Well, it's been more than a month since I tried low-carbing / going ketogenic. And you know what? I've stopped doing it, but the weight loss seems to persist. Currently I'm still reaching my goal of 0.5 Kg / weekly, but the whole low-carbing was getting to me.
In essence, you have to starve your body of carbohydrates before you enter a ketogenic state and remain in there for a while to really start burning fat. "Needlessly complicated and hard", as a friend of mine told me.
A few things I do notice however: My protein intake has risen, partially due to the advice said friend gave me and partially due to me just eating more as a result of the ketogenic diet try-out.
The verdict on the ketogenic diet: it works pretty well, but really disrupts your eating patterns and dietary choices (Though that's the whole point). For now I'm sticking with moderate exercise and attempts to eat 'clean'.
And of course, not eating more than I need. The tip I got was trying to go for a 40-40-20 spread* (Carbohydrates, protein, fat). Let's see how that works out.
[*Edited]
Showing posts with label diet. Show all posts
Showing posts with label diet. Show all posts
Saturday, October 1, 2011
Saturday, August 6, 2011
Diet update(1)
So far, the diet schedule I'm on seems to work. (That would be Intermittent fasting a few days per week and slow-carb/low-carb).
A few things have become noticable:
- I notice that I'm not eating quite as much as previously. It's hard to eat as much as previously when you mostly consume fat and protein which satisfy hunger more. Also, my portion size seems to have shrunk.
- My muscles are quicker to tire. I don't feel low on energy, but I notice it while cycling and doing pushups. The stamina is lower and high-intensity activity quickly saps me of my strength.
- Fasting has become something akin to a second nature. It's so easy just not to eat up until dinner that I've also become comfortable in just shifting the fasting windows around. No hassle. One day I don't eat till dinner, the other I feel hungry and i break my fast sooner.
Also, over the last 10 days, trend analysis of my weight indicates that I've lost 2.5 KG. That's an insanely high number and I expect this to stabilize soon. The goal is still to lose about 1/2 kg every week for the next 40 weeks. Next to that, I need to experiment to determine what methods I can incorporate in my lifestyle.
A few things have become noticable:
- I notice that I'm not eating quite as much as previously. It's hard to eat as much as previously when you mostly consume fat and protein which satisfy hunger more. Also, my portion size seems to have shrunk.
- My muscles are quicker to tire. I don't feel low on energy, but I notice it while cycling and doing pushups. The stamina is lower and high-intensity activity quickly saps me of my strength.
- Fasting has become something akin to a second nature. It's so easy just not to eat up until dinner that I've also become comfortable in just shifting the fasting windows around. No hassle. One day I don't eat till dinner, the other I feel hungry and i break my fast sooner.
Also, over the last 10 days, trend analysis of my weight indicates that I've lost 2.5 KG. That's an insanely high number and I expect this to stabilize soon. The goal is still to lose about 1/2 kg every week for the next 40 weeks. Next to that, I need to experiment to determine what methods I can incorporate in my lifestyle.
Wednesday, August 3, 2011
Intermittent fasting
Next to the low-carb diet that I've been trying, I've also dipped back into something I did earlier: Intermittent fasting.
It's one of those dietary things where the name really covers it all. You simply do not consume calories for 2-3 24 hour periods per week, or you choose a specific interval where you do and do not eat. In my case, I try to fast about 20 hours daily, and then eat a good healthy meal (and maybe some nice snacks afterwards) in the remaining 4 hours.
This comes very naturaly to me, as I love sleeping longer (thus not eating breakfast), find lunch something you either do well or shouldn't do and on some days tended to forget to eat. My eating rhythm isn't very stable so changes are easier to make.
There are people who state that they need to eat something every few hours, or else they'll feel weak and start to faint. I always wondered how such a trait could exist in healthy humans, but on the other hand, the fact that I don't need to eat might mean that I'm the unhealthy and/or strange one.
Still, this dietary change (it's not really a diet, as I can still eat anything I want, I just have to time when I eat it)
Advantages
So why do all this? Well, there's some reasons why I like this form of eating:
1. There is a strong commitment not to eat during fasting hours. That means that you become virtually immune to the tempation of food during these hours.
2. After fasting, I build a strong appetite. My sense of smell becomes better and I become motivated to cook a nice and good meal, which I feel I appreciate more. I actually live up to the point of the day where I get to cook and eat.
3. I've learned what hunger is. It's not that bad a feeling (In fact, after 2-3 days of fasting it goes away, but that's not part of an Intermittent fasting regimen) It feels nice to be able to control and deal with my hunger instead of being a slave to it.
4. I feel more awake and acute when I'm fasting. You probably heard of the term "Staying hungry". It keeps you on your toes.
5. There might be positive health effects coupled to this style of eating, claiming that long enough fasting intervals have some of the or the same effect as caloric restriction
6. You can't eat as much in a 4-hour interval as you generally do in a whole days. Especially when you try to eat "clean foods". Essentially, this means you'll lose weight.
[edit]
7. I don't -need- to do this every day. When I actually get hungry earlier, I eat. I've learned to distinguish real hunger (my body needing something) from other types of hunger. So there's no huge loss in breaking a fast earlier every now and then. Take all things in moderation.
It's one of those dietary things where the name really covers it all. You simply do not consume calories for 2-3 24 hour periods per week, or you choose a specific interval where you do and do not eat. In my case, I try to fast about 20 hours daily, and then eat a good healthy meal (and maybe some nice snacks afterwards) in the remaining 4 hours.
This comes very naturaly to me, as I love sleeping longer (thus not eating breakfast), find lunch something you either do well or shouldn't do and on some days tended to forget to eat. My eating rhythm isn't very stable so changes are easier to make.
