One gram of fat is indisputably one gram of fat, but analyzing nine calories in the same gram – not so simple. Ditto for proteins and carbohydrates. This ambiguity in the relative role of calories in weight loss (or weight gain) explains why even siblings consuming similar diets may respond to them differently, let alone people of different age, shape, gender, and lifestyle.
Total ignorance of this indelible fact of nature – that one calorie for you may mean more or less than one calorie for someone else – is a primary reason why past and present one-diet-fits-all fads may have failed you before and will fail again (and again, and again).
So don’t look with envy at your sibling, spouse, or friend who is losing weight faster than you on the exact same diet. When it comes to safe, effective, and permanent weight loss, YOU are the only ONE who matters, and even more so if you are a woman.
Sadly, you’ll find little to no discussion of gender-specific influences on weight loss rates in popular diet books and programs. This is an embarrassing oversight because gender impacts weight loss (and weight gain) in countless ways, so much so that I believe diet books should have be written separately for men and women.
So here we go:
AGE DIFFERENCE. You are not your 20-something daughter. She is at the peak of her procreation mission with a metabolism to match. She is still learning about the world around her and has an incredibly busy brain, the largest consumer of glucose. Her body may still be growing. She is definitely healthier. She may be taller. Her body has more muscle, even if she is the exact same size and shape as you are. She has only half of your genes; the other half is from her father. She is more active simply because she can be. She doesn’t need the gym (yet). She sleeps better than you, even if she sleeps less. She is luckier simply because she is younger.
THE TAKEAWAY: Younger women of the exact same shape, weight, height, and even genetic background will always lose weight faster on the exact same diet as older women. So if you are still eating just like your adult daughter, don’t be surprised that you are getting fatter than her or not losing weight just as fast. If you still would like to trade clothes with her, join the gym, eat less, or, even better, do both.
SMALLER MUSCLE MASS. The female body contains significantly less muscle than males of similar shape and weight. Women experience faster loss of muscle throughout pregnancy, breastfeeding, and natural aging. Since muscles are one of the most demanding users of energy, their age-related loss reduces the rate of energy uptake, and, correspondingly, increases the gain of body fat.
THE TAKEAWAY: Accept your innate difference with men and younger women, and eat less than your husband, boyfriend, or muscular girlfriend. Even better, join the gym and build your muscles from the ground up so you can enjoy heartier meals and the occasional glass of wine with impunity.
GLUCOSE UPTAKE BY MUSCLES. Along with the brain, central nervous system, and blood, muscles are the most prolific consumers of glucose. That is why most men on a low-carb diet lose weight faster than women and don’t gain it as quickly with a larger intake of carbohydrates.
THE TAKEAWAY: Women require fewer carbohydrates than men, yet at the same time improperly structured ultra-low-carbohydrate (a.k.a. ketogenic) diets (with not enough high-quality protein and too many fats) may not be appropriate for older women because the diets may accelerate muscle wasting. Fool me once, Dr. Atkins, shame on you. Fool me twice – fat on me. (I will discuss a muscle-sparing low-calorie diet in future posts.)
GREATER FAT MASS. Women have a higher ratio of body fat to total body weight than men. Body fat is essential for reproductive functions, healthy pregnancy, and nursing. As body fat falls below a certain level – around 10% to 15% – infertility and amenorrhea (the absence of a period) set in.
THE TAKEAWAY: Because body fat plays such an essential role in female reproductive and overall health, women gain fat faster than men on similar or smaller amounts of foods. Don’t eat as much as your male partner of similar proportions, unless you don’t mind gaining weight.
THERMOS EFFECT. As you gain fat, your body lowers the internal rate of energy metabolism (i.e., produces less heat) because your internal organs are cuddled in the warm blanket of your own fat, or, as doctors would say, adipose tissue. That is why overweight people are far less sensitive to cold than skinny ones. Inversely, the thermos effect may cause a rapid overheating of internal organs in a hot environment. For this reason heat strokes represent a significant hazard for obese individuals.
Unfortunately, this thermos effect (my term) has a profoundly negative impact on your ability to lose weight because your rate of metabolism is so much lower, and this has little or nothing to do with your thyroid or adrenal glands that you may think are “underactive.”
THE TAKEAWAY: If it is too late for you, do everything you can to prevent your daughters and younger sisters from gaining weight. Expect a longer journey toward your own normal weight. Increase your level of physical exercise to increase your metabolic rate. Keep the thermostat up so your body isn’t spooked into hibernation mode (more on this later) when it is cold inside (from central air) and out.
