Fat stores when you're thin!

[VioletViolet]

Just a quick question... At the recommendation of @Resurgam I've bought a second hand Atkins diet book (New Diet Revolution) It suggests that after the initial weight loss phase of the diet where you have no more than 20g of carbs a day you gradually increase and introduce carbs to a maintenance level that suits you.

I just wondered how that sits with the very low carbers and the DD people on here. Are you planning to be low carb at these levels for life, even if you've no spare fat to lose? If so how do you use your fat stores when you have no excess fat? Or is it all more complicated than that? ( I used to just gawp out of the window in science lessons.....)

 

[Guzzler]

It is a little more complicated, yes. Some people struggle with excess fat loss, they may see an initial fall in weight and then stall, no one quite knows why this happens. Weight stall can be overcome by tweaking the diet sometimes. Other people maintain a steady weight loss without problems and reach their weight goal target and comfortably maintain that weight.
And then there are people who struggle to maintain a healthy weight either because they regain weight lost or they carry on losing weight and slip into the underweight category. This is where I find myself at the moment. So I am now starting to tweak my diet in an effort to gain a little weight without using carbohydrates which will rubbish my bg levels. We are unique so we each have to find what suits us.
Sorry for the 'unanswer' I just gave you but basically we have to 'Suck it and See'.

Edited to add.
And my comment did not address insulin resistance. Some folks can have a measure of reduction in IR after good managent of bg for an extended period of time so they are able to raise the level (slightly) of carbohydrate in their diet. Some people remain as IR as they ever were.

 

[Robbity]

Atkins is a general weight loss diet and not specifically a diabetic one, and for non diabetics, upping carbs again would be reasonable advice, so just consider the advice to increase carbs in that context.

Possibly and oversimplification on my part but:
Our body will preferentially use any dietary fuel - firstly carbs as they are easiest to process, then fats. After that if needs be it will raid your stored fat reserves. So if you have reached you target weight you can up dietary carbs and/or fats to a point where you can maintain it purely by what you eat, and If you want to remain very low carb you can do so by upping just your dietary fats. It's basically a balancing act!

For me using the Atkins induction phase as a guide, it was more a case of reducing/managing glucose levels rather than specifically for weight loss (although in theory I should lose more! ). Because LCHF is now my lifestyle choice for this reason, but I prefer to eat a slightly more lenient/varied diet, I upped my carbs intake slightly, but keep to under 50g a day where possble, and make up the deficit with extra dietary fat, and I've been able to control my glucose levels and maintain my current weight (give or take a kilo or so either way) for four years now.

Robbity

 

[Goonergal]

Agree with the comments above. For me, LCHF is primarily about managing my blood sugar levels, with the added bonus of significant weight loss. It’s definitely a way of life, not a ‘diet’ and now that I’ve been eating this way for over a year, I definitely prefer it, so it’s a keeper.

As @Guzzler and @Robbity say, the trick once you’ve reached your target weight is to balance eating enough to maintain your weight with not going too far and putting back on.

 

[shelley262]

Agree with comments above. As I’ve only been trying to maintain my weight for a few weeks - after more than six months of working down to my ideal target of a BMI of 21 - it is a bit of a juggling act. But as @Goonergal says it’s about my bloods so won’t be changing my keto way of eating -it’s become a well liked way of life. I have accidentally lost a further two pounds below my ideal target over the last few weeks - as probably wasn’t eating quite enough. I’m aiming for balance at the moment with three small high fat meals - as was doing intermittent fasting most days missing breakfast.i think you just need to replace the fat if you’re an adapted fat burner so your body has some fuel when none left in the body - but I’ll let you know! We’re all using our bodies as a bit of an experiment and as @Goonergal says it’s with the objective of getting the diabetes managed very well but weight loss happens to be for some of us a lovely bonus!
When you read about keto on diet doctor there are many who stay keto for life and who up their healthy fats rather than carbs to maintain their keto wellbeing.....I intend to be one.

