Today, another first! When I got onto a yahoo page, I saw that "low carb diets" were trending. Curious, I clicked on the link to see what Yahoo would give me.
Well, I'll have ta say, I guess they really ARE a bunch of yahoos! Wedged between two versions of the now-famous twin-doctor-brothers-eating-really-bad-diets (bro-science at its best?) story was a link to "Grain News".
Did you know that the newest low carb news is that diets are fads? Yep, read it on the internet. I wonder how much Grainnet has been paying for all this bread placement. A quick look at what yahoo thinks are the top links were decidedly hostile to low carb, including the famous WebMD article that has been making the rounds in the lowcarb-o-sphere recently.
If you haven't yet seen it, here is the laughable post on WebMD. It is so bad, it is even funny. Now don't go and close that link yet, because there will be a quiz later.
Careful readers might remember that WebMD was investigated for it's chummie ties to the pharma industry, especially with its treatment of depression in their posts, and the tie-ins with a major sponsor. (Read about it here!) Looks like WebMD is still at it.
I don't know about you, but when I went on to the WebMD link, Belviq ads were all over the place. On the right side, down on the left, with all sorts of helpful links to convince people to take the weight loss drug if for some reason that low carb fad diet thing isn't working.
Page 2 offered up a huge ad for Tradjenta, a drug that will help people reduce HbA1c if for some reason that low carb fad diet thing isn't working.
Now I am sure these are perfectly fine drugs, with wonderful clinical trials blah blah blah. One way to increase sales is to get some pseudo-scientific site spoon out lots of mis-information about some fad diet that will probably induce weight loss and/or reduction in HbA1c, enough mis-information so most folks won't even try the fad diet.
For shame!
OK, so here's the quiz.
1. What are the effects of a low carb diet?
a. weight loss
b. reduction in HbA1c
c. better mood
d. less allergies
e. all of the above
2. What are the negative side effects of a low carb diet?
a. bad breath
b. constipation
c. vegans won't eat lunch with you
d. your kidney's will explode
e. we do not know. The diet hasn't been adequately studied by Harvard.
3. What are the side effects of taking the drug Belviq?
a. bradycardia
b. painful erections lasting for more than 4 hours
c. depression or thoughts of suicide
d. valvular heart disease
e. all of the above
4. What are the side effects of Tradjenta?
a. pancreatitis
b. sore throat
c. weight GAIN
d. muscle or joint pain
e. all of the above
Showing posts with label weight loss. Show all posts
Showing posts with label weight loss. Show all posts
Wednesday, January 29, 2014
Tuesday, March 19, 2013
A Trip down Memory Lane
I love to troll the free bin at the library. Lots of good, really old stuff to be discovered, or re-discovered. A certain person has been decluttering their library of all diet and recipe books, and several low carb favorites or classics have shown up.
A recent find is "The Steak Lovers' Diet" by Melvin Anchell, MD.
The foreword by Dr. William Campbell Douglass is worth a read. He is sort of an obscure alternative medicine author, and despite the foreword having been printed in 1998, it contains lots of information that has been popularized by paleo authors over just the past few years. You know, stuff like Weston Price and how we don't need all that Vitamin C and how vegetarians are wrong and there's just too many of them, and how the American Heart Association sucks.
I checked out another of Douglass' books, "Into the Light", and it is a fascinating read, if not a bit out of date. Some of the chapters read just like you might have found them in Jack Kruse's blog. All that quantum stuff, and light. Maybe that is where he got his stuff. It is too bad that the dominante alternative medicine folks didn't feature him more, perhaps because he wasn't a vegetarian by any stretch of the imagination.
Anyway, where was I? Oh, the Steak book. This diet is apparently a rehash of the Pennington diet. You know, THAT Pennington who has a research center full of obesity researchers that we all love to make fun of. The original Pennington diet was rather low carb compared to today's standards. Apparently, Pennington didn't think people needed to eat lots of carbs for their brain. His patients lost weight on the diet by starting a meal of all types of meat, cooked in all sorts of ways (except breaded and stuffed) and afterwards, they could have one serving of a "second course".
