The Science Behind LCHF & Fasting

Leave a comment January 25, 2018 Dot2Trot

Lately I’ve had a few questions about fasting and low carb/Keto lifestyle.

Should I eat breakfast?
How do I know I should fast?
Aren’t saturated fats bad for you?
Isn’t fasting the same as starving?
Won’t eating all that fat cause a heart attack?
Why I can eat brown rice or whole grains?

For me, when it comes to reclaiming my health and losing weight, nothing beats a low carb diet combined with intermittent fasting. Unlike the standard Western diet, there is actual science behind the therapeutic benefits of LCHF/Keto and fasting.

I’m not saying LCHF/Keto and fasting works for everyone. But the science for each is rock solid. For me, understanding the science of why we get fat was key to making better decisions on what to eat AND when to eat.

So for those who are new to, curious or want a primer on LCHF/Keto and fasting I’ve posted a few videos below to help you out.

Also keep in mind to do your own research like I did. For me, the science was compelling so I gave it a try and sure enough LCHF & intermittent fasting worked. That may not be the situation for you.

Science Behind LCHF/Ketogenic Diets

Low Carb Diet: Fat or Fiction?
Why We Get Fat (Gary Taubes)
Processed Food: An Experiment That Failed (Dr. Robert Lustig)

How LCHF Works

Optimizing Weight & Health with an LCHF Diet: Part 1 (Dr. Stephen Phinney)
Optimizing Weight & Health with an LCHF Diet: Part 2 (Dr. Stephen Phinney)
Optimizing Weight & Health with an LCHF Diet: Part 3 (Dr. Stephen Phinney)

Fasting

The Perfect Treatment for Diabetes & Weight Loss (Dr. Jason Fung)
The Calorie Deception (Dr. Jason Fung)
Therapeutic Fasting (Dr. Jason Fung)

Cholesterol & Heart Disease

The Truth About Cholesterol – And LDL and HDL (Dr. Eric Berg)
Demonization and Deception in Cholesterol Research (Dr. David M. Diamond)

Low Carb Learning This Morning

Eating Low Carb To Boost My Fertility

7 Comments September 8, 2015 Dot2Trot

We’ve tried for 12 years to have a baby, but no luck. I was completely clueless as to how the recommended low fat diet completely messed up my hormones. Image courtesy of FreeDigitalPhotos.net and adamr.

I’ve tried to write this post many times over the last few weeks. But I just ended up starting at a blank screen for hours at a time. I started this blog to talk about the ups and downs I’d experience on my weight loss journey. Well this is about one of those downs…a big fat down.

So here I am, sitting in a dark corner at Starbucks, tears rolling down my cheeks, desperately muting my sniffles, trying to write this blasted post.

Here goes.

For the last 12 years I’ve struggled with infertility. Read More

10 Reasons I’ve Lost 140 Pounds And Kept It Off

9 Comments July 28, 2015 Dot2Trot

Conventional dieting wisdom – eat less, exercise more – is wrong. For me, cutting sugar, carbs and starches resulted in more than 140 lbs. gone. Image courtesy of FreeDigitalPhotos.net and Stuart Miles.

Today’s dieting advice – eat less, exercise more – doesn’t work. A new study shows that few overweight people lose 5% of their body weight. And those who are successful put the weight back on within 5 years. Money quote from the study:

“Current strategies that focus on cutting calories and boosting physical activity aren’t working for most patients to achieve weight loss and maintain that.”

I’d tried for more than 25 years to lose weight. I tried all the different programs, most of which are the same: some form of calorie reduction and exercise. While I initially lost weight, I always felt hungry. I just couldn’t sustain those diets, and eventually I gained even more weight back.

So what’s so different this time?

1. My health became THE priority (I had to become a priority in my own life).
2. I read Why We Get Fat by Gary Taubes (life-changing).
3. I said good-bye to processed, high carb foods (and sugar) and embraced low carb, high fat real foods.
4. Took the time to build good habits, like:

Food prep
Shopping the outer perimeter of grocery store
Tracking & measuring what I eat
Weekly menu planning
Drinking water, not soda
If it isn’t healthy, it’s not in my house (leading by example)

5. Eat only when I’m hungry and stop when I’m full (not stuffed).
6. Gave up perfection for patience.
7. Get 8 hours of sleep .
8. Avoid fruit, except for berries (and only as a treat).
9. A sense of urgency (my health was at serious risk!).
10. I’m not depriving myself. I’m making smarter, tastier choices!

