Why Do You Want to Lose Weight with Low Carb?

Why Do You Want to Lose Weight with Low Carb?

Questions??

With Christmas and the holidays behind us, a lot of people have now turned their focus toward the new year and what they want to accomplish. For a lot of folks, that means getting into shape:

• making better food choices
• losing a few pounds
• and kicking up your activity level

becomes a priority when January rolls around.

Does that sound like you?

Why Do You Want
 to Lose Weight?

• Are you dissatisfied with the way you are?
• Are you thinking about going on a low-carb diet?
• Do you feel that weight loss will improve your life?
• Do you believe weight loss will help you fit into some ideal?
• Why do you really want to lose weight?

Since most New Year's resolutions fail, the answers to all of those questions, and more, will determine your ability to succeed on a low-carb diet.

Or any diet at all.

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How to Plan a Great Low-Carb Christmas Dinner

How to Plan a Great Low-Carb Christmas Dinner

Sugar..!! The Brutal Way

How to Plan a Stress-Free
Low-Carb Christmas Dinner

A typical menu is all about carbs:

• potatoes
• rice
• bread
• pasta
• whole grains
• cereals
• and sweet desserts

These foods find their way onto the menu at almost every single meal.

The problem?

Loading up on carbohydrates isn't a holiday tradition. For most people, it is an every day affair. 

So if you're trying to plan a great low-carb Christmas dinner:

Your old holiday habits might have you feeling a little lost and overwhelmed right about now.

However, there's no need to fear.

That spiral-cut ham or prime roast beef you're used to making for the holiday are carb free. But some of the appetizers, side dishes, and luscious desserts you used to whip up to impress your family and friends might not be.

If that's the problem you're having, don't despair. All it takes to put together a great low-carb Christmas dinner is a little pre-thought and creativity.

Whether you're new to low carb this year or you have white-knuckled your way through the holiday season, if you follow the 10 simple principles outlined below, your family and friends will never miss the carbs.

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30+ Low-Carb Thanksgiving Side Dishes and Ideas

30+ Low-Carb Thanksgiving Side Dishes and Ideas

Special Event Diet

Get Easy Low-Carb
Side Dishes for 
Thanksgiving Dinner 

When it comes to the holidays, sticking to your low-carb diet can be rough.

The holidays are filled with tempting, luscious desserts, sugary treats, and comforting side dishes that mama always made.

The good news is that both turkey and ham are low-carb goodies. Even turkey gravy won't set you back a ton of carbs. You don't really have to give any of that up. Just say "no" to the sugary glazes and carby brines, and we'll show you how to make low-carb turkey gravy and all of the other trimmings you've been missing.

Coming up with a hearty Thanksgiving menu that includes some of these terrific low-carb Thanksgiving side dishes and ideas is easy. With a bit of planning, your low-carb meal can be tasty as well as appeal to the senses.

If Thanksgiving isn't going to be at your house, it will be simple to take a couple of the following 30 low-carb side dishes with you, and maybe even share a super-good sugar-free dessert.

For those who have to eat gluten free, we have tricks for you too:

Cook your Thanksgiving dinner at home and then take a plate with you.

There is always a way to make the holiday work well, without feeling deprived, so come along. Low-carb doesn't mean misery. In fact, your holiday offering will look so good, you'll be the envy of all of your friends and family.

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Make Your Low-Carb Halloween Special

Make Your Low-Carb Halloween Special

Special Event Diet

Who Needs Candy?
Check Out these Low-Carb
Halloween Recipes and Food Ideas!

Have you noticed that Trick-or-Treat is almost non-existent now?

For the past several years, hubby has sat by the front door with a large plastic bowl of candy and other goodies to pass out to the neighborhood kiddies, but hardly anyone ever shows up.

We live in Utah, and Utah has organized Trunk-or-Treat festivities at the local church building every year, so very few kids roam the neighborhood after dark.

However, when you're on a low-carb diet, candy isn't an option. To make your holiday special, here are tons of Halloween recipes and food ideas to keep you feeling like you're still part of the "in" crowd.