The second course could be: white potatoes, sweet potatoes, grapes, watermelon, rice, grapefruit, banana, pear, raspberries or blueberries.
That's pretty much it. Coffee, and a bit of lemon is OK, NO artificial sweeteners. Notice that there is NO bread.
The original tater tots over there at DuPont lost a bunch of weight on this. Of course, they were execs, so they were all men. But, I am sure that "their women" as some paleo-writers like to phrase it, followed the diet, as they were frying, broiling and braising all the big game the men dragged home from their long day at the chemical plant, and probably got a bit envious of both the weight loss and the yummy food.
It is interesting to take a look at the carbs. They are mostly foods that contain quite a bit of glucose and little fructose. These are pretty much the foods that Dr. Rosedale says NOT to eat, presumably because of the high glucose content. This diet would probably send the majority of the woo-fueled-jihaddists into a tailspin.
Dr. Anchell has an interesting section on the recommendations of the Drs. Wortman, and their financial involvement in a recalled weight loss drug that might have colored their approach to weight loss recommendations. Never heard about that before.
A recent find is "The Steak Lovers' Diet" by Melvin Anchell, MD.
The foreword by Dr. William Campbell Douglass is worth a read. He is sort of an obscure alternative medicine author, and despite the foreword having been printed in 1998, it contains lots of information that has been popularized by paleo authors over just the past few years. You know, stuff like Weston Price and how we don't need all that Vitamin C and how vegetarians are wrong and there's just too many of them, and how the American Heart Association sucks.
I checked out another of Douglass' books, "Into the Light", and it is a fascinating read, if not a bit out of date. Some of the chapters read just like you might have found them in Jack Kruse's blog. All that quantum stuff, and light. Maybe that is where he got his stuff. It is too bad that the dominante alternative medicine folks didn't feature him more, perhaps because he wasn't a vegetarian by any stretch of the imagination.
Anyway, where was I? Oh, the Steak book. This diet is apparently a rehash of the Pennington diet. You know, THAT Pennington who has a research center full of obesity researchers that we all love to make fun of. The original Pennington diet was rather low carb compared to today's standards. Apparently, Pennington didn't think people needed to eat lots of carbs for their brain. His patients lost weight on the diet by starting a meal of all types of meat, cooked in all sorts of ways (except breaded and stuffed) and afterwards, they could have one serving of a "second course".
The second course could be: white potatoes, sweet potatoes, grapes, watermelon, rice, grapefruit, banana, pear, raspberries or blueberries.
That's pretty much it. Coffee, and a bit of lemon is OK, NO artificial sweeteners. Notice that there is NO bread.
The original tater tots over there at DuPont lost a bunch of weight on this. Of course, they were execs, so they were all men. But, I am sure that "their women" as some paleo-writers like to phrase it, followed the diet, as they were frying, broiling and braising all the big game the men dragged home from their long day at the chemical plant, and probably got a bit envious of both the weight loss and the yummy food.
It is interesting to take a look at the carbs. They are mostly foods that contain quite a bit of glucose and little fructose. These are pretty much the foods that Dr. Rosedale says NOT to eat, presumably because of the high glucose content. This diet would probably send the majority of the woo-fueled-jihaddists into a tailspin.
Dr. Anchell has an interesting section on the recommendations of the Drs. Wortman, and their financial involvement in a recalled weight loss drug that might have colored their approach to weight loss recommendations. Never heard about that before.
Tuesday, January 15, 2013
In case I forget
Five years ago today I was at my highest weight, and after finally finding myself sick enough of it and having enough time, I started on a weight loss plan.
First, I got up for Denise Austin's TV show. I know, people really make fun of her, but for several years I had been in school and working seven days a week in front of a computer and wasn't even doing basic exercising. The last straw was when I found it was even difficult to turn over in bed. How did it get so bad when I wasn't looking?
I started walking and following a low fat diet like they recommend. This was very difficult, and it took me quite a bit of time to lose even 10 pounds and keep it off for more than a few weeks. I struggled for two more years, stopping when I became unmotivated and then restarting, usually at a higher weight than before.
