Yes, there are great low-carb snacks -- quite a few of them, in fact -- but standard munchables such as potato chips and corn chips aren't among them. No, neither are little powdered donuts. Admittedly, anyone trying to lose weight, via a low-carb diet or otherwise, ought to avoid snacking as much as possible. The whole idea is to encourage your body to burn its fat, and constantly eating is poor strategy in that regard. However, if you're like me (that is, human), you like to eat and eat often. In my first year of eating a low-carb, high-fat diet, I snacked my way to a 50+ pound weight loss. Later on, I found myself fasting a little more, and snacking a little less. You've got to mix up your approach from time to time, to avoid boredom and keep your metabolism on its toes. My … [Read more ...]
What’s a reasonable weight loss rate?
Week One Report I ended the first week of my Keto Diet Reboot down three pounds. On Monday, September 25, I weighed in at 227.5 pounds. On Sunday, October 1, I weighed 224.6 pounds. So, to be precise, I lost 2.9 pounds. But hold on -- Monday morning to Sunday morning isn't quite a week. It's 144 hours. There are 168 hours in a week. One more full day. … [Read more ...]
Sugar: trick, not treat (LCN 71)
Sugar habits and consequences Low Carb Nugget 71 American teenage boys consume an average of a 161 grams of sugar a day. That's 40 teaspoons of sugar. And you wonder why American children are becoming more obese? When it comes to our bodies and our health, both as individuals and as a nation, sugar is a dirty trick, not a sweet treat. … [Read more ...]
Food facts vs food myths with Dr. Zoe Harcombe
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=wdznfiWvGq0 … [Read more ...]
What is a low carb diet?
When I say that I follow a low carbohydrate way of eating, what do I mean? When you say it, what do you mean? I suspect we might all mean something a little different -- or even a lot different -- if we were to get down to specific foods we include or avoid, or to the number of grams of carbs we consume per day. The title of my blog -- "Life After Carbs" -- implies that I don't eat any carbs at all, but of course that's not true. The title ought to be interpreted as meaning, "Life after over-coming my craving for carbohydrates and eliminating most carbs from my diet." However, that's a … [Read more ...]
Why we cheat on an LCHF diet (LCN 59)
Cheating on an LCHF diet Low Carb Nugget 59 A little cheating may be helpful. True, you can't cheat with a sweet or carby treat every day, even if you do it mindfully. You won't get in or stay in ketosis that way. But a rare, planned indulgence is acceptable if it keeps you eating LCHF for the long-run. … [Read more ...]
Avocado in the morning
Avocado in a low carb diet Pictured is my low-carb breakfast this morning: two eggs fried in coconut oil, three small and crispy strips of bacon, and the flesh of half an avocado. It's a fairly typical breakfast for me these days. I eat other things in the morning, including a goopy mixture of chia seeds, almond butter, walnuts and (LCHF purists avert your eyes!) oatmeal. But day in and day out, my breakfast is likely to include eggs. If I'm fortunate enough to have an avocado on hand, breakfast is likely to include that, too, in one way or another. Eating LCHF, I've banished most … [Read more ...]
A basic LCHF breakfast: dairy, berries, and nuts
I don't eat a lot of dairy on my low-carb, high-fat (LCHF) diet, but when I do, it usually takes one of three forms: heavy cream in my coffee, shredded cheese in a recipe or on a salad, or yogurt. Of those forms, cream is the only dairy I ingest on an every day basis. I love freshly brewed coffee with a dollop of rich, organic heavy cream mixed in. (Heavy cream gets almost all of its calories from fat.) As you may have guessed, I'm not lactose-intolerant, and I'm also not a follower of the paleo diet. I would still drink milk if lactose wasn't sugar. But it is sugar, and while I might … [Read more ...]
Low carb lunch: a lettuce-wrapped burger
I tried a lettuce-wrapped burger for lunch today. Nothing fancy -- just a pan-broiled patty of ground chuck with mustard and pickle enclosed in large leaves of ice-berg. Who needs bread or buns? Well, a lot of people think they do. I used to be one of them. Before I reduced my carb-intake, I ate bread nearly every day, and often twice a day. The main purpose of bread in my life was to make sandwiches. Yes, I occasionally toasted a slice or two for breakfast, usually coating it with jam but not that demon butter, and every few weeks I might dip a few slices in egg to make French Toast. … [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 ideal material for sparking fires or shaping arrow-heads. I don't think any of that makes me … [Read more ...]
Chia: yet another low-carb seed
The stereotypical low-carb diet is heavy on meat, eggs, butter and cream. To be sure, I've eaten my share of such animal-based fare, but the most notable newcomers to my diet have been plant-based foods such as nuts and seeds. I've always eaten peanuts (which technically are not a nut), pistachios and the occasional cashew. But on my low-carb diet, I've become a big fan of almonds, walnuts, sunflower kernels and flax seed meal. Now I have added chia seeds, the Aztec staple. … [Read more ...]