Bacon lovers cry.

errr... watch yer arteries bro.
 
That's the downside of such diets. Works better with (skinless) chicken and other less fatty meats... or even better, fish (but not too much because, yanno, mercury). Lots of good (and preferably raw) veggies and water + (medically supervised) exercise along with those lean meats... bingo and/or bango... now ya got a recipe for healthy weight loss.
 
That said... I would LOVE to be 175lbs or more.
 
Then again, I'm 6'4" and have been dangerously underweight since I was a kid.
 
I tried being a vegetarian once and nearly croaked... so I just try not to overcram myself with previously autonomous creatures (that aren't naturally attached to the ground or something else that is attached to the ground) and balance it with about a 1:3 (or is that 3:1... oh math... you torment me so) ratio with veggies/carbs (like noodles/rice/taters/etc).
 
If I were to get too chubby in the wrong spots (which surprisingly is actually starting to happen) I guess I'd lower the carb intake and try to focus my exercises to deal with the problem areas.
 
Being a gimpola though there's only so much I can do before injuring myself with exercise.
 
I really need to figure out a way to swim regularly... but that is fraught with so much unknown scariness at this point I'mma just gonna keep doin' what I do.
 
It should also be noted that the human male will naturally gain weight/fat/muscle around the midriff area (a gut). It's supposedly an evolutionary/biological process intended to protect the internal organs (below the ribcage which of course already acts as armor).
 
So, lads... don't be too ashamed of a bit of a gut. Your ancestors likely survived because of it and passed it down to you.
 
Letting that gut get out of hand?
 
Well that's no good.

Congrats bitman on the weight loss!! Eating Becan and loosing weight...everyman's weight loss dream. Just be careful you don't deprive yourself of other necessary nutrition.

Congrats bit.  A few years ago I lost 30# when SWMBO started us on the Suzanne Somers plan.  It's like Atkins, but doesn't totally cut carbs ... it's more about ow different stuff gets combined in meals.
 
My biggest problem is bread.  I LOVE bread.  Always whole grain, but that doesn't seem to matter.
 
There's a lot of new info out there on how gubment/lobbyists made us what we are today.  Through it all, I don't blame my eating utensils for where I am.

Beepster
errr... watch yer arteries bro.

 
NOPE - this is wrong. I went keto under the watch of a doctor - taking blood before starting and two months after. My total cholesterol went up 10 points, but that was only going 150 to 160. After 15 years of trying to drop triglycerides, they went from 212 to 155! My good cholesterol went up and the bad went down. The results were stunning!
 
I'm keto now (<50 grams of carbs but massive fat) and feeling AWESOME!
 
The old science we've all been taught is dead wrong, and the food pyramid started the obesity epidemic. Read Keto Clarity for a starter...
 
high fat and low carb is the way humans evolved to eat, and it is HEALTHY.
 

I hate eggs of all kinds and ways of making. Always have.
So I'm at a great culinary disadvantage.

Guys,
 
Tossing in my 2 cents on this from a generic pharmacist’s perspective. Not an MD, and those guys know everything (maybe…)
 
Cholesterol and stuff… If you look at the physical structure of the human carbon infestation, we are gramiverous by nature. Like a cow minus their otherwise evolved ruminant function that we have vestiges of as a useless appendix.
 
We need cholesterol and lots of it. Human cell cohesion is about as held together the thickness of cooking oil. Without cholesterol as a stabilizing brick in the matrix, we would drip off our bones. Cholesterol needed as a storage precursor to sex hormones, steroids and the like as well. Cholesterol is cool.
 
On a hundred percent vegetarian diet, the liver produces all the cholesterol needed to maintain things.
 
So many systems in the body are controlled by feedback loops. Something gets too low or too hi, correction is made.
 
Since we were never cannibals by nature, we are not wired to down regulate production of cholesterol if there is excess coming in from the diet. Liver cranks out what it thinks and the diet stuffs us with more. Overload condenses and plaques over the arteries until death happen, if something else don’t take us out first.
 
There is no such thing as a low cholesterol diet if animal corpses are consumed. Because everything with fur, feather, scales, puts its menstrual cycle into a shell, has the same cell membrane architecture. Filled with cholesterol and no way currently to remove it.
 
Definitely lower fat content in chickens, vultures, fish. And the reactive benefit of the non saturated oils from fish that can offset some of the damage that is slowly killing us from the otherwise civilized modern diet.
 
Belly fat, and hope you guys can survive to my age in good health. Struggling here also.
 
Like was said, cut down on booze, watch the intake. It all ultimately comes down to calories in versus calories out.
 
We were 20 years old with a slim 6 pack. Now we got the gut bulge. What the hell happened while we slept.
 
Another painful piece of advice…
 
HGR (human growth hormone) is pumped into the system from the pituitary gland in the base of the brain. Strong healthy levels while we are teens and in our 20’s. HGR among other things, regulates the distribution of body fat and muscle mass. You hit half my age, the pituitary is starting to fatigue and HGR is decreasing. Ramification is redistribution of body fat to the abdomen and loss of muscle mass. Just part of the slow glorious death process.
 
