I still dont get why this works! Better than WW'ers....for me! HOW???

[Cinnamonstick]

Hello! I just dont get it in my brain. I lost 3.5 lbs in two weeks...eating high fat foods. Carbs under 30....When I did Weight Watchers I lost a pound a week (twice as much on Atkins!)--it is still early but it took a MONTH on WW'ers and only two weeks on Atkins?? So strange. My brain cant understand this. I am snacking less since most snacks are carbs. I guess I need to track a days calories in the FITDAY. I have no idea what I am eating per day calorie wise....throw in a few sausages and it will add up though!

One note--on WW's I was STARVING all the time! I also ate mostly CARBS to use up my foods.... I know the protein holds me longer and therefore, not as hungry. I get that part.

I just don't get how I an eat sausage dripping with grease, cheese, hamburgers, chicken (dark meat) etc....and lose?? I know the "induction veggies" are pretty low in general in calories...spinich, etc. LOW calories. But the meat--so greasy--but it works!!!! That is where I am confused.

I just dont get it....my brain cant absorbe this ....

[momtomany1]

Re: I still dont get why this works! Better than WW'ers....for me! HOW???

Changing your metabolism has given you the magic 'metabolic advantage.' You switched to fat burning instead of carb burning for energy. You are now a happy little fat burning furnace. Enjoy!

[Skeptika23]

Re: I still dont get why this works! Better than WW'ers....for me! HOW???

I too followed WW (well, followed it online - didn't actually JOIN, heaven forbid) for a couple of months - but I gained ten pounds!

Dr. Atkins explains why it works very well in DANDR. However - it's hard to overcome a lifetime of programming that "all fat is bad", isn't it? My DH just can't bring himself to stop controlling his fat intake, even though he's eating low carb (not Atkins, just eating low carb) too.

[liv]

Re: I still dont get why this works! Better than WW'ers....for me! HOW???

It is kind of weird isn't it? Magic I think.
Gary Taubes wrote a book called "Good calories, badcalories" where he explains some of this (and a lot of other stuff) Calories are not equal things and our body is not an energy burning machine. How the body will treat the calories in food depends on what kind of calories they are.

[Cinnamonstick]

Re: I still dont get why this works! Better than WW'ers....for me! HOW???

Thanks--I guess carbs turn to sugar instantly if not used....proteins hold you over more....so confusing!

Heck--all I know is so far so good. I just hope I can keep dropping. This is as low as I got on WW before quitting (lack of attending meetings once summer came so figured why pay them $40 / month for nothing)....I lost 8 in maybe 10 weeks....gained back 4 when I quit. Lost the 4 now on Atkikns......
We will see! If I drop one more..I will be the lowest in a few years.....and below my pregnancy start weight ( and one less pound of IVF weight! )......

My goal is to drop it before I get prego and gain again....better to start gaining at 140....than 155....and so on.....

Thanks--still dont get it but I guess "who cares why" !!!!!!!!!

[Cinnamonstick]

Re: I still dont get why this works! Better than WW'ers....for me! HOW???

ps--LIV!! YOU ARE SO CLOSE!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

[ceemarie]

Re: I still dont get why this works! Better than WW'ers....for me! HOW???

Have you read Dr. Atkins books? If not, would suggest that you do. He dose a great job of explaning the process.

[widget246k]

Re: I still dont get why this works! Better than WW'ers....for me! HOW???

I also gave WW a try and I was starving all the time. I was filling up on 100 calorie packs filled with carbs and sugar and other carb-loaded foods. I lost nothing in the 45 days I was on it. Not a single ounce and I was eating 1200 calories a day. I don't watch calories now just carbs and sugar, and I have lost 12 pounds and tomorrow will be my 1 month mark. I'll never go back to WW or any other way of eating. I love being able to hav ethings that have for so long seemed "off limits" and still lose weight and be healthy.

[GonnaGetThin!]

Re: I still dont get why this works! Better than WW'ers....for me! HOW???

