Diet Comparison
go to.. New Diet Revolution by Robert C. Atkins M.D.
A Week in the Zone by Barry Sears Ph.D.
Body Rx by A. Scott Connelly M.D.
Body for Life by Bill Phillips
Food & Diet
go to.. USDA Food Guide Pyramid - a High-Carb Get-Fatter-Faster Diet
go to.. Low Carb Diets & Ketosis or Moderate Carbs with Plenty of Protein
go to.. Yo-Yo Low Calorie Diet or Eat More to Lose Weight ?
go to.. Carbs, Insulin & Body Fat
go to.. Sugar and Fructose - a Giant Fat Pill
go to.. Fat in Your Diet
go to.. Fiber in Your Diet
go to.. How Much Water ?
go to.. Eat Five to Six Meals a Day
go to.. Portions not Calories
Protein & Supplements
go to.. Protein and How Much
go to.. Supplements for Lean Muscle
Exercise & Muscle Growth
go to.. Fat Loss per Week & Cellulite
go to.. Aerobics or Weight Lifting ?
go to.. Does Weight Lifting Make Women "Bulky" or Shapely ?
go to.. Weight Lifting for Older People
go to.. How Much Exercise?
go to.. When to Exercise
go to.. How Do Muscles Grow?
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Comparison of 4 popular books - 2 Diets & 2 Muscle Builders
Dr. Atkins' New Diet Revolution by Robert C. Atkins M.D. at Barnes & Noble $13.95
Lose weight! Increase energy! Look great! This book will show you how it's done.[p.3] Atkins works because it targets our stored body fat.[p.6] Safe? Yes. Nutritionally sound? Yes. Keep off all of the lost weight? Nothing could be more true.[p.8] ..Atkins.. is composed of protein and fat, both essential to the human body, plus controlled quantities of the most nutrient-dense carbohydrates, primarily in the form of vegetables.[p.16]
Phase 1, known as Induction, crashes you through most weight loss barriers...Phase 2, Ongoing Weight Loss, will carry you smoothly toward your goal. phase 3, Pre-Maintenance, eases you toward your goal. Phase 4, Lifetime Maintenance.[p.20]
A Week in the Zone by Barry Sears Ph.D. at Barnes & Noble $7.50
My research showed that if you were able to keep insulin levels within a certain zone - not too high and not too low - you could dramatically improve your health and prevent a wide range of diseases. What's more, you could also make your body start using fat for energy, thus allowing you to lose excess body fat without feeling hungry. ...by eating the right combination of foods at every meal.[p.1] The Zone is about hormonal thinking, not calorie thinking.[p.10] You balance your plate at every meal, and never eat too many calories at a meal.[p.21]
....a protein-adequate, carbohydrate-moderate, low-fat diet to keep insulin within a zone.[p197] You'll eat a lot of food without hunger, fatigue, or deprivation and without consuming a lot of calories.[p.29] Within two to three days you should see a noticeable reduction in your carbohydrate cravings and an increased mental focus.[p.174]
Body Rx by A. Scott Connelly M.D. at Barnes & Noble $13.95
My 6-Pack Prescription is composed of four six-week cycles, each of which has a different eating plan, weight training program, and optional supplement regimen that work synergistically to produce maximum results. On the meal plan, you will be full and satisfied, eating more than you dreamed possible. On the weight-training regimen, your body will be transformed weekly without endless hours of aerobics. ...scientifically designed to build high-quality muscle that burns fat better and faster than anything else. Give me four hours a week and I can transform your body.[p.9] The only way you can "cheat" on my program is by not eating enough food.[p.24] .
Body for Life by Bill Phillips at Barnes & Noble $26.95
What would it take for you to let me help you build your best body ever in as little as 12 weeks? ...a specific exercise and nutrition plan that has been proven to produce startling results.....an extraordinary physique transformation......possibly even erase years of fitness neglect in a mere 12 weeks.....without having to spend all of your time in the gym doing boring aerobic exercise and starving yourself.....having the energy to go all-out dawn to dusk...and it doesn't matter if you're 22 or 62.[p.xv]
USDA Food Guide Pyramid - a High-Carb Get-Fatter-Faster Diet
Atkins People were taught to regard sugary cereals, which bore the American Heart Association's seal of approval, as health food, along with bread, pasta, bagels and the like. ..These twin epidemics, obesity and diabetes, were clearly the result of the low-fat, high-carbohydrate diet that was being preached to the public as gospel.[p.xii]
Low-fat diets are in effect high-carbohydrate diets and bring on the very problems that they were intended to protect us from.[p.16] To make low-fat product taste good, manufacturers add lots of sugar. This is not real food: it's invented, fake food. It's filled with sugar and highly refined carbohydrates and with chemically altered trans fats, not to mention plenty of other chemical additives.[p.25]
Zone You may think you already know how to properly use food by avoiding fat, and eating plenty of carbohydrates like pasta, bagels, bread, and rice. ..you may be puzzled as to why you're gaining rather than losing weight. Truth is, you have it backward. ...you're probably eating far too many carbohydrates.[p.2] The government recommends eating 6 to 11 servings each day of unfavorable carbohydrates, such as grains and starches.[p32]
Body Rx ....established in 1992 to show Americans what to eat. What it really showed Americans was how to get fatter faster. ..6 to 11 servings of glucose-producing starchy carbohydrates (like bread, pasta, and potatoes) and 2 to 3 servings of protein every day. Follow that recommendation and you will get fat.[p.40]
Low Carb Diets & Ketosis or Moderate Carbs with Plenty of Protein
Atkins If we take it [body fat] out of the back-up position and convert our body to using it as a primary fuel source, the result is an extremely efficient weight loss and weight maintenance program. This switch occurs when only an insignificant amount of carbohydrates. our body's primary fuel, is available. ....very little glycogen (made from carbohydrate) is stored in our bodies; if we eat fewer carbs, we almost immediately trip the switch.[p.6] The metabolic advantage is that burning fat takes more energy so you expend more calories.[p.18] So when there is no carbohydrate food source to make glucose, the liver will actually convert protein to glucose.[p47]
Research has repeatedly demonstrated that controlling carbohydrate intake results in improved blood cholesterol and tryglyceride levels, moderation of blood-sugar levels, and reduction of blood pressure. ...in my forty years of practice, I've yet to see a single study that has shown that a high-protein diet causes kidney problems.[p.21]
