Low Carb Living

Sports nutritionist speading more misconception about LC living!

2006-01-06T07:37:00.000-08:00

Hello faithful readers, that is if I have any as of yet. I have only been blogging for one day now but I am sure Jimmy will get me some exposure!

I have been emailing back and forth with a sports nutritionist on the topic of low carb living and wanted to share with you some of my dialogue!

The discussion was spawned from an article she wrote concerning low carb living effect on runners, which Jimmy has gladly posted my response to on his blog. You can read it here!

Thanks again Jimmy for your inspiration and determination to help me dispel the lies about low carb living. If anyone here would like to check out Jimmy's work come and see his blog!

So anyway let me address some of Kim's concerns about low carb living! In Kim's email to me she states the following...

Weight loss is a simple equation: energy in versus energy out. ..

While this is true for someone following a traditional diet or WOE it is the furthest thing from the truth when it comes to people on a low carb WOE. There is a great study from the university of Connecticut Human Performance Laboratory that shows her statement is simply not true and further more refutes even more of here statements such as a LC WOE (Low Carb Way of Eating) will sacrifice muscle mass. This study show that muscle mass while living LC was increased, cholesterol levels where improved and cardiovascular risk markers were decreased. The evidence is right there staring you in the face!

OK lets address Kim's next concern below.

Initial weight loss with low carb diets has to do with water weight. For every gram of carb stored in your muscles, there is 3 grams of water. As you cut carbs out, you lose water. In fact, you can lose 10-20 lbs of water weight based on this alone.

She makes a good point here; water is lost during weight loss. Even if it is a traditional low calorie low fat diet water will be lost!

Let us see what else Kim has to say!

Further weight loss has to do with a negative energy balance. With lowcarbohydrate diets, you are cutting out the junk carbohydrates (chips,refined breads/cereals, sweets, soda, etc.) most Americans are focusing on and eating way too much of and thus you have lowered your calorie intake.

Hmmmm, she is correct! If you do cut out all of what she has mentioned you will reduce your caloric intake. Makes sense to me, if you are on a traditional weight loss diet. One thing that Kim does not take into consideration is that when you cut out the refined high carb products and start consuming foods your body was designed to eat you actually add those calories back into your diet or as I like to call it WOE. When you follow a LC WOE you add more protein and saturated fat back into your WOE. And as I am sure Kim’s knows fat has more calories than carbs. You will be eating things like butter and cream, eggs and bacon and making gourmet dishes that you will actually enjoy eating. My daily average intake of calories is about 3000 - 3500 a day.

An example of my daily menu would look something similar to the following:

Breakfast:
3 Egg Cheese, Bacon, Ham omelet with sausage on the side.
Coffee with heavy cream

Morning snack:
1/2 of Pecans

Lunch:
1 Whole Chicken Breast
2 Cups Romaine Lettuce
4 oz thick sliced bacon (Crumbled)
2 Oz Fresh Grated Parmesan
1/2 cup Berkley and Jensen’s Caesar Dressing

Afternoon Snack:
1/2 Blue Cheese Dressing
1 Cup Broccoli

Dinner: 20 Oz T Bone (Med Rare)
Cauliflower Mash

And through out the day I drink about 100 Oz of water or another Zero Carb liquid! So there you have it, that seems to be the answer...I cut my calories...NOT!!! My caloric intake has actually increased since I starting the LC WOE and to be honest with you I have found that if I try to restrict my caloric intake that I actually will slow my weight loss down.

Ok, lets look at Kim's next statement!

Eating this junk also can increase cravings, depress immune function, and negatively affect health.

I could not agree with her more!! Enough said. Next!

On the flipside, if Americans were to do what the government originally recommended in the Dietary Guidelines (focusing on whole grains, fruits, vegetables, lean meats, low-fat dairy, watching added fats, etc.) in combination with portion control and a good fitness program, weight maintenance/loss would not be such a problem in society today.

I am not sure I would trust my health to the government to be honest with you. I thought American Government was run by the people for the people not the other way around. That is another topic that I could also go on all day about. However I digress back to you comment above. The Gov just changed their dietary guidelines to reduce the amount of refined carbs your body consumes so to me that shows they made a mistake. I also agree that whole grains are good for you, just in moderation. More so while you are trying to loose weight using the LC WOE. As for adding more lean meats and low fat products I and this study is going to have to disagree with that POV. The consumption of fat, all types of natural occurring fat is desirable to the human body. Our body uses fat to create hormones, shield our vital organs, the protective shielding around our nerve cells comes from fat. Our bodies use fat in so many ways I would not be able to list them all in just one article.

