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  #151   ^
Old Sat, Dec-11-10, 08:04
bkloots's Avatar
bkloots bkloots is offline
Senior Member
Posts: 10,147
 
Plan: LC--Atkins
Stats: 195/162/150 Female 62in
BF:
Progress: 73%
Location: Kansas City, MO
Default Hello, my friends

I came over here to see if there was any action in the "Maintainers" forum. I like the blogs/links here. Thanks.

I'm a "maintainer" currently in the midst of a relapse. It's tough. The five pound gain turned into ten turned into fifteen. I tried getting back last summer, and got discouraged. This time, I just have to do it.

How many times have I sworn "Never again!" Well...again.

I've long realized how difficult it is to admit a lifelong weight management "disability." But when I look at my 192-lb self, I know I never, never, never want to go there again--but that is where my body would inevitably tend if I didn't consciously and constantly avoid what most people would consider "normal" eating.

Well, never mind. I'm off to my Journal to muse some more. See you here later!
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  #152   ^
Old Thu, Jan-06-11, 09:48
Demi's Avatar
Demi Demi is offline
Posts: 26,664
 
Plan: Muscle Centric
Stats: 238/153/160 Female 5'10"
BF:
Progress: 109%
Location: UK
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Quote:
January 03, 2011

Why We Get Fat: A Book Review

by Barbara Berkeley, MD


For most people, the prospect of meeting a favorite movie star or sports hero would set the heart aflutter. Call me a nutrition geek, but I get palpitations from meeting the researchers and authors whose work on obesity I revere.

Several years ago, a friend from residency,who is now chief of endocrinology at a major academic center,invited me to meet Gary Taubes, the author of "Good Calories, Bad Calories". Taubes is a science writer with a long track record of producing sophisticated and meticulously researched articles for Science, the NY Times, and other highly respected publications. In recent years, he had become especially interested in the science of obesity writing a number of controversial articles that supported carbohydrate restriction and called into question the conventional wisdom of low-fat eating. "Good Calories, Bad Calories" was the a book that collected all the research that supported his contention (and mine) that the idea of controlling weight by eating less than you burn is insanely simplistic and that it is insulin-stimulating foods that cause weight gain and illness. A dense, lengthy book (the paperback version is 640 pages), GCBC defeated many readers. For me though, every page was a "eureka" moment packed full of research that supported everything I had learned clinically in more than 20 years of working with overweight patients. It became my bible, my favorite book, my go-to reference: the book that had my back. The pages of my copy were so underlined, annotated and studded with stars, arrows and exclamation points as to be barely readable.

The day that I was to travel to the east coast to meet Gary Taubes dawned to reveal an old-fashioned Cleveland blizzard. I was booked to fly on a small regional jet and believe me, I'm a nervous flyer. Normally, I would have taken one look out the window at the wind and snow and cancelled my flight. Instead, I tucked my trusty GCBC under my arm, packed an overnight bag and headed across icy, unplowed roads to the airport. I sat on the tarmac as our tiny plane (one of those that bounces and creaks across the runway) was doused with pink and green de-icing fluid. Moments later, the snow was reaccumulating on the windows and the wings were bouncing in the wind. Was I nuts? This was definitely a form of temporary insanity. But moments later, we ascended shakily into the sky, broke through the clouds and continued on to Philadelphia where a cold sun was shining.

At the university, I greeted my old friend and he ushered me into a large lecture hall where Taubes had just begun what was to be a long and detailed talk. The assembled crowd was composed of serious academic researchers in the field of diabetes and obesity. They listened politely and asked many questions, but seemed skeptical. Taubes answered each question with a wealth of data and a great deal of patience. It was clear that he was used to speaking to doctors and other scientists, most of whom had spent the past twenty to thirty years believing that dietary fat was the great villain. I understood his position well. My practical experience with obese patients was often ignored by peers who listened politely to what I had to say but went on to advise their patients that they eat "moderately",follow a "low fat diet" and eat lots of "healthy carbs".

After the lecture, I had the great opportunity of spending an hour or so in discussion with my friend and Gary Taubes. Naturally, I had him sign my copy of GCBC. The inscription reads: "This is the most annotated copy of my book I've ever seen." Later, we all had dinner with other members of the department. Gary and I avoided carbs while the others ate the rolls, ordered potatoes and (in some cases) fretted about their inability to lose weight.

In the years since the publication of Good Calories, Bad Calories, I have recommended it to many people but few have been able to wade through it and pretty much no one has enjoyed it with the blind excitement that I have. Apparently, this was a common scenario and now Taubes has produced a scaled down version of his master work called "Why We Get Fat and What to Do About It" (Knopf). While it (intentionally) lacks the intensive attention to research that characterizes GCBC, it does an excellent job of giving readers the basics. I recommend it. And if you are intrigued by what you read, I would suggest going on to GCBC to fill in the blanks.

The bottom line? It is the overproduction of the hormone insulin that makes us fat. This overproduction comes from two sources: eating too many foods that require insulin for processing (the starches and sugars), and the overproduction of insulin that results from body cells that become "resistant" through aging or eating too many S Foods. Dietary fat and protein do not stimulate insulin. Consumed alone they cannot make us fat. Most importantly, insulin prevents us from using the fat in our fat cells as fuel. We are thus always running on sugar. We crave more when we run out and we never get into fat burning mode. We are built to run on the fat in our fat cells as a major fuel. Most of us can't use it.

