I despise diets, mostly because initially, they make us bitch-fest crazy, and soon enough, once we’ve encountered enough success, we allow our old habits to creep up again, thinking they won’t really matter or hurt. Starve all day, so I may enjoy a tasting menu meal of “no substitutions.” Also, I’m confused by the flux of new, and conflicting, information. There’s “Eat Fat to Lose Fat” and butter coffee, Bulletproof, MCT oil, coconut oil, and the entire HFLC (High-fat, Low-carb) ketogenic (keto) movement, where you severely limit carbs, 20-50g per day total, to push your body into ketosis, enabling us to burn fat as energy instead of glucose (sugar). More accurately, here’s the keto ratio: 60% to 75% of calories from fat, 15% to 30% calories from protein, and 5% to 10% calories from net carbs.
These diets emphasize eating whole foods and saturated fats from quality sources, and that the majority of your caloric intake come from fats, moderate protein, very limited carbs. You may absolutely consume dairy on these diets, but you should probably limit it, considering that we feed babies breast milk, so they GROW quickly. Why would you want to send that signal to your brain when it tastes dairy? But you may, in fact, enjoy dairy; fat might just take longer to lose. Generally, these diets believe that fats are good; sugar is bad. You can pee on a test strip (I own these) to ensure that your body is in ketosis. You can view major before and after photos all over Pinterst. But does it last? How could you possibly remain on that type of diet come summer, with bursting fruits, the bloom of peaches in the air? You may consume plenty of fresh vegetables, but fruits are sugar, which are carbohydrates, so nay nay. Though I just purchased The Modified Keto Cookbook, hoping this is something I can stick to??? These are the keto-style books that I own:
Meta-analysis studies cull as many studies as they can find that fit a specified criteria, then, they study all the studies and give you a round-up, to get a more accurate view of research. Like this: Very-low-carbohydrate ketogenic diet v. low-fat diet for long-term weight loss: a meta-analysis of randomised controlled trials which found “Individuals assigned to a VLCKD [very low carb keto diet] achieve a greater weight loss than those assigned to a LFD [low fat diet] in the long term; hence, a VLCKD may be an alternative tool against obesity.” Or this study, “Effect of low-fat diet interventions versus other diet interventions on long-term weight change in adults: a systematic review and meta-analysis,” which found: “When compared with dietary interventions of similar intensity, evidence from RCTs does not support low-fat diets over other dietary interventions for long-term weight loss.”
These are the low-fat cookbooks I own:
Then, there’s Oprah, and her endorsement of the conventional low-fat Weight Watchers type program, which pushes a low-fat diet, where the pyramid pretty much flips, stressing that most of your calories should come from carbohydrates (which is why fruits are assigned zero points on WW), then protein, then limited fats.
I’ve also heard that any diet works, so long as you’re able to stick to it (My past accounts of having tried Whole30 and Weight Watchers). That’s why typically a diet like Weight Watchers does work, because nothing is off-limits. You can have wine and cupcakes and still be “on program.”
Here’s the problem. When I successfully lost weight on Weight Watchers, I became skinny fat, or “MONW,” metabolically obese normal weight. I was 100% in the correct weight range for my height (5’5, 125 lbs) but my body fat percentage was 33.5% (normal fat percentage for non-active women age 30-40 is 21-33%, age 40-50 is 22-34%). I was a size 4, but I was all fat, not muscle. Skinny fat. It was not sexy fat, all tied up in my hips an bosom. It was mushy midsection and back fat. I was thin and doughy. Today, I’m fat fat, heavier than I’ve ever been, even when I was pregnant (I think). Which, I promise is worse. But not by much, because I remember writing once I lost the weight that the strange thing was that my body hadn’t changed at all; it was just narrower. My body composition hadn’t changed at all. I was narrow and still fat. And when I tried strictly going gluten-free, I gained 20 lbs.
Gluten-Free and Paleo Style Cookbooks that I own:
I’ve been eating cookies out of the freezer. Devouring my feelings. Major binges have overcome me, even last night, after eating 4 lamb chops and a bowl of bone broth, I was still ravenous. Had a spinach, celery, kale, parsley, mint, lemon shake mixed with only half an apple, and still, I couldn’t stop eating. And this was after eating regularly throughout the day, hoping to keep ahead of my hunger, snacking on 8 almonds. I couldn’t stop, ripped into my kids’ stash of peanut m&m’s, had one of Lucas’s Fiber One breakfast bars, then ate bagel chips from the bag without counting. It was bad news. Worse, I don’t even know what triggered it.
