LCHF - Low Carb High Fat Diet Ver 2

[P.A.K.]

Having some bacon and salad for lunch. So liberating to not have to watch fat intake

[Wet Ears]

Just ordered some kefir (goats milk) from Organic Emporium - will give it a taste and if it goes down well would be keen to try and make a batch of my own!

[Helpmytrap]

@htone, FBS is a lot better today (4.7).

[htone]

So here's how the numbers hang together... bear with me, my numbers are exaggerated because I am carb intolerant, but there is a message in there

 

Started with the n=1 carb abuse on Tuesday in order to see what my measurements would do, but in hindsight I have not measured blood BG or ketones in more than a month so I wasn't expecting what I got. Background again - increased protein consumption, reduced (read stopped) exercise and wasn't in a happy space generally.

 

Big protein and cream drink got my BG to 7.9

A high-carb dinner got me to 9.4

Woke up on Wednesday and it was 6.4

Fatshake with milk and protein got me to 10.4 (mild panic setting in at this point)

Ketones were 0.2 (which means I was far from ketosis and def not burning fat)

Ate nothing during the day, did an hour of medium intensity MTB and dropped BG to 6.5

I decided to take 500mg of Glucophage on Wed night as a chemical intervention - Thursday AM BG was 6.2 and ketones only 0.4.

My Thu shake was made with water, but still had protein in, 1 hour later BG was at 8.5 (so now I have eliminated the milk as the high spike source as this was too high compared to earlier experiments). By 2 hours later my BG had dropped to 7.5. At this point I was still quite unhappy, as this was a high reading for me, having not had anything else to eat until then.

Went for another hour of Road riding later, came back and BG was at 5.9. Another hour later, it was at 5.3.

Then I measured ketones, and that was sitting at a much better 0.6 (you want to be above at least 0.5).

Had lamb chops with a tomato and cheese salad for dinner, all nicely covered in olive oil and 1 hour later BG was at 6.3, which is well within spec for me.

Woke up this morning, and BG was at 5.7 (sigh of relief), had my fatshake with one scoop less protein but added kefir i.s.o. milk and my BG an hour later was 6.3 ! Now we're talking !

Measured ketones and it was at 1.1, well within the fat burning zone.

Decided, just as a check, to weigh myself this morning and I am 1.8kg down from where I was on Tuesday.

 

My lessons from this:

• I am more sensitive to protein than I am to milk. There is a finite point (probably around 1.5 scoops) where the protein has an almost pure insulinogenic effect on me. I will thus have to spread my intake to at least 2 servings.
  
• When your blood sugar goes up, your ketones go down and you start adding weight (fat).
  
• The moment I controlled my BG by massively restricting my carb intake, my system started correcting itself (and my weight started dropping).
  
• Even moderate levels of exercise assist in getting the carbs burned and the BG down
  
• I am not recovering from carb abuse as quickly as I did e.g. 6 months ago. Could this be because I eat so little carbs that I am becoming even more carb intolerant ?
  
• I am going to start measuring my BG and at least urine keto levels again. I have taken my eye off the ball and I have suffered the consequences of not managing the basics.
  

 

Hope you find this of some value

[Mikesa9]

Ok-I'm sold. I need to get one of these BG machines. I have searched around and there are quite a few options. Please can you guys give me some advice which one is the best? It will save me (and others, I hope) a lot of time.

[Marge]

@htone: Think I must try to attempt a similar experiment this weekend. I’m close to giving up; 12 days in on a very strict LCHF diet, no change in my weight. OK I do realise I’m 1.53m tall and only 5kg’s over, but still, would expected something at least (and I’m a woman, believe you guys have it much easier!)

 

Maybe I eat too much protein or dairy, maybe my portion sizes are too big, or could that 2 glasses of wine last weekend be the cause…I flippen don’t know anymore!

Edited July 12, 2013 by Marge

[Spinsei]

Get a Freestyle Optium. Works nice. Want one that measures ketones AND blood glucose. I was BG = 4.1 and Keto = 0.5 (on the button, yeah baby!)

[Grondpad]

@htone: Think I must try to attempt a similar experiment this weekend. I’m close to giving up; 12 days in on a very strict LCHF diet, no change in my weight. OK I do realise I’m 1.53m tall and only 5kg’s over, but still, would expected something at least (and I’m a woman, believe you guys have it much easier!)

 

Maybe I eat too much protein or dairy, maybe my portion sizes are too big, or could that 2 glasses of wine last weekend be the cause…I flippen don’t know anymore!