HEIGHT. A person’s height is an important factor in energy metabolism and, correspondingly, in obesity and weight loss. All other things being equal, taller people lose weight faster because their “lengthier” bodies expend more energy to support cardiovascular, respiratory, and thermogenic (keeping itself warm) functions.
This doesn’t mean that tall people don’t become overweight or obese – of course they do. Still, on the exact same diet they will be losing weight faster and gaining it slower. This observation may not seem particularly earth-shattering in itself, but it becomes important when determining portion sizes.
When foods are plentiful, satiety is portion-oriented, not need-oriented. In other words, we don’t eat as much as we need, but we eat as much as we want.
Moreover, portions nowadays are designed to accommodate an “average” person’s capacity to ingest foods until his or her stomach is loaded to the gills. Thus, when there are more tall/large/overweight people in society with larger stomachs, short/small/skinny people inevitably overeat. Adding insult to injury, their smaller stomachs stretch out gradually to accommodate the corresponding amount of food on their plates. Guess what happens next…
THE TAKEAWAY: The shorter you are, regardless of gender, the more attention you must pay to portion sizes. You will also face the greatest difficulty during weight loss because your stretched out stomach and mental perception of satiety are preconditioned to eating larger portions of foods for longer. It is quite hard to eat little and leave the dinner table earlier when you are accustomed to huge portions and long, leisurely dinners. Fortunately, stomachs do shrink back to their original capacities. After successfully completing a properly structured weight loss diet, overeating again will be just as uncomfortable as when you were young and normal weight.
INNATE RESPONSE TO REDUCED CALORIE INTAKE. Your body doesn’t really know the difference between weight loss and starvation. All it knows is that it is under duress from undernutrition and facing extinction. That is why a scarcity of nutrients during weight loss diets, or even from poor nutrition, instantly lowers your energy and structural metabolism, throttles down weight loss, and speeds up the accumulation of body fat, all to protect your reproductive health and milk supply for potential offspring from the possibility of starvation-related death.
THE TAKEAWAY: Ultra-low-carbohydrate (a.k.a. ketogenic) diets (espoused by the bodybuilders whose ultimate goal is to lose every iota of body fat, literal paleo-freaks [i.e. nothing but unrestricted lean protein], and the aficionados of original Atkins diet with unlimited fats) are not only counterproductive for women but also the primary reason for near-instant weight rebound and ensuing obesity.
That doesn’t mean that ketogenics diets are unnatural, harmful, or ineffective – not at all. I just wish to convey that this particular weight loss technique must be applied along with a properly balanced low-calorie diet; with a good deal of attention to one’s ability to digest and assimilate natural proteins in order to spare muscles from wasting and prevent gastric disorders; and with equal respect to one’s age, health, and a number of others factors that I’ll be addressing in future posts.
ENERGY REQUIREMENTS. With all other things being equal – ambient temperature, level of activity, age, height, and weight – the female body has a lower demand for energy from proteins, fats, and carbohydrates than the male’s, due to not only substantially less muscle but also smaller lungs and a smaller heart, less blood volume, and an inherently less physically demanding response – flight instead of fight – to external stress. This difference is particularly significant in the reduced uptake of energy from glucose by the blood, muscles, and central nervous system.
THE TAKEAWAY: It is worthwhile to repeat that an identical piece of cake for one person may represent twice as many relative calories to another, similarly shaped person. In other words, when my wife eats cake, her body uses a portion of its calories for energy, and the balance goes right into making body fat, while my body uses the entire allotment of calories from the exact same cake exclusively for making energy, with nothing left for fat.
The same can be said about fats and proteins, though the difference may be not as drastic as with carbohydrates because a larger portion of these nutrients is used for structural metabolism. The demands of structural metabolism in women may be greater than in men (with all other things being equal) because female reproductive functions demand a greater deal of nutrients.
To summarize, if you are a woman, your dietary requirements for energy, particularly from carbohydrates, are substantially less than a man’s. As trivial as this statement is, girls and women rarely consume portions adjusted to their particular needs and end up paying a price for it later in life with (a) earlier obesity, (b) higher rates of obesity, (c) and greater morbidity (the rate of incidence of a disease) related to obesity.
When it comes to losing weight, the situation is also stacked against women, who need to decrease their caloric intake considerably more than men to accomplish the same amount of weight loss in the same span of time.
