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Our bodies require a combination of basic nutrients-
protein,
carbohydrates, fat, minerals , vitamins, and water. You won't
develop any vitamin or mineral deficiency in
two weeks, even on a
starvation diet, but the Scarsdale Medical Diet happens to provide
plenty of nutrients. Protein,
carbohydrates, and fats are the big
three nutrients, and all of them come packaged in calories- a fact we
sometimes
forget.
The average person's food intake contains approximately 10-15
percent protein, variations of between 40-45 percent
fat and 40-50
percent carbohydrates. Fortunately we know that we can make wide
variations in those percentages and still
deliver a healthy diet.
The Scarsdale Medical Diet averages 1,000 calories or less per day and averages 43 percent
protein, 22.5 percent fat and 34.5 percent carbohydrates.(p. 8)
The body is the product of what it eats. The most
obvious and probably the most common nutritional defects are caused by serious calorie imbalance: too few or too many.(p.11)
If you consume more calories (units of energy) than your age, size, and life style require, you store those calories in
the form of fat. If you consume fewer calories than you need, you lose fat because the body uses fat as an energy source when
it runs out of calories. (p.13)
A certain number of calories are needed to sustain the basic body metabolism, which includes
such functions as keeping the heart beating, breathing and maintaining a normal body temperature. Beyond that, each of your
activities requires calories.(p.14)
To speed the reducing process, I have cut the fat consumption way down during the
Diet period. When the body demands more fat, it pulls it our of the fat storage areas, which are plentiful in the overweight
woman and man.(p.17)
The Scarsdale Medical Diet is LOW fat, LOW carbohydrates, and consequently LOW in caloric content,
not NO fat, NO carbohydrates. The person in normal health gets enough complex carbohydrates in the vegetables and fruits on
the diet for safe eating. He burns his own excess fat to provide the added energy while reducing.(p.37)
Members Suggest:
As far as calories are concerned, an average day of eating
is approximately 800-1000 on this diet, depending....
1200 or 1300 is the average requirement for basic living;
Although there is no counting of calories on this diet, use www.fitday.com and enter what was eaten into the
food diary and it calculates all the nutritional info
and calories for you.
Its a great tool and helps make sure you are eating enough-
unlimited fruit day is
no problem of course! Carbs!
If you keep your calories from getting too low, your metabolism
will stay
revved up and you wont gain as easily if and when you go
back to "regular eating".
Eating too much protein can make you gain weight, as the body
will only use what it needs and store the rest as fat!
This link should help figure your lean body mass & daily protein requirements:
Calculate the amount you require using this Protein Power formula:
Base your protein intake on 0.6 to 1 gram per pound of lean body mass multiplied by your activity
factor:
- Sedentary. A person who gets no physical activity needs 0.5 grams of protein per pound of lean body
mass.
- Moderately Active. Someone who exercises 20-30 minutes two or three times per week needs 0.6 grams
of protein per pound of lean body mass.
- Active. Someone who exercises 30 minutes or more three to five times per week needs 0.7 grams of protein
per pound of lean body mass.
- Very Active. A person who exercises an hour or more at least five times per week needs 0.8 grams of
protein per pound of lean body mass.
- Athlete. A competitive athlete who trains twice a day for an hour or more needs 1 gram of protein
per pound of lean body mass.
Eating too LITTLE can make you stall:
"It's possible that you're not eating enough, and your metabolism is
slowing down.
How many calories per day are you eating? Your body
will go into starvation mode if you don't eat enough. Part of the
reason
that SMD works is because you only go low-cal for two weeks
at a time--followed by a couple weeks of regular calorie eating---
your
metabolism doesn't slow down. If your body thinks its starving,
it will cling to body fat..."
-kg
"Also remember that if you "skip" meals, OR don't eat on a regular basis, your body thinks
you are trying to starve itself and will automatically go into survival mode by lowering your metabolic rate (metabolism)
to compensate thereby making it difficult to lose weight so do not skip meals.
One of the things I've noticed with the
Scarsdale diet which helps make it work is the fact that one day your total food/calorie intake is lower than the next. This
triggers or fools your body's metabolism into keeping the rate active or fairly reved up even though the diet's daily calorie
intake is below 1000 calories. Most nutritionalists agree that 1000 calorie a day is the minimum amount of calories you should
take in to survive, before your metabolism switches to the "survival" mode, and to supplement with a multi-vitamin-mineral
tablet if that is the case". -fairkismet
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