Diets

[Ecurb Noselrub]

I'm on a low-carb diet and have lost 35 lbs. since April 28, including a 2 1/2 week vacation when I ate and drank as much as I wanted.  So far I've gone from 230 to 195.  Goal is 178, which is a healthier weight for a 5'9" almost 65 year old man.  At the current pace, should reach the goal in October.

Anyone else ever tried a low-carb diet?  I had to ease into it, as I felt weak at first.  The goal is to make your body start converting your fat to ketone bodies (ketosis) for energy, so you deprive it of carbs which are turned to glucose.  For the past 4 days I've actually tried no-carb, and it seems like the weight is coming of a bit quicker.  Won't stay on no-carb past the end of August.

[jumbojak]

I tried it but couldn't stick with it long enough to lose all the weight I wanted. I like bread and potatoes too much. Dropped from 240 to 215 in about a month though.

[Arturo]

I advised a girl to do it but I don't know how it ended up. I should ask her.

[Ecurb Noselrub]

I tried it but couldn't stick with it long enough to lose all the weight I wanted. I like bread and potatoes too much. Dropped from 240 to 215 in about a month though.

It's rough, because I like sweets, bread, potatoes and beer.  Had to gradually ween myself off those before I really kicked in with the low carb.   

[jumbojak]

I advised a girl to do it but I don't know how it ended up. I should ask her.

How did it not end up with you clutching your groin in agony?

[hermes2015]

I tried it but couldn't stick with it long enough to lose all the weight I wanted. I like bread and potatoes too much. Dropped from 240 to 215 in about a month though.

It's rough, because I like sweets, bread, potatoes and beer.  Had to gradually ween myself off those before I really kicked in with the low carb.

That's me as well, sans beer. As I get older I find it increasingly difficult to lose weight. Perhaps Glucester can give us some tips. My doctor says that carbs are the killer, not fat. Just wish I could resist bread.

[Dave]

I went for a high protein low carb diet about two years ago for other reasons than weight loss, but it certainly had that effect. I think I had the advantage then of having a very low appetite due to pain so could concentrate on small portions of high quality, high flavoured foods.

Then I went from 75kg / 165lbs to about 64kg / 141lbs in three months or less. Leveled out there for a bit then lost another 2kg / 4.4lbs all of a sudden. Now trying to stabilise my weight but I find that my tendency is still to rarely have carbs with meals, and smallish portions of protein, but to eat bread, fruit and nuts as snacks. I was advised to "eat little and often" to level out my blood sugar anyway.

I spent a lot of the past couple of years doing very little walking or other exercise due to medication side effects and physical problems (latest being bursitis in my foot that has made walking very painful for past three weeks). But, I have gone from 34" trousers to 32" and could probably make it into 30" without discomfort. I am still in the upper half of the weight band for my height.

Because of my cardiomyopathy I weigh myself every day.

[hermes2015]

Thanks, Gloucester. I think a big part (that sounds like a pun) of my problem is my total lack of self control and discipline.

[Dave]

Thanks, Gloucester. I think a big part (that sounds like a pun) of my problem is my total lack of self control and discipline.

My self-control consists of not buying biscuits and cakes etc! Though I still get the dreaded munchies about once a week and just have to go to the local shop for a chocolate bar or, better, one of those things made out of chocolate and cornflakes. 

[hermes2015]

You evil man. You have given me an idea now.

[Dave]

 

[Dave]

The following is weight loss rather than diet related, I think you will spot the distinction.

When I lost weight I noticed two things, it seemed easy to maintain the loss and I was able to tolerate cold better (except for my feet which is probably a circulatory problem.) I researched the old story that the stomach shrinks after a while - it does not. If there is a psychological reason for over eating - "comfort eating" - a pragmatic reason to reduce intake (due to pain say) may remove or reduce that tendency (reduced for me, hence the munchie attacks!). Thus the "bounce" effect may not be  a problem.

With my tolerance of cold it is a different matter. We have two kinds of fat, white and brown - the firmer stores energy, the latter actually burns it. The "brown" (actually more like yellowish, I have seen some of mine) comes from those fat cells having lots of mitochondria, the body's "fuel cells" in them, unlike probably only one in white fat cells.

This can be good, it burns calories off even whilst playing couch potato with a family sized bag of corn chips all to yourself (bugger, hang on, just going to nip to the local shop...) Now (crunch) where was I? Oh, yes. This can also be not so good, certain cancers also consume energy and, IIRC, convert white fat to brown.

This is relevant to me because, after the problem that provoked my weight loss, the surgeon sent me for a torso CAT scan (not allowed MRI with my implant). This showed no unexpected lumps but it did show that my medial lymph nodes were enlarged, normally a sign that not all is well in the body. Two, well spaced, subsequent scans show no change and I am asymptomatic.

However, since "unexpected" weight loss can be a sign of cancer in its early stages it is something to check on. And another reason for me to log my daily weight and plot a trend curve over all readings and week by week.