...does this make sense to you? =S

I think it's an advertisement and not in accordance with the posting policies of this site, so I'm removing the link.

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April

The face of a child can say a lot -- especially the mouth part of the face.

My Blog

No no I did not mean it as that. I am just curious of what everyone thinks of this style of diet and exercise..I dont see how this is an advertistment?

Am I allowed to summarise the main points of the article to ask for advice?

Hang on, hang on........I was looking up that same article from another site that DOESN'T sell stuff.

Here's the link to that article you originally posted, from a different site:

http://healing.about.com/cs/uc_direc...tlosscoach.htm

It IS an interesting read. Lemme get another cup of coffee and I'll tell you my thoughts.

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April

The face of a child can say a lot -- especially the mouth part of the face.

My Blog

Thanks

I am really sorry for the miscommunication, I had no idea the website was trying to sell stuff!

I have lost quite a few kilo's on a strict low carb diet. However, recently I have been doing alot of hard cardio in the gym and I am seeing more kilo's drop, but my body measurements have stayed the same. This made me panic as I thought I was losing lean muscle mass...So I did some research and found that article...And now I just wanted to hear what some experience low carbers had to say about it .

While some of the arguments have a certain internal logic, I noticed several false premises. For example:

Actually, a large percentage of initial weight loss is water. This is true for any weight loss regimen - be it low carb or low cal. One thing that is perfectly clear from the research is that a low carb diet, with it's very adequate protein component, does NOT result in muscle loss - either in it's initial stages or those that follow.

If any of the premises are not true, you can't get a reliable conclusion, so I question some of his conclusions.

Disclaimer: I try to engage in moderate activity and have, intermittently, worked on strengthening the muscles I have. I am NOT an athlete and I have never tried to "build" muscle. My aim has always been to normalize my weight and my blood glucose levels. This way of eating has done that for me. Maybe growing big muscles requires a different approach.

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Dr. Michael Eades (Protein Power) has a blog post relevant to this question.

Protein Power

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my blog

Thank you everybody... I tried that 2 days low carb 1 day higher carb- I just felt sick everytime I cut out the carbs on the second day, foggy head etc. Does this mean I should do low intensity cardio and high intensity weights and eats lots more protein on workout days?

Thanks for your replies and I would love to hear all your opinions

You have not given enough information, either in your posts or your profile, from which any reasonable conclusion could be reached. Based on your discussions with your doctor, you could see if there are any physical limitations that would affect the kind/duration of exercises that would be right for you. As a general rule, moderate intensity exercise would be preferable with a low carb lifestyle. However, as with all things, you must learn to listen to your body and act accordingly.

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Henry

Hi Teen loser,

I really don't see any major points of disagreement in the article you linked to and the premise of low carb eating. Certainly, high intensity exercise places unique demands on the body and those who train this way require more carbs than those who don't.

There is gobs of research available these days on intense exercise and nutritional requirements. Try a google search on exercise nutrition. The key is finding the balance that works well for you based on your goals. You may find this link to be helpful.

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keep on keepin on

211/165/170

Hi Maggie,

I'm glad that this topic came up! A low carb diet along with a higher intake of protein IS conducive to building muscle.

I noticed though that you claim to not have tried to "build" muscle. But by strenghthening the muscles you have you are, in fact, building them!

I have had very good success using a low carb, high protein diet along with a "moderate" excercise program to bring my weight from 249 to 228. I'm still working on it but I can't stress enough the impact that a good excercise program will have not only on your weight but your self esteem, endurance and overall good health.

Although I'm currently not working out (got a little lazy!), my weight has held under 230. Now once I start back to the gym I'm sure my weight will drop again becasue I've been holding steady and my body's accustomed to this weight.

Also, anyone can begin a moderate excercise program at a fairly reasonable price at a local gym. It doesn't have to be a national chain or pricey gym. Most locally owned gyms are affordable and have many people willing to give pointers and help you achieve your goals.

I don't mean to be argumentative, and I realize that extolling the virtues of carbohydrates on an LC board borders on blasphemy. But I don't think that it's overstating the case to say that for serious strengh trainers and endurance athletes alike, carbohydrates are golden.

