What has worked and what hasn't in my low-carb, high-fat (LCHF) way of eating? Looking back, I glean five lessons for eating low-carb and losing weight. Last updated April 2017. It seems as good a time as any to look back and figure out what has worked and what hasn't in my low-carb, high-fat (LCHF) way of eating. I've been eating low-carb for four years now (since March 2011). Admittedly, I went off the reservation a bit from 2012 to 2014, and gained back about 25 hard-lost pounds. That would … [Read more...]
Archives for April 2015
My low-carb week in review: April 19 – April 25, 2015
Here are the key numbers for another week of observing a low-carb high-fat diet. All are daily averages. Calories = 1,681 % Cals from Fat =70% Carbs = 40 grams Fiber = 13 grams I lost weight for the week, dropping from 223.2 to 221.4 pounds, a loss of just under two pounds. … [Read more...]
Busting the myth that you must exercise to lose weight
From my personal experience, as well as my reading, I know that it simply isn't necessary to exercise to lose weight. I've lost plenty of pounds following my low carb, high fat (LCHF) way of eating without resorting to what Mark Twain called the "loathsome" practice of exercise. I wrote a blog post about it a few years ago, featuring Mr. Twain, which is one of my personal favorites even though no one else ever cared for it. Maybe readers thought I was advocating a sedentary lifestyle. In fact, … [Read more...]
My low-carb week in review: April 12 – April 18, 2015
The maddening logic of metabolism struck again this week. I ate according to my low carb diet all week -- no splurges, no wild indulgences, no day out of the norm. For the week, I averaged 1,727 calories, 139g fat, 26g net carbs, and 91g protein per day. That average daily calorie total was significantly lower than for past five weeks, and the macro-nutrient percentages were about the same. All in all, a great week of sensible low-carb eating, and yet I gained a bit of weight, tipping … [Read more...]
A fat-added lunch
Eating a low-carb high-fat (LCHF) diet as I do, it isn't good enough to avoid or reduce carbohydrates in my meals. I also need to eat plenty of healthy, tasty, satisfying fat. Ideally, I want the grams of fat in my meals to out-number the grams of carbs and protein combined, and I want the carbs to be minimal. (See my post on the fat-burning quotient.) Often, that means I need to find a way to add some extra fat. Take my lunch yesterday, pictured below. The base is three ounces of canned … [Read more...]
Book collects the evidence behind ketogenic diets
If you're into the science of low-carbohydrate eating, and haven't already done so, you may want to pick up a copy of A. Simmonds' Principia Ketogenica: Low Carbohydrate And Ketogenic Diets - Compendium Of Science Literature On The Benefits. The Kindle version linked to here is currently selling for 99 cents. I'm not sure how long it will be available at that price. It's a fantastic deal -- over 300 pages of hardcore nutrition science for less than a buck! (Update: the price has gone up, but … [Read more...]
A real person eating (mostly) real food
One day, in a fit of flexibility, I changed the tag-line of my blog from whatever it used to be to "a real person eating (mostly) real food." I feel I ought to explain -- to define my terms, or at least try to. First, what do I mean by a "real person"? I mean me, of course, good ol' Jim Anderson -- as ordinary a guy as you will ever meet, with an ordinary name, the son of a factory-working man and a home-making woman. A guy born in a city whose name denotes a hard, sharp, slivered rock -- the … [Read more...]
My low-carb week in review: April 5 – April 11, 2015
In dieting, as in most areas of life, averages can be deceptive. Take my daily averages of calories and net carbs consumed for last week -- 1, 831 and 39 grams respectively. And 72% of calories from fat. Not bad, not bad at all. Those averages imply a low-cal, low-carb consistency over the seven days, a steely resolve to eat the right way every day. Like I said, averages can be deceptive. On Thursday, I ate a single meal at Applebee's that ballooned my day's calories to almost 2, 600. My net … [Read more...]
Just your basic low-carb blueberry pancake
People eating low-carb, high-fat usually learn pretty quickly about wheat flour substitutes. At least they do if they have a hankering for foods like pancakes and waffles. To be honest, I'm happy eating eggs for breakfast most mornings, with or without bacon or sausage on the side. But a change of pace only enhances the pleasure you take from the usual, customary fare. So occasionally I make pancakes. My basic recipe mixes almond flour/meal and coconut flour, at a ratio of three parts to one … [Read more...]
My low-carb week in review: March 29 – April 4, 2015
As I predicted, my weight loss hit a plateau this week. I dropped a whopping two-tenths of a pound, going from 224.8 pounds a week ago to 224.6 pounds today. Oh well. I attribute my stall to the X-factor. I don't know what the X-factor is, which is why I call it the X-factor. According to my data, I ate significantly fewer calories per day for this last period than the one before. Percentage of calories from fat was about the same. I have no reason to think my record-keeping was any less … [Read more...]