Low Calorie Diet

Question:

I contend that low-carb is the ONLY way to loose fat and maintain/build muscle.  Low calorie intake generally means that you’re not getting enough protein.  On any diet in the past where I cut down on calories I got "small". Yes, I have personal experience.  I lost 20lbs of only fat.  I know this because I didn’t get weaker in the gym.  In fact, I had much better workouts as I began to actually "see" the underlying muscle. — NOTE: change ’spam’ to ‘dave’ to email directly – Hide quoted text — Show quoted text – Hi, I am wondering if anyone has any experience gaining or at least maintaing muscle weight on Atkins.

Response:

I contend that low-carb is the ONLY way to loose fat and maintain/build muscle.  Low calorie intake generally means that you’re not getting enough protein.  On any diet in the past where I cut down on calories I got "small". Yes, I have personal experience.  I lost 20lbs of only fat.  I know this because I didn’t get weaker in the gym.  In fact, I had much better workouts as I began to actually "see" the underlying muscle.

    YES!  Kinda off topic, but doesn’t it make your workouts seem so much more worthwhile when you can SEE that there’s been a benefit to being on Atkins? That’s one aspect of this dieting thing that I couldn’t love more! -Chris

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- Hide quoted text — Show quoted text – I contend that low-carb is the ONLY way to loose fat and maintain/build muscle.  Low calorie intake generally means that you’re not getting enough protein.  On any diet in the past where I cut down on calories I got "small". Yes, I have personal experience.  I lost 20lbs of only fat.  I know this because I didn’t get weaker in the gym.  In fact, I had much better workouts as I began to actually "see" the underlying muscle.    YES!  Kinda off topic, but doesn’t it make your workouts seem so much more worthwhile when you can SEE that there’s been a benefit to being on Atkins? That’s one aspect of this dieting thing that I couldn’t love

more! Yes, I know low-carb is a good choice to MINIMIZE the amount of muscle loss when dieting, but by the logic chosen, I lost no muscle at all on my low-fat high-carb diet, which was 87 pounds in 17 weeks because "I didn’t get weaker in the gym." I had much better workouts, grew stronger, and I could also ‘"see" the underlying muscle.’ Wanna bet I lost muscle on my diet?  I just trained the ones still there to be stronger, and probably grew a lot of new muscle fibers. Now, this is not meant as a criticism of low-carb or any diets, but it’s completely unreaslistic to think that you lose no muscle while dieting.  That just isn’t true, kids! Remember, I’m not trying to bring you down.  I believe realism is a good way to be in any diet.  Too many highs run the RISK of bringing on some lows. Low-carbing IS a good way to preserve as much muscle as you can while dieting, plus training with weights will help strengthen the ones you have and encourage anabolism, so you use the protein ingested to build new muscle.  One more low-carb advantage is that relatively low levels of insulin helps to encourage growth hormone to be released, after your workout.  Try to avoid carbs for a few hours.  Wait an hour and eat some protein.  It should help you. Good luck, Cowboy

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Hi, I am wondering if anyone has any experience gaining or at least maintaing muscle weight on Atkins. I have managed to loose about 20 lbs in two months by limiting my caloric intake but only 10lbs was bodyfat. I am a little paraniod about dropping lean body weight because I have been lifting weights for about 5 years and it takes forever for me to gain muscle. thanks bodyfat: 32.5% / 29% / 8%

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I am wondering if anyone has any experience gaining or at least maintaing muscle weight on Atkins.

Atkins is a muscle-sparing way of eating. In order to achieve the type of fat % you want, you may want to look into one of the cyclical ketogenic diets: BodyOpus and Anabolic come to mind. Try a search on either one of these. Hope this helps, Lynne 170 pounds lost the lowcarb way–started in Mar ‘93

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I agree with you and Lee.  Sending a person to a Dr. and the library/web gets you off the hook.  No harm in telling someone to look into it though. I would say low-carb can be help a lot more people than it is but it’s not mainstream enough yet. Getting back to the original question, "muscle and Atkins"…  Low-carb is a proven means bodybuilders use to ‘cut up’ while losing a minimum of muscle.  It ‘may’ very well be the best.  It is for me.  I should also add that my goal is having well defined abs for the first time in my life which may not be true for the average Joe.   If I would have clarified that my statement was IMO in the first place, we could have avoided this whole thread.  I’m a relatively new NG user. BTW, what the hell is ‘YMMV’. — NOTE: change ’spam’ to ‘dave’ to email directly

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So hooking that up with an egg and a pancake which is a bread exchange, I feasted and enjoyed severe heartburn for the first time in three years. Thank you Dr. Robert C. You know who you are, and darling you look marvelous! Carol the Diva