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Power of Forgiveness Brings Low-Carb Success

Power of Forgiveness Brings Low-Carb Success

Low Carb Styles

Going Low-Carb is a Major Event

Going on a low-carb diet is a major event in your life. It is not a whim, and it is not a gimmick. It's a drastic lifestyle change that requires a whole new revolutionary way of looking at food, diet, and health. Most diets are weight-loss games that take a standard American diet and tweak it just enough to trick you into eating fewer calories and fat. Sometimes that works, and sometimes it doesn't, because standard dieting doesn't address the problems that accompany metabolic defects.

That's the reason why a low-carb diet works. It corrects insulin issues, stabilizes blood sugar levels, primes the body to burn fat for energy, and drastically reduces your hunger. All of that makes low carbing much easier to stick to than a traditional low-fat, low-calorie diet. However, expecting yourself to never fall prey to a chocolate chip cookie isn't realistic. While some people do have the strength to never go off plan, others find dieting a struggle.

Deprivation is no picnic, and while it's exciting to initially be able to chow down on a thick juicy steak, use real butter on your veggies, and spike your morning coffee with heavy cream and sugar-free flavored syrup, at some point, most dieters find themselves unconsciously reaching for potato chips rather than cheese. Habits are extremely difficult to break, and no matter how committed you are to your low-carb lifestyle, you could honestly find yourself waking up the morning after a carb binge, and wondering -- what happened?

For Low-Carb Success Forgiving Yourself is Essential

When you fall off the wagon, forgiving yourself is essential. It doesn't do you any good to sit around trying to find something to blame. It's better to just realize that you did what you thought was right and justified at the time. While the rationalization you used the night before might not make sense now, listening to the internal dialog that's blaming you or the carbs only hurts your chances for ultimate success. You are not a victim and you are not helpless. You are just human, so both guilt and blame are equally destructive activities.

Indulging in that kind of thing only keeps you a slave to the dieting mindset. It paralyzes you, especially if you believe the lies that your inner critic is telling. Guilt weighs quite a bit, and being angry with yourself and beating yourself up for eating something you wanted to eat at the time isn't going to help you accomplish your goals. Resistance to what you want to do is normal. It's not something specific to you. While you might be weak where avoiding carbs is concerned, it happens to lots of low-carb dieters. You are not alone.

Getting Inside Your Head

Weight-Loss Success Takes More than Low-Carb Food

Successful dieting involves more than following a print out of established rules and regulations. It's more than being told what to eat and which foods to avoid. While the science behind low-carb diets is important in order to make an informed choice about which diet is best for you, once the choice has been made, it becomes a mental game to stay on plan.

Most of us have been feeding the subconscious mind for years. It's set in its ways and doesn't want to change. It loves being in charge. It loves seeking after comfort and avoiding all forms of disturbance and pain. Low-carb diets disrupt the way the subconscious mind has been programmed, so it's common to experience resistance. A lot of resistance. The trick is to observe what's going on without resorting to self-judgment and criticism.

You can't make essential changes in your current lifestyle or thought patterns if you're blind to what's happening. That's why a binge or going off plan is not a bad thing. It's actually something to celebrate, because you now have an opportunity to take a closer look at how your mind currently functions. Only then can you take the appropriate steps that will lead to permanent change.

The Power of Forgiveness

Forgiveness doesn't mean that we make excuses for our behavior. If you have serious issues with carbohydrates, such as metabolic syndrome, PCOS, pre-diabetes, or high cholesterol levels, then it's essential to stick to your low-carb diet. You owe it to yourself to lessen the stress on your body and give it the proper nutrition it needs to function appropriately.

But neither is forgiveness an excuse to go off of your diet every single time there's a chocolate cupcake in your environment calling your name. It's impossible to take advantage of the benefits of a low-carb lifestyle if you're not really living that lifestyle.

Cheating can cause your cravings to skyrocket, your hunger to spiral out of control, and it can even make your feel ill if you have hidden food sensitivities you don't know about. For example, many people who turn to a low-carb diet are sensitive or allergic to wheat, so when they cheat on the diet with bread or grain-based desserts, they feel bloated, crampy, sick to their stomach, and quickly pack on the pounds.

