After the decades of low-cal dieting that i did, it's psychologically VERY hard to increase the amount i eat. When i'm eating a ketogenic diet, making progress, and experiencing the lack of hunger i do, it's VERY tempting to take the energy intake lower. This, however, is a big mistake.
Whether it's because i have a "weak" thyroid to begin with or merely normal response to under-feeding, going too low in energy-intake quickly puts me in "conservation mode." Lowering intake further -- no matter what the CICO-promoters think -- also lowers fat-burning by the body. (This SHOULD be good news for some of the obese bloggers we know, but they're so invested in their paradigm they're not even willing to trade their egos for improved health.)
My husband derived determination and inspiration from the LC cruise seminars, and when we got home last month we started applying some new techniques to our diet-and-lifestyle practices. We procured a blood-ketone meter and found that our ordinary LC diets didn't get us to the range recommended by Phinney and Volek. Using recipes from the "Fat Fast Cookbook" (adding to our regular regimen, not doing A fat-fast), we managed to raise our fat intake from sixty-something to eighty-something percent of energy, and this has done the trick. We're BOTH losing.
Additionally, i find that by eating to appetite, i'm not taking in enough food to convince my body it can afford to "waste" fat to fuel me adequately. Upon the 1200-1400 kcal/day intake, WHICH SATISFIES MY APPETITE AMPLY, my body prefers to being in starvation mode. When i ADD TO my desired intake by drinking bulletproof-recipe coffee in the morning and consuming a very high-fat dessert, i DO lose. At a moderate-protein, VLC, VHF level of eating, the body is willing to burn body-fat generously at 2000 kcal -- for me, this is astonishing.
Not only am i writing this as a progress report for a pair of overweight middle-agers, but as a refutation of the confusing information provided to mature women by young male paleos on sites like facebook. The LAST thing new female low-carbers need is input from half-informed individuals about how little an obesity-resistant representative of an entirely different demographic has to do to achieve success!
Showing posts with label ketosis. Show all posts
Showing posts with label ketosis. Show all posts
Wednesday, June 19, 2013
Sunday, September 9, 2012
actually, they ARE doing it wrong
I hesitated about writing the above, because it smacks of that arrogance that we all hate in some of the bloggers out there. [aa-aa-aah-stephACHOOOOO!] ;-)
I read a number of Jimmy Moore's posts on his n=1 experiments yesterday, and came to the sad conclusion that, no matter how much experience you have at low-carbing, it's EASY to do it wrong. Wrong, like Jimmy did while he was regaining some of the weight he lost, and couldn't figure out how to get rid of again.
If i were going to coach a first-time low-carber, i would stress how "low-carb treats" are traps for the unwary. I would tell them that weighing and measuring is the only safe way to know, as best anyone can, how many grams one is eating. I would recommend eating large enough meals that snacks wouldn't be desired. I'd make a point of the fact that "eating as much as you want" ONLY means you CAN find satiation on the right foods, but it does NOT mean "eating as much as you want as long as it's low-carb" will allow you to lose weight at that level.
The first time each of us started Atkins (or whatever it was), we were coming from a mixed-food diet in which we were burning a lot of glucose. And we TRIED to be perfect -- it was new, and we had to pay attention to what we were doing. Under these circumstances we lose weight very quickly and easily. At the end of the first two weeks, a lot of us loosened up a little on our food choices as Dr. A allowed: MISTAKE.
Because we started eating nuts and more processed meats and cheeses, those yummy low-carb snacks that are ALLOWED because compared to other snacks they're ... low in carbs. We started using heavy cream to make desserts, and baking with alternative flours, both ideas that simply encourage us to eat more food in general AND increasing carbohydrates in particular. Did we measure how much almond flour we were actually consuming, or did we just say "three net carbs -- i can afford that."
Jimmy was surprised when he first started using his blood ketone meter, because he thought he was in ketosis already and he found he wasn't really there. This is a seasoned low-carber, folks! A successful one, though he had regained some of the weight he originally lost.
I read somewhere (and i'm convinced it's true) that as we continue with a controlled-carb lifestyle, we get more adept at USING the ketones our bodies produce, and much less energy is spilled down the toilet. My ketostix have very rarely turned a dark pink, and even these days when i'm eating a VERY low carbohydrate diet, they're pretty pale. I HAVE to be making and burning ketones because my body has no alternative, but i'm obviously wasting a lot less, too.
