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Early in June I started doing to Atkins diet. I wasn't 100%, but I was eating a lot better than previously (read: loves bread, potatoes, and pasta). Negative results. Around mid-September I switched to Paleo. With the exception of 4 off days and salad dressing, I've been 100%. Since I started eating healthy in June, I've gained about twenty pounds - and not just water weight or something; I've seen the gain around my middle. Over the past five years or so, I've been watching my weight slowly creep up thirty pounds; then, in four and a half months, I shoot up twenty! What am I doing wrong? I sleep right, eat right, and excersise right and my fat is going to wrong way. I know I'm not eating too much; if anything, I'm probably not consuming enough calories. But I shouldn't be getting fat from that, right? Thanks in advance for any help you can give me. I'm at my wit's end!

Hi! Several questions, but first background. I am 5'0", female, 18, and about 45 pounds overweight. 1. Half my family is doing Atkins ( the other half doesn't need to lose weight, which makes it really hard ), but I'm having a really hard time doing it because I can't seem to keep my carb count down. I'm eating the right foods, but I keep eating too many vegetables (cauliflower, brussel sprouts, green beans, etc), and I'm never sure if I'm using too much salad dressing (I like French and Caesar). Is there something I can do to make this easier, or is it something I just need to deal with? 2. Paleo vs. Atkins. Is one inherently better than the other? Not just in losing weight, but also in keeping it off and maintaining a healthy lifestyle? One allows fruit and not dairy, and the other allows dairy and not fruit (I love both). Is there a way to mix and match the diets and take the best from each one while still losing weight? With Atkins I can't have cheat days 'cause that messes up the whole body-in-fat-burning-mode thing. Is that how it is with paleo? Does one make you lose faster? Is one more reliable in keeping it off? Will I completely ruin it in paleo if I have cake and ice cream at Dad's birthday or with the occaisonal junk food snack? 3. Can you still lose weight if you're eating grains? Please don't tell me grains are bad for you; I don't believe that (I have evidence to back my belief up), so don't waste your time or mine trying to argue otherwise. I just want to know if the high carb count will counteract my losing weight or keeping it off. 4. Can I lose fat and build muscle at the same time? I don't care about looking muscular or toned or whatever- I just want to be stronger, more flexible, and have better stamina. Can my muscles improve to that while my body is burning fat? It seems to me doing that would help with the burning of fat because it could draw energy from the fat and the new muscle would also eat at the fat. 5. I tend to get bored when I exercise. I was doing a program that would get me up to doing 200 squats (in one set) in a day, and I was doing great, except I would get bored around the 18th rep. I'd like to train myself to run because it's useful in games and in case I ever need to run, but I get bored less than two minutes in. The same for using my stationary bike: it takes about a minute before I get hopelessly bored. I tried setting up so I watched a movie (doctor who, actually! ) while I cycled, but going at a steady pace I wasn't tired at the end, going any faster and I'm completely pooped in about ten minutes. Also when I try to do bodyweight exercises in my room, I can't because the floor squeaks and it disturbs my sisters (don't say do them another time, because I can't). So I guess my question in this, how can I build my strength and muscle in a way that I don't get bored. I'd still like to be able to do 200 squats and pushups and stuff, but if I'm bored I hate it and if I hate it I make excuses to not and if I make excuses I don't improve. I tried upping the intesity (ten jump squats instead of normal squats-to-boredom), but that still gets boring day after day. I think part of the problem might be I'm not being stimulated mentally, only physically. It's especially difficult to warm up, because that's five minutes when I'm not even pushing myself physically. Does anybody have any suggestions to stave off the boredom? And is there a faster warm up I could do in about a minute or less? 6. I'm tired all the time. Not exhausted, just in that want-to-lean-back-and-close-your-eyes kind of way. I get up between 6 and 7 and go to bed never any later than 10, but usually around 9. Am I getting enough sleep? Am I getting too much? Is this a result of a bad diet? Could it be not enough exercise? I'm at the same level of exercise I've been all my life (none) and it's only in the past year or so I've started feeling like this. 7. And finally, is someone willing to acountability buddy with me? Someone my age(ish) and gender (I say age because I'd feel more comfortable with someone my age. With an adult, it just gets complicated because I'm supposed to defer and can't disagree and stuff). I just want someone I can text with who will encourage and hold me accountable, and I'll do the same. I will not meet in person with you, so location doesn't matter. Thank you in advance for any help you can give me. I really really appreciate it.

