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John's Amazing Diet Secrets Revealed

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Re: John's Amazing Diet Secrets Revealed

#41

Post by gruseom »

kingkongreveng_ wrote: post #38
gvb wrote: post #16

Earlier quoted context omitted.

The Atkin's theory, which I believe has been largely substantiated, is that carbohydrates (sugar, HFCS) do not satisfy hunger, they tend to trigger hunger. John cut out the sugar and his hunger dropped. FWIIW, my experience was the same and there are many others who echo this. See "Sugar: The Bitter Truth" (UCSF lecture) which goes into detail on the metabolism of carbohydrates, especially HFCS http://www.youtube.com…

You have to say specifically "carbohydrate" and not single out sugar. People try to make this false distinction between "complex" and simple carbohydrates and sugar. ANY starch is broken down rapidly in the small intestine and absorbed as sugar.

ANY starch is broken down rapidly in the small intestine and absorbed as sugar.

That may be an oversimplification. Lustig, in the lecture mentioned by the GP, shows that there are big differences between how the body metabolizes glucose and fructose. If these differences are significant enough (Lustig's thesis is that they are), then it isn't a "false distinction" to single out sugar/HFCS from other carbohydrates.

Re: John's Amazing Diet Secrets Revealed

#42

Post by cschneid »

I'm going to chime in with my own progress I've made over the last few months, and it shows a slightly different path than what the author took.

I started at 220 pounds. I am currently 220 pounds. The difference? My body fat percent has gone down 5 or 6% (from high twenties to low twenties), I have muscles where there were none before.

In the end, my goal weight is still below where I am, but if I had just cut my diet, I would have not made the same kind of progress I have with exercise. (specifically, with a trainer who pushes me harder, with appointments that force me to show up).

To be fair, I still have a gut, and that'll be lost by diet, but the huge progress I've made is entirely attributable to exercise.

Re: John's Amazing Diet Secrets Revealed

#43

Post by pasbesoin »

unexpected wrote: post #37
forinti wrote: post #23

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Instant soup is dangerous because it has lots of sodium.

Sodium is not that bad for you unless you have a specific health issue. Our bodies are amazing regulators and can handle sodium just fine.

I've seen some recent news associating low sodium with a possible link to depression. I don't have a news source URL at hand to cite, much less an actual study, but I'm keeping an subconscious eye open for more information.

Re: John's Amazing Diet Secrets Revealed

#44

Post by [deleted] »

andrewcooke wrote: post #12
dzlobin wrote: post #7

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Surely it could not have been genuine interest in the article, right?

well, it could be, but it doesn't seem like the usual kind of link for here [edit: for example, when i posted, almost all comments - including one now deleted - were negative]. on the other hand, it seems that it's a popular user so perhaps people are simply interested. it's also possible that it got to the front page with just a couple of early votes and then took off (a post of my own just behaved as strangely, whi…

[deleted]

Re: John's Amazing Diet Secrets Revealed

#45

Post by kingkongreveng_ »

gruseom wrote: post #41
kingkongreveng_ wrote: post #38

Earlier quoted context omitted.

You have to say specifically "carbohydrate" and not single out sugar. People try to make this false distinction between "complex" and simple carbohydrates and sugar. ANY starch is broken down rapidly in the small intestine and absorbed as sugar.

ANY starch is broken down rapidly in the small intestine and absorbed as sugar. That may be an oversimplification. Lustig, in the lecture mentioned by the GP, shows that there are big differences between how the body metabolizes glucose and fructose. If these differences are significant enough (Lustig's thesis is that they are), then it isn't a "false distinction" to single out sugar/HFCS from other carbohydrates.

He's talking about the uniquely hepatoxic properties of fructose vis-a-vis other sugars. I'm talking about the metabolism damaging insulin responses triggered by all carbohydrates, regardless of whether it's a piece of whole grain bread or a spoonful of honey (fructose).

