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[Tyrone Slothrop]

Originally Posted by ThurgreedMarshall

This is mostly true. Exercise does burn calories and builds muscle which helps burn more calories (even while at rest). But doing just cardio won't help much. Putting those calorie counters on treadmills was the worst thing the exercise industry did to people. You absolutely have to do strength work.

I'm trying this keto diet thing right now, which is very interesting to me. I basically gave up dieting altogether and decided I would just eat halfway reasonably and continue to workout as hard as I've been the past few years. But a friend drops weight like it's nothing on it. And the wife dropped 7 pounds in a couple of weeks (that she doesn't need to lose, but that's a whole different argument). I've been doing it since Wednesday and have lost 4 pounds (most of it surely water weight). I'd like to see where it goes because another 6-8 pounds would reintroduce me to my abs.

But this idea of tricking your body into burning fat first instead of carbs fascinates me. And it's not like that awful Atkins diet. You can eat veggies. I've found that, even though I consider french fries and beer a vital section of foundation in the food pyramid, it's been very easy to manage so far. No sugar or carbs. But the fact the diet requires high fat levels makes up for it. And the veggies help balance out the richness. We'll see if I can keep it up. I really love beer and fries.

Also, you can have other types of alcohol, which has kept the shakes at bay.

TM

I have dropped about as much weight as Weed and RT over about the same period of time. I've been running a lot for the last year, and really enjoy it, and wouldn't give it up. But I really think the key to losing weight is changing one's diet, and to my mind that means changing one's habits permanently, not trying a special diet for a short period of time to get some results that will go away when one reverts to form. YMMV. This stuff is hard, and what works for one person may not for another. On the exercise vs. diet point, I would just say that it's really hard to burn enough calories to lose much weight and not also compensate by eating more.