Twenty eight months ago I started a lower carb diet, and then lost the rest of my weight. I haven't maintained all of the loss, but I did lose and keep off over 18% of my body weight. (I also lost my long-term vegetarian lifestyle. How eat-crow-ish that was.)
This week I have been pouring over the Diabetes Prevention Program and other studies, and have seen first-hand in the data how difficult it is for people to lose weight and keep it off. It is easy to get discouraged.
But, then I look back at some of my older records of weight, and realize that I am already in the tails of the distribution of weight loss outcomes. For that, I am pleased.
Oh and P.S. Coca-Cola. Some calories are more equal than others. Just sayin'
First, I got up for Denise Austin's TV show. I know, people really make fun of her, but for several years I had been in school and working seven days a week in front of a computer and wasn't even doing basic exercising. The last straw was when I found it was even difficult to turn over in bed. How did it get so bad when I wasn't looking?
I started walking and following a low fat diet like they recommend. This was very difficult, and it took me quite a bit of time to lose even 10 pounds and keep it off for more than a few weeks. I struggled for two more years, stopping when I became unmotivated and then restarting, usually at a higher weight than before.
Twenty eight months ago I started a lower carb diet, and then lost the rest of my weight. I haven't maintained all of the loss, but I did lose and keep off over 18% of my body weight. (I also lost my long-term vegetarian lifestyle. How eat-crow-ish that was.)
This week I have been pouring over the Diabetes Prevention Program and other studies, and have seen first-hand in the data how difficult it is for people to lose weight and keep it off. It is easy to get discouraged.
But, then I look back at some of my older records of weight, and realize that I am already in the tails of the distribution of weight loss outcomes. For that, I am pleased.
Oh and P.S. Coca-Cola. Some calories are more equal than others. Just sayin'
Thursday, November 29, 2012
I'm such a loser
The first time this happened, I thought it was an outlier, and like every good researcher, I threw it out.
(Nawwwww! Just kidding. Regular readers know I don't throwup out any data points because they don't agree with preconceived notions.)
I was on the phone with sis the other day, talking about Thanksgiving.
"I lost a pound over the weekend, " I crowed.
"I gained your pound and then some. Guess I'll have to exercise more this week," she lamented. "It was all the stuffing....."
And, this is from the skinny one, the one they tried to bulk up all those years. The one exercising alot and eating a low fat diet because her doc wants her to lower her cholesterol. At around 220 total, she is teetering on the edge of severe heart disease or stroke. Or so he sez.
This happened at the last holiday we shared. I lost a couple of pounds. She gained four.
Oh, I ate the stuffing alright. And a sliver of pie. And some potatoes. Then I got busy with the dishes and pouring more wine and forgot to have seconds.
"I'm stuffed!" the guests declared as they pushed themselves from the table. And I thought to myself,
"Hey, I am not stuffed."
And the next day we went back to a regular fatty breakfast, turkey salad over a bed of greens for lunch, seafood for dinner.
Now here is what else I learned. Corn chips give me zits and make me achy, especially my big toes. And it isn't about the salt, because the next day I can eat a dozen green olives and have no problem with my joints. Pumpkin pie made from my own real home-grown pumpkins is better than when it is made with pumpkin pie filling from a can. And if you bury a turkey carcass in the garden, the gophers stay away.
(Nawwwww! Just kidding. Regular readers know I don't throw
I was on the phone with sis the other day, talking about Thanksgiving.
"I lost a pound over the weekend, " I crowed.
"I gained your pound and then some. Guess I'll have to exercise more this week," she lamented. "It was all the stuffing....."
And, this is from the skinny one, the one they tried to bulk up all those years. The one exercising alot and eating a low fat diet because her doc wants her to lower her cholesterol. At around 220 total, she is teetering on the edge of severe heart disease or stroke. Or so he sez.
This happened at the last holiday we shared. I lost a couple of pounds. She gained four.
Oh, I ate the stuffing alright. And a sliver of pie. And some potatoes. Then I got busy with the dishes and pouring more wine and forgot to have seconds.
"I'm stuffed!" the guests declared as they pushed themselves from the table. And I thought to myself,
"Hey, I am not stuffed."
