17 days, and 14 lbs lost. It's been an interesting couple of weeks. June 12th is when I started my diet of eating very little carbohydrates. Since then my time has been spent tweaking my daily intake to favor fat and protein, arranging foodstuffs to suit my palate (this is of course not the least bit difficult when you can eat things like bacon and eggs for breakfast every morning), and meticulously reading nutrition labels. Just browsing through a store, I was quite amazed on how much sugar (high fructose corn syrup) is extracted from it's original form and generously placed our food. Our bodies are not well adapted for it, yet it's put in just about everything. (If you want to see a crazy example of this, just look at the bread isle...)
So, in addition to adjusting my daily eating habit, I have been reading more and more on the subject on why it's important to cut out carbohydrates from your diet, at least to a very low level. The truth is, the science is there to support the idea that a diet heavy in dietary fat and protein, and why it's favored by our bodies. It's the grains and sugars that we are not adapted to handle very well.
When humans eat grains and sugars, it causes a spike in insulin, which is what causes the storage of body fat in the first place. In a way this mechanism is quite amazing, because it's what keeps us alive (too high of blood sugar and we die). Unfortunately it also causes people to look like what they eat, a clump of doughy substance. I'm living proof of this unfortunate side-effect.
For the readers out there, here are some articles I really liked.
One good thing about increasing daily protein amounts:
The Blog of Michael R. Eades, M.D. » Dietary protein increases lean mass
This is partially why I think a diet that favors fat and protein is preferred:
The Blog of Michael R. Eades, M.D. » Metabolism and ketosis
I'm not a body builder, but this is a easy to read article on why being in a ketogenic state is a good thing (but not if your diabetic):
Bodybuilding.com - In Depth Look At Ketogenic Diets And Ketosis.
**************************************
TL;DR version
I lowered my carb intake, increased fat and protein intake, and lost 14 lbs in 17 days.
So, in addition to adjusting my daily eating habit, I have been reading more and more on the subject on why it's important to cut out carbohydrates from your diet, at least to a very low level. The truth is, the science is there to support the idea that a diet heavy in dietary fat and protein, and why it's favored by our bodies. It's the grains and sugars that we are not adapted to handle very well.
When humans eat grains and sugars, it causes a spike in insulin, which is what causes the storage of body fat in the first place. In a way this mechanism is quite amazing, because it's what keeps us alive (too high of blood sugar and we die). Unfortunately it also causes people to look like what they eat, a clump of doughy substance. I'm living proof of this unfortunate side-effect.
For the readers out there, here are some articles I really liked.
One good thing about increasing daily protein amounts:
The Blog of Michael R. Eades, M.D. » Dietary protein increases lean mass
This is partially why I think a diet that favors fat and protein is preferred:
The Blog of Michael R. Eades, M.D. » Metabolism and ketosis
I'm not a body builder, but this is a easy to read article on why being in a ketogenic state is a good thing (but not if your diabetic):
Bodybuilding.com - In Depth Look At Ketogenic Diets And Ketosis.
**************************************
TL;DR version
I lowered my carb intake, increased fat and protein intake, and lost 14 lbs in 17 days.
