stephen hollingsworth's Journal, 30 December 2015

I think a piece of low fat steak and a potato for lunch and dinner is just fine...if I were still eating meat that is..for those who are..its fine......its the fat that makes us fat..not the low fat steak and fat free potato...sounds like what we used to call a "balanced meal"..I really believe in a low fat food plan, staying under a certain level of calories consistently and lots of exercise...just my two cents Stephen...this dieting thing is simple physics ...if we expend more calories than we consume we are going to lose weight..and I personally believe fat is killing our arteries...and that some calories so to speak are more equal than others.....why I went fat free vegan..plus I get more volume as a fat free vegan and I like volume...I eat 3 potatoes a day, with lots of greens and a fruit or two and about 44 grams of pop corn air popped...not added fat in anything...and I stay skinny and people envy me my baked potatoes...:) those low carb diets make me psychotic and lead straight to a binge...been there done that repeatedly for decades....fat free vegan much better for me..hubby who is PhD and did post doc work at Harvard Medical School thinks fat free vegan is good science..and he hates "pop science"...he just ran 15 miles and he is 64...we are good with distances...ok Stephen..again..just my two cents worth...  

I limit my meat portion size to 4 ounces and attempt to limit my carb intake to 20-30 grams per meal. I avoid all processed foods, all junk food (once every two weeks I eat at a fast food joint). My current goal is to drop from 238 to 200 by June. I really thank you for your input, analysis, and commentary.  

Correction...it is not the FAT that makes us fat. Carbohydrates make us "Fat", how? Carbohydrates are absorbed into the blood, Insulin release from the Pancreas removes the sugar/glucose from the blood and stores as Fat. Your Liver takes the incoming fructose, converts it to triglycerides and stores as Liver fat. And that...is how we become Fat. Comment: Skip the tost...skip the cajun rice. In looking at your diet, you are routinely excessively high in both carbohydrates, and protein. 58% of protein is converted to carbohydrates in the liver. Consider this. You've created conditions over time where your body has stored fat to use as energy later when carbohydrates are scarce (winter), however, you keep ingesting carbohydrates and expect your body to use fat for energy instead of carbs. If you have a checking account and savings account, as long as your checking account has money, you would never need to touch your savings. However, when checking runs out, money is needed, and you tap into the savings account. Fat stores are the same way, your liver stores glycogen, this is your checking account, your fat stores are savings. Slash the carbs, increase the good fat, and have moderate protein. Do that and you may find that 200 goal reachable long...long before June. 

Correction...it is not the Fat or the Carbs...its eating more calories than we burn. Carbs and sugar do seem to make me crave more food. I added some sugar and now I have cravings...going back to fake sugar...which isn't healthy either...so hard to win : ( 

Yeah, the whole "fat makes us fat" myth has been debunked for quite some time.  

uhhh..correction it is not the excess calories, as you can eat excess amounts of Fat calories and not gain any significant weight. An example below of someone who ate 5,800 calories a day over 21 days...the result, he gained 3.5lbs. If it was all about calories, his gain would have been much...much more. So why do you crave after carbs and sugar (carbs are sugar..one and the same), because Sugar hits the same pleasure centers of the brain as Cocaine...you become addicted and need to feed the addiction. http://www.dietdoctor.com/what-happens-if-you-eat-5800-calories-daily-on-an-lchf-diet 

As much FAT as philmck is shoving into his diet, you would think he'd be gaining, not losing weight and fat..but how about his cholesterol, etc... I would bet that all of his numbers have improved, glucose, lipids...all of them. 

really..hmmm..so confusing : ( thanks for the info 

You can do that, that is around 2 lbs per week (I didn't do the exact math). I highly suggest you determine your calorie requirements, then track food and exercise to make sure you stay within that calorie budget. Please make sure you get enough protein to maintain muscle or you will have a lot of work to do to regain tone when you do lose the weight. The most important thing for me has been tracking my food and exercise. When I do that, all is good - I lose weight, gain muscle, have energy. When I stop all goes to hell. I stopped tracking around Thanksgiving and I have paid the price. However, I am back at it as of this week. You got this - slow and steady. Have a great New Year celebration 

It really doesn't have to be confusing. Vegans are vegans, mostly for philosophical reasons, however, while a plant "based" diet is good, fat is good and helpful. Many vegans suffer from low B,D, and Iron as a result of not eating meats, this just requires supplementation, not a big deal. Most people prefer to eat Fish and Meat. Fat does not clog arteries, it is as basic as Oil and Water, they cannot be mixed. Eating Fat lowers cholesterol, lowers triglycerides, this is not Pop-Science, or anything new, it has been known since the turn of the century, and every study has proved this,...so why have we been told to eat Low Fat?...Ego. The Ego of one man, Ancel Keys in his zeal to prove that Fat caused Heart Disease cherry picked data to prove his case...he lied and we're paying the price. 

