If you haven’t tried it seriously already, do Atkins. I.e. low-carb. Completely eliminate sugar, corn, wheat, bread, HFCS, potatoes, non-diet soda, milk (but not cream and butter), and so forth. Don’t count calories or carbs. Just don’t eat these foods or products that contain them. Avoid low-fat foods such as egg whites and skim milk. Avoid transfats.
Atkins doesn’t work for everyone; but it works for more people than it doesn’t; and most of the people it fails with, it fails because of a failure to maintain the diet. If you have tried Atkins before; but didn’t really stick to it, or cheated a lot, try it again and this time use precommittment and buddy practices to increase the likelihood you’ll stick with it.
Yes, it absolutely is similar to these. I think there’s enough research and evidence to be confident that low-carb works for most people, and is certainly the first weight-loss approach you should try. However there’s not enough evidence to distinguish among the different low-carb options. E.g. paleo == Atkins—dairy or Ferris == Atkins + beans + cheat days. I usually just say “Atkins” because it’s the low carb plan that’s most likely to be recognized and understood by more people.
Ferriss’ slow carb diet has the advantage of being easier to stick to due to the cheat days. Like, psychologically you have less of a sense of missing out.
I don’t think the high carb “cheat” meals just help psychologically, but help avoid many of the long term biological consequences of low carb diets which can inhibit weight loss: low thyroid function, low leptin levels, and chronically low liver glycogen levels.
A single high carb meal raises leptin levels for up to a week, which increases your metabolism, AND powerfully suppresses hunger. There’s been a few studies looking at how carb cycling works that show major hormonal changes. Personally, I notice my body temperature and energy levels are higher, and I hardly have any appetite for about 24 hours after a heavy carb feed.
Yes, his book and other sources support the value of glycemic cycling. I was thinking about the cheat days as a generally awesome part of a diet, which is not the relevant point here as we were already talking low carb.
The terminology “cheat meal/day” bothers me, as it implies that it’s not a critical part of the diet or even some sort of “planned moral transgression”- and leads many people to think they might get better results if they avoid it, do it less often. In reality it’s a critical part of the method.
If you haven’t tried it seriously already, do Atkins. I.e. low-carb. Completely eliminate sugar, corn, wheat, bread, HFCS, potatoes, non-diet soda, milk (but not cream and butter), and so forth. Don’t count calories or carbs. Just don’t eat these foods or products that contain them. Avoid low-fat foods such as egg whites and skim milk. Avoid transfats.
Atkins doesn’t work for everyone; but it works for more people than it doesn’t; and most of the people it fails with, it fails because of a failure to maintain the diet. If you have tried Atkins before; but didn’t really stick to it, or cheated a lot, try it again and this time use precommittment and buddy practices to increase the likelihood you’ll stick with it.
Atkins is very similar to Kurzweil’s and Tim Ferriss’s diets if you need validation before trying.
Yes, it absolutely is similar to these. I think there’s enough research and evidence to be confident that low-carb works for most people, and is certainly the first weight-loss approach you should try. However there’s not enough evidence to distinguish among the different low-carb options. E.g. paleo == Atkins—dairy or Ferris == Atkins + beans + cheat days. I usually just say “Atkins” because it’s the low carb plan that’s most likely to be recognized and understood by more people.
Ferriss’ slow carb diet has the advantage of being easier to stick to due to the cheat days. Like, psychologically you have less of a sense of missing out.
I don’t think the high carb “cheat” meals just help psychologically, but help avoid many of the long term biological consequences of low carb diets which can inhibit weight loss: low thyroid function, low leptin levels, and chronically low liver glycogen levels.
A single high carb meal raises leptin levels for up to a week, which increases your metabolism, AND powerfully suppresses hunger. There’s been a few studies looking at how carb cycling works that show major hormonal changes. Personally, I notice my body temperature and energy levels are higher, and I hardly have any appetite for about 24 hours after a heavy carb feed.
Yes, his book and other sources support the value of glycemic cycling. I was thinking about the cheat days as a generally awesome part of a diet, which is not the relevant point here as we were already talking low carb.
The terminology “cheat meal/day” bothers me, as it implies that it’s not a critical part of the diet or even some sort of “planned moral transgression”- and leads many people to think they might get better results if they avoid it, do it less often. In reality it’s a critical part of the method.
Likewise, somewhat. Well, call it a binge day then. Or a gluttony day. Or an indulgence day.
Same problem. For accuracy, just call it carb or cycle day.
I’ve had the mots success with using a cheat day but not eating carbs the rest of the itme
That’s basically the slow carb diet.
well, except for the fact that you actually eat a ton of carbs on the slow carb diet. Beans, yams, what have you.