I don’t feel sad or angry or frustrated. In the past months, since September, 2015 I gained 20 lbs. WTF? A lot of the time, I think I grab for food as… wait for it… procrastination! Not to comfort or console, but when I get to the difficult part of any task, I eat! I’ve done it “as the witness” or “as the watcher,” outside of myself observing the behavior. And I wake up and say, “not today,” but then. You know. Some say to instead “take a walk,” and to them I say, “take a hike.” Replacing comfort and joy with walking or jumping jacks isn’t the solution. Ideally, you’d want to replace food comfort and joy with non-food comfort and joy. Paint your nails. Unrealistic. Check your email. No one ever emails me. It’s all marketers. Play a game on your phone. I will try. I really will.
They say it takes 30 days to create a new habit, a habit where you no longer need to talk yourself into doing something. It becomes like breathing, nearly, an automatic, think nothing of it, habit. I wonder what would happen if I attempted to follow a ketogenic diet for 30 days, no alcohol, very limited carbs, knowing that after 30 days, it would be second-nature. If it doesn’t work, I could switch back to a Weight Watchers style program if I wanted. If it would change my body fat percentage, I’d likely stay on it, if it was manageable. Anyone have any experience with a high-fat diet?
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Before you go down the which diet is best path, I think you need to figure out what’s triggering all of these binges and the need to eat your feelings. You can absolutely lose weight with any of these things (I suppose? I guess?), but you could end up back where you are now 6 months later if you don’t take control of what got you there in the first place. I put on weight when I was depressed and feeling out of control, but I didn’t realize that’s what was causing it. I blamed it on work, the weather, hormones. It wasn’t until I saw a doctor about health related things and she said, “you sound depressed” that it all clicked. I’m not saying you’re depressed, but just that if you don’t feel like you can or want to eat well/ exercise/take care of yourself as you know you should, you should figure out what’s at the root of it. It will make doing those things and creating a habit much easier. Good luck.
I don’t know what’s at the root of it! I’m already on 300g Extended Release Wellbutrin, which is supposed to not only address depression but is also linked to weight loss.
Can you trace to a time when you were the most effortlessly thin? I can’t help but wonder if this, and the depression, is tied to not working outside the home. That type of work leaves less time to eat and forces productivity and for me, emotional well being. Is this something you would consider?
I would consider it, absolutely. I LOVED working in advertising, loved the team mentality, felt energized working. But to re-enter the workplace, in all honesty, sounds frightening as hell. Because it would mean leaving the comfort zone again. And I get naush thinking about my kids and a new caregiver. Would I be awesome at it? 100%. I’m good at almost everything…. a stellar dieter, just crap at keeping weight off.
I agree here – I would encourage you to give it a try. Your kids are not babies so with after school stuff their sitter time would be limited. Maybe something part time to start. The work at home thing seems to be a poor match for you for so many reasons.
Been reading your blog for years, and this post makes me so bummed for you! I’m so sorry that you don’t know what’s at the root of the binge-eating and can’t get out of the cycle. For what its worth, I’ve done a couple of Whole 30s, which have made me feel great and drop some lbs. Some of those dropped lbs. always come back when I start sipping wine again. Good luck and keep us updated. xo
No diet will leave you skinny and toned without exercising! Where will the pretty muscles come from? So don’t worry about which diet to choose but rather pick a sport and make that a habit.
Easier said than done. I actually enjoyed boxing when I took a class ONCE, but I was disgusted by the smell of the gloves. I’d have to invest in a new pair, and I can just hear Phil’s eyes rolling when he gets the bill. Who buys a pair of boxing gloves to TRY a class? (okay, I do. I just bought them NOW, after writing this).
Well, I can only share what my 90 year old dad did. World’s slowest metabolism, physical business as a truck parts owner and successful weight manager.
He exercised every day…bicycle riding in mountains. When he gained 10 extra pounds, he rigorously cut back calories til he lost them.
He doesn’t have your history (or your hormones) but he is a Marine and learned that he could only deal by setting a limit. He did it by the scale, but also because he felt bad when he gained 10 pounds.
Also, on the down side, the Wellbutrin may be working and you could have gained more.
You know everything about losing weight. Hormones may be playing a part here and that will be hell for quite a while.
Having a husband and kids makes it harder to keep weight stable. That’s a story you must hear every day and it is true.
I like Lauren Slaytons “little book of thin” She’s a NYC nutritionist with a FB presence and a bunch of size 4 clients (so it appears from the pix). check her out.