Another thing that Jimmy found was that when he was in the range of 0.5-3.0 mmol, his appetite was suddenly tamed. Dare i suggest that if one is eating low-carb and yet still slave to one's food-seeking urges, one is not properly in ketosis...?
His experiences with his meter makes me rather want one, but i'm too scotch to spring for the $6/strip price tag -- i can buy a day's worth of grassfed ground beef for that! I guess i'll have to be content with my pale ketostix and a curbed appetite.
I read a number of Jimmy Moore's posts on his n=1 experiments yesterday, and came to the sad conclusion that, no matter how much experience you have at low-carbing, it's EASY to do it wrong. Wrong, like Jimmy did while he was regaining some of the weight he lost, and couldn't figure out how to get rid of again.
If i were going to coach a first-time low-carber, i would stress how "low-carb treats" are traps for the unwary. I would tell them that weighing and measuring is the only safe way to know, as best anyone can, how many grams one is eating. I would recommend eating large enough meals that snacks wouldn't be desired. I'd make a point of the fact that "eating as much as you want" ONLY means you CAN find satiation on the right foods, but it does NOT mean "eating as much as you want as long as it's low-carb" will allow you to lose weight at that level.
The first time each of us started Atkins (or whatever it was), we were coming from a mixed-food diet in which we were burning a lot of glucose. And we TRIED to be perfect -- it was new, and we had to pay attention to what we were doing. Under these circumstances we lose weight very quickly and easily. At the end of the first two weeks, a lot of us loosened up a little on our food choices as Dr. A allowed: MISTAKE.
Because we started eating nuts and more processed meats and cheeses, those yummy low-carb snacks that are ALLOWED because compared to other snacks they're ... low in carbs. We started using heavy cream to make desserts, and baking with alternative flours, both ideas that simply encourage us to eat more food in general AND increasing carbohydrates in particular. Did we measure how much almond flour we were actually consuming, or did we just say "three net carbs -- i can afford that."
Jimmy was surprised when he first started using his blood ketone meter, because he thought he was in ketosis already and he found he wasn't really there. This is a seasoned low-carber, folks! A successful one, though he had regained some of the weight he originally lost.
I read somewhere (and i'm convinced it's true) that as we continue with a controlled-carb lifestyle, we get more adept at USING the ketones our bodies produce, and much less energy is spilled down the toilet. My ketostix have very rarely turned a dark pink, and even these days when i'm eating a VERY low carbohydrate diet, they're pretty pale. I HAVE to be making and burning ketones because my body has no alternative, but i'm obviously wasting a lot less, too.
Another thing that Jimmy found was that when he was in the range of 0.5-3.0 mmol, his appetite was suddenly tamed. Dare i suggest that if one is eating low-carb and yet still slave to one's food-seeking urges, one is not properly in ketosis...?
His experiences with his meter makes me rather want one, but i'm too scotch to spring for the $6/strip price tag -- i can buy a day's worth of grassfed ground beef for that! I guess i'll have to be content with my pale ketostix and a curbed appetite.
Monday, July 30, 2012
brisket's in the oven
I had a coffee-fast yesterday (with coconut milk). The scale still hasn't budged. My mind and my body are obviously having a very fun time stymying me and defying the laws of physics this week! ;-)
The mind is working on sneaking up behind, today; yesterday was about ketosis and autophagy -- today is a protein re-feed. I have a steak marinating to take care of it until the brisket is done. Taking a hint from Mrs. Beeton, i sprinkled a tiny bit of allspice on with the salt and pepper, and sealed it in its foil coffin before popping it into a low oven. I would have gone the whole way a la Flamande, but i don't have any carrots.... I like to half-cook a brisket, let it cool and slice it before putting it back in the oven to tenderize. Trying to slice a TENDER brisket produces huge quantities of shredded beef, which is less desirable when you don't eat sandwiches anymore.
Interestingly enough, Mark's column today answers a question about carb re-feeds, and i was proud of him -- this guy is no simple-minded extremist, even if he is a jock! ;-)
The mind is working on sneaking up behind, today; yesterday was about ketosis and autophagy -- today is a protein re-feed. I have a steak marinating to take care of it until the brisket is done. Taking a hint from Mrs. Beeton, i sprinkled a tiny bit of allspice on with the salt and pepper, and sealed it in its foil coffin before popping it into a low oven. I would have gone the whole way a la Flamande, but i don't have any carrots.... I like to half-cook a brisket, let it cool and slice it before putting it back in the oven to tenderize. Trying to slice a TENDER brisket produces huge quantities of shredded beef, which is less desirable when you don't eat sandwiches anymore.
