Advice Re Low Carb, Moderate Protein, High Fat Diet?

[IrishHeart]

I have had some weird ups and downs, One week full of energy. this week, er..not to much.

 

I watched Downton on Sunday...that was fun!  and yes, I shifted my focus to more books too. And more recipes and .. choosing furniture for the house.

 

Hang in there. 

 

PS I think my hips and knees and legs feel better, too. 

[1desperateladysaved]

I am doing the Special Carbohydrates Diet.  It is meat, veggies, nuts, good fats.  Similar to the other diets listed out in the thread.  I feel like I am still transitioning and amazing things are happening for me health.  One can google SCD diet for recipes.  I read the book Breaking The Vicious Cycle at the advice of my functional medicine nurse.  I had basically been following it, except for I had to stop sweet potatoes for a while, but ripe bananas have a good kind of carb it says.  I also added their honey sweetened cookies, but am considering whether the honey is too much for me.  I really like the food and have felt pleasantly full- that is until I added the cookies. 

 

The November before I started the diet, I took a nutrient test and my blood levels were low in several crucial areas.  I had been mostly grain free for about a year.  In June I retested Nutrient levels.  My nurse felt impressed by my results and told the next celiac (who also had corn intolerance to try this diet!)

 

It helped that I always cooked from scratch, ground my own flour, but I am still learning.

[love2travel]

I have had some weird ups and downs, One week full of energy. this week, er..not to much.

 

I watched Downton on Sunday...that was fun!  and yes, I shifted my focus to more books too. And more recipes and .. choosing furniture for the house.

 

Hang in there. 

 

PS I think my hips and knees and legs feel better, too.

Isn't Downton great? Pity Matthew left such a gaping hole. Though O'Brien was not full of love and kindness, her character was interesting and added to the atmosphere. Do you not just love what Bates and Anna did for Moseley? Got me all verklempt.

Your knees and hips have improved? How grand! Yay, hips 'n knees!

[moosemalibu]

OK.  It has been ten days and I have no more energy than before, nor do I feel better otherwise.  Have not lost an ounce but trying to be patient about that one.  I would have thought that results from rapidly and seriously decreasing carbs would be in evidence but perhaps it is a bit like the gluten thing where resolution can take ages.  Is that the case?  Just wondering whether I am doing something wrong.  Oh, and I am always famished.  Trying to fill up on good fats but it seems as though my stomach is an endless pit!  Both my husband and I are sleeping poorly (my husband always sleeps - he could sleep on a concrete slab in the middle of traffic in Delhi).  I do not intend to be a whiner but basically am wondering whether this is normal or whether in your esteemed (!!) opinions something should be tweaked/changed/adjusted. 

 

I was so sick for the last 10 days so I didn't get a chance to properly reply to this post!

 

Carb cutting is not the magic fat dropping miracle people claim it to be (it does help you lose weight but not immediately). You are definitely going through withdrawals which is normal. I always recommend people start dropping carbs slowly so the withdrawal and sleep dysfunction is minimized. Cut 50 grams a week until you are down to your maintenance grams. But I realize this may not be feasible now. Also carbs help the sleep cycle so when I get low carb I tend to get really really bad insomnia. So just be aware of that! It should improve though with time.  I hope you are having a better time these past few days....

[moosemalibu]

Isn't Downton great? Pity Matthew left such a gaping hole. Though O'Brien was not full of love and kindness, her character was interesting and added to the atmosphere. Do you not just love what Bates and Anna did for Moseley? Got me all verklempt.

Your knees and hips have improved? How grand! Yay, hips 'n knees!

 

 

Another Downton fan!! I missed this past weekends episode though, I watch it online because I don't have cable! It is such a good show. I am not sad about O'Brien leaving. I just wish her evil side-kick left with her. I cannot stand him, that valet. What is his name? My brain doesn't remember at the moment. The new lady's maid is also a trouble-maker. Sheesh. And the youngest daughter is gonna be trouble.. isn't she?

[Lori2]

Does anyone have anything to report on how their low carb diet is going?

[IrishHeart]

Does anyone have anything to report on how their low carb diet is going?

 

Before I tell you what I have noticed, please note that I am grain, dairy and legume free. I am also low histamine, so my "diet"  is complicated.

And I have not given up alcohol. lol............. but I can tell you this:

 

After 6 weeks, I  feel pretty good.

I haven't used that word to describe myself since, well.......EVER. Do I still have pain? yes but not the 24/7 excruciating stuff I had for so long.

 

It's part being gluten-free, part healing the gut, part this dietary regime, part living in the warm climate now and part being able to exercise continuously for the first time in 2 decades that's working for me.

I also take MSM, cal/mag/D and Biocell Collagen. I also had PT and MT for 3 years, so many things are contributing to my 

progress. Just wanted to be totally clear that there's more to my success than just being low carb.

 

I have lost some weight (not checking until 8 weeks) but I do see a difference in my face (it was looking really "full and chubby"lol--and how my clothes fit better and I have gained muscles.

 

I feel very energetic and I sleep better than I have in my life.

 

So, I was walking in the gym the other day, going from the bike (which I have not been able to ride since 2004) to the machines that  work my biceps, deltoids and traps (and recall, I could not lift a soup can or dress myself a few years ago when I was sick and had no strength and atrophying muscles) and I realized...Holy shyte, I am not on fire in my bones and no longer making a grunting sound when I walk! I was walking standing straight up instead of hunched over. 

 

 

I spent the last 20 years hobbling because my back ached and all my joints hurt. My knees, hips, ankles, shoulders, elbows

hurt and BURNED. Not hobbling now. My back/neck still gives me fits from time to time, but now that I can strengthen my abs and do yoga,

I hope that will get better too.

 

Every little thing is worth mentioning because for a long, long  time, I was a rotten mess of burning pain.  (fibromyalgia, my arse)

[Gemini]

 

Every little thing is worth mentioning because for a long. long  time, I was a rotten mess of burning pain.  (fibromyalgia, my arse)

I couldn't agree more about the fibro remark.  Another case of symptom treating and a fancy name.  However, I think many would not be willing to do what you have done to be better and not hurt.  They want that in pill form......

[Tucniak]

Has anyone tried out the bulletproof diet? Open Original Shared Link . It's basically an upgraded paleo diet, with the condition that you don't limit or keep track of calories at all, but eat as much fat as you need to feel satiated. It seems pretty sound. I started following it before coming down with Strep throat--which has relegated me to broth and avocado pudding for the time being--and I had much better clarity and mental acuity than I've had in a long time. 

I've been dealing with a lot of weird issues lately in general, like palpitations, difficulty breathing (perhaps because my stomach is so inflated with air? not sure?), and anxiety attacks which are not at all typical for me. I suspect either I'm getting trace amounts of gluten somewhere along the line, or I simply haven't healed properly since an episode in December. 

 

Thoughts?

[Cara in Boston]

All my numbers (cholesterol, etc.) improved on the paleo diet. My doctor was SHOCKED when I told her I had switched from eating whole grain cereal every morning to two eggs and an avocado every morning.  

 

If you are missing rice, google "cauliflower rice" and make that.  I am NO FAN of cauliflower (smells too much like cabbage) but as "rice" I can barely tell the difference.  I make a huge batch of it and freeze it in 1 cup servings.

 

Also check out low carb "flax muffins" . . . I make them with maple syrup instead of sugar substitute and they are delicious and filling.  My kids love them too (but I add some brown sugar to theirs.)