Why do we get fat

Chapter 32 Must Follow Through: The Essence of Weight Loss Is Restoration

Once you accept the facts I've stated in this book: It's sugar that makes you fat and makes you lose weight, not eating too much or moving too little, then there's no real point in going on a diet to lose weight.Right now, the only topic worth discussing with you is: how best to avoid the bad high sugars—refined grains, starches, and sugar—and what we can do to maximize our health.It's not as simple as losing weight.

In the appendices, I give a condensed version of my various guidelines for ideal weight loss meals, based on my principles from the Lifestyle Medicine Clinic at Duke University Medical Center.The clinic is directed by Dr. Eric Westman. In 1998, one of his patients insisted that he mainly ate steak for two months and only ate a small amount of other food, and lost 9 kilograms in weight.So this diet method aroused Westerman's interest. After he studied the Atkins diet method, Westerman met with its inventor Robert Atkins in New York, and then he conducted related weight loss experiments. To confirm the safety of the Atkins diet, a total of 50 obese people participated for a period of 6 months.The results prove that this diet that only eats meat and green leafy vegetables and restricts the intake of sugar can indeed make obese people lose weight, and can improve cholesterol indicators.

Similar to the Atkins diet, weight loss diets that emphasize eating lean meats as well as fats from vegetable sources such as olive oil, canola oil, avocados, and nuts have impressive weight loss benefits.Experiments using this weight loss method showed that, as expected, the experimenters lost a lot of weight.

In 2001, Westerman began treating his obese patients with a carbohydrate-restricted diet that he has continued to this day.Westerman's weight-loss guidelines for his obese patients are more detailed and refined: Eat all you want with meat, fish, poultry, eggs, and a variety of green leafy vegetables, but avoid starches, grains, sugar, Any food made from them (including bread, candy, juice, soda, etc.), and an appropriate supplement of non-starchy fruits such as peas, Jerusalem artichoke, cucumber, etc.If you want to learn more about which foods are not restricted and which foods must be treated with caution, then the appendix of this book is a good choice.

How much sugar should you eat?

The less sugar we eat, the leaner we are.That's for sure.But we can't guarantee that you will be able to lose weight to the ideal level you want by restricting sugar.This is the reality we must face.As I said before, obesity genes do exist, independent of diet.There are also multiple hormones and enzymes that affect the way we accumulate fat. Insulin happens to be one hormone that we can consciously control by optimizing our diet, but other hormones and enzymes have more complex mechanisms in metabolism waiting to be studied.

This means that for some people, staying in shape or losing weight may simply be a matter of avoiding sugar in the diet, but other sugars can also be eaten in moderation, for example, by eating them every two days. Change pasta once a week to once a week.For others, sugar restriction may not be enough and more persistence is needed.For others, however, a diet that eliminates sugar almost entirely may be required to lose weight.

No matter what category you fall into, if you're serious about losing weight, or if you want to stay fit and healthy for the rest of your life, the only viable option is to eat less sugar (except for surgery or a course of anti-obesity drugs) and avoid other opportunities. Foods that stimulate high insulin secretion - sodas, beverages, cream, desserts, etc., and the like.In addition, occasional total fasting, or light fasting [1] (intermittent fasting) may help you break through the bottleneck period of weight loss, and more experiments are still underway.

You also need more patience.Many dieters usually only have passion for a while, and if they don't see obvious weight loss effects within a month or two, they will think that weight loss has failed.They either switch to another diet, or they give up and give up on themselves.However, the reality is that it may take several years or even ten years to try to restore the regulation of fat metabolism.The reverse process will take months, or even years.

Restricting sugar will usually allow you to moderately increase your meat intake.But that doesn't mean that by giving up sugar, flour, and starchy vegetables, your only options are high-fat, high-protein meats.You can get in shape by eating only leafy greens, whole grains, and legumes.One advantage of green leafy vegetables and beans is that the sugars they contain are not easy to digest quickly, that is, the glycemic index is very low, and your glycemic load will not be high.However, it should be noted that if you rely on beans and other staple foods to fill your stomach for a long time, the glycemic load will still be high.That's why some vegetarians are still fat.However, even if you are a strict vegetarian, it is of course beneficial to know the relationship between sugar and obesity. You can continuously improve the quality of sugar you consume and match your diet more reasonably.This kind of change will definitely improve your health, even if you don't have a weight loss plan at this stage.