The power of forgiveness lies in the understanding that a low-carb diet plan isn't just a diet; it's a lifestyle change. True change takes time and whole lot of work. It requires you to get on top of your emotional eating style, to observe and consider your eating patterns and tendencies, to look at your activity level, and above all -- to teach yourself and habituate yourself to a whole new way of living.

That takes a lot of self-observation, self-considering, and perhaps a little self-talk along the way. It's takes confidence in your self that you can do this, but even more than that, it takes the strength and courage to get to know yourself. Your real self. Not the image you've created in your mind to hide behind, but the bare-naked self that is sabotaging your dieting efforts and goals.

However, the key to making a low-carb diet work isn't demanding perfection. The key to making a low-carb diet work is experiencing the power of forgiveness.

Weight-Loss Success Requires Inner Transformation

Think of it as transforming your inner couch potato and the carb monster who's currently sitting in the driver's seat into someone who's fit and trim. While they have both served you well up until now, and deserve your thankfulness and full forgiveness, the truth is that if you want to be thin and healthy, you can't do what you've always done.

You have to stand up do something different.

The True Role of Ketosis in a Low-Carb Diet

The True Role of Ketosis in a Low-Carb Diet

Low Carb Diet

Most Fatty Acids Burned
Come From Your Diet

Do you have the purpose for a low-carb diet fixed firmly in your mind?

Maybe.

Maybe not.

If you are thinking that you have to be in ketosis to lose weight, then you still don't understand.

Getting into the state of ketosis is not about unlocking your fat stores. That is an old low-carb theory known as the insulin hypothesis. It didn't hold up when recent scientific studies put it to the test.

The purpose of a low carb diet is:

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What is the Purpose of a Low-Carb Diet?

What is the Purpose of a Low-Carb Diet?

Low Carb Diet Questions??

Okay. You're decided to give the Atkins Diet a try. You've heard good things about dietary ketosis and you want to give it a whirl. Or, maybe you think that a lower fat, more protein-controlled Protein Power low-carb diet might be more suitable to your taste. Perhaps you are thinking about trying some other low-carb diet plan. No matter which low-carb diet program you're considering, it's a good idea to take a moment and ask yourself:

• What is the purpose of going on a low-carb diet?
• Why am I doing this?
• And what do I hope to gain?

What is the Purpose of a Low-Carb Diet?

Don't Confuse Purpose with Goal

A lot of people confuse purpose with a goal. A goal is the ultimate outcome you hope to achieve once you have completed a diet program. That goal could be to achieve a certain clothing size, reach a particular number on the scale, or enjoy improved overall health. A goal could be to get rid of the uncontrollable cravings that unstable blood sugar or a high basal insulin level can cause, to get rid of heartburn or digestive issues, to be able to fit into your favorite pair of jeans again, or maybe be able to participate in physical activities you couldn't do before, such as hiking or biking.

But those things are not purpose.

Purpose is the driving force, belief, or motivation that powers your actions. It's not the ultimate result. It's more like the beginning of a long journey of discovery. It's the frame of reference your subconscious mind turns to when evaluating what's currently going on, and the foundational belief your mind uses to assign a value to things. What we value or find important is what we react to. It's what we act on. So, the importance of what's happening at any given moment comes from purpose. It doesn't come from a goal.

What is the Purpose of a Low-Carb Diet?

A low-carb diet has many advantages over a standard low-fat, low-calorie diet, but it isn't magical. It works because of certain biological principles that can help improve your body's ability to access stored body fat. For that reason, it doesn't work well for everyone. If you don't have insulinemia or unstable blood sugars or metabolic syndrome -- and not all overweight or obese individuals do -- then a low-carb diet won't work any better than any other diet because the purpose of a low-carb diet isn't weight loss. It isn't even about getting into the state of Ketosis.

The purpose of a low-carb diet is to lower your basal insulin levels.

A low-carb diet can reduce your hunger and cravings. It can increase your energy, and make it easy to stick to a diet, but all of those things are a by-product of what happens when you restrict carbohydrates -- and, as such, it can be a dramatic help when it comes to shedding excess body fat -- but those "extras" are not the diet's purpose. The purpose of a low-carb diet is to correct any metabolic issues you might have. Period. When you fix what's biologically wrong with the body, the body can then begin to function appropriately.