Kdama4life and DianneGardner: The movies "Fed Up" and more so "That Sugar Film" do an excellent job of explaining why the old "low fat" way of thinking is incorrect and why just thinking about low-calorie is outdated as well. Highly recommend seeing both to understand how our bodies process foods, not just thinking about numbers. It opened my eyes and has helped me to lose 30 pounds where all of the "low fat, exercise more than you eat" diets left me nowhere. And, on the high fat low carb diet I am currently following, my bloodwork is better than it was 10 years ago. 

Here's another one I highly recommend. The Complete Skinny on Obesity - Dr. Robert Lustig, well known national figure. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=moQZd1-BC0Y 

I quit tracking when I figured out the nutritional values of all the things I eat. What's the point when you already know? It's just a matter of sticking to what you know works. I can't remember who said it, probably Mahjohn (pay attention to that guy, he knows his stuff), EDUCATION is the key. High fat foods have inherently fewer calories than carbohydrate packed foods, particularly sugar heavy foods AND high fat keeps your hunger in a cage so that you don't feel like you're going to rip your arm off for your next hit of that sweet sweet addictive poison. And, I go back to metabolism, take the first comment on this post, I'm sure weight history illustrates that a high fat approach probably wouldn't be smart for her particular situation; anorexic and alcoholic, probably has a metabolism that just burns through the sugar-heavy foods that she puts in her body. And that's fine, brings me back to one of my original premises; we're all different with different dietary needs, there's no magic bullet that works for everyone. But it's fun to watch people scramble, uneducated and try to emulate or advise others, you got to put in the work to figure this sh!t out for yourself. Hey, ask me for advice and depends on whether or not you annoy me what I tell you, "hey, drink eight ounces of apple cider vinegar four times a day for a week and report back and let me know how it's going." Yeah, I've done that, but only for the ones that repeatedly ask, "hey, how'd you do it??", because yeah, I don't have anything better to do than babysit someone that's not serious anyway!  

LOL philmck! 

OH Stephen, for heaven sakes don't pay attention to those jerks who are criticising your way of losing weight! Bunch of self righteous, unqualified individuals who thought you were asking their opinion of your plan! What ever you've decided is good for you is awesome! If you discover you need to tweek it that is perfectly normal as we all have had need of doing so. Mahjohn & drama4life while don't you guys back off and keep your unqualified comments to yourself instead of putting every person down! Stephen, you're doing great, I like to hear what your plan is because it tells me how dedicated you are to succeeding :D  

Glad you found a plan that works for you! When i was a personsl trainer, I'd found that men have a harder time fitting to a plan, than fitting a plan to them and their weight loss/ muscle mass needs. Congrats on your acheivments!  

He actually knows his stuff and knowledge😃. 

Spiritspell, interesting how you see things. Education is education, you learn by learning, asking questions, researching, asking more questions, finding credible peer1 reviewed material. If you disagree with something I've posted, I'd like to hear it, if you want credible references, links, I can post those also. If you want to stick with the same Dr advice for the past 30 years that High Fat kills, and Calories in equals Calories out (even though it violates the second law of thermodynamics), then go ahead..... Oh, and when that same Dr now prescribes you Metformin and then Insulin, because heaven knows he can't actually cure Type II Diabetes, please, be my guest. For me it's not ego, it's not self righteousness, it's that I have never, ever been overweight, ever, and yet I see friends and family getting fatter and fatter, so when they ask what should they do, your damn right I'll tell them, and give them solid scientific fact to back it up. Oh, let's not forget your Coca-Cola funded Nutritionist, there's some good advice. Lastly, even if you care to disagree with everything I have to say, don't ever say I put someone down, as fat shaming and judging is not what I do.  

I use to teach and compete in Tae Kwon do on a State, Local, and National Level. I appreciate everybody's comments. My goal is to lose 38 pounds by June 2016. When I reach my goal, I will be happy. And for those who believe otherwise, Let the numbers talk. Good luck everybody. 

...and good luck to you too Stephen!