|
READ THE
BOOKS
Please
don't try to succeed on a low carb Way of Eating without buying and
reading AT LEAST ONE low carb book. Your choice as to which one, just
read one, in its entirety, so that you will understand the metabolic
process you are striving to achieve. Without a basic understanding of
ketosis, you will have a much harder time of this.
My
personal recommendations for low carb books include: Dr.
Atkin's New Diet Revolution, Protein
Power Lifeplan, Protein
Power, Life
Without Bread: How a Low Carbohydrate Diet Can Save Your Life, The Schwarzbein
Principle, and Sugarbusters.
The Corinne
T. Netzer Carbohydrate Counter is a great reference to have, too.
Yes, you can look things up online, but a printed reference is a heck of a lot more convenient than running to the computer
every time you want to eat something! Online carb counters listed here.
-
PITCH
THE KETOSTIX
The
idea of using ketostix to make sure you are in ketosis sounds good -
until you realize that all they really measure is the burning of fat.
Any fat. Whether you are burning adipose tissue (existing stored body
fat) OR you are burning dietary fat, you will produce ketones, which
will register on the ketostix. And if you are on a low carb diet, you
will burn some kind of fat, so whether you register on the stix or not
doesn't necessarily correlate to actual weight loss!
Then
there's this, excerpted from GO
Diet: There are two main ketone bodies produced. One is
called “acetoacetic acid” and the other is named
“beta-hydroxybutyric acid (HBA). Acetoacetic acid can spontaneously
break down to form acetone and this is the compound which gives people
on this diet a faint, but distinct smell on their breath. Other low
carbohydrate diets advocate the use of ketosticks to detect these
ketones in the urine, as a sign that you are really burning fats.
However, these sticks, which are expensive, only detect the acetoacetic
acid and acetone, which are less than one fifth of the ketones produced.
The HBA goes totally undetected by this test. Many people never produce
enough acetoacetic acid to cause these sticks to turn color, yet testing
their blood for HBA shows plenty of ketones.”
Now
for some good news: I never really noticed the so-called keto-breath, or
the body odors that the books talk about. (Neither do my friends or
family, who would not HESITATE to tell me - trust me!)
Now,
the color of the stix, in my opinion, has a lot to do with how much
water you drink. The more concentrated your urine is, the more
concentrated the ketones will be. A high ketone reading in the absence
of weight loss could be due to a lot of things, but mostly it is due to
high fat ingestion, which is what a lowcarb diet really is. It just
isn't politically correct to call it that. Your body doesn't dump the
ketones consistently, either, so it is difficult to know whether an
absence of ketones might simply be your own lousy timing. Timing, after
all, is everything! And if you don't drink enough water, excess ketones
will necessarily have to be excreted somehow other than through your
urine. And my guess is that when they get excreted through your skin and
respiration, they stink to high heaven. So, for many, many reasons,
drink all the water that your plan recommends. Then drink some more. And
don't put too much stake in the readings of ketostix. A far better
indicator of how you are doing on low carb than the color some expensive
little strip of treated paper turns when you (you know) will be
--
how you feel (once you get past the inevitable week 1 slump)
--
how your clothes fit - Do yourself a favor and take those
painful-to-face measurements right at the beginning, so you really know
where you are. The first time I took mine I cried, but I wish I had done
it earlier because in the next month after I did take them, I lost four
inches just from my waist alone while the scale never moved. Is it a
stall if the scale doesn't change for a month? Doubtful, if you are
being true to the plan you are on. Is it possible that you have stalled?
You bet! What to do? Get a software program that calculates your exact
nutritional intake and analyze what is going on. The one that I use is
called Lifeform. You can try it out free for the first 21 days and if
you like it, you pay for it and it keeps working. Nothing ventured,
nothing gained. Download your free
trial copy of easy to use Lifeform software today.