I’ve tried LCHF a bunch of times and haven’t been able to stick with it long term. Felt great while I did it. Weight Watchers should be the best thing ever. It SHOULD work and be something easy to stick to. For some reason, counting/measuring is a binge trigger for me.
According to the Weight Watchers FB page, their “new” program penalizes sugar and fat, leading members to focus on protein, veggies and fruit. So, no more 100 calorie packs.
Main thing for me that I like about WW is the idea of support.
So, I am in the same boat. What is our plan?
Gaining (and maintaining) muscle is a function of exercise (specifically strength training) more than diet, although gaining or losing weight too fast can also be bad for body composition.
I have no wisdom for you, but I read a book a couple of months that rocked my world: Intuitive Eating by Evelyn Tribole and Elyse Reisch. It’s all about getting rid of the diet mentality and the last supper behaviors that push us to stuff our faces whenever we think about going on a diet tomorrow, or Monday, or ever. It’s not a quick fix and is counterintuitive at first, but I have nothing to lose by trying to integrate the knowledge, esp. if it means NEVER low carbing ever again.
Okay, I’ve heard about Intuitive Eating and tried my ass off to imagine that there was no scarcity of fries, that I needn’t eat all the ones in front of me. That is to say, intellectually, I realize that there’s a room full of fries that I may eat, so I needn’t devour all the ones on my plate; I can always have more, so simply eat until sated, and savor each bite. I get it, BUT… and it’s a big but… but when visiting NYC for example, and you can’t have this plate of food as often as you’d like… it is scarce, so I end up becoming POSSESSIVE over that plate of food. But yes, you’re right, I can certainly read the book Intuitive Eating as well as the book Savor, which I already own! I should post a list of all the diet books I own!
Wait though! It seems too good to be true, but it’s not easy. Eat only when you’re hungry, stop when you’re kind of full, eat only what makes your little heart sing. But… Eat some fries, wash it down with Cabernet, walk the f*ck away and stay away until you’re hungry again. Simple, not easy but stripping away the stupidity of wanting to lose weight at any cost. Just try to give yourself permission to eat anything for a couple of days and see if you end up knee deep in cake batter. I doubt it.
I tried the Intuitive Eating concept.
The problem with that is that, for me, is that it just isn’t realistic for me to actually savor each and every bite of food I have. Between work, social life, general life, sometimes food is just fuel. And I loooove food!
I think of that plan along the same lines as Goop, it’s a great thing if you can actually do it, but doesn’t fit in many lifestyles as a practical reality.
Just wanted to say that I feel your pain. I am at my heaviest and it’s also more than I weighed 9mo pregnant. I don’t think I’m any more sad or stressed out than I have been in the past but I’m not sure why I can’t stop eating all. of. the. things. I have joined WW 3? 4? times and was sick of constantly obsessing with weight and portions. It did work. I would lose 10lbs. Yay! Gain 2 back and feel terrible. I’m so uncomfortable in my own skin right now yet that doesn’t seem to be enough motivation for me to do anything. I don’t understand!
I can certainly appreciate how you felt when you were on Weight Watchers, as skinny fat. Here is my question: do you combine any of these diets with a work out regime?
My suggestion is to forget trying to do this on your own. Hire a personal trainer and/or nutritionist to work on something that you can sustain, that includes balance and activity. Live is not living without summer fruits, birthday cake, and wine.
I’ve decided to do the Kate Winslet (I think it was her) approach: 30 minutes a day of any type of movement. She said somewhere she could wrap her mind around 30 minutes. Some days it was more, because she was already at the gym so why not, but some days she could barely make it through. But she did it (and yes, I realize she likely has a trainer and chef, etc). So even it means just getting off the bus a few stops before mine, I just do it. I also downloaded Sworkit and I set the timer to 30 minutes. Honestly, most days I dread it, but I do it. Some days I really look forward to it. My goal is consistency. In the end it does make me eat better, because I’m proud of myself for those 30 minutes of at least trying. Finally, I don’t let crappy food into the house. If I want a cookie or pizza or whatever, I go out and get it and enjoy it. If it’s not around, I can’t eat it.