Lipolysis .."the process of dissolving fat".. results in the creation of ketones (that's ketosis), a perfectly normal and natural function of the body.[p.57 When your body releases ketones - which it will do in your breath and your urine - it is chemical proof that you're consuming your own stored fat. Ketones fuel the body in lipolysis.[p.59]
A prolonged fast can be dangerous...the body burns not only fat for energy, it also burns protein...some of the body's lean muscle tissue....on an eating plan where you are in lipolysis, and the carbohydrate intake is low enough to result in ketosis, virtually no lean tissue is lost, only fatty tissue.[p.61]
The Induction phase of Atkins, which people often mistake for the entire program, is the most strict, permitting only 20 grams of carbohydrates each day.[p.98] It typically takes about three to four days for the body to convert from a sugar metabolism to a primarily fat metabolism. Your body can store carbohydrates for only up to forty-eight hours.[p.99]
Zone In the absence of a minimal amount of incoming carbohydrates, the body is quickly set into an abnormal metabolic condition known as ketosis. ...when there is not enough carbohydrate to metabolize fat completely, and waste products known as ketone bodies begin to accumulate in the blood. The reason behind the quick weight loss seen with high-protein diets is that you body is working overtime to expel all of the ketone bodies in your system [p.191]
Body Rx I strongly disagree with diet gurus who contend that a high-protein diet will work only if you give up most carbohydrates. Those low-carbohydrate/high-protein diets are designed to create a biochemical condition within the body called ketosis, which promotes the formation of chemicals called ketones. Over time, ketogenic diets can cause nasty side effects like bad breath, constipation, and sallow-looking skin and may even cause kidney damage. Moreover, their high fat content may put susceptible people at much greater risk for heart disease. If you do not eat enough carbohydrates, you cannot utilize protein properly....can actually prevent you from building muscle and staying lean.[p.20]
The 6-Pack Prescription is not a ketogenic diet: You can eat virtually unlimited amounts of good carbohydrates. These diet doctors have it all backwards. They stress cutting out carbohydrates: I stress adding protein. If you follow a very strict low-calorie diet, you will probably lose some weight. You may even lose a lot of weight. But you will not be substantially leaner. Chances are you will end up a smaller version of your fat self.
Yo-Yo Low Calorie Diet or Eat More to Lose Weight ?
Atkins When you restrict the number of calories you eat, your metabolism shifts into a survival mode, meaning it slows down to conserve energy. When you go back on a higher-calorie diet - as you inevitably must - your body is still in its mode of burning calories slowly.[p.19] ...the likelihood that you'll permanently lose weight by controlling your caloric intake is almost nil.[p.24]
Zone As you continue to diet [very low carbs-ed.]and force your body into ketosis, insidious changes are slowly taking place in your body. First, your fat cells begin adapting themselves and become "fat magnets" that now are 10 times more active in shuttling fat into fat cells than they were before you went on the high-protein diet [& very low carb-ed.]. This means that when you do go off the diet, you'll accumulate fat at a frightening rate. Second, your brain... instructs your body to start tearing down protein in existing muscle mass to convert into glucose for energy. Third, you are consuming far too much saturated fat. ....makes your cells less responsive to insulin. ....in turn forces the body to start making more insulin, which is what made you fat in the first place.[p.192]
Body Rx I am more concerned about the quality of the food that you eat than the quantity.[p.13] It is possible for someone to be thin on the outside and fat on the inside..."thin/fat category". To stay slim, they must subsist on very low-calorie diets, at great personal cost. They walk around tired, hungry, and frustrated that they can't eat normal meals. If they depart even slightly from their draconian diets, they blow up like balloons. Most of the nutrients they consume are parked as fat. Because they don't have enough muscle - in fact, on these low calorie diets , they're losing muscle - they don't burn fat efficiently. Therefore they can only maintain their figures by starving themselves. It only gets worse with time.[p.14]
When you follow a low-carb, low calorie diet, you may lose weight but you don't necessarily lose fat, and you also lose muscle. On the typical weight-loss diet you will lose about 65 percent fat and 35% lean mass. When you go off the diet, you gain weight back primarily in the form of fat. Each time you go on and off your diet, you progressively chew up more muscle and make more fat. This does not happen if you eat enough protein.[p.18]
Body for Life If you try to "starve off" unwanted fat, you are playing a game you can't win. ..your body will "fight back" when you severely restrict food intake - it reduces the rate at which it burns fat. ...lowers your metabolic rate. You also begin to lose muscle tissue. You'll feel tired, weak, and irritable. Your immune system will suffer, too. Typically half of the pounds lost comes from muscle tissue that is sacrificed.[p.43]
Muscle uses energy, even while you're sleeping. Fat pretty much just sits there. When you do go off the diet you will gain back the fat you lost, and more. That's because you've turned your body into a less efficient fat-burning machine by losing muscle. When you try to lose fat again, you'll have to eat even less to drop weight. But eventually you'll give in and gain back even more fat. .."yo-yo dieting". You must let go of the myth that not eating is the key to fat loss.[p.44] go to Top
Carbs, Insulin & Body Fat
go to a Glycemic Index site
Atkins Carbohydrate includes sugars and starches that are chains of sugar molecules. Although carbohydrate provides the quickest source of energy, we eat too much of it. ...you can eat plenty of vegetables with high concentrations of beneficial nutrients and still control your carbs. .....carbohydrates such as those in sugar and white flour contain almost nothing that your body needs in large quantities.[p.14]
The metabolic effect resulting from excess insulin production can be circumvented by controlling carbohydrates. When you control your intake of refined carbohydrates, you avoid the foods that cause you to be fat. Our epidemics of diabetes, heart disease and high blood pressure are very largely the results of our over consumption of refined carbohydrates and its connection to hyper insulination.[p.12]
