Two Week Induction Results

End result: 253 down to 245 -- 8 pounds in two weeks. Considering this was a
switch from low-cal to low-carb, I think that's pretty damn good, as I
didn't have bags of water to drop. Overall, I am now down more then fifty
pounds from my original 298, and I'm really happy about that.

I do think that 20 carbs/day may be a bit much for me in starting out. In
addition to counting carbs, I need to use a little common sense.

For example, a 1/2 cup of blue cheese dressing is very low in carbs, but
that's like 600 calories. A half-cup of that stuff, per day, split between
two or three green salads does not work for me.

Another example: I have to learn to be satisfied with eating two eggs and
two strips of bacon vs. four eggs and six strips of bacon. The carb counts
are almost identical. The stupidity factor of the double+ portion is pretty
high.

My plan for the next two weeks is this:

1) To stay slightly below induction levels of carbs, because I think I have
a low carb tolerance. I'm thinking 12-15 carbs is a good target -- that
allows for copious amounts of greenery, two or three eggs and a little
cheese.

2) To cut the crap attitude that only carbs count and that I can eat
anything so long as I don't go over the carb count.

3) Allow myself one or possibly two treats a week of something that I've
really been missing. A few oz. of almonds or 1/2 a cup of cottage cheese,
something like that. Most people can tolerate these things, on low-carb, on
a daily bases. NOT ME.

And... that's about it!

As time moves on, every two weeks, I'm going to add three to five carbs to
my daily diet, and experiment with different foods, until I figure out what
works for me.

Thanks for all your support!

"em" wrote in message ...

End result: 253 down to 245 -- 8 pounds in two weeks. Considering this was
a switch from low-cal to low-carb, I think that's pretty damn good, as I
didn't have bags of water to drop. Overall, I am now down more then fifty
pounds from my original 298, and I'm really happy about that.

I do think that 20 carbs/day may be a bit much for me in starting out. In
addition to counting carbs, I need to use a little common sense.

For example, a 1/2 cup of blue cheese dressing is very low in carbs, but
that's like 600 calories. A half-cup of that stuff, per day, split between
two or three green salads does not work for me.

Another example: I have to learn to be satisfied with eating two eggs and
two strips of bacon vs. four eggs and six strips of bacon. The carb counts
are almost identical. The stupidity factor of the double+ portion is
pretty high.

My plan for the next two weeks is this:

1) To stay slightly below induction levels of carbs, because I think I
have a low carb tolerance. I'm thinking 12-15 carbs is a good target --
that allows for copious amounts of greenery, two or three eggs and a
little cheese.

2) To cut the crap attitude that only carbs count and that I can eat
anything so long as I don't go over the carb count.

3) Allow myself one or possibly two treats a week of something that I've
really been missing. A few oz. of almonds or 1/2 a cup of cottage cheese,
something like that. Most people can tolerate these things, on low-carb,
on a daily bases. NOT ME.

And... that's about it!

As time moves on, every two weeks, I'm going to add three to five carbs to
my daily diet, and experiment with different foods, until I figure out
what works for me.

Thanks for all your support!


My diet goals consist of :

one to two grams of protein per 3 pounds of my goal body weight.
no more than fifty percent of total calorie intake from carbs.
no more than 25 percent of calories from fat.
I avoid refined carbs and saturated fats.

for breakfast
one serving of low fat milk
two servings of whole wheat toast
two servings of high unsaturated fat content margarine.
one serving of fruit.

for the rest of the day

one to two servings of meat, fish or chicken.
one serving of dairy
one oz cheese, one glass low fat milk, or other dairy product
two servings of green leafy vegetable
one serving of beans, peas or other legume
two servings of other vegetables
two serving of fruit
If I eat salad I use olive oil and vinegar with a little garlic.

on Sunday I eat whatever I please.

I walk for fortyfive minutes three times a week at fifty percent or more of
my maximum heart rate.

Bob

"sycochkn" wrote in message
link.net...

"em" wrote in message ...

My diet goals consist of :


Thank you for sharing that!

I walk for fortyfive minutes three times a week at fifty percent or more
of
my maximum heart rate.


I'm wondering how you picked 50%. That seems a little low to me.