This knowledge is the currency of my world. It is obvious to those of us who "do" weight loss as a career. It has even---finally---become obvious to entrenched diet programs like Weight Watchers, who recently revamped its point system to reflect the fact that all calories are not alike. Some make you fat. Others don't.

For those with limited patience or someone who can only borrow "Why We Get Fat" for a day, I particularly recommend the second section of the book called "Adiposity 101". These facts are well presented and give you a good introduction to the problems created by insulin. (A similar discussion can also be found in the third chapter of Refuse to Regain on Metabolic Syndrome).

One of the points that Taubes makes repeatedly is that nutritionists and doctors remain entrenched regarding their thinking about weight loss. They insist that you can lose weight by eating less and exercising more when this formula has been an ineffective proposition for 95% of those who try. It simply doesn't hold up long term. He acknowledges that obesity doctors understand his thesis and support it and that docs who don't treat obesity are unwilling to listen to those who do. That's true. But it is also true that those who write about and research obesity, but don't treat it, are not privy to the daily observations of this knowledge in practice. So let me add some brief critiques of what is otherwise an excellent book.

1. Genetically Consistent vs. High Fat, Low Carb

Taubes touches briefly on the wisdom of eating foods that are like the foods eaten by our ancient ancestors. Theoretically, these are the foods to which we are best adapted. Following that, however, he pins the blame for obesity on carbohydrates and exonerates fat and protein. I agree unequivocally with his blame placing, however I remain very circumspect about the sources of our fat and protein. Taubes is fond of bacon and steak. I wouldn't have a problem with this if it were not for the fact that the meat we produce today is very nutritionally distinct from the meat we've always "known" how to eat. Bacon contains carcinogenic nitrites and other preservatives. Corn fed beef has a reversed profile of omega 6 to omega 3 fatty acids when compared to the meat of animals that graze. If we hypothesize that we get sick from eating a diet full of carbs because we are not genetically prepared to eat large amounts of carbs, how can we ignore the fact that eating meat that is very modern in composition may be equally damaging? The way I see it, logic leads me to believe that we get both fat and sick when we eat fuels that our body is not prepared to process genetically. Trying to get as close as possible to original food sources makes the most sense. There is no research on this by the way other than voluminous observation of hunter gatherer tribes that survived into modernity and were absent modern diseases.

2. How to Lose Weight

Many of the sources consulted by Taubes in this book suggest an Atkins-style diet for weight loss. There are also many obesity clinics that still use something called the "Protein-Sparing Modified Fast". This is essentially an extreme Atikins diet that has patients eat small amounts of mostly chicken, eggs and certain cheeses. While these diets do cause weight loss, they also can lead to complications of dehydration, dizziness and potassium and salt depletion. We have found them to be completely unneccessary and I can't understand why people persist in using them. Our diet has many more grams of carbohydrate than Atkins or the PSMF. Our patients eat one piece of fruit and alot of vegetables and salad each day. It works beautifully and we achieve large weight losses. We have rarely had a patient who is resistant. In other words, it is very possible to lower insulin levels enough to get brisk weight loss without going to total carb elimination. You just have to know which carbs to avoid and how much to include.

3. Calorie Lowering for Weight Loss

One of Taubes' interests is establishing a study that would document that fact that people on the Atkins diet could eat enormous numbers of calories yet still lose weight. This would prove that weight loss isn't about the amount of calories at all, but is about how the body uses the calories it gets. In other words, does it burn up the calories and get rid of them or does it store them? In the practical world of the weight loss clinic, however, we have found that to get weight loss, patients need to get calories low. Having tried the Atkins diet myself many times, I found that my calories were automatically limited by the boring nature of eating only meat and cheese. I don't know if Taubes is right about his belief, but it seems beside the point. Eating huge amounts of fat and protein doesn't feel good to many people, and weight loss can easily be gotten on a low insulin diet of about 1200-1400 calories that suppresses appetite as a side benefit.

4. Exercise

Taubes makes the very interesting point that obese people are sedentary not because they are lazy, but because their energy stores are locked up (insulin traps fat energy and makes it inaccessible). They simply don't have enough energy to exercise and therefore don't want to. I agree with this. Our patients who lose weight become much more interested in moving. You only need to read a few weight loss blogs to see how frequently obese, sedentary people turn into avid exercisers, even marathoners. Taubes discounts exercise as an important factor in weight loss. So do I. However, I still stick to my guns when stating that exercise is crucial for weight maintenance. I don't know the technicalities of why it works, but we can suppose that it keeps the muscles efficient in their use of calories and allows for the whole bodily machine to run better. Exercise is like the oil or lubricant for our metabolic system. Keep it going.

I highly recommend that you take a look at "Why We Get Fat" and see if it doesn't get you thinking. I hope you will come out believing that restructuring your diet to permanently rid yourself of the bulk of your grains and carbs is the true solution for permanent weight control. It has worked for me and it has worked for all of those I've been able to convert.
http://refusetoregain.com/refusetor...ook-review.html
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  #153   ^
Old Thu, Jan-06-11, 09:51
Demi's Avatar
Demi Demi is offline
Posts: 26,664
 
Plan: Muscle Centric
Stats: 238/153/160 Female 5'10"
BF:
Progress: 109%
Location: UK
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Quote:
January 06, 2011

Losing Weight After Fifty: Menopause and Other Issues

by Barbara Berkeley, MD


Let's get the off-putting facts out of the way first. Your metabolism slows down with age, meaning that your body burns fewer calories than it used to. Prior to menopause, estrogen directs fat storage into the hips and thighs. Once estrogen is gone, storage starts occuring in the belly creating the famed "mena-pot".

