A recent e-mail from a reader with an impressive success story:
Hi!
I’ve dropped 10 sizes and 64 lbs (29 kg) since the beginning of the year. All this from LCHF. I’m strict with my diet and I’m feeling great. Previously I used to run half marathons, but an injury prevented me from running for many years, and then the pounds piled up on me…
I’m attaching before and after pictures. You are welcome to publish these as an inspiration for others.
Congratulations!
As far as the social gatherings go why not have a nice, substantial fatty meal before going and then just turn down the "carbage" and say something like, "I'm sorry my doc asked me to not have sweets( or whatever) for now". I mean who would want you to lapse into a coma right there and then, right? ;-) I'd stick to some cheese with coffee or tea, etc. and skip crackers and Coke.
I do see another potential little issue with what you're doing: your 50-60g of carbs. Here's what Dr Phinney/Volek had to say about this:
How Fast to Cut Back? This is a great question, but the answer is not as clearly spelled out by objective research as we would like. Some very credible people advocate easing into carbohydrate restriction slowly by cutting back by one food category at a time (e.g., first sugars and juices, then refined carbs, then starchy vegetables, etc). Others take the ‘Nike approach’ – as in “just do it”. To date, no one has done a study with a large group of subjects to see which strategy yields a higher proportion making an effective transition into nutritional ketosis. What we do know is that it takes a couple of weeks to keto-adapt, and you don’t accomplish much towards that goal until you are making substantial amounts of ketones (i.e., eating less than 50 grams of carbs for most people). The other concern with easing into a low carb diet is that once you are eating less than the 150
grams of carb needed to feed your brain with glucose, but still more than the 50 gram threshold below which ketosis is dependably operating, your brain’s fuel supply becomes pretty tenuous. If there’s not enough glucose to meet the brain’s 600 Calorie daily energy habit, and blood ketones remain below the 0.5 millimolar threshold where they can begin to pitch in, your body’s only two options are: burn up protein (for gluconeogenesis to fill the gap) or binge on carbs. In our clinical experience, the ‘Nike approach’ is better. Particularly if you use broth/bouillon to get enough sodium and eat plenty of low carb vegetables to get enough potassium, your adaptation period will be short and relatively symptom-free. That does not mean that this transition will be easy, but perhaps easier that trying to slowly slide your metabolism between two distinctly different fueling strategies. The best analogy might be that when running a gauntlet, it’s better to pick your antagonists armed with whips than those armed with hatchets.
Phinney, Stephen; Volek, Jeff (2012-06-15). The Art and Science of Low Carbohydrate Performance (p. 55). Beyond Obesity LLC. Kindle Edition.
I think it's something for you to think about very carefully.
What's your usual daily eating pattern these days?
I normally don't get cravings at night. If I do want something it's just because my hubby is munching and I just 'want' something but it is not unbearable. I can just drink tea and not eat.
Galina, thanks for the tip. I'll plan accordingly today ;-)
I'd say we should ask Rina to load up on 3k cal per day in the name of science. ;-)
BTW I've used your suggestion and plugged into google nutrition of "корейка" and sure enough some nice sites popped up with all kinds of good caloric data. Thank you, Galya.
1. I'm not that lady and I have no idea what she ate. I've been losing about a 1lb per week.
2. I'm sure you'd need to adjust my regimen for your size and gender. I'm a 5'8" male, 157lbs
Good luck. If you have questions don't hesitate to ask.
Hi Rina, good to hear you're enjoying your new regimen. Hey if you don't mind if you keep track of your weight and daily calories could you please post them from time to time. Would be interesting to compare notes.
I am not very strict about logging my food, some days i'm better than others. I will try to. In general i've be been around 1200-1300 cal. I weight myself once a week. This week i was down 1lb. I will also measure myself. Will keep you in the loop :-)
Also, question, keto urine strips, do i check after meal or on empty stomach?
There is classes on university on nutrition.. it take 4 years!
Dont care for ketostix.. they measure your urinary keto levels.. nothing you have any benefits of!
Count carbs instead, then you know if you are a fatburner.. whit or whitout high ketosis!
I disagree with Zepp, it makes a lot of sense to actually be in ketosis when you go low carb. And not just for weight loss, there are suggested health benefits like lower oxidative stress to your cells from ROS(free radicals) and more. The only question is how to measure it. It's more reliable to measure it in the blood with a simple prick test but ketostix are cheaper and simpler to use.
I think the Art and Science of Low Carb Living is the best for explaining science to lay people like us. Art and Science of Low Carb Performance is a great how to guide so I'd read both. They're about $10 each on Amazon, Kindle edition, well worth the money.
