On one of my message boards we're doing a weight loss accountabiltiy. Well, all of the women are convinced that carbs make you gain weight and that going low carb makes you lose weight. They don't count calories. Many of them have lost weight but they were starting at very high weights and weren't shooting for anything spectacular. Most of them are women who get pregnant often so there is no way to tell if they can maintain their weight for any period of time as they are always pregnant (I don't mean that in a derogatory way, its just a fact). I would like to find some sort of reliable information I can share with them about the link between calories and weight loss. I've told them but its not getting across. So, are there any good studies or something I could share with them? Any links here that would be useful? If it wasn't an accountability forum I wouldn't bother but the whole point is to help one another.

check post 3 in this thread
http://weight-loss.fitness.com/nutri...ion-101-a.html

if not the lovely and talented and extremely intelligent Steve I'm sure will have a plethora of sources..

i thought about that one. i'll give it a try. these women are really super stubborn about this whole low carb thing. its like they have found the holy grail of diets. and it isn't one of those "try it and see if it works for you" type of things. they think everyone should do it and its the only thing that works. they have convinced so many other women that they are "bad" if they eat carbs. it really bothers me.

as i've said before - the low carb thing is rather cult-like... you are not going to change people's minds about it - and there's a comedian who's said that the only reason why poeple lose weight on low carb diets is because they spend so much time telling people they are on low carb diets.

all you can be concerned about is what you do... you can't change people's minds unless they are ready for them to be changed.

i don't except to change anyones mind..but maybe i can make the ones who are still just searching think about it a little more. i would also like to get them off my back about the carbs i eat. my love of brown rice isn't what made me fat. i can think of a bunch of other things that did but we'll not go into that right now.

Well, I was told nicely to shut up and stop posting my calorie "theory".

OMG, now I'd have to be contrary just to annoy them! LOL

well, i deal with them on a daily basis so i don't want to piss everyone off. plus they are being beyond ridiculous. how do you argue with someone who insists you don't have to change your calories as long as you are eating more fat. i mean really, how does one argue with that?

Hahaha. That's brutal. There's a reason I don't bother arguing with people on the internet. Nobody actually wants to learn anything, they just want to spout their poorly-conceived rhetoric. Both sides think they are objectively correct. Problem is, there is no objective "right".

Having said that, low (under 50g/day) carb diets are effective for a number of purposes. Some people are just as narrow minded in decrying their efficacy as your ignorant friends are at touting it, but the fact remains that calories in vs. calories out is still usually the primary consideration in fat loss.

This does not mean, however, that those women are not seeing results. There's a documented (mostly anecdotal, but meh) auto-regulation of the appetite effect that occurs for many people on a ketogenic diet. (It has to do with the relative absence of insulin and some "dependent" "hunger hormones"). So it is entirely possible that they can eat "as much as they want (because this ends up being less than their maintenance)" and lose fat. Are they seeing optimal results, though? Of course not. Intellectual arrogance has always been the enemy of knowledge.

I don't think the ones who were being rude are getting any results, period.

Wise words and exactly.

And to the OP, it's not really a calorie theory. It's basic thermodynamics.

its like telling a woman in an abusive relationship to get out. the more you tell em the less likely they will do it.

Just point them to wikipedia.com for information and references and walk away.

I know that but they insisted its just a "theory" so I was using their words.

People like that aren't even worth the hassle.

At least some people who hold a certain belief are willing to listen to outside viewpoints and use logic and reasoning to re-evaluate their position.

They dont sound like the best community to be around. They should have a right to their opinion and beliefs, but so should you.

I guy in my office (whos married to a doctor) did atkins a few years ago; he lost a bit of weight but honestly he looks like he put it all back on. He used to drink half and half a lot while doing it, so I do believe you can eat a lot more and still lose. But he, like most people, didn't seem to want to be deprived out of a whole macronutrient.