And the next day we went back to a regular fatty breakfast, turkey salad over a bed of greens for lunch, seafood for dinner.
Now here is what else I learned. Corn chips give me zits and make me achy, especially my big toes. And it isn't about the salt, because the next day I can eat a dozen green olives and have no problem with my joints. Pumpkin pie made from my own real home-grown pumpkins is better than when it is made with pumpkin pie filling from a can. And if you bury a turkey carcass in the garden, the gophers stay away.
Tuesday, October 23, 2012
Looking Ahead (no, really)
There is trouble in the eat-less-move-more camp. Water is pouring into the tent, and they are forced to move out of the wash they placed themselves in, running for cover.
Ah, yes, the Look Ahead study. Here's a nice re-cap. I went to theHeart to get their latest blurb, and it mentioned that in addition to NOT reducing strokes, heart attacks or losing much weight, there wasn't even a reduction in death either. They go through all that crap and lose like 10 pounds?
Eleven years of exercise, and listening to a registered dietitian droning on about healthywholegrains and satiating-whatever. Satiating. Wow, do I hate that word! Who else uses that word? One more reason to ban (most) dietitians from my life.
I loved some of the comments. Like, surely the sucky results are because of poor study design that failed to show what we all know to be true. Like, surely not that it could be the sucky recommendations.
One hundred and seventy five minutes of exercise a week, time they could have spend meditating on and eating bacon, and for what? Just thinking of how many [redacted] points what would amount to. All that wasted time racking up points that can't be traded in for any actual anything, just like the real [redacted] goodies. Good for a memory, or for a laugh, but it is not a real goody.
OK, today's post is chocked full of amusing personal stories. I used to work with this guy who just got another MBA, and he used to wave his hands and throw out the word "salient" when he wanted to weasel out of his responsibilities and evade the point I was trying to make. Nobody uses that word except a few months after some MBA class. And, it is always used as a redundant set, a "salient point". Hear the word, and you know BS is sure to follow.
Oh, anyway, where was I?
I used to work at this place where they had creativity workshops, and one day we were supposed to do this visualization and imagine we were in a hot air balloon drifting over the company. Now, if we weren't being so meditative with the new age music accompanying the directive, this would have been a hilarious metaphor for the company, since it was so full of the hot-air of the newly-minted MBA's and the company was so adrift. Oh, anyway, where was I? Oh, and we were supposed to look into the imaginary windows and see what was going on five years into the future.
Well, that was fun, as I drifted above, and saw some interesting things. When we were asked to share, I jumped at the chance to recount the salient points of my balloon ride. As I described what I saw, the leader looked visibly surprised. Yep, I nailed it. I accurately described a current super-secret project going on in the very building that I floated over, even though I didn't consciously know anything about it.
OK, fast forward to about 16 years ago, when we were sitting around a large table enduring a lengthy design review. It was time for lunch. "Should we order pizza?"
So I say, "Well, soon you'll be able to order a pizza and then the pizza place will just send a wireless message to your insulin pump for just the right amount of bolus." And, hardy har har, we all had a good laugh over that until the VP of engineering said, "Hey, you're probably not too far off," but he wasn't as alarmed about it as that visionary balloon guy.
Of course, now we all have wireless and smart phones and cloud computing and everything is sent all over, but at the time, closing all the loops seemed undoable.
Oh, anyway, where am I? Well, there used to be lots of talk about diabetes and its progression, and the prevailing viewpoint at the time was just coming on the horizon, that T1DM was an autoimmune thing. And I remember some people arguing violently against this concept and arguing violently for their illness. The thinking at the time was that T2DM was caused by overeating pizza, being overweight (and also inactive.) After hearing that again at the pizza party, I just blurted out,
"No, getting fat doesn't make you diabetic. Diabetes makes you gain weight." And we all looked around at each other and realized that we were all getting fat and probably creating our own diabetes and secretly thinking that we had better get cracking at a cure for diabetes before we all got it and had to take our own medicine and get our feet cut off or something.