Ok, here is my understanding of the why behind this way of eating. Someone correct me if I am wrong.

When we take in carbohydrates as a main source of fuel, the carbs are converted into glucose for our bodies to use as energy. If we take in more fuel than we need, the excess glucose is stored in the body for future energy needs in times when we might not get enough to eat. The glucose is converted into fat when it is stored. Because we are burning glucose, usually we also take in too much fat. The fat is most often not burned, because it is easier to convert the carbs into glucose first. So the fat ends up being stored as well.

If we are in a fat burning diet, such as Atkins, the body chemistry is changed. Because carbohydrates are no longer the primary fuel source, our bodies must turn to an alternative source for energy because there is no longer all this glucose in our systems. That alternative source is fat. Fat metabolism is different however, from carbs. To make fat available as a source of energy that our brains and bodies can use, it is converted into ketone bodies. (Hence the term ketosis) Excess ketones though cannot be converted back into fat, so they are filtered out by the kidneys as a waste product. So instead of storing the fat, it is burned first!

There is a small problem though, in that protein CAN be converted to glucose, so it is important not to eat too much, because it can and will be converted to fat if we overeat. But a benefit to ketosis is appetite suppression, so that supressed appetite combined with the slower digestion time of fat and protein means that we don't have the hunger that comes from the quicker digestion and processing of carbs.

It is a layman's grasp on the concept, so might not be totally accurate, but I think the basics are right.

[Skeptika23]

Re: I still dont get why this works! Better than WW'ers....for me! HOW???

Well done - very good explanation!

[gman]

Re: I still dont get why this works! Better than WW'ers....for me! HOW???

Great thread!

This process is hard to believe because we were all entombed* in the Food Pyramid for all those years!

*"Yeah if I live on Special K, no wait maybe the Special K with STRAWBERRIES, yeah that's it Special K with StrawBERRIES, I will be perfect in no time! Hey who ate the other box? Son of a... I'm going to kill somebody for eating my cereal!!"

[Cinnamonstick]

Re: I still dont get why this works! Better than WW'ers....for me! HOW???

Gottagetthin---
Thanks for clarifying. I figured that the carbs turned to sugar..make us hungry--extra stored as fat. etc. Just FREAKY weird you can eat things I would never DREAM of on a "diet" and lose!! LOL! THANKS--it helped to read what you wrote. Goes against all I "learned" growing up...hard to re-think things....

All I know is so far so good...although I gained one back this week.....and seem to be hungry also (I think I am sneaking in a bit ....). I need to stay strong. Week 2-3-4 is where I always "quit" my diets.....

Thanks!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

[LadyBethny]

Re: I still dont get why this works! Better than WW'ers....for me! HOW???

Its amazing eh? I have never been on a diet like this and trust me I have been on lots!!! I am not hungry, I am eating more veggies than I have ever done and my skin is glowing, my hair is so shiny and strong and all this energy I am not used to!! I have never lost this much weight on a diet before either - I usually get so fed up and so despondent I give up at the 18 lb mark....

The "science" of it is just so interesting. I have read the book about 4 times now...

Finding this forum and then that book are the best things that have ever happened to me!

[Lisa]

Re: I still dont get why this works! Better than WW'ers....for me! HOW???

Great thread....I'm still scratching my head in wonder of how it works (even though I've read the book, found research naysaying Atkins doesn't work, and then read real research that says it does work, tried it for my self a hundred times over because it has to do with commitment and desire to make eating habit changes, lost a couple of 20+ pounds, started exercising even more to lose those last 20+ pounds this past summer, and I'm 11 pounds from my goal). Yeah, I'm still in awe of how it works. Oh, wait, it's turned to a wonder to an awe. Yep, that's it.


(gman....lol....)

[Cinnamonstick]

Re: I still dont get why this works! Better than WW'ers....for me! HOW???

Special K with STRAWBERRIES---YUMMMMMMMMM!!!!!

Not as much this week lost so far...but ....I am hanging in there!!