While these things are true, they don't have to mean anything. Is it possible to lose weight and keep it off later in life? Absolutely.

Over the years, some of my most successful long term weight patients have been over 60. When new clients tell me that they are worried about their inability to lose because of age, I show them a picture of my mother who had a major weight loss in her mid 80s and continues to control her weight now at 92. Because of two bad knees, exercise was out. She also has an underactive thyroid. She's always had trouble losing weight. Nevertheless, she did it.

Weight control after fifty is only a challenge if you misunderstand the basics. If you believe that weight loss and maintenance is achieved by starving and running the marathon, you will be justified in seeing major impediments as you age. Many people give up on trying to stay at a healthy weight because of just such thinking.

So let's return to those basics, because the fundamentals become even more important when someone is older or post-menopausal.

Overweight occurs when your body stores fat (that's a normal physiologic function) but then is unable to burn it off again (that's not normal). If everything is going just right, your fat cells should be open at all times, able to store fat and then release it again freely when it is needed for moment to moment energy needs. If you are making alot of the hormone insulin, your calories will go into fat storage but they won't be able to get out. It's a one way valve. If you drop insulin levels, fat flows freely out of the fat cells. (And let me remind you once again that what starts insulin going is eating sugar, starches or grain).

One of the most important considerations for those over 50 is not lowered metabolism, but that fact that we become increasingly insulin resistant with age. Insulin resistance means that we make more insulin when we eat carbs than we used to and that insulin levels tend to stay higher throughout the day. Thus, more trapped fat. More difficulty losing.

For those with weight problems over 50, the adoption of a diet that eliminates carbohydrate (except for fruits and vegetables), is key. Understood this way, you can see that the number of calories burned a day (metabolism) is secondary to the way calories are utilized. Essentially, you cannot utilize calories properly is you are making alot of insulin. Similarly, the fact that excess fat in post menopausal women lands in the belly is unimportant. Our aim is to avoid storing excess fat in the first place. Thus, where is goes is immaterial.

Here's one piece of very good news. I have found that it is often more possible for my patients over 50 to make the necessary changes in their eating habits than it is for younger patients. If you have been eating bread, pasta, potatoes and sweets for a whole lifetime, it's often now possible to take a "been there, done that" attitude. At 50 plus, all of us become concerned about our longevity and more specifically, about living out the rest of our years in optimal health. With the greater knowledge we have, and with a lifetime of having accomplished things already behind us, it suddenly becomes ok to try something new. Then too, the more mature we are, the less interest we have in conforming. This makes it easier to tell friends and family that we simply don't eat certain foods any more.
http://refusetoregain.com/refusetor...her-issues.html
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  #154   ^
Old Mon, Jan-10-11, 15:52
Demi's Avatar
Demi Demi is offline
Posts: 26,664
 
Plan: Muscle Centric
Stats: 238/153/160 Female 5'10"
BF:
Progress: 109%
Location: UK
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Quote:
January 08, 2011

More on Why We Get Fat

Hi. This is Barbara posting.

I wanted to suggest a one-plus hour project to you that I think will be well worth your time. As I mentioned in my book review of Gary Taubes' Why We Get Fat, I had the opportunity of hearing him lecture a couple of years ago. Now, the same lecture is available on line. This includes a slide presentation. The lecture takes about an hour and fifteen minutes, but is broken up into segments so you can watch it in parts. For those who find it slow going, you will get the major gist if you start at Part Five (although I do recommend watching the entire thing). You can also skip the Q and A at the end if you want to save time. Essentially, Taubes talks about why our entire paradigm regarding obesity is wrong and why we become fat because of a disorder in our fat storage mechanism---NOT because we eat too much or exercise too little. These things can occur as side effects of the disordered fat storage, but are not the cause. I will let the lecture speak for itself. Suffice it to say, this view reflects my beliefs as an anecdotal observer and it reflects a wealth of basic science as well. See what you think. It may truly change the way you look at things. I'd love to have a discussion or Q and A with those of you who wind up going the distance with the talk.


http://refusetoregain.com/refusetor...we-get-fat.html
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  #155   ^
Old Tue, Jan-11-11, 00:46
freckles's Avatar
freckles freckles is offline
Senior Member
Posts: 8,730
 
Plan: Atkins Maintenance
Stats: 213/141/150 Female 5'4 1/2"
BF:
Progress: 114%
Location: Dallas, TX
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This is truly a gem of a thread!!!

It is like a really good book that everyone says you should read. It seems boring at first, then you get so interested that you can't put it down. There are parts you don't like, parts that make you smile, parts that make you cry, parts that you don't agree with, parts that are boring and parts you know you're just going to have to read again to really get it. When you finish reading it you are satisfied and glad you did because you learned something and you know that if you read it next year you will learn something else entirely.

I appreciate all the contributions to this thread. My biggest obstacle in this woe/wol has been figuring out how to maintain. Much of what is here is and will be very helpful in that endeavor as I try once again. Thank you.

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  #156   ^
Old Thu, Jan-13-11, 14:43
Demi's Avatar
Demi Demi is offline
Posts: 26,664
 
Plan: Muscle Centric
Stats: 238/153/160 Female 5'10"
BF:
Progress: 109%
Location: UK
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Quote:
January 13, 2011

What Makes us Fat? Where I Stand in 2011

by Barbara Berkeley, MD


About ten years ago, on our annual family visit to the Bahamas, I had a sudden insight into what might be causing obesity. I had been treating obese patients for some years and had been watching them relapse. I also was watching the frustrating progress of my own weight. I had always been thin, but during my forties I had grown twenty pounds heavier despite my usual schedule of five-day-a-week high intensity aerobics. The annual diet that preceded our vacation was no longer working and the few pounds that I was able to knock off came rushing back within a week or two of our return.