Execute your weight loss program most effectively

Physicians who advocate carbohydrate restriction typically take three approaches to replacing an obese person's existing diet in order to maximize weight loss and keep it as non-rebound as possible.

The first way is to determine the ideal amount of sugar you can eat.For example, 72 grams a day is approximately 300 calories.When the body switches from primarily burning sugar to burning fat, there are bound to be side effects.To reduce appropriately, to minimize side effects.To start, allow for a small amount of sugar, the occasional sweet treat, some bread crusts, a little condensed milk, and sugars from vegetables and fruits.

The second route aims to accommodate the least amount of sugar from the start, with no sugar in the diet.But such an aggressive approach could have powerful side effects.

The third approach is a compromise solution, which was first proposed by Atkins.Start with the bootstrap phase, cutting out as much sugar as possible (less than 20 grams a day on the Atkins diet).It works by accelerating the rate of weight loss and giving the performer the confidence to stick with it.Once your body is actively burning off stored fat, gradually introduce small amounts of sugar back into your diet.

Once you're at your ideal weight, you can also add some sugar and see how your body responds.If you now add an apple a day as a source of carbohydrates, and you start to gain weight, then you should not eat apples.If you don't gain weight from apples, you can slowly add other acceptable sugars.Gradually, eat an orange a day, or eat noodles once a week, or eat some sweets once in a while, and you will see the result.Taken step by step, this will allow you to determine what foods your body will accept.

Like allowing a quitter to smoke a few more cigarettes, or a quitter to have a few sips now and then.While some people are fine with this, others may find that it leads to a disastrous slippery slope.

Also, while it might be okay to have something sweet once in a while, and there's nothing wrong with making it a once-a-week treat, it's problematic if you then start having it twice a week and end up eating it once a day.You find, as if all of a sudden, your weight bounces back.Then you might decide that restricting sugar for weight loss isn't working at all.No, the reason is precisely because you did not stick to this method!

The common narrative that many people dismiss carbohydrate-restricted diets is that all diets fail and no one sticks.So why are they disturbed?Because dieting theories are all implemented according to the balance theory of eating less calories and burning more calories, naturally they all fail.

Traditional dieting, which requires you to be semi-starved, fails because: first, you eat less and your body responds by reducing consumption; second, you are always hungry; and third, because you eat too much Less, hunger, and less consumption, and you'll be depressed, restless, and slowly getting tired.Eventually you give up on losing weight and even start eating and drinking.

However, when you limit fattening sugars, you don't need to consciously limit the amount you eat.In this way, you will not feel hungry, and you will not consume less energy, but you may consume more energy.The biggest challenge is your own sugar cravings.Sugar cravings are more of an addiction.Sugar and sweets are as addictive to the brain as cocaine, nicotine and heroin.

But this also means that as long as you work hard and have enough patience, this hobby can be changed by you.This has nothing to do with hunger itself.Avoiding sugar lowers your insulin levels, which can also reduce or eliminate that sweet craving over time.But this "period" may not be as short as you think. In 1975, pediatricians at Duke University treated obese children with a weight loss regimen containing 15 percent carbohydrates.It took a year to a year and a half before the children's cravings for sugar disappeared.

But if you have no intention of quitting sugar, then you will always be in this craving, and will continue forever.

eat and drink all you want
Another effect of limiting sugar is that you will increase the amount of energy you can expend.Because the body no longer converts fuel into fat tissue for storage, but more actively uses the energy in the blood.Your body finds its own balance between energy intake (appetite and hunger) and energy expenditure (physical activity and metabolic rate).Usually, when you limit your sugar intake, your meal sizes tend to be smaller.This is absolutely true.

After limiting sugar, you feel less hungry than you used to, and you no longer crave a snack around 10 a.m.Cravings and urges for sweets are gone.The reason for this is that now you are using stored fat as fuel, whereas before you were not.Your fat cells are now working like energy buffers, rather than long-term detention centers that keep calories out.Now you have an internal fuel source to get you through times when you don't eat.Of course, your appetite and eating habits will improve accordingly.