Dearest Stephanie,
I hear your pain. Do I ever. Those cravings and the procrastination eating are so familiar. I will answer your question first: Does anyone have experience with a high fat diet? YES. I do. Here is what I, and I believe many others, would tell you. High fat diets work. They absolutely do. The first three days to a week are hell because your body is not getting the quick energy source provided by carbs-which it is accustomed to. Metabolically speaking, it takes it a bit for your brain to start saying “No carbs? Wait, really? We’ve been waiting… hey! We’re running low on fuel! Anyone there?? Okay fine, I guess we gotta do the harder work of burning this fat”. And then it gets its act together. Carbs are easy to burn. Your body has to work harder on a cellular level to create energy for fat and it will initially resist this.
So while it’s resisting and waiting for its usual carbs, you will feel groggy, foggy, crabby, be craving sugar like crazy, and it will feel as though it takes every ounce of energy you have just to put one foot in front of the other. After the “carb flu” so to speak, you will feel great.
But guess what? After going carb free for a bit, have one bite of bread, a piece of candy, a cheat day dessert and you WILL. Blow. Up. Like a f’in tick. It’s awful.
Low carb is an all or nothing game sister. And if you haven’t put your body through this before, knowing what I know now, I’d say do not do it. Please do not do it.
Having said all this, you’re right. The best diet is a diet you can sustain for life. I wonder if your binge eating and craving episodes aren’t because you have gone through restriction phases and your brain is just saying “enough is enough”? That animal part of our brain is the most powerful driver of our behaviors and there is no executive veto you can use when your body isn’t getting the nourishment it needs. Then there are the emotional drivers – also part of the animal brain. That’s a whole other story.
Im a past binge eating/bulimia sufferer. I know the pain of cravings and the urges, and everything in between. I am recovered, but it’s never easy street. I work my tools all the time. You know what helped? Coaching. Not nutritional coaching, or dietary coaching. Mindset coaching. Its not therapy, it’s a completely different ballgame and it ROCKED my world. What years of therapy and every other guru couldn’t do, life coaching did for me. So much so that this is what I do now. Im a professional life coach and Im currently rebranding so that my area of expertise is specifically with binge eaters and bulimics. Anyone who tells you that the right diet/doctor/dietician will make you stop craving or binging is off their rocker, in my very humble opinion. I was a health and fitness person for years, all the while battling my urges. Knowing about fitness and diets and nutrition doesn’t help. Because you know what you need to do, right? Eat less:) We all know. But for some reason it’s just so hard to do at times. And mindset coaching helps you figure out things you never even knew were lurking, and take ACTION.
I could go on and on, but I believe I answered your original question. As for the “skinny-fat”, the only cure for that is strength building exercises. Actual muscle building. I could show you pictures of me at the exact same weight, to the decimal point. But what you would see is a difference of what looks like 10 pounds. I lost 6 pounds of fat and gained exactly 6 pounds of muscle in 60 days (have pics and body pod lab results to prove it:) and I look two sizes smaller. It’s amazing. And I went from zero pushups to 20. Get a trainer, and start lifting heavy stuff girl! Even a couple days a week will make a difference.
Can’t wait to hear about what you decide to do. My best of best wishes for you. I’d be happy to answer any further questions you may have too… HUGS!
Your opening statement is about despising diets, and your closing one asks for advice on a new diet. I’m all for changes to improve emotional and physical health, by why keep approaching it the same way that you hate?
Perhaps you’d have more success if you didn’t consider a new eating plan a “diet” but healthy eating / lifestyle or some such change in mindset? Or, as a previous poster suggested – find out what’s triggering these binges! Good luck, Stephanie. I know it can be a difficult rut to get out of.
Just to give you a bit of history – the ketogenic diet was created to suppress epileptic seizures. It was based on observations going all the way back to ancient times that people who suffered from fits were “cured” on fast days. Eating a high fat diet tricks your brain into thinking that you are starving, and suddenly it starts burning up stored fat in order to survive. It’s not a sustainable diet. And as other posts observe, as soon as you stop, your brain is programmed to store it all up again.
I could have written this post. There is a (big and clearly fat) part of me that wants to just say ‘screw it’, I’ll be 30 lbs overweight and not even try to lose it. Mid-40’s, married, and kids- nobody loves me less for being a size 10 rather than a 6. But I don’t know if I can stick this plan any more than I can stick to a diet plan. Curious, have you ever ever considered just accepting being overweight? I ask because I can’t decide if I’m flirting with this idea out of laziness or maturity and acceptance. Would love to from others experience.
BTW, I live in Westchester and exist in a sea of size 2 moms swathed in lululmon. This will probably be the most counter-culture decision I’ve ever made, should I commit.