If you'd rather read more than less I'd also suggest Gary Taubes' How We Get Fat and What to Do About it. It's a lighter version of his Good Calories Bad Calories and it explores and explains the history of how we got where we are today. That Australian documentary in one of the latest blog posts on here shows him. He's a science journalist that started raising a lot of questions and generally muddying water a lot. LOL
Do the ketostix test in the morning before breakfast and maybe once or twice a day more. Frankly, it's not very clear to me when the best times are besides after waking up so please post your observations if you can.
My education also made me aware that complex systems like human body, economy, climate, is impossible to treat like mechanical ones (a car,a watch, an engine), and it was easy to notice that modern medicine too often involved into just symptoms management, and people are treated like cars in the need of repair, as a result the ability of our body to self-regulate gets damaged even more. I diagnosed myself correctly with under-active thyroid and rosacea because my observations made me think that something was not right.
Just start observing, read about it, think it over.
Here in the US you can get Novamax blood strips for $2 each straight from the manufacturer and sometimes cheaper on Ebay.
The point I was trying to make was that since there is a lot of individual variability it makes a lot of sense to use them initially until:
1. You know what it takes for you to get into ketosis
2. Ditto to stay in ketosis
And I just basically quoted Phinney/Volek
I found that for me it works somewhat differently than what they described. Go figure... ;-)
Like I said, the Ketostix are a cheap and easy way to get that initial positive feedback which I certainly found to be a motivator -- especially as you say, when first finding your way... just don't be surprised if they later don't change colour.. I think that you actually want that to happen :-)
And I don't think that at any stage they can be considered an accurate gauge for the level of blood ketones -- just the amount that you are peeing out.
My main point was to clear up any misunderstanding, as I think Zepp is clear about the benefits of ketosis :-)
I would also like to know what her daily menu was as per your comment "Helen, scroll back in the comments BR gave a daily menu and there are some other good tips from Galina. ".
I have scrolled back but can't seem to find the daily menu.
Can you please help?
Thank you so much :)
Make a vinigrett with olive oil and lemon juice.
http://www.fineli.fi/food.php?foodid=11048&lang=en
Mayby if you drink a lot of citrus juices!
But if we are Medeteranians one use olive oil.. and if one is frome middel east.. one stick to Ghee!
You can use all sorts of good fats.. even lard!
It is very difficult for me to get my mind around eating fatty things, albeit good fats, but I am trying nonetheless. I am on day 3 and I would like to share my daily diet with you LCHF gurus so you can let me know where I am going wrong.
Breakfast - 1 or 2 eggs and coffee
Lots of coffee throughout the day (with full cream milk)
Lunch - Tuna salad with spinach, tuna, mayonnaise, a boiled egg, olives, tomatoes, onion, green chilli, peppers, mushroom slices, blue cheese and seeds.
Dinner - Greek salad with fish grilled in butter / with cream.
I dont normally snack but this morning I had a few almonds.
How long does it take till one should see the weight dropping? I want to give myself 2 weeks. If in 2 weeks I havent lost any weight then I think I might give up.
I have been trying to follow a LCHF programme and have been losing weight - not at the same rate as some of the people on this website - but when I follow it it works.
More to the point my fitness has improved dramatically (I am doing lots of exercise, which is much easier for me when I stick to LCHF) and my mood has as well (I have had long-term clinical depression which drugs and therapy don't so far help much). How do I know it's the LCHF that helps my mood? Easy. If I stick to it I feel better. If I don't I feel washed out and bloated and I don't sleep properly.
As I continue to change my diet (and I mean diet in the sense of lifetime habits, not a temporary fix before carrying on as before) I expect lots more weight to go.
But much more important than any weight loss (and I am seriously overweight) is the improved sense of well-being which I feel day to day. This is not a success story in any terms which you would recognise but for me it is. I have a long way to go but LCHF has put me on a track which is vastly better than the one I was on before.
One more thing. You mention gluttony. I have tried to lose weight before and indeed lost a lot on a very low calorie diet. I would not recommend this - I have never before or since been as hungry as I was after that (NB not on the diet itself - I did not feel hunger much at all while on the diet). What did I eat? Lots of carbs (I had not investigated LCHF then and very much wish I had). If I want to overreat (and why would I?) the programme is very simple. Eats lots of carbs. I will then get ravenously hungry just in time (actually some time before) for my next meal (plate of stodge) and feel tired and miserable as well. No doubt you would tell me this hunger and misery is a moral failure on my part. I don't agree - I think it is the effect of eating the wrong food.
The more I find this works the easier it gets to follow it. And every time I read one of your posts I find it easier as well. Please keep doing what you're doing. Just don't assume that it is having the effect you appear to want.
Ondrej is suffering from classic, text-book case of Grandiose Narcissist. It is best to leave him alone.