 

Sorry to hear Marge. Must be frustrating! Are you tracking your intake on something like MyFitnessPal? It really is an eye opener when you see the numbers.

[Helpmytrap]

@htone: Think I must try to attempt a similar experiment this weekend. I’m close to giving up; 12 days in on a very strict LCHF diet, no change in my weight. OK I do realise I’m 1.53m tall and only 5kg’s over, but still, would expected something at least (and I’m a woman, believe you guys have it much easier!)

 

Maybe I eat too much protein or dairy, maybe my portion sizes are too big, or could that 2 glasses of wine last weekend be the cause…I flippen don’t know anymore!

I remember Tim Noakes saying in an interview that in the beginning phases many people don't see a loss in weight, rather a drop in size and an increase in muscle.

 

Keep on keeping on! I'm now on day 18.

[htone]

I have a Freestyle Optium because I measure my ketones with it. It is one of the few meters on the SA market that can measure both, simply by using different test strips. Just be warned, the keto test strips are very expensive. My medical aid (one of the top Discovery options) pays for some of that, but in the end you pay for it anyway.

 

My other meter is the Accu-Check Performa Nano, which is a real litte gem if you only want to measure BG. I say this, because with the add-on interface and software you can even upload and graph your data on your PC and it is a tiny meter that requires the minimum amount of blood to test. But that may be a bit of an overkill for most people The strips are covered 100% by my medical aid.

 

When you look to buy a meter, always look at what you will measure most (BG or ketones) - it is usually BG. Then look at what the BG strips cost. The pharma companies will give those meters away (in fact most have a free lifetime exchange warranty) as that's not where they make their money - they make it on the strips, so that is your biggest cost over time.

 

I would opt for the Freestyle Optium as my meter of choice and just restrict the blood ketone measurements. The urine ketostix WITH your blood BG readings should give you a pretty good idea of what is going on.

 

Just a word of caution on the Freestyle meter. If you are squeamish about blood or you are going to find it difficult to squeeze blood from the pin prick in your finger, this is not the meter for you. To measure ketones it requires more than just a drop of blood, so just be warned. The meters that do BG only usually require the tiniest amount of blood to measure.

 

Shout out if I can assist in any way, otherwise chat to the aunties in the pharmacy !

[tombeej]

@htone: Think I must try to attempt a similar experiment this weekend. I’m close to giving up; 12 days in on a very strict LCHF diet, no change in my weight. OK I do realise I’m 1.53m tall and only 5kg’s over, but still, would expected something at least (and I’m a woman, believe you guys have it much easier!)

 

Maybe I eat too much protein or dairy, maybe my portion sizes are too big, or could that 2 glasses of wine last weekend be the cause…I flippen don’t know anymore!

 

12 days is still early, Marge, so don't be discouraged. Your body is still trying to hold on to it's old carb-fuelled ways right now, and hasn't started to adapt to the process of selecting fat as its preferred fuel source. This takes a little time.

 

In my own case, weight loss was very slow initially (some people have experienced big numbers early, but that's mostly just water loss and not true weight loss). This is what my progress kinda looked like over a year when dropping from 97 - 80kg (graph below). Started out slow, but after a couple of months the weight loss was steady month after month. I've stabilised at around 80 - 81 kg now and loving life.

 

Some other things to keep in mind re. this change are the other benefits, such as sustained energy all day, etc, etc.

[htone]

@htone: Think I must try to attempt a similar experiment this weekend. I’m close to giving up; 12 days in on a very strict LCHF diet, no change in my weight. OK I do realise I’m 1.53m tall and only 5kg’s over, but still, would expected something at least (and I’m a woman, believe you guys have it much easier!)

 

Maybe I eat too much protein or dairy, maybe my portion sizes are too big, or could that 2 glasses of wine last weekend be the cause…I flippen don’t know anymore!

 

Marge, I can only talk from own experience and what my wife experienced. I could happily trundle along between 50 - 100g carbs per day and remain in full-blown dietary ketosis, while she really, really battled. In the end, we realized that her cut-off with carbs was only around 30g per day !!! And I thought I was carb-sensitive ! However, she is not diabetic and does not have metabolic syndrome or any similar conditions, she just could not get into ketosis or get her weight to drop until she really cut almost all the carbs from her diet. Her "problem" is that she loves cheese and yoghurt and we soon figured that this was what was pushing her over that limit.

 

According to her, she is still over her ideal weight, but what has happened is that she has stabilised at a weight based on us not obsessing about carb intake anymore. I am convinced that if she really restricted her carbs down to around 20g/day, she would drop another kg or three.

