"Always Hungry?" book by Dr. David Ludwig

[lizvocal]

I am starting the diet from the "Always Hungry?" book by Dr. David Ludwig.  Anyone doing this diet already and interested in an on-going discussion?  Anyone curious and want to ask questions?

[Mehrnaz]

what is the diet? I am interested in starting a diet. 

[dreambuilder]

I'm curious. I don't know the book or the diet but I know the author and I like wa

hat he says. 

[Dominique]

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@Mehrnaz wrote:

what is the diet? 

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Here is what the summary of the book says on Amazon:

"ALWAYS HUNGRY? turns dieting on its head with a three-phase program that ignores calories and targets fat cells directly. The recipes and meal plan include luscious high fat foods (like nuts and nut butters, full fat dairy, avocados, and dark chocolate), savory proteins, and natural carbohydrates. The result? Fat cells release their excess calories and you lose weight-and inches-without battling cravings and constant hunger."

I’m kind of skeptical of a diet high on fats (no matter how "luscious" and healthy) in which you ignore calories. Nothing wrong in eating some fat in itself, but I wouldn’t trust they’d be so satiating I would automatically stop eating them before being in a caloric surplus.

As to "targeting fat cells directly", I’d like to know how this is done, especially when ignoring calories!

[dreambuilder]

I know what you mean about being skeptical about diets high in fats but I've been doing reading on more contemporary research on nutrition.

The concept of calories in, calories out theory of weight lose dates back to the 1920's. More contemporary research says it's more about what we eat. Certain foods cause inflammation and inflammation causes weight gain. Reduce the inflammation through food choices like heathy fats and lose weight.

Calories in, calories out is so much easier to follow.

Sent from my iPhone

[Dominique]

I’m not skeptical about high-fat diets in themselves, but rather about the combination of a high-fat diet (or any other diet, for that matter) and implying you don’t have to care about calories.

Can you achieve higher satiety (for the same amount of calories) by carefully selecting what you are eating? Yes, definitely.

Can you feed your body better (with the same amount of calories) by picking up more nutritious food? Yes, definitely.

If your energy expenditure is 2000 calories, can you eat 2500 calories of skillfully selected "luscious high fat foods, savory proteins, and natural carbohydrates" and still lose weight? No, definitely not.

What you eat is certainly important, but how much is still what determines whether you’ll lose, maintain or gain weight. That "theory" is still valid and it would be an "alternative truth" to claim otherwise.

[SHANNON.D]

I'm only a teen so I don't especially need to go on a diet yet I was wondering if anyone had any tips on how to stop craving soooo much sugar and move onto healthier alternatives. Thanks heaps if you have an answer:) 

[Dominique]

@SHANNON.D: try to develop a habit of getting your sugar from fruits (as opposed to cookies, sweets etc.). And eat them whole (as opposed to juicing them). You’ll still get some sugar, but also eat fiber (will make you feel fuller), vitamins, minerals etc. Apples, bananas etc. You can also eat raw veggies like carrots, celery, with similar benefits.

[modelmalina]

Hi,

I'm curious to know about the diet and book.

M.

[SunsetRunner]

I'm starting it too -- but I'm only aiming to readjust my percentage of fat/carbs/protein to 40/40/20 like he says in his book.  I'm just not sure how to count the number (?) how do I know if something is 40%?  We are not supposed to count calories -- so I'm confused.  Perhaps because I listened to the audiobook - it didn't explain it. 

[lizvocal]

The key is the ratios of fat calories to protein to carbs, and getting the sugar calories out of your diet.  Most people won't eat a whole stick of butter at one sitting, but adding butter, avocados and olive oil to your diet definitely reduces hunger all day.  I have found my blood sugar to have stabilized and my cravings are almost non-existent.  I can look at cakes, pasta and bread and not even care.  It isn't a struggle to turn them down, because I feel great and I am happy with what I can eat.

[lizvocal]

High sugar food make your blood sugar spike and then crash.  If you can get out of the habit of eating sugary foods, you will crave them less.  Making sure what you are eating makes you happy really helps too. 

[lizvocal]

kateharp, if you use the Food log, it will give you percentages of calories from each of the macronutrients.  The website for Always Hungry? gives you a cheat sheet that also gives rough measurements for each meal to get your ratios right.

[Dominique]

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@SunsetRunner wrote:

I'm only aiming to readjust my percentage of fat/carbs/protein to 40/40/20 like he says in his book.  I'm just not sure how to count the number (?) how do I know if something is 40%?  We are not supposed to count calories -- so I'm confused. 

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@SunsetRunner: 40/40/20 applies to your entire intake for the day, so it’s not like some given item has to be 40%. In order to know what the breakdown is, you need to log your food with Fitbit, MyFitnessPal, LoseIt, a spreadsheet, a piece of paper etc. If you use an app or a spreadsheet, this will give you the calories as well. You may just ignore them since instructed by the book, but if you’re getting them as a by-product of your logging, why not take advantage of it? For weight loss, calories matter more than macronutrients anyway: no matter how "perfect" your macronutrient breakdown is, if you are in a caloric surplus, you are not going to lose weight. There’s no way around it: if you are not in a caloric deficit, you are not going to lose weight, no matter what diet you are following. The "best" diet for you is the one that puts you in a deficit and you can stick to. Things that work best for one person may not necessarily work optimally for another one.

[MagsOnTheBeach]

I do something similar, I am doing the DASH diet but instead of artificial sweetened yogurt I use plain whole milk yogurt.  Instead of light butter, I use real butter.  And I don't use skim milk, I use whole milk.  I also have 1/4 to 1/2 an avocado most days and I use olive oil.  I do not use sugar at all.

I find removing anything artificial and going as close to the natural food as possible, I have managed to lose weight with only portion control and making sure I have a protein with each meal as well as half of my plate in vegetables.  I have a very natural bread (low sodium ezekiel) and whole wheat couscous, quinoa and brown rice, and starchy vegetables twice a day.  The weight has come off at a good clip for me but most importantly I never feel deprived or hungry between meals and snacks.  The only time I feel like having too much is stress eating, but I can see it now and know what it is and not do it.

I have read the downside to having full fat foods is that if you stop your diet, it is REALLY hard to go back to low fat/ non fat foods.  So when people stop, they up their portions and have more calories than they did before they started to diet because whole fat just tastes so much better.  I have made a commitment to myself that this is not a diet though, it really is my way of eating forever.

[abigailtuttle]

I just started the book today.  How has your success been?  Did you stick to it?

[YojanaFitbit]

Good to hear that @abigailtuttle, I've just read the summary but I'd like to have some insights from someone who actually follows the three-phase program. I'll be looking forward to your comments. 🎯 😉