Do you have any scientific backing for that statement? Other than Taubes’ book? If carbs are bad for you, how do you explain Asian diets that are high in rice?

There are many types of carbs. Too many simple carbs are a problem for the body. The reason has to do with the fact that ALL (protein, fat, and carbohydrates) the food we eat is transformed into glucose in our bloodstream. The glucose is transformed to glycogen for storage in our muscles and liver. It is also used to power our bodily functions. Our brains are big glucose users. However, when too much simple (High Glycemic index) carbs are eaten in a meal, (Since it takes almost no digestion to turn them into glucose.) the blood stream becomes quickly loaded with glucose. Insulin is secreted to lower the glucose (blood sugar) levels. Often it overshoots and lowers it too much – the beginning of Type 2 diabetes. The ideal thing is for the body to have a slower secretion of glucose from the food we eat. Proteins, fats, and complex carbs (Beans, lentils, potatoes, quinoa, brown rice, oatmeal, celery, spinach, cabbage, etc.) break down more slowly and provide a slower stream of glucose to our systems. That reduces the strain on the pancreas (insulin secretion) and may (depending on our BMR) reduce the amount of glucose that is transformed into fat storage. So, it is the simple carbs that cause problems for people because of the sudden rush of glucose followed by a quick drop in the glucose level. That’s what creates the hunger a short time after eating a couple of doughnuts with a cup of coffee.

Our bodies have a basal metabolism rate. (BMR) That is the number of calories we burn for 24 hours. My BMR, measured three months ago is 2049 calories per day. Many fat people have low BMRs. They have to eat less than 1000 calories per day to lose weight. (Full disclosure – I’m married to one of those people.) Additionally, they have to cycle their calories because their body soon adjusts to less food and slows their BMR. That type of BMR was a great thing for people back in the days when food was scarce. They usually survived lean times. Those with high BMRs didn’t.

Everyone can lose weight by knowing their BMR then counting calories and cycling their calories. However, it is a time consuming process that requires a great deal of discipline. I spent several years competing in body building contests. During that time I learned a lot about dieting and my particular nutritional needs. My eating was strictly controlled and measured. I could get quicker fat loss from a low carb diet, but I found my muscles were flatter and my energy lower on a low carb diet. I needed vegetables for their nutritional value and beans/lentils/yams/apples for the fiber.

What I like about the IF Diet is that it requires measuring only on two days a week. The other five days I eat pretty much as I normally do – about 2000 calories with 40% protein, 30% carbs, and 30% fat. Fasting for 16 hours two days a week and eating only 800 calories in two 8 hour periods is very easy for me. And it fits my lifestyle more now than weighing and measuring all my food. It also cycles the calories, so my BMR won’t slow. It may not be for everyone though. Any kind of eating program to lose or maintain weight requires discipline and will power – even Atkins or Taubes.

“It’s not rocket science and doesn’t demand esoteric rules. People are naturally lean, just like animals – and that includes people who eat fat, butter, lard, meat, etc. If controlling your weight needs huge amounts of thought and/or bizarre habits, then something’s wrong with your food.”

That’s a nice slogan. Unfortunately, it doesn’t describe all of humanity. People were fat even back in the day when food was in short supply. Not as fat as today when food is in such over supply and cheap. To believe that everyone is alike in the way they process food and energy is like saying that there is no difference between men and women. It just ain’t so. For people with high BMRs ( I know one of those. He eats everything and anything – lots of sugar and fat – never gets fat.) anyone who gets fat is weak- willed and guilty of self indulgence. For those who have had success with Atkins or paleo or South Beach or ?? they think everyone is like them. Not so. Calories count, but BMR counts too. Genetics count too. Some people don’t have the genes for paleo/Atkins/South Beach/etc. We know a lot more about germs and disease than we do about individual nutrition and why we have an “obesity epidemic.”

Don’t bother with fads. Read “Why We are Fat and What to Do About it” — it’s NOT a “diet book.” Carbs make you fat and make you crave more carbs, which in turn makes you fatter. How fat, though, depends on your genes. The amount of carbs and sugars we eat today is astronomical, and correllates with the “disesases of civilization” (diabetes, heart disease, etc) that plague every society that adopts a Western diet.

It’s not rocket science and doesn’t demand esoteric rules. People are naturally lean, just like animals — and that includes people who eat fat, butter, lard, meat, etc. If controlling your weight needs huge amounts of thought and/or bizarre habits, then something’s wrong with your food.

I have heard that sometimes women have a harder time with this or do not have the same results as men, probably something to do with reproduction.

I am back on the pseudo paleo wagon, it does work for me if I do it consistently, even if I do it 80/20.

The idea is that by not challenging your body to burn calories by enduring colder temperatures, we gradually put on weight.

If you blame your gut bacteria, Neo, that’s just a metabolic issue of the bacterial which ends up affecting your metabolism, perhaps.

If you want to experiment with that, try the metabolic mixes, the Slim one, at that website. Personal experimentation for such a unique case as yours, is probably the only real way to go about it. That ended up being applicable even to your arm surgery, it seems.

It’s because you don’t like the taste of milk. That’s a sign that your metabolism is rather special.

Neo, I think you are right about individuality and there being more to it. When my mother died suddenly in 2005, I lost 7 pounds that week and I did not gain that weight back for 3 years.

JJ, I have been fasting every Tuesday since 2008 as a part of my prayer life. A couple years ago, due to a stress situation in my life, I was a lower weight than I wanted to be and investigated whether it was still safe for me to be fasting. I discovered some research that determined that eating the same amount of calories over 6 days instead of 7 (fasting 1 day) resulted in lower weight. That conforms with my personal experience.

As for eating out–every fat accounts for about 100 calories per tablespoon. My husband is an excellent cook, but we measure the fats. When we eat out (not too often, as we have to go to expensive places to eat food that is anything like what he prepares at home), we share.

I started taking roughly 300% of the RDA (2k% is the lowest possibly dangerous level) in the morning, along with some fiber, and I’ve lost a lot of weight and don’t have as many cravings as I use to. Moved my multivitamin to lunch time to avoid washing the water solubles right back out.

I thought that it was because I started in the summer, and the weight loss was just because I was also exercising heavily compared to winter– but since it’s gotten cold, all that happened is my weight loss rate cut in half, on just every other day walking a mile.

It’s only been six months (and 40 pounds), but it’s starting to look like a lot of the fighting I’ve been doing with my weight for my entire life was something as incredibly stupid as a vitamin demand that’s not standard issue.