Deprivation from all calories, meaning fasting. Sunrise to sunrise fast a couple times a month is a miracle. We depended on this respite from eating in our evolution. HGR is directly affected as in increased levels. The shift helps to maintain fat distribution and muscle mass preservation.
 
Result on fasting as far as directly reducing fat is dismal unless you can go 3 days or more on water. This the breaking point where our physiology says to burn fat. Note however that you can circumvent the deprivation process and get past preservation alarms, directly to fat, by aerobic exercise. Bummer to do, but jog until you get winded and you are burning fat.
 
Cool way to lose weight quickly and not age you faster with the imbalanced carb vs protein etc burnout. Yeah, they may work, but at a severe cost. Raw diet, vegetarian and nothing cooked. Initially avoid hi carb vegetables like avacado, banana. Eat as much as you want (but slow down on the salt). Pounds will shed, several a day.
 
Will not be a happy experience in the detox ahead, but will loose weight and can go thru time a bit longer with a better quality of life.
 
John

Beepster
I'm addicted to tuna.
 
But I tolerate eggs as an easy/cheap protein source.

Costco tuna is the bestest ever.  Love the stuff.

But of course nice big hunks of tuna sashimi with wasabi and soy sauce... oh man.
 
Now I'm drooling.
 
urrrrgh... haven't sashimi in freaking years now.
 
 
 

Rain

Beepster
I tried being a vegetarian once and nearly croaked... 

Every summer, I seem to gravitate towards a more plant-based diet, though I've never called myself a vegetarian because I never took the decision to never eat meat again. And it never was a very strict diet either.
 
This year however, things happened more gradually and I started looking for alternatives to certain products, slowly phasing animal protein out of my diet. Some things like mayonnaise I've not yet quite replaced but I now eat a strict vegetarian diet - just not vegan. 
 
Other things, like Trader Joe's meatless Italian sausages I've tried out of curiosity, as an alternative, and now prefer to the traditional counterpart.
 
Anyway, I hate labels and I've not decided to never eat meat again, though at this point, I can hardly imagine going back to it. I'm not on a crusade either although the vegetarian-vegan diet does matches my personal values.
 
I'm a firm believer in making gradual changes. To me, following a diet is like learning stuff by heart for an exam, whereas making gradual changes is like understanding what it is you're learning - takes more time but in the long run, it pays back a whole lot more. 

Exactly. I worked in a borderline militant vegan restaurant as a teen. Long story I won't get into but I learned a lot about nutrition AND about how nuts people can get about diet issues. It's like it turns into a dogma... and I don't roll like that.
 
I kept eating meat (and even eeeevil fast food and whatnot because I was working HARD and was huuuuungry) but I also developed an EXTREME appreciation for exotic and not so exotic veggies, beans, rice, grains, spices, etc.
 
I don't think I could ever be a vegetarian (don't have time, money or energy to sustain that diet in any healthful sort of way) but that don't mean I can't eat that type of food and just add a side of chicken or eat a burger/hot dog every now and then or fry up a nice ole classic breakkie with toast.
 
It's soooo cliche'd but moderation is indeed a very good thing.
 
And as you've described sometimes our dietary needs change. I've learned to listen to what my body wants to eat and try to accomodate. If your body is saying "I want veggies"... well hell, your body seems to got a good head on its shoulders.
 
;-)
 
Hope you've been doin' alright, man. Happy and healthy again?
 
Cheers!

Heh... it's hard to tell where the satire begins and ends with you sometimes, John.
 
But ya... going from an all fast food diet to an all veggie/vegan diet overnight is a baaaaad idea. I've seen it done but there were after effects. Lasting ones.
 
PS: This was my favorite part...
 
but not advised for most to turn 360 degrees
 
classic

I'm really against low carb diet where people stuff themselves with meat.
I mean, eh, fruits and veggies won't make you fat. Complex carbs won't either.
I have been eating everything all my life (and I'm not very active, or have good genes since I can put on weight if I actually eat more than I should) without having any weight problems.
It really is you eat way too much more than your body burns.
It's simple as that.

Hi beepster,
 
I appreciate the discourse, and of course it's never wrong to watch your arteries. That said, I do think you are operating on old information there.
 
I am not in the Air Force - that picture comes from when I took a combat school course last summer and got to fly prop planes with laser designation; I got to play fighter pilot for a day! :)
 
I actually run a software company and spend a lot of time behind a desk. I just turned 48 and around 40 or so my health took a very nasty turn. I got really heavy, seemed to need anti-depressants, and all of my blood numbers were aweful. 
 
I was also showing signs of pre-diebeties, and that scared the hell out of me.
 