Why Choose a Low-Carb Diet Then?

Why Choose a Low-Carb Diet?

Many people come to the low-carb table because they've heard about the dramatic results that many dieters receive from restricting their carbohydrates. They want to get a little bit of that ketosis magic for themselves and believe it will always be that way. What could be better? Low-carb success stories tell you that you can eat bacon and eggs for breakfast, cheeseburgers (without the bun) and salad for lunch, and pork chops, ribs, steak, or roast beef for dinner. You can have heavy cream in your coffee, nuts and cheese for snacks, and you can even use full-fat dressings on your salad.

That can appear heavenly to those who have been trying to shed the pounds by limiting fat and calories. However, you always have to keep the purpose of a low-carb diet in mind. In fact, it's essential.

The reason why carbohydrate restriction works so well isn't because you are in a state of ketosis. Ketosis is a by-product of cutting way down on carbs. Ketones are a by-product of fat metabolism. It's about the body moving to an alternative fuel source for the brain, heart, red blood cells, and some kidney cells. Low carb works because restricting carbohydrates lowers your body's basal insulin levels. That helps the body access its fat stores for energy, something it might not have been able to do very well before. If you are in a state of ketosis and your insulin levels are still high, the diet won't work very well.

Insulin levels HAVE to come down first.

To shed those unwanted pounds and lumps, you have to eat less food than your body needs to function. That is true for any diet. But on a low-carb diet, initially, that can be quite a lot of food -- a lot of fatty foods and a lot of calories that you don't have to count. At 256-1/2 pounds, I was able to eat quite a bit of food and fat on a daily basis and still lose weight consistently each and every single week.

But as time went on and my body reduced in size, I wasn't able to eat like that any more. As my low-carb journey continued, my dietary choices had to move toward a lower-fat, lower-calorie diet because that is what it took for me to continue shedding the fat. In fact, many people who have yo-yo dieted for years -- any diet, not just low-carb diets -- have a metabolic rate that is so low and/or functioning so poorly, that they can't eat high fat and high calorie even from the very beginning.

But that doesn't mean that a low-carb diet is a bad choice. Low carb has benefits that other weight-loss diets doesn't have.

What Do You Hope to Gain By Switching to a Low Carb Lifestyle?

Change always requires us to give up some parts of ourselves that we might find painful to let go of. In the world of diets, that usually means certain foods or lifestyles that have been near and dear to us. So once you have a low-carb diet's purpose rooted firmly in your mind -- it's about lowering insulin levels not Ketosis or weight loss -- it's time to take a look at what you hope to GAIN by switching to a low-carb lifestyle.

Eating lots of carbohydrates can be a mindless activity for some, but more often than not, it's driven by biology or suggestion. We eat high-carb foods because of the comfort they provide, because we've been brainwashed to believe that whole grains are good for everyone, or simply out of habit -- from the suggestion that bread and pasta and rice are necessary for a healthy diet.

What Do You Hope to Gain From Switching to a Low-Carb Lifestyle?

The truth is: society is saturated with carbohydrate foods at breakfast, lunch, and dinner because that's what makes manufacturers the most money. Not because they are essential for a healthy diet.

So for a lot of people, a low-carb diet offers a way to relearn the truth about biology, weight loss, health, and balanced diets. It offers biological helps, such as reduced hunger and cravings for sugars and starches, stable blood sugars, increased stamina, an increased feeling of well-being, food choices that are easier to live with, and a host of other benefits. And yes, a low-carb diet offers a way to lose those undesirable pounds.

However, losing body fat is only a very small part of a low-carb diet. It is only one small factor or by-product of moving to a healthy low-carb lifestyle.

If you can wrap your brain around the idea that the purpose of a low-carb diet is about lowering insulin, not getting into ketosis and not about weight loss, you'll have a much easier time making the switch. Because low-carb is a way of life. A new way of life. It is NOT a diet!

Are You Addicted to Carbs?

Are You Addicted to Carbs?

Questions??

Am I Addicted to Carbohydrates?

