Looking for patterns in weight loss and consumption Low Carb Nugget 64 The main lesson of my diet so far is that weight loss is a complex and perplexing topic. It's one of the great mysteries of life. But if a method is working for you, stick with it. … [Read more ...]
Coffee = Life = Coffee
Early on in my low-carb adventure, I ran across the advice to stop drinking coffee. That nearly ended my low-carb adventure right then. There are some things you can't give up. Coffee's at the top of my list. Repeat after me, friends: "Coffee is life, life is coffee." That is all ye know on earth, and all ye need to know. Coffee is low-carb -- right? There are carbs in black coffee -- about a tenth of a gram in a cup. S0 coffee is low-carb, though not quite as low-carb as plain water. In fact, black coffee has very little in terms of macro-nutrients of any kind. So why would low-carb … [Read more ...]
Presenting The Best of Life after Carbs
Available across the Web! My ebook, The Best of Life after Carbs, is now in wider release. You can find it at multiple online stores: Amazon, Apple, Barnes & Noble, and Kobo. Just click this Universal Book Link, and then select your favorite store. The book is part memoir, part how-to. The 30+ chapters in the book are based on posts from this blog. Yes, you could read them all here for free, in some form. But if you enjoy ebooks, and want to support my efforts, here's your chance to do us both a favor. I'll take it as a sign I'm doing something right! A few of the questions addressed … [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 ...]
Why I am planning to take fish-oil supplements
Fish Oil Supplement Benefits -- and Risks? Last updated: April 2017 My respect for the health and diet reporting of the main-stream media has fallen so low that I am inclined to do the opposite of whatever they suggest. So when in the same week the New York Times runs a story panning fish oil supplements, and ABC Good Morning follows up with an anti-fish-oil-supplement segment, I'm thinking it is time to give the golden capsules another try. I regularly took fish-oil supplements for several years before I began eating my low-carb, high-fat diet. Starting out, I took one 1000mg … [Read more ...]
Cooking top sirloin on the grill
Summer is a great time to be low-carbing. Nothing says low-carb like a big hunk of red meat on an open grill. That's what we ate for dinner last night, and here's how I prepared it. 1. Get yourself a good fire going. The one pictured here was started 15 minutes before; it wouldn't hurt to wait another ten minutes, but I rarely have that much patience. 2. Plunk down a couple juicy steaks. This is top sirloin, about a pound and a half, nicely marbled. The cow it came from wasn't grass-fed, though, which is something to consider when eating large amounts of meat. … [Read more ...]
DNA, diet, and weight
Can spitting into a test-tube tell you which diet is best for you? Earlier this year, Anita and I each sent in a sample of our saliva to 23 and Me, a company that does commercial genetic testing. I'm not plugging the service, and this is not intended to be a full-scale review. But some of our DNA test results are relevant to the topic of diet. We both opted to receive ancestry and health-related reports of our DNA. At first, I was only going to get the ancestry report, but changed my mind after getting that report and seeing Anita's full set of reports. (Note: Anita has agreed that I may … [Read more ...]
What about dietary fat and fatty liver disease?
A while ago, I published my annual blood test results for the last seven years. In terms of cardiovascular indicators, the tests were good. I did a little victory lap, celebrating (1) that I was still alive and (2) that the test results showed my LCHF diet seems to be doing me more good than harm. Then I heard something that gave me pause. It wasn't about heart health or clogged arteries. It was about fatty livers. I heard the claim in a podcast, the Tim Ferriss Show for May 12, 2017. Ferriss was interviewing Art De Vany. De Vany is well-known figure in Paleo Diet circles, and he published … [Read more ...]
Keto reboot at four weeks
I started my Keto Diet Reboot four weeks ago today. I'm five and a half pound lighter now than I was then. That's a slow rate of weight loss, just under a pound and a half per week. However, I had a lost weekend in the middle of the four weeks. It was a nice lost weekend spent with Anita at a romantic bed and breakfast, and I did my best to stay the low-carb, high-fat course. I thought I did a good job, but when we got home, I found I'd gained back over two pounds. (See this earlier post.) … [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 ...]
Baked, broiled or deep-fried: how do you like your variables?
Study: Baked, Broiled — But Not Fried — Fish Is Good for the Heart – TIME Healthland, May 26, 2011. Want a healthier heart? Try adding fish to your diet. But be careful how it's cooked, a new study warns: baked or broiled fish will boost heart health, but fried fish is probably better left uneaten. Heart failure risk lower in women who often eat baked/broiled fish--American Heart Association, Press Release, May 24, 2011. This study showed that the type of fish and cooking method may affect heart failure risk. The researchers found that dark fish (salmon, mackerel and bluefish) were … [Read more ...]