So, people tried to eat even more diet yogurt, washed down with Diet Coke, and entering bike and road races sponsored by the American Diabetes Association so we could lose weight and be more healthy. And for what?
So, today I am reading here and there about diabetes and wondering why so many of the comments are still peppered with the idea that drinking lots of sody made us this way, and wondering when people are just going to look ahead more carefully.
OK, where am I? Try this visualization.
Now, look at me, look at Stan's post, now look at me again, now go back to Stan's post and click the link on the training materials. Imagine yourself sitting with a group of fat pre-diabetic people listening to a presentation of this material by a big balloon of hot air. Imagine yourself poking holes in both the presenter and in the concepts. Imagine the balloon of hot air collapsing and the sucky training materials getting smaller and smaller, and soon out of view.
Wow! Imagine yourself feeling better and better. Your cortisol is already reducing, along with your weight and insulin level. Now you are thinking of satiating bacon, only it isn't satiating. In fact, you don't even know what that word means, only that you are enjoying the bacon and then put the package away and then don't think about eating anything for awhile. You imagine walking on the beach with your friends and not having your exercise-tracking software update itself. As you get closer to the water, you hurl your fitbit into the waves and watch it bounce up and down with every wave.
Ah, yes, the Look Ahead study. Here's a nice re-cap. I went to theHeart to get their latest blurb, and it mentioned that in addition to NOT reducing strokes, heart attacks or losing much weight, there wasn't even a reduction in death either. They go through all that crap and lose like 10 pounds?
Eleven years of exercise, and listening to a registered dietitian droning on about healthywholegrains and satiating-whatever. Satiating. Wow, do I hate that word! Who else uses that word? One more reason to ban (most) dietitians from my life.
I loved some of the comments. Like, surely the sucky results are because of poor study design that failed to show what we all know to be true. Like, surely not that it could be the sucky recommendations.
One hundred and seventy five minutes of exercise a week, time they could have spend meditating on and eating bacon, and for what? Just thinking of how many [redacted] points what would amount to. All that wasted time racking up points that can't be traded in for any actual anything, just like the real [redacted] goodies. Good for a memory, or for a laugh, but it is not a real goody.
OK, today's post is chocked full of amusing personal stories. I used to work with this guy who just got another MBA, and he used to wave his hands and throw out the word "salient" when he wanted to weasel out of his responsibilities and evade the point I was trying to make. Nobody uses that word except a few months after some MBA class. And, it is always used as a redundant set, a "salient point". Hear the word, and you know BS is sure to follow.
Oh, anyway, where was I?
I used to work at this place where they had creativity workshops, and one day we were supposed to do this visualization and imagine we were in a hot air balloon drifting over the company. Now, if we weren't being so meditative with the new age music accompanying the directive, this would have been a hilarious metaphor for the company, since it was so full of the hot-air of the newly-minted MBA's and the company was so adrift. Oh, anyway, where was I? Oh, and we were supposed to look into the imaginary windows and see what was going on five years into the future.
Well, that was fun, as I drifted above, and saw some interesting things. When we were asked to share, I jumped at the chance to recount the salient points of my balloon ride. As I described what I saw, the leader looked visibly surprised. Yep, I nailed it. I accurately described a current super-secret project going on in the very building that I floated over, even though I didn't consciously know anything about it.
OK, fast forward to about 16 years ago, when we were sitting around a large table enduring a lengthy design review. It was time for lunch. "Should we order pizza?"
So I say, "Well, soon you'll be able to order a pizza and then the pizza place will just send a wireless message to your insulin pump for just the right amount of bolus." And, hardy har har, we all had a good laugh over that until the VP of engineering said, "Hey, you're probably not too far off," but he wasn't as alarmed about it as that visionary balloon guy.
Of course, now we all have wireless and smart phones and cloud computing and everything is sent all over, but at the time, closing all the loops seemed undoable.
