My name is Carl Smith, I’m 66, I come from South of England. I used to run and manage a restaurant and a pub in Mayfair, in the center of London. One of which, we were famous for our pies and I myself was the three times national state pie champion and also pie champion of the century. So that’s been grand, but here we go.
My situation was that for many years I was 15 or 20 pounds overweight. Not hugely obese but enough to, you know, not be happy basically. And I couldn’t understand why, because I was always very active, I like skiing, dancing, table tennis, swimming, cycling and that type of things and I considered I was having a healthy diet.
But I still carried these few extra pounds around my middle, a bit of a pudgy face. And I didn’t think I deserved to be like that. So my daughter contacted me and said, “Dad, you need to go on a low-carb diet.” And I said, “Really? What’s this?” So she said, “Well, you don’t basically eat sugar and carbs.”
So I said, “Okay I’ll give it a try”… which is what I did. And 18 months later here I am, feeling very happy. I got myself into it by basically going online and finding out as much as I could and that’s when I discovered Diet Doctor.
This helped me tremendously because when you resolve weekends a little bit, you’ll see the benefits that other people have had and I think it will inspire you and help you because clearly it’s a big change for most people. You know, we’ve grown up eating chips and rice and pasta and bread and beer.
It is a hard sell, but if you look into it you can make it work. One of the difficulties I thought I might encounter when I started low-carb was the idea that, “I can buy into this, but what about the people I live with?”
Fortunately my wife, Pauline, she was on board too. She’s always been pretty fit, but again probably wanted to lose a few pounds, so she came on board and we both ate the same food which I think made it a lot easier than you can imagine if you are in a family where some of the kids say, “I’m not having that”, or whatever. So that made life easier.
I’ve always been somebody that eats what I considered to be healthy food, but what I did notice in the afternoons I was always tired, wanted to lie down, I could never understand this. Food is supposed to give you energy. So what does make you feel tired?
And I think discovering low-carb has made me realize that it’s the carbs and the sugar in food that actually debilitates you. And since I’ve been on low-carb I found that my energy levels have been much higher, never feel tired in the afternoon and it’s really quite a revelation.
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The idea of the on going French paradox is now not true ...the average French weight gain, diabeties numbers is rising exponentially as they eat more processed food, junk and cook less and less at home ...their heart disease rate is also correspondingly rising too.
Although obesity is not as common as it is the UK, France is doing a great job catching up...
In France, bread ingredients are very strictly controlled, as is the price, supermarkets cannot sell certain breads cheaper than the local baker. Sugar, is not allowed in their baguettes...unlike baguette I used to purchase in UK...
More than any other country I have lived in bread and patisserie products are a important cultural norm and I feel / have seen that trying to tell a French person not to eat these types of things is a real up hill battle.
Ric
I’m in Bretagne & the local supermarkets in the last year have installed a fridge with a sandwich (white sliced triangle!) a bag of crisps & a bottle of pop as a lunch option The end of civilisation approaches!
How do you find ‘keto’ life amongst the Gauls? My only struggles have been with the piss poor choice of creams and with the beef that’s too lean. There is a perpetual urge to gorge on croissants etc & I DI feel a little churlish calling those matters ‘complaints.
Best wishes, Darren.
I find it easy to do keto here: I don't understand your comment "piss poor choice of cream". I find that cream and butter are good quality and cheap. There is also plenty of choices for cream: crème fraîche, crème fleurette, liquide, épaisse, gastronomique, etc
It's true that butchers are very careful to trim every bit of fat from beef, except in supermarkets where you can find fatty cuts. However, if you ask your local butcher for beef fat, he will happily give it to you for free, even the prized veal leaf fat (graisse de rognons). I render it and use it for frying. Duck fat is great also.
I love pâtés and rillettes and what about all the high fat cheeses?
Keto in France is a breeze..... Too bad the French don't know it !
Well I find it okay ...eating out is a problem sometimes as I do not eat food cooked with any form of vegetable oil or sauces etc ...so I normally take a plastic container with lard in and normally they are happy to fry me some eggs and steak in that ...being a complete OMAD carnivore can have some obstacles when eating out - it goes against the French psyche not to have sauces with their meat or a pile of bread with almost every meal lol...
The French cream is not a natural cream ( not like UK single cream ) - the bottled cream here has several additives in it so we avoid that type of cream ...the other types of natural creams are great ...
Meat - most supermarkets do pork, beef and veal in a form called “mijoter” which tend to be fatty cubes ...I then mince this up and make home made sausages and beef burgers it tends to be much higher in fat. Duck confit is high fat ( monastaturated) and is very very satisfying ...but buying mijoter really cuts down on cost too...as most still want their meat fat free lol...organ meats are good value here too...veal liver being one of my favourites and coupled with eggs are some of the most nutrient dense foods on the planet ...
Most hams and charcuterie here has a lot of added sugar in the form of dextrose / maltrose so I avoid those but beware the cheaper ones are not always the worse ...I am not concerned about nitrates there is a lot of BS about nitrates ...so do eat lots of bacon when I can find sugar free...or I buy from UK ...via Ocado...
So, my diet is much more restrictive than most ...and my wife who is keto too, eats some low carb vegetables but avoids certain types ...of nightshade vegetables as they don’t sit well with her ...
I had a week in hospital recently and had to supply all my own food ...not an issue but it was a nightmare trying to convince them that my diet was good for me ...so I allowed them to do as many blood tests as they wanted ...most expected me to be malnourished, scurvy and heart markers through the roof ...of course my heart makers were text book perfection ...and no scurvy or mineral / vitamin deficiencies - lol...
I tried to explain I had a Masters Degree in Nutrition but that didnt seem to make any difference to them and I had a junior doctor with his one week of nutritional training trying to tell me what I should be eating hmmmm...fortunately my French is fluent good enough to tell him to wind his neck in ...lol
My personal measurements are 8-10% total body fat , BMI 18, Weight 128lbs ( 9 st 1 lb), height 5’ 10” waist 32” and visceral fat rating of 1 ...I eat / drink approx roughly 3,500 calories a day ( I don’t normally worry about calories) ...my diet is strictly 80% natural fat and 20 % protein only marginal carbs from eggs which I eat around 4-6 a day on average ...do no real physical performance excercise as I am disabled ...but I do try to keep active ...
Prior to my keto - carnivore adventure several years ago, I weighed 15 -16 stone ...38-40” waist and BMI 29...hypertensive and prediabetic ...I am none of those now.
So given the choice of before or after I would deffo chose the way I eat now ...
A bientôt
Ric
What I find more difficult is avoiding food when having apéritif with friends or family.😚
Keto and low carb have reduced my weight and blood sugars. Agree that eating out can be tricky. Bread, rice and lentils are at every turn in local restaurants. I avoid the canned and bottled veg. To me they are most unappealing. Supermarket fresh greens and salad are OK. We try and grow some of our own.
Baked Camambert cheese with salad and veg sticks to dip is our favourite quick meal.
Supermarket self service nuts and seeds are my downfall, especially salted almonds.
Agree with Kenrick about the increased availability of fast foods in France plus the numbers of ballooning bodies.
In restaurants and cafes I rarely have a problem when I say je ne mange plus des glucides so they will almost always substitute without charge for haricots verts or a salad. At my local brasserie in the 9th I often order confit de canard, haricots and extra butter.
My only struggle is avoiding bread but knowing what I know now means I can resist.