AnnW
04-18-2002, 11:28 AM
This article is great for two reasons: 1) it provides the best explanation ever of what happens when we burn fat but aren't losing weight and/or going down in size, and 2) it provides the best reasoning ever for getting off the scales.
From http://stores.yahoo.com/carbsmart/outout.html
By Sonya Tilley
How the hell does your body hold onto weight and still manage to get smaller
while you are on your chosen low carb diet?!? You know the scenario: You are on
Induction for two weeks, and you haven't cheated even once. You notice that
your clothes fit better, that you are stepping a little livelier, and as far as
you're concerned, all's right with the world.
But then you step on that evil construction of the Devil himself, the bathroom
scale, and you instantly feel betrayed. The stupid thing insists that you have
done nothing! Sometimes, it even states you have done less than nothing; it
accuses you of cheating because it tells that you haven't lost any weight!
Well, there area couple of simple explanations to help you get through this
trying time.
First of all, if it is at all possible for you to do so, throw that insipid
Monster Scale in the trash. Or at least put it up somewhere that it is really,
REALLY inconvenient to get to so that you won't be tempted to ask it's opinion
every single day of your life. Face it. If you are feeling better and your
clothes are looser, do you really need the scale to tell you that you're on the
right track? No! You don't! Why do you think you do it, then? I'll tell you
why. The low fat diet demons have a tenacious hold on your brain. That's right,
you've been brainwashed. All your life they have told you through doctors,
dietitians, newspaper and magazine articles, surgeon generals and the like,
that you give up X calories per day and you will lose a pound of fat. They even
go on to tell you how much fat you should lose each week. In the process,
they've made you dependent on the Monster Scale to gauge your progress!
What a big lie!
Even on the diets that "they" advocate, the Monster Scale does not often
cooperate. You go back to the Diet Demons and demand to know why the scale does
not reflect the torture you have put yourself through for a month. They
immediately start backpedaling on the "give up X calories and lose a pound of
fat" story, and start talking to you about water retention and muscle buildup.
Sometimes, they even blame it on you with questions like, "Are you sure you
counted the calories in everything you ate?" (This is delivered with a knowing
little smile that makes you want to rip their knowing little face off.) Being
the type that is given to blaming things on yourself, anyway, you cooperate
with an answer like, "Well….." They pounce on this with "Ahhhh, well.." Then,
they launch into one of their scoldings/lash/encouragement speeches.
So, get off their bandwagon, already!
Then, there's the competitive spirit. You hear about what other people have
done on your chosen diet. Yes, Brian went on Atkins a year ago and lost over a
hundred pounds. Yes, a hundred pounds in a year is over eight pounds a month,
or 2 pounds a week, or .0119 pounds per hour….but, "Hello? You ain't Brian!"
And, did Brian ever say that he lost .0119 pounds per hour? No! He said a
hundred pounds in a year. This only proves he got on the scale twice; a year
ago, and yesterday. Take a hint from Brian. Stay off the scale!
The second solution is to understand what is going on in your body in light of
the current state of human affairs. Today, all a person has to have to eat
every day is money and transportation to a grocery store or, better yet, a nice
restaurant. However, your body's survival instincts have not matured in a
million years. Your body still thinks you are a hunter-gatherer. Yes, in spite
of a million years of evolution, your body still thinks you are going to have
to go out and kill a mammoth to eat. The survival instincts with which you are
going to have to come to terms are read-only memory. You can't overwrite them.
Deal with it.
That said, let me tell you what happens when you lose a pound of fat. Your body
has been saving this fat for that long hunting expedition you're going to have
to go on to track, kill, dress and retrieve that huge animal. It keeps the fat
in little pillows distributed throughout your body. When you start losing fat,
it doesn't trust you to continue whatever insane path you have chosen that is
causing the fat to dissipate. So, when the fat comes out of the pillow, it
injects water as a "place holder." Sometimes that water actually replaces the
weight of the fat it lost. Sometimes it replaces the volume.
Water weighs more than fat just like lead sinkers weigh more than feathers. If
you stuff a pillow with a pound of feathers, you'll have a nice big pillow. If
you stuff a pillow with a pound of lead sinkers, you'll have a nice (but rather
hard and uncomfortable), small pillow. Now, let's say your body removes a pound
of fat and replaces the weight with a pound of water. Your weight will stay the
same, but you will be smaller. But, if your body decides to replace the lost
fat by volume, that is a quite different story. Remember the great big feather
pillow as compared to the tiny lead sinker pillow? Well, now think of a gallon
of feathers and a gallon of lead sinkers. Try to pick up the gallon of
feathers. Piece of (you'll pardon the expression) cake. Now, try to pick up the
gallon of lead sinkers. Sucker's heavy, ain't it? So, you will be smaller, but
you will have gained weight.
Eventually, your body makes the executive decision that you are not going to
replace the fat you lost, and it lets go of the water. In the words of Danny
Skaist: "When your body accepts the fact that they are no longer needed, the
water will be expelled and the cells closed. This is known as the "whoosh."
What makes your body decide to replace by weight or replace by volume? I dunno.
But I do know that it does not seem consistent to the casual observer. What
makes your body decide that you are seriously not going to replace the fat you
lost? I dunno. But now you know why it's so important to drink your water, huh?
Loss of fat is inextricably related to water intake. It's more than a little
foolish to go on a diet that facilitates the removal of fat and then refuse to
give your body the tools it needs to do so.