Oh, anyway, where am I? Well, there used to be lots of talk about diabetes and its progression, and the prevailing viewpoint at the time was just coming on the horizon, that T1DM was an autoimmune thing. And I remember some people arguing violently against this concept and arguing violently for their illness. The thinking at the time was that T2DM was caused by overeating pizza, being overweight (and also inactive.) After hearing that again at the pizza party, I just blurted out,
"No, getting fat doesn't make you diabetic. Diabetes makes you gain weight." And we all looked around at each other and realized that we were all getting fat and probably creating our own diabetes and secretly thinking that we had better get cracking at a cure for diabetes before we all got it and had to take our own medicine and get our feet cut off or something.
So, people tried to eat even more diet yogurt, washed down with Diet Coke, and entering bike and road races sponsored by the American Diabetes Association so we could lose weight and be more healthy. And for what?
So, today I am reading here and there about diabetes and wondering why so many of the comments are still peppered with the idea that drinking lots of sody made us this way, and wondering when people are just going to look ahead more carefully.
OK, where am I? Try this visualization.
Now, look at me, look at Stan's post, now look at me again, now go back to Stan's post and click the link on the training materials. Imagine yourself sitting with a group of fat pre-diabetic people listening to a presentation of this material by a big balloon of hot air. Imagine yourself poking holes in both the presenter and in the concepts. Imagine the balloon of hot air collapsing and the sucky training materials getting smaller and smaller, and soon out of view.
Wow! Imagine yourself feeling better and better. Your cortisol is already reducing, along with your weight and insulin level. Now you are thinking of satiating bacon, only it isn't satiating. In fact, you don't even know what that word means, only that you are enjoying the bacon and then put the package away and then don't think about eating anything for awhile. You imagine walking on the beach with your friends and not having your exercise-tracking software update itself. As you get closer to the water, you hurl your fitbit into the waves and watch it bounce up and down with every wave.
Saturday, September 8, 2012
How to reset your leptin - part 1
Hi folks, yes, I AM reading.
Recently I saw a commenter wanting to know of other ways to do a leptin reset. Both Drs. Rosedale and Kruse feel that they have the answers to this. Their plans are quite similar. Both call for a low carb paleo/style diet, limiting feedlot meats, cow's milk, and fake foods. Both limit snacking after dinner and don't recommend lots of exercise. Both would agree that a can of sardines is the most ideal meal/snack, although it looks like Kruse would rather you have them raw, with the heads on, and in the blender.
They differ in the amount of protein. Rosedale's protein recommendation is quite low compared to Kruse's. Their passionate arguments are on Paleohacks, if you even dare to go over there, but here's the gist. Rosedale thinks protein should be kept low to limit gluconeogenesis, and that doing so can also reduce the risk of cancer. Kruse says that doesn't matter, because the diet already reduces the risk of cancers.
To me, the Kruse argument is a little bit of "if you do what I say, and get so-and-so into balance, then it is not a problem". I think he might be putting the cart before the horse. It doesn't really address the transition phase. Rosedale's plan also limits fat in the early weeks. He said that he is a big fan of coconut oil, but did not put that in his book due to the editor/publisher pressure.
Kruse is trying to elicit certain outcomes by limiting food during certain intervals. In order to keep from being hungry during that time, he front-loads with plenty of protein at breakfast. Rosedale says not only is that not necessary, it is detrimental, since it encourages gluconeogenesis. He feels people would be better off if they ate when they were hungry and that snacking is not a problem as long as there aren't many carbs in the snacks. I think he might be putting the cart before the horse, too. When people get adapted to the lower-protein, low carb approach, they are fine with fat-burning, they lose their hunger and then it is easy to not constantly snack or to constantly be snacking on protein. The first few days can be really tough for people.
Rosedale's book came out in the 90's, and to me at least, it is the first "paleo" diet book out there. He is working on two new books, but seriously, Rosedale, you need to finish them.
My personal experience with both diets I will cover in another post. But I'll add here that I follow a modified Rosedale plan now. I did well on the leptin reset, but after awhile I gained all the weight back. I found that Kruse's leptin reset plan elicited many positive changes for me, but lots of weight loss wasn't one of them. Restricting my protein has been more helpful.
If you want to learn more about the two protein approaches, read Jimmy Moore's posts about his n=1 experiment with the ketone blood monitor, and also his recent ATLCE podcast featuring Dr. Layman. Dr. Layman is an expert in protein.