Wow! Major Turn Around By Dr. Oz On Saturated Fat

Food ‘Experts’ Wrong Again

13 Comments February 25, 2014 Dot2Trot

Image courtesy of Stuart Miles and FreeDigitalPhotos.net

Is it me, or is today’s modern food science all crap?

Yesterday I found an article which addressed seven foods, specifically. These seven foods were considered healthy long ago, then deemed bad for us, and now healthy for us to eat again. I’m glad the article dispels the myths about these healthy foods, of course. But it bothers me that it doesn’t address why, over the last 50 years, these foods fell out of favor in the first place.

How You Get Fat In 12 Steps

1 Comment December 18, 2013 Dot2Trot

This infographic from Massive Health does the best job at summing up my favorite nutrition science book, Why We Get Fat by Gary Taubes. If you want to lose weight, I suggest reading this book first.

Understand how your body processes the types of food you eat will help you make better choices.

I only have one issue with the graphic. With Atkins, you can’t eat all the protein and fat you want. That’s a myth.

Weighing In On Heavy

1 Comment September 14, 2013 Dot2Trot

My new favorite weight loss show – Heavy. It takes an honest approach to losing weight. I just wish it spent a little more time on nutrition.

Yesterday I stumbled across Heavy, a show weigh loss reality show. I’m a little late to the party – the show aired in 2011-12 and season 2 starts in 2014. But better late than never.

Each episode follows 2 people in a 6-month weight loss program. They work with trainers and dietitians to change their habits and lose weight. While considered a reality show, in fact, it feels more like a documentary. No one is voted off. It’s not scripted. You get to know these people, warts and all.

This show cuts close to the bone. At times it’s like someone is holding a mirror up to me, making the show difficult to watch. But that’s why I love it too.

Some weeks you lose weight and others you gain. Sometimes life kicks your butt and you binge. Heavy captures this in spades. You really feel for these people, even if you disagree with some of their choices.

Weight loss is awesome, but hard as hell. Heavy takes an honest look at the journey. Sure there’s help in the form of trainers, but the individuals’ success or failure is all their own. And the show pulls no punches with the health problems these people face – diabetes, strokes, heart attacks, high blood pressure, skin disorders.

I wish they’d explore the nutrition side more. Food and nutrition are way more important than exercise when it comes to weight loss. If you don’t get the nutrition right, no amount of exercising helps.

Also front and center is the “calories-in, calories-out” myth, which, if you read this blog, you know I think is BS.

If I owned a weight loss spa, I’d give all of my guests a copy of Why We Get Fat and hire only nutritionists who understand it’s not about how much we eat, but what we eat (in fact, what we eat can trigger us to overeat). But that doesn’t make good TV.

Criticisms aside, I really love the show. As a big bonus, after watching the first episode online, I ended my afternoon with 30 minutes of yoga followed by a 15-minute walk.

Yes, the show is a big motivator.

Why We Get Fat

1 Comment March 7, 2013 Dot2Trot

This week has been a bit rough. I’ve had pizza, fries and lots o’ wine…not exactly healthy fare. Plus sleeping in beat out early morning yoga classes. Other than the bowling on Monday night, I’ve been a veg all week.

I eat bad, my sleep gets screwed up. My sleep gets screwed up, I eat bad.

Ugh, it is so hard to get back on track.

So to help motivate me, I dusted off my well worn copy of Why We Get Fat by Gary Taubes – my catalyst for dropping 60 pounds and why I’m now a size 22 instead of a 28 (sweeeet!).

If you haven’t read it, I suggest you do. It demolishes nutrition dogma of the last 60 years using science and the chemistry of how our bodies actually work. Want to loose weight? Then forget about calories-in/calories-out.

I think this book worked for me because it isn’t a diet book. It just takes a hard look at the science that many diet and nutrition ideas are based on and shows how the nutrition community ignore how our bodies actually work. Taubes’ writing really hit home that it’s not a diet, but relearning what to eat (and chucking out that damn USDA food pyramid). All of those low-fat foods I was buying were in fact helping me gain weight – holy crap! Just thinking about it ticks me off.

Ahh…The rut is over.