Lisa
I’ve flirted with that idea myself. Look in the mirror, shrug, bake cookies. But when clothes stop fitting, it’s expensive! You know, my winter coat doesn’t even fit! How awful is that? A parka is too small. So, did I see that as a major warning sign? I guess, but I still went out and bought a BIGGER coat, which is that flirting I’m talking about. The problem with that mentality is that it doesn’t stop. You live without abandon (read: eat and it doesn’t count, won’t make any difference), and it catches up with you, and then you look in the mirror and freak out. Wait, what? When? I know how, but me? Bottom line: our bodies aren’t who we are; they’re a vehicle, a machine, that carries us around. If we want to stay in this world, we need to take care of that vehicle, even when our soul is a glutton.
I think as long as our doctors tell us we’re in a healthy weight body fat percentage for our age, we’re good.
Also, I will say this: your weight isn’t etched onto your gravestone, it’s not what people remember us for.
Meant ‘would love to hear from others experience’.
Ha! You’re my spirit twin :). Same deal, my f’ing parka didn’t fit. I finally broke down and bought another but would NOT buy a large. I must have tried on 50 coats until I found a medium that fit (DKNY runs big apparently). I can’t even think about wearing a thick sweater underneath, but at least I have the M tag rather than the L. The Swedish Fish on my nightstand just called me pathetic…
I am overweight, yet look OK because I like to run and can walk everywhere where I live….although… The Binges. I was out of control and I had to do something. I went to an Agnostic OA meeting and really found strength from the fellowship. There is every type of eating disorder in the circle, but we all have the practice of over eating, for hundreds of different reasons. What has helped me is that I remind myself, when I am ready to devour the entire contents of my pantry, that over eating is not part of my abstinence. Even having an unexpected cookie at work is not part of my abstinence. I have to remind myself 10-20 times a day, but I am SO much happier now that I am eating well. We don’t say any prayers at our meetings, but Thank Goddess I’ve found a way to address my over eating.
Stephanie! Don’t you dare do a low-carb diet. Or any kind of restrictive diet at all. I’ve read your blog for years. And what I do know from reading your blog is that you love food. REAL food. You’re a food snob who loves to cook and bake and who doesn’t use a lot of processed crap. So why not just start there and take the European/French/Italian route? Cook good food, eat good food, not too much, but don’t deprive yourself of the good things either. A little bit of good cheese, a little bit of good chocolate, and lots of good whole grains, fruits and vegetables, olive oil, nuts, fish, chicken, lamb, a little beef. And yeah, a little bit of bread. BREAD IS NOT BAD FOR YOU. Just don’t eat Wonder Bread and don’t eat a whole damn loaf of it.
Like the above posters have said, pick something that is sustainable for you! Not something like Keto where for it to actually work you have to stop eating carbs forever. Eff that.
And one more thing – those European women? They walk. A lot. Exercise is key – not just for weight loss, but for bone and muscle strength as you age as a woman. Do they have ClassPass on Long Island? If so, you can try all kinds of upscale pilates/yoga/barre/spinning etc classes in your area and find something that works for you and that makes you happy.
Best of luck!!
Okay, so I am currently in week 3 of a keto-no carb based “diet”. Initially, I lost 6 lbs right away, but both me and my husband have both gained a couple of those back with NO cheating at all. Not a grain of rice, bread, sugar, pasta, or gluten have passed our lips in 3 weeks, so I dunno WTF. Frustrating. We have let ourselves indulge in a glass of wine or two on the weekend, but have stuck to the diet. I’m drinking water every day and have been doing at least 30 min of exercise 3x a week until my stamina builds up and the snow melts.
We DO; however, feel much better without the gluten for sure. We DO have more energy. The inches are coming off and it’s obvious in the way our clothes fit, but the scale is a bitch. I’m thinking of breaking up with my scale and just continuing with this. Is it becoming easier? Yes and no. I would probably commit homicide right now for a plate of risotto and a glass of chardonnay, but I also feel like I wouldn’t be obsessed about eating it all. Well, maybe all the wine. :-) I’m more conscious of how many veggies I am eating and protein, and have discovered that it is quite possible to get TIRED of bacon. Who knew? I do miss fruit, though, and know this is only temporary.
I have A LOT of weight to lose…at least 70-90 lbs., but my goal for now is to just feel better and take care of my body. I know that if I at least do that, the weight will eventually come off.
Two of my co-workers have lost a 100 lbs each following the high fat low to no carb diet for a year and some. Both off of their high blood meds and feeling and looking great. Pretty sure none of them felt the need to buy 20 some books to do it either.