In 1992, Don and I had moved to a country property. Both of us had grown up in the crowded suburbs of New York City and longed for some contact with plants and other living things. I, particularly, had always wanted animals. About the best we were able to do in our small row house in Jersey City was provide shelter to a parakeet, a series of hamsters and some goldfish. Now (thanks to my industrious and long-suffering husband) we became the caretakers of sheep, goats, horses, donkeys, turkeys, chickens, a dog, a parrot and a whole host of cats. As it happens in these situations, these animals gave us much more than we ever gave them. The learning curve involved in their care was steep and the knowledge they imparted was fascinating.

Our horses grew lean and shiny-coated on their summer grass, but became sluggish and fat-bellied when fed “sweet feed” (a molasses coated mix of grains). Our golden retriever ran exhausting loops around our farm, but got fat on a standard dog food and as a result of eating morsels of feed that were dropped by the horses. In an effort to slim him down, I learned of the “Bones and Raw Food” movement favored by some dog enthusiasts. The idea was to re-acclimate dogs to foods that were more natural to them genetically. I switched him, with excellent effect, to a dog food that paid attention the original nutrient balance of canines. Our cat’s veterinarian was also invested in the idea of feeding cats the diet they were most genetically programmed to eat.

Interestingly, our animals didn’t get fat from eating too much or exercising too little. They were never overfed. In fact, it took a startlingly small amount of the wrong foods to cause overweight. Who would imagine that a 1200 pound horse could grow a big fat belly from an extra half a coffee can of grain a day? Who would predict that a horse that size could graze on pasture all day and all night and remain as lean as Secretariat? Who indeed? Those who knew anything at all about horses!

It was with these new experiences swirling in my subconscious that I had a moment of sudden clarity in the Bahamas. I remember that I was about to have breakfast at the hotel buffet. I was making my usual calculations: if I ate that chocolate muffin now and skipped lunch, maybe I’d be ok having my favorite chocolate mousse for dinner. I plopped down into my seat feeling the irritating scrape of two fat thighs rubbing together. Looking out through the windows onto the beach, it all came together over the turquoise blue of the sea. Those palms were growing here, not in Cleveland, because they had certain programmed requirements. The trim seagulls trolling the sand were looking for their particular diet of fish. Our horses ate grass and stayed in perfect weight balance. What I, their caretaker, was eating had absolutely nothing to do with what was natural to my organism: the human organism. Even without researching it further, this seemed immediately obvious.

I sat there and remembered the day that one of our high school teachers, a smoker, lectured us on the dangers of nicotine. He lit a cigarette, took a deep drag, and exhaled through a clean, white handerkerchief he had pulled from his pocket. A dirty, yellow ring formed immediately, staining the white cloth. “But if you know smoking does that,” we insisted, “why are you still doing it?” With only a moment’s hesitation, he replied. “I’m not going to anymore..” He took the packet of cigarettes from his shirt pocket, ripped it in half and threw it in the garbage pail by his desk. It was his moment of clarity. He never smoked again.

I pulled myself out of my chair and approached the buffet feeling a strange and similar commitment. It was fascinating. What was likely to be “human” food? The eggs? Probably. Some meat? Likely. The grits and butter? I wasn’t sure. But I would find out. And I soon did, contacting various experts on original forms of human diet and researching what I discovered was already a well-established dietary approach for many.

In the past ten years, nothing has occurred either in terms of my personal or professional experience, that has changed this basic tenet. We are healthiest when we eat a diet that is familiar to our ancient genes. We also will lose excess fat and remain lean if we do so.

But ten more years has added the benefit of additional observation in the real world. For many years, particularly in the mid twentieth century, we humans stayed lean on diets that were full of hot dogs, apple pie, hamburgers, ice cream and devil dogs. Yes, but we exercised more …right? Not on my block, where staying out till 8 pm in the summer meant sitting on your stoop and playing aggressive, calorie consuming sports like “hit the penny” and potsy.

So new observation number one is that something has changed. While we’ve probably always been best served by eating a close approximation of the original human diet, we used to be able to get away with cheating quite a bit. Now we can’t anymore. Why not? The possible candidates are legion. An environmental exposure to some toxin or chemical. A small change in the way our genes are expressed which may be stimulated while we are in utero (epigenetic change). An increase in the load of fructose or some other specific substance or additive in our diet. The reaching of a specific threshold, beyond which our bodies can’t tolerate fake food. It would be interesting to know, but it almost doesn’t matter. If you want to win at hide and seek---don’t ask why you’re still at large----just high tail it back to base and yell, “Home Free All!” That base--- and I hope you’re headed there---is our original diet.

Observation number two is that many people use “low carb diet” as a shorthand for the original human diet. And this is not a bad way to look at it, but it misses some fine points. I personally adhere to the belief that we get fat because we start to store and trap fat inappropriately. Since insulin is the primary hormone that controls fat storage, I favor the belief that this problem occurs when insulin gets out of control and stops working properly. If we drop most carbs out of the diet, leaving only carbs like veggies and low sugar fruits, our insulin falls back into the low range and fat can be released and gotten rid of. Fat also can’t be stored if insulin is low. The original human diet is low in carbohydrate because it lacked all grains and most sugars, so there is an approximation there. However, the idea of eating more originally is to avoid other potential pitfalls of the modern diet, not just obesity. For this reason, I also advocated eating animal proteins that look more original…meaning have more omega 3 and fewer omega 6 fats. We can do this more easily today with the availability of grass fed meats and free range poultry. We also may want to pay attention to modern additives like growth hormones and antibioltics—certainly not ancient.