If
you use a mac, there is one out there called Dietsleuth. Do a search and
hunt it down. There are other free places to keep track online, too -
but I think none are as good or convenient to use as Lifeform:
FitDay
LivingSlim
Dietwatch
--
how you look - I am serious. When I put those two pictures together that
you see on the My Story page, I was totally shocked - and so gratified,
too - to see how much better I could look at the same weight. Do not let
the scale alone, or even your measurements alone, be your indicator of
success.
-
DURING
INDUCTION
During
induction I recommend that you:
Stick
to meat, dairy, and veggies only. Try to not use any artificial
sweeteners, fruit, or grain based products, high fiber or not. Get the
full 20 carbs each day from lettuce, salad vegetables, low carb veggies
like broccoli, cauliflower, and green beans. I
also ate small amounts of tomatoes and bell peppers on my salads - even
during induction. If you really really have
to have something sweet, you can eat sugar free gelatin. Try to find
Jolly rancher brand, which is sweetened without aspartame.
By
the time you eat 1 large or two small salads per day, with a 2/3 cup
serving of other vegetables, that will usually add up to almost 20 carbs
(with cheese, cream, and salad dressing included, they add up much
faster than you would expect.) After two weeks of this, you will find
that you have to remind yourself to eat, that you no longer really
*want* the bready things or the sweet things as much. I did not add the
low carb versions of these things back in until I had been eating
induction-style for about 6 weeks. I think this gave me the ability to
keep these food items in perspective. I still don't crave them, I crave
fruit and veggies and dairy products, if anything. When I start thinking about fake sweets too often, I
force myself to go several days without any at all, and then I am back
in balance. It is a constant balancing act, and I must remain vigilant
to insure that my sweet-tooth/bread cravings do not take over. I expect
I will have to be like this forever.
ONE
MORE TIME: Eat your veggies, they go a long way towards filling you up
with something less calorically dense than meat, and trust me - you NEED
the fiber (and nutrients) that they contain.
-
WHAT
TO DO WHEN WEIGHT LOSS SLOWS OR STOPS:
Do
not just ride the same old wave if you are not losing weight. To
determine if you actually are losing, compare your average weekly
weights: Add up your weights for seven days, and then divide that number
by seven. That is your average weight for that week. Compare that number
to your average weight for the previous week. If you are like most
women, don't even bother with your weight during the ten days
surrounding your menstrual cycle!
Now,
if you aren't losing and aren't gaining, You absolutely MUST keep in
mind that you could be building muscle tissue at the same rate you are
losing fat.... Many of us are so protein deficient when we start eating
LC, our bodies seize all the suddenly available protein and use it to
build new muscle at a ferocious rate. That's a good thing, because
muscle burns calories by virtue of its very existence, insuring future
losses, PLUS, muscle may weigh more than fat, but it takes up a whole
lot less space and looks a lot better "on"! I've lost many
inches when the scale wasn't moving at all. I weigh MUCH more at my
current size than I did at the same size when eating low fat, and that's
okay too, because I am so much stronger and look so much better at the
same weight.
Look
at what you are doing. Anything that might be a problem, you can weed
out for a full week or better yet, two weeks, and decide if it could be
stalling you. Try lowering your carbs, raising your carbs, upping your
fat, upping your fiber, cutting out bars, cutting out artificial
sweeteners, cutting out caffeine, dairy, whatever. But don't try it for
just a day. Try each thing for a full week. If you're a woman in your
"childbearing years" your cycle will dictate when you can
trust the scale enough to even conduct these experiments (what a bitch
that is, huh? Only two and half weeks out of each month when you can
feel fairly certain that any sudden change might not just be
"bloat".) Make sure you are taking your measurements and
checking your body fat calculations. If you are exercising, or even if
you're not (you should be!) remember that you could be building muscle
tissue at the same rate you are losing fat. If you don't know how to
figure your body fat calculations, try one of these sites, as tracking
this will help you to determine if you really ARE building muscle
tissue, or not:
Online
calculators: You will need your weight and waist measurement:
Calculator
#1 Calculator #2
You
should note that there are TONS of calculators out there and they all
seem to come up with a different measurement. I myself figure my BF%
using the formula in Protein
Power, and I find that works pretty well for most people.
