fat grams or calories?

I'm 5'9 195, but have pretty broad shoulders and alot of muscle, but I also am flabby in my chest, neck, and stomach. If I want to drop about 20 pounds, isn't it better to do the Atkins for like 2 or 3 weeks, so that ketosis will kick in and burn the stored fat. Once I get that started and get down to 175, then I will get off and start a more balanced healthy diet, by adding more breads, rice, and good carbs. Is that a good idea? I know that dropping weight "more naturally" is by a low calorie, low fat diet will be healthier, but that will take longer and only drop 4 or 5 pounds per month. Is there a diet that is better for dropping body fat and getting more cut vs. dropping pure weight? Can some health nutricionist help me with a diet plan and exercise plan? I usually jog/walk 10-12 miles per week and I don't consume much sugar, but do cheat with fast food once or twice a week. Any help is appreciated.
 
That food pyramid is spot on. If Americans followed it we would not be fat. The current pyramid is crazy.
 
the reason why low carb is good for us is because we overeat processed carbs. If we only ate good carbs in moderation, atkins wouldn't be around.

the other issue regarding atkins, south beach, etc. is a failure to recognize the benefits of certain foods containing "carbs" -- anti-cancer qualities, overall benefits to cellular functioning, anti-aging qualities, etc.

If you look at the wonder foods list, many of the items have carbs...

berries of all kinds
beans
walnuts and other nuts
oranges
tomatoes

and the list continues. If your diet doesn't contain the wonder foods, you are really doing yourself a disservice.

That food pyramid that horn4life has is great.

Here are my "rules":

Watch calories.
Eat a balanced diet.
Avoid refined sugars, pastas, breads, & rice.
Get plenty of exercise.
Eat in a manner that properly regulates your blood sugar and metabolism.
drink tons of water.

my diet currently constists of the following:

right after waking up: two full glasses of water (also, I always have water at my desk at work).

breakfast: fruit and a handful of nuts or fruit and a scrambled egg. fruit can be a small glass of real orange juice (<5oz) or a pear, banana, apple, etc.

10:30 snack: a piece of fruit or a small handful of nuts.

lunch: salad with spinach or other dark leafed greens, vegetables, maybe chicken.

afternoon snack: a piece of fruit or a small handful of nuts.

dinner: something sensible -- a meat, a vegetable or two with a small side salad. The key here is to have lots of color and reasonable portions. Many times I have nice cheese and wine with dinner but so long as I have only one glass of wine (resturant sized) and a few slices of cheese, it's not really a problem.

bedtime: 2 more glasses of water. If I'm still hungry, I'll eat something like raw carrots.

Sometimes I screw it up -- but I try to fall back on these emergency rules:

If I eat out for dinner -- eat only half, especially if it is Tex-Mex, etc.

If I am drinking, drink red wine and avoid beer... if beer is a must, drink lite beer.

If I eat something bad like pizza, don't repeat that performance the next meal (I used to eat okay during the week and terribly on the weekends).

Now, I just need to add more exercise...

fyi - every single cell in your body is enclosed in a fat-based cellular membrane -- good fat is seriously important to your health and diet.
 
tropheus

Where does Atkins say you can't eat those 'good carbs'? Not in the book I read. And actually, looking at your diet plan that is almost spot on to the way people doing Atkins are SUPPOSED to eat and your core principles are almost identical. You tend to eat a few more high GI fruits than a stict Atkins eater might but that's about it - not that I think there's anything wrong with that - I don't think anyone could get fat eating that plan and I don't follow a stict Atkins regime either but have integrated many of the principles into my lifestyle.
 
Tropheus

Thanks for the mealplan and advice on eating. That is what I want to have the majority of the time once I'm at a healthy weight. Everyone cheats, and as a single male, I drink my share of beer and eat fast foods. I know that plan will work, but is there a way to speed up weight loss and/or losing body fat by being more strict, watching certain fruits/nuts that are higher in carbs, and increasing the amount of exercise I do. Also, if you say that that food pyramid looks good, than why cut out the whole wheat bread and rice, if that's low on the chart and recommended at every meal?
 
