Yeah, so Dr. Atkins was right ...

When people use having exercised as an excuse to eat more, yeah, it's counterproductive. There's no way to change the basic equation that to lose weight, you have to consume fewer calories than your body requires. Whether you do that by reducing calorie intake, increasing calorie output or a combination of both is, at the end of the day, largely irrelevant.

Having then made that decision, I found that you also have to make sure that the calories you do consume are getting the work done as far as providing nutrition and keeping you full. You can eat 1,800 calories of simple carbs and junk food and be hungry all day, or you can eat 1,800 well-balanced calories and not feel like you want to gnaw at the walls.

 

The other tough combination to find is that which will permit you to gain muscle and lose fat at the same time. Or at least gain muscle and not gain fat.

 

That does work for people who are in shape. If you're at your target weight, and working out regularly, you pretty much can eat what you want. You may even have to up your calorie intake if you are trying to add muscle.

If you're trying to lose weight, it's not going to work.

True. You want to make your calories count.

 

Just have toddlers. Chasing them around burns a lot of calories.

 

You want to make her this place's greatest cult hero, don't you?

 

That's a tie between all of our spouses and significant others.

 

LOL. No. But, I've learned a lot as she's studied to become a trainer, and begun to work as one.

People don't eat right. They want to take shortcuts. And, they hear simple concepts, like "avoid carbs" or some other miracle fix, and don't do enough research to really know how to eat.

And, it's the same thing with exercise -- and maybe even more with women than with men.

Women will lift 2lb barbells, which won't do anything for them. Or they will do a ton of cardio, but lift no weights. They are terrified of "getting huge". If getting huge was so easy, every guy would have tons of muscle.

But, it really is interesting. You see a lot of people put in the time at the gym, but not make a lot of progress. Working out smart is just as important as eating smart. You can have a really good and efficient one hour workout if you know what you are doing.

 

Have done variations of the Atkins plan over the years and it always works best for me. I'm not one of those to eat carrot sticks and celery. At least with Atkins you can eat meat and other things you like. Just cut way down on sugar and bread.

 

I think for a quick fix, it's hard to beat Atkins. Eggs and bacon for breakfast, chicken for lunch, a steak or fish for dinner and you're good to go. Lose 10 pounds in two weeks.

But it's hard to maintain and if you eat zero carbs you will get carb cravings that you never thought you would have.

I like the slow carb diet. It's similar to Atkins, but you can eat certain carbs like beans and it makes you feel full and the cravings aren't as bad.

 

The wife and I are trying the Paleo diet. Not really strictly, though. Since times get hectic so often, it's a good way to focus ourselves on what we're eating instead of just picking the quickest and easiest thing.

 

Dick, remember how you mentioned earlier you bought into the lose-weight-by-eating-pasta-and-low-fat myth? Sorry to tell you, but now you're buying into the have-to-exercise-intensely-to-lose-weight myth.

There are many recent studies that indicate your wife is absolutely right. In fact, exercising SIX SECONDS can be just as transformative as exercising 60 minutes.

http://www.bbc.com/news/health-28400968