Observation three is that we get fat because we are “stuck on fill”. I’ve used that term before to mean that the system (controlled primarily by insulin) that decides if we will burn food or fill the fat cells with it is actually stuck like a jammed valve. This valve can get stuck when we eat too much modern food laden with carbs. But it also can get stuck through forced overfeeding. We can essentially eat ourselves sick. As most of you know, I loathe the blame placing that goes on around overweight. I’ve been known to wade into discussions with verbal guns blazing when I hear these words, “I don’t know why fat people can’t just stop eating!” Being fat means having a storage disorder that triggers more hunger. Whether this is because big insulin surges are making hunger or because all of the needed energy is trapped in fat cells and the body needs more food to go on, we’re not sure. Whatever the cause, for most overweight people, reducing fat mass by lowering carb intake (and therefore insulin) will get rid of the big hunger. The last ten years have taught me, though, that there is a subpopulation of people who do eat strictly for emotional reasons. Once they become overweight or obese, the problem is intensified and the weight gain can be large and rapid. I think it’s important to recognize this because the treatment for this particular group of people should include therapy. Having said this, I have found that 80% of the overweight people I see in my office think that they eat emotionally. They’re right. We all do. Eating emotionally in the United States of 2011 is a given. But is it their major problem or just a sidebar? Until you have tried a diet that lowers insulin significantly and have given hunger levels a chance to abate, it is hard to know why you are eating. You may find that your drive to eat is more biological and less psychological than you thought.

Observation four is that serious maintainers must stop playing with addictive substances…and by this I mean sugar and starch. I have a number of patients who actually use the word “play” when describing their mini-binges with doughnuts and potato chips. What they don’t realize is that the food is playing them, not the reverse. Insulin stimulating foods are seriously addictive. Enough so that several of the new obesity drugs in the pipeline rely on the same mechanisms that block other addictions like those to heroin and nicotine. Since we don’t want to remove everything pleasurable from our diet, it is vital to establish a number of things that give you a carb-like “hit” but without the after-cravings. I have referred to these in previous posts as NTTs or Non Triggering Treats.

So in summary: as 2011 begins, here’s where I’m sitting. We are fat because a problem in our fat storage mechanism which “gets stuck” and diverts too many of our calories into fat cells, trapping them there. This process can be reversed and permanently bypassed by getting rid of starches and sugars in the diet. You should continue to eat vegetables and low sugar fruits. Most people will be able to eat low fat dairy (milk products do stimulate insulin, but don’t seem to be an issue for many). I personally don’t eat grains, whole or otherwise. I also avoid legumes like starchy beans.

The fat storage problem we so easily acquire in today’s world is like the first push on a stack of collapsing dominoes. It throws off blood pressure, messes up cholesterol, inflames the insides of your arteries, exposes you to intensified cancer risk, and creates diabetes. Reverse this disorder and you reverse all the others along with it.

I remain open to new studies, new information and new ideas. As of January 2011, I believe that the basic concept as I’ve described it makes sense both scientifically and experientially. It works. I’ve seen it. I live it. Each of you will find your own variations. I wish you health and success.

Happy New Year to all!
http://refusetoregain.com/refusetor...nd-in-2011.html



I've also posted this over in the media forum as I felt that it deserved a wider audience.
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  #157   ^
Old Thu, Jan-13-11, 15:44
Enomarb Enomarb is offline
MAINTAINING ON CALP
Posts: 4,838
 
Plan: CALP/CAHHP
Stats: 180/125/150 Female 65 in
BF:
Progress: 183%
Location: usa
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Thanks, Demi-
excellent post.
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  #158   ^
Old Tue, Jan-18-11, 12:04
lmollon's Avatar
lmollon lmollon is offline
Senior Member
Posts: 112
 
Plan: My own
Stats: 165/144/135 Female 5' 5"
BF:
Progress: 70%
Location: Ontario, Canada
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What a great thread. I was within 5 lbs of goal a couple of years ago, but had no idea how to maintain. Carb creep got me! So, back up another 15 lbs (at least I didn't gain it ALL back) and back at it again. Started with 20 to lose and have already gone down 5. I know as I get closer to goal it is going to be harder and the loss is going to slow (motivation too!). Will keep going back to this thread for motivation and tips. For me, the losing part is relatively (sorta) easy (thank goodness), it's the maintenance (or 'persistence' as some say) that's tough. Thanks for the great information and ideas.
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  #159   ^
Old Fri, Jan-21-11, 11:03
ouidamarie's Avatar
ouidamarie ouidamarie is offline
Registered Member
Posts: 83
 
Plan: general l/c
Stats: 158/148/135 Female 64 inches
BF:36%/34%/22%
Progress: 43%
Location: Texas
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I am looking forward to reaching goal for a second time so that I can become a proud member of the refuse to regain club.

I maintained (while trying to lose just 5 more pounds past goal) for over two years, then while on vacation threw it all away. For whatever reason, I just couldn't get back on the wagon.

I don't know why it took me 2 and half years of gradually regaining to decide that it was time to stop, but here I am, needing to lose just over 20 pounds.

I know that low carbing will allow me to reach goal, I am confident that with commitment I can maintain not for 2 years, but forever.