The Atkins diet has been revised to make it more marketable. It used to disallow fruits in perpetuity as well as alcohol. The concept of the Atkins is pretty simple. You must run a carbohydrate deficit. Or, you must use up more energy that you get from the carbs in yore body. The body must look elsewhere for energy and it can look to all that protein your gut or burn fat. Since the fat is easier to burn, there you go. It's more complicated than that, but that'll do. As long as you have a carb in your body it will get picked for energy over that hunk of fat that waits to be burned. If you were to eat 0 carbs, then you would theoretically burn up a bunch of fat. That is essentially what you do in the induction phase to get you into a fat burning mode. Once there, you are supposed to tinker with adding good carbs back in until you slow down the weight loss to a reasonable rate and then you get to a maintenance level where you are in balance. The South Beach and Atkins end up in the same place, they just get there in slightly different ways. In the original Atkins, I'm not sure if you are ever supposed to eat fruits again, but I know he was adamant about staying away from sugars. The first diet didn't mention that it's stupid to eat double bacon wrapped, deep fried, cheese balls and lots of people did just that and still lost weight. He claimed later that he thought that shouldn't have to be spelled out for people, but I think he was crawfishing. He also later backed off of his nix of alcohol (IMO because nobody would buy the book) and said you could drink, but must understand that so long as alcohol remained in your body, there would be no fat burning. A Time Out, if you will.
 
hornfan1977

If you seriously just want to lose as much weight as possible in a short term span then I have a suggestion for you. Atkins certainly wouldn't be a good idea - its designed to be a long term thing. And what I'm about to suggest probably isn't the most beneficial for long term success either but you WILL drop a shitload of weight and if you can keep it off after that then more power to you. Obviously its only designed to be a short term thing.

This is really simple, requires about 5 minutes of calculation and a short trip to your local Whole Foods and/or Nutrition store.

And you must enjoy peanutbutter and must not mind your family, friends and co-workers thinking you're a little bit off, if they don't already.

If you do this do it EXACTLY as the link says - the peanutbutter MUST be all natural.

ANPB Diet
 
Jim

I don't think I could handle that diet. No diet is longterm, that's why it's a diet, but I have had success in the past of going on induction part of Atkins for two weeks anytime I feel like dropping pounds. In those two weeks, by limiting your carb consumpion to around 30 g per day, your body does set in ketosis, and burns stored fat. Even when you get off it and go back to eating carbs, yes the weight loss will stop, but for me it stays around the same 3-4 pound range per day. Does anyone have a really accurate way of calculating what weight and body-fat % a person should be at. Like I said earlier, I'm 5'9 and 195, but have a pretty broad frame with a good deal of muscle, so I don't think those BMI charts would be accurate for me. According to those, at 5'9, I should weigh around 150-155. I think with my frame, that 170-175 would be my ideal healthy weight range, but how can I calculate my body fat % without going to a doctor or gym? Can I do that own my own per calculations or tape measurements?
 
Thanks Tropheus. Good advice. I think over the last year or so, I've exercised a lot and have given up several things I love like cokes, beer, sweets, etc. I think if I was at my healthy weight now, I would have no problem with keeping the weight off, even by cheating occassionally and less exercise. The problem is getting to that healthy weight. That's why I'm trying to find diets and exercise plans to get me there more quickly. I don't mind working extra hard and eating a very strict diet, but again, as a single 27 year old male, over time, there will be more days like going downtown and drinking, football season-easy to slip up then, and the holidays.
That's why my goal is to get within that 10 pound healthy range, so that if I'm bad for a time period, I can be strict on the diet and pick up the exercise, and I'm right back where I need to be.

Another question. I know that the whole spot reduction and losing weight is one centralized place doesn't work, and that your body will normally lose body fat/inches first in the places that were last to gain, and vice versa. My neck and chest are a little flabby, along with my stomach. How close do you have to get to you healthy weight range before you really see the body fat come off more noticably, especially in my face? I can see my body losing weight, but not really inches or in specific areas?
 
I think the "modified" Atkins is not really Atkins at all. Atkins is based totally upon a carb deficit. Your "modified" Atkins is probably better charactized as just a healthy, balanced regimine. And that's just good sense. Moderation in all things, even moderation at times, is probably the most realistic and effective goal.
 
hornfan1977

You didn't read my post. I explicitedly stated the ANPB diet was a short term thing and not meant under any circumstances to be more than that. You said you wanted to lose weight quickly over a few weeks and then integrate regular foods and that's exactly what it does. Obviously not everyone would want to even try that.
 
Well, I've been strict with my diet(very low carbs) and picking up the exercise and I've already lost 4 pounds, so I'm gonna stick with it for now. Once I get to 185, then I will add back the good carbs like wheat breads, cereal, skim milk, and high carb fruits.

I've done some research and found that my body type is an endomorph-shorter and stocky, most of the excess weight and body fat is on my lower-half of my body, mainly the abdomen and thigh area. Basically it's more of a pear shape. With this body type, you are more proned to gain weight quicker and have a higher body fat %, which can lead to numerous health risks. So, with this body type it advises to concentrate on a low fat, lower calorie diet over the long haul, which I will once I get to 185, and to do lower weight exercises with higher reps.

I do have a question. Once I reach my goal weight, which is 175, what type of exercises/healthy eating should I concentrate on to not lose anymore weight, but rather cut more body fat?
 
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