernie,

I've switched to low-carb because LC helps keep away the cravings, but so
far I have only stopped gaining weight (which is a victory in itself) but
have not lost any. I may be eating too much. I try to stick to three
meals
per day with no snacks, but I seem to be eating a lot of high-fat foods.
I know fats are necessary, but is it possible to eat so much fat that you
won't lose weight even keeping the carbs under, say, 20 grams per day?

Yes, that's possible - I am living proof for that. By overeating LC foods
high in fat I managed to gain 8 lbs in 4 months (being in ketosis every
day), while constantly hoping for weight loss in the ignorant belief that
keeping
my cabs below 35g a day would do the trick alone ...

In people who enjoy fat foods the "automatic calorie reduction effect"
of the LC WOE doesn't seem to work.

Fat foods are very calorie dense - where a LF eater would have a huge
bowl of rice (3 oz rice + 6 oz water - this looks like a lot!) equal to 370
kcal -
the same 370 kcal on the plate of a LC eater shrink to a tiny portion of 40g
of fat....

I have also found that LC foods take a couple of minutes longer to
produce a satiated feeling (10 min or so) - try eating a small portion,
wait 10 min and then decide whether you really want more.

Or maybe I am just not being patient enough. I think I will wait a couple
more months (I am 298 now) and see how it goes.

That's what I did - as a result I now weigh as much as mid March 04.
If you don't want to waste that amount of time I would advise that you
restrict your calories (and, ideally, increase your exercise).


Take care,
Hamburger

Male, 48 years, 6'1"
LC since Sept. 1st 2003
320/286/200

Hi Ernie,

I've switched to low-carb because LC helps keep away the cravings, but so
far I have only stopped gaining weight (which is a victory in itself) but
have not lost any. I may be eating too much. I try to stick to three
meals
per day with no snacks, but I seem to be eating a lot of high-fat foods.
I know fats are necessary, but is it possible to eat so much fat that you
won't lose weight even keeping the carbs under, say, 20 grams per day?

Yes, that's possible - I am living proof for that. By overeating LC foods
high in fat I managed to gain 8 lbs in 4 months (being in ketosis every
day), while constantly hoping for weight loss in the ignorant belief that
keeping
my cabs below 35g a day would do the trick alone ...

In people who enjoy fat foods the "automatic calorie reduction effect"
of the LC WOE doesn't seem to work.

Fat foods are very calorie dense - where a LF eater would have a huge
bowl of rice (3 oz rice + 6 oz water - this looks like a lot!) equal to 370
kcal -
the same 370 kcal on the plate of a LC eater shrink to a tiny portion of 40g
of fat....

I have also found that LC foods take a couple of minutes longer to
produce a satiated feeling (10 min or so) - try eating a small portion,
wait 10 min and then decide whether you really want more.

Or maybe I am just not being patient enough. I think I will wait a couple
more months (I am 298 now) and see how it goes.

That's what I did - as a result I now weigh as much as mid March 04.
If you don't want to waste that amount of time I would advise that you
restrict your calories (and, ideally, increase your exercise).


Take care,
Hamburger

Male, 48 years, 6'1"
LC since Sept. 1st 2003
320/286/200

On Mon, 09 Aug 2004 20:22:03 GMT, jk wrote:


You can eat 5000 calories of fat a day, and I
guarantee you it will run right through your body and you'll lose weight.


Kids, don't try this at home.

Okay, so you've lost "weight". But what is your body made of after this
5000 fat calorie diet? Muscle? A pound of fat and a pound of muscle
weigh the same. Don't forget to decide what you'd like your "weight"
made of before you select this kind of diet.

On Mon, 09 Aug 2004 20:22:03 GMT, jk wrote:


You can eat 5000 calories of fat a day, and I
guarantee you it will run right through your body and you'll lose weight.


Kids, don't try this at home.

Okay, so you've lost "weight". But what is your body made of after this
5000 fat calorie diet? Muscle? A pound of fat and a pound of muscle
weigh the same. Don't forget to decide what you'd like your "weight"
made of before you select this kind of diet.

jk wrote:
This is an interesting issue. First of all if your fear is eating too much
fat, that's not the problem. You can eat 5000 calories of fat a day, and I
guarantee you it will run right through your body and you'll lose weight.

