carmel224466 wrote: » Hello, I've lost 20.5 lbs with myfitnesspal! I've done a lot of trial and error during this time period and worked to overcome many plateaus. I've noticed that I seem to loose more weight when I do not eat carbs after lunch. Is this strategy working for anyone else? Is there any science behind this? If I am eating the same amount of calories, why does it matter if they are carbs vs. proteins or what time I eat them?
carmel224466 wrote: » If I am eating the same amount of calories, why does it matter if they are carbs vs. proteins or what time I eat them?
carmel224466 wrote: » I mean that I loose weight more quickly when I don't eat carbs after lunch. It could be the difference between a half of a pound per week vs 3 and a half pounds.
carmel224466 wrote: » It's also one of Bob Haper's rules for weight loss?
wesaud wrote: » I agree the the OP. I dropped 30 pounds last fall with this same approach. I did no carbs after 2pm. The only carbs I would allow were dark leafy, kale, chard, greens, and Brussel sprouts. The results I gathered came from the reduction of insulin spikes caused by the carbs and their conversion to glucose. In a carb depleted state my body would use fat stores as energy. It worked for my body, glad to he someone else preaching it worked for them.
carmel224466 wrote: » Thanks JSurita. I am and always have been a huge believer in calorie counting. I know that 3,500 cals= a pound and approach weight loss as simple math. I mathematically would calculate my calorie defect and exercise calories and still NEVER loose what I should on the scale. At times I would loose nothing. It is not until I have cut carbs at night (while still maintaining the same amount of daily calories) that I am significantly loosing weight. I know carbs carry water but I keep dropping so I can't imagine it's all water. I was just wondering if anyone else was having positive results with this strategy?
ndj1979 wrote: » carmel224466 wrote: » Thanks JSurita. I am and always have been a huge believer in calorie counting. I know that 3,500 cals= a pound and approach weight loss as simple math. I mathematically would calculate my calorie defect and exercise calories and still NEVER loose what I should on the scale. At times I would loose nothing. It is not until I have cut carbs at night (while still maintaining the same amount of daily calories) that I am significantly loosing weight. I know carbs carry water but I keep dropping so I can't imagine it's all water. I was just wondering if anyone else was having positive results with this strategy? sorry, but you do not defy the laws of physics and math. if you are not eating carbs after 2pm and losing weight it just means that you are creating a calorie deficit, and that is why you are losing weight. Carbs after a certain time period has nothing to do with it.
ChrisManch wrote: » When scientists measure the calories in food what they do is dry out out completely in an oven and then burn it in an oxygen atmosphere and measure how much heat it produces. However this is not how your body digest foods, it is much more complex than that. You can't get MORE calories out of the food, but you can get less. Your digestive system detects when food is present, and then release enzymes to break it down. It evolved for a mixed diet of fat, protein and carbs and it works very efficiently for that. However they way it detects "food" is to detect carbs, so when carbs are present in food it releases enzymes, including those that break down fat. If you don't have carbs in your meal then much less of the fat enzymes are released and you absorb less of the calories from the fat. It takes a few hours for the fat enzymes to stop working. So if your evening meal calories are coming from fat and protein, with less carbs, you'll absorb less of the energy from the fat in that meal. This is how low carb diets work. It doesn't take many carbs to turn on the fat enzyme production, the odd cookie (biscuit) can undo any benefit. Fat and Protein also make you less hungry. So eating carbs and protein for half the day, and protein and fat for the other half can mean you absorb less of the calories in the food overall. But you must have a gap of about 5 hours between the 2 sets of meals for it to work.