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Why We Get Fat

Why We Get Fat

Lisa Eirene

About Lisa Eirene Lisa lost 110 pounds through calorie counting and exercise. She swims, bikes, runs, hikes and is enjoying life in Portland, Oregon. Her weight loss story has been featured in First Magazine, Yahoo Health, Woman's Day and Glamour.com.

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14 Comments

  1. Sarah

    I haven’t read it and as a general rule tend to avoid reading any book of this type. There are as many opinions as there are authors, and they sometimes contradict each other. So I tend to simply follow the common sense : Eating less, moving more and avoiding processed foods as much as possible!

    1. Lisa Eirene

      I’m with you Sarah! I think my plan is obviously working. πŸ˜‰ Avoiding processed foods is hard but I’m doing much better!

      Thanks for reading. πŸ™‚

  2. Coco

    I followed Atkins for a few months and it *worked* for me as far as losing weight quickly. That was before I knew much about nutrition, though, and I couldn’t advocate it now that I do. I’m pretty sure I also lost every ounce of muscle I had and it took a long time to build that back up. And, carbs (whole grain, complex) are the energy source used most directly by your brain and most easily by your muscles, so it’s no wonder I felt “weird” while I was on it (especially the first few weeks).

    One take away lesson that I did learn from it was to scrutinize the nutritional value of the carbs I ate. Now I focus more on whole grains, legumes, etc. Of course, the same goes for protein sources – lean meats are better for you than bacon even if Atkins won’t tell you that!

    If you restrict any entire food group you will lose weight, at least at first untill you figure out what else to eat. There must be a diet book that excludes or restricts every category of food at some level. πŸ˜‰

    1. Lisa Eirene

      Thank you Coco for a first hand story about Atkin’s. I’ve heard similar things from people who have tried it. I agree with you 100% about needing some carbs (good carbs) for energy. That’s scary that you felt weird and lost muscle. Yeah that might show as a loss on the scale but it doesn’t sound healthy to me.

  3. Lori

    I read this book. The first part was annoying to get through, but I actually enjoyed the second part.

    I don’t believe that carbs are the devil, for sure, and I think he goes to the extreme in eschewing them. He actually does eat as he preaches and looks pretty good, which just shows how different diets work for different people.

    I loved his summary about the fat myth, though. I have believed in eating more fat for a while now and it is good that more and more information is getting out about the flawed studies.

    I think more people would do better just to get rid of all the processed foods and eat real foods. Carbs from apples, grapes, and broccoli aren’t the problem.

    1. Lisa Eirene

      I wondered if you had read this book! I agree with you–as long as we limit the AMOUNT of carbs and eat less processed foods we’ll lose weight. My friend’s motto of “eat what grows in the ground” is a good motto.

  4. Carbzilla

    I’ve read a little about his philosophy when I was doing restricted carbs and sugar. FWIW, I do know that I could eat more calories and still lose weight on restricted carbs and sugar than I can now on Weight Watchers where I am not really keeping track of my carbs or sugar. A co-worker was doing Belly Fat Cure, and she dropped 40 lbs in about 4 months. Now, is that a sustainable way of eating for the rest of your life? It wouldn’t be for me, for sure.

    1. Lisa Eirene

      ANY diet will work and the more drastic it is the more drastic the results. But you are right–it’s not attainable and we can’t maintain that!

  5. steena

    You’re filling up my amazon wish list with your book reviews lately! This also sounds really interesting, I didn’t read all the quotes you posted, so I can discover them myself when I read it.
    Though, the “basically eat meat and broccoli” does shy me away from it! πŸ™‚

    1. Lisa Eirene

      To be fair the “eat meat and broccoli” was my interpretation! πŸ˜‰

  6. Amy B @ Second City Randomness

    I’m intrigued by the book… but sort of agree with all the points you highlighted. I know that when I was little, I was a rail because I lived in a small town (and a farm if we’re being specific) where during the summer I did nothing but be outside. The environment I was in supported that. Being elsewhere? Not sure how I would have grown up…

    1. Lisa Eirene

      That’s how I spent my summers as a kid–on my aunt’s farm in Oregon. She’d banish us all outdoors for the day and we only came inside for lunch. We had so much fun running around playing.

  7. Rebecca

    Have you read his first book, “Good Calories, Bad Calories”? It presents a much more substantial scientific basis for his claims. He basically digs back through nutrition and dieting research since it began. As someone who has issues with restricting any one food or food group as well, I don’t know that his findings are practical for everyone, but as someone trained in research, his interpretation of the data is compelling. It certainly makes you think, not just about weight, but about many of the diseases in our society as well.

    1. Lisa Eirene

      I haven’t read that book but I will look for it from the library. It’s not that I didn’t like the author (or some of his message) I just didn’t agree with dietary restrictions.

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