Letter from Jess Meyers

wrote:
"Matthew P. Cummings" wrote:


Those who cry GENETICS are those who do not have the will power to do a
proper diet. I admit there are those who truly do have medical problems,
but not all that cry it.

Lets use you for an example because I already posted my info, how many
calories do you consume in a day before and during your diet now?



Ok, I'll try. I must admit I don't know the exact amount of calories
I have been consuming before and during the Atkins diet, so the
following is just a good guess.

I would have to say that my caloric intake is probably doubled from
what it was before I started back on the low carb diet. This is
because before, I ate cheaper foods that were relatively low fat.
Things like baked potatos and fruits are comparatively very low fat
and not unreasonable in calories. My experience has shown that a low
fat, high carb diet results in weight gain.

However, with a high fat, low carb diet, I'm eating lots of zero carb
ice cream, fatty steaks, hamburger, bacon, sausage, eggs, cheese,
hotdogs and the like. A gram of fat packs a lot more calories than a
typical carb. I frequently have a bowl of popcorn consisting of 2
tablespoons of kernels with 3 tablespoons of butter and 4 ounces of
velveta cheese melted over the top of it. And Yes, despite all the
calories and fat, I'm losing weight. Popcorn does have a lot of carbs
(about 20 as described here), but I don't eat that more than a few
times a week.

The most serious problem with the low carb lifestyle is the expense.
Now that its catching on more, the price of meat products has gotten
unjustifiably unreasononable. Zero carb ice cream runs about $5 a
half gallon.

But getting back to your question, all in all, I would have to say
that there is good reason to beleive that I'm consuming at least
double the calories and still losing weight.

I'd have to see some records to believe you have doubled your intake and
are losing weight. I'm not saying you are lying, I just don't think you
have the data to know. Many studies have shown that people who don't
actually record their intake make guesses that are pure fantasy.

I certainly believe that some foods are metabolized better than others,
or have calories that aren't easily extracted (they end up in the
commode in other words!), but I really question a 2:1 change and have
never seen any documentation that such a large delta is possible.

Keep in mind that it is simple physics. Energy in = Energy out + stored
energy.

If you double your calories and don't gain weight then you must be
doubling your energy out. The question is where is that going? There
are really only a few places it can go. It can be used to heat your
body, but unless your body temp is now a lot higher on the Atkins diet
than before, it isn't being consumed here. It can be used to do "work",
which basically means move your body from place to place. If you are
doing a lot more exercise than before the Atkins diet, then this is the
most likely use of the extra energy. The other place it can go is down
the crapper. I may be forgetting something, but that is about it.
There simply isn't any magic place in your body where energy can just
disappear. It has to be accounted for somewhere, and if it isn't being
stored as body fat, then it goes to one of the three places above.


Matt