Not only will you eat less, but your energy expenditure will also increase.You no longer dump fuel into unusable fat tissue, so you have more energy to burn.By avoiding fattening sugars, the pressure on calories to have to go to fat cells is relieved.

However, simple dieting is just subjectively suppressing one's own food desires, and the body has not adjusted to the balance point.If things go on like this, there will definitely be an increasingly strong desire to eat a big meal, and weight loss will fall short.

Even if you want to maintain a good habit of exercising, a diet that restricts carbohydrates is necessary.The cost of exercising can make you hungry, and when you're not exercising, there's a good chance your energy expenditure will be lower.The goal of weight loss is to avoid both of these situations.Attempts to lose weight by increasing energy expenditure are not only futile, but counterproductive.When you're obese, you become inactive because the fuel that could be burned for energy goes to fat tissue.It is no exaggeration to say that you lack the energy to exercise and the urge to exercise.Once you avoid the sugars that make you fat, then you have the energy to exercise, and that energy becomes the drive and impetus for your workouts.

Reasonable mix of fat and protein

Another remnant of the diet myth is that fat is definitely bad for our health. Even if we now accept the idea that sugar makes us fat, we may still think that we should eat less fat and more protein.

You'll be tempted to cut out the butter, cheese, and chicken breasts without the skin, only the leanest part of the pork, and only the whites and no yolks.

However, as I've said before, there is no strong evidence that fat is bad for your health, and there are good reasons to question the purported merits of diets that overproduce protein.Anthropological experiments tell us that most people who eat meat or only eat meat most want to eat fatty meat.Because, a pure high-protein diet without a lot of fat or sugar can be toxic.

Experts from the American Institute of Medicine explained that humans should avoid diets that contain too much protein.Short-term symptoms of a high-protein, low-fat, low-sugar diet are weakness, nausea, and diarrhea.These symptoms disappear when the protein content is reduced to 20% to 25%.

Before the anti-fat movement of the 20s, doctors and nutritionists tested carbohydrate-restricted diets, which included 60 percent fat and 75 percent protein.The mixed diet was found to be tolerable without side effects and, moreover, to be consistent with the diet eaten by the Inuit.

Side effects of refusing to lose weight
When you replace sugars with fats and proteins, the fuel your cells burn for energy changes radically.This transfer does come with certain side effects, which may include weakness, fatigue, nausea, dehydration, diarrhea, constipation, and more.Authorities firmly believe that these potential side effects are justification for a sugar-restricted diet that is "highly dangerous," which means it shouldn't be used at all.

However, this potential side effect is actually a short-term effect due to sugar withdrawal, not a long-term side effect.In the long run, you'll just be leaner, healthier, and live longer.These side effects were preventable and the symptoms occurred independently of dietary fat.Rather than being related to reduced sugar intake, these symptoms are the result of either eating too much protein or too little fat, or starting without enough time to adjust to the new diet Intense workout.The transformation of the body is too fast, and I can't adapt to it all at once.

If you happen to also suffer from diabetes or high blood pressure, it is crucial to lose weight under the guidance of a doctor.Since sugar restriction lowers blood sugar and blood pressure, it can be dangerous to combine sugar restriction with medication if you are already taking blood sugar and blood pressure medications.Abnormally low blood sugar may cause sudden illness, loss of consciousness, and even death; abnormally low blood pressure may cause dizziness and fainting.

However, it's hard to find a doctor who understands why we gain weight and how to deal with the side effects.Otherwise, there would be no need for this book.The really unfortunate truth is that even physicians who understand the nature of weight regulation are often hesitant to prescribe carbohydrate restriction to their patients.The doctor tells the obese person to eat less and move more, especially the low-fat and high-sugar food recommended by the authority. If he has a heart attack two weeks later or even two months later, the doctor will not be prosecuted for improper treatment .But if a doctor dares to run counter to the mainstream medical concept and prescribe sugar restriction, it is estimated that he will not be so lucky.

Now, there are more and more weight-loss books advocating sugar restriction, and there are more and more websites dedicated to low-sugar diets. There are even corresponding mobile apps that can be used as guidelines.Crucially, however, I hope that leading experts will understand the issues I discuss in this book and open their minds to new ideas.We need their understanding and help. Until the authorities really understand why we get fat, the work of stopping the obesity epidemic will be much longer and painful.

(End of this chapter)