Recently I saw a commenter wanting to know of other ways to do a leptin reset. Both Drs. Rosedale and Kruse feel that they have the answers to this. Their plans are quite similar. Both call for a low carb paleo/style diet, limiting feedlot meats, cow's milk, and fake foods. Both limit snacking after dinner and don't recommend lots of exercise. Both would agree that a can of sardines is the most ideal meal/snack, although it looks like Kruse would rather you have them raw, with the heads on, and in the blender.
They differ in the amount of protein. Rosedale's protein recommendation is quite low compared to Kruse's. Their passionate arguments are on Paleohacks, if you even dare to go over there, but here's the gist. Rosedale thinks protein should be kept low to limit gluconeogenesis, and that doing so can also reduce the risk of cancer. Kruse says that doesn't matter, because the diet already reduces the risk of cancers.
To me, the Kruse argument is a little bit of "if you do what I say, and get so-and-so into balance, then it is not a problem". I think he might be putting the cart before the horse. It doesn't really address the transition phase. Rosedale's plan also limits fat in the early weeks. He said that he is a big fan of coconut oil, but did not put that in his book due to the editor/publisher pressure.
Kruse is trying to elicit certain outcomes by limiting food during certain intervals. In order to keep from being hungry during that time, he front-loads with plenty of protein at breakfast. Rosedale says not only is that not necessary, it is detrimental, since it encourages gluconeogenesis. He feels people would be better off if they ate when they were hungry and that snacking is not a problem as long as there aren't many carbs in the snacks. I think he might be putting the cart before the horse, too. When people get adapted to the lower-protein, low carb approach, they are fine with fat-burning, they lose their hunger and then it is easy to not constantly snack or to constantly be snacking on protein. The first few days can be really tough for people.
Rosedale's book came out in the 90's, and to me at least, it is the first "paleo" diet book out there. He is working on two new books, but seriously, Rosedale, you need to finish them.
My personal experience with both diets I will cover in another post. But I'll add here that I follow a modified Rosedale plan now. I did well on the leptin reset, but after awhile I gained all the weight back. I found that Kruse's leptin reset plan elicited many positive changes for me, but lots of weight loss wasn't one of them. Restricting my protein has been more helpful.
If you want to learn more about the two protein approaches, read Jimmy Moore's posts about his n=1 experiment with the ketone blood monitor, and also his recent ATLCE podcast featuring Dr. Layman. Dr. Layman is an expert in protein.
Thursday, September 6, 2012
How I get into fat-burning mode
I promised to get back to y'all about what I have learned about getting into fat-burning mode.
First, just want to remind newer readers who haven't read all the history, I lost most of my weight on a lower carb diet, and did not get to the 20-30 carb gram level until much later in the process. But eventually, even while on LC plans like Protein Power, I found I couldn't lose weight, maintain my weight or even contain cravings.
It wasn't really carb creep in my case. Well it was sort of. What it was was that I just couldn't quit eating, just like how I was before I started losing weight, only this time, I was eating protein and fat all day instead of grilled cheese sandwiches.
What was going on? Well, I read that after a while, people on LC get used to it and are able to extract more glucose out of whatever very efficiently. It was probably the case that I went out of fat-burning mode, stayed out, and didn't even realize it, because, "well, I'm on a low carb diet, aren't I?"
Just two or three carby meals in sequence would knock me out of whack for weeks or even months. I tried to get back on the plan, but just couldn't. Eventually I went on the VLC Rosedale plan, but after a couple days of hell, I realized how much different I felt. How could I have been on a LC diet for most of the time and probably not be in ketosis all that time?
Diving into that state was very difficult, resulting in a night of anxiety and agitation. No wonder I wanted to eat food to calm it down. Eventually I knew what to expect, and so would white-knuckle my way back in. Sometimes I would wake up in the middle of the night with dread, my heart beating. Not too fun, but I already knew it was coming, so learned to handle it.