An essential hormone, insulin governs the basic mechanism by which the body lays on fat.[p.21] ...the control hormone for glucose, a basic form of sugar.[p.47] As the sugar level in your blood goes up, the pancreas releases insulin to move the sugar out of your blood. It then transports the blood sugar to your body's cells for their energy needs. ...when these needs are met, the liver converts excess glucose into glycogen, which is stored in the liver and muscles, where it is readily available for energy use. The liver converts the remaining glucose to fat. The main chemical constituent of all of this [body] fat is tryglyceride..that..can be a risk factor for heart disease and stroke.[p.49]
Foods made of protein and fat, on the other hand, require little or no insulin.[p.51]
The glycemic index is a numerical scale that tells you how fast glucose enters your bloodstream after a specific food is eaten. By choosing low-glycemic foods you can insure yourself a stable, smoothly running metabolic engine.[p.79] ...two foods that contribute most to elevating blood sugar to an excessive level (called the "glycemic load") are baked potatoes and cold breakfast cereals.[p.83]
Zone The real cause of our growing epidemic of obesity is excess production of the hormone insulin. It is excess insulin that makes you fat and keeps you fat. The hormonal effect of a calorie of carbohydrate is different than the hormonal effect of a calorie of protein, and is still different from the hormonal effect of a calorie of fat. When these nutrients are out of balance and insulin levels surge too high, they can wreak havoc on you're body's hormonal equilibrium.[p.3] On the other hand, if insulin levels are too low, your cells begin to starve because a certain amount of insulin is required to drive life-sustaining nutrients into your cells.[p.4]
Insulin is a "storage hormone". It tells the body to store incoming nutrients. ...two ways to increase insulin and drive yourself out of the Zone. The first is to eat too many carbohydrates at any one meal. The other is to eat too many calories at any one meal. ...any excess calories the body cannot immediately store will be converted to fat.. Unfortunately, the same high levels of insulin that cause you to store fat will also block the release of any stored fat for energy. This is why excess insulin makes you fat and keeps you fat.[p.9]
..the best predictor of heart disease is not high cholesterol, not high blood pressure, but elevated levels of insulin.[p.15] The primary cause of aging is due to the continued production of excess insulin and its ability to accelerate the development of chronic disease.[p.16]
..make sure that most of your carbohydrate choices come from favorable carbohydrates (primarily fruits and vegetables), and treat unfavorable carbohydrates (such as grains and starches) like condiments. ..glycemic load..the combination of both the density of the carbohydrate in a given volume, and the rate at which it will enter the bloodstream. ....the higher the glycemic load...the greater its ability to stimulate insulin. Vegetables (except for corn and carrots) always have a low glycemic load....fruits (except for bananas and raisins) will usually have an intermediate glycemic load. Starches and grains (except for oatmeal and barley) have very high glycemic loads.[p.24] ....some complex carbohydrates such as potatoes, rice, and carrots actually enter the blood stream as glucose at a faster rate than does table sugar. The lower the glycemic load, the more favorable the carbohydrate choice is for the Zone.[p.154]
Body Rx Obesity greatly increases your risk of developing ...Syndrome X, insulin resistance, and Type II or adult-onset diabetes. All of these disorders involve insulin, the hormone that is essential for regulating the body's metabolism of sugar and starches as well as performing many other important jobs, including playing a critical role in the storage of fat and protein and the manufacture of cholesterol.[p.30]
Starchy carbohydrates actively inhibit the burning of our stored fat for energy. Our bodies will utilize the glucose as fuel instead of burning fat. Some of the carbohydrates that are not converted into glucose will be stored as glycogen in muscle cells, but muscle cells can only store small amounts. The excess carbohydrates will be stored as fat, and there is virtually no limit to the amount of fat we can sock away.[p.40]
Body for Life Insulin as a "nutrient-transport hormone". It shuttles amino acids and glucose (blood sugar), among other things, into cells. Eating a high-carb diet can also stimulate the appetite and cause unfavorable and unpredictable mood swings (especially in the mid-afternoon). Moreover, when insulin levels are elevated, your body will not burn fat. On the other hand, protein provides stable energy levels through its effect on insulin and blood sugar. ..also helps control your appetite.[p.48]
Sugar and Fructose - a Giant Fat Pill
Atkins You will have to abandon sugar and other refined carbohydrates such as white flour but most people find that once they shake off the sugar addiction, they feel no strong desire to go back to it.[p.19] ...over one-third of all the calories an adult puts into his or her body each day comes from nutritionally empty and metabolically harmful caloric sweeteners. Sugar has no nutritional value and is directly harmful to your health. Sugar is a metabolic poison.[p.24] When you do Atkins, you eliminate virtually all refined sugar and flour and processed foods.[p.29]
To stop a binge.....take certain nutrients: chromium picilinate or chromium polynicotinate (400 mcg, three times a day for 2 days), L-glutamine (500 to 1,000 mg, three times daily); plus a single dose of vitamin B complex (50 mg). At the same time, overwhelm the cravings by instituting a high-fat, high-protein regimen: fatty fish, poultry, meat, cream cheese, shake mix or diet soda withheavy cream. [p.245]
Body Rx Eating fructose is like taking a giant fat pill. It sets your metabolism in fat-storage mode and keeps it there.[p.22] Sugar produces a tidal wave of glucose that disrupts nutrient partitioning, pushing you into perpetual fat storage.[p.63] Fructose can switch metabolism from fat burning to fat storage mode by promoting the formation of long-chain fatty acids, which are resistant to oxidation. ...what doesn't get oxidized (i.e. burned for fuel) gets stored in the body. Therefore, the more long-chain fatty acids you produce, the more fat you will have on your body.[p.50]
