Muscle vs Fat

[tdm5673]

Please someone explain why when you tell people you are losing weight the topic of "water weight" and "losing muscle" always comes up.

I really hate that. If I am 300 lbs, and my body is using fat stores instead of carbs why on earth would my body think " starvation mode" and start consuming my lean muscle or tissue when the reason we have fat stores is for energy.

Or I get a kick out of people who say losing more than 2 lbs a week is unhealthy. To me being 100 lbs overweight is way worse that training my body to use the fat stores as energy instead of carbs.

am I on an island with my thinking?

[Elsie150]

Not alone...they are usually the same people who never said a word when you were eating MacDonald's and all the refined carbs....they weren't concerned enough about your health then to tell you to stop...but eat 3 cups of veggies a day and all of a sudden you are being unhealthy...crazy, misinformed people!

[gman]

Maybe because on our typical carb diet, we tend to starve ourselves to lose weight. So, you lose water and muscle mass along with some fat.
Prove those skeptics wrong by improving you health with our approach - go for it!
You can't convince people usually until they see you being much healthier, then the open minded ones will ask questions and look into it.
Glenn

[murphy'smom]

Some people are scared of change. They see you making a healthy, good change in your life and it seems 'scary' to them. Most people want things to stay the same, even if they don't know it. Don't worry about what people say, just keep doing what is good for you! They probably don't ask you for advice about what they are eating or doing.

[Brook]

People are nosy and they're ridiculous.

The truth is that with weight removal you will lose some lean muscle mass. This is true of *all* weight removal programs, not just Atkins. However, if you're exercising like you're supposed to be you're building more lean muscle mass than you're losing, and at 300lbs, you've already got a lot of muscle! People don't think like that though. It takes quite a bit of muscle to move a body that size around, but they go back to their alarmist, half-informed, "I heard it from my brother's girlfriend's sister's friend's half-brother's neighbor's mechanic who saw it on Hard Copy" garbage. .

Do your thing and as you really start to improve your health and the results are more and more visible all the time, they'll start asking you, just like gman said

Keep on keepin' on!

[eclectikat]

I can appreciate everything said in this thread! THANKS! I had an odd exchange with one of my closest friends the other day, I was eating out with her and I was eating the fat on the steak I had ordered and she told me to not eat it if I was serious about losing weight... I explained to her that I could eat it and that consuming fat was an important component to the atkins approach... I SWEAR to GOd she was looking at me as if I were a two headed alien...
I know we are supposed to rally the support of our friends and family but it is so difficult to do... I have made the statement to the same friend ( who is thin and always has been...) that we will be sharing clothing next year.... and her discomfort was PALPABLE....
the long and short for me... is that the ATKINS approach is working for me, I feel fantastic, I look better, I have lost 45lbs so far, My muscles are so strong ( I was getting so soft!) and YA... time will show everyone around me that the choice I have made to live this LOW Carb lifestyle is the best choice I could have ever made. IT WORKS PEOPLE!!!!!

[tacfla]

amen sista. I agree with you 100%. Family and friends can be difficult at times but you have a great attitude about it and that my friend is why you have succeded this far that is half the battle.


Robin

[LaceyLooWho]

You are definitely not alone in your thinking (obviously) Atkins seems to bring more of these types of people out of the woodwork. Any weight loss program makes you lose water and muscle. But the water issue re stabilizes and with exercise the muscle you lose will be insignificant to the muscle you gained. I am hesitant to even tell people I am following the Atkins approach because of how negative it is seen by those who don't understand what it is or how it works. Atkins has a bad rap but those of us who follow it and feel the benefits know a wonderful secret that those other refined carb and sugar munching folks don't know, Atkins works and makes you feel awesome! Living healthy and well is the best revenge in that sort of a circumstance

[TWS]

Originally Posted by tdm5673

Please someone explain why when you tell people you are losing weight the topic of "water weight" and "losing muscle" always comes up.

In a post above was mentioned that people are accustomed to a calorie restricted regimine as the standard diet and, as such, there is a noticeable loss of muscle/tone. The body needs a specific amount of protein and will take it either from the diet or from existing stores. Low protein diets seem to produce a gaunt participants, unless they compensate by overeating carbs. Most of us know that look, too.

Above, also, was the post on not sharing the Atkins diet due to negative feedback. My wife was this same way until I recently decided to tell her the diet was more of a Paleolithic diet, restricting all aspects of agricultural inputs. It's similar to Atkins without dairy or legumes. That she can understand as I tie it to Evolutionary Fitness. It's a little less restrictive in that we eat as opportunists. We don't eat dairy, as a rule, but if there is a small amount of cheese in something, we don't turn it down. She also likes the notion (from Eades) of the "honey tree". Paleolithic peoples didn't have sweets so we shouldn't either. However, on occasion they would stumble across a honey tree and 'get drunk on sweet nectar'. When we're out and served dessert, we call that our honey tree--and pay a price for it the next day.

TWS