-
CHECKLIST
FOR STALLS
RATIOS:
Track your percentages of fat, carbs, and protein. If you're not losing,
go back to 20 carbs per day maximum for a couple weeks. And track it, don't just "think" you are below 20, even if
you are pretty sure. You will be shocked when you see how fast those
carbs add up in a program like Lifeform, which adds up all the hidden ones. A salad
& a serving of veggies often adds up to 20 carbs alone. And that is
before cheese, cream, etc. Make sure your fat percentage is high. Make
sure your protein is not too high. Up to 52% of protein ingested CAN be
converted to glucose (and fat!), so you don't want to eat more than you
need. But you must eat sufficient quantities, to protect your muscle
mass, which is what you need to burn fat. Protein Power includes a good
formula to compute your protein needs. Mine happens to be 120 grams per
day for my 140 pounds of lean mass. Based on my lean mass, I came up
with a
goal weight of 185 pounds, much higher than my wedding weight of 160.
(And I ultimately got into my first size 14 when I still weighed
210 pounds! and so decided THAT was actually my goal weight.) Muscle weighs more -- but looks much better! If you are within 20
pounds of your goal and can't seem to lose, maybe you don't need to
lose any more...
FRUIT:
I ate fruit very rarely until I reached maintenance. Even though it was the one thing from "the
old days" that could always make my mouth water. Definitely give it up
if you are in a stall!
ARTIFICAL
SWEETENERS: I treat myself to a Diet Rite with Splenda about once
a week at this point but some people cannot tolerate ANY artificial
sweeteners at all, since just the taste of sweet can cause an insulin
spike in very sensitive people. I do okay with Splenda, myself, and I
like it the best by far. STAY AWAY FROM ASPARTAME - the more I learn,
the more I think it is VERY VERY BAD stuff. (Hey, I found the best new
way to drink pop - with an Isi soda siphon and DaVinci syrups! And while
you look at it, check out the Isi whip cream maker too. More details and
links in my Product Review, Newsletter archives page.)
CITRIC
ACID: Dr. Pepper is one of the few diet pops on the market that
contains none. Citric acid is present in many, many foods. Be aware,
because it is reported to stall some people.
GUM:
I almost never chew gum. It reportedly can cause an insulin spike just
because of the sweet taste. When I do indulge, it is in a single piece
of Dentyne's "Ice" or "Eclipse" gum, which has only
1 carb per piece. Wrigley's Extra is a good substitute with 2 carbs.
SUGAR?
One time I ate ONE Sara Lee Cheesecake bite with only 4 carbs in it and
I gained 2 pounds that day - and my total carbs - not net carbs but
total carbs - counting that little treat were under 20 for that day.
Another time I used 5 carbs worth of evaporated milk in my coffee
because I was out of cream and that one cost me three pounds. If
you are indulging in ANYTHING with the real stuff in it, and you are
stalled, give it up.
NUTS:
Nuts are a good snack, and I eat a lot of pecans, macadamias, almonds,
walnuts, and sunflower and pumpkin kernels, but do try to take it easy on
them, no more than 1/4 to 1/2 cup per day is a good rule of thumb, due
to their high calories and/or sodium content. Stay away from peanuts and
cashews entirely, which are not really even nuts, but legumes.
SKIPPING
BREAKFAST: It is an absolute necessity that I eat breakfast
within one hour of rising or I WILL NOT lose weight that day. Period.
Doesn't matter what else I do or don't do. Perhaps you are the same.
*Exception -- if I have a little something (like coffee with cream)
then work out hard and don't eat for an hour after the workout ends, I
do just as well. I heard that this helps facilitate fat burning, and it
seems to be true. But if I don't eat a little something and go about a
normal day without some major sweat involved early, I am sunk.
RESTRICTING
CALORIES: Fuggetaboutit! At least at the beginning. Count your
carbs more strictly instead. Strive for HIGH high fat and LOW low carbs.