Re: John's Amazing Diet Secrets Revealed

#46

Post by kingkongreveng_ »

rms wrote: post #5

>And, boy, was I hungry at first. After a while I wasn't hungry any more... That's the real secret, and it could use some expansion. Isn't that where 99% of dieters fail? Why were you able to overcome your hunger when so many people find that an impossible challenge? People have a great deal of difficulty overcoming that feeling of hunger -- realizing that just because they feel something, they don't have to act on i…

>>And, boy, was I hungry at first.

>That's the real secret, and it could use some expansion

Spending time hungry is totally unnecessary to achieve low body fat. It's about insulin management.

If you eat a high saturated fat diet you simply don't get the strong hunger pangs that are symptomatic of crashing blood sugar with a metabolism trained to run on sugar in preference to fatty acids.

Re: John's Amazing Diet Secrets Revealed

#47

Post by bobdole2695 »

tome wrote: post #17

I've just started the cutting phase of my weightlifting diet. I'm eating healthily but at about 500 kcal per day less than my resting metabolic rate (2500 kcal down from 3000 kcal). It's not so much the hunger I have problems with but the tiredness . I can still concentrate well on my work, but social situations seem to be a lot harder! I guess I feel a bit more grumpy than usual.

You don't drop below your resting metabolic rate, you drop below the level you need to maintain PLUS the weightlifting activity you're preforming. Large shortfalls in calories are counter productive unless it's in a short burst.

Also, make sure you're getting enough dietary fat. Many make the change to a low carb diet by just dropping carbs from their low fat diet. You need to up your fat intake because what you were taking in for EFAs previously are now going to be cannibalized for energy instead.

Re: John's Amazing Diet Secrets Revealed

#48

Post by JadeNB »

larsberg wrote: post #34
JadeNB wrote: post #18

I don't know why we need 'amazing diet secrets' at all; it seems to me that, barring metabolic disorders, most of it is just "Do something , anything, about your diet". I pursued the following program for a semester: 1 meal a day (a sizable, but not huge, dinner at the end of the day --often McDonald's), and a 2/3 mile walk. I lost 15 kg, from over 80 kg to just over 65 kg, in the semester, and a few of those kilogra…

You'll find that something more substantial can be required once you're no longer in your 20s :-)

I was about to respond indignantly to that, but then I realised that, 3 years ago, I was in my 20's. Well played, sir!

Re: John's Amazing Diet Secrets Revealed

#49

Post by JadeNB »

JadeNB wrote: post #19
jessriedel wrote: post #2

ooohhhhhh....I had been eating more .

It's the bulimic's secret: Eat enough to experience ingredient overflow. :-)

OK, I'm a newcomer to YCombinator …. I thought it was almost exactly as tasteful as jessriedel's comment (http://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=1083582), with that added techie twist to make it fun for the crowd; but obviously I misjudged the proper level of discourse. I am sorry. (Were this Reddit, I would delete it, but I see that that is (probably sensibly) not an option for posts that have been voted upon.)

Re: John's Amazing Diet Secrets Revealed

#50

Post by GFischer »

kingkongreveng_ wrote: post #39
GFischer wrote: post #15

Earlier quoted context omitted.

I also read the Hacker's Diet, but I went to a doctor-controlled diet, and lost about 34 pounds so far (15 kg), in two months (not 6 months). It's fairly similar to what John advocates actually :) - it's eating WAY less, slower, and mostly vegetables (the main thing about this diet was that the clinic provides the food so you can't overeat). And yes, I was very hungry at first, what I did was drink lots of soup (the…

> no butter and other dairies except for yoghurt Nonsense. I'm 8% body fat and eat loads of butter (almost a stick a day) and whole fat yogurt. I don't exercise that much either. Dairy fat is one of the best possible foods. Excellent satiety and virtually no insulin response.

Well that's what my (doctor-made) diet involves. I didn't make the rules, believe me, I'd like to have some butter :)

I've heard good things about Atkins and such, so maybe butter isn't that bad, but I'm losing quite a lot of weight without butter, so without butter it will be.

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