Then again, I haven't been exercising lately. I would be better off doing
what you're doing as opposed to sitting here posting on Usenet ;-)

"em" wrote in message ...

"sycochkn" wrote in message
link.net...

"em" wrote in message ...

My diet goals consist of :


Thank you for sharing that!

I walk for fortyfive minutes three times a week at fifty percent or more
of
my maximum heart rate.


I'm wondering how you picked 50%. That seems a little low to me.

Then again, I haven't been exercising lately. I would be better off doing
what you're doing as opposed to sitting here posting on Usenet ;-)



fifty percent is maximum fat loss vs muscle loss. As you increase the
intensity you use more muscle tissue vs fat for energy. But you also gain
more muscle. If your goal is cardio you do three times a week minimum. If
your goal is weight loss five times a week with rest for two. 50 percent is
the minimum 85 the maximum. My major block to increasing exercise is muscle
pain, which gradually goes away. The recommended way to start the walking is
to do 10 minutes a day to start and add 2 minutes per week. 30 minutes three
times a week is the recommended minimum 60 minutes 5 times a week the max
for mere mortals.

Bob

On Jul 29, 3:03 pm, "em" wrote:
End result: 253 down to 245 -- 8 pounds in two weeks. Considering this was a
switch from low-cal to low-carb, I think that's pretty damn good, as I
didn't have bags of water to drop. Overall, I am now down more then fifty
pounds from my original 298, and I'm really happy about that.

I do think that 20 carbs/day may be a bit much for me in starting out. In
addition to counting carbs, I need to use a little common sense.

For example, a 1/2 cup of blue cheese dressing is very low in carbs, but
that's like 600 calories. A half-cup of that stuff, per day, split between
two or three green salads does not work for me.

Another example: I have to learn to be satisfied with eating two eggs and
two strips of bacon vs. four eggs and six strips of bacon. The carb counts
are almost identical. The stupidity factor of the double+ portion is pretty
high.

My plan for the next two weeks is this:

1) To stay slightly below induction levels of carbs, because I think I have
a low carb tolerance. I'm thinking 12-15 carbs is a good target -- that
allows for copious amounts of greenery, two or three eggs and a little
cheese.

2) To cut the crap attitude that only carbs count and that I can eat
anything so long as I don't go over the carb count.

3) Allow myself one or possibly two treats a week of something that I've
really been missing. A few oz. of almonds or 1/2 a cup of cottage cheese,
something like that. Most people can tolerate these things, on low-carb, on
a daily bases. NOT ME.

And... that's about it!

As time moves on, every two weeks, I'm going to add three to five carbs to
my daily diet, and experiment with different foods, until I figure out what
works for me.

Thanks for all your support!

Interesting -- sounds like you've done really well with this new
plan. I'm not clear on why you decided that you need to keep carbs
even lower than the plan recommends. I didn't think you'd have had
enough data with a low-carb approach to reach that conclusion. But
maybe I missed something.

For the record: everyone I know who has had long-term success with a
low-carb approach has paid attention to calories consumed as well as
just carbs, as you are doing.

Chris
262/130s/130s

sycochkn wrote:

fifty percent is maximum fat loss vs muscle loss. As you increase the
intensity you use more muscle tissue vs fat for energy. But you also gain
more muscle. If your goal is cardio you do three times a week minimum. If
your goal is weight loss five times a week with rest for two. 50 percent is
the minimum 85 the maximum. My major block to increasing exercise is muscle
pain, which gradually goes away. The recommended way to start the walking is
to do 10 minutes a day to start and add 2 minutes per week. 30 minutes three
times a week is the recommended minimum 60 minutes 5 times a week the max
for mere mortals.

Bob


Thanks! great advice

On Jul 29, 4:10 pm, "em" wrote:
"sycochkn" wrote in message

link.net...



"em" wrote in ...
My diet goals consist of :

Thank you for sharing that!

I walk for fortyfive minutes three times a week at fifty percent or more
of

my maximum heart rate.

I'm wondering how you picked 50%. That seems a little low to me.

Then again, I haven't been exercising lately. I would be better off doing
what you're doing as opposed to sitting here posting on Usenet ;-)

Um, yeah -- you really should exercise :-). Exercise is good for you
for so many reasons that have nothing to do with weight loss, so even
if you are losing without it you still should really work on
developing the habit.