Me? I lost 30 lbs and looked great.. until I started cheating and cheating became a pattern :) Going on an all inclusive sunny vacation and then recommitting dammit! Not hard, just need to plan the meals in advance. Have good stuff on hand.
I’ve been doing keto for a couple of months and have found it sustainable for a couple of reasons.
1, you can have alcohol. Tequila and club soda with a lime twist? Heaven.
2, it makes me feel better. After the initial carb withdrawal symptoms (which were immensely eleviated by giving myself carte blanche with the calories for a couple of days), I was in awe. My alarm would go off in the morning and I got up. No snooze button – I felt alert and ready for the day. I also wasn’t ravenously starving. The nauseous hunger that I was used to waking up with abated as my blood sugars leveled out.
3, after being overweight for two thirds of my life, I refuse to approach the keto as a diet. It’s a lifestyle change and one that feels better – a handful of blackberries and some peanut butter on crepes for breakfast, seared tuna on spinach with parmesan crisps for lunch, and brussels sprouts swimming in havarti bacon cream sauce – surely eating this real food is better for me than Luna bars and 100 calorie cheezit packs. That being said though, I refuse to live a life without cupcakes – so I’m not going to beat myself up for having one on occasion.
If you are missing a support system (ala WW), try reddit. There’s quite a few online support groups that are awesome.
Can’t thank you enough for this comment! My only issue is that I’m not in Ketosis! I think because at night all I want is berries or no sugar added (no splenda) chocolate, I’m being thrown out of it? If I was ever in it. Ugh. Last night I ate a bowl of brussels sprouts cooked in coconut oil. Maybe that was too many carbs???
I’ve been doing low carb diet for about 2 weeks and lost 7 pounds – and I’m in my mid 40’s and do not lose weight easily! I put on 10 pounds in the past year and before then would have liked to lose 5-10 pounds. I couldn’t look at any of the holiday photos from this past year cause I couldn’t believe how bad I looked – just old and tired, ugh. I have a sedentary desk job and don’t exercise very much other than taking the stairs instead of elevator and walking when I can. I’m still drinking on the weekends, a couple of glasses of wine here and there or a gin or vodka w/ diet tonic so i don’t feel deprived. Before I started this, I had been binge eating – the kid’s lunch snacks – cookies, goldfish, chips, anything, especially at night. I was disgusted with myself but didn’t stop. Now I feel more in control and a lot less hungry. I’m only eating “real” food – no low carb bars or frozen meals. Lots of chicken, tofu, steak, eggs (frittata, egg salad) and veggies (zucchini, broccoli, spinach). My suggestion is to use my fitness pal app and track everything you eat (you have to purchase the premium version to track carb count and calories by meals but it’s worthwhile). This way you can see what foods are causing you to go out of ketosis. Using the app, I’ve been able to manage carb/calories to stay in ketosis. I think brussels sprouts are a bit higher in carbs so that may be what’s throwing you off. Cauliflower is lower carb and is great roasted…
I hacked my fitness pal, and have it set to track carbs, sugars, fats, protein, calories, etc. I am still not in ketosis. Maybe I need to eat more fat. My weight loss efforts have stalled, even though I’ve been sugar-free for over a month and have kept my carb grams down below 30g daily. I think I’m now going to have to add MCT oil into the diet. I am not hungry, but I fear I’m losing muscle, not fat. So I will try to eat more fat than anything else. This is soooo counter-intuitive.
Posting for the comment record, should I look back at this one day…. I’ve gone sugar-free low-carb for 30 days (except on Valentine’s Day, when I enjoyed 2 glasses of red wine and a pomegranate panna cotta). In that time, I’ve gone from 33.5% fat percentage to 30.8% fat percentage. From fat weight 54.5 to 46.5= 8 lbs of pure fat. 10.5 actual lbs.
I eat avocados and heavy cream, brie, ribeye. Sometimes I walk at the gym, in fat-burning slow mode while watching a movie.
Saw this and thought of you:
http://www.precisionnutrition.com/ketogenic-diet
I love Precision Nutrition, it’s a habit-based program and they back up what they say with actual science. They see the grays, everything isn’t just back and white. Love them. Although I gained back the weight I lost with them, but that’s me, not them! Anyway, just thought you might be interested in this article.
Yes, I will say the diet definitely works for me. Yesterday I made wild blueberry basil ice cream and it’s outstanding. I never feel deprived, not when I can have cream cheese and sour cream! Yum.