Training intense cardio 7 times a week by itself would fit the schedule of an athlete, let alone the extra weight lifting.

So you essentially proved my point. Entensive exercise lifestyle will help you lose weight, regardless of what you eat.

Wa'il

An athlete, perhaps, depending upon your definition. Not a professional athlete, by a long shot, as you implied earlier. So have you retracted your original point, which I understood was to dismiss John Stone because he was a "professional bodybuilder" who "trained full time"?

A professional athlete, is not like a professional in general. We work 9 hours a day, but a boxer cannot box 9 hours a day to be a professional boxer. They have physical limits...

In any case, my point is that gruiling, intense exercise will cause weight loss, no mater what diet you follow.

I don't dismiss any athlete's program. If it works for them, that's great.

I dismiss the notion that the diet of an athlete is the right diet for the rest of us, who don't follow the same intense routines they follow.

They can eat cup cakes all day, and still lose weight. An average person cannot expect the same results, unless they match their exercise intensity.

That does not prove the merit of their diet. It's proves the merit of their exercise.

Wa'il

agd-- You're a male teen, which means you've got the metabolism that an older woman wuld kill for. If you reduce your calories, you have a strong chance of losing weight.

An older woman, like your mother, is more likely to have metabolic resistance. I'm only 27, and I can't lose weight on a reduced calorie diet. Atkins, however, helps correct my metabolism and insulin problems, and I lose weight.

None of my business, but let's guess your mother may be over 40? I used to could lose weight on a "sensible" approach. Then I turned 40.

Atkins worked for me when my old solutions quit working. I suspect the age gap may be even bigger than the sex difference, which is also a major component of why some people can lose weight on one plan that may not work for even a close relative.

Me too and it got harder the older I got.

She's been on the diet for 5 days and has lost 3 pounds, in case anyone's interested. She said she's going to stick to this way of eating for a while.

So I'm giving a to low carbing if you're an older person who can't lose weight on other approaches.

My son and I are following the hunter-gatherer diet and although he eats way more carbs (good carbs) than I do he is losing weight faster than I am. Age, sex and medical condition plays a role in weight loss, but the important thing is to eat healthy regardless. I am so glad my son is eating this way even though he doesn't have to because in the long run his health will definitely benefit.

And the kids haven't had the decades it takes for a good, solid case of insulin resistance to set in.

I don't know about that... I've never been tested, but I'm pretty sure I have fairly significant insulin resistance due to the plethora of symptoms I previously (and currently) express. I started the Atkins diet at 20 years old, after suffering with said symptoms as far as I can remember. I vividly remember what I now recognize to be reactive hypoglycemic symptoms/attacks as a pre-teen. I expressed PCOS symptoms since puberty.

I think how readily one becomes insulin resistant is a function of both genetic potential and environment. I have both poor genetic potential and previously had a very poor diet.
If you have good genetic resistance against insulin resistance (a metabolism which tolerates sugar well) and a good environment (high activity, well balanced, low refined carbs, moderate/low calorie), odds are you never will develop any significant insulin resistance (or perhaps not until very late in life, 60s or 70s, and a minor case).
If you have good/decent genetic resistance against malfunctioning sugar metabolism, but a really, really bad diet (high refined carbs, high calories), than you likely will become insulin resistant significantly and earlier (probably by age 30 or 40 - mid life). The reverse is also true, in that you can have poor resistance but a good diet and in doing this you will also delay the onset of symptoms of insulin resistance.

However, if you hve poor genetic potential AND poor diet... well that's just a recipe for early life diabetes & other diseases of insulin resistance. Native Americans are a perfect example of this unfortunate combination. Many of their young children are being diagnosed with type 2 diabetes.

"over 40" is not, in my book, an "older person."

I think tamarian made an excellent point, not harsh at all!

If we're talking about any weight loss system, it's important to know both the diet and exercise regimen to get a full understanding of it.

Daily cardio is way more than I do, so I sure can't expect to get the same results as someone who does that!

That is a fair statement.

Well, I had my mom go on the South Beach induction phase for two weeks. Because she says she gets headaches when she tries it, she's not going to exercise but focus solely on the diet.

She's had two successful days so far. 12 more to go.

Anyone know if that could help correct her metabolism?

I suffer from hypoglycemia which is a metabolic disorder as is diabetes ( hyperglycemia ). Since I have been low carbing my hypoglycemic symptoms have vanished. These symptoms include an insatiable hunger, migraines, itchy skin. They are gone. I eat plenty of food and I lost 26 lbs. I wouldn't say that it corrected my metabolism. However, it made it possible for my metabolism to function at is peak.

Oh, another thing, I did not begin an exercise regimen until after I lost 26 lbs.

Black57