Bottom Line: Stop getting on the scale and drink your water. If you stick to
your plan and wait for the "whoosh," it will come.
From http://stores.yahoo.com/carbsmart/outout.html
By Sonya Tilley
How the hell does your body hold onto weight and still manage to get smaller
while you are on your chosen low carb diet?!? You know the scenario: You are on
Induction for two weeks, and you haven't cheated even once. You notice that
your clothes fit better, that you are stepping a little livelier, and as far as
you're concerned, all's right with the world.
But then you step on that evil construction of the Devil himself, the bathroom
scale, and you instantly feel betrayed. The stupid thing insists that you have
done nothing! Sometimes, it even states you have done less than nothing; it
accuses you of cheating because it tells that you haven't lost any weight!
Well, there area couple of simple explanations to help you get through this
trying time.
First of all, if it is at all possible for you to do so, throw that insipid
Monster Scale in the trash. Or at least put it up somewhere that it is really,
REALLY inconvenient to get to so that you won't be tempted to ask it's opinion
every single day of your life. Face it. If you are feeling better and your
clothes are looser, do you really need the scale to tell you that you're on the
right track? No! You don't! Why do you think you do it, then? I'll tell you
why. The low fat diet demons have a tenacious hold on your brain. That's right,
you've been brainwashed. All your life they have told you through doctors,
dietitians, newspaper and magazine articles, surgeon generals and the like,
that you give up X calories per day and you will lose a pound of fat. They even
go on to tell you how much fat you should lose each week. In the process,
they've made you dependent on the Monster Scale to gauge your progress!
What a big lie!
Even on the diets that "they" advocate, the Monster Scale does not often
cooperate. You go back to the Diet Demons and demand to know why the scale does
not reflect the torture you have put yourself through for a month. They
immediately start backpedaling on the "give up X calories and lose a pound of
fat" story, and start talking to you about water retention and muscle buildup.
Sometimes, they even blame it on you with questions like, "Are you sure you
counted the calories in everything you ate?" (This is delivered with a knowing
little smile that makes you want to rip their knowing little face off.) Being
the type that is given to blaming things on yourself, anyway, you cooperate
with an answer like, "Well….." They pounce on this with "Ahhhh, well.." Then,
they launch into one of their scoldings/lash/encouragement speeches.
So, get off their bandwagon, already!
Then, there's the competitive spirit. You hear about what other people have
done on your chosen diet. Yes, Brian went on Atkins a year ago and lost over a
hundred pounds. Yes, a hundred pounds in a year is over eight pounds a month,
or 2 pounds a week, or .0119 pounds per hour….but, "Hello? You ain't Brian!"
And, did Brian ever say that he lost .0119 pounds per hour? No! He said a
hundred pounds in a year. This only proves he got on the scale twice; a year
ago, and yesterday. Take a hint from Brian. Stay off the scale!
The second solution is to understand what is going on in your body in light of
the current state of human affairs. Today, all a person has to have to eat
every day is money and transportation to a grocery store or, better yet, a nice
restaurant. However, your body's survival instincts have not matured in a
million years. Your body still thinks you are a hunter-gatherer. Yes, in spite
of a million years of evolution, your body still thinks you are going to have
to go out and kill a mammoth to eat. The survival instincts with which you are
going to have to come to terms are read-only memory. You can't overwrite them.
Deal with it.
That said, let me tell you what happens when you lose a pound of fat. Your body
has been saving this fat for that long hunting expedition you're going to have
to go on to track, kill, dress and retrieve that huge animal. It keeps the fat
in little pillows distributed throughout your body. When you start losing fat,
it doesn't trust you to continue whatever insane path you have chosen that is
causing the fat to dissipate. So, when the fat comes out of the pillow, it
injects water as a "place holder." Sometimes that water actually replaces the
weight of the fat it lost. Sometimes it replaces the volume.
Water weighs more than fat just like lead sinkers weigh more than feathers. If
you stuff a pillow with a pound of feathers, you'll have a nice big pillow. If
you stuff a pillow with a pound of lead sinkers, you'll have a nice (but rather
hard and uncomfortable), small pillow. Now, let's say your body removes a pound
of fat and replaces the weight with a pound of water. Your weight will stay the
same, but you will be smaller. But, if your body decides to replace the lost
fat by volume, that is a quite different story. Remember the great big feather
pillow as compared to the tiny lead sinker pillow? Well, now think of a gallon
of feathers and a gallon of lead sinkers. Try to pick up the gallon of
feathers. Piece of (you'll pardon the expression) cake. Now, try to pick up the
gallon of lead sinkers. Sucker's heavy, ain't it? So, you will be smaller, but
you will have gained weight.
Eventually, your body makes the executive decision that you are not going to
replace the fat you lost, and it lets go of the water. In the words of Danny
Skaist: "When your body accepts the fact that they are no longer needed, the
water will be expelled and the cells closed. This is known as the "whoosh."
What makes your body decide to replace by weight or replace by volume? I dunno.
But I do know that it does not seem consistent to the casual observer. What
makes your body decide that you are seriously not going to replace the fat you
lost? I dunno. But now you know why it's so important to drink your water, huh?
Loss of fat is inextricably related to water intake. It's more than a little
foolish to go on a diet that facilitates the removal of fat and then refuse to
give your body the tools it needs to do so.
Bottom Line: Stop getting on the scale and drink your water. If you stick to
your plan and wait for the "whoosh," it will come.