Q. I'm 5'10" 170 pounds, I'm in good physical shape I'd just like to get more ripped but still keep my weight relatively low (180 pounds at the most) but look much more ripped than I am now. Would the atkins diet be good for this?
A. The Atkins diet is a disaster for someone with your intentions of building lean muscle. It can sap your strength big time and cut into any gains in size that you are trying to make right now. Try to avoid cutting carbs very much when you are trying to build muscle.
What are the effects you experience when you leave the atkins diet and start eating healthily again?
Q. Eating healthy fats,complex carbs,counting your calories and weightliifting regularily again. What happens to your body when you leave atkins?
A. There is no better way to bring the body to the state of optimal health than with a low carb way of eating. Low carb doesn't cause high blood pressure, high blood sugar or high cholesterol, it cures it. It is actually dangerous to take meds that lower these levels and do low carb at the same time because the levels will become dangerously low. Simple carbohydrates trigger insulin. High insulin levels unbalance other hormones. Anything less that 9 grams of carbs per hour controls insulin and is considered low carb (up to 144 grams per day).
U.S. government guidelines were changed 35 years ago to suggest we lower our fat intake & increase our carb intake. American society followed these recommendations & lowered their fat intake by 11% & increased their carb consumption. In this same time frame obesity, diabetes, heart disease are all at epidemic levels. Through their direct effects on insulin & blood sugar, refined carbohydrates are the dietary cause of coronary heart disease & diabetes.
A low carbohydrate diet is a high fat diet. The protein should only be a little higher than adequate. Although it is completely possible to live on a fat/protein only diet for long term (as proven by research done in a hospital setting) it becomes boring fairly quickly. Luckily many vegetables & some fruits, nuts & seeds are low in carbs and greatly expand the diet. Most long term low carbers eat as many, if not more non starchy vegetables than vegetarians.
Glucose is the bodies preferred fuel (if you want to get technical, it actually burns alcohol most efficiently, but that doesn't make it any healthier for the body than carbs), the body can convert 100% of carbs, 58% of protein & 10% of dietary fat into glucose. The body can also be fueled by fat (dietary fat & fat cells) but only in the absence of carbs. Your brain actually prefers* to be fueled by ketones (part of the fat burning process), it does require glucose also, but glucose can be easily converted from excess protein if needed or dietary fat.
Plaque build up in the arteries is more attributable to carb consumption than dietary fats, which seems to be the conclusion of the following study. Carb consumption raises triglycerides & VLDL (bad cholesterol). Fats raise the HDL (good cholesterol). High triglyceride levels (>100) & low HDL levels (<60) are an indicator of plaque & glycation - the precursors to a heart attack & heart disease.
http://heartscanblog.blogspot.com/2009/11/after-eating-effects-carbohydrates-vs.html
study from the Oxford group examining the postprandial (after-eating) effects of a low-fat vs. low-carbohydrate diet. (Roberts R et al, 2008)
Postprandial lipoproteins, you'd think, would be plentiful after ingesting a large quantity of fat, since fat must be absorbed via chylomicrons into the bloodstream. But it's carbohydrates that figure most prominently in determining the pattern and magnitude of postprandial triglycerides and lipoproteins. Much of this effect develops by way of de novo lipogenesis, the generation of new lipoproteins like VLDL after carbohydrate ingestion.
Gary Taubes who wrote "Good Calories, Bad Calories" spent 7 years going through all the studies over the last century & dividing up the real science from the faulty science & concluded that low carb was the best way to control insulin levels which balances out other hormones & allows the body to function properly.
His main points are:
1. Dietary fat, whether saturated or not, is not a cause of obesity, heart disease or any other chronic disease.
2. The problem is refined carbs in diet, their effect on insulin secretion & the hormonal regulation of homeostasis.
3. Sugars - sucrose, high-fructose corn syrup specifically - are particularly harmful, the combination of fructose & glucose simultaneously elevates insulin levels & overload liver with carbs.
4. Through their direct effects on insulin and blood sugar, refined carbs, starches, sugars are the dietary cause of coronary heart disease & diabetes. They are likely dietary causes of cancer, Alzheimer's & other diseases.
5. Obesity is a disorder of excess fat accumulation, not overeating.
6. Consuming excess calories does not cause us to grow fatter.
7. Fattening & obesity are caused by an imbalance in the hormonal regulation of adipose tissue & fat metabolism.
8. Insulin is the primary regulator of fat storage. When insulin levels fall, we release fat from fat tissue.
9. By stimulating insulin secretion, carbs make us fat.
10. By driving fat accumulation, carbs also increase hunger & decrease the amount of energy we expend in metabolism & physical activity.
How can i eat more calories in the atkins diet?
Q. I am starting the atkins diet but i cant get my calories up. I calculate my calories and im only eating a rough 900 calories, usually its less. I mostly eat chicken, tuna, turkey, avocados, lettuce and light mayo for the tuna. What are ways i can up my calories while keeping my net carbs down?
A. Every day you should be eating these 2 items. Together they are 1000 calories 80% of calories from fat - 90g fat 10g net carbs. If you need additional fat or calories, you can add a tablespoon of virgin coconut oil to the ground flax seed cereal. All fats can be used for sustained energy, but virgin coconut oil is the only fat that is converted to quick energy (like a carb, but without triggering insulin)
Half an avocado mashed with 2 ounces of mayo seasoned with cayenne & eaten with pork rinds or celery.
