In article <[email hidden]>, "Tom Collins"
<tom_collins[at]bellsouth.net> says...
Quoted message said:
"Luna" <[email hidden]> wrote in message
news:[email hidden]...
Quoted message said:In article <[email hidden]>,
Tom Collins' tom_collinsatbellsouth.net said:The contest will
last 4 months and it would be nice to reach my goal by then. Is this too
optimistic?
Thanks for any help you can give me!
Hmm. Let's see. You want to lose weight primarily for money, not because
you care about your health. Before you even start, you're planning to
find
Quoted message said:substitutes for carby foods that you think you can't live without. And,
you're an expert at making excuses not to exercise.
I predict you will lose a significant amount of weight in the next few
months, and then gain it all back, plus more, shortly after the contest is
over.
--
Michelle Levin
http://www.mindspring.com/~lunachick
I have only 3 flaws. My first flaw is thinking that I only have 3 flaws.
I said the money is ONE OF my motivations, not my primary one. How many of
you started a diet for the sole reason of health, and not so that you'd look
better or get more sex? How many of you exercise just to burn calories and
not for bodybuilding, strength training, or toning. My primary goal is to
lose weight. The money isn't even that much. But to win the contest with the
money & the bragging rights, is a motivator for me.
I don't see a problem with finding substitutions for some carby foods. I
haven't tried to Carb Countdown yet, but have read reports that most people
like it. I also don't have a problem with drinking diet sodas. If you do see
a problem with this, then please spell it out. All you did was make a vague
reference to it like it was a bad thing.
I am an expert at making excuses not to exercise. I already know this to be
a problem. I'm working on motivation the best I can.
If the diet works, then I have no plans to drop it after the contest. I just
bought Dr. Atkins's book today and obviously haven't had time to read it
all, but plan to finish it before I start the diet. What I have found out so
far is that the diet doesn't look too hard to start with and is even easier
when you're in maintenance mode.
I wrote here for 2 reasons: 1) To find out about any potential potholes in
the road I may encounter that I haven't already foreseen. 2) For morale
support.
So for I haven't got anything but negativity. Is this all this NG has to
offer?
Welcome to the group, Tom! We all started low-carbing for our own
reasons, and those of us who STAYED low-carbing also did it for our own
reasons. Personally, I started out because I wanted to lose weight. I
was so astounded (and THRILLED) at how much better I felt that I
continue to stay with it (not to mention I still want to lose 22 lbs,
but that's slow-going for me).
There's nothing wrong in finding substitutes for high-carb items,
depending on your attitude. Lots of people drink Carb Countdown, for
instance, and I've heard mostly good things about it. Most of us have
found that sticking to the basics, for the most part, is the best recipe
for success. Many people who are unfamiliar with low-carb specifics
think that you either a) eat nothing but meat, fat and cheese; or be)
think you can eat mostly manufactured low-carb products and still lose
weight. Manufactured low-carb products are often pricey and not
particularly good. Most of them tout "net carbs" of much less than the
total carb figure, which can be misleading. For instance, some low-carb
bars have a total of, say, 25 carbs/bar with maybe 6 gms of fiber. If
they use a sugar-alcohol to sweeten it, the impact of the sugar alcohol
can vary quite a bit from one person to the next, so claiming a "net
carb" of 4 might work for one person, but it might be closer to the 19
carbs (after deducting the fiber) for someone else. 19 carbs for a
single bar is pretty hard on a carb budget of 20 gms/day for the first
two weeks! The key is moderation. It's better to get a good handle on
the new way of eating, however, before trying a lot of substitutes.
I just posted some low-carb tips that you might be interested in. I
post it once a week.
It's true that the heavier you are, generally speaking, the faster you
will lose weight -- as you get closer to goal, the weight loss slows.
Mine has pretty much stalled, but I've also had a difficult time
exercising very often in the last few months and I'm very sedentary in
ANY case -- exercise can and DOES make a BIG difference.
I think people are bracing themselves now for the post-holiday onslaught
of newbies who will quickly tire of the new way of eating, stop going to
the gym, etc. Traffic will pick up considerably over the next month,
then taper off again. If you go INTO it thinking it's a temporary
thing, though, you are less likely to succeed. This is more a way to
CONTROL your appetite and weight than a quick weight-loss gimmick. As
some have said, the impressive initial loss CANNOT be sustained because
it IS mostly water loss. Each molecule of glycogen in the liver is
bound to 4-5 molecules of water. As the glycogen store is used up, the
water is shed. Once it is depleted, THEN the real fat loss begins and
will will mostly likely be 1-2 lbs per week (sometimes more for men).
It's not magic, it's just the way it works. When people stop low-
carbing a couple of things happen: 1) lots of carbs causes more
cravings and makes a person less likely to resist temptation because the
body is SCREAMING for more and more carbs; 2) as the glycogen store in
the liver refills, the water weight QUICKLY gets added back on. It's
not an immediate FAT gain, but people who are unaware of this assume
that low-carbing is a farce and that it RUINED their bodies. Again,
it's just the way the body works. You can burn glycogen (carbs) for
fuel or you can burn fat -- it's up to you.
BTW, the first few days can be very hard on a person as the body fights
making the adjustment in primary fuel sources -- after about 4 days,
however, you should be feeling an enjoyable surge of energy.
--
Saffire
205/147/125 - 5'1.5"
Atkins since 6/14/03
Progress photo: http://photos.yahoo.com/saffire333