Adolescents and teenagers binge on sugar all day long. They eat and drink it. The average teen age boy consumes 34 teaspoons of added sugar in his food daily. Teen age girls consume 24 teaspoons of sugar daily.[p.53] High-fructose corn syrup is just about everywhere. ...the primary sweetener used in processed foods. As much as 16 percent of our daily calories come from fructose.[p.22] ...also known as levulose or fruit sugar. High-fructose corn syrup, which is identical to the fructose found in nature, is a chemically altered version of corn syrup. There is compelling scientific evidence demonstrating the fructose, more than any other single ingredient, is responsible for the obesity epidemic sweeping the U.S. [p.47]
Fructose can increase the amount of uric acid produced by the body, which may increase the risk of developing gout, a common form of arthritis. Both glucose and fructose can damage proteins in the body, resulting in the formation of what scientists call "advanced glycation end products" AGE products not only cause noticeable damage, such as wrinkles and age spots, but ....can do internal harm to joints and vital organs, including the heart and eyes. Fructose is ten times more likely than sucrose or glucose to trigger the formation of AGE products. ....fructose may also increase the risk of osteoporosis. ....may disrupt the normal balance among magnesium, calcium, and phosphorous.[p.50]
Fat in Your Diet
Atkins Fat provides glycerol and essential fatty acids, which the body cannot make.[p.14] Fat is the only substance that won't have an impact on your blood sugar.[p.55] Olive oil is particularly valuable. All other vegetable oils are allowed...especially if they are labeled "cold-pressed" or "expeller-pressed".[p.127] Omega-9 fatty acids are readily available in olive oil, but you need supplements to get adequate amounts of omega-3 and omega-6 oils.[p.306]
...the most grossly harmful heart health trend of the last century was the gradual replacement of healthy natural fats and protein foods with foods such as margarine. They are constructed with hydrogenated and partially hydrogenated oils, which both contain fats never found in Nature. Called trans fats - meaning transformed from their natural state - they are manufactured by heating vegetable oils at a high temperature and bombarding them with hydrogen gas to form more stable oils. ...constructed of twisted, unnatural molecules that the body cannot process. ...into virtually all baked goods and other junk food.[p.354]
Zone You cannot get fat by eating dietary fat alone. [p.12] Fat has no direct effect on insulin. Nor does it have any effect on glucagon.[p.10] ..the right types of fat do play an indirect role in helping lower the insulin response to carbohydrates. ...slows down the entry rate of carbohydrates into the bloodstream...send a hormonal signal to the brain that says, "Stop eating." By taking fat (which has no effect on insulin) out of the diet and replacing it with carbohydrates (which have a strong stimulatory effect on insulin), you are virtually guaranteeing that you will become fatter. The best type of fat....mono saturated fat, found in such foods as olive oil, avocados, almonds, and macadamia nuts, and long-chain omega-3 fats, found in fish and fish oils.[p.15] Remember, it takes fat to burn fat.[p.25]
I consider these fats to be really "bad" fats. ..saturated fats, trans fats, and arachidonic acids. You find saturated fats in fatty cuts of red meat and high-fat dairy products. ..trans fats...created by the food industry and are found in virtually all processed foods. Any time you see the words "partially hydrogenated vegetable oil" you know that food contains trans fats. ....the more trans fats you eat, the more at risk you are for heart disease. ...arachidonic acid, which is found primarily in fatty red meats, egg yolks, and organ meats. This particular polyunsaturated fat may be the most dangerous fat known when consumed in excess.[p.26]
Body Rx As a physician, I think that pushing high-fat sources of protein is completely irresponsible. An unknown percentage of people will get atherosclerosis (clogged arteries) from a high-fat diet.[p.21] Some saturated fats may raise blood cholesterol levels and increase the risk of having a heart attack or stroke. Therefore, I recommend that you limit your intake of saturated fats by sticking to the leanest cuts of meat and low-fat or non-fat dairy products.[p.61]
Extremely low-fat diets will dry out your skin and nails, make you tired, and leave you hungry. Too little fat in your diet can slow down fat burning.[p.61]
Polyunsaturated fats are found primarily in vegetable oils... reasonably healthy in limited quantities, and some of them (safflower oil, canola oil, and sunflower oil) may reduce blood cholesterol levels. Omega-3 fatty acids found in fatty fish are a special type of polyunsaturated fat that appears to be quite beneficial.[p.61] Scores of studies have documented the positive health effects of these fats, which have been shown to lower blood triglycerides levels, reduce the risk of blood clots, and reduce inflammation, and may help prevent certain forms of cancer.[p.62]
...Olive oil, a mono saturated oil that is just as healthy and tastes better.[.p61]
There is one kind of fat I want you to avoid - trans-fatty acids. Some polyunsaturated oils and margarine undergo a process called hydrogenation to make them useful for baking and increase their shelf Life. This process creates trans-fatty acids. ...may become incorporated within cell membranes, making them rigid, which can interfere with cell function. .....increase your risk of insulin resistance, high cholesterol, and cancer. Unless a label clearly states NO TRANS-FATTY ACIDS, you have to assume that most processed foods and margarines do.[p.62]
Don't add more than 1 to 2 tablespoons of fat (in the form of salad dressings, butter, and other toppings and spreads) to your daily diet.[p.87]
Fiber in Your Diet
Atkins ...fiber actually slows the entry of glucose into the bloodstream. ...binds to cholesterol in the intestine, helping rid the body of it...absorbs and then eliminates bacterial toxins in the intestine....supports the immune system by crowding out harmful bacteria in the colon.[p.75]
Body Rx Fiber burns fat. And protein and fiber together are the most powerful fat-burning food combination there is. ...the body burns short-chain fatty acids made from fiber fermented in you intestinal tract. Notably, the burning of fatty acids from fiber stimulates the release of even more fat from fat cells, causing your rate of fat burning to snowball dramatically.[p.39]
To prevent problems, introduce fiber slowly, gradually increasing your intake every day.[p.87]
How Much Water ?
