Week 6 Meeting (February 11)

Hi Dr. Agatston !  

Thinking about plateaus made me remember a theory called The Set Point Theory.

According to this theory, there is a control system built into every person dictating how much fat he or she should carry – a kind of thermostat for body fat.  What are your thoughts on this theory? Is it part of plateaus and if so, how can we re-set this mecanism?

Laurie in AZ

I love the South Beach way of life.  What amount of reduced fat cheese would you recommend per day?  That's probably something I could easily overdo.

Dr Agatston, thank you so much for creating SBD!  I’ve been on the plan for 6 wks and can’t tell you how much better I feel - my energy, my sleep, my concentration all improved.  Next up:  blood work!  :  )

I hope you don’t mind a couple of off topic questions, but there were a couple of things I wanted to clarify.  If we were to skip the required veggies and protein at breakfast, would this compromise our health or weight loss?  Sometimes these elements just go better with a morning snack, instead of with oatmeal pancakes!

Also, could you explain the science behind men and women being allowed different amts of wine a day?  I think that’s the only element of SBD where there is a difference between the sexes.  If a female wanted more wine, is this something that could come out of the Sweet Treat calories?

REALLY appreciate you being here …. And thank you again for changing my life!

Zebra_2 wrote: "Thinking about plateaus made me remember a theory called The Set Point Theory. According to this theory, there is a control system built into every person dictating how much fat he or she should carry – a kind of thermostat for body fat.  What are your thoughts on this theory? Is it part of plateaus and if so, how can we re-set this mecanism?"

Each of our healthy weight, when we don't have cravings and we're feeling good, will be different. This has been proven in identical-twin studies, where twins were sent out into the wilds of Canada. They had complete control over calories in, via food and beverages, and caolories out, via exercise. They then overfed and underfed the twin volunteers with exactly the same energy-in and energy-out. There were large differences in the amount of weight gained during overeating and lost during undereating. The identical twin pairs tended to gain and lose almost the same weight as each other. This study demonstrated that we all do handle calories somewhat differently and, in a sense, will have different set points where our healthy weight is. What I see in my clinical practice commonly is women who have lost substantial weight. They feel good and their blood chemistries are normal, but they still want to lose more weight. I feel that this is more of a cultural problem in our society than a health problem. The final answer is that when you have friends who seem to eat everything and not gain weight, and you eat a little and you gain weight, it is not your imagination. We do respond differently due to our genetics.

But when people do hit plateaus before they have reached a healthy weight, there are many strategies to overcome this that we can talk about today.

Hi Dr. Agatston,

Thank you for taking the time to take questions for the Chat this week.  I have been fortunate not to see a long plateau in Phase 2; although my rate of weight loss has definitely decreased in the last two months.  My question is whether eating earlier in the day has an effect on the rate of weight loss.  I seem to consume about half my daily calories after 4 pm; am I shortchanging myself by not eating more earlier and cutting back later?  Thank you

Having the veggies at different times if it suits your lifestyle is fine. The point of maximizing the veggies is their nutrient and fiber values. But moving them from breakfast to a morning snack is fine. Since you are on Phase 2, you are getting fiber from the oatmeal. But, getting more protein from a hard-boiled egg, would keep you fuller longer.

For the wine recommendation, we are following the American Heart Association. The reason for the difference is that men tend to be larger than women--so the amount of alcohol per weight is different. In general, very thin people will tolerate less wine or alcohol than a very large person. So the recommendation is simply a matter of weight.

Thanks Dr Agatston,
I am going to try just leaving in the low glycemic index fruits and see what that does instead of going to phase 2.
Jess