There are people who state that they need to eat something every few hours, or else they'll feel weak and start to faint. I always wondered how such a trait could exist in healthy humans, but on the other hand, the fact that I don't need to eat might mean that I'm the unhealthy and/or strange one.
Still, this dietary change (it's not really a diet, as I can still eat anything I want, I just have to time when I eat it)
Advantages
So why do all this? Well, there's some reasons why I like this form of eating:
1. There is a strong commitment not to eat during fasting hours. That means that you become virtually immune to the tempation of food during these hours.
2. After fasting, I build a strong appetite. My sense of smell becomes better and I become motivated to cook a nice and good meal, which I feel I appreciate more. I actually live up to the point of the day where I get to cook and eat.
3. I've learned what hunger is. It's not that bad a feeling (In fact, after 2-3 days of fasting it goes away, but that's not part of an Intermittent fasting regimen) It feels nice to be able to control and deal with my hunger instead of being a slave to it.
4. I feel more awake and acute when I'm fasting. You probably heard of the term "Staying hungry". It keeps you on your toes.
5. There might be positive health effects coupled to this style of eating, claiming that long enough fasting intervals have some of the or the same effect as caloric restriction
6. You can't eat as much in a 4-hour interval as you generally do in a whole days. Especially when you try to eat "clean foods". Essentially, this means you'll lose weight.
[edit]
7. I don't -need- to do this every day. When I actually get hungry earlier, I eat. I've learned to distinguish real hunger (my body needing something) from other types of hunger. So there's no huge loss in breaking a fast earlier every now and then. Take all things in moderation.
Thursday, July 28, 2011
Dieting - the nerd way
Since the start of my week, I've been playing around with two diets, the first one is the slow-carb diet I wrote about earlier, the second is intermittent fasting, where you force your body into burning fat and give it some time to recuperate between all the eating for a while.
As the good people over at the hacker diet (Read it if you want a good grasp of the basics of keeping up a good diet!) noted : You don't know anything until you measure the results. This is probably where lots of diet fail, with people abhorring to measure their own physical inadequacy. Or just saying that they "feel good" and clothes "seem to fit better".
Personally, I've finally bought scales and with a simple spreadsheet in excel, I can't wait to measure my weight next time. Every weigh-in means more points of data, meaning that my diet and myself just became the subject of an experiment. I can't wait to take all my data and apply trend analysis on it.
I guess this means I'm a nerd. But i'll be a nerd with hard numbers to back the functioning of a method. How awesome is that? Maybe i'll even make a pie chart, that would be fun. For Science!
As the good people over at the hacker diet (Read it if you want a good grasp of the basics of keeping up a good diet!) noted : You don't know anything until you measure the results. This is probably where lots of diet fail, with people abhorring to measure their own physical inadequacy. Or just saying that they "feel good" and clothes "seem to fit better".
Personally, I've finally bought scales and with a simple spreadsheet in excel, I can't wait to measure my weight next time. Every weigh-in means more points of data, meaning that my diet and myself just became the subject of an experiment. I can't wait to take all my data and apply trend analysis on it.
I guess this means I'm a nerd. But i'll be a nerd with hard numbers to back the functioning of a method. How awesome is that? Maybe i'll even make a pie chart, that would be fun. For Science!
Wednesday, July 27, 2011
the 4 hour diet
Tim Ferriss wrote about this specific type of diet, making it an instant hit.
The idea is rather simple: Your body utilizes carbohydrates (sugars) as primary energy source. It needs those carbohydrates to keep your brain running. If there aren't any around in the food, it'll start consuming stored glycogen from the liver and the muscles. Those last about a day, and what then?
Well, turns out that building up fat reserves actually had use! When the stores of easy sugars are depleted, your body will (with some intermediary steps, IANAD*) start burning fat as its primary source of energy.
And that's the secret of the diet that's sweeping the nation right now. By not consuming any carbohydrates, you force your body to start ketogenesis and start burning fats.
Personally, I think there's a second reason why this works: Most meals consist of three components: Some vegetables and healthy stuff for minerals and vitamins and a source of protein (meat, fish, nuts, tofu, mushrooms, etc) for proteins.
Lastly, there's something I call filler: Rice, pasta, potatoes and bread and such, which is basically just lots of energy (calories) to make sure you actually eat enough of those for the day.
By removing that concentrated source of energy in the form of carbohydrates, you've just made it harder to consume energy, meaning that you should lose some weight.
And of course: you get to eat what you want as long as its not containing carbohydrates. Goodbye crisps, fries, bread. Hello steak!
For those interested, some information can be found here
* I Am Not A Dietician
The idea is rather simple: Your body utilizes carbohydrates (sugars) as primary energy source. It needs those carbohydrates to keep your brain running. If there aren't any around in the food, it'll start consuming stored glycogen from the liver and the muscles. Those last about a day, and what then?
Well, turns out that building up fat reserves actually had use! When the stores of easy sugars are depleted, your body will (with some intermediary steps, IANAD*) start burning fat as its primary source of energy.
And that's the secret of the diet that's sweeping the nation right now. By not consuming any carbohydrates, you force your body to start ketogenesis and start burning fats.
Personally, I think there's a second reason why this works: Most meals consist of three components: Some vegetables and healthy stuff for minerals and vitamins and a source of protein (meat, fish, nuts, tofu, mushrooms, etc) for proteins.
Lastly, there's something I call filler: Rice, pasta, potatoes and bread and such, which is basically just lots of energy (calories) to make sure you actually eat enough of those for the day.
By removing that concentrated source of energy in the form of carbohydrates, you've just made it harder to consume energy, meaning that you should lose some weight.
And of course: you get to eat what you want as long as its not containing carbohydrates. Goodbye crisps, fries, bread. Hello steak!
For those interested, some information can be found here
* I Am Not A Dietician
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