One of the accusations I hear running around the low-carb world is that people can become addicted to carbohydrates, and that is why they are fat. That is why they cheat now and then, have trouble maintaining their loses, or got heavy in the first place. It's all because of the carbs. They simply cannot stop eating them. They crave them too much, or they lose control at a party or social gathering because they can't stand the thought of being deprived.

Now, whatever the exact reason is, carbohydrates always get the blame.

What is Addiction?

When low carbers talk about cravings, they usually are referring to a very strong urge to eat something that contains carbohydrates. Their mind says they want to eat that particular food because it will taste good, provide loads of enjoyment, and will satisfy them more than a leftover BBQ chicken leg or hard-boiled egg would. Being unable to make up one's mind and craving the sensation of taste is often called addiction, but for true addiction to be present, there has to be a continual pattern of activity.

In other words, the addicted person will find themselves cheating every single week.

However, even those who have a difficult time sticking to a low-carb diet might be falling prey to something totally different than carbohydrate addiction. Carbohydrates are a macronutrient. They are found is most foods, except for meats, so to be truly addicted to them, one would find a baked potato or cup of plain steamed rice just as tempting and uncontrollable to avoid as a piece of chocolate cake. If that's true for you, then you "might" be addicted to carbs. If it's not true for you, then you might be addicted to something else.

What Addictions Might Drive You to Eat Carbs?

The following are a few psychological addictions that might mask themselves as a physical addiction to carbs. Some of these addictions are very common, especially among those of us who don't have a lot of self esteem or those who struggle with insecurity issues:

Being a Victim:

For those who are overweight, this is a biggie. We believe that we have been victimized by carbs. If carbohydrates didn't exist in the world, we wouldn't be fat, so the idea is that carbs have somehow attacked us. They have mistreated us and made us fat. When a person is functioning from a victim mindset, the Life force will go out of its way to prove you right. Situations will pop up that will give you ample opportunity to cheat. If you cave in and go face down into the pumpkin pie, that reaction to food will support what you already believe. Yep. Carbs are out to get you.

Addiction to Dieting:

You can actually be addicted to dieting itself. Yo-yo dieters do this all the time. They get a high out of initially going on a diet, and fall in love that surge of energy and well-being that you receive when you first enter the state of ketosis. Once the newness loses it's hormonal potency and the body adapts to ketosis, you begin to feel a bit flat. 

Maybe the scale doesn't return the correct number that week, or you get bored with the food, or someone in your family is eating one of your favorite foods in front of you. You end up cheating for that sugar rush or you give up for a while. When you return to a low-carb diet, after a lengthy diet break, you'll once again experience that high that comes from thinking this time I'm really going to do this.

Discrimination Syndrome:

This syndrome is very popular among those who are overweight as well. We feel like we have been discriminated against because we are fat, and that it isn't fair that we can't eat the same foods that others can. Since energy follows the path where we place our attention, thinking about what we can't have and the unfairness of life will cause the mind to suddenly produce cravings for that very thing. The mind thinks that's what we NEED to be happy, must have to not feel inferior, so that's what it encourages us to do at the very next opportunity. Yes, it's enticing us to eat foods with carbohydrates, but only because we feel like it's unfair that we can't.

Addicted to Taste:

Taste is one of our 5 basic senses, and as such sets off a chemical reaction within the bloodstream whenever we experience it. Those who are addicted to the sense of taste don't feel good about themselves unless every single thing they eat gives them the ultimate sense of pleasure they are seeking. These people generally won't eat anything that doesn't taste really good to them because they are dead set on avoiding anything that causes displeasure. You won't find them eating foods that are just okay. Foods must produce a chemical high, or they'll push them away.

Being Sick:

Believe it or not, there are people who are actually addicted to being sick. This reaction to food restriction comes from a strong need for more attention, as well the need to play the victim. Instead of being responsible for one's food choices and avoiding foods that will make one feel sick, the person addicted to feeling bad will eat something they shouldn't whenever they are feeling neglected, ignored, unappreciated, or unloved.