The exception to this is in the case of someone who already has verified
that their carbs are low and their fat high and who still isn't losing
weight OR inches - you could be overdoing it. Try limiting your calories
for a few days and see what happens. The closer you are to goal weight,
the more you may actually need to count those calories. And if you have
been keeping them low for a while and it's not working - you might not
be eating enough! I myself go directly into starvation mode (read
that STALL) if I lower calories consistently. Our bodies tend to adjust
to the things we throw at it - be sure to keep yours on its toes by
changing things up occasionally.
SALT:
Be aware the eating very salty foods may cause a temporary and sudden
gain of several pounds. Try not to freak out about it, because it will
likely pass just as suddenly.
ATTITUDE
IS IMPORTANT: so pick a good one! Some of us just have to work
harder, and sacrifice more, and still accomplish our loss at a much
slower rate than many others. It's not fair, but hey - real life seldom is.
Fortunately, when I feel as good as I do on low carb, I find that an
acceptable trade off. (Most days.) If you are as resistant to loss as I
was, I hope you do, too.
HIDDEN
CARBS? Be sure to not miss this very important section, below.
NOT
TAKING SUPPLEMENTS? Don't miss that one
either!
EXERCISE:
Not doing any? I always thought it was a dirty word. I love to do sports
but I hate to "just exercise". If there's a ball I want to
catch, I will run. Getting me fired up about walking or running for its
own sake is pretty tough, though. But it is necessary to succeed with your
weight loss program. Yes, you can lose 50 or 100 or 200 pounds without
exercising. But if you want to look GOOD when you are done losing, you
had better make an effort to tone what you've got left! Your skin is
much more likely to shrink back into shape when you lose weight in
combination with exercise. So just DO IT. I mean, let's be brutally
honest here - those of us with lots of weight to lose most likely have
addictive personalities anyway. Why not put that trait to work FOR us,
this time. Exercise is as addicting as anything else, and much more
rewarding! I myself walked my ass off - literally. This diet would
NOT have worked for me without exercise, that is painfully obvious.
Some people do fine with none. And some people, like myself, do not!
Luckily, I have come to enjoy my walking so much that it is no longer
just "exercise" but has become "me time". It is
something I get to do, all by myself, three times a week, and I don't
feel guilty for doing it (taking the time for myself). I feel better
after doing it (because a happy Mommy is much a better Mommy ... and
wife!) After the first couple months, I added wrist weights, and some light lifting for
my triceps, biceps, and pecs (darn gravity anyway!) and I even did a few
crunches yesterday after the 3 miles w/ weights and the lifting.
*grimacing*
07-04-00
2 weeks after that - today I did 150 crunches! And I now workout on my metal
monster Nordic track instead of walking, which wears me totally out. I
couldn't even use this thing, before walking myself into some kind of
shape over the last few months.
07-20-00
It is two weeks later than that and today I did 20 minutes on the
NordicTrack followed by 150 crunches (half of them in the advanced
position!) followed by 150 arm lifts with dumbbells, followed by a 2
mile powerwalk with wrist weights. Whew!
11-11-00
I now do FOUR HUNDRED crunches at a time and a full weight lifting
routine. *And thank God! because I BROKE my BACK on January 5, 2002 and
can only imagine how much rougher the whole thing would have been if I
hadn't been in shape when it happened. I am happy to report that I was
able to maintain MY FULL LOSS even after such a severe injury, which
left me bedridden for six full months (not to mention permanently
impaired... but everything does work again, even if it hurts, and I am
grateful.)
Join
me on a cyberwalk through beautiful Colorado and
see how you too can tone your body without wearing spandex or breaking a
sweat! View the proof here, graphs and all!
February
2001: Sold the metal monster and now I power-walk on a new treadmill and
do ab crunches. I still enjoy my workouts but I more often settle for
250 crunches and 40 minutes on the treadmill with light hand weights...
I am more likely to do this workout regularly when I don't overdo, and I
think consistency is key. Find SOMETHING that YOU enjoy - and do it.
|
