Nutrition

Low-fat diets are starting to be discredited all over the place. Here is a study that spent $700M over 8 years, trying to prove that low-fat diets with lots of added veggies and whole grains helped post-menopausal women avoid or recover heart disease and diabetes. http://www.samj.org.za/index.php/samj/article/view/7343/5494 In fact it found the exact opposite. “Women with diagnosed cardiovascular disease at the start of the trial who adopted the ‘healthy heart’ low-fat eating option had a risk of developing future cardiovascular complications that was 26% higher than that of the non-intervention group.” “The leanest women at the start of the trial gained weight on the low-fat diet and those with the least insulin resistance at the start of the trial were at greater risk of developing type 2 diabetes mellitus (DM) if assigned to the low-fat diet.” “The low-fat diet also worsened glucose control in women with diagnosed diabetes” ...

My plan for this month is to eat MORE and exercise LESS. Yes, I know that sounds backwards, but here is my thinking. 1. I have had great results with Paleo but I have been playing fast and loose, and having stuff I shouldn’t be having a bit too often. I can have bread, but I’ve decided I don’t want to have it every day. So I’m taking this month to re-focus on core Paleo. Also, there’s some “extra” stuff I’m doing that is sort of OK but not really important to basic paleo. For example, intermittent fasting, and carb re-feeds. It doesn’t hurt, but it would benefit me more to get my basic, core paleo skills back on track. Here is my resource for that: http://everydaypaleo.com/just-paleo/ and Whole30. ...

Here are some of the important life skills and practices that I have learned in my weight loss journey. 1. Logging and measuring everything, at least while I’m making changes. 2. Really listening to my body to know when I’m hungry or satisfied. 3. Being aware of nutrient balance (fat/carbs/protein) 4. Experimenting, pushing the limits for 4-week intervals in the early game. 5. Being honest with myself about what plans will be sustainable over the long term (rest of my life) and rejecting anything that still requires lots of motivation after the first 4 weeks. ...

I have decided to do another Whole30 in June, starting today. Is anyone interested in doing it with me? Reach out to me if so. The story so far: I’ve posted quite a bit about my Paleo journey so far. “A tale of two diets — How I renegotiated my relationship to food” ( /archives/2013/1010 ) is a great summary. Quick version: Over many years I have tried different diets and lost about 20 pounds, but nothing really worked well for the long term. Then I found Paleo and LCHF, then it just clicked. It has been 1.5 years and I’ve lost another 78 (for a total of 98 pounds). ...