When it comes to exercise, I'm a Mark Twain kind of guy. At his 70th birthday party, feted by 170 people in the Red Room at Delmonico's in New York City, Twain said, "I have never taken any exercise, except sleeping and resting, and I never intend to take any. Exercise is loathsome. And it cannot be any benefit when you are tired; I was always tired" (The New York Times, Dec. 6, 1905). Twain lived a few more years, dying at age 74. Seventy-four was a decent old-age in that era, and it would be … [Read more...]
Low-carb brunch on a summer Sunday
I took a walk this morning, swinging around the city cemetery (always inspirational), and came loping home with an appetite. That, of course, is the rub for all those who think they can work-out to lose weight. The more you work, the hungrier you get. Having eaten a modest breakfast four-and-a-half hours earlier, I figured a low-carb brunch was in order. Here's what I made myself: Pictured are two eggs scrambled in coconut oil, a salmon patty, and five halved fresh strawberries. The salmon … [Read more...]
Progress Report 8-6-11
On May 7, already a couple months into my low-carb way of eating, I set a weight goal of 215 pounds by Labor Day 2011. At that time, I weighed 241 pounds. Today, I weighed in at 219.8 pounds. Five weeks ago, on July 3 when I gave my last progress report, I weighed 227.6 pounds. Thus, I lost a touch under eight pounds in those five weeks, an average of 1.6 pounds per week. My weekly weight-loss average since May 7 is 1.63 pounds. Before setting my goal, I had already lost about 20 … [Read more...]
Protecting discs, joints, bones: other motives for a low-carb lifestyle
Yesterday I was talking shop with one of my department colleagues when she suddenly switched the topic: "How much have you lost?" she asked. "Twenty-five or thirty pounds?" I told her it was more like thirty-five or forty, but who was counting. She asked how I was doing it, and I said "low-carb," but before I could elaborate, she added: "It's very important for your back." I gathered that by "your back" she actually meant her own back. I haven't had any back pain for years, but the … [Read more...]
Setting the stage for tragedy: changes in the U.S. diet, 1970-2006
In the years 1977-1984, the U.S. government pushed out dietary recommendations to the American people to cut their intake of saturated fats (as in butter, lard and red meat) and increase their intake of carbohydrates and fiber (as in grains, fruits and starchy vegetables) and of "healthy" fats (as in poly and monounsaturated vegetable oils). The goal was to prevent heart disease. The theory was, dietary fat -- especially saturated animal fat -- causes a build up of fats in the blood, leading … [Read more...]
Keeping cool, low-carb style: simple salmon salad
When it's hot, most people like to eat light. Low-carb makes that easy. Lately, it's been hot all over, including here in Michigan. Locally, our temperatures have been in the 90s all week; today's high is predicted to be 98 degrees with a heat index of 110. If you live in Oklahoma or Texas, that may seem like a cool breeze to you, but up here, we aren't accustomed to temps in the upper 90s. After all, not only is Michigan a northern state, but it's surrounded by the largest bodies of … [Read more...]
Great foods for a low carb diet (part 4): salmon and sardines
Before adopting a low carb diet, the only canned fish I ever ate was tuna, mostly in the form of the classic tuna-salad sandwich. I still eat canned tuna, minus the bread, but because of two concerns, I restrict the amount. First, there is my concern about mercury in tuna. I'm not in one of the government's "high risk" groups for mercury consumption (pregnant women, nursing mothers, children), but I figure, why take chances? I buy only light tuna, which tests significantly lower for … [Read more...]
A typical day in my life after carbs
Following up on my post "What is a low carb diet?" I'm presenting here a typical day of low carbing. The day was a Saturday. Breakfast (6:30 a.m.) Most days, I'm an early riser. The sun comes up, and I'm right there with it. no-filler salmon patty (leftover) two eggs scrambled with butter two mugs of coffee, each with two teaspoons of half-and-half one multi-vitamin for men Morning Snack (10:00 a.m.) Having this mid-morning snack was a-typical. Often I make it to lunch … [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 … [Read more...]
Great foods for a low carb diet (part 3): red wine
Some may quibble that wine is a beverage, not a food, to which I say -- go get your own blog and quibble away. Others may object to calling any food/ beverage containing alcohol "great." That point I will take under consideration, but only for those of you with a relevant addiction, religion or age status. Still, even readers who are OK with drinking alcohol on occasion might question if there is enough nutritional value in red wine to qualify it as a "great" food. After all, just the other … [Read more...]
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