It is exactly 1 year ago that I made the decision to lose the weight had steadily put on over 20 years. Like most of you I have tried just about every diet with varying levels of success but always returned to my old habits and invariably put it all back on with interest.
So what is the diet that worked for me?
Firstly I needed a diet that fitted in with my lifestyle and not the other way round. I lead an active social and business life and the last thing I need is a restrictive calorie diet when I have business functions and socials to attend and wha fun is life if you are continually starving.
After having embarked on the traditional restrictive calorie diet and exercise regime and following it to the letter, I was devastated to only lose 6 kilograms after 6 months. I could not understand it. I was eating less than my 9 year old and still not losing weight. I decided to see my doctor and tell him about my dilemma. he listened, smiled and suggested I try the Tim Noakes diet that everyone was talking about. Yes, the protein, high fat, low carbohydrate diet. He suggested I try this but did not give me much detail but was as interested as I was and took a range of tests so that he could measure my progress from a medical perspective.
Do your own research
I can, and will give you all the details but there is nothing more empowering than doing your own research. The internet is full of information, sift through it and decide or yourself if this could work for you. Not following exactly what someone else said was half my success. What works for one person will not necessarily work for you so learn, test, review and see what works for you.
The first thing I discovered was that it was not Tim Noakes' diet but has been around for ages and is known by several other names such as The Drinking Man's Diet, the Cave Man diet, the paleo diet and the Atkins diet. I also saw that it has had a lot of bad press over the years but nearly all of the new research is pointing to a higher protein, lower carb intake being the way to go.
So how does it work?
I was keen to understand what was happening so here is my non medical understanding of what happens following this new diet.
Firstly, our bodies need energy to function and that energy comes from the conversion of glucose into energy and glucose comes primarily from the conversion of carbohydrates into glucose. We eat carbohydrates and the body releases insulin which breaks dow the carbohydrates into glucose, which is used for energy and if we have too much, it stores the balance as fat for later use.
There are two interesting things that struck me. Theist was that some us are carbohydrate resistant. Our bodies don't react well to the carbohydrates and the conversion process is not as easy as previously described leading to bursts of insulin release, meaning our sugar levels go up and down leading to tiredness, lethargy and a host of other symptoms. That was me in a nutshell. By 5pm in the afternoon I was so tired I need a sleep!
The second thing was the body does not store a lot of glucose available for energy, In fact only about 48 hours worth. If it is not used it gets converted to fat. So the diet works like this.
For 48 hours, EAT NO CARBOHYDRATES. This depletes the body's store of readily available glucose and it then looks around and looks for another easily converted form of energy and that is FAT. Yes, after 48 hours on no carbohydrates, your body starts to convert fat into energy. This was the most exciting part of me. After 48 hours, the felling of bloatedness started disappearng, for the first tme in yeas I could feel samll hunger pangs, I had more energy and the best part of all, I could see the weight starting to disappear as my scale started moving downwards on a daily basis. You do start adding carbohydrates again, but I would suggest you go on a carbohydrate free week if yo can but absolutely for at least 48 hours
There is nothing more frustrating than starving yourself only to see you have lost 500 grams in a week. Initially I saw massive weight loss losing 10 kilograms in one month. It does slow down as you get closer to goal weight but exactly the start and motivation I needed.
So what can you eat?
Perhaps you are asking what can't I eat? Carbohydrates ae measured in gams and you should be resricting yourself ,after you carbohydrate fast, to less than 30 - 50 grams of carbohydrates per day. Look on the labels, everything is listed and you will soon find that they have sneaked in carbohydrates almost everywhere especially in things I used to regard as health such as fruit juice and low fat yoghurt. Those little mini low fat yoghurts I used to regard as healthy contain 15 grams of carbohydrate. If I have a daily restriction of 40 grams per day that is huge.
The following foods need to be eliminated from your diet.
- Sugar (Must be completely removed from your diet)
- All sugary drinks including cola drinks and sweetened fruit juices
- Bread
- Rice
- Pasta
- Potatoes
- Porridge
- Breakfast cereals
- Some high energy fruits like bananas
- All confectionary – cakes and sweets
- Desserts containing sugar and carbohydrates
- Artificial sweetners and products containing these products (like “diet” colas)
- Vegetable oils containing high concentrations of omega 6 fatty acids
Notes from my experience
- Be careful of fruit and some vegetables. Find out the carbohydrate count before you gorge yourself. Some of them are very high in carbohydrates especially fruit - fruit juice is no-no
- I continued using sweeteners as a can't bear bitter coffee or tea but then I only have about 2 cups per day
- I did not initially like the taste of water so stuck to diet cola's. My body has a maximum capacity of about 500 mls per day and from experience any more than that and the weight started moving up again, I presume from water retention.
And what can you eat?
- Eggs – from free range hens
- Fish – an excellent source of omega 3 fatty acids
- Meat – not processed and preferably from sources that are organically raised eating grass. This group includes biltong, preferably game or ostrich.
- Dairy Produce – milk, cheese and yoghurt – all full cream and from organically fed cows.
- Vegetables – mainly leafy, low carbohydrate sources like lettuce but also including broccoli, tomatoes, mushrooms, onions, avocado and many others. The choice is based on their nutrient value and their low carbohydrate content.
- Nuts – especially macadamias, walnuts and almonds but specifically excluding the non-nuts, peanuts and cashews which are high in carbohydrates.
- Fruits – only those which have a lower carbohydrate content like berries and apples.
- Water, tea and coffee (all unsweetened)!
For me this was like heaven. Being a good South African boykie, what a pleasure!
Bacon and eggs for breakfast, maybe a chicken or tuna salad for lunch and a fat steak for dinner. I alternated with braai's and really learned to accessorise my meals with really nice salads. A traditional greek salad of lettuce, tomato, cucumber, feta cheese, olives with either a good olive oil was a perfect addition to a steak covered with a creamy mushroom sauce made from butter and real cream.
I discovered a two egg omelette (with cheese if desired) was a perfect breakfast for me and have now got it down to a fine art and takes about 4 minutes.
Chicken or tuna salad for lunch with salad as above mixed with a little mayonaisse (yes that's free as well being eggs and oil) was a perfect lunch time snack.
Before I get carried away with all the great things you can eat let me finish with this.
- Do some reading and understand what you are doing
- Take some pictures of the fat you and measure yourself on the scale daily and keep records.
- I used a food diary t check what and how much I was eating. If you pick up weight, check what you ate and make sure you have the correct carbohydtates
- Get started, Not Monday, tomorrow!!
Good luck. In the next article I will be giving you more tips of things I have learned on your journey and if you have any questions do not hesitate to ask
The BIG POSITIVE GUY
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