Posts by marneedear

Original Post by moonikins:

I also find it hard to believe that if I continue to eat more than I burn, but all of the calories come from fat and protein that I won't gain weight. That just seem illogical to me.

Well after reading Good Calories Bad Calories I switched from low carb to a diet of only fatty meats.  I calculate it to be close to 2200 Calories and sometimes more per day.  I rarely workout.  I do not have some strange high metabolism (I used to weigh 190lbs at 5'6").  I lost 25lbs eating this way.  I plateaued at 150lbs counting calories. Learn it. Live it.  Love it.

80 % of my Calories come from fat.  The rest is meat.  I only eat animal fat which is 50% or so saturated fat.  I feel great, have tons of energy, have lost 25 lbs (down to 122lbs at 5'6") -- it all flew off when I stopped eating carbs.  

Animal fat and meat is what humans evolved on.

This book is the reason why I went to zero carb eating.  All I eat is meat and fat (over 2000 Cals worth per day most days now).  I have never felt better in my life. I finally lost those last stubborn 25 lbs, and I never worry about what I am going to eat.  There is tremendous science to support this way of eating as optimal that spans multiple disciplines including those in medical science and anthropology.

Don't be so concerned with your weight that you sacrifice great fitness.

Visit Cassandra Forsythe's site for good articles on the optimal diet to build muscle and get ripped and other great advice (she is co-author of The New Rules of Lifiting for Women).

Those are good.  Throw in some pushups (kneeling or regular), some negative pullups, military press, and tricep dips.

Kneeling pushups are a good warmup.

Move the weights as slowly as possible to avoid momentum.

Watch the sugar content  especially fructose!  Just because its low cal and low fat doesnt mean its a good idea.  Sugar/sweetness content will just make you crave more.

A deliciously well brewed black coffee (with a  touch of heavy cream if you must) is a wonderful, low fat, low cal, and low sugar/carb drink.  Starbucks makes very nice brewed coffees.  The appreciation of black coffee is not unlike wine.  Sip it slow and take in the lovely aroma.  I highly recommend experimenting with different black coffees to see what you like.  I bet you never miss those frappuccinos and lattes.

Enjoy.

GI Jane you dont have the whole story.

For a great analysis of the calories in-out idea and the affect of carbs on fat storage see this google video:

Gary Taubes on fat versus carbs and science of nutrition

Also see his book Good Calories, Bad Calories and his New York Times article What If It Was All a Big Fat Lie

You dont technically need carbs or sugars.  The less sugars the better in any case.  In the absence of dietary sugars (carbs and sugars)  your liver will at some point break down protein into glucose in a process called gluconeogenesis. 

Some complex carb content is ok for most people.  A diet of 50-60% carbs is not OK for everyone and many people are more healthy and satisfied with a much much lower carb content.

I recommend:

Less cheese more veggies and a lower carb fat/protein source -- maybe a boiled egg or two.

Rather than a roll get sashimi (no rice).

The machines are deceptive because it is easy to misuse them.  If you use the right ones and correctly they are very awesome.  If you can get access to older Nautilus machines from the 70s and 80s or MedX machines they are great.  Then you will want to investigate the training methods laid out by the great Arthur Jones and/or Mike Mentzer.  Google them for more info. 

Basically you are going to push as much weight as you can for a certain number of reps, VERY SLOWLY, avoiding ANY momentum and on the lest rep you should barely be able to move.  This is a very effective workout and will help prevent injury to tendons and ligaments as long as you build up slowly.

The Drs Eades also recommend a similar program called Slow Burn which I would imagine is also good for use on machines.  Its worth looking into.

And Cassandra Forsythe of The New Rules of Lifting for Women is also a great resource.

At any rate be very careful using any weight equipment when it comes to momentum.  Try to move slowly or you are basically wasting your time and increasing your risk of injury.

Have fun.

I totally recommend cutting out starchy carbs -- south beach is a good choice in plan, but it's really good enough to just replace any starchy carbs in your diet, including the so called healthy whole grains, with non starchy veggies (I love bell peppers and spinach) and some fatty protein sources (I love tuna canned in olive oil or boiled eggs -- yay!).  For fruit try berries instead of other fruits.  And try your best to cut out sugary products and even diet sodas.  After a week you wont miss em! 

Instead of skim milk drink whole. I'm serious!  Its way more filling for not many more calories plus a great source of calcium.  It makes a great late night snack.

Then do less cardio and more weight training.  My favorite is medicine ball progressions.

Good luck.

I love my job.  Im in IT, software engineering, but Im a geological engineer by education with a focus in electrical methods in geophysics.  Yeah that sounds like a mouthful but it was REALLY fun and challenging and gave me a skill base that allows me to transition between a variety of fields. 

If you love hiking, traveling, and the outdoors I highly recommend the geological studies:  mining, geophysics, geology.  You will get a wide array of skills and knowledge all while roaming around the beautiful outdoors camping, climbing, and hiking all over the place.  I have seen some of the most wonderful places in the world and I understand them in a way that regular people dont.  Its great.

Best of luck to you in your search.

Bagel with cream cheese for sure.  Id eat only half the bagel and give myself more cream cheese (full fat).

Whole grains aren't any better for you or your blood sugar.  Have a nice slice of bread.  Put a little butter on it too and make it the carb part of a meal and you shouldnt have a problem.

There are LOTS of people in the community who have and are still running.  If you are looking for a running specific support forum try RunningAhead.com -- it's great.

I'm at my one year anniversary of completeing Learn to Run (similar to Couch to 5K) and Im still running -- a lot.  Racing season has started again finally and I have been signing up for everything I can.  I also plan on running my second half marathon again in March.

Running is great fun.  Just keep at it if you are enjoying it or find it a great challenge because it is very rewarding.  But running is not for everyone and that's totally OK! 

If you have to repeat sessions, or even weeks dont get discouraged.  The program's progressions are not aggressive so it's pretty hard to actually fail at it unless you just flat give up.  The great thing is that once you get to running for 30 minutes, longer distances are much easier to accomplish.

Enjoy!