Interestingly enough, Mark's column today answers a question about carb re-feeds, and i was proud of him -- this guy is no simple-minded extremist, even if he is a jock! ;-)
Sunday, April 29, 2012
plateauing problems
One of the irritations we encounter on ANY weight-loss diet is the plateau. How to break through these stalls is tricky indeed, and i suspect they may be the reason most people never manage to meet their goals -- especially for those of us who have a hard time losing weight in the first place.
Sometimes you read a person's record and they say, "i plateaued out but kept doing what i was doing, and three months later, i started losing again." THREE MONTHS??? Hell, i plateau that long, and there's no way on earth i'd be able to keep my motivation to continue what i'm doing!!!
On the other hand, i have a suspicion that the body so likes to have homeostasis that it can actually be good for you to remain at a stable weight for an extended period. The problem arises when your mind has a reason for wanting to continue losing, and your body refuses to cooperate.
I think Dr. Atkins didn't consider a plateau a real issue until it had gone on for a month. He had a set of suggestions ready and waiting for his patients when/if it happened, but not having my book available right now, i really can't enumerate many of them. I suspect his first rule would be to step back 5 or 10 daily carb-grams, and to make sure one was using all the appropriate supplements. Making sure allergies and hormones are under control would be another suggestion. Checking fat-burning status through the use of keto-sticks might be yet another, and if they didn't show "enough pink" he might have recommended a fat-fast.
The tricky bit is, if you ARE producing ketones, a fat-fast is superfluous -- ITS major virtue is forcing a recalcitrant body to burn FFAs rather than glucose. In the presence of decent ketosis, other tricks will be far more effective in spurring weight loss.
I've long suspected that "shocking" the body with an abrupt change in food or exercise habit makes it perk up and take notice, start "thinking" about how it functions instead of coasting along on autopilot. What we DON'T want to do is make it think it's threatened, by dipping protein or total calories TOO low, or working out so excessively that stress hormones actually encourage more fat storage! That's the "logical" thing to do, from the point of view of a physicist; unfortunately, the biological system doesn't behave like a mechanical one....
This "shock technique" MAY be why low-carbers who abruptly start eating more starches see an immediate loss -- the question in my book would be, how long can it last? Now, in my case, an addition of carbs to spur weight-loss is out of the question -- i start feeling terrible, i get palpitations and tremors upon a too-large increase of carbohydrates in my diet! Not fun. Adding in fasts are effective for some people, too, which could theoretically work the same way, shaking things up.
For me, the most effective thing seems to be to stop drinking wine and spirits, stop eating any nuts, dairy or fruit that i may have been indulging myself with. A more strict observance of what kinds of vegetables i eat, too, can be important. Anything that sets off allergic symptoms is an automatic suspect.
Please, everybody -- leave a comment on your favorite and most effective means of breaking a plateau! I think that learning from each other is one of the best aspects of the internet!
Sometimes you read a person's record and they say, "i plateaued out but kept doing what i was doing, and three months later, i started losing again." THREE MONTHS??? Hell, i plateau that long, and there's no way on earth i'd be able to keep my motivation to continue what i'm doing!!!
On the other hand, i have a suspicion that the body so likes to have homeostasis that it can actually be good for you to remain at a stable weight for an extended period. The problem arises when your mind has a reason for wanting to continue losing, and your body refuses to cooperate.
I think Dr. Atkins didn't consider a plateau a real issue until it had gone on for a month. He had a set of suggestions ready and waiting for his patients when/if it happened, but not having my book available right now, i really can't enumerate many of them. I suspect his first rule would be to step back 5 or 10 daily carb-grams, and to make sure one was using all the appropriate supplements. Making sure allergies and hormones are under control would be another suggestion. Checking fat-burning status through the use of keto-sticks might be yet another, and if they didn't show "enough pink" he might have recommended a fat-fast.
The tricky bit is, if you ARE producing ketones, a fat-fast is superfluous -- ITS major virtue is forcing a recalcitrant body to burn FFAs rather than glucose. In the presence of decent ketosis, other tricks will be far more effective in spurring weight loss.
I've long suspected that "shocking" the body with an abrupt change in food or exercise habit makes it perk up and take notice, start "thinking" about how it functions instead of coasting along on autopilot. What we DON'T want to do is make it think it's threatened, by dipping protein or total calories TOO low, or working out so excessively that stress hormones actually encourage more fat storage! That's the "logical" thing to do, from the point of view of a physicist; unfortunately, the biological system doesn't behave like a mechanical one....