There is a reason that sports teams serve their players Gatorade on the sidelines during a game. The cyclists in the Tour de France aren't guzzling Atkin's shakes during the race. They are consuming high glycemic carbs for power, edurance and recovery. Professional athletes, trainers, and dietary consultants of professional sports teams, people whose careers and livelyhoods depend on knowing the optimal nutritional path for HIT (high intensity training,) and optimal sports performance, recommend a diet rich in protein AND carbs.

For the purpose of gaining muscle mass, professional bodybuilders, during their growth phase, consume a diet of approximately a 43/24/33 ratio of carbs proteins and fats. It's not because they are uninformed, been led down the wrong path, or never heard of low carb. In fact, interestingly enough, when they approach a competition or want to shed excess body fat, they go low carb.

Susan Kleiner, nutritional cunsultant to GNC, the Seattle Supersonics and other NBA and NFL teams writes in her book Power Eating;

"The perception is that high-glycemic carbohydrates are a bad nutritional choice because they cause insulin spikes and subsequent blood sugar crashes. This results in greater fatigue and can trigger hunger and over eating. However, their their powerful effect on insulin also makes high-glycemic sugars valuable during and immediately after exercise. They not only provide energy but also, through their action on insulin, help reduce cortisol levels and turn on the cell?s anabolic machinery. They provide these benefits best when combined in the proper ratio with protein.

"Another often overlooked benefit of carbohydrates during extended exercise is that they help in the metabolism of fat. The muscle cell has a priority system when it comes to which nutrients it uses for energy. For short exercise bouts such as sets of resistance exercise, carbohydrate is the primary nutrient used. During extended exercise, the muscles rely increasingly on fat stores. But carbohydrate is still required to drive the use of fat as energy. In this sense, ?fats burn in a carbohydrate flame.? "

While I agree that eating Low Carb has many benefits, and I have personally been successful lost weight on Atkin's, I think it's important not confuse the issues. The optimal approach for losing weight and stablizing blood glucose levels, differ from the optimal nutritional approach for HIT athletes.

Simply stated, if your exercise volume and intensity is light to moderate and you want to lose weight, feel good, normalize blood glucose and avoid insulin spikes and carb cravings, low carb is the way to go IMO. But for HIT, endurance training, and muscle buiding, the jury has weighed in, you need carbs.

Ok rant over!

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keep on keepin on

211/165/170

I would hazard that most of the people on the LC are not high profile athletes or attempting the Tour de France. The premise of the original article is that Exercise and Low Carb Diets Make Poor Partners. (Actually, it's the title)

On this point, I disagree strongly. I've been on the low-carb train for six months now. During that time, I have lost 80 pounds. Over that time span, my exercise level has waxed and waned because of several external factors. (knee surgery, time constraints, lethargy etc.) I know for a fact based on my weight charts that my weight loss is much better when I am exercising (and my water intake is high - but that's a separate discussion).

It is true that I haven't been doing a lot of weight lifting (other than rehab). I've been concentrating on the tread mill, the elliptical and the rowing machine. But I know for a fact, that it's easier to lift my daughter now. I can carry her for longer stretches of time without my back hurting. (and she's getting bigger - not smaller) I can help my friends move without going out of breath.

I also know that I wear XL clothes now instead of XXXL. I can shop normal stores instead of big and tall. I have a size 40 waist and not a tight size 46. I now only have one chin. I don't know how many muscles were in my other chins, but the ones I have left in the present one seem to be enough.

As to gatorade etc for athletes, I doubt any of them have been in ketosis for long stretches of time, so I doubt there's real data on performance issues. Studies comparing high-carb to low-carb performance invariably encompass the induction phase which I do not believe to be indicitive of the true performance of low carb (you might as well say that knee surgery was bad for me, because the two weeks after it, my performance was way down)

But the truth is, even if there is a seven percent degradation in muscle performance, I don't care whether I can bench 150 vs. 140. I care that I can bend over and tie my shoes in public without embarrassing myself. There's an epidemic of obesity in this country and the answer is NOT more gatorade.

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Sven
305/218/200
Start Date: 1/1/06

Welcome to low-carb eating.
The food's not bad here.

Im confused as to what to do now...=(

By the way, I am 6ft 0.5 inches tall and I weight 94 kgs...I did weight around 110kgs n I dropped to 94 recently, been on a long plateau ever since (I just had my 18th bday so I had no choice but to participate in family dinners n eat bday cakes =(...)My goal is to get to around 80-83 kgs by, hopefully, start of next year.

I do not know what to do anymore...how do I lose fat at build muscle really confuses me =S..