weight loss :D

[KappaStargirl]

the address for the Firm Ya-Yas board is

http://pub109.ezboard.com/bfirmbelivers

You don't have to do the Firm workouts to join, but a lot of us on there have totally new lives because of the Firm.

[sairose]

Wow, thanks so much everyone! Means a lot! To those of you who wanted to know how I did it...nothing miraculous; diet and exercise. But here's some tips that helped me out a LOT.

1)if you don't already like them, try to develop a taste for cucumbers (or lettuce, or celery). They have so few calories that you can eat unlimited amounts of them in a day. This helped me a lot!

2)drink lots, and lots of water. Carry a bottle filled with water everywhere, and keep refilling it. If you don't like plain water, put lemon juice in it.

3)BE PATIENT. It's not healthy to lose more than two pounds a week; if you lose more than that per week, you're either losing water or muscle, and you'll gain the weight right back.

4)Stop drinking sodas. If you're like me and you're a soda addict, switch to diet sodas. They're nasty at first, but you get used to them a lot quicker than you think.

5)try to cut down on the amount of carbs you eat, especially things like white bread, crackers, rice, and pasta, because they're digested quickly and make you hungrier. Eat more protein, veggies, fruits, etc. to feel full longer.

6)exercise at least 3 times per week. If you have trouble getting motivated, think of how much better you'll feel afterwards, or how good you'll look if you keep working out.

When I think of more things that helped me, I'll let you know. Once again, thanks so much for all your kind comments!

[James]

Congrats to sairose

About low-carb diets . . . I am a pretty careful researcher and have read a few books on it as well as articles and some online resources and i haven't found a list of real dangers.

Did those of you who mentioned dangers have any sources?

Or does anyone have any questions regarding those types of diets?

I can tell you do's and don't's, how to accelerate fat loss, common pitfalls and why most people fail at the diet.

But as far as fat loss goes its probably the most effective diet out there and the easiest to follow.

[DeltaSigStan]

Originally posted by James
Congrats to sairose


I can tell you do's and don't's, how to accelerate fat loss, common pitfalls and why most people fail at the diet.

Well, let's have it!

[AlphaGam1019]

While I find that the Atkins diet has a horrible, bad, life threatening type of effect, I think it would be hard for me to give up carbs.

**Moderation is key. Too much restriction leads to binging and that is not good.

***Awareness is a big thing-- are you really aware of what you're eating? I would go as far as suggesting a journal of eating habits and exercise. It's a real eye opener.

[sairose]

About low carb diets.....

I didn't mean to practically cut them out of your diet. But things like eating wheat instead of white bread, brown instead of white rice, really helps. Carbs are an important part of your diet and NEED to be included. But what I meant was snacking on things like low-fat grahm crackers, low-fat Oreos, low-fat chips, etc INSTEAD of fruits and veggies can make you feel hungrier.

Certainly, you can eat them; just don't eat as many. There's an article in a recent Consumer Reports about diets and it says the same thing.

[James]

Was the first part a misspeak?

However, the part about a journal is Vital, you don't know what you are eating and how you are training unless you keep one.

Whenever I train someone I always ask them to take the next week and write down everything they are eating including portion size as well as time.

As Alphagam1019 said its an eyeopener.

Originally posted by AlphaGam1019
While I find that the Atkins diet has a horrible, bad, life threatening type of effect, I think it would be hard for me to give up carbs.

**Moderation is key. Too much restriction leads to binging and that is not good.

***Awareness is a big thing-- are you really aware of what you're eating? I would go as far as suggesting a journal of eating habits and exercise. It's a real eye opener.

[James]

As far as the safety of ketegenic diets go . . .

Lets leave aside that there a few million people following the diet . . .

Lets forget that thousands of body builders use the diet to get shredded . . .

Lets not even mention that there hasn't been any studies that show liver and kidney damage from standard low carb diets in normal healthy people . . .

Lets gloss over the idea that the model people use to bash low carb diets is based on a pathology involving out of control diabetics and hard core alcoholics . . .

Lets just examine the fact that the medical proffession uses these low carb diets for small children with epilepsy to control their seizures without or with reduced medication.

And they have these kids on this diet for a minimum of two years many times longer. And they have them in a deeper stage of ketosis than the average Atkins diet will ever get you, because they limit their water intake to maintain very high ketones.

I have read the protocol and no where does it even suggest more frequent testing for liver problems . . . because it is not a problem

Trust me when I tell you that if even a predictable amount of kids, even a fraction of a percent, died or had some type of liver/kidney dysfunction they would not be using this diet.

You can kill off adults, but you cannot kill off children.

Any replies?

[NewGirl]

Im gonna have to disagree with the low carb haters.
I have been through many problems with food such as bulimia, and restrictive eating and all that jazz.. i have found that the Atkins plan has helped me to feel satisfied and lose weight.
throughout the plan you slowly rise your carb intake and it becomes very balanced. it isnt for everyone, but sure makes me feel good.
love
ashley

[SATX*APhi]

Originally posted by NewGirl
Im gonna have to disagree with the low carb haters.
I have been through many problems with food such as bulimia, and restrictive eating and all that jazz.. i have found that the Atkins plan has helped me to feel satisfied and lose weight.
throughout the plan you slowly rise your carb intake and it becomes very balanced. it isnt for everyone, but sure makes me feel good.
love
ashley

I am glad that the Atkins diet was able to help you, but bottom line, the diet is not a healthy one at all. I remember reading somewhere in this thread about this diet raising your ketone level. It is very important that you drink a lot of water to flush out the extra ketones your body is producing. Ketones are toxic and if you do not flush them out by drinking a lot of water, you can have many health problems because of this "diet."

