Is this REALLY what is going on? (From Shape Mag.)

[Allaprima1]

Know this: Low-carb diets don't flush calories from the body.
Proponents of low-carb diets claim you can excrete fat fragments (called ketones) in urine on this type of diet, essentially flushing calories out. But a study at Virginia Polytechnic Institute and State University in Blacksburg found no correlation between urinary ketone levels and weight change in women on low-carb diets.
Carb cutters restrict so many foods that are normally accompanied by fat, they end up slashing calories overall. The initial rapid weight loss some carb cutters experience is caused by the body draining glycogen stores for energy. With each gram of glycogen used, 3 grams of water are released, with the result being a rapid loss in weight due to increased urination. After about 10-14 days, increased urination ends and so does the rapid weight-loss phase.

[not2late]

Originally Posted by Allaprima1

Know this: Low-carb diets don't flush calories from the body.
Proponents of low-carb diets claim you can excrete fat fragments (called ketones) in urine on this type of diet, essentially flushing calories out.

That is an oversimplification, but unfortunately alot of people do say that....even though it's not entirely correct.

But a study at Virginia Polytechnic Institute and State University in Blacksburg found no correlation between urinary ketone levels and weight change in women on low-carb diets.

Based on what I've seen here on ADBB, I totally believe that. Some people have "dark" purple ketones and lose a smaller amount of weight than someone who measures "trace". Also, there was an on-line interview with one of the Atkins Center dieticians years ago. She told the story of one woman who was at her wits end because her ketostix were dark purple but she didn't lose a thing. Come to find out, she was eating a stick of butter every night for "dessert". So as Dr. Atkins wrote in the book, the stix may not register at all eventhough you are losing weight, because the stix measure "excess" ketones (and a particular kind at that!) and you might not be producing any "excess" for the stix to register.

Carb cutters restrict so many foods that are normally accompanied by fat, they end up slashing calories overall.

Not typically on Atkins. The increased fat calories substitutes for the decreased carb calories. So you might be eating the same number of calories as you had prior to starting Atkins.

The initial rapid weight loss some carb cutters experience is caused by the body draining glycogen stores for energy. With each gram of glycogen used, 3 grams of water are released, with the result being a rapid loss in weight due to increased urination.

That's true. Dr. Atkins even says that the initial weight lost is water weight. But after 3=4 days, the weight lost is primarily from fat.

After about 10-14 days, increased urination ends and so does the rapid weight-loss phase.

Not really. On ADBB and other low carb support groups, we noticed that some people hit a mini-plateau during weeks 3-6. Dr. Atkins mentioned it in the "Atkins Video" series: he attributed it to the body getting used to all the changes that were made and redistributing water, etc. But as he and we observe, the weight loss resumes after that time period. For some people they maintain their rate of loss, for others it slows down slightly. I maintained a 4-5 pound weekly weight loss for about 6 months (I don't think that I had stored much glycogen ) Then I slowed my loss down in order for me to get to know my body's reaction to foods better.

[AmandaGeil]

I'm no expert, and don't entirely agree with this article, especially saying we flush "calories" no, it's "FAT." HOWEVER, even if it is true that we have a lower calorie intake, (which I'm sure of) have any of you ever found it easier to eat less calories on any other eating plan??? I'm the first to admit, I eat way healthier on Atkins than when I'm on my own, and probably half of the caloric intake. I crave things like berries and jicama! And I eat them... But I'm not HUNGRY!! I love this board.

[JohnSantos]

Originally Posted by not2late

she was eating a stick of butter every night for "dessert"

That's straight up nasty.

[Elizellen]

You are right John - as yukky as drinking straight olive oil

[Allaprima1]

I can't imagine doing either.... This is my second go-round with Atkins, and I hit a stall before even done with the second week of induction... , but since logging everything in on fitday, I notice that the overall daily calorie amount is lower that one might think, so when I saw this blurb on the front page of Yahoo, I read it and thought it might be worth getting folks 2 cents on it - I don't really believe that you pee out "calories" because you can't do that by definition, but insofar as your body re-tuning itself to use fat for energy instead of carbs, I don't know how much THAT actually occurs either, but I can see that the fat/protein/limited veg intake will tame your glucose levels to where you are not as hungry, and don't have things like blood-sugar crashes, etc with the lower calorie intake. The only thing I hope is that it doesn't send my cholesterol levels through the roof, as I am on Crestor as it is. My doctor gave me the OK to go ahead and do Atkins again, so here I am, because it had worked in the past.

[not2late]

Originally Posted by Allaprima1

I can't imagine doing either.... This is my second go-round with Atkins, and I hit a stall before even done with the second week of induction... , but since logging everything in on fitday, I notice that the overall daily calorie amount is lower that one might think, so when I saw this blurb on the front page of Yahoo, I read it and thought it might be worth getting folks 2 cents on it - I don't really believe that you pee out "calories" because you can't do that by definition, but insofar as your body re-tuning itself to use fat for energy instead of carbs, I don't know how much THAT actually occurs either, but I can see that the fat/protein/limited veg intake will tame your glucose levels to where you are not as hungry, and don't have things like blood-sugar crashes, etc with the lower calorie intake. The only thing I hope is that it doesn't send my cholesterol levels through the roof, as I am on Crestor as it is. My doctor gave me the OK to go ahead and do Atkins again, so here I am, because it had worked in the past.

Dr. Atkins defined a weight loss plateau as 4 consecutive weeks without loss of weight or inches. It's normal for folks not to lose on either week of the 14 Day Induction. It's normal not to lose every day, for that matter.

The peeing calories doesn't happen. As I wrote it's a very simplistic explanation of what happens. You do expend calories/energy---breaking down the foods you eat, and then breaking it down into portions your body can use.

Atkins is a high fat diet. So about 65% of your total daily caloric intake should be from fat calories during the Induction phase. Some people get stuck on the low fat thing and try to do a low fat version of Atkins. This is the wrong thing to do because it's the fat-carb ratio that gets you into and continues ketosis. And this is extremely important with Atkins because it's a modified ketogenic diet, based on the typical fat-carb ratio. So if you do a low fat ATkins, you probably will lose weight, but it won't be due to the ketosis/lipolysis, it would be due to calorie restriction.

[MrsChesterDogg]

I just have one thing to say about that article....blah blah blah....but that's just my opinon.

[Goodbyefat27]

A stick of butter for "dessert" is disguisting!! There is truth in the statement about the glucagon stores causing the initial weight loss. Minus not losing any weight my 3rd week (now on week eight) it has been progressing fairly well since; more than any other diet I have been on that just restricted fat and calories. The comment about the fat is bogus, but thats just my opinion.

[msanjelpie]

Since you are on Crestor which is an amazing cholesterol medication, I doubt you will see much of a spike from being on Atkins...