This blog is going to be about low carbohydrate living. This is being written due to popular demand, many people have asked my wife and I over the last month or so how we have achieved our amazing weight loss and it has been through the use of a low carbohydrate diet and a lot of hard work.
At my work Christmas party last year, 12th December 2014, we both knew that we were in a place where we needed to lose weight. If this blog takes off I'll go back to how we ended up at our weights and the diets we have tried in the past that have either not worked at all or only to varying extents.
Motivation:
The key thing you need is motivation, whatever diet you do will mean change and that means willpower and willpower comes from motivation. Sure picking the right diet helps a lot and for me this has, so far at least, been a very easy journey. I had several motivating factors to keep me going:
- Family - We have a young daughter and I want to be there for her for as long as possible, starting this diet I was nearly 19 stone and that was so far from healthy.
- Promise - Last October my Nan passed away and I made a promise to myself and my family to do a run to raise money for pancreatic cancer,. Initially the aim is 10k, I know that 10k is not hard but I am very competitive and want to do this at my best pace. So to some extent I have my Nan to thank.
- Health and fitness - Who doesn't want to be fitter, feel better and set a good example?
- Feel good about myself
- The last step to recovery - both my wife and I have found ourselves in this situation due to different circumstances. My wife suffered a terrible pregnancy and once was all said and done found herself with too much weight on, I had a condition called Ledderhose disease which is only part of the story.
A bit about the Low Carb (High Fat) diet:
I will not yet go into the science or too much detail of the meals we have been having just enough to make a little introduction.
The basic idea behind the diet is that your body will normally use sugar as its main energy source and this causes levels of insulin to spike up and down and insulin causes your body to store fat. By lowering your levels of sugar you will decrease your insulin levels and start using fat as your primary energy source. This is a process known as ketosis or nutritional ketosis as the break down of fat creates ketones which are then used to create the required energy.
Basic Food yes and no:
Firstly make sure when you look on packaging that you check carbohydrates and not sugar. From what I have read I would also recommend taking a multi-vitamin, this is especially the case in the early stages where you might find that eating fruit will inhibit you entering ketosis.
Can't Eat:
Bread, rice, pasta, sweets, crisps, potatoes, parsnips, sugar, dried fruit, cereals, cakes, flour, jam, take aways, fizzy drinks (non-diet). Most sausages, one of my colleagues wants to try the pigs in blankets diet!
Go for it:
Bacon, chicken, fish, beef, lamb, most cheeses, double cream, lettuce, spinach, broccoli, egg, cauliflower, cucumber and cabbage.
Moderation / see for you:
Sugar free jam, sweetener, diet soft drinks (have loads of chemicals so don't really recommend it), tomatoes, most vegetables and some fruit.
Exercise:
Exercise can help weight loss, increase ketones, increase metabolism and make you feel better, if you are very overweight you might find it easier to get down to a lower weight to decrease stress before starting to exercise too much. I was exercising when weighing 19 stone and can say there is a huge difference.
Other things:
I found this diet great for me because I love eating fatty foods but you should try and get as much nutrient rich vegetables into your diet as you can.
On this diet after the first couple of week you will probably find that you don't feel that hungry, that is what makes sticking to this diet so easy compared to the other diets I have been on.
Drink water, water is great for you and is required for the process of fat metabolism.
Have bouillon - It is low in carb but give you some salt which is very helpful, on this diet I find I feel much better if I am having a cup or two of stick each day.
The basic idea behind the diet is that your body will normally use sugar as its main energy source and this causes levels of insulin to spike up and down and insulin causes your body to store fat. By lowering your levels of sugar you will decrease your insulin levels and start using fat as your primary energy source. This is a process known as ketosis or nutritional ketosis as the break down of fat creates ketones which are then used to create the required energy.
Basic Food yes and no:
Firstly make sure when you look on packaging that you check carbohydrates and not sugar. From what I have read I would also recommend taking a multi-vitamin, this is especially the case in the early stages where you might find that eating fruit will inhibit you entering ketosis.
Can't Eat:
Bread, rice, pasta, sweets, crisps, potatoes, parsnips, sugar, dried fruit, cereals, cakes, flour, jam, take aways, fizzy drinks (non-diet). Most sausages, one of my colleagues wants to try the pigs in blankets diet!
Go for it:
Bacon, chicken, fish, beef, lamb, most cheeses, double cream, lettuce, spinach, broccoli, egg, cauliflower, cucumber and cabbage.
Moderation / see for you:
Sugar free jam, sweetener, diet soft drinks (have loads of chemicals so don't really recommend it), tomatoes, most vegetables and some fruit.
Exercise:
Exercise can help weight loss, increase ketones, increase metabolism and make you feel better, if you are very overweight you might find it easier to get down to a lower weight to decrease stress before starting to exercise too much. I was exercising when weighing 19 stone and can say there is a huge difference.
Other things:
I found this diet great for me because I love eating fatty foods but you should try and get as much nutrient rich vegetables into your diet as you can.
On this diet after the first couple of week you will probably find that you don't feel that hungry, that is what makes sticking to this diet so easy compared to the other diets I have been on.
Drink water, water is great for you and is required for the process of fat metabolism.
Have bouillon - It is low in carb but give you some salt which is very helpful, on this diet I find I feel much better if I am having a cup or two of stick each day.
That's it for now...
Soon I will be posting some pictures and probably some meal ideas as well as my experience with exercise on this diet. I am sure my wife will be joining in and making some very informative posts as well. Knowing me I will also go a bit into the science and reviewing books that I have read etc.
Soon I will be posting some pictures and probably some meal ideas as well as my experience with exercise on this diet. I am sure my wife will be joining in and making some very informative posts as well. Knowing me I will also go a bit into the science and reviewing books that I have read etc.
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