LOL you should have forgon the pancake. Indigestion and intestinal gas are the first things to clear up on Atkin’s. I haven’t enjoyed Malox in months (thank god) I practically lived on the stuff this last year. Kathy

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I was in great shock when I read Mary Esser’s post about low fat diets and not losing muscle. For a while I thought I was the only twisted soul here on low fat. Nice post1 By the way, I just had an Atkins Breakfast. Two pages in my eating plan were stuck together and for three years I never realized that I can have two strips of crisp bacon as equal to a one once meat exchange. So hooking that up with an egg and a pancake which is a bread exchange, I feasted and enjoyed severe heartburn for the first time in three years. Thank you Dr. Robert C. You know who you are, and darling you look marvelous! Carol the Diva

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BTW, what the hell is ‘YMMV’.

<http://www.wco.com/~dietman/acronyms_1.html YMMV….your mileage may vary Low Carbohydrate FAQ <http://www.wco.com~dietman/lowcarb.txt

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Ditto for me. I used to go through a box of Zantac every week, pre low-carb, and lots of Tums also. I had Zantac on the shopping list every time I went to the store. However I still have the last box I bought back in May just before starting low carbing. I have had to take a couple over the last few months, but they have always been times when I have overdone the carbs. — Debbie dcusick at prodigy dot net "How can one conceive of a one-party system in a country  that has over two-hundred varieties of cheese." –Charles DeGaulle (1890-1970), former President of France – Hide quoted text — Show quoted text – So hooking that up with an egg and a pancake which is a bread exchange, I feasted and enjoyed severe heartburn for the first time in three years. Thank you Dr. Robert C LOL you should have forgon the pancake. Indigestion and intestinal gas are the first things to clear up on Atkin’s. I haven’t enjoyed Malox in months

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Ditto for me. I used to go through a box of

Zantac every week, pre low-carb, and lots of Tums also. I had Zantac on the shopping list every time I went to the store.<< Yep, I had to sell my stock in Tums and Pepcid AC, I knew they’d lose a fortune  I still have quite a few Pepcid AC around if anyone needs them :::grin::: By the way, I just had an Atkins Breakfast. Two

pages in my eating plan were stuck together and for three years I never realized that I can have two strips of crisp bacon as equal to a one once meat exchange.<< I trust you counted the necessary fat exchanges, as well Eloise

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So diplomatic you are, Lee ! I also would just like to point out to Dave that low-FAT does not necessarily mean starving yourself.  In fact, I eat more food now than I ever did before…I just choose my foods more wisely .  I was able to maintain a realistic caloric intake on low-fat, because I did my research beforehand and refused to believe all of the hype that says you have to starve yourself in order to see weight loss on low-fat.  In fact, as most of us here are aware, the opposite is true!  Cut down on calories too much, and your body will go in to starvation mode.  Of course, having lost 115 pounds, I would never be foolish enough to believe that there was NO muscle loss. But, it’s possible to see impressive muscle GAINS, coupled with fat loss, on low-fat OR low-carb.  There are so many more important criteria (insulin sensitivity, high blood pressure, carb addiction, etc.) to look at before making a choice of one ‘eating plan’ over the other. Again, YMMV and don’t believe the hype! Mary Esser ACE-Certified Personal Trainer – Hide quoted text — Show quoted text – Sorry,   lowcarb will help minimize muscle loss, but ANY weight loss entails SOME loss of muscle.  Just less on lowcarb.  And, there are many ways to lose fat and build muscle.  Let’s not swing the pendulum towards LC elitism and snobbery, please.   DM I contend that low-carb is the ONLY way to lose fat and maintain/build muscle.   Do not e-mail me with questions. Join a mailing list. Information and links provided at: The Lowcarb Retreat    <http:www.lowcarb.org

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Sorry,   lowcarb will help minimize muscle loss, but ANY weight loss entails SOME loss of muscle.  Just less on lowcarb.  And, there are many ways to lose fat and build muscle.  Let’s not swing the pendulum towards LC elitism and snobbery, please.   DM I contend that low-carb is the ONLY way to lose fat and maintain/build muscle.  