REPRODUCTIVE HORMONES. In middle-aged women, the reduction of estrogen related to age, pregnancy, lactation, stress, undernutrition, and contraceptives may lead to gradual weight gain and a diminished rate of weight loss. Since adipose tissue (i.e., body fat) produces estrogen in parallel with the ovaries, I believe the female body compensates for the age-related decrease of ovarian estrogen by lowering the rate of energy metabolism in order to accumulate more fat, thereby allowing it to produce more estrogen.
THE TAKEAWAY: Real foods in a traditional diet will help you maintain a high level of sex hormones all the way into menopause. Post-menopausal weight gain is a natural process. Closer to menopause, adjust your diet and exercise accordingly to prevent fat gain. By maintaining strong, supple, and busy muscles, you’ll be able to eat more without gaining weight. Age-appropriate diet and exercise are far better options than cancer-prone hormone replacement therapies, unless absolutely medically indicated.
OVULATION. Ovulation raises body temperature, a well-known fact that has been used for millennia to determine a natural algorithm for birth control, also known as the “natural family planning” or “periodic abstinence” technique. The hormonal activity and physiological metamorphosis during ovulation stimulates energy metabolism, hence the rise in temperature and appetite to keep the “burner” going.
THE TAKEAWAY: Use this natural phenomenon to burn fat by reducing carbohydrates rather than feeding the “burner” with loads of them. If you are prone to weight gain, avoid hormonal contraceptives that interfere with ovulation because they will inevitably slow down your metabolic rate.
MENSTRUATION. The period represents a particular challenge for weight loss because, as during ovulation, the body goes into overdrive and requires more energy and nutrients for rebuilding and restoration (plastic needs), including micronutrients such as vitamins, minerals, and microelements. During ovulation and period, the body specifically demands extra proteins and essential fatty acids to synthesize hormones and other fertility-specific substances. All of these factors and corresponding mood swings may stimulate a voracious appetite that’s often satisfied with useless (nutritionally speaking) carbohydrates rather than essential fats and proteins. This unbalanced consumption of nutrients during periods leads to the gradual loss of muscle mass and the accumulation of fat.
THE TAKEAWAY: Pay particular attention to your nutrition before and during your period. Overeating is a habit, not a necessity. If you overeat junk food, your body still isn’t getting what it wants and will stimulate hanger, appetite, and cravings even more. A traditional diet with real foods is the best way to preempt period-related binges. Intense, overpowering food cravings during periods and ovulation may be the symptoms of borderline undernutrition. In this case, use professional-grade supplements for a short while to boost up your body’s stores until real foods will be able to satisfy all of your requirements on their own.
PREGNANCY. Women are programmed by nature to accumulate body fat during pregnancy. These extra stores are essential for the substantial energy and structural needs related to pregnancy and not-so-distant breastfeeding, and provide as well an extra blanket of warmth for the fetus.
THE TAKEAWAY: Bring the thermostat up – way up. 76º to 78º F (24º to 26º C) is the optimal temperature for preventing the slowdown of your metabolic rate in order to conserve energy. High temperatures also prevent fat accumulation, your body’s method of protecting your internal organs (particularly the uterus and ovaries) from the cold. If your workplace is a freezer and you can’t change it, file a complaint with a labor board, union, health department, or whoever else will listen and has a leverage to change it. As far as I am concerned, cold offices are a form of discrimination against women.
BREASTFEEDING. Failure to breastfeed is a primary cause behind postpartum weight retention (i.e., getting fatter and fatter after each baby). Long-term milk production burns fat deposits far more efficiently than any form of non-extreme exercise. Besides, breast milk fertilizes the healthiest, happiest, and chubbiest babies. Intentionally using formula – the very first processed (i.e. factory-made) product in your baby’s life – instead of breastfeeding is a major contributor to obesity among American women with children, and, of course, their children in the not-so-distant future.
THE TAKEAWAY: Breastfeeding facilitates weight loss for you and healthy development for your baby like no other diet. To produce an average of 700 ml of breast milk daily, healthy women expend approximately 490 calories that are derived from 7 grams of protein, 31 grams of fat, and 48 grams of milk sugars, primarily lactose. Thus, on a weight-neutral diet, the extra fat in milk comes right from body fat. At 31 grams per day you may lose at least 11.3 kg (25 lbs.) of fat simply by breastfeeding while still enjoying a normal diet. This example, of course, is a gross oversimplification, but it is still pretty close to reality.
So plan to breastfeed for as long as you can, or at the very least until your baby grows teeth and can chew solid food. Giving a toothless child solid food is a health and development hazard because her body won’t make gastric acid and enzymes until she can thoroughly chew and masticate (mix with saliva) the chunks of solid foods.