I don't want to ever have another 2 years of not appearing in family photos.
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  #160   ^
Old Fri, Jan-21-11, 11:24
bkloots's Avatar
bkloots bkloots is offline
Senior Member
Posts: 10,147
 
Plan: LC--Atkins
Stats: 195/162/150 Female 62in
BF:
Progress: 73%
Location: Kansas City, MO
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Quote:
For whatever reason, I just couldn't get back on the wagon.
Yes, most of us have been there.

On the opposite side of that coin, many of us have experienced a kind of "magic moment" when we know we CAN do it. And we do. If I could figure how to bottle that "moment" I'd make a fortune. At least I would always know what to do for myself when the Carb Creep starts lurking.

Best wishes
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  #161   ^
Old Sun, Jan-23-11, 06:07
BlueSojrn's Avatar
BlueSojrn BlueSojrn is offline
Keepin' It Real
Posts: 937
 
Plan: IF
Stats: 250/160/150 Female 5'5"
BF:
Progress: 90%
Location: Arizona
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I had been maintaining my weight loss just above my goal (143 lbs) for over a year when I got sloppy. The battery on my scale died and I didn't replace it. Several months passed and I started to notice my clothes getting tight. Got that battery, and found, lo and behold, that I had gained 13 lbs! I weighed 154! It happened so fast!

I have returned now to 144 lbs, and am committed to being a Refuse-to-Regainer. I'm truly dedicating myself for the first time to a maintenance plan that I can live with from here on out.

I've never really counted carbs before. I just kept them so low that I didn't have to. Now that I want to have a more balanced approach, with a judicious amount of carbs in my diet, I find that I'm needing to meticulously count and log the carbs for a while to see what amount and type will allow me to slowly lose a few more pounds and then keep me level.

This is way more work and focus than losing weight with a strict protocol ever was! I'm finding that my learning curve is great! But I'm up for it now and will give it all the effort it takes.
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  #162   ^
Old Wed, Mar-23-11, 04:41
Demi's Avatar
Demi Demi is offline
Posts: 26,664
 
Plan: Muscle Centric
Stats: 238/153/160 Female 5'10"
BF:
Progress: 109%
Location: UK
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Quote:
February 08, 2011

How to Eat After Weight Loss

by Barbara Berkeley, MD


Being on a weight loss diet can be annoying. It's tough to have rules to follow, frustrating to face restrictions,and maddening to cheat when you promised yourself that you wouldn't. But as annoying as that diet can be, it can also provide an underlying sense of relief. Once you hit your stride, you are following a plan. The anxieties caused by an overwhelming number of food choices are tamped down. You've got a roadmap to follow.

In my medical practice, we offer the option of beginning weight loss with two weeks on a diet of pre-made liquids and bars. Although we don't push for this choice, most people elect it. They tell us that they have a feeling of freedom when they don't have to make any food decisions at all. They also enjoy a sense of putting distance between themselves and the way they used to eat. They like having a plan, even a very restrictive one.

Studies show that weight loss is achievable on virtually any diet, as long as that diet is followed very consistently. This conclusion might lead you to believe that all diets are equal. But there is an important piece of information missing. What allows consistency to happen? Is it possible that some people can't follow a given diet because it does not fit them properly? We know that this is true. For example, people who are pre-diabetic or insulin resistant may find the Atkins diet easy to follow because it takes insulin out of the picture. Smaller people with normal insulin, on the other hand, might find it very difficult to adhere to a diet that is so low in carbohydrate.

Each of these points, the importance of having a roadmap and the importance of that map fitting your personal needs, has major implications for your success…not only during weight loss but after weight loss as well. Once you enter maintenance, experience has shown that you are headed for failure if you don't have a well thought-out plan and if that plan doesn't match up with your needs.

Most people don't like to think of themselves as continuing "on a diet" after they finish losing weight. (And by the way, no one ever thinks they are finished losing or is ever completely happy with the weight they've achieved. So let's just say we are talking about a plan you need once your body has given up whatever weight it is able to get rid of at this particular time). Since in America we use the word “diet” to mean weight loss, we have to give the post weight-loss plan another kind of name. Let's call it a personal Food Constitution.

Unlike diet books, Food Constitution books are not to be found 50 deep in your local Barnes and Noble. No one cares much about publishing something about how to construct this most important of documents. (Refuse to Regain is one exception. You might also look at the Thin for Life books for ideas) As I was told by my book agent, publishers are only interested in books that solve problems. Once weight is lost, she said, most people think they don't have a problem any more. At first, I didn't believe her. But now I do. We still have alot of work to do in order to convince people that the heavy lifting begins with the end of dieting.

So, you will have to be your own Thomas Jefferson figuring out the self-imposed rules and safeguards that keep your personal union strong. Like the framers, you should seek to produce a plan that can work for many years, albeit with a few amendments. And the plan should make you proud.

So how to begin? Here are my suggestions, but remember, each plan will be different and personal to your needs:

1. Start with Your Endpoints

What do you want to preserve and protect? It may be weight. But it also may be a new, lower Hemoglobin A1c, a life without blood pressure medicine, a commitment to supporting local agriculture, or a desire to be more organic. Your constitution is not just a way of eating, it's a way of being which will reflect who you are for some time to come. When you defend this plan to others, you want to be proud of what it says about you.

2. Look to the Diet That Created Your Weight Loss

In general, the diet that got you to the dance is the one that, with some tweaks, will work to maintain your loss. This is not to say that you can't go a completely different way in maintenance, but this is an easy and reasonable starting point. Spend several months expanding your weight loss diet slightly and gradually. Be extremely careful about carbohydrates. I'm not going to reiterate my personal biases in detail, but suffice if to say that carbs create insulin which creates fat and many carbs tend to trigger addictive food responses.

