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Jetboil.

For chicken, etc. see part about less meat.

Some good points here on both sides.

I'd say your're both right...it depends on your lifestyle. High protein, low carb diets are great for many people who aren't necessarily athletes. You can lose weight quickly this way, and many do, but most gain it back. I've watched it happen dozens of times.

Those who work out on a regular basis will benefit from adding complex carbs to their diet. Not a lot, but some. You'd be very hard pressed to find one elite athlete who stayed away from carbs. Walk into the training room of any professional sports team in the world and you won't find them telling their guys to go all protein. It's all about eating clean.

Obviously, though, not all carbs are equal. The less processing the better.

I've done my share of each type of diet. I'd consider myself an athlete and I train like one for most of the year. I can see a difference in my energy levels when I add in things like steel cut oats, sweet potatoes, brown rice and whole grains. The key is not to eat too much and keep your portions in check.

As hunters and hikers, we need endurance. Carbs are key in that regard. How many good marathoners use the high protein/no carb diet? hint: none. They wouldn't think of it.

The poison here is processed carbs--white flour and sugars in particular. THAT is what you need to eliminate if you're going to eliminate anything. Just think clean. Eat clean. Lots of veggies, fruits, lean protein, the right fats, nuts, eggs and the right carbs. Stay away from anything processed or fried and indulge yourself once in a while.

In summary, if you want to drop a lot of weight fast you can do the pure protein thing. It works. But, 99 times out of 100, that weight will come back again. You have to make lifestyle change to exercise and eat right and you'll be fit as a fiddle.

There are a million articles out there on each side of this fence. Google things like "diet for an athlete" and see what comes up. You can read a bunch of journals and a ton of scientific studies that have seen years and years and years of trial and error in finding the right balance. Another hint: High protein is not it.

This one is a pretty good summary:
http://www.humankinetics.com/excerpts/excerpts/are-high-protein-low-carb-diets-good-for-me

Here is an excellent overview of what sugar (fructose in particular) does to our body. An hour and a half long, so you may want to watch it in segments. Great, great stuff.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=dBnniua6-oM

From the link above:

"Third, losing weight is about expending more calories than you consume. The total amount of calories burned during the day is what counts�not whether you burn fat or carbohydrate. (Otherwise, to lose weight, you could simply sleep more, an activity that burns few total calories, but a high percentage of fat calories.) Your body can pull from its fat stores at any time of day or night to compensate for the calories burned during exercise. Besides, if you consume too many calories from any source�carbohydrate, protein, or fat�your body will store the excess calories as body fat. As for high insulin levels causing people to become overweight, the reverse is more likely to be true. Being overweight drives insulin levels up. People have trouble regulating their blood sugar level and consequently feel hungrier, and thus more likely to overeat. Losing weight through a sound exercise program almost always brings insulin levels back down within the normal range."

Preach it brother!

10 min of focused sprints once per week will do more for endurance than jogging 4-5 hours a week.
couple that with a little slow paced walking and some body weight exercise and your done.
no fuss, no muss.
80% is your diet. you cant build a fortress out of [bleep] and expect it to last.

I'm adding two minutes/week until I get to 30min, then I'll drop to 20min and ratchet up the intensity, and add two minutes each week again. I only do the stepmill once a week. Your body will habituate to whatever workout you do repeatedly. Sometimes that is good, like when you are trying to learn a skill (kettlebell snatches) but not always.

In addition to the diet, I'd suggest a training program similar to this one.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=DFrRuzScnE8

Thanks. Makes sense now.

I would respectfully disagree, but I guess endurance is a relative term. Are you talking one hour ? Sure, but 10 hrs of high output no way. I've been there , done that, seen others try and fail. For high output for a long time, you need to train your body for fuel and some endurance. It can be long fast hikes or whatever, but you have to work hard for a good while.

I agree, that Tabata stuff can help build capacity quickly, but not the adaptations needed for real endurance.

From my time in the mountains, and hunting with others, where I see most folks fail is either mental, cold related or fatigue / endurance related. Sure some could be stronger, but in at least a couple cases, the people were plenty strong and spent a lot of gym time, they were just tired of going up and down hills / ravines etc. Call it what you will

I like these civil discussions. The older I get the less I believe in silver bullets. The diet that works for me may not work for you. I also think that people have very high expectations on losing weight quickly. In most cases the excess weight wasn't gained quickly. It was/is a result of a changing lifestyle. Diets can cause a fast loss but rarely cause a lifestyle change. I believe the most effective permanent weight loss needs the lifestyle change. Losing the weight over a longer period of time while slowly changing bad habits and adding good habits has been the ticket for me. As I get older I need to be maintaining my muscle mass and bone density while keeping in check the extra weight, in the form of fat. I have a reasonable program that includes low impact cardio(walking uphill) and lifting for the larger muscle groups(legs and back). One comment on endurance: I was in and uphill mountain running event in which I walked. Toward the top I caught up with an elderly woman who was doing very well while I was trying to consume the worlds supply of O2. After we reached the top where the time stopped we were walking down the hill. She had been a cross country skier her whole life and had built up and maintained an incredible endurance base. Her main comment to me was "If you want the time you have to do the time" no shortcuts.