Finally, extended breastfeeding suppresses menstruation in many women all the way until weaning. This pause defrays the onset of menopause by a similar length because the natural absence of a period preserves ovarian follicles and defers menopause until well into one’s fifties.
ANTHROPOLOGY. Ancestry plays a significant role in weight gain and resistance to weight loss, particularly for women whose roots are in regions with cyclical climates. Because of climate-dependent food supply patterns, such women are genetically predisposed to rapid weight gain during the summer and autumn in order to survive less plentiful seasons or outright starvation, as well as to continue breastfeeding their offspring without interruption. This phenomenon is apparent from exceptionally high rates of obesity among African Americans, Hispanics, Native Americans, and persons of South-Pacific ancestry. Omnipresent air conditioning tricks their bodies into hibernation-like state in anticipation of the colder season, while a limitless availability of carbohydrate-rich food facilitates rapid weight gain.
THE TAKEAWAY: If you or your children have a genetic predisposition to gaining weight, watch out for ambient temperature at home and in the office, and adjust your year-round diet to levels that allow you to maintain steady weight.
EATING OUT. Short of Nieman Marcus’s café-cum-bistro spa menu intended for predominantly slim, well-heeled patronesses, I’ve yet to see a restaurant that provides a gender-specific menu. Hence, identical steaks are smacked in front of a petite woman and an oversized, bodybuilding man as a matter of course. Women, who dine out often, must be mindful of this aberration and demand half portions or split main courses with their companions.
THE TAKEAWAY: Insist that restaurants serve you half portions “due to dietary restrictions.” Don’t be shy to request it. It isn’t embarrassing, but rather a sign of class and wealth. Call the restaurant in advance to find out if half portions (or “spa-size”) are available upon request. If they refuse to accommodate you, just don’t go there and post a negative review on Yelp, Zagat, OpenTable, Fodor’s, or any other online restaurant guide. Punish them with your dollars and reviews. Complain to your local department of health. This is the only way change will come to this male-dominated industry, which is extremely hostile to women and weight-conscious men alike because they aren’t as profitable to serve.
CHRONIC DIETER SYNDROME. Women have a propensity for recurrent dieting. Each consecutive diet cycle, especially one low in fat and protein, compromises the body’s essential endocrine functions, slows the rates of metabolism, and stimulates the over-consumption of carbohydrates, which leads to the accumulation of more fat and reductions of muscle and bone mass (the key factor behind osteoporosis, osteoarthritis, periodontal disease, and eventual tooth loss). Each consecutive weight loss cycle results in more and more fat stores and a corresponding decline in overall health. This results in even more weight gain.
THE TAKEAWAY: A weight loss diet is like an antibiotic. If you start taking one, you need to finish the full course; otherwise, you create antibiotic-resistant bacteria that may harm you later. The more you diet halfway, the more resistant your body becomes to weight loss and more accommodating to weight gain. So if you start a diet, do it right, do it for as long as it takes, and once you’re there, don’t return to the diet that made you overweight in the first place. That – helping you reach the finish line with your health and sanity intact – is the goal of this project.
FOOD PREPARATION. Fair or not, women spend more time in the kitchen while cooking for their families. Unfortunately, the continuous exposure to food comes with an increase in appetite, hunger, cravings, and, in many cases, inevitable overeating.
THE TAKEAWAY: Food preparation is a definite obesity hazard. Structuring low-calorie diets while still having to cook for family (or professionally) is hard, but not impossible. I will address this particular challenge in later posts.
As you can see from all of the above, if you happen to be a man, praise the Lord for your innate ability to eat more without gaining weight or lose more weight on the exact same diet as your wife or girlfriend.
Sure, there are black swans in our midst, just like my lucky wife who can eat most anything she likes with impunity, but if you aren’t one of them, accept your differences and eat accordingly.
That’s why when it comes to the particulars of my weight loss program, “one diet fits all” approach does not apply. More on this in the next and future posts.
Previous posts from the “Why Diets Fail?” series:
1. The Real Reason Diets Fail and What You Can Do About It
2. How Long Will It Take Me to Lose the Weight?
For your health and safety, please read these important Weight Loss Common Sense Warnings and Disclaimers before commencing a reduced calorie diet.
