• Hey, guest user. Hope you're enjoying NeoGAF! Have you considered registering for an account? Come join us and add your take to the daily discourse.

So I started a diet on a whim......

Status
Not open for further replies.

GONZO

Member
And in one week I've lost exactly 11 pounds!!!! I was shocked when i weighed myself. All I did was cut out all carbs..been eating tons of eggs and meat and cheese. It's incredible, anyone else do this atkins thing? I did some research this morning and it turns out that "obese" people seem to get the most out of this diet with some losing as much as 80 pounds in 6 months. So I think I'll try it out for at least six months to see what happens. I'm shocked though.
 

Prine

Banned
well done. 11 ilbs in a week is extremely good

No offence you must have weighed a lot to lose so much in 7 days. From what i've been told, the first week you lose more water then fat. Dont know how true though

Edit: Segasonic beat me to it
 
CRIP_04863_0042524T.JPG


Egg and meat and cheese... THAT'S RIGHT!
 

GONZO

Member
segasonic said:
congratulations, you lost 11 pounds of water


I doubt it, I drink about 10 cups of water a day normally nad since i started this I've actually strted drinking more. I think the thing that contributed to it was my abnormally busy ass week. And I should say that i do have a lot to lose. I weighed 224 last week. I need to lose about 50 pounds. And my goal is to lose 25 by July....my birthday.
 

GONZO

Member
update......18.5 lbs in two weeks.. freakin awesome. I can already feel the difference when I'm working out and playing sports. Hopefully i can keep this pace up, its been great eating steak, chicken, eggs , cheese and stuff, the only hard part was topping rice. I love rice man..oh well, later this year I should be off of this diet and eating rice again.
 

AstroLad

Hail to the KING baby
GONZO said:
update......18.5 lbs in two weeks.. freakin awesome. I can already feel the difference when I'm working out and playing sports. Hopefully i can keep this pace up, its been great eating steak, chicken, eggs , cheese and stuff, the only hard part was topping rice. I love rice man..oh well, later this year I should be off of this diet and eating rice again.

I'm actually a type 1 diabetic (insulin-dependent/juvenile [although I randomly got it at age 20]) and I follow an even more carb-restricted plan than most who do it for a long period of time (I eat about 20-30g a day), and I've been doing it for over a year now and will be doing it the rest of my life (well, until there's a cure of course), but not for weight reasons, to control blood sugar. More and more studies are showing that low-carb eaters can be as heart and overall healthy as anyone on a good diet, but that is ONLY true if it's constant and not on and off (that is, if it's NEVER off), otherwise you're mixing acids and bases (fat + carbs) and the result is a deadly fatplosion (beyond the cosmetic aspects, it's just unhealthy). Low-carb eating can be very healthy (see Dr. Bernstein's book for type 1 diabetics; he is the oldest type 1 in the world even though when he was a young he almost had to have limbs amputated, etc. before he discovered low-carb eating was the key to controlling blood sugar more than anything else, all this while doctors were basically pushing him to his grave telling him he needed a "balanced diet" [and they still largely do this today, though back then besides sheer reluctance to change they had very little idea of how carbs affected blood sugar]), but only when it's not a short-term "diet," as most people seem to think.

The thing is though that it can be healthy (for diabetics and non-diabetics alike), but ONLY if it's an actual change in eating habits for life. Low-carb dieting is appealing b/c you lose weight almost as if you were starving yourself if you are strict enough, but then of course if you go back to sugar and bread you gain it back five times as fast and often more than you started with; as a swing diet it's horrible. So basically my only recommendation is to either be fairly certain you are going to low-carb for life or go to a more moderate approach and, e.g., exercise more if you have to.
 
Good job, Gonzo. The tough part is going to be weaning yourself off of the diet and introducing carbs back in. Which you'll have to do, eventually. After that, just make sure to keep your portion sizes down, and keep everything in moderation. It's all about calories in vs. calories out when it comes to weight.
 

teiresias

Member
I've lost 20 pounds since march, but I seem to have plateaued at 190lbs (I'm 5'10"). I haven't upped my caloric intake or anything though. I just lowered my caloric intake and stopped snacking as much and controller my portions better to keep my calories at about 1700 each day, never to exceed 2000. I'm not hungry or anything ever which surprised me.
 

shantyman

WHO DEY!?
Prine said:
well done. 11 ilbs in a week is extremely good

No offence you must have weighed a lot to lose so much in 7 days. From what i've been told, the first week you lose more water then fat. Dont know how true though

Edit: Segasonic beat me to it

I disagree, that's more than you should lose in a week.
 

pj

Banned
My brother lost almost 100 lbs in less than a year by replacing macaroni and cheese, doritos and pizza with fruit and salad. He's still lazy, but cutting out the shit made all the difference.

oh, and thyroid medicine
 

Manics

Banned
I tried Atkins. I couldn't keep it up..I missed bread too much. Also, all that fat from bacon and meat can't be good.