This "shock technique" MAY be why low-carbers who abruptly start eating more starches see an immediate loss -- the question in my book would be, how long can it last? Now, in my case, an addition of carbs to spur weight-loss is out of the question -- i start feeling terrible, i get palpitations and tremors upon a too-large increase of carbohydrates in my diet! Not fun. Adding in fasts are effective for some people, too, which could theoretically work the same way, shaking things up.
For me, the most effective thing seems to be to stop drinking wine and spirits, stop eating any nuts, dairy or fruit that i may have been indulging myself with. A more strict observance of what kinds of vegetables i eat, too, can be important. Anything that sets off allergic symptoms is an automatic suspect.
Please, everybody -- leave a comment on your favorite and most effective means of breaking a plateau! I think that learning from each other is one of the best aspects of the internet!
Thursday, February 9, 2012
keto puzzle
After drinking plenty of coffee and water yesterday, and going up and down countless steps doing the laundry, my weigh-in this morning was satisfactory. Felt a little residual puffiness in my hands and feet still, but after doing a bit of flexing and stretching before leaving the bed, i wasn't uncomfortably so.
My first-thing routine seldom varies; after i get up i visit the bathroom and "lighten the load" before stepping on the scale, and don't start taking supplements till after weighing in. Just a "superstition" about getting the lowest realistic reading.... When i have reason to question whether or not i'm in ketosis, i use the little keto-sticks i learned about in Atkins.
I only used keto-sticks in the morning, in those days, and i always wondered why i never had a reading more than trace-to-small. After becoming interested in paleo, i learned a good deal more about ketosis and its benefits, and the fact that merely eating a high-fat diet and using a goodly amount of coconut promotes ketosis and a higher reading on the sticks. Nowadays, i'm more likely to use them at different times of day, for example after a meal out, as a gauge of carb intake when i'm not doing my own cooking.
The first day i was home from TX, i used them several times to see if i was getting back on the beam after my restaurant meal, square of chocolate and three or four segments of grapefruit. I got trace readings for the first 36 hours, then finally started seeing a good strong pink color. This morning, it pursued the pattern i've seen recently, and was lower again.
This is what i find so curious, and it makes me wish i had a significant readership on this blog, to get a variety of input in the comment section.... I customarily chug along happily burning fat for fuel during the daytime, but somewhere in the night, my liver takes charge of the process and starts sneaking enough glucose into my veins, to almost take me out of ketosis. What's the deal here?! I bought myself a glucose meter several months ago, and took a series of fasting blood-sugar readings so that i know that my morning glucose is reliably in the 80-90 range. I wish to heaven it were as easy to get such information on insulin.
I guess i'm going to have to do some googling of what goes on, metabolically, while one sleeps.... If anyone reading this has any insights, i'd love to hear them.
My first-thing routine seldom varies; after i get up i visit the bathroom and "lighten the load" before stepping on the scale, and don't start taking supplements till after weighing in. Just a "superstition" about getting the lowest realistic reading.... When i have reason to question whether or not i'm in ketosis, i use the little keto-sticks i learned about in Atkins.
I only used keto-sticks in the morning, in those days, and i always wondered why i never had a reading more than trace-to-small. After becoming interested in paleo, i learned a good deal more about ketosis and its benefits, and the fact that merely eating a high-fat diet and using a goodly amount of coconut promotes ketosis and a higher reading on the sticks. Nowadays, i'm more likely to use them at different times of day, for example after a meal out, as a gauge of carb intake when i'm not doing my own cooking.
The first day i was home from TX, i used them several times to see if i was getting back on the beam after my restaurant meal, square of chocolate and three or four segments of grapefruit. I got trace readings for the first 36 hours, then finally started seeing a good strong pink color. This morning, it pursued the pattern i've seen recently, and was lower again.
This is what i find so curious, and it makes me wish i had a significant readership on this blog, to get a variety of input in the comment section.... I customarily chug along happily burning fat for fuel during the daytime, but somewhere in the night, my liver takes charge of the process and starts sneaking enough glucose into my veins, to almost take me out of ketosis. What's the deal here?! I bought myself a glucose meter several months ago, and took a series of fasting blood-sugar readings so that i know that my morning glucose is reliably in the 80-90 range. I wish to heaven it were as easy to get such information on insulin.
I guess i'm going to have to do some googling of what goes on, metabolically, while one sleeps.... If anyone reading this has any insights, i'd love to hear them.
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