Picture credit: © 2013 iStockPhoto LLP
Sir, you are clearly a very erudite and scholarly man and have a great deal of knowledge to your credit. However, what you and Sara have going on here is just another tired marketing scheme for desperate women like myself who are looking for an answer. Instead, your generalizations (and common knowledge truths) keep dangling the carrot in front of our faces. Sara probably doesn’t have much to comment because she’s enjoying all the traffic to her blog and your ascerbic temperament enjoys having so many women hanging off your every word. Part of the reason why we are so overweight in this country is that we are all suckers to very effective marketing tactics and strategies that convince us that we “need” this product and as we have been working so hard trying to be supermoms and career women, we neglect ourselves and essentially need “quick fixes.” But you sir, are not offering either of those. Instead, you are just as culpable as the mas marketing and advertising industry trying to make a buck and control people. It’s pathetic and demoralizing. The more comments I read from women clamoring for answers, and your sarcastic and boorish remarks, the more I am turned off. This is not positive, uplifting, or honest. It’s just bait, week after week. Women, you’re better than this. Don’t fall for another weight loss scheme. I am sure you don’t care either way, which is quite alright, but I will no longer subscribe to this blog. People deserve to be treated with dignity and honesty. Besides, just as you stated in your vague and caustic posts to date, every body is different. Thus, you can’t help us anyway. Thanks anyway…
Helen,
Thank you for your compliments — I happily takes those. As far as the rest of your assertions, perhaps you are “jumping the ship” on me way too soon.
Here is what I wrote at the end of this post, right after my bio:
“About This Project: Sarah has kindly offered me a guest column on her amazing blog. I’ve jumped at this unique opportunity with the intention of serializing “Why Diets Fail?”, my next book, as it is being written.”
As you can see, this isn’t a scheme. I have nothing to sell until my book will be completed, hopefully by this time next year. If you don’t like reading this material piece-meal, you are welcome to wait until all of it is under one cover.
Meanwhile, Sarah will enjoy great traffic regardless of my posts, and the reason for this is because her site is providing consistent, actionable, and credible information to people who care for their health and wealth.
I am absolutely thrilled to contribute to Sarah’s site, and I am sure in a short while my posts will meet and exceed your expectations.
People sure are defensive when it comes to anything weight-gaining related.
Lacie, yes, that’s unfortunate, but not surprising, considering the outcome of so many prior diets. So anyone who is brave enough to get involved in this “dirty” field is “dirtied” by default.
Well, thank God, I am rather thick-skinned, and can take abuse in stride. My aspiration isn’t to be likable, but to complete high quality book that will help people who are less concerned about me, and more concerned about their own weight and health.
Konstantin, I have been keeping track with my Omron Full Body Sensor Body Composition Monitor and Scale Model HBF-516 since January 2011 to present:
2011: high weight: 122.2 Skeletal Muscle Percentage: 27.4
low weight: 113.4 Skeletal Muscle Percentage: 27.3
2012: high weight: 122.6 SMP: 27.0
low weight: 109.4 SMP: 27.1
2013: high weight: 117.6 SMP: 27.7
low weight: 112.2 SMP: 26.5
Today’s weight: 113.2 SMP: 27.3
“Kat March 15, 2013 at 5:40 pm
So far, this all sounds so complicated when it seems so simple to me: if I am in ketotis, I must be burning FAT… Please correct me if I am misunderstanding…
Konstantin Monastyrsky March 15, 2013 at 6:26 pm
Kat,
You are the lucky one enjoying another stage of weight loss. The article above is addressed to people who are in the first phase of their weight reduction diet, and it explains why it is so easy to lose weight in the first few weeks but often becomes an insurmountable challenge later. You’ll see that this is a serious issue for many people by perusing other comments.
Kat March 15, 2013 at 7:52 pm
Thank you so much for your quick response; however, it was only two days of my not eating any carbs and testing went from “negative” to “trace” the day after and this morning, to “small,” but my understanding is that one is either in ketosis or not, so I am where I need to be to burn fat. Of course, the process will get even better and the ketones increase. I find it extremely easy to get into ketosis, the challenge is to just stay there and keep on losing weight. But once I indulge in any carbs, I am immediately out of ketosis and can’t resist when carb cravings immediately return with a vengeance. It is far easier for me to resist the temptations without having to regain a state of ketosis over and over. About a decade ago, I lost over 40 pounds without the temptations because I was not hungry and this assisted my determination to stay in ketosis. I only need to lose 20 pounds now so this will happen easier/faster since I have decided to just maintain a ketogenic diet: no carbs except for few low-carb veggies daily and no fruit. I don’t understand why I would be considered lucky and why anyone could not just do the same… It only takes a few days of concentrated effort and the willingness to hang in there while suffering the discomfort experienced during the initial carb withdrawal phase… It will pass soon enough… thankfully!
