Starting weight = 220.4 lbs. Ending weight = 219.4 lbs. It was a reasonable LCHF week for me. I lost a pound, even though my average daily calorie count was higher than the previous week when I gained a pound. My average daily calories weren't just slightly higher, either. The numbers were 1,805 vs. 1,673 -- or +132 (8%) per day. My activity level didn't change. So much for calories in / calories out (at least for this guy and this week). (I admit my activity level needs to increase, but not … [Read more...]
Obesity is about what we eat
I was obese for several years before I began eating low-carb high-fat in March 2011, with a body mass index hovering in the neighborhood of 33 - 34. That's not a great neighborhood to hover in. A person with a BMI of 30 or greater is considered obese. Most of my extra weight was around my middle, too, which is the worst place for it. I have managed to keep my BMI under the obesity line for the past four years. Just barely, at some points, but I've done it. For the past four years, I've been … [Read more...]
Obesity, exercise, and magic bullets
Saturday Short Takes Here's a selection of web articles on weight loss and related topics that caught my eye this week. 1. Looking for Magic Bullets to Fire at Obesity According to an article on the MedicalXpress site, "a number of magic bullets" are needed to fight obesity. It's more like magic shotgun shells. After recounting the usual statistics about the extent of the obesity epidemic and its human and financial costs (in this case, with a UK focus), the article moves on to the "bullets." … [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, … [Read more...]
Net carbs defended
Calculating "Net Carbs" In following my low-carb, high-fat (LCHF) diet, I've always been guided by the concept of "net carbs." This is the notion that carbohydrates from fiber don't get used by the body to raise blood glucose levels, so therefore fiber content can be subtracted from total carbs. What's left, the net carbs, are what the LCHF dieter counts and pays attention to. Or so I have believed. I've lost weight by keeping my net carb intake to around 30 - 35 grams per day. For … [Read more...]
5 lessons for eating low-carb
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...]
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...]
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...]
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...]