 

You need to find a happy medium somewhere. If you want to really loose those extra kg's, then realize that you will probably have to measure ketones and keep an eye on your BG, but that would probably mean radically cutting carbs for at least a few weeks. If you are happy with how you are feeling now based on a restricted carb intake, then you may have to accept that your weight is what it is for now. But Google "weight loss plateau on LCHF" and you will find lots and lots of references from people saying what you are saying - many get stuck on not losing weight for months and then suddenly start dropping. Remember we are all trying to undo a lifetime of bad eating habits in weeks here !

 

Here's one of the best references on how to break that plateau from Mark Sisson:

 

http://www.marksdailyapple.com/weight-loss-plateau/#axzz2YoWYRvDu

[tombeej]

So here's how the numbers hang together... bear with me, my numbers are exaggerated because I am carb intolerant, but there is a message in there

 

Started with the n=1 carb abuse on Tuesday...

 

snip, snip, snip

 

.... Hope you find this of some value

 

Huge value, htone. I've been one of those people talking a good game about LCHF and n=1, but until I get a BG test kit that's all it is - just talk.

 

We all keep banging the drum that our bodies are all different, respond differently to types of carbs, etc. We all know this concept, but that's often as far as our limited knowledge goes. Unless we are measuring our own body's insulin response to foods, we're just staggering around in the dark.

 

It's time to really start living n =1 on a daily basis to really know how my body works and how it responds to foods. I'm going to start this weekend.

[wonduhboy]

12 days is still early, Marge, so don't be discouraged. Your body is still trying to hold on to it's old carb-fuelled ways right now, and hasn't started to adapt to the process of selecting fat as its preferred fuel source. This takes a little time.

 

In my own case, weight loss was very slow initially (some people have experienced big numbers early, but that's mostly just water loss and not true weight loss). This is what my progress kinda looked like over a year when dropping from 97 - 80kg (graph below). Started out slow, but after a couple of months the weight loss was steady month after month. I've stabilised at around 80 - 81 kg now and loving life.

 

Some other things to keep in mind re. this change are the other benefits, such as sustained energy all day, etc, etc.

 

I can echo this.

I also started slow with the weight loss, even though I have lots of weight to lose.

But in the last 5 weeks, I've been averaging around 1kg loss per week. This is after 2 months of LCHF.

On the other hand, my wife (who also has weight to lose) is losing 1.5kgs a week after only a month of eating LCHF.

You need to keep up with it and see it as getting healthier, not just losing weight.

 

I have to say that in the first 2 months, although I wasn't seeing big weight loss, I was looking slimmer, and getting stronger in gym.

Cycling on the other hand was slow... but I can slowly feel the power coming back. And combining that, with a weight loss means I'm cracking a lot more PRs on strava than ever before.

Edited July 12, 2013 by wonduhboy

[tombeej]

I can echo this.

I also started slow with the weight loss, even though I have lots of weight to lose.

But in the last 5 weeks, I've been averaging around 1kg loss per week. This is after 2 months of LCHF.

On the other hand, my wife (who also has weight to lose) in losing 1.5kgs a week after only a month of eating LCHF.

You need to keep up with it and see it as getting healthier, not just losing weight.

 

I have to see that in the first 2 months, although I wasn't seeing big weight loss, I was looking slimmer, and getting stronger in gym.

Cycling on the other hand was slow... but I can slowly feel the power coming back. And combining that with a weight loss means I'm cracking a lot more PRs on strava than ever before.

 

ja, ditto to all of that

Edited July 12, 2013 by tombeej

[htone]

Huge value, htone. I've been one of those people talking a good game about LCHF and n=1, but until I get a BG test kit that's all it is - just talk.

 

We all keep banging the drum that our bodies are all different, respond differently to types of carbs, etc. We all know this concept, but that's often as far as our limited knowledge goes. Unless we are measuring our own body's insulin response to foods, we're just staggering around in the dark.

 

It's time to really start living n =1 on a daily basis to really know how my body works and how it responds to foods. I'm going to start this weekend.

I have to thank you for the "push" to start doing this again. Huge wake-up call, and I think I have been in La-La land for at least the past month... funny how one quickly rationalizes something like weight gain as "entirely stress related", meanwhile I have been backsliding on my food intake.

My claim to fame used to be a 16kg weight loss on LCHF, but alas that is no more and I have been eclipsed by your spectacular 17kg loss - absolutely amazingly well done, considering you were coming off a much lower base than I was.

 

But watch this space... I am back and I am bad