Last year I took advantage of Dr. Eades offer for free Metabosol. While I didn't lose much weight for the week I used it, it did curb food cravings enough to get me back on track. I eventually abandoned Metabosol to start the leptin reset. I gave one free container to my sister, who was also having trouble with carb cravings. The other container I guarded with my life, because at the time, Metabosol wasn't available. I used it to get back into whack. I had to only drink about two or three servings, and then I would enter this nice state where I was no longer hungry. For some reason, taking Metabosol also made me relaxed and sleepy enough for a great night's sleep. (Something I never had whenever I tried Rosedale.)
Eventually I tried CT, and found that it worked much the same way. I started CT'ing every time I ate a carby meal, kind of like the exercise recommendation recommended by Rosedale, only I didn't have to worry about over-exercising and the accompanying exhaustion. CT was just wonderful. I would start hungry, but end up relaxed, pain-free and no longer hungry, and all that was topped off with the most wonderful night of sleep ever.
Now I use both the Metabosol and CT to get back on track, and find that while they both help all by themselves, if I am having a particularly tough time (like after a holiday!!!), I'll do both.
Another interesting thing that I have noticed about CT is that ever since I have been doing it, I never get cold when I restart a low carb diet. I used to always get cold, and though not as bad as when I did calorie restriction diets in the past.
In the future, I'll do posts on several of my n=1 experiments with different diets. It is not really a set of fair comparisons, because I confound everything with my life, the seasons, advancing age and my continual improvement.
First, just want to remind newer readers who haven't read all the history, I lost most of my weight on a lower carb diet, and did not get to the 20-30 carb gram level until much later in the process. But eventually, even while on LC plans like Protein Power, I found I couldn't lose weight, maintain my weight or even contain cravings.
It wasn't really carb creep in my case. Well it was sort of. What it was was that I just couldn't quit eating, just like how I was before I started losing weight, only this time, I was eating protein and fat all day instead of grilled cheese sandwiches.
What was going on? Well, I read that after a while, people on LC get used to it and are able to extract more glucose out of whatever very efficiently. It was probably the case that I went out of fat-burning mode, stayed out, and didn't even realize it, because, "well, I'm on a low carb diet, aren't I?"
Just two or three carby meals in sequence would knock me out of whack for weeks or even months. I tried to get back on the plan, but just couldn't. Eventually I went on the VLC Rosedale plan, but after a couple days of hell, I realized how much different I felt. How could I have been on a LC diet for most of the time and probably not be in ketosis all that time?
Diving into that state was very difficult, resulting in a night of anxiety and agitation. No wonder I wanted to eat food to calm it down. Eventually I knew what to expect, and so would white-knuckle my way back in. Sometimes I would wake up in the middle of the night with dread, my heart beating. Not too fun, but I already knew it was coming, so learned to handle it.
Last year I took advantage of Dr. Eades offer for free Metabosol. While I didn't lose much weight for the week I used it, it did curb food cravings enough to get me back on track. I eventually abandoned Metabosol to start the leptin reset. I gave one free container to my sister, who was also having trouble with carb cravings. The other container I guarded with my life, because at the time, Metabosol wasn't available. I used it to get back into whack. I had to only drink about two or three servings, and then I would enter this nice state where I was no longer hungry. For some reason, taking Metabosol also made me relaxed and sleepy enough for a great night's sleep. (Something I never had whenever I tried Rosedale.)
Eventually I tried CT, and found that it worked much the same way. I started CT'ing every time I ate a carby meal, kind of like the exercise recommendation recommended by Rosedale, only I didn't have to worry about over-exercising and the accompanying exhaustion. CT was just wonderful. I would start hungry, but end up relaxed, pain-free and no longer hungry, and all that was topped off with the most wonderful night of sleep ever.
Now I use both the Metabosol and CT to get back on track, and find that while they both help all by themselves, if I am having a particularly tough time (like after a holiday!!!), I'll do both.
Another interesting thing that I have noticed about CT is that ever since I have been doing it, I never get cold when I restart a low carb diet. I used to always get cold, and though not as bad as when I did calorie restriction diets in the past.
In the future, I'll do posts on several of my n=1 experiments with different diets. It is not really a set of fair comparisons, because I confound everything with my life, the seasons, advancing age and my continual improvement.
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