I see this quite a bit on low-carb forums. Some people get literally sick when they eat foods that contain a high amount of carbohydrates. That's because the enzymes needed to digest those foods down regulates when we don't need it. But even though they know they are going to get sick, they do it anyway. Then they post about what they did on a forum or blog, so people can console them and tell them to pick themselves up and keep going. It's a strong plea for attention.

Consequences for Giving in to Addictions

When we go about our daily life unaware of what we are really addicted to, and sitting around blaming the carbs instead, we sacrifice our energy reserves, health, peace of mind, and sometimes, even our very lives in order to gratify our addictions and cravings. It's easier to blame the carbs than it is to turn around and take a good look at ourselves. Unexamined, our motivations for what we are eating, and the methods we are using in an attempt to have our way right now will cause us to do things we wouldn't ordinarily do if we were conscious of our thoughts and actions.

Smoked Chicken Leg Quarter and Healthy Lettuce Salad

Making our true motivations conscious, owning what we are doing, and taking responsibility for our choices will go a long way toward helping us reach our daily aims and ultimate goals. But we have to willing to take the risk of looking into our mind and not running away from what we find there. It's not going to be pretty. The false picture we have created of ourselves isn't real. Plus, most of us have never really faced who and what we really are. Most of us have hidden behind a variety of masks, personality bits, and false beliefs that are actually in control and have enslaved us.

Breaking free of our addictions is possible, but one has to have reached a point where every method of achieving pleasure and escaping all forms of pain has failed to work for us. Until then, we will keep on searching for rainbows that don't really exist.

How to Do a Vegetarian Low-Carb Diet Correctly

How to Do a Vegetarian Low-Carb Diet Correctly

Low Carb Diet

If you've been curious about a low-carb diet, but don't eat meat, the Atkins Diet is not off limits. People have been doing a variety of low-carb vegetarian programs for as long as I've been on the Internet.

The driving principle behind a low-carb diet is to correct insulin resistance and fix any problems with the body's ability to mobilize its fat stores for energy. Being in ketosis will help control your appetite, improve cardiac markers, and balance blood glucose levels, but you don't need a high-meat diet to do that.

In fact, you don't have to eat any meat at all.

When it comes to following a low-carb diet, what's essential is to get an adequate amount of protein foods.

If you're trying to do a vegetarian low-carb diet, you need to make sure that you are getting all of the essential amino acids necessary to repair any daily tissue damage. You'll also need a few extra protein grams that the liver can use for glyconeogenesis, if needed. Popping a few fish oil capsules or flaxseed oil is also a good idea. 

Typically, a low-carb diet contains about 72 to 120 grams of protein, depending on how much lean muscle mass you have. A good rule of thumb is to eat .8 to 1 gram of protein per pound of lean body mass, especially if you're using non-meat sources, but your protein needs will go down as you carve off the pounds.

While at first glance, a vegetarian low-carb meal might appear to be tricky, a little creativity and some ingenuity can make the program quite doable. The key is to adequately prepare ahead of time, before you dive into the program, so here's everything that you need to know to make the Atkins Diet successful when you don't eat meat.

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Do You Have Nightshade Sensitivity or Allergy?

Do You Have Nightshade Sensitivity or Allergy?

Questions??

Have Problems with
Nightshades?

Do you have nightshade sensitivity or allergy?

How about an autoimmune disease?

Arthritis?

Fibromyalgia?

If so, you might not be able to eat certain vegetables, fruits, and spices without suffering pain, inflammation, and other health complaints. You can also stall your low-carb diet because inflammation can interfere with weight loss.

I didn't realize that nightshades were so common among low-carb recipes and menus until I actually looked at which vegetables and spices are nightshades, and then at what most people eat on a low-carb diet.

When I did that, I was literally shocked!

Low-carb recipes and menus are chock full of nightshades. For that reason, even if you are not allergic to nightshades, you might want to pay attention to just how many you're eating and cut back on them a little bit -- especially if you're having problems losing weight.

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Zero-Carb Diet Recipes and Ideas

Zero-Carb Diet Recipes and Ideas

Low Carb Diet

What Can I Eat on a Zero-Carb Diet?