The most long term success I've had is through weight watchers and a balanced diet concentrating on portion sizes.
 

GONZO

Member
I think the reason that im losing the weight so fast is that i have a lot of muscle mass, and that i am technically obese. According to the charts im 70 lbs overweight. Of course I don't go by that but i figure i could stand to loe 50 and get down to 170 or so. There is no douibt that I'm gonna hit a wall soon so that's why i've been stepping up my liftting to try and compensate.
 

acidviper

Banned
segasonic said:
congratulations, you lost 11 pounds of water

No shit. Eat some bread and watch your ass explode. Fucking noob idiots. Go staple your stomch now. I think that was the diet trend that comes next for the celeb diet copiers.
 

Atari2600

Too dumb for the internet
Quit being a fucking prick. If you have something constructive to offer the dude, then do it. I'm sure advice from someone with a no doubt perfect physique will make his results that much better.

At least he's trying, which is a lot more than many people do. Maybe it will work for him, maybe it won't. I've never seen anyone keep weight off for a long period of time on Atkins, but that doesn't mean it won't work. I've only seen a few people keep weight off from simply eating healthier too.

Good luck with the diet dude.
 

Meier

Member
Just curious, if some chart said you were 70 pounds overweight at 225ish, how tall are you? I'd imagine you must be quite short as I weigh 150 at 5'10" and although that is low within my acceptable range, it's nowhere near being underweight. Good luck with the diet though, I dont think I could do it.. love pretzels and other high carb stuff just too damn much.
 

Atari2600

Too dumb for the internet
damn dude, 150 has got to be pretty darn low on the "acceptable" weight scale for someone that is 5'10. It sounds like there's a big movement to have the "normal" weights increased due to that new body mass index. I'm 5'7, and I think the range for me is 140-160, depending on frame size, which seems about right, though 140 would be pretty darn scrawny.
 

GONZO

Member
Meier said:
Just curious, if some chart said you were 70 pounds overweight at 225ish, how tall are you? I'd imagine you must be quite short as I weigh 150 at 5'10" and although that is low within my acceptable range, it's nowhere near being underweight. Good luck with the diet though, I dont think I could do it.. love pretzels and other high carb stuff just too damn much.



Im 5'7 weighed 227 now at 208.5. I just put all this weight on fairly recently. I was an all state track runner in high-school weighed 145-150. And lifted a bunch in college weighed 165-170. Year and half ago I was at 170 ish then some fucked up personal shit happened and bam...gained 50 pounds. Funny thing, that severe depression. Anyway I'm getting back to my normal routine. I'm by no means a fat-ass. I squat 380...and press a good 210-230. I post a before and after pic. I haven't had any trouble with the diet so far so I can't really see myself getting off till I hit my goals. And even then I'll go back to my old eating habits. Not my more recently aquired unhealthy ones.
 

acidviper

Banned
Meier said:
Just curious, if some chart said you were 70 pounds overweight.

Weight is the worst way to measure obesity because there are too many different heights, body types, etc. .. . You need a body fat measurement done by a professional or a coroner.

You can not safely lose weight without working out, so stop trying fad diets and start power lifting. The loss of water is also going to give you headaches.
 

demon

I don't mean to alarm you but you have dogs on your face
At least he's trying, which is a lot more than many people do.
"Trying"? Like a balanced diet and exercise? He cut carbs for a couple weeks, and supposedly lost nearly 20 pounds. I'm sorry, but that's bullshit. If he lost 18 pounds, it wasn't 18 pounds of fat. I don't know why everybody gets so hung up on their weight when their goal is to burn fat......they could lose 20 pounds of anything....bone...and they'd still be excited about their "progress". But that's just a rant about dieters in general......if what gonzo is doing is actually working, then good for him. But this just doesn't sound right at all.

