Todd,

You didn't mention your height or your BMI but it would seem that you are
not actually obese, or that you are only borderline obese, and that perhaps
you are close to where I was before I decided to lose weight with Atkins
last year. I started at somewhere around 220+ lbs, which could have been as
much 235 lbs or so (I didn't have a scale at that time). I was wearing size
38 pants and they were extremely tight and uncomfortable. My body fat was
about 30% according to an impedance scale that I bought later, and my BMI
was about 30+. I am now, less than one year later, at BF = 16% and BMI=22.9
at 174 lbs at 6'1". I'm back in size 32 pants for the first time since I was
a teenager.

I lost something between 50 and 70 lbs but I never felt hungry and never
counted calories. For the first time in life I am actually focused now on
finding ways to gain weight, which is a nice problem for me to have after so
many long years of sucking in my stomach. :) My goal is to reach 195 lbs
with BF at or below 15%.

Atkins was my first ever attempt to "go on a diet". I was amazed at how well
it worked for me. I avoided carbs like they were poison at first, which
kicked me deep into ketosis, but I in no way attempted to limit my food
intake. I ate all I wanted of eggs, meat, cheese, etc. My weight spiralled
down easily and rapidly.

I know you have an indifferent attitude about ketosis, and that you've
experimented with it without success, but I'm wondering if you have ever
tried an experiment in which you stayed in a serious state of "deep" ketosis
for an extended period of time, say for example twelve weeks. If not then it
might be something for you to consider if my experience is any indication.

I think I was in state of deep ketosis for at the very least three months
before I started to grant myself any significant liberties to indulge in
carbohydrates. (I also drank a lot of water and took a lot of vitamin
supplements).  I think my success was due largely to the fact that I really
took a very hardline, committed, very-low-carb approach for a few months to
get myself off the old track and onto the new. I don't think I exceeded 40
grams of carbs on any single day for at least 12 weeks. I probably averaged
20 to 30 grams and on a very significant number of days I ate close to zero
carbs. My sense is that by staying in ketosis for an extended period, I
managed to break the cycle of carb addiction or whatever it was that was
causing problems for me. It seems that somehow my entire approach to food is
different now. I recognize that ketosis may not have not have been the
technical cause of my results but my sense is that it was a real measure of
the cause.

Of course heavy ketosis is probably not very healthy for the long term but
that wasn't the point. I'm now doing this paleodiet thing with the idea that
I can eat healthy this way for the rest of my life.

I still haven't any idea how many calories I eat in a typical day.

-gts


----- Original Message -----
From: "Todd Moody" <[log in to unmask]>
To: <[log in to unmask]>
Sent: Friday, March 24, 2000 11:06 AM
Subject: [P-F] Weight loss update


> As I mentioned previously, since starting Neanderthin my weight
> first dropped a bit, then began to creep up.  In a few weeks it
> will be 3 years on the diet, fairly strictly implemented.
>
> When I started, three years ago, my LBM was about 170, measured by
> calipers and later by immersion.  The two methods agreed within a
> pound or two.  My body weight had already gone from 255 to 222 on
> the Zone, but I had lost LBM as well.  Switching to Neanderthin I
> lost 7 more pounds, weighing 215, and stayed there for about a
> year.  At that weight, my BF was about 21%.  My goal was, and
> still is, 15%.
>
> The following year I did some weight training.  My body weight
> went up, but so did my LBM, to about 180.  So, at 220 pounds, my
> BF was then down to 18%.  By limiting calories, I was able to get
> it down to 17%, but I didn't keep it there long.
>
> During the past year I didn't weigh myself much, or take
> measurements.  I recently got an immersion test again and my LBM
> is about 183, but my body weight is up to 235.  That puts me at
> 22% BF, so I am fatter than I was when I started Neanderthin,
> though also stronger.
>
> To stay at LBM 183 but get to my goal of 15% BF, I would need to
> get down to about 215 again.  In short, I need to lose 20 pounds
> of fat.  Of course, the reality is that it is very difficult to
> lose 20 pounds of fat without losing at least *some* muscle, but
> I'll ignore that and pretend that my LBM will remain constant.
>
> How to do it?  I already know that out-of-the-box Neanderthin
> doesn't work.  The Zone works but is so calorically restricted
> that LBM loss is guaranteed.  So the trick is to find a
> Neanderthin variation that creates a small caloric deficit and
> try that.  I already am getting as much exercise as I want.
>
> What I have tried this past week is a simple trick to reduce
> calories without counting them.  I still eat what I feel like at
> meals but allow myself just one small paleo snack in the evening.
>
> Yesterday's menu:
>
> Morning: 2 boiled eggs, 1 landjaeger, about 6 strawberries, a
> handful of walnuts.
>
> Afternoon: sliced chicken breast (only about 4 ounces,
> unfortunately) on salad greens, with olive oil and wine vinegar,
> plus a boiled egg.
>
> Dinner: about 8 ounces of steak, with mushrooms cooked in coconut
> oil.  Another half dozen strawberries and some walnuts.
>
> Late snack: 1 landjaeger.
>
> Was I hungry?  Yes.  But I did succeed in losing one pound by
> eating this way for a week.  Can I sustain it?  I don't know.
>
> Todd Moody
> [log in to unmask]
>