Atkins Drink at least eight 8-ounce glasses of water each day to hydrate your body, avoid constipation and flush out the by-products of burning fat.[p.134]
Zone Drink at least eight 8 ounce glasses of water every day.[p.6]
Body Rx Drink at least 8 glasses of it a day. It helps maintain a favorable hormonal balance in the body that promotes fat burning.[p.88]
Body for Life Drink it with meals and between them. Drink it often, and drink a lot. Healthy muscle is comprised of more than 70% water. And water is an essential transport mechanism for a vast array of nutrients like vitamins and minerals and even carbohydrates. If your water intake is low, your ability to transport nutrients becomes compromised, and you'll lose strength and feel sluggish because of the buildup of ammonia, urea, uric acid, and other junk. One of the best ways to get rid of [water retention] is to drink more water, not less. Drinking water can also help you control your appetite.
Eat Five to Six Meals a Day
Zone Try to eat five times per day: three Zone meals and two Zone snacks. Always eat within one hour after waking. Never let more than five hours go by without eating a Zone meal or snack.[p.5] ...you feel less hungry, you are more mentally alert and more energized throughout the day. Carbohydrate cravings become a thing of the past.[p.4]
Body Rx Many of you have been told to stick to three meals a day and not eat in between or you'll get fat. Wrong! Your metabolism works best when it is well fed throughout the day. The 6-Pack Prescription calls for six meals spread throughout the day, no more than three hours apart. The mere act of eating turns up metabolism. When you eat, you stimulate the body to burn energy. Therefore, if you eat smaller, more frequent meals throughout the day, you will burn more energy.[p.56]
When people begin following the 6-Pack Prescription Meal Plan, they are astonished to find themselves slimming down despite eating more food in general and more protein in particular.[p.57] It's essential to eat every two to three hours to keep your metabolism burning fat to build muscle. Skipping meals and cutting calories will not improve your body: It will hinder your fat burning. This is especially true for women. The less often you eat, the more likely your body is to store fat.[p.73] When you let yourself get hungry, you get tired and cranky, and end up reaching for the wrong foods, the ones that make you store fat.[p.75]
Body for Life Eating six nutritious meals a day is the right way. To transform your body....you must develop the pattern of feeding your body frequently throughout the day. You should not go more than a few hours (while you're awake) without eating. Eating often helps keep your body's food alarm in check....helps accelerate the metabolism so you burn more calories.... the food is more efficiently absorbed and processed by your body. ...you'll have more energy, less hunger pangs and cravings. ..you'll be creating a "metabolic environment" that supports healthy fat loss and muscle gain.[p.45]
Portions not Calories
Atkins ...excess calories certainly cause you to pile on the pounds - but - only when you are eating a lot of carbohydrates with fat. Many people think that only one thing matters: how many calories you take in and use up. It's not that simple.[p.17] So it's not that calories don't count, it's just that you will burn more of them, with less hunger, when you're body is operating on a fat-based metabolism.[p.18]
Zone On one-third of your plate put some low-fat protein that is no bigger or thicker than the palm of your hand. Then fill the other two-thirds of the plate...with fruits and vegetables. Then add a dash of mono saturated fat, like olive oil, slivered almonds, or even guacamole. ...a Zone meal.[p.27]
Rather than counting calories you'll be counting grams of fat, protein, and carbohydrates.[p.151] ...for every one gram of fat you consume, you want to add two grams of low-fat protein and three grams of carbohydrates to every meal.[p.152]
Body Rx Don't count calories. On my program you will probably be eating more calories than you ever have before. Calories play a secondary role to nutrient partitioning.[.p2] Your body composition will vary depending on whether you are eating 2,000 calories a day of the right food versus 2,000 calories a day of the wrong food.[p.16]
According to the calorie theory, what you eat doesn't matter; how many calories of it you eat does. No one has ever proven this theory to be true. Human metabolism is far more complicated than that.[p.34]
A 3-ounce portion is roughly the size of a deck of playing cards. Three ounces of any type of meat, fish, or poultry contains about 20 grams of protein.[p.78]
Body for Life A portion is an amount of food roughly equal to the size of your clenched fist [vegetables] or the palm of your hand [meat, chicken]. Choose a portion of protein and carbohydrates from each column [p.83] to make a meal. Add a serving of vegetables to at least two of your daily meals.