Her statement about portion control is correct as well. You should eat until you are full. Not bloated or until you have to roll yourself away form the table, but until you feel satisfied. One great thing about living LC is after you eat a LC meal you do not experience insulin spikes, which have been shown to increase hunger. When you consume a meal high in carbs your body creates a surge of insulin and shoots it through out your system. It converts these carbs into fat and store them away somewhere under your belt or around your thighs. Not desirable in my opinion. However is you consume fewer carbs that are good for you, such as any green leafy veggies or nuts and some legumes your body does not create insulin spikes. Insulin is needed for the body to store fat, without it your body simply no longer stores fat and turns into a fat burning machine.

Energy levels will naturally rise as you shed body weight as it is easier to get around and overall fitness improves as a result of more movement.

True!

This has nothing to do with the Atkins diet.

False!

Carbohydrates are the only nutrient that has a direct affects on blood sugars...

Not true at all, protein can and will be broken down and converted into glucose therefore affecting your blood sugar levels and it is the fuel your brain and muscles prefer. Your brain has been shown to function and actually prefer a state of ketosis over glucose for energy. Brain function and efficiency have increased and is supported by this article here.

Without them, your body goes into a catabolic state as “fats burn in a carbohydrate flame". Catabolic indicates muscle breakdown,

See the definition of CATABOLIC and you see that it does not infact indicate muscle breakdown. What is does tell us is that it is the following: "The metabolic breakdown of complex molecules into simpler ones, often resulting in a release of energy" which could be glucose, protein and yes-even FAT. And my fellow reader that is what your body actually does, it turns into a fat burning machine. When you reduce the amount of carbs you intake you body burns them up quickly and it then needs to turn to another food source or should I say fuel source. If you are not starving yourself and your brain senses that you are satisfying your hunger needs it will burn fat first. If however you are not eating enough to satisfy your body's needs and wants then your brain thinks you are starving!!! On a LC WOE this is simply not the case. The foods you eat keep you satisfied longer and your brain tells your body to burn the fat and not the muscle.

which has a negative effect on your metabolic function and actually trigger what I call a "survival mechanism" where your body starts holding onto calories rather than burning them effectively for energy....NOT desirable!

I am assuming she has not read the latest research on the Metobolic Advantage of LC living!

I am not attacking Kim and I know that she has only the best intentions in mind. She sees that the world is facing and epidemic that needs awareness and needs it NOW. Personally I don't care how people loose the weight they just need to loose it and keep it off. Studies have shown that the LC WOE is more effective in keeping off the weight loss long term and is 78% more effective in actually loosing the weight.

The evidence is there people, you just have to open your eyes and be willing to look at another POV.

Kim did mention that there are studies at a place called medline however this is a private organization and I am always a bit skeptical when someone has something to gain. The same can be said about Atkin, Zone and any other LC organization however the research is coming from other sources such as college universities and other non-profit research facilities.

Bottom line is that the LC WOE has been shown to be safe, nutrionally sound, effective and it helps people loose weight. I would think that these so called health experts would want that, more people loosing wieght reducing the obesity epidemic in this country.

However this is just my humble opinion - JMHO

Brian Fox

Living the low carb way of life and never looking back!!!

2006-01-05T15:54:00.000-08:00

Wow… I cannot believe that I am actually starting a BLOG. I am an actual full fledged blogger. What is mom gonna say J Congratulations!!!!!

First and foremost I want to thank Jimmy Moore for livn lavida low carb and telling us all about it. I found Jimmy through Google Alerts. I had Google alert me on everything low carb and there was Jimmy just sitting there waiting to inspire me to start my own BLOG. Thanks Jimmy you are a big loser!!!! In a good way of course.

Ok now that the butt kissing is out of the way (Thanks god you shrank that butt before I had to kiss it) let me give you a brief on who I am and why I am writing this blog.

My name is Brian Fox, father of two, husband of one! I am currently FAT. Last weigh in was 330 big jiggling lbs of fat. That is ok though, I will once again loose the weight I need to and be that healthy vibrant man I that attracted my wife to my side. I have always been a heavy person, right from the start. My mother was skinny until she was about 30 and no one else in my family has a weight issue as grandiose as mine. I have no idea about my father’s side of the family, as I never knew him. As far as I know it could have some from his side, however my mother is overweight as well, morbidly overweight!