Ground flax seed (4 Tbsp) 1/4 cup water, artificial sweetener, mix in a raw egg - let sit 10 min. to absorb liquid, put some cream cheese in the middle & nuke 2 min for daily fiber needs.
Eating salads with full fat dressing will help get the fat & calories up also. Do not use "light" mayo make sure you use full fat. "Low fat" items replace the fats with carbs (starches or sugar). Deviled eggs are one of my favorite snacks. Cheese cake is another tasty option. After 2 weeks, ask again & I'll link you to some great recipes for pizza, chili dog casserole, flax bread & others.
The first 2 weeks when foods are limited you still eat a high fiber diet - just these 4 examples of foods which should be eaten daily during induction, gives you 33.5grams of dietery fiber - well over the RDA of 25g & much higher than the Standard American Diet. After 2 weeks, you are allowed almost all nonstarchy vegs (less than 25g net carbs in week 3)
21g total carbs - 13g fiber - 8g net carbs - Lettuce, Romaine- 1 head
12g total carbs - 8g fiber - 4g net carbs - Celery - 4 cups chopped (about 8 stalks)
6g total carbs - 4.5g fiber - 1.5g net carbs - half an avocado
8g total carbs - 8g fiber - .5g net carbs - Flaxseed 1 ounce 4T
--------------------------------------â¦
47g total carbs - 33.5g fiber - 14g net carbs
You can lose more body fat eating protein & fat (don't eat protein alone) than not eating AT ALL. To lose weight fast, eat all you want, but nothing but meat, eggs, healthy oils, mayo, butter & half an avocado a day (for added potassium). Keep the calories high & the fat percentage high, at least 65% of calories. Green vegetables & some cheese will continue weight loss but at a slower pace.
The first 2 weeks eat several cups a day of (mostly) lettuce & celery, cucumbers, radishes, mushrooms, peppers & more variety of vegetables thereafter - add 5 grams per day additional every week (20 grams day first 2 weeks, 25grams 3rd week, 30grams 4th week etc) til you gain weight, then subtract 10grams. That will be your personal carb level (everyone is different & depends on how active you are.)
Start with meat, fats & salads for 2 weeks and then slowly add in more green veg, wk4 fresh cheeses, wk5 nuts & seeds, wk6 berries, wk7 legumes, wk8 other fruits, wk9 starchy veg, wk10 whole grains. You will learn how your body reacts to different foods.
The first week is just water weight but fat is lost thereafter if you keep your calories high enough. Otherwise the body will strip it's own lean tissue for nutrition. Although that may look great on a scale it will make it MUCH easier to accumulate fat in the future (since all that pesky lean tissue burning up calories will be gone). The body won't release fat stores if you lower calories below what it needs. It will slow metabolism to compensate & store every spare ounce as fat. If you continue lowering calories, it will continue lowering the set point, til it can survive off nothing & store fat on anything. The body will only release it's fat stores if it knows there is plenty of nutritious food.
Eating carbs while trying to lose body fat is terribly inefficient. When in glycolysis (burning glucose as fuel) you have to lower your calories (which slows your metabolism) & exercise heavily to deplete your glycogen stores before burning body fat.
The core of Atkins program is converting the body from glycolysis (burning glucose as fuel) to ketosis (burning fat as fuel). Dietary fat levels need to be at >65% of total calories, if not, the body will still remain in glycolysis by converting 58% of excess protein into glucose (via gluconeogenesis).
It takes minimum of 3 days to convert a body to ketosis, (but only one bite to convert back to glycolysis). People feel sluggish the first week but most feel better than ever thereafter.
Carbohydrates (sugar, flour, bread, cereal, pasta, potatoes, rice, beans) trigger insulin (the ONLY fat storage hormone). Protein triggers the fat burning hormone glucagon.
Simple carbs are addictive & can be disastrous to health. The best way to break the addiction is NO carbs for 3 days. Make a huge batch of deviled eggs, eat one every time you want "something" - have huge omelets with bacon, sausage, peppers, mushrooms & cheese. Pork chops smothered with peppers, mushrooms & cheese - pork rinds & dip or tuna/chicken/turkey/egg salad - steaks - a huge sugar free cheese cake. Eat so much you won't feel deprived of anything. By the 4th day, the addiction will be gone & you can start making healthy choices.
High insulin levels promote inflammation, weight gain, hunger & unbalance other hormones. Controlling insulin levels will balance out other hormones & allow human growth hormone (HGH) to be produced naturally so lean muscle will be gained even without exercise.
As long as you have <9grams carbs per hour, you will maintain insulin control & shouldn't gain weight, no matter the calories because insulin, the fat storage hormone is not activated. Many people gain weight on high carb, do low carb to lose weight & then are shocked when they return to high carb & gain weight. Many people can return to moderate carb levels but very few can really eat all they want of sugar & maintain weight or health.
I am adamantly opposed to low calorie dieting because most people lose a good portion of lean tissue (including vital organs like the heart) along with fat stores. There is no nutrition in fat stores, only energy.
Powered by Yahoo! Answers