Protein and How Much
Body Rx To escape fat-storage mode,...you have to eat more protein, plain and simple.[p.18] Protein molecules drive all the chemical reactions involved in the breakdown and absorption of food, including carbohydrates and fat. Many studies show that simply adding protein to your diet turns on your fat-burning/muscle-building switch - even if you make no other lifestyle changes. When you're stuck in fat-storage mode, you need a powerful protein boost to jump-start your metabolism back into fat-burning mode.[p.19]
To fill the protein gap, in addition to increasing protein consumption through food, I recommend a daily high-potency protein powder. It is a simple, safe, efficient way to repair your metabolism and build a lean, shapely body.[p.19] When you add protein to your diet, you will get leaner. The reason is what I call "the protein paradox". ...the more protein you eat, the more fat you burn.[p.40]
Consuming enough protein is important for body composition because you can't make or maintain muscle without amino acids. Amino acids are stored primarily in muscle cells. If you don't get enough amino acids in your diet, your body is going to rob them from your muscle cells. The result is that you become fat and flabby. The loss of muscle creates a vicious cycle in which you keep gaining fat while losing more muscle.[p.41]
If you don't eat enough protein throughout the day, your level of available amino acids will inevitably drop. If...there aren't enough free amino acids available from your food, [your body] will take what it needs from wherever it can get it, and muscle is one of the richest sources. ...you will steadily deplete your muscles and bring new muscle production to a grinding halt.[p.57]
Protein (Cycle 1) 1 gram per pound of body weight [p.96]
Protein (Cycle 2) 1.25 grams per pound of body weight [p.113]
Protein (Cycle 3) 1.50 grams per pound of body weight [p.130]
Protein (Cycle 4) 1.25 grams per pound of body weight [p.147]
Protein shakes are an easy way to make sure that you are meeting your protein requirements for each cycle. The best meal replacement proteins are derived from a composite of normal milk proteins (casein and whey) and contain at least 30 grams of protein. They also include a complete array of vitamins and minerals, including trace elements.[p.83] Don't mix your shakes with milk. Use water.[p.84] I don't recommend milk for adults. Milk is a mediocre source of protein, and it contains high amounts of lactose, a sugar that causes gastrointestinal distress in many adults.[p.89]
Pure protein powder contains protein and nothing else. A good protein powder provides up to 50 grams of protein per serving. ...can be made into high-potency protein drinks or used in cooking (e.g. added to oatmeal or casseroles). Protein powder is less expensive than ready-to-drink replacement protein.[p.83]
Protein bars can be a convenient and portable way to augment your protein intake on the run. A high-quality protein bar should be at least 30 to 50 percent protein by weight. Beware of added sugar ...in the case of many bars, sugar is the first, second, or third ingredient listed... Also, many bars contain high amounts of high-fructose corn syrup.[p.84]
Body for Life The thermic effect (the increase in energy required for digestion, absorption, and disposal of ingested food) of a protein-rich meal is much greater than a high-carbohydrate meal.[p.48]
Atkins Protein - complex chains of amino acids - is the basic building block of life and essential to almost every chemical reaction in the human body.[p.14] When the body is not getting enough protein from food, it turns to it's only source of non-dietary protein: muscle. The body will actually begin to consume its own healthy muscle tissue. ........where is her body going to find the protein to fuel her for those forty-five minutes on the stair-climber machine? It will turn to the very muscles she's trying to build and tone - not to the fat cells she thinks she's burning. If you instead give your body all the protein and fat it desires, your body will know that food is plentiful. It will then accept your running, walking, stair-climbing, etc...[p.294]
Zone ...protein stimulates the release of glucagon, which has the opposite hormonal effect of insulin. Glucagon is a "mobilization hormone" It tells the body to release stored carbohydrate in the liver to replenish blood sugar levels for the brain. Without adequate levels of glucagon, you will always feel hungry and mentally fatigued because the brain is not getting enough of its primary fuel - blood sugar. Insulin and glucagon are constantly performing this balancing act. If one hormone goes up, then the other hormone goes down.[p.9]
In the Zone, you never eat more than 3 to 4 ounces of low-fat protein at any one meal. ...you are always eating more carbohydrates than protein in the Zone.[p.16] ...never consume any more low-fat protein at a meal than you can fit on the palm of your hand ...also means the thickness of your hand For most American females, this is 3 ounces (aprox 20g protein-ed)...males this is about 4 ounces(aprox 26g protein-ed). Unless you are very active, your body can't utilize any more protein than that at a single sitting: any excess protein will be converted to fat.[p.23] ..soybean isolate...has the least effect on insulin and the greatest effect on glucagon.[p.40]
I always recommend a minimum of 75 grams of protein throughout the day...for most women, ....men will require about 100 grams of low-fat protein each day.[p.175]
Supplements for Lean Muscle
Atkins
Chromium - which deserves most of the attention, helps activate the uptake of insulin at its receptor sites...best assimilated in the form of chromium polynicotinate. ...will build muscle, decrease body fat and lower cholesterol levels.[p.305] ...up to 1,000 mcg daily.[p.307]
Vandium - (vandium sulfate) is a trace mineral...helping cells to absorb blood sugar more effectively and thereby decreasing the need for insulin.[p.305]
L-Carnitine - ...it has the ability to ensure that fat converts to fuel. When carnitine is deficient, the conversion of burned fat to ketones is impaired. I start most of my patients off with 500 mg, three times daily taken before meals, but frequently the doses must be increased, to perhaps as high as 5,000 mg in divided doses before meals.[p.261]
C0-enzyme Q-10 - ...another vital nutrient necessary for fat to serve as fuel, may require large doses, often in excess of 300 mg daily.[p.261] ...works in collaboration with creatine and chromium to mobilize fat.[p.307]
Other nutrients capable of overcoming slow weight loss include chromium, alpha lipolic acid, glutamine, phenylalanine and the combinations of inositol, choline, and methionine.[p.261]
Zone
Chromium - is part of a biochemical complex known as glucose tolerance factor. ...the more chromium you have, the less insulin you need to make. My prescription for chromium...200 mcg per day.[p145]
C0-enzyme Q-10 - ...the body can synthesize it, but the synthesis is usually very inefficient. ...for preventing the oxidation of low-density lipoproteins (LDL), which appear to be a major factor in the development of atherosclerosis. I recommend 30 mg per day.[p.146]
Fish oil - ...rich in vitamin A and D. ...high levels of long-chain omega-3 fatty acids called eicospentaenoic acid (EPA) abd docosahexaenoic acid (DHA). EPA turns out to be a key factor for controlling insulin levels, and DHA is needed to maintain and rebuild your brain.[p.136] Without adequate levels of DHA, your brain power drops significantly. Fifty percent of the weight of the brain is composed of fat. And one-third of the brain's mass is composed of long-chain omega-3 fats, like DHA.[p.137]
