Atkins and putting on weight

[Eligura]

Hi all,

Well i bought the book, but there is one question that i need to ask.

for me to lose weight i need to eat less than 1600 calories a day. with atkins, i have estimated i will be eating about 1800 a day. Does that mean i will put on weight? if no, why not? I just dont understand.

please help!

thanks!

[*Emma*]

Re: Atkins and putting on weight

Nope it doesnt, because you will be doing exercise wont you? which will allow you to eat more.

[Eligura]

Re: Atkins and putting on weight

but, like all the others, they are not exercising at the beginning and are still losing weight. I was always taught that when you eat less calories, you lose weight. Otherwise you dont.. Well, will just have to wait and see.

thanks!

[*Emma*]

Re: Atkins and putting on weight

like all the others?? Atkins isnt Atkins if you're not exercising, its part of the program

Dr A said "dont count calories" so yep, wait and see!

[ValidRouge]

Re: Atkins and putting on weight

In the book, he talks about the metabolic advantage. Atkins is a ketogenic diet, which means that our bodies switch from using glucose for a primary fuel source to using ketones (fat) as a primary fuel source. It takes more calories to change the fat (that we eat and the fat on our bodies) into a ketone than it takes to turn carbohydrates into glucose. So, (and I'm just throwing random numbers out here to help explain) say that it takes 5 calories to change carbs into sugar, but it takes 7 calories to turn fat into ketones. If the food we eat is 5 calories worth, it's taking 7 calories to turn it into a ketone which means it has to go to your fat stores to get the additional 2 calories.

Basically what that all boils down to is that it takes our bodies MORE ENERGY to burn fat than the amount that we consume. So, we actually will burn more calories eating on a ketogenic diet (like Atkins) than we would a normal diet. It's what he calls the metabolic advantage.

I hope that made sense.

[jimmyolsenblues]

Re: Atkins and putting on weight

atkins does not count calories, it counts carbs, it changes the way you process energy. by limiting your body to 20 carbs a day your body starts to burn your stored fat for energy. i know it sounds crazy, but it works for me, and it works for a lot of people in the world. this is the best board i have found in support of Dr. Atkins New Diet Revolution.
Good luck

[Jaded]

Re: Atkins and putting on weight

Also - from what I remember from bio - fat is only considered "bad" by most people because its the last thing your body processes when you eat and therefore builds up when there are too many carbs in your diet. Carbs are HUGE molecules and get processed first for energy, then proteins, then fat (its the smallest). So you might be eating more calories, but they are mainly from fat, so they are much smaller molecules. Thus your body needs more of them for energy and it takes your body less time to break them down.

Have faith, you'll do great!

[TyCowboy]

Re: Atkins and putting on weight

ValidRogue did a great job answering the science behind it all. To throw in a bit of unrelated useless information, the breakdown of fat generates significantly more energy per calorie than does the breakdown of carbohydrate. (Approximately 2.2 times, if I remember my animal nutrition coursework!)Consequently, I have found (and have many others) that the level of energy that one has while "Atkins-ing" is significantly higher than that of normal, so that energy for exercise, or just doing little "stuff" around the house or in the yard is higher.

It may not be "exercise" per se, but it's definitely activity that increases metabolism. It's very cyclical in that respect.

Ty.

[Hoping]

Re: Atkins and putting on weight

Exercise is a must. There are people that don't exercise, but it's not the majority. Most of us have an exercise routine.
Plus, if you don't exercise you cheat yourself of potential weightloss---I've been there.

So just exercise, drink your water, count your carbs and you'll be well on you way to lose weight