jmb3450's Journal, 06 Jun 14

I can actually kind of attest to that low fat vs low carb...I did the AdvoCare 24 Day Challenge and was really trying to restrict both and was having a hard time losing...but I'm a carb-eater for sure so I added 20 more grams of carbs than I had originally planned and it just melted off after that... 

I am with mannheim on this one. You need more fat in your diet if your low carbing it. Constipation would happen to me at first when I was adjusting and I took that as a sign to eat more fat. (Avocados, Olive/coconut oils and saturated fat from fatty cuts of pork and beef). Also, look up recipes for "Fat Bombs" on google. They will do the trick of adding fat to your diet in a delicious way.. Adding more fat will also make you feel full for longer. You are still learning your body so these things are expected. We got your back!  

Some people, like myself, have to go through an adaptation period in order to change from carb/glucose burning to fat burning. They call this being fat adapted. Obviously, I am not there yet even though I've been at this for 4 weeks. I was told that it can take 2 or more months for some folks. I must be one of them, wouldn't ya know?! Grrr! But I also have been tweaking the percentages and figuring out what a day's worth of carbs, proteins and fats looks like for me. That allows me to zero in on better things to eat more (or less) of. Once I get a better picture of that, I think I will begin to see progress. If there is one thing I can say about myself is that I've made up my mind that this plan is going to be how I eat the biggest majority of the time with maybe a bit more carbs and some fruit when I become fat adapted, but only as a treat. This has to be my lifestyle plan due to my diabetes if I really want to prevent the horrible health issues that come with the detrimental effects of my body not being able to do what it's supposed to with insulin. I am insulin resistant, but LCHF should reverse that and stop the damage. 

One last thing JMB, you may want to consider ditching all the stuff in your diet that says "light". It sounds odd, but when they make something "light", most of the time they remove the fat, then it tastes bad without fat so they add back sugar and other "things" to make is appear similar to the full fat product. So basically they remove the fat, which keeps you feeling full, and they replace it with sugar which just makes you hungrier after your blood glucose falls. Full strength mayo, salad dressings, yogurt, etc can all your dieting friends if you keep your carbs under control. Just keep on eye on the fat calories because there is 9 calories per gram of fat when compared to protein and carbs who weigh in at 4 calories per gram. Fat makes you, well, “un-fat”. Fat also does not cause a release of insulin. If we have been doing our homework we would know that when insulin is present in your system it is signaling the body to store fat and use the readily available glucose for energy. 

That's the spirit!!! Just keep on truckin'!!! 

Wow, you guys are great, thanks for the support and advice, I really do appreciate it. Just to clarify, I'm not doing low carb, I've tried it before and lost weigh quickly but this time I'm looking for a permanent lifestyle change that I can continue and stick to indefinitely. For me low carb isn't something I can stick to or that I even like doing for more that a few weeks. I am trying to get around 185 grams protein a day, along with a good dose of healthy fats, enough fiber (looking to increase that amount), and I'm trying to limit added sugars, all done in an average RDI of 1700 calories. I guess you'd call it flexible dieting like the IIFYM website talks about except I'm not trying to hit those macros exactly. Hopefully that makes sense. I'm still figuring out exactly how to do it and what works best for me.  

I'm not trying to disway you in any way from your plan, but it seems to me your protein is a bit high....I'm at 185 and in no way a low-carb eater either (gimme bread or I'll die!!), and my recommended is 70 grams....I honestly don't think you can have too much protein but perhaps that is your culprit! Also, to help you with your carbs, this is my easy rule of thumb: sugar is the bad carb so try to limit that, fiber is the good carb so increase that...an easy way of doing that is look for multigrain or whole wheat flour in your carb items...white flour or enriched flour is baaaaaad! 

185 lbs is what i meant... 

and disuade....autocorrect! 

Socolova, thank you for the suggestions. I've seen recommendations to eat a gram of protein per pound of body weight, others that say .6 to .85 grams per pound. I weigh 239 pounds, and have settled on targeting 185 grams protein because that is somewhere around my estimated lean body mass. This isn't a short term or quick fix diet for me, it's a permanent lifestyle change and I'm trying to do it in way that I can continue for the rest of my life, and in the process of losing weight, maintain my lean body mass as much as possible. That's the purpose in getting that amount of protein - to try and maintain muscle and limit weight loss to fat as much as my body will allow. When I get to my final goal weight (and I don't know for sure what that weight will be) I'll go to maintenance mode, maybe even a bulking phase to build muscle back. But who knows, that's down the road, got to get there first. Hope that makes sense. I agree fully with sugars, bad carbs vrs. good carbs. Still figuring out the best methods of getting all that in my daily diet in a way that works, my body is happy with, and allows me to lose weight in a healthy way. And...I'm actually enjoying the process.....it feels good to be pro-active and in control of my health instead of feeling like a ping pong ball being wacked around by life and my own bad eating habits. 

That's awesome! I'm rooting for you!!!! You'll figure out exactly what works best for you and it'll be amazing :) Have a great weekend! 

Fiber... oatmeal, flax seed, hemp hearts, chia and not the chia pet either. :~) 

Hang in there bro. Just found this site and its pretty cool. Its way too early to give advice to anyone but sometimes I just sit down and then get up and I become increasingly aware of the gravity of the situation. Sorry about the pun on words but just feeling how gravity pulls on you can tell you a lot. The right weight combined with the right muscle tone helps us fight against gravity. Im kind of weird in the way I think but I see gravity as trying to pull me down into the grave and I see being lightened/enlightened as the means to keep that from happening. Somebody shut me up! lol 

Nice insight avery! I like it! 

Hey Avery, welcome to the site. Yes this site is very cool and very helpful, glad to have you here as a part of it. :) Appreciate your comments too. 

Thanks J.. Glad to be on board with you. Are you part of a group or what? How does this all work? And BBB your welcome. Now how can I get a cool handle like everyone else instead of my real name. lol 

Good luck and some great comments. This is the place to be - you're asking for help and advice so you're doing it right!! 

Keep on keepin on! 

Much appreciated K & T 

It happens. Give your body a chance to catch up while you continue eating healthy and the free fall will start again.