Do not e-mail me with questions. Join a mailing list. Information and links provided at: The Lowcarb Retreat    <http:www.lowcarb.org

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Hi Dave, Yes, Lee is absolutely right.  I would not recommend a low-carb diet without the proper tessting, which Lee outlines on his website (www.locarb.org).  As a trainer, I can tell you that people’s eyes nearly glaze over when they see all the forms I make them fill out .  But, it’s important for me to have a complete picture of what they have been doing, and what their needs are.  Also, I would make sure that they were PROPERLY following a low-fat diet.  Of course, I’m not assuming that they are all ignorant of what a low-fat diet consists of; but, anyone can be misinformed by the media onslaught of what is and isn’t considered ‘healthy’.  There are many, many factors in choosing the proper eating plan.  A qualified trainer will examine all the pertinent issues, and only then will they recommend a course of action.  Of course, certified trainers, such as myself are TECHNICALLY not allowed to dispense nutritional advice that is not in keeping with the USDA Food Pyramid. But, as you already know, each individual is different, and YMMV. And, in my view, there are many in the bodybuilding world who live VERY unhealthy lifestyles in the name of "looking good".  If Atkins, CAD, PP, etc. can allow people to lose weight AND be healthy, than I see little harm in considering those options for people.  I will say, though, that I would be required, legally, to have a signed release by a physician before actually recommending ketogenic diets to clients.  For the moment, it’s all part of keeping myself out of trouble with the certifying organizations , but maybe that will change someday. Mary Esser ACE-Certified Personal Trainer – Hide quoted text — Show quoted text – Luck has nothing to do with it.  Research, a complete physical, a complete blood panel and lots of hard work is what it is all about. Read everything you can get your eyes on.  Have every possible blood test ran to ferret out what is or isn’t wrong with you, test different exercise programs until you find the one that fits YOU.  Same with eating.  Find the macronutrient mix which fuels YOU best, leads to health and normalizes weight. Lowcarb, high-carb, medium carb, some-fat, all fat, who knows?  If there were any concrete answers we’d all look the way we wanted and not spend so much time seeking new ideas to test.  YMMV, ai’t it the truth. Lee Mary, a as a personal trainer, do you recommend diet? If so, have you recommended low-carb?  Would you recommmend low-carb for a person who has been low-fat for, say, a year without any significant results? I should have clarified my statement (bottom) with a "for me".  However, I think there are more people out there who are metabolically like me rather than like you. Consider yourself lucky. Do not e-mail me with questions. Join a mailing list. Information and links provided at: The Lowcarb Retreat    <http:www.lowcarb.org

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Lowcarb, high-carb, medium carb, some-fat, all fat, who knows?  If there were any concrete answers we’d all look the way we wanted and not spend so much time seeking new ideas to test.  YMMV, ai’t it the truth.

I’m so glad you wrote this, Lee.  I really needed to be reminded of just that very fact!  It comes at a time when I’m finding the need to introduce more carbs into my diet, so I’m toying with Montignac’s concepts.  I’m giving it 30 days.  If I don’t have success, I can move on to something else.  (At least I’m not gaining weight in the process!) Lee S.

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Luck has nothing to do with it.  Research, a complete physical, a complete blood panel and lots of hard work is what it is all about. Read everything you can get your eyes on.  Have every possible blood test ran to ferret out what is or isn’t wrong with you, test different exercise programs until you find the one that fits YOU.  Same with eating.  Find the macronutrient mix which fuels YOU best, leads to health and normalizes weight. Lowcarb, high-carb, medium carb, some-fat, all fat, who knows?  If there were any concrete answers we’d all look the way we wanted and not spend so much time seeking new ideas to test.  YMMV, ai’t it the truth. Lee Mary, a as a personal trainer, do you recommend diet? If so, have you recommended low-carb?  Would you recommmend low-carb for a person who has been low-fat for, say, a year without any significant results? I should have clarified my statement (bottom) with a "for me".  However, I think there are more people out there who are metabolically like me rather than like you. Consider yourself lucky.

Do not e-mail me with questions. Join a mailing list. Information and links provided at: The Lowcarb Retreat    <http:www.lowcarb.org

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Mary, a as a personal trainer, do you recommend diet? If so, have you recommended low-carb?  Would you recommmend low-carb for a person who has been low-fat for, say, a year without any significant results? I should have clarified my statement (bottom) with a "for me".  However, I think there are more people out there who are metabolically like me rather than like you. Consider yourself lucky.  I dieted all my life and was never able to get lean.  OR I got lean (skinny fat man really because I had little vascularity) only to become a weakling in the gym.  Look around the gym.  Alot of people are working VERY hard and dieting and are staying fat! — – Hide quoted text — Show quoted text – with fat loss, on low-fat OR low-carb.  There are so many more important criteria (insulin sensitivity, high blood pressure, carb addiction, etc.) to look at before making a choice of one ‘eating plan’ over the other. Again, YMMV and don’t believe the hype! Mary Esser ACE-Certified Personal Trainer I contend that low-carb is the ONLY way to lose fat and maintain/build muscle.  

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