I am working out...and drinking tons of freaking water.
You said all you did was cut carbs. You didn't mention anything about working out (or more specifically, exercising).
 

GONZO

Member
demon said:
"Trying"? Like a balanced diet and exercise? He cut carbs for a week, and supposedly lost nearly 20 pounds. I'm sorry, but that's bullshit. If he lost 18 pounds, it wasn't 18 pounds of fat. I don't know why everybody gets so hung up on their weight when their goal is to burn fat......they could lose 20 pounds of anything....bone...and they'd still be excited about their "progress". But that's just a rant about dieters in general......if what gonzo is doing is actually working, then good for him. But this just doesn't sound right at all.

You said all you did was cut carbs. You didn't mention anything about working out (or more specifically, exercising).


Yeah man, read through all my posts. I'm pretty much doing all the same stuff i was doing before. i started to get back into my routine about a week before i decided to try the carb thing out. 18 pounds in 16 days isn't immpossible if your body isn't used to having that much weight to begin with, like mine is. Everyone loses weight differently, hell maybe in the next weeks i won't lose shit, who knows. This is just how "my" body has responded to the carb loss. i don't know if will work like that for everyone.
 

GONZO

Member
total is now at 23 lbs in 3 1/2 weeks. It's starting to slow down considerably but the weight is still coming off steadily. Sucky ass part is that my clothes don't f-ing fit anymore. but I'm still too big for my old clothes. Oh well, guess i'll look like a clown for a few more months.
 

xsarien

daedsiluap
Just a word of what should probably common sense advice:
Cutting out an entire food group completely is not the healthiest thing in the world to do.
 

Hitokage

Setec Astronomer
The problem with some people doing Atkins is that they take all the unhealthy shit they eat normally, cut out the carbs and call it a diet. Bacon and its copious amounts of animal fat is not healthy, period. Rather than bacon and eggs, try a garden salad with chicken and oily dressing for a much better take on a low-carb meal. Even then, the idea that all carbs are to be avoided is misguided, as just as there are good fats and bad fats, there are good carbs and bad carbs. Sugar and other high glycemic indexed carbs like baked potato are bad. High fiber whole grains are good, and if you're active, necessary. You shouldn't have to be a diabetic to pay a little attention there.

At any rate, any sane weight loss program should have activity as its bedrock. When you sit on your ass all day, the only thing that'll ever change is what you're eating. Go back to your old diet and you go back to your old weight. Well, I guess it is much better than lipsuction, which only changes your appearance, not your health as all internal fat buildup and the state of your fat cells are left untouched.
 

Manics

Banned
Ninja Scooter said:
since this is a diet/workout type thread, this might be the best place to ask: Is drinking a gallon of water a day too much?


How much is a gallon? I remember at my weight loss peak I was drinking 3-4 litres a day which is the equivalent of twelve-sixteen 8-oz glasses a day. All I remember is having to piss every half hour. I haven't heard of an "upper limit" to water drinking where it's not good anymore.
 

borghe

Loves the Greater Toronto Area
GONZO said:
total is now at 23 lbs in 3 1/2 weeks. It's starting to slow down considerably but the weight is still coming off steadily. Sucky ass part is that my clothes don't f-ing fit anymore. but I'm still too big for my old clothes. Oh well, guess i'll look like a clown for a few more months.
it will stop completely. 99% of low carb stories are exactly the same, and while I haven't done it, my ex has and hit the SAME wall (after she swore she wouldn't when I passed this advice back to her).

Here is another piece of advice I passed to her that she vehemently denied but found out to be true: Of that 99% that hit the wall at around 15-20% weight loss, almost all of them fall off after frustration at some point not too much further down the line and end up gaining weight back.

And to those who say be supportive, at least he is trying to do something.. nope, no way. he is trying to do NOTHING and that is the point. All of those low carb idiots out there, their main goal is to lose weight by putting in minimal effort. Doing something is getting out and running for an hour a day, or biking an hour a day, and replacing fritos and whoppers with boneless skinless chicken and wild rice. doing something is eating better AND adding activity into your life.

going low carb will simply lessen your water weight, stunt muscle growth and energy levels, and cause you to look back on that time and ask yourself what the fuck you were doing.

seriously, you want to lose weight? take in 1600-2000 calories of QUALITY food a day and get at least 4-5 hours of exercise in a week.

as to the water question, a quick formula to keep the body adequately hydrated is body weight / 2 = number of fluid ounces of water you should drink a day. So if you are 180, you should be drinking 90 fluid ounces of water a day.