As a child I was always a little pudgy, could always find something to grab onto. As I matured into a young adult I started to become more self-conscious about my weight. I tried the low calorie diet but the level of activity I had I was always finding myself hungry and eating more than I was supposed to. I tried the low fat diet as well but this was less than satisfying and always left me wanting for more. I never seemed satisfied! I never had the six-pack and always had something there to grab onto weighing in at around 230 lbs at 6’2’’ tall and a 36-inch waist. Man I would die for that now!!! It had nothing to do with not exercising, as a young man I was in the gym twice a day, once in the AM and one in the PM. I was a power lifter and I ran 4 – 5 miles 6 days a week. So my early 20’s were ok as far as my weight was concerned because I was burning off everything I was eating and man was I eating. I would consume well over 4000 calories a day most of it refined carbs. That’s what was in back then, “ EAT PASTA” was what everyone said. Pasta and dry chicken!!! Little did I know that what my body really needed I was leaving out! We’ll get to that later.

Well as time went on I settle down with a nice Italian girl, no more disco techs for me! We all know what happens when you meet a nice girl, a nice Italian girl, a nice Italian girl that graduated from Johnson and Whales culinary school of arts. Yup people would watch me walk by and sing the Jell-O song! Watch it wiggle….you know the one I am talking about. I gained weight and I gained a lot of weight! By the time I was 30 I weighed over 300 lbs and I reached my highest weight of 333 lbs when I was 31. I had to do something, anything, but I just did not know what I was going to do.

I decided to look through my mother’s diets book collection; she must have had 50 diets books. See my mother has gained weight a lot of weight as well when she reached her late 20’s and early 30’s and has struggled with it ever since. As I continued perusing through the library of diets books my mother had I came across an edition of Dr. Atkins New Diet revolution, it was a paper back edition while all of the others where hard cover. I never liked reading books in hard cover so I decided to read the Dr Atkins diet book. I read this book, I think about 300 pages in one days time and I never read that fast. I could not put the book down it just made so much sense to me. I was skeptical at first but as I started this diet, and followed it to precisely, the weight just slipped off my bones. My mood improved and who’s wouldn’t after loosing over 100 lbs, my cholesterol dropped from 270+ to 145 and my blood sugar and triglycerides where at normal levels. Al this and I did not even go to the gym or exercise one minute out of one day. At that time in my life I was more interested in smoking cigarettes and hanging out watching Beavis ad Butthead. As time went on however I did start to adopt a healthier lifestyle concerning exercise. I started to run and go to the gym and lift weights again. My Italian lady friend of 8 years and I started to drift apart and we finally ended our relationship.

Well low and behold this opened the door to bring more diversity into my life. Well, heck I mean I am now healthier than I have ever been in my entire life. I have more energy, I feel great, am fun to be around and love life to the fullest. Yeah, diversity is what I needed and I found some! I found me an Italian lady friend, what this one was taller and much better looking J

Well it was like I started all over again. This one knew how to cool as well, gheese can I pick’em or what? Well I did much better than I did with the first one! I kept most of the weight off until she ended up getting me pregnant. Yup, you heard me, she got me pregnant, she knocked me up!!!! I told her to use protection J

Jen and I were about to have a baby, man I was so excited. I had always dreamed of being a dad and not at the age of 35 and weighing in at 218 studly lbs I was going to be one! Well as time went on and Jen’s bell began to grow I felt that it was only fair that mine should grow right along with hers (yeah that’s what I thought), you know the sympathy lbs the husband gains when his wife gets him pregnant. I had a great deal of sympathy for her, oh yeah you bet I did. I sympathized with here all the weigh (pun) back up to over 300 lbs to my current weight of 330 lbs.

So here I am again staring at the Atkins book and telling myself I need to make a change, I need to make this a “WAY OF EATING” known here on in as “woe” for the rest of my life. This is more than a diet, this is a lifestyle change and I am committed to making that change not only for me but for my family as well. I am sick of being out of breath from walking a few lights of stairs, worrying about dropping dead from one of the obese related disorders and diseases plaguing or society today. Americans are getting fatter and fatter every year and we continue to think that fat is the cause when in fact it is the cure!

My goal here is to educate you on the low carb lifestyle and woe! I want to show you the research that supports low carb living and help stomp out the lies being spread by the media and the so called health experts.

Until next time God bless and bring me some more butter and cream, I am going to need it!!!