In part one, I showed you how the reduced-carbohydrate diet has been successfully used for nearly 140 years by anyone who wants to lose weight. In this part of the series, we’ll talk about WHY the reduced-carbohydrate diet is so effective… and why there’s so much controversy surrounding this topic.
So let’s dive right in:
Why do so many people find it easy to lose weight when they reduce the number of carbohydrates they consume? Is it because eating carbs makes you fat?
Well…. yes. And no.
Here’s the deal:
The #1 rule of weight loss is simple: Consume fewer calories than you burn.
Simple, right?
Simple yes. Easy? Well, that depends.
Let me give you two example of guys who ate a reduced number of calories.
(NOTE: The following information originally appeared on Timothy Ferris’s blog, in a post titled, “The Science of Fat Loss: Why A Calorie Isn’t Always A Calorie. I recommend you check it out.)
In 1942 Sam Legg participated in an study about starvation.
This is Sam at the beginning of the study, when he was being fed about 3,200 calories per day.
The next picture is Sam again, after 24 weeks on a reduced-calorie diet. He was fed around 1600 calories per day. During this study, he was consuming about 225 grams of protein per day. As shocking as this picture is, there’s an even more shocking aspect.
Do you see Sam Legg’s hand? It’s a little hard to tell but he is missing portions of his fingers on his left hand. This is because the semi-starvation diet literally drove him to his psychological breaking point and Sam Legg chopped off his own fingers.
Other men in the study complained of constant, unbearable hunger, reduced body temperature and swollen joints.
All in all, not a pretty picture for anyone who wants to lose weight.
In the 1960’s, a young man signed up for a John Yudkins study. He was told to eat as much meat, fish, eggs, cheese, butter, cream and leafy vegetables as he liked. The only requirement was that he limit his carbohydrate intake to 50 grams.
Even though he was allowed to eat as much as he wanted, the young man in this study ate only around 1500 calories per day.
Why is this?
Dietary fat naturally curbs your hunger and makes you full faster. We’ve all had the experience of eating a huge portion of chinese food (with rice and noodles and oodles of carbohydrates) only to be hungry a few hours later.
But if you enjoy a juicy, nicely-marbled porterhouse steak, it’s highly unlikely that you will be hungry again for a long time.
So if you want to lose weight… then you obviously have to reduce your calories. If you eat lots of carbohydrates and cut your fat intake… you will be so hungry that others in your situation actually went insane.
Or you could reduce your carbohydrates and not even feel any hunger. Which option sounds more attractive to you?
Now we know why the reduced-carbohydrate diet is so effective. In the next issue, I’ll show you how to build your own fat loss plan so you can shed those extra pounds without hunger, hassles or heartache.
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great short articles. there’s a lot of info on the net, a lot of sites contradict each other etc. but your, not sure why, always inspired trust to me.
anyway, great article, cant wait to see the actual fat loss plan
cheers, i’m actually a little skinny but, there’s always that little belly fat that prevents the abs from showing out
ps: by the way, ever though of making your old site available? the one who had all the bodyweight exercises, it was a great help, your simple plan of just “progressing every week” starting with some low plan and then building up on exercise difficulty has helped me a lot, it’s really kind of obvious when you think about it (made me feel a little stupid) lol anyway, i apply it to all my trainings now whether it’s bodyweight or weight based programs, and it really makes a difference. I used to just try the max weight or reps I could do, and stick with it until I felt I could do more, the new method is really better, isn’t as painless and really helps me improve faster
thks for everything, glad you came back with a new blog
Nuno:
Thanks for the kind words. I will be bringing back more info about the bodyweight exercises soon. Not sure when or exactly how they will be presented but that will definitely be coming back.
You hit the nail on the head with your statement “it’s really kind of obvious when you think about it.”
No need to feel stupid. I’ve been down the same path. It’s like you struggle for years with all of the “latest and greatest” plans and techniques and then one day you realize that… well… as I’ve said before… the basics are still the best.
Sort of reminds me of the famous Bruce Lee quote:
(I’m paraphrasing here):
Before I studied martial arts, a punch was just a punch.
After I learned martial arts, a punch was no longer just a punch.
Once I mastered martial arts, a punch was once again just a punch.
Haven’t heard that yet, Lee’s quote is really cool, can be applied to a lot of things. I read about him once and was really surprised at his workout philosophy, he really had unique views on training and methods.
Another thing that I then realized, as a musician, what really works to learn is to start slow, by the basics, even if you have the ability to do it a little faster or something like that, just start slow and slowly build up from that, it can feel boring at first or that you’re not really making a difference but, with time it will allow for a more perfected technique. It’s more about brain control and technique and not much about raising muscle but, I think it still has something in common.
Anyway, once I started the “new” training, and I hadn’t trained for a long time, I started with low rep numbers and weights, didn’t even feel it pushing the muscles but, now I am far stronger than before, took some time yes but, I always felt more in control of the exercises, where before I would some times hurt myself for excessive weight, and didn’t really have to go through as much pain. Maybe not the best training but, definitely made a difference for me.
Well, thanks for the reply, I know it’s soon and this new blog is just starting.
Hi Matt,
Been reading your blogs etc. for some time and I’m very impressed at the accurate down to earth info.
Great post today btw (and gross picture…). I have a question regarding fat loss for naturally skinny ppl like you and me. I managed to work my way up to a weight and strength level i am satisfied i am trying to get as much specific info i can about leaning out without losing any of my hard earned str. or muscle.
Anyway, I am aware that you need to decrease your over all calories by restricting carbs, and that you need to increase your intake of healthy monounsaturated/polyunsaturated fats, but i was wondering the approximate percentage of these fats that you need to take in relative to the total amount of calories consumed, seeing that i have sorta the same genetics as you i was wondering if you could help me out here…
Thanks for your time!
@Vadim:
In part 3 of the Get Ripped Guide series, I’m going to dive into the “how-to” part of exactly what to eat and what to do to lose weight.
K thnx. Lookin’ forward!
Hey, I did the Atkins diet awhile back and did lose weight. I was eating bacon and eggs every meal. It’s true but too much fat and my clorestrol level went off the charts. I follow a better diet today. one that definately limits my carbs (white processed carbs, starches, etc) but you are allowed fruit and vegies. I try to eat better protien and fat. Watch out for the pound of Red meat bacon ect. Colestrol kills too.
Phil:
Check out part 3. You’ll notice that the key to losing weight is reducing carbohydrates and “eating what you were designed to eat.”
I don’t know why anyone would eat bacon at every meal. Maybe the fat content is what made your cholesterol spike. Or maybe it was the fact that bacon is highly processed and basically “junk food”.
One of the flaws of the Atkins system is that people will eat the crappiest foods and then convince themselves they are “doing Atkins.”
Eating 3 double-whoppers a day but without the bun? It’s cool, I’m “doing Atkins.”
Eating fried pork-rinds? “Doing Atkins”.
Bacon at every meal? “Doing Atkins.”
You can’t just lump all high-fat foods together.
There is a dramatic difference between a pound of lean, grass-fed, organic red meat and a pound of highly-processed, artificially flavored, artificially colored bacon.
Both foods are still high in fat, but they are world’s apart in nutritional content.