I am not going to read this whole thing before I post since I just got back from a ski trip. If someone has not said it already the first thing I would do if you have not had one done is to get a food allergy test done. I found out that I am highly senstive to egg yolks and dariy products. Been on my new diet plan for about 2 weeks now, feel freakin awesome and I am losing about a half pound a day.

Whenever I eat out ( fast food) I always opt for a salad. Subway has salads

Bad advice.

It applies to losing weight but most people ignore the fact that losing weight isn't the same as losing fat. You can lose weight by eating only french fries all day but the biggest loss is on muscle mass AND health. Eat right and you can stay full all day and still lose fat.

I could not agree more with you, Kevin! Given a minimal physical preparation, it is all in your mind.

Two years ago I wounded a ram in the Brooks Range of Alaska and spent four and a half days searching for it, climbing every mountain and crossing every saddle way beyond my physical capability just throwing one feet behind the other, following my guide, and repetating to myself with every step "We-will-find-you-We-will-find-you..."

I did not realize how much destroyed until I hit my own bed two days later.

This thread has been fascinating so far...

I've already learned more than I'd hoped. That was the whole reason I reached out to this group of guys. What kind of diet to eat is the weak link in my lifestyle.

gluconeogenesis /glu�co�neo�gen�e�sis/ the synthesis of glucose from molecules that are not carbohydrates, such as amino and fatty acids.
Dorland's Medical Dictionary for Health Consumers. � 2007 by Saunders, an imprint of Elsevier, Inc. All rights reserved.

+1. When I'm not traveling I hit the gym every day. I eat my carbs first thing in the morning in the form of a big bowl of whole grain cereal with no sugar like shredded wheat, and work out mid-morning after it's digested.

Then skip the carbs the rest of the day, particularly the few hours after the workout. Works for me. I lost 15 lbs. this winter and now I'm down to fighting weight.

Sami,

I'm interested in your line of thinking here - could you provide more evidence or reasoning behind this 2-word rebuttal? Is not eating grains bad advice simply because for your entire life, the federal government has told you it's bad advice? Or do you have any other logic on which you'd care to elaborate, rather than just making a contrary statement?

You would probably benefit, as I did, in watching the TED talk video posted back on page 6 - it's great advice, and no longer a new idea to most. Grains and sugars are detrimental to health. Not that I don't love them! But not eating grains is GREAT advice - without starchy carbohydrates, you're relegated to downing massive quantities of vegetables and fruits. Would anyone on earth (except, apparently, the USDA) care to argue that a piece of bread is better to eat than a salad? Or a bowl of oatmeal better than a kale smoothie???

Pete

Well, yes, I can definitively say that a bowl of oatmeal is better than a kale smoothie

Seriously though, I think a lot of it has to do with what you're doing to burn the calories, how many carbs you eat, when you eat them during the day, and whether you can avoid "empty carbs" without much nutritional value like white rice or bleached flour.

No doubt that generally speaking, for most people, getting your carbs from vegetables and fruits is better than getting them from grains. But if you already eat plenty of fruits/vegetables, avoid empty carbs, eat grains sparingly and only whole grains, and burn the calories soon after you eat them, you'll be fine.

It was a short reply because I see a trend in your writing calling complex carbs "gimmicky" etc. Ever tried the "champions diet"? It relies heavily on oatmeal. Two reasons really, it keeps you full for a long time while providing you a steady source of energy without spiking your sugarlevels. Going with low carb diet might get you results in the short run but you are setting yourself up for health issues in the long run.

I am switching jobs to one that doesn't require constant travel. Moving from Texas to Florida so I need to get my old body back. I am currently 5'10", 195lb and around 16-18% bodyfat. On my healthy diet I was around 8% and 185lb. Here's the basics of the diet:

Breakfast:

bowl of oatmeal
6-8 eggwhites

Brunch:

bowl of oatmeal
6-8 eggwhites

Lunch:

Lean cut of protein (meat, fish, etc.)
2-3 small red potatoes or yam
steamed vegetables

Snack:

Protein shake

Dinner:

Lean cut of protein (meat, fish, etc.)
steamed vegetables

Snack:

Protein shake

Clean diet with the carbs loaded at the start of the day when you need them and burn them during the day. Minimal carbs at night when you prepare yourself for rest. If you can follow that clean diet it will do miracles to your body and does not rely on "gimmicks" like most of the fad diets.