On an interesting note, if you only drink water when you are thirsty you are probably getting less than 33% of your recommended level of water daily.
 
Manics said:
How much is a gallon? I remember at my weight loss peak I was drinking 3-4 litres a day which is the equivalent of twelve-sixteen 8-oz glasses a day. All I remember is having to piss every half hour. I haven't heard of an "upper limit" to water drinking where it's not good anymore.


There is an upper limit the condition is called Hyponatremia. It's very common out here in Iraq.

In a word, yes. Drinking too much water can lead to a condition known as water intoxication and to a related problem resulting from the dilution of sodium in the body, hyponatremia. Water intoxication is most commonly seen in infants under six months of age and sometimes in athletes. A baby can get water intoxication as a result of drinking several bottles of water a day or from drinking infant formula that has been diluted too much. Athletes can also suffer from water intoxication. Athletes sweat heavily, losing both water and electrolytes. Water intoxication and hyponatremia result when a dehydrated person drinks too much water without the accompanying electrolytes.

What Happens During Water Intoxication?

When too much water enters the body's cells, the tissues swell with the excess fluid. Your cells maintain a specific concentration gradient, so excess water outside the cells (the serum) draws sodium from within the cells out into the serum in an attempt to re-establish the necessary concentration. As more water accumulates, the serum sodium concentration drops -- a condition known as hyponatremia. The other way cells try to regain the electrolyte balance is for water outside the cells to rush into the cells via osmosis. The movement of water across a semipermeable membrane from higher to lower concentration is called osmosis. Although electrolytes are more concentrated inside the cells than outside, the water outside the cells is 'more concentrated' or 'less dilute' since it contains fewer electrolytes. Both electrolytes and water move across the cell membrane in an effort to balance concentration. Theoretically, cells could swell to the point of bursting.

From the cell's point of view, water intoxication produces the same effects as would result from drowning in fresh water. Electrolyte imbalance and tissue swelling can cause an irregular heartbeat, allow fluid to enter the lungs, and may cause fluttering eyelids. Swelling puts pressure on the brain and nerves, which can cause behaviors resembling alcohol intoxication. Swelling of brain tissues can cause seizures, coma and ultimately death unless water intake is restricted and a hypertonic saline (salt) solution is administered. If treatment is given before tissue swelling causes too much cellular damage, then a complete recovery can be expected within a few days.

It's Not How Much You Drink, It's How Fast You Drink It!

The kidneys of a healthy adult can process fifteen liters of water a day! You are unlikely to suffer from water intoxication, even if you drink a lot of water, as long as you drink over time as opposed to intaking an enormous volume at one time. As a general guideline, most adults need about three quarts of fluid each day. Much of that water comes from food, so 8-12 eight ounce glasses a day is a common recommended intake. You may need more water if the weather is very warm or very dry, if you are exercising, or if you are taking certain medications. The bottom line is this: it's possible to drink too much water, but unless you are running a marathon or an infant, water intoxication is a very uncommon condition.
 

Manics

Banned
Tommie Hu$tle said:
There is an upper limit the condition is called Hyponatremia. It's very common out here in Iraq.


That was quite informative. I never knew that before. Thank you person in Iraq!
 

Dsal

it's going to come out of you and it's going to taste so good
My advice for you is to get off Atkins once the big weight loss streak ends and just move to a regular diet where you eat sensible balanced foods and exercise.

Atkins is AWESOME for getting rid of weight quickly, but it's not a sustainable lifestyle and it isn't good for you in the long term. If you push it too hard and lose too much weight, your body will gain it all back plus some.

That's pretty much what happened to me. I lost a bunch of weight on Atkins for my wedding, and was pretty proud of myself for reaching my goal weight. Then I decided to lose five more pounds just because it was going well and that would put me at some other bracket on some bullshit "weight you're supposed to be" chart. I should've just stopped at my goal weight since that had been my weight since college. Anyways, I quickly got diminishing returns, didn't lose anymore weight despite the extended dieting, and ended up gaining it all back plus extra because I pushed things too hard.
 

GONZO

Member
borghe said:
it will stop completely. 99% of low carb stories are exactly the same, and while I haven't done it, my ex has and hit the SAME wall (after she swore she wouldn't when I passed this advice back to her).

