I think the emphasis should be placed on muscle growth over fat or "weight" loss. But, in our busy lives where we push for "results now", we often times overlook the long term effects of what we're doing at the moment. This is why, in my opinion, "diets" fail. We're thinking in reverse. We think we have to "lose" something. We need to lose weight... lose fat... lose certain foods. Shouldn't the emphasis be placed on muscle growth to develop a healthy, fit body for the LONG RUN?

If we gain muscle, and we do the things needed to maximize muscle growth, the fat will be taken care of. It's a fact that building muscle burns away calories. It seems that the people that focus on muscle growth always look better than "dieters". Especially the extremely low carb dieters... most of which fall off the low carb diet at some point to gain even more fat than before they started the diet.

Think about something you can GET (muscle) over something you are trying to LOSE!

You have to do what is right for your body.

Right now i am 270 pounds. I dont want to be 270 pounds even if it is 100% muscle. I want a smaller body size so i can wear all the clothes i have stashed away. I am working towards a happy medium of losing some fat and replacing some with muscle.

I have read several of your posts and i doubt that you have ever dealt with a weight problem. You dont seem to understand that fat people are not fat because they want to be. Some people cant help that they are fat. Not all fat people are lazy. You can contend that most fat people might be inactive but not lazy.

You must also open your mind to the fact that what works for you will not work for everyone. I beleive in low carb eating because it works FOR ME . I will share information about it with my friends but i do not tell them that they have to eat that way or that the way they are eating is wrong. If it works for you then do it.

The other thing that you must remember is that not everyone wants to look like a body builder and not everyone is a muscle head. Some people jsut want to be healty enough to climb the stairs without breaking a sweat while others want to be around to see thier grand children.

Hi guys, I just noticed this thread and wanted to say I can see where you're both coming from, and add another thing that might be worth considering.

My story so far has been that I have been trying to 'lose' weight and 'go back' to the weight I used to be at uni. I've not done too well at staying on the wagon, and I wonder if that is partly a subconcious objection to the idea of 'losing' something, and 'going back'. So I'm changing my mind set, now instead of 'losing' I am 'shedding' unwanted baggage, getting rid of something I really don't want, or need. I know this is a bit abstract, but when we talk about 'losing' something, we usually want to find it again. And 'going back' isn't really an option either, on the contrary, I want to 'move forward', through my plump stage and on to better things, a slimmer me etc. I don't want to return to the me I was at uni, only to put on weight again and go through the whole process once more.

Anyway, I suspect that the way we think about things has a lot to do with our success, and we need to be careful what we wish for. I believe the mind is an incredibly powerful tool that can be used to propell us to success, or can seriously hamper our progress.

Anyone else got any thoughts on this?