I recently received an email asking me for help in overcoming the boredom that results from eating a zero-carb diet. Hot wings and Heroine Wings can get pretty monotonous after a few weeks, so one of my readers asked if I had recipes or menu ideas that would fit into a zero-carb diet.

I haven't talked about zero-carb diets much because my own personal experience with this type of diet wasn't a pleasant one, but that was before I was diagnosed with Graves' Disease.

With that in mind, I've spent the past few days thinking about how I would go about upgrading my diet to make it more tolerable -- if I couldn't eat any carbs.

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Which is Worse for You? Sugar or Fat?

Which is Worse for You? Sugar or Fat?

Questions?? Sugar..!!

This afternoon, Jimmy Moore popped up in my Facebook feed. Since he follows a Nutritional Ketosis program rather than the Atkins Diet, I rarely read his blog any more, but I do read his Facebook posts when I'm there. In this particular Facebook post, Jimmy was quite upset. Apparently, a couple of twin doctors in Europe (Alexander and Chris Van Tolleken) decided to do a 30-day experiment to discover for themselves which was worse for a dieter: eating sugar or fat.

I could tell by Jimmy's Facebookcomments that the low-carb diet the article's author had decided to follow didn't turn out very well. He took offense at the doctor's personal experience of being "thick headed" during those 30 days, and argued that the doctor wasn't following a Nutritional Ketosis diet, so he might not have really been in Ketosis. Plus, 30 days is not long enough to become keto-adapted.

In Jimmy's opinion, anything other than the Nutritional Ketosis parameters he follows, including lower protein and checking your blood ketone levels, is the only legitimate way to test a low-carb diet. But since I don't believe that, I decided to check out the article for myself. I'm very glad that I did because the doctor WAS following a low-carb diet. It just wasn't Jimmy's diet.

In fact it was extremely close to what Dr. Atkins used in 1972 with his own patients. The only thing the diet lacked was two 1-cup portions of loosely packed lettuce leaves, with a little oil-and-vinegar salad dressing. That would have added about 5 grams of carbohydrate to the doctor's meals, which wasn't enough to affect the outcome. So what Alexander was following was what Dr. Atkins used to put his stubborn, extremely insulin resistant patients on: a diet of meat, eggs, and cheese.

A Little Background

Alexander Van Tolleken became concerned about his weight when it reached 17-1/2 stone, which is about 245 pounds. His brother Chris was 12-1/2 stone, about 175 pounds. That's normal weight for their height of 6-feet, so Alexander was about 70 pounds overweight. However, he lost quite a bit of that excess weight before this little experiment, so we don't really know exactly how overweight he was before he started his zero-carb diet.

If he had already lost a great deal of that weight using traditional diet and exercise methods, odds are quite high that he wasn't very metabolic resistant. He was just eating too much and not moving enough.

The 30-Day Experiment: Low Carb Versus Low Fat

Alexander and his brother decided to test two of the most popular dieting methods today: a low-carb diet versus a low-fat diet. Alexander decided to go on a no-carb diet, and his brother Chris took the low-fat route. Neither brother limited their calorie intake. Nor did they change their exercise routine. They ate as much as they wanted. They just avoided carbohydrates or fat.

Neither brother enjoyed their diet. In fact, they were miserable. Chris was hungry all of the time, and Alexander found his no-carb diet extremely boring and unpleasant. Although Alexander was never hungry, he was slow, suffered from brain fog, and tired all of the time. In fact, his bike riding ability suffered greatly during this time. Chris didn't enjoy his meals either, as pasta without olive oil was extremely pathetic.

Everyone Does Not Have Insulin Resistance

Unfortunately, Alexander didn't understand the reasons behind the insulin hypothesis. He fell into the same trap that many low-carb dieters fall into today - believing that everyone has insulin resistance - therefore, a low-carb diet should work the same for everyone. But that is definitely not true. Low carb diets do not work very well for those who are sensitive to insulin. The more insulin sensitive you are, the more problems you have with brain fog and energy.

Now, it's true that initially a low-carb diet can make you fuzzy headed. But if you are insulin resistant, that usually clears up once your basal insulin levels return to normal and you become keto-adapted. However, not everyone loses the brain fog, gains an upsurge in energy, or becomes easily keto-adapted. It all depends on how insulin-resistant or insulin-sensitive you are, and if you have other forms of metabolic damage.