Konstantin Monastyrsky March 15, 2013 at 8:22 pm
Kat,
Natural appetite suppression and sustained ketosis are key to successful and permanent weight loss. I’ll address both of these objectives in future posts.
Meanwhile, keep in mind that it takes time to reach and go beyond the “carb withdrawal phase” because your body stores a considerable amount of carbs in the form of glycogen. Until these stores inside the liver and muscle tissues are completely utilized, ketosis (actually, lypolisis is the proper term) does not start.”
“Why One Calorie For Her Is Half a Calorie For Him
by Konstantin Monastyrsky on March 28, 2013….
THE TAKEAWAY: Women require fewer carbohydrates than men, yet at the same time ultra-low-carbohydrate (a.k.a. ketogenic) diets aren’t appropriate for women because they cause accelerated muscle wasting. Fool me once, Dr. Atkins, shame on you. Fool me twice – fat on me.”
Konstantin, and, since I always attempt to lose excess weight gained through ketogenic eating, am I correct in assuming that I am not losing muscle as you predict? Also, please note that I am under 5’ tall, 76 years old and a woman?
Kat,
This statement “Natural appetite suppression and sustained ketosis are key to successful and permanent weight loss” is correct. It works well in properly structured diets because these diets contain a sufficient amount of quality protein to prevent muscle wasting.
The Atkins Diet wasn’t a properly structured diet because Dr. Atkins recommended consuming unrestricted amounts of fat. Correspondingly, all of the “ketosis” that was taking place, wasn’t “burning” body fat, but food fat.
You see, our bodies are exceptionally efficient. They will not utilize their own fat stores until already-assimilated fats (triglycerides) are still present in the blood.
Thank you for seeking this clarification. The way I expressed myself was, indeed, confusing. Sorry about it.
So those ketosis sticks don’t really tell you if you’re burning your own body fat, just that your are burning fat in general? In theory, I could be in ketosis according to those sticks, yet still be gaining weight simply by consuming too much fat? Additionally, I will lose/gain body fat regardless of my macronutrient ratio as long as I am consuming less/more calories than needed?
One more question, people keep making reference to the idea that a traditional diet frees you up to eat as much as you want, but wouldn’t the superior quality of a traditional diet actually free you up to eat less than you would compared to a diet of poorer quality simply because you are satisfying your body’s nutrient requirements with less food? As in, does the human body run more efficiently on a optimum diet and therefore need less calories to maintain itself? (That’s really two more questions)
Trudy, see my responses in line:
So those ketosis sticks don’t really tell you if you’re burning your own body fat, just that your are burning fat in general?
— That is correct. You may be burning fat, but it may be the fat you ate couple of hours ago, not necessarily the fat under your skin.
In theory, I could be in ketosis according to those sticks, yet still be gaining weight simply by consuming too much fat?
— That is correct. It is simple arithmetic and medical biochemistry 101: until exogenous (form foods) fat is burned, your endogenous (from body) fat is spared.
Additionally, I will lose/gain body fat regardless of my macronutrient ratio as long as I am consuming less/more calories than needed?
— That is correct, assuming you consume less fat than your body needs for structural metabolism (not energy). That’s the essence of my program. It accounts not just for energy metabolism, but also structural metabolism.
One more question, people keep making reference to the idea that a traditional diet frees you up to eat as much as you want
— People are misinterpreting what they are hearing from the advocates of traditional diets, who recommend a traditional diet with real food, not “pigging out” on real food.
but wouldn’t the superior quality of a traditional diet actually free you up to eat less than you would compared to a diet of poorer quality simply because you are satisfying your body’s nutrient requirements with less food?
— Absolutely, that’s the whole point. Sarah’s book about fats makes exact same point, and she warns repeatedly: “don’t overeat healthy fats, you may be having enough already.”
As in, does the human body run more efficiently on a optimum diet and therefore need less calories to maintain itself? (That’s really two more questions)
— Technically, yes, because the ratio of components required for structural metabolism in real food is much higher than in junk food, so you don’t need to overeat [real food] to obtain nutrients required for your body. Energy, on the other hand, can be obtained from any food, junk or not. Obtaining energy from poor quality nutrients works great for survival situations, but not for health, longevity and normal weight.
Trudy, you are a genius!