I know you have to eat a surplus of quality calories to build muscle, but can those calories be drawn from the fat around my middle? Can I be eating to lose weight, while still doing push ups and training for a 5K? Also, I was doing Atkins for fat loss, but I'm thinking of switching to Paleo because if I mis-eat one day on Atkins I have to start over, but not so for Paleo. (Is this correct?) Also because I can eat fruit in Paleo. ;-) My question in two part: 1) can I eat dairy in Paleo and still lose weight? Will it slow weight loss? and 2) why is dairy not Paleo?

Hi all, My family recently decided to go on the Atkins diet, and I was wondering how this compares to Paleo. I've always loved fruit and potatoes and having to leave that out is hitting me the hardest, so does anybody know of any comparisons done or anything? Does one have a significant advantage over the other? Could I mix them (I love dairy too)? Which one gives me the fastest and best results? If you can, please include a source for your information (personal experience included). Thank you so much!!

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Here are some of my thoughts on weight loss. By full disclosure I have lost 35+ pounds twice doing Weight Watchers and 22+ pounds twice on two separate fasts. So, you’re trying to lose weight? Well, I have the two most important things you need to know right here. No kidding. I don’t care what weight loss plan you pick; Atkins, Weight Watchers, Paleo, Primal, South Beach, Sugar Busters, or Aunt Martha’s family plan. If you don’t do these two things you will either fail or not be as successful as you could be. And I’m going to stop with the teasing and give you these two magical things right now. Are you ready? Here they are. First, Honesty and second is the phrase “With proper diet and exercise.†That’s it. That’s all there is to it. Be honest about your plan and include proper diet and exercise. Simple. What? You don’t get it? Okay, I’ll explain each a little more fully. Honesty Be honest with yourself about your plan. This means no cheating, measure things correctly and accurately, no bending the rules, eat the correct portions, and no excuses for why you just can’t today. Period. If you’re not fed up with the state your body is in to the point that your weight is making you angry then the personal discipline needed to stick to whatever diet you’ve chosen will be more difficult. No one is going to help you with this, and no one else can either. You’ve got to do it. You’ve got to say no to that temptation food, whatever it is. If you can’t be honest with yourself when no one else is looking about your diet you will eventually stop doing it and gain the weight back. No one else is going to care as much as you do. No one else is going to be at all interested or even know if you’re pants are too tight because your ever expanding frontier just annexed a tiramisu. No one else will lament your weight gain except maybe Jennie Craig and she’ll be with you only because you’re not buying her food and for no other reason. If you want to lose the weight, it is time to jerk a knot in that person you see in the mirror every morning. Stare him or her straight in the eye and say ‘No More’. Stare at that reflection until the person in the mirror actually believes you mean business this time, and then get about the business of planning your lifestyle change. With Proper Diet and Exercise The next time you’re lounging on the sofa with a box of bonbons and that magical weight loss commercial comes on tune your ears for this phrase. If you don’t hear it, search the text on the screen, that really tiny mouse print text that hangs out at the bottom of the screen. You’ll either hear it in really fast lawyer speak or it will be in that tiny print. Then, watch for it in every single other commercial or program talking about weight loss. It’s in every one of them. Why is that do you think? Well, the answer is at once simple and so complicated that most of us reject it out of hand. This phrase is in with every single weight loss plan advertised because, are you ready? THERE IS NO MAGICAL SOLUTION TO LOOSING WEIGHT. There it is. The solution to losing weight is simple first grade math. Burn more calories than you eat each day. Period, and the best way to do that is to have a proper diet coupled with good exercise. That word ‘proper’ really is the important one too. If your diet is moon pies all day long, I don’t believe you can out exercise the fat content of your diet. Likewise, if your diet cuts you caloric intake to 100 calories a day (you will die by the way at this level it’s dramatic license to make a point) but you leave out any exercise you will flounder in either slow or nonexistent weight loss because your body isn’t burning up what you’re taking in or is just coping. The bad news is that real healthy weight loss takes time, about two and a half pounds a week on average. We are impatient and want a pill or magic solution to melt the pounds off, and that just doesn’t exist outside of fiction. The good news is that there is an excellent method for weight loss out there for every body type, fitness level, and willpower. The internet is full of good sites (including Nerdfitness) where you can find loads of people who can walk you through exactly what you need for your particular situation, and most of them will do it for free too! If you’re on the weight loss path just remember to be honest with yourself and couple that honesty with proper diet and exercise and you’ll do fine.