Haven't you all heard that Atkins himself had a heart attack? If this diet is so good for you, why'd the man have a hear attack?

My $.02 .

[KappaStargirl]

Check out this thread at FitPrime, it's very interesting:

http://64.176.16.214/forums/showthre...&threadid=1765

Personally, I could not go on Atkins, I tend toward having high cholesterol...that plus the fact that I just like my carbs! (in moderation, of course) For others, I understand it works. My take on diets: If any of them truly worked for all, there'd only be one. Sort of like self-help books. Everyone's body is different, there are so many variations in the way we respond to what we eat that there is no one diet everyone can be happy with. I'm more a Zone diet kind of person, I find I crave equal amounts of proteins, carbs, and fats, and your body is smarter than you think, you often crave what you need the most.

[dzsaigirl]

The Atkins diet can send you into kidney failure. (that was in response to those who wanted to know dangers).

If that doesn't scare you, think about eating all proteins all the time. It doesn't address the problem of cholesterol...even thin people can have high cholesterol. I am small (as stated in my previous post) and this spring, my cholesterol tested at 259! By June, I brought it down to 215. I still need to bring it down. So even those of us who can eat so-called "bad" foods without gaining much weight, are really not getting away with it! My grandfather died of a heart attack when he was like, 63 or something and he was never anything but rail thin all his life...(okay, done with the preachin'!).

So anyway, like sairose, my mom (explained in my previous post) eats lots of vegetables, fruits, and grains and she eats lean proteins. She eats things like bread and pasta, but she doesn't gorge on them...just keeps a good balance. She is the only person I know who actually follows the American Heart Assoc. dietary guidelines...She does allow herself times to cheat, rarely. For instance, she ate whatever she wanted to eat at my wedding this summer.

Anyway, my point is, don't look for a quick fix or a miracle! Sairose has it right! Now if I can just stop telling myself that Dr Pepper is just "flavored water" I think I can head in the right direction...

[APhi]

Didn't Dr. Atkins have a heart attack?

http://www.cnn.com/2002/HEALTH/diet....5/atkins.diet/

Yeah, they tried to say it wasn't diet related. However, my mom has been getting really into homeopathic medicine lately and they believe that every aspect of your health is affected by what you consume and how polluted you system is.

Here's another article on the matter.

http://www.cnn.com/2001/HEALTH/diet....in.diet.heart/

Now I personally believe that the Atkins diet has some merit. Over consumption of simple carbohydrates will add pounds faster than anything. If you need to loose weight your intake of carbs should be carefully balanced against your level of physical activity. However, the Atkins diet is way too extreme. Moderation is always the key!!

[lovelyivy84]

Congrats SAIRose! I recently lost almost twenty pounds, so I can relate! It took SO MUCH WORK. People want to believe there is some miracle pill, or new way of exercies that'll take it all off, but it just means hard work, and changing the way you live.

Now on the subject of Atkins- it is something that when done PROPERLY can be VERY healthy.

No it doesn't cause kidney failure in NORMAL, HEALTHY people.

No it doesn't mean you can never eat carbs again (just eat LESS of them- which does not hurt most people).

THere is a lot of misinformation out there about this diet. If you want info on it I suggest you read a scientific journal, not Shape magazine.

I personally don't follow it, but I agree with it to the extent that I have made strides in cutting out a certain amount of processed food from my diet- if I MUST have carbs I would prefer to have complex ones- veggies and fruits- than things that have been processed, and I eat high protein- 1g/lb of body weight.

Eating htis way I have dropped my body fat percentage to twelve percentage points below the national average and I have NEVER felt better or stronger!

[sairose]

Anyway, my point is, don't look for a quick fix or a miracle! Sairose has it right! Now if I can just stop telling myself that Dr Pepper is just "flavored water" I think I can head in the right direction... [/B]

I am totally addicted to Dr. Pepper, though know I drink the Diet version, which is actually very good for a diet soda! I really tried HARD to give up all sodas, even diet ones...but I couldn't do it.

And no, there IS no quick fix or miracle. You have to change your lifestyle. And no, I won't lie, it's NOT easy. It's so hard to go in McDonalds and make yourself order a grilled chicken sandwich with no mayo and a Diet Coke instead of a Quarter Pounder with Cheese (I LOVE THOSE! ). It's so hard to see your favorite candy bar in a vending machine and not buy one (for me, Carmello!). It's so hard to make yourself get used to diet sodas. But you have to; it's the only healthy way to lose weight and keep it off. You have to make lifelong changes. You need to balance the food groups. I'm not saying you can't have ANY kind of fattening foods; I still eat small portions of things that I really love, like chips or Cheez Its.

The funny thing is, I used to be THE laziest person you'd EVER meet. I hated exercise; I never took the stairs if there was an elevator, even for one floor. I'd drive to the on-campus post office or to another dorm to visit a friend. I'd park as close to Wal-Mart as I could. And exercise? NO WAY. Now I look forward to my daily workouts! If you find ones you enjoy, it makes it easier. Richard Simmons is corny, but his videos are awesome! Plus he's a great motivator and he's very funny. Also there's a series of Bellydance workout videos by twins named Neena and Veena, and they're GREAT workouts, and they're fun. You really "feel the burn".