False. Eat enough dietary fat, and your body doesn't need to burn
any bodyfat, and you fail to lose after the water-weight losses of
going into ketosis. Eat even more fat and you can gain on low-carb.

There is absolutely nothing magical about low-carbing that makes
overeating "run right through your body" just because it's fat.

168/125/125 7+ years: LC since 2/18/97 maintaining since 3/17/99
--
jamie )

"There's a seeker born every minute."

jk wrote:
This is an interesting issue. First of all if your fear is eating too much
fat, that's not the problem. You can eat 5000 calories of fat a day, and I
guarantee you it will run right through your body and you'll lose weight.

False. Eat enough dietary fat, and your body doesn't need to burn
any bodyfat, and you fail to lose after the water-weight losses of
going into ketosis. Eat even more fat and you can gain on low-carb.

There is absolutely nothing magical about low-carbing that makes
overeating "run right through your body" just because it's fat.

168/125/125 7+ years: LC since 2/18/97 maintaining since 3/17/99
--
jamie )

"There's a seeker born every minute."

No wonder you're fat.

--
If the price of stupid ever goes up, I claim drilling rights to this guy's
head. -- MFW


"Ernie Sty" wrote in message
...
I have been doing low-carb for a while, but I haven't been watching my
calories.

I had been on a very low-fat diet, limited to 2000 calories, and I lost a
LOT of weight, but the cravings became too much and I started binging on
lots of junk food and not counting calories.

I've switched to low-carb because LC helps keep away the cravings, but so
far I have only stopped gaining weight (which is a victory in itself) but
have not lost any. I may be eating too much. I try to stick to three
meals
per day with no snacks, but I seem to be eating a lot of high-fat foods.
I
know fats are necessary, but is it possible to eat so much fat that you
won't lose weight even keeping the carbs under, say, 20 grams per day?

Or maybe I am just not being patient enough. I think I will wait a couple
more months (I am 298 now) and see how it goes.

No wonder you're fat.

--
If the price of stupid ever goes up, I claim drilling rights to this guy's
head. -- MFW


"Ernie Sty" wrote in message
...
I have been doing low-carb for a while, but I haven't been watching my
calories.

I had been on a very low-fat diet, limited to 2000 calories, and I lost a
LOT of weight, but the cravings became too much and I started binging on
lots of junk food and not counting calories.

I've switched to low-carb because LC helps keep away the cravings, but so
far I have only stopped gaining weight (which is a victory in itself) but
have not lost any. I may be eating too much. I try to stick to three
meals
per day with no snacks, but I seem to be eating a lot of high-fat foods.
I
know fats are necessary, but is it possible to eat so much fat that you
won't lose weight even keeping the carbs under, say, 20 grams per day?

Or maybe I am just not being patient enough. I think I will wait a couple
more months (I am 298 now) and see how it goes.

In article ,
"Hamburger" wrote:

Hi Ernie,

I've switched to low-carb because LC helps keep away the cravings, but so
far I have only stopped gaining weight (which is a victory in itself) but
have not lost any. I may be eating too much. I try to stick to three
meals
per day with no snacks, but I seem to be eating a lot of high-fat foods.
I know fats are necessary, but is it possible to eat so much fat that you
won't lose weight even keeping the carbs under, say, 20 grams per day?

Yes, that's possible - I am living proof for that. By overeating LC foods
high in fat I managed to gain 8 lbs in 4 months (being in ketosis every
day), while constantly hoping for weight loss in the ignorant belief that
keeping
my cabs below 35g a day would do the trick alone ...

In people who enjoy fat foods the "automatic calorie reduction effect"
of the LC WOE doesn't seem to work.


I still don't get this whole "fat makes you feel full" theory. It sure
doesn't for me. Protein, on the other hand, does make me feel full. I
could eat 1000 calories worth of cheese and butter a whole lot easier than
1000 calories worth of lean chicken. Fat just makes things taste better,
imo, which makes me less likely to want to cheat on the diet than when I
was on low-fat.

--
Michelle Levin
http://www.mindspring.com/~lunachick

I have only 3 flaws. My first flaw is thinking that I only have 3 flaws.