Outcome of the Experiment

The outcome of their experiment was what Jimmy Moore has been saying for a very long time. "You have to be able to keep it up for the rest of your life," Alexander advises. Which he couldn't do. After his first meal of carbs and feeling the rush of energy and alertness those carbs produced for him, he realized just how bad he'd been feeling all month and walked away from a low-carb diet forever.

At that point, the article takes a severe left turn by jumping to conclusions about what Alexander believes causes cravings (sugar and fat eaten together), even though his experiment didn't back up those conclusions. "Any diet that eliminates fat and sugar will be unpalatable, be hard to sustain and probably be bad for your health as well." That was his opinion, of course.

However, he's right about one thing. When it comes to dieting and sticking to a diet, TASTE really matters. Boring food will send you running for carbs. And that's what the food manufacturers have figured out. How to make food taste so good, you'll keep coming back for more.

While it true that processed foods react inside your brain differently than natural foods do, the issue of food cravings if far more complex than a simple combination of sugar and fat as this article suggests.

In my own experience, the bottom line is PLEASURE. Plain and simple. If a diet gives you pleasure, and helps you avoid the pain and consequences of excess body fat, you'll stick with it. If that diet makes you uncomfortable, bored, tired, anxious, and feeling deprived, you won't stay with it for very long. That is why it is absolutely essential to find a diet you can stick with for the rest of your life because if you don't find it pleasurable, you won't.

Reference:

Main Online, "One twin gave up sugar, the other gave up fat. Their experiment could change YOUR life," by Alexander Van Tulleken, January 27, 2014.

Radioactive Iodine Uptake Test Results - New Diagnosis

Radioactive Iodine Uptake Test Results - New Diagnosis

Low Carb Styles

The Radioactive Iodine Uptake test was no picnic. Although the nuclear medicine technician who gave me the iodine capsules assured me that the capsules didn't have enough iodine to produce any side effects, it definitely increased my hyperthyroid symptoms -- drastically. I'm guessing that one might not notice the upswing if one wasn't looking for it, because it would just be more of the same. Especially in those people whose thyroid is putting out a whopping amount of thyroid hormones already.

In my case, the test was quite uncomfortable. I had to try to hold still for 20 minutes, and then again for 4 minutes, as the technicians measured the amount of radiation my thyroid was putting out and the amount of iodine my thyroid had taken up. I also had to go back again the following morning for another iodine reading at exactly 24 hours.

With thyroid nodules, what they are initially looking at is whether or not the nodules are making thyroid hormone independently from the thyroid itself. That's what toxic nodule/multi-nodule goiter is. However, when I went back to the Endocrinologist a week later in order to discuss the results of the Radioactive Iodine Uptake test -- a REAL Endocrinologist this time -- my diagnosis had completely changed.

I do not have Toxic Multi-nodular Goiter because the nodules are not functioning on their own.

Instead, the entire thyroid is overreacting. That means I have Grave's Disease even though I don't have abnormal antibodies. So the official diagnosis is now: Grave's Disease with Multiple Nodules. That makes my problem an autoimmunity issue, which is what I initial thought it might be. For some reason, the immune system is attacking the thyroid gland, which is causing it to defend itself by overreacting.

The Endocrinologist says that the nodules are probably nothing to worry about. Not only is a 12 cm nodule quite small size wise (hubby says it's about 1/4-inch in diameter), but most of the time when someone has Grave's Disease, the nodules are not cancerous. When cancer is suspected, the thyroid doesn't soak up iodine properly. However, he might decide to biopsy it anyway, just be sure.

In the meantime, he is treating my symptoms first. I am back on the anti-thyroid meds to cool down the hyperactivity and anxiety, and I have heart medication to control the heart palpitations and pain. I will then go back to see him for an evaluation in about 6 weeks. At that time, he will decide whether to biopsy the largest nodule or just watch it for a while.

He took more blood work last Wednesday. Even with the increase in iodine, my Total T3 was still within normal range, so I'm going to beef up the protein and start working on getting my strength back.