Vitamin E - Increased supplementation with Vitamin E will have a dramatic clinical effect on diseases ranging from heart disease to Alzheimer's and immune system disorders. The primary benefit of Vitamin E is the destruction of fat-soluble free radicals. I recommend taking a minimum of 100 I.U. per day, with 400 I.U. a reasonable upper limit for adults.[p.138]
Vitamin C - ...an anti-oxidant that reduces excess water-soluble free radicals. If you don't have enough Vitamin C, these oxidation products pile up and get stored in your fat cells, where they can cause trouble.[p.139]
Body Rx
Creatine - Creatine mono hydrate is an amino acid found in meat and fish. It helps build strength. ...provides more fuel to muscle cells, allowing them to work harder and you get better results in the gym. For days 1 to 10 [Cycle 1] you will take 10 grams of creatine daily. For the rest of Cycle 1, cut back to 5 grams. ...best absorbed when taken with both protein and carbohydrates.[p.252]
HMB - (beta-hydroxy beta-methylbutyrate)..naturally produced in the body from foods containing leucine, an amino acid. ...appears to have a protein sparing effect. ...reduces protein loss during exercise so that more protein is available to build muscle. HMB is safe; there are no known side effects. Take 3 grams of HMB daily ...with food.[p.253]
Green Tea - Scientists suspect that an antioxidant found in green tea, epigalloctechin gallate (EGCG), is the chemical that turns up your body's fat-burning furnaces, not the caffeine, as was commonly thought. Rather than flood you with green tea, I recommend taking a supplement. Take three 259-mg capsules ...standardized to 75 percent catechins, containing 50 percent epigallocatechin gallate.[p.254]
DIM - Diiodolymethane is a chemical derived from cruciferous vegetables such as broccoli, cauliflower, cabbage, and Brussels sprouts. DIM metabolites are processed by the same enzyme systems that break down an important fat-burning hormone called epinephrine....[which] controls the release of fatty acids from fat cells. The more epinephrine, the more fat you will burn. ...DIM helps preserve circulating levels of epinephrine, enhancing fat burning. Women - take one 75-mg capsule of DIM daily, Men - take two 75-mg capsules daily.[p254]
MC - Medium-chain-triglycerides are a special kind of fatty acid derived from coconut and palm kernel oil. ...MCT's bypass the normal digestive process and are rapidly absorbed by the body. When given the option, the body will burn MCT's for energy over protein and glucose, which both spares protein (to make more lean mass) and stimulate more fat loss.[p.255]
Body for Life
Without optimal levels of the nutrients your body needs, you are not going to get the results you're looking for. You may be doing more harm than good when you exercise a nutrient deficient body. [p.35] It is between workouts that you must fuel your body with the proper nutrients to feed your muscles. ...nutrients such as amino acids (which come from quality protein), vitamins, minerals, creatine, and other essential raw materials.[p40]
There really is a very sound, scientific basis for supplementation. It is impossible to predict the nutrient value of various whole foods. That's why I've used vitamin and mineral supplements, as well as nutrition shakes, virtually every day for the last 10 years.[p.50] As soon as you start exercising intensely, you must begin eating the right way; you must start consistently feeding your body what it needs to re-create itself, so you can enjoy rapid and rewarding progress.[p.83]
Creatine - ...a nutrient that has been shown, in dozens of university studies, to enhance size and muscle strength, as well as energy.[p.121]
HMB - The other supplement I recommend to enhance muscle building effect is called HMB (beta-hydroxy beta-methylbutyrate) ...university studies have shown enhances the positive effects of intense exercise.[p.121]
Fat Loss per Week & Cellulite
Zone ...it's physically impossible to lose more than 1 to 1-1/2 pounds of body fat per week. However, all of the weight you will lose in the Zone will be pure fat, as opposed to water and muscle.[p.18]
Body Rx Cellulite is the popular term used to describe fatty deposits around the hips, buttocks, and thighs. ....just fat cells, but of a particularly stubborn variety. ...fat deposits on the lower body are more resistant to fat burning than other fat cells.[p.261]
Protein and fiber will help liberate fat from those reluctant areas, but weight training will move things along faster. Weight training makes fat cells more sensitive to epinephrine.[p.262]
Body for Life The truth is, tens of thousands of people have already dramatically transformed their physiques in as little as 12 weeks - burning more fat and building more strength in a matter of months than they have in years. I believe most people can lose up to 25 pounds of body fat in 12 weeks. If you are losing more than two pounds a week, you may be losing muscle tissue as well. The fact is, when you lose fat, you lose cellulite.
Aerobics or Weight Lifting ?
Atkins The American College of Sports Medicine recommends that you include weight-bearing exercise in your workouts two of three non-consecutive days a week. It's recommended that you do one set each of eight to twelve exercises that address most of the major muscles in the body.[p.291]
Zone ...you should do 30 minutes of aerobic exercise every day... In addition, you want to spend 5 to 10 minutes a day on a strength-training program.[p.126]
Body Rx Get off the treadmill. My exercise philosophy revolves around strength training. You get all the benefits - even the healthy heart benefits - of aerobics from strength training, in addition to a lean, sculpted body that is impossible to achieve on aerobics alone.[p.2] Weigh lifting is the only form of exercise that can build muscle and lean mass. ...changes your body composition from fat to lean quickly and effectively. ..muscle is the engine that runs your metabolism....gets you into the fat-burning mode and keeps you there....burns more fat than other tissue, even when your body is at rest.[p.24]
There is nothing that aerobics can do for your body that weight training can't do faster and better. Aerobics does not build muscle. Aerobic exercise turns up fat burning only during the time that you are exercising. In contrast, weight training turns up fat burning not only while you are exercising, but for days afterward.[p.25]
Aerobic activities involve large amounts of muscle mass that are exercising continuously at an intensity level that uses primarily oxygen as the fuel source. In contrast, anaerobic exercise (like weight training, sprinting) are short-term activities that can be so intense, they exceed the body's capability to utilize oxygen, so the body must also burn other forms of fuel, such as glycogen, which is stored carbohydrate in muscle. The more aerobic capacity you have, the greater your endurance and the longer you can exercise. That's great, but it has no bearing on your heart health. Aerobics does nothing to build your muscle mass and strength[p.178]
Body for Life The best form of exercise for reshaping your body is weight training. ...significantly increase your metabolic rate - the rate at which your body burns fat. ...when you gain muscle, your body requires more energy to maintain that new muscle. If you do nothing but aerobic exercise ...you may lose weight. But your overall shape will be the same. If you start...looking like a pear, the most likely result is you will wind up looking like a smaller pear. With weight training, you not only burn fat but you can also change the shape of your body. [p.34]
Does Weight Lifting Make Women "Bulky" or Shapely ?