Create default menus, meals which you know you like, which don't cause weight gain and which you can make easily. While working on these basic menus, consider food timing as well. Are you someone who needs frequent snacks to get through the day? Slot them in. I personally recommend creating some food-free periods each day that last at least 2-3 hours. This allows the body to use some of the food you've stored. If you decide to do this, figure out when these periods fit best for you.

If you don’t like your weight loss diet or feel it is unhealthy to continue, see the next suggestion.

3. Start Spare

If you are starting from scratch, start basic. In the beginning, eat mostly vegetables, low fat animal proteins (lean meat, poultry, fish, eggs and low fat dairy), fruits and nuts. Make the vegetable part bigger than the animal and fruit part. Practice eating this way and see if you can get comfortable right there. If not, experiment with some add-ons. Be very careful with adding back if you are someone who had any of the markers of insulin resistance. These include: weight mostly in the belly, high blood pressure, borderline or high blood sugar, high triglycerides, low good cholesterol. People who are insulin resistant should really, truly stay away from starches and sugars lest their problem swiftly recur. Similarly, if you are someone who has had an inflammatory condition (like rheumatoid arthritis, inflammatory bowel or multiple sclerosis for example), I would think twice about the re-introduction of grains. If you do decide to broaden your diet, start with beans, lentils and other legumes. Try a sweet potato here and there. See if the scale stays stable. It’s hard for me to give you direction on grains as I am not a fan, but if you go that route, watch the scale closely and look for any inflammatory issues like excema, joint aches, etc. There are certainly those who can tolerate grains, but I’m not convinced that people who have been overweight in the past are among them. If you are doing fine and staying weight stable, then grains would seem to work for you.

4. Consider the Use of Calorie Labeled Foods and Meal Replacements

While I advocate a maintenance diet that avoids most processed foods, there are still benefits to using pre-labeled foods in your daily plan. Many people take one meal out and replace it with a yogurt, nutrition bar, or liquid supplement. These foods allow for complete control of calories and knocking one meal out makes life a lot easier.

5. Find Your NTTs

Non Triggering Treats are foods that are sweet, savory or even a bit salty that feel like fun but don’t throw you under the bus. A regular ice cream bar might send you off on a binge, but a Weight Watcher’s ice cream sandwich might not. You might concoct your own NTT (one of my patients loves smooshing frozen blueberries in low fat creamer and splenda) and discover that it does the trick when you simply have to eat something during American Idol. Every long term eating plan needs some NTTs. Work on a list.

The most important tip I can give you for how to eat after weight loss is this one: Do it With Conviction!. Successful maintainers have, for the most part, undergone what I call a Food Conversion. They believe something different about how to eat than they did before and the change is pretty radical. The period directly following weight loss is critical, because new maintainers do not have this sense of belief just yet. It’s something that comes as you learn to enjoy your new diet and see its benefits: sort of like an arranged marriage that blossoms into love. So don’t go running back to your old lover---the standard American diet---just yet. Give the new one a chance. He or she may look a little geeky right now, but there’s a powerful magic lying beneath that unassuming exterior. Don’t you want to find out what it is?
http://refusetoregain.com/refusetor...eight-loss.html
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  #163   ^
Old Wed, Mar-23-11, 04:42
Demi's Avatar
Demi Demi is offline
Posts: 26,664
 
Plan: Muscle Centric
Stats: 238/153/160 Female 5'10"
BF:
Progress: 109%
Location: UK
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Quote:
March 21, 2011

A Season of Transformation Starts Now

by Barbara Berkeley, MD


Nothing in our lifetime reminds us as strongly about the forces of nature than recent events in Japan. Earthquakes, storms, and tsunamis make it abundantly clear that we humans do not control our world despite a strong desire to believe differently. The earth is constantly transforming itself. Some of this activity is chaotic and unpredictable (like the Japanese quakes) and some is cyclical and regular. Yesterday, March 20, marked the vernal equinox; the moment when the sun crosses the equator and night and day are equal in length. For our northern hemisphere, the equinox marks a welcome slide into spring. The earth will transform. And we, as part of nature, will go where it goes.

Yet despite the transformative patterns of our planet, many of us see life as a long, slow decline. While it is true that life's end is inevitable, we too can reassert ourselves and bring a fresh spirit at any point along the way. We forget that we have bodies which are self-renewing and capable of miraculous self-healing. We only need to get out of our own way.

When Lynn and I first started this blog, we were struck by the inadequacy of the word "maintainer" to describe someone who had found a new way to manage food and weight. We asked readers to contribute better descriptors, but there seemed to be none. After thinking about this for some time, it occurred to me that the reason is simple: we were looking at wrong process. Successful maintenance actually has very little to do with registering the same number on a scale day after day. It has everything to do with transformation.

The people I've met who have put overweight behind them have transformed the way they look at life. This process takes some time and it is not always successful. The vast majority of dieters never set out to achieve transformation. Without it, they are almost certain to grow fat again.

What are the elements of transformation? I cannot claim to have an absolute corner on this knowledge. I can only contribute the benefit of observation and experience. As a result, I have decided to launch a Refuse to Regain Season of Transformation which will coincide with the coming of spring. Over the next month, I am going to post a daily (or almost daily!) transformative principle on my facebook page at Refuse to Regain: Barbara's World. I will post the same principle on this blog. Some of these will be accompanied by explanations and some may speak for themselves. None of them are absolute truths or perfect rules. They are simply the elements that I have observed in those who have accomplished dietary and weight transformation. You may have heard many of them before but I believe they bear repeating. Some of these principles are my own personal beliefs and may be subject to your modification. Others are more universal.

