On Wed, 14 May 2008 08:05:16 -0600, tray.b <[log in to unmask]> wrote:

> What are you eating/macro ratios?
>
> Calorie calculators put me around 1500 cals/day for maintenance, if I'm
> sedentary. I lost weight eating more than that, when I excluded starches  
> and
> sugars (so LC and/or VLC). I gained on more than that eating a  
> grain-based
> diet! I really think quality matters more than quantity, though I've  
> noticed
> that at least for some people calories do matter as they get closer to  
> their
> goal weight. This seems to happen more to women than men, among the  
> forum I
> frequent anyway. Damn you men ;)
Gary Taubes' book talks some about this.  Yes, it makes some difference  
what
kind of food you eat.  And yes, it makes some difference (to most people)  
what
quantity you eat, in the larger sense.  If you're shoveling the food in,  
even if it
is not starches and sugars, far in excess of what your body can use, you  
will
most likely gain weight.

But sometimes you see the statement in the popular press that "if you just  
cut
out two pats of butter a day, that is 100 calories a day, so over a year  
you will lose
10 pounds", which is utter nonsense.  Our bodies are not internal  
combustion
engines, burning precisely the calories we put in our gas tank.  There are  
all kinds
of feedback loops, positive and negative, with leptins, enzymes, insulin,  
glucagon, other hormones, exercise and its types and frequency, etc. etc.  
etc.  It is a very complex process.  If it was easy, nobody would be fat.

	Lynnet