Yes, I agree that the butter in coffee and bacon on bacon hucksters are doing a disservice to paleo. Also, the packaged goods marketers. If it's packaged we probably shouldn't eat it, or at least we should think twice about it. Just an observation: careful about making too many assumptions after gaining only 2 pounds following no exercise for 7 weeks and a fair amount of cheating on your diet during that time. Apart from the two pounds of added weight, don't assume that your body composition is otherwise necessarily unchanged... Speaking of which, what would you consider your "cheat" foods, and how many calories of such foods would you consume on a cheat day? I'm just curious because we never defined it.
I think where the "low carb" diet is helpful is in maintaining muscle mass through the routine consumption of protein. A person can lose weight quickly simply counting caloric intake and making sure that it's less than you burn at rest. Supposedly a pound of body fat may contain anywhere from 3,436 to 3,752 calories. I did a resting heart rate and metabolic test which determined that I personally require 2800 calories per day to maintain my existing mass. So, if I were to simply limit my caloric intake to 1,500 calories per day - supposedly I could lose ten pounds of body weight per month on average. As we all know, these figures are not absolutes and a person tends to lose quite a bit of weight at first and then the body catches up to the game and the process slows down. We also know that the body will lose lean muscle as well as body fat if the only thing that person is doing is restricting his caloric intake. So for me, the best thing is to combine resistance training and a high protein, low carbohydrate diet. That's where I get the best results. I get blood panel work done every 6 months and my kidney and liver function are fine. YMMV. If I had cardio intensive athletic pursuits I'm sure I would be consuming enough calories to support that activity. But after four knee surgeries over the years I'm not going to do that. So I do what I can and what makes sense for me.
Not a definitive article but interesting: https://www.businessinsider.com/eat...FxjY3V_J7IdxKy4f77QUOmwQ7nnEsl9F7bIvkBZ3f2C-k
I was able to do some lifting workouts and cardio the last few weeks but I was not pigging out on a regular basis. I was pretty good 4-5 days out of the week. 2 pounds here or there are within the margin of water/error/de minimis. Would take a lot more time and lack of exercise to truly change my body composition. Using the same body fat scale I had been using from the beginning the numbers barely budged. It is never the absolute scale number I track but body fat, water % etc. to track as much as I can.
Not sure I trust those 100%. They often overestimate the amount of daily calories to maintain current weight/mass IMHO.
Oh I agree completely. I have an idea but I would not take it as fact. For that matter, there is some debate on whether the oft repeated adage of '3,436 to 3,752 calories to lose a pound' is legitimate.
Agreed. Which is why I stated in that same post "We also know that the body will lose lean muscle as well as body fat if the only thing that person is doing is restricting his caloric intake.".
Just to throw in my experience.... I've been on a cut for the last 3 months. Slowly reduced my caloric intake from 2500 kcals on training days to 1800 (1100 kcals on non training days, no change there). The reduction was done slowly. Lost 7.5 pounds, I believe almost all fat but a little bit might have been glycogen and water and muscle. Down to 12.4% bodyfat as measured by bodymetrix. I now sport a visible 6 pack. Never went hungry, never had a cheat day or cheat meal (what's the point... I enjoy everything I eat otherwise I wouldn't eat it!) No willpower required, just a bit of planning. 3 meals a day, 4 workouts a week. No cardio, just heavy weights. My strength in the gym is at personal record levels..i keep track of every workout I do. I ate a fair amount of dark chocolate and full fat Jersey milk daily (2/3 of a pint). A decent amount of sugar imo in those two. Plenty of eggs and veggies. Lots of avocado and bread (in the form of sprouted wheat). Started a lean bulk from today.