Atkins If you keep at it [weight-lifting], you will begin to notice a gradual sculpting taking place under your skin - and I guarantee you're going to like how it looks.[p.293]
Body Rx Many women worry that lifting heavy weights will make them big and muscular like men. This is simply not true. Lifting heavy weights will produce bigger muscles, but muscle is more compact than fat. The end result is a more defined body, not a bigger one. ...increasing your muscle size at the expense of your fat will inevitably result in a smaller body.[p.179]
Body for Life Fat takes up five times as much space as muscle. If you replace the fat on your hips or thighs with the same weight in muscle, your thighs will get much smaller.[p.37]
Weight Lifting for Older People
Atkins It is this type of exercise [weight-bearing] that helps stave off the loss of bone density that accompanies aging. This is why resistance training is so important to prevent osteoporosis.[p.293]
Zone Strength training.....is the only form of exercise that will build and maintain the muscle mass necessary for maximal functioning in the future.[p.126]
Body Rx I believe that much of the wasting and frailty so common in old age today can be virtually eliminated by simply increasing protein intake.[p.42] Weight training is the only exercise that can save and repair your muscles and build bone so that you stay straight and stay strong for your entire life.[p.179]
A study conducted by the USDA Human Nutrition Research Center on Aging at Tufts University showed that a high-intensity, lower-body strength-training program more than doubled muscle strength in frail, older people ages 86 to 90.[p.271]
Body for Life If we don't work out, we lose muscle as we grow older. We get older, we we fatter. We get fatter, we lose muscle mass. We lose muscle mass, we lose strength. We lose strength, and we do indeed become fragile, weak, and prone to a host of physical disabilities.[p.37] Your entire body is recreated every year. Your skin, your muscles, even your organs are constantly degenerating and regenerating. Somewhere around age 25, the natural process of "building up" that your body has undergone since birth crosses over to a process where degeneration occurs faster than regeneration.[p.83]
How Much Exercise?
Atkins If you are not getting regular exercise, you aren't following the Atkins Nutritional Approach. It's that simple.[p.286]
Body Rx The basic weight-training program consists of twenty weight-training exercises divided into four separate workout sessions, each to be performed once a week. Each session should take under an hour.[p.25] The key to effective weight training is to work with the right intensity. Many people mistakenly believe that the right way to lift weights is to do endless repetitions with very low weight.[p179] Simply increasing your repetitions without increasing your weight is a waste of your time.[p.182]
Body for Life Too much exercise prevents results. The workouts I recommend are brief, intense, and highly effective. They stimulate the muscles and burn fat. And they take less than 4 hours a week. And despite what so many people believe, working out more is not better. It's really not. Your workouts should provide the precise amount of stimulation needed to trigger an adaptation response. You work out with weights 3 days a week and do a special kind of aerobic training 3 days a week on alternating days. No more. No less. There is a point of diminishing returns beyond which, if you keep pushing your body, it will begin to work against you.[p.38] High intensity effort produces the best results.[p.41] It takes a few sets to get this neuromuscular junction primed - the point at where our muscles receive a signal from our brains to flex....we will be stronger on the fifth set of this workout. This system, however, is primed only for a brief period. That's why I designed the set and rep pattern the way I did. And that's why we must move swiftly.[p.70]
When to Exercise
Body for Life Doing intense aerobic exercise on an empty stomach for just 20 minutes first thing in the morning is more effective than a full hour of aerobic exercise performed later in the day after you've eaten a few meals. Exercising before you eat causes the body to dip right into stored fat to come up with the energy required to make it through. ..the next best thing is to do it in the evening after not eating for three hours. Then eat again an hour after your workout.[p.122] If your goal is to lose fat and gain muscle, I do not recommend eating before you work out. If you supply the body with carbohydrates to use as a fuel when exercising, it will prevent fat burning and preserve body-fat stores.[p.125]
How Do Muscles Grow?
Body Rx The term "making muscle" is actually a misnomer because you are born with all of the muscle cells that you are ever going to have. They are designed to repair themselves when they are injured, resulting in a bigger, stronger cell. When you lift a heavy weight, you cause microscopic injury to your muscle cells. ...triggers a chain of beneficial events that make your muscles bigger and stronger.[p.180] First, constructing new muscle tissue consumes an enormous amount of energy. Second, since muscle is more metabolically active than fat tissue, it requires a great deal of energy to sustain it. Thus, the more muscle you have, the more fat you will burn, not only during times of activity, but during times of rest.[p.181]
Body for Life During the workout, we're trying to slightly damage the muscle fibers by overloading them. ..you cause micro-trauma to the targeted muscle tissue. ..then your body mobilizes to fix the damage. This repair work requires energy that, under the right circumstances, will be pulled from you stored body fat. If you work out again before the muscles have had time to rebuild, you will short-circuit the recovery process.[p.40]