As the seasons change, we are often stirred to action. Some basic instinct pulls us along with the changing world and we feel a new desire to re-invent ourselves. I hope that the thoughts that appear over the coming month will help those of you who want to transform but haven't quite made the leap.

As always, I welcome your ideas, comments, and personal transformative principles. Happy Spring!
http://refusetoregain.com/refusetor...-right-now.html
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  #164   ^
Old Wed, Mar-23-11, 04:44
Demi's Avatar
Demi Demi is offline
Posts: 26,664
 
Plan: Muscle Centric
Stats: 238/153/160 Female 5'10"
BF:
Progress: 109%
Location: UK
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Quote:
March 22, 2011

It's Not About What You Want. It's About What You Don't Want.

by Barbara Berkeley, MD


Transformative Principle #1: Transformation is about belief. But belief can develop through habit.

To be transformed in your relationship to food and health, you must deeply believe that eating and living in a particular way are central to who you are. That is quite different from understanding intellectually that eating well is good for you. No one who begins the process of transformation has yet developed this connection. The journey toward developing it is the soul of what we call "maintenance".

In my office, a common refrain from patients is, "I really, REALLY want to lose 30 (50, 80, 100) pounds." Another is, "I really, REALLY want to keep it off this time." Unfortunately these "wants" are easily subverted by other cravings. Those who are still simply dieters and not yet transformed still also want to live life as they did before. This is natural. They still want to eat spaghetti dinners and have dessert. They still would like to find a place for fast food. They believe in some deep recesses of their minds that there is a bargain that can be struck that will allow them to resume a controlled version of this life after weight loss.

Transformed maintainers generally find eating and being the way they were distasteful. This isn't to say that a piece of cheesecake doesn't still look good, but through the daily practice of new habits they have come to appreciate what it feels like to live in health. The balance has shifted. They don't want it to change.

No one who is new to the process of transformation can expect to feel this way at the point that maintenance begins. The good news is that practice, leading to habit, can create this new belief. I think the Nike people really knew what they were doing when they designed their "Just Do It" logo. When you "Just Do" something long enough, its value starts to make a deep imprint.

Transformation occurs via doing and initially that doing has to be a conscious effort. You will have made the quantum leap when you go from wanting to stay away from unhealthy foods to really not wanting to eat them anymore in some visceral way. Patience and practice is key.
http://refusetoregain.com/refusetor...-dont-want.html
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  #165   ^
Old Thu, Mar-24-11, 04:54
Demi's Avatar
Demi Demi is offline
Posts: 26,664
 
Plan: Muscle Centric
Stats: 238/153/160 Female 5'10"
BF:
Progress: 109%
Location: UK
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Quote:
March 23, 2011

Returning to Your Body

by Barbara Berkeley, MD

These Transformative Principles are part of a series on achieving permanent health change that began on March 21. The "principles" are not meant to be gospel. They are simply thoughts of mine that are based on observation of successful maintainers, personal experience and--to some degree-- my own conjecture. I hope they provide some food for thought as you continue your own quest for health transformation.


Transformative Principle #2: Transformation requires re-engaging with your body.

As people gain weight, they often create a separation between themselves and their bodies. The mirror may become their enemy. Clothes that define their shape may be passed over in favor of garments that conceal. They may not want to exercise because they are afraid of how they may look.

It’s surprisingly easy to live entirely in your head, blocking out not only visuals but the messages that your body is sending. Modern medicine is a terrific thing, but sometimes we cede control to doctors as a way of further distancing ourselves from our own physical aspect. It’s easier to have a cortisone injection in your knee than to heal that knee yourself. It’s scientific and unemotional to swallow cholesterol medicine. It’s messy to look at the way you’ve been eating and try to turn it off.

Those who have undergone transformation still see their flaws. They may not like them (see Lynn’s piece on The Green House), but they are looking and they are connected.

Transformation is about wanting to take care of yourself in a deep and permanent way. It’s impossible to care for something that remains shrouded from view. So start looking.

I don’t believe in platitudes like “You need to learn to love yourself ” or “You just need to do more for YOU”. Wanting to transform is not a switch you can flip from off to on. Working on inhabiting the part of you that lies below your collar bones is part of the long and scary process of changing.

This is where physical activity can be very helpful. Movement, exercise, things that force the body into action put you into direct communion with your muscles, bones and organs. This part of the transformation prescription need not be strenuous. It might be Tai Chi, walking in the park, or slow stretchy yoga. It might be quiet meditation with deep, complete breathing. It might be private time with a “Sweatin’ to the Oldies” DVD. Or it might simply be more time looking at yourself and passing over your faults in favor of reminding yourself of your body’s amazing potential for rebuilding and recovery.

E.M. Forster begins his celebrated novel Howard’s End with a single phrase….”Only connect…..” The meaning of these words has been debated ever since the book’s publication. Some think it refers to the inability of certain characters to relate to other people. Whatever it’s intended meaning, it remains an emblem of Forster. These two words shimmer because we all understand that we are nothing without connection: whether it be with our friends, our children, our spouses, or our world. And that connection begins with an appreciation for our very selves and for the bodies that have been gifted to us. Connect with that body and it can begin to heal.
http://refusetoregain.com/refusetor...-your-body.html
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