Trudy,
“In theory, I could be in ketosis according to those sticks, yet still be gaining weight simply by consuming too much fat?”
My understanding is that it is impossible to “store” fat without insulin; insulin is the hormone that instructs the body to store fat. So, when in ketosis: even though you might not be burning your already stored fat, but just knowing that you are not accumulating more fat while your body has food fat being eaten to burn first is not disappointing either. “Enjoy your saturated, they are good for you.”
This is the reason you have probably heard that your waistline is a better measure of
how well you are doing than the number on the scale. Keep up the good work!
Correction: “Enjoy your saturated fats, they are good for you.” Donald Miller, M.D. youtube video
In this quote:
“Women require fewer carbohydrates than men, yet at the same time ultra-low-carbohydrate (a.k.a. ketogenic) diets aren’t appropriate for women because they cause accelerated muscle wasting. Fool me once, Dr. Atkins, shame on you. Fool me twice – fat on me.”
You seem to be equating all ketogenic diets with Atkins. That simply is not the case.
It is also not the case that ketogenic diets cause muscle wasting. If you are basing your science there on “the body building community” wisdom, it is mistaken for most non body building people.
I do know what gluconeogenesis is and it is only called upon in a body that is exercising at a heavy lifting level more than 2-3 times a week. For all other activities, (including mountain climbing which I do), the body can run quite happily on ketones.
I would direct anyone wanting to learn more about this topic to the work of Nora Gedgaudas author of Primal Body, Primal Mind.
Otherwise a great post and I appreciate your contributions over at Mark’s Daily Apple.
Paleobird,
Thank you for your feedback. I think I already mirrored what you wrote in my other replies. My comment was related to The Atkins Diet, and in another place I wrote that “sustained ketosis” is one of the better strategies for losing fat.
And you are correct: there is absolutely nothing wrong with ketosis when it is done right because it is a natural physiological function and a core part of catabolic metabolism (a.k.a. catabolism). My next post will address this subject at length.
I revised my post to reflect this response. Sorry for not being clear enough the first time around, and thank you for pointing this out.
“ultra-low-carbohydrate (a.k.a. ketogenic) diets aren’t appropriate for women because they cause accelerated muscle wasting”
“Ultra-low-carbohydrate (a.k.a. ketogenic) diets (espoused by the body builders, literal paleo-freaks [i.e. nothing but lean protein], and the aficionados of Atkins-style diets) are not only counterproductive for women but also the primary reason for near-instant weight rebound and ensuing obesity.”
So, should women be avoiding ketogenic diets or is it one of the “better strategies for losing fat”? If this will be covered in the next post, I can wait, but this seems to be very contradictory and confusing.
Trudy,
These statements require a lot of clarification. Ketogenic diets are okay for young healthy men, and are okay for younger women. They are problematic for middle-aged people (men included), because these groups already have a significantly diminished musculature, and can’t digest and assimilate proteins from meats as efficiently as younger people. All of this will come up in future posts.
The other reason I am making these “bold” and “brave” statements because you DON’T need to be in ketosis to lose weight. Why bold & brave? As you know, “fighting” a predominant groupthink is a fool’s paradise, and the predominant groupthink is: you can’t lose fat unless you are in permanent ketosis.
Well, I am no fool, and this is simply not true. Vegetarians are just as capable of losing weight when they reduce their overall caloric intake as the most ardent carnivores.
Thank you for clarifying this. I do not want people thinking about doing a ketogenic protocol to be scared off.
I look forward to your post on the subject.
Konstantin,
Mahalo for your kind reply, but it probably means that your information is not appropriate for me personally because I base my eating lifestyle on youtube video “Enjoy Eating Your Saturated Fat; they are good for you” by Donald Miller, M.D., (cardiac surgeon). I am most definitely practicing LCHF (low-carb, high fat) diet. I also benefited fromNetflix instant: “Fathead” and many, many others with much, much more information. I have been researching too long to go backwards now. However, I shall continue to look forward to your offerings to glean what I can. Doing so will probably motivate me to just stay in ketosis (moderate/large) all the time now… Good luck with those your higher-protein suggestions gain benefit. Aloha!
Kat,
I don’t recall ever suggesting a high-protein diet. This is yet another extreme. I am for a balanced traditional diet that includes all foods group in approximately equal proportions, but simply less of them. Technically speaking, this is a no-brainer. The “brainer” is how to implement and “survive” a low calorie diet long enough to attain normal weight. That is what my specialty is, and that is why I am writing this book.