Here is another piece of advice I passed to her that she vehemently denied but found out to be true: Of that 99% that hit the wall at around 15-20% weight loss, almost all of them fall off after frustration at some point not too much further down the line and end up gaining weight back.

And to those who say be supportive, at least he is trying to do something.. nope, no way. he is trying to do NOTHING and that is the point. All of those low carb idiots out there, their main goal is to lose weight by putting in minimal effort. Doing something is getting out and running for an hour a day, or biking an hour a day, and replacing fritos and whoppers with boneless skinless chicken and wild rice. doing something is eating better AND adding activity into your life.

going low carb will simply lessen your water weight, stunt muscle growth and energy levels, and cause you to look back on that time and ask yourself what the fuck you were doing.

seriously, you want to lose weight? take in 1600-2000 calories of QUALITY food a day and get at least 4-5 hours of exercise in a week.

as to the water question, a quick formula to keep the body adequately hydrated is body weight / 2 = number of fluid ounces of water you should drink a day. So if you are 180, you should be drinking 90 fluid ounces of water a day.

On an interesting note, if you only drink water when you are thirsty you are probably getting less than 33% of your recommended level of water daily.




umm, you should read all my posts dude, I'm not just cutting out carbs. I added the cutting out carbs after i had already gotten back to my normal routine. i knw it'll slow down but i also know that I can keep it steadily going down. I'll periodically post up my results. i didn't expect much when i started this, I'm way ahead of where i thought I would be but i know I still have a very long road ahead. I don't plan on stopping the diet for at least another six months. And my routine will be staying the same from now on. Just like anything else in life it works if you work it. No biggy.
 

Macam

Banned
Diets are for suckers. Do your research (Men's Health magazine is always a good place to start), start gradually, and just start changing your eating and exercise habits. Give it a year and you'll be where you want to be and wondering why the hell you didn't do it sooner.
 

Fatghost

Gas Guzzler
GONZO said:
I doubt it, I drink about 10 cups of water a day normally nad since i started this I've actually strted drinking more. I think the thing that contributed to it was my abnormally busy ass week. And I should say that i do have a lot to lose. I weighed 224 last week. I need to lose about 50 pounds. And my goal is to lose 25 by July....my birthday.


You lost 11 lbs of water. The body stores carbohydrate (as glycogen) with water, at something close to 4 grams of water per 1 gram of carbohydrate.
 

borghe

Loves the Greater Toronto Area
GONZO said:
umm, you should read all my posts dude, I'm not just cutting out carbs. I added the cutting out carbs after i had already gotten back to my normal routine. i knw it'll slow down but i also know that I can keep it steadily going down. I'll periodically post up my results. i didn't expect much when i started this, I'm way ahead of where i thought I would be but i know I still have a very long road ahead. I don't plan on stopping the diet for at least another six months. And my routine will be staying the same from now on. Just like anything else in life it works if you work it. No biggy.
you cannot keep it steadily going down just through cutting carbs. and if you are doing other stuff as well (aka exercise/increase heart rate), you are actually making things more difficult by cutting carbs. someone eating a regular balanced diet will have more energy and stamina in general than someone reducing or eliminating carbs from their diet (both of similar health).

The same girl in question decided to start biking during this whole thing. She noted that she had been biking for weeks and it had never become any easier. she would start out but than less than 20 minutes after she started she had no energy left. so I told her to eat a peanut butter sandwich on whole wheat about half an hour before she went biking. she did and told me she had energy through the entire hour bike ride (of which she couldn't even productively do an hour straight beforehand).

cuttings carbs is a great way to lose a limited amount of weight with minimal effort. but it will plateau and will severely hamper anything else you are doing to help lose the weight as well. stop cutting carbs, eat right, and get exercise. There is NO better way to lose weight, and that's a fact.

p.s. congrats for taking that initiative in the first place. I hope you listen to me on this. I was a religious health nut for about 5 years a while back. It is amazing what the human body is capable of when treated right.. and cutting out a source of nutrition isn't treating your body right.
 
My wife loast 40 lbs on Atkins. SHe gave it up when she got pregnant, but has watched carbs ever since (without going full-blown Atkins) and 7 months post-pregnancy she weighs even less than she did before getting pregnant. She's down 50+ pounds from her peak.

Just make sure that if you do wean yourself off Atkins that you don't revert to your old way of eating, either. That's how you got fat in the first place!
 
Status
Not open for further replies.
Top Bottom