I took it upon myself to solve my health issues. It's been a very long and winding road. For one thing, I found my testosterone had bottomed out at about 170 or so. I found a very progressive doctor and got on t replacement therapy. I also gave up all wheat and gluten about 3 years ago (one of the best things I ever did). My wife and son did as well and they will never go back. My daughter won't give it up, but she won't eat read meat, go figure. :)
 
When reading about wheat and the effects of genetically modified food (the wheat you eat today isn't even in the same ballpark of chromosomes as the wheat that was eaten 100 years ago), I came across the science of a keto diet. Atkins was waaaaay ahead of his time - the part that came after was needing moderate protein and HIGH fat. 
 
If you eat low carb and high fat, your energy is always up, you are almost never hungry, and you don't have to eat much to sustain in.
 
Consider this:
a. A gram of carbs has 4 calories of energy
b. A gram of protein has 4 calrories of energy
c. A gram of fat has 9 calories of energy
 
Also consider that most natural carbs (fruits) where seasonal and very limited in each area and which form of fuel do you think the body would choose to run on?
 
Ug, I remember eating egg white omelets and hating them. Turns out the current research shows that we actually absorb little to no cholesterol in what we eat - our bodies actually make it. so by removing the yolks, you actually remove all the good stuff your body needs from it! 
 
I remember switching to skim milk and hating it. Turns out again that the good fats were removed and I was left with the carbs! WRONG
 
If you look at the rise of obesity you will see it directly correlates with the introduction of the food pyramid. 
 
I'm not doctor and I won't try to convince you, but I will tell you I've taken this journey under the watchful eye of an exceptional doctor with blood pulled every 3 to 6 months and a keto diet, in my humble opinion, is how humans are supposed to eat.
 
Do the homework - read the books! The info is out there but everyone believes the old science (research that too and see how much it was bungled and how much was political) and then decide how you want to live your life.
 
I am approaching 50 and healthier than I've been in 15+ years. I eat bacon almost every day and steaks at least twice a week. I put butter on everything I want to - sometimes I just eat butter by itself. A half of an avocado and an egg is plenty of good fuel for most of the day I keep my carbs below 50g a day.
 
I also just completed a 4 day fast a weeks ago, as did my wife.
 
All of us were lied to - and the obesity and heart disease epidemic in this country shows the results!
 
Again, for any of you not happy with how you feel - DO THE HOMEWORK.
 
<steps of soapbox>

Rain
There'll always be a new study to contradict what the previous one, and today's panacea is tomorrow's poison. So as far as I'm concerned, ultimately, the proof si in the pudding.
 
Eating steak and fries is likely to lead me to spend the evening on the couch watching tv - and probably eating more junk whilst my body is still trying to metabolize my dinner, with added benefits such as heartburn, gas, etc...
 
Eating a salad or skinless chicken breast and veggies seems to provide a much more efficient source of energy - instead of spending my evening on the couch, I'm ready to go out jogging or to spend time in the gym 30 to 45 minutes after my meal. Which also mean that I'll probably sleep better and wake up full of energy and feeling sharper, which in turn leads me to be more active and to maintain a healthier lifestyle - and that cycle goes on.

Hi Rain,
 
I completely understand where you are coming from, but you don't have the whole picture. Firstly, potatoes are carbs so if you consume lots of carbs you will feel sluggish. :) Also, you are currently a sugar burner, not a fat burner so you can't compare a mean or two of high protein/fat to chicken and veggies.
 
Low carbs, moderate protein, high fat. You need all three of these to make it work.
 
Also, to be in ketosis takes weeks to get there. I used my 4 day fast to jump start the ketone production, but it still took two weeks for my body to adapt. The body literally changes physically to adapt. Your mitochondria adapt, and your brain adapts. This process can be unpleasant for a few days and is often referred to as the keto flu. Once you get through it though, you have energy in abundance and often skip a meal without even thinking about it. The brain also prefers to run on ketones, and the mental clarity and cognitive processes COME BACK to a higher degree that you can imagine. My moods are also more stable. Also, at 45+ I lifted the most weights of my life (about 20 pounds short of the 1000 pound club) while eating this way.
 
I'm sure when people started saying the Earth was round others said "that's just a fad". What's crazy is to think that the science we learned 30 or 40 years ago was the last word on nutrition - or even in the proper ballpark. New info is available, but since it doesn't make anyone money you don't hear about  it.
 
It's on you to own your own experience. You have to do the full research. You have to know the ins and outs, the science, the pitfalls, and the physical process. I have a friend that fasted for 30 days. THIRTY FREAKING DAYS on ketosis. While holding down a job and raising kids. Side note, I consider myself smart and this is the smartest guy I've ever personally met.
 
To all of you - there is new science and research. There are ways to get off SOME medications and prevent going on others. You can feel better, look better, and think better BUT YOU HAVE TO DO THE HOMEWORK and you have to DO THE WORK.
 
Tell you want, if any of you SERIOUSLY want to learn a way to be healthier, PM me your address. I'll send you a copy of the book Keto Clarity by Jimmy Moore; it was a life-changer for my family. I'll send up to 5 books out total - first come first serve.