 

[There is no Spoon]

DD people on here.

I didn't know people had to declare there breast size, I should start reading the profiles more.

I'm hearing the term carb intolerant more and more to describe T2 these days and listening to peoples stories on here there has to be some truth to it. Which mean for some/many Atkins, LCHF, Keto or even Vegan diets are for life.

I hear what your saying Atkins tells you your body will burn fat so what happens when you have lost the weight?
Basicly Atkins is more a diet than a life style.
Low Carb High Fat is a life style version of Atkins just as Keto is, both of these diets take in Fat for you body to run of as Fuel instead of running of your own body Fat especially when you have lost all the weight and no longer have Big Fat Reserves to tap into.

If so how do you use your fat stores when you have no excess fat?

Simple answer is you don't you feed your body Fat. Fat = energy with out sugar = no raise in blood sugar levels = good.

initial weight loss phase of the diet

Think of weight loss like this: You need to make a door.

1. Start with a big block of wood and lob of big chunks of with a chain saw. Quick results little effort.
2. Next a saw to cut it closer to shape. Still big results but more effort.
3. Now you have to plane it down to smooth out the edges. Small results much more effort
4. Finally you have to sand it down. Huge effort with very little viable results.

And that's weight lose big results in the beginning but you have to put more and more effort in.
1.is the initial diet 2. sticking to the diet 3. cardio exercise 4. building muscles.

4. Building Muscles. (nobody expects you to be Schwarzenegger but a little muscle is good)
Your talking about Fat to burn as fuel but where is that fuel burned and not turned back into fat.
Essentially your muscles running the heart lungs etc..

Muscles will burn fuel even when your sitting on your bum watching TV.
Sneaky aren't they.

 

[VioletViolet]

It is a little more complicated, yes. Some people struggle with excess fat loss, they may see an initial fall in weight and then stall, no one quite knows why this happens. Weight stall can be overcome by tweaking the diet sometimes. Other people maintain a steady weight loss without problems and reach their weight goal target and comfortably maintain that weight.
And then there are people who struggle to maintain a healthy weight either because they regain weight lost or they carry on losing weight and slip into the underweight category. This is where I find myself at the moment. So I am now starting to tweak my diet in an effort to gain a little weight without using carbohydrates which will rubbish my bg levels. We are unique so we each have to find what suits us.
Sorry for the 'unanswer' I just gave you but basically we have to 'Suck it and See'.

Edited to add.
And my comment did not address insulin resistance. Some folks can have a measure of reduction in IR after good managent of bg for an extended period of time so they are able to raise the level (slightly) of carbohydrate in their diet. Some people remain as IR as they ever were.

Thanks

 

[VioletViolet]

Atkins is a general weight loss diet and not specifically a diabetic one, and for non diabetics, upping carbs again would be reasonable advice, so just consider the advice to increase carbs in that context.

Possibly and oversimplification on my part but:
Our body will preferentially use any dietary fuel - firstly carbs as they are easiest to process, then fats. After that if needs be it will raid your stored fat reserves. So if you have reached you target weight you can up dietary carbs and/or fats to a point where you can maintain it purely by what you eat, and If you want to remain very low carb you can do so by upping just your dietary fats. It's basically a balancing act!

For me using the Atkins induction phase as a guide, it was more a case of reducing/managing glucose levels rather than specifically for weight loss (although in theory I should lose more! ). Because LCHF is now my lifestyle choice for this reason, but I prefer to eat a slightly more lenient/varied diet, I upped my carbs intake slightly, but keep to under 50g a day where possble, and make up the deficit with extra dietary fat, and I've been able to control my glucose levels and maintain my current weight (give or take a kilo or so either way) for four years now.

Robbity

Thank you - that makes sense in to me - over simplification or not. Up my carbs if my blood sugar can handle it and if it can't up the fat.

I just had this horror of ending up like one of the walkers from the Walking Dead as I run out of lardy body fat!