Konstantin, mahalo for the much needed specific clarification. However, I don’t advocate for myself “calories in–calories out” energy balanced diet because it has failed me all my life… Aloha!
I feel like I really messed up my body with all the diets I have been on. Life seems so unfair when your working harder than the person next to you without any results.
Sofia, that is true about life being unfair for all of us, and not just with weight loss. So what do you do in these situations to get ahead? I know only one answer: work harder!
It contains a lot of valuable advice and did-not-know-before content. Thank you.
Eva, you are very welcome, and thank you for reading!
I have to say, it’s still confusing. Eating too MANY calories can prevent you from losing weight. Eating too FEW calories can prevent you from losing weight.
So, if I’m eating (say) 1500 calories all in good proteins, fats, and green veggies with no processed foods and no wheat and not losing weight … am I eating too MANY or too FEW calories?
I know you can’t answer that. Just sayin’ it’s confusing. And frustrating.
Bawdy,
Just like there is no “one-diets-fits-all,” there is also no “one-answer-fits-all.”
If you aren’t losing weight on 1,500 calories, it means that YOU need to consume LESS calories in order to lose weight.
That is precisely the point of this post — some people will lose weight on 1,500, some on more, some on less. How much less?
Well, keep reducing your total calorie intake by 100 calories each week, stay consistent with your diet, and, at the end of each week, your scale will tell you when THIS IS IT.
As many have posted in the comments, I am surprised at this Friday content you have added to your blog. Also, his sarcasm is not terribly professional. I know I will be skipping Friday posts for the remainder of the year.
Loriann,
I will very much appreciate if you’ll show me a professional courtesy by pointing out the sections in this week’s post that you believe are sarcastic. I don’t believe this was my intent.
What is the reference for losing muscle mass on a low carb diet? I did that 15 years ago and spent 7 happy years in a slimmer body. I fell off the food cart when I quit smoking, experienced menopause, and had a son join the Marines… all in the same four months. Then Rheumatoid Arthritis and steroids…. yuck.
I had planned to restart my low carb lifestyle to get rid of the 50 pounds. Paleo and Atkins have been good for me in the past….
Karen,
Thanks for your comment. It’s encouraging to me to know that low carb worked for you. This guy’s post about muscle mass lost is new to me.
Julia,
I can’t specifically speak for Konstantin, and I’m sure his answer will be more helpful and precise, but it is very common knowledge in the world of body building and exercise that low carb diets will cause muscle mass loss. Supposedly, if I remember correctly, it is because carbs are your body’s main source of glycogen (the fuel needed for workouts), and if you are not supplying your body with enough, it will begin to cannibalize your muscle in order to provide it. Even in books that I’ve read that DO promote low carbs, I have found little disclaimers about the need to add carbs for workouts.
I have heard of a lot of people who lost weight on a low carb diet. I, however, was not one of them. I gained weight when I began eating WAP style. (Anyone who thinks that simply eating healthy alone will ensure you reach or maintain your optimal weight, I believe you are misguided). I then went low carb to lose the weight, but I didn’t lose any. I suspect that perhaps the main reason people lose weight on a low carb diet is that they are actually reducing their calories without trying simply because it’s so much harder to eat large amounts of protein and fat. That’s just a theory of mine, though.
While I think it possible to lose muscle with a low-carb diet, I’ve read that getting plenty of fat and protein to compensate would prevent the muscle loss. I would be curious to compare the levels of protein and fat among the various studies, such as the studies cited in John Kiefer’s carb night solution.
Yes, plenty of dietary protein may prevent muscle loss, although this isn’t the most efficient way. And if you eat plenty of fat, the body will use this fat to produce ketones instead of the fat in your body, so this defeats the purpose. I’ll explain the details in the next post.
Karen, there is no such as thing as a “reference” for when ketosis starts and ends. It depends on the person, diet, level of activity, body weight, the type of CNS, and a ton of other factors. I’ll discuss this subject in the next post.
I use an Omron Full Body Sensor Body Composition Monitor and Scale Model HBF-516. And, I have kept tract since Jan 2011 with the Master Worksheet provided by Omron:
2011: highest weight: 122.2
I would love to see the research references about women losing muscle on ketogenic diets. Are those available? Thanks!
Lindsay,
The process of “muscle wasting” isn’t a subject of academic research, but a core curriculum of medical biochemistry. It is wholly familiar to any first-year student of medicine or biology. Please google the term “gluconeogenesis,” and you will get an “ear full” of information on this subject.