Re sycochkn's note about maximum fat loss: The "fat-burning zone"
concept is valid, but all calorie-burning exercise is good, as you
will burn fat after the exercise as well as during. And higher-
intensity exercise has an important role in developing cardiac fitness
-- something that's certainly a worthwhile goal in addition to fat
loss. (Personally, I've never worried over much about fat burning
zones and such. I've tried to do a wide range of exercise intensities
and types to gain the most overall benefit. Seems to have worked and
to continue to work, overall ;-).)

Chris
262/130s/130s

"Chris" wrote


Interesting -- sounds like you've done really well with this new
plan. I'm not clear on why you decided that you need to keep carbs
even lower than the plan recommends. I didn't think you'd have had
enough data with a low-carb approach to reach that conclusion. But
maybe I missed something.

Hi Chris,

I've been on low-carb and low-cal diets in the past a couple times and
failed at it. I've learned a few hard lessons about me as a person and my
ability to succed, and I also have a few theories about the diet itself and
how it might work best for me. One of my theories is that I have to really
keep the carbs down low, and I'm doing an experiment to see if that's true
or not.

For the record: everyone I know who has had long-term success with a
low-carb approach has paid attention to calories consumed as well as
just carbs, as you are doing.

Thanks for the encouragement! I am not counting calories, per se, but I am
counting carbs quite religously and trying to make good decisions about the
types of food that I eat. That might not be enough, and I may have to go
back to counting calories. I hope not, though, I really dislike having to
write down every piece of food that I eat. Now, I just have a little carb
counter that I carry on my keychain. Its really easy to use.

On Jul 29, 8:36 pm, "em" wrote:
"Chris" wrote



Interesting -- sounds like you've done really well with this new
plan. I'm not clear on why you decided that you need to keep carbs
even lower than the plan recommends. I didn't think you'd have had
enough data with a low-carb approach to reach that conclusion. But
maybe I missed something.

Hi Chris,

I've been on low-carb and low-cal diets in the past a couple times and
failed at it. I've learned a few hard lessons about me as a person and my
ability to succed, and I also have a few theories about the diet itself and
how it might work best for me. One of my theories is that I have to really
keep the carbs down low, and I'm doing an experiment to see if that's true
or not.

For the record: everyone I know who has had long-term success with a
low-carb approach has paid attention to calories consumed as well as
just carbs, as you are doing.

Thanks for the encouragement! I am not counting calories, per se, but I am
counting carbs quite religously and trying to make good decisions about the
types of food that I eat. That might not be enough, and I may have to go
back to counting calories. I hope not, though, I really dislike having to
write down every piece of food that I eat. Now, I just have a little carb
counter that I carry on my keychain. Its really easy to use.

Just to clarify -- the folks I know who've been successful haven't
necessarily counted calories. They've just had the sense to realize
that they can't eat unlimited calories just because their carbs are
low -- no eating a can of nuts for an afternoon snack, or 6 eggs and a
half pound of bacon for breakfast, or whatever. You seem to show the
same good sense :-).

Chris
262/130s/130s

On Jul 29, 6:54 pm, Chris wrote:

For the record: everyone I know who has had long-term success with a
low-carb approach has paid attention to calories consumed as well as
just carbs, as you are doing.

I agree, but... usually people don't need to get into calorie-counting
until close to goal.

Em has just started and has lost 8 lbs in 2 weeks. This is not only
not a stall, but not even a "slow" rate of loss by anyone's measure.
It's a damned good loss.

Em, what you're doing is *working*. So... why are you looking to
change it now?

IMO, if you are up to exercising, add some of that in and don't fool
with the diet just yet... unless you want to add carbs as per Atkins.
This doesn't mean adding crap, but adding veggies. Veggies are
good!

A lot of people find exercising easier closer to goal. The studies
I've read... men tend to exercise on the way, whereas women tend to
started exercising afterwards. But those who maintain over time
nearly ALL exercise.

Some walking probably wouldn't kill you. If you want to do something
more than that, I'd suggest strength training. The best resource I
know is Krista's site, which is aimed for women, but applies just as
equally to men (a squat is a squat no matter your gender):
http://www.stumptuous.com/cms/index.php