Day One: the Basics

Day 1 Breakfast: 75.8% fat 

At 9:00 a.m.: 2 eggs fried in 2 teaspoons of butter.

(It's not much butter, so use a good non-stick pan!)

207 calories (157 from fat); 12 g protein; 0 g fiber; 1.2 net carbs

Yesterday I got started on the Fat Fast. I was hoping for a big loss after the first day, the kind you often get because of excess water being flushed out of the system, but I guess I already did that by eating low carb before starting the Fat Fast. So today my loss was 0.6 lb. I won't complain. If I could lose half a pound per day for 8 weeks, I'd be one happy thin lady!

 

That brings my total loss since Atlanta to 27.6 lbs.

 

After today, I will use two milestones to chart my progress. First, how much I've lost since starting the Fat Fast (Saturday, August 9) and, second, how much I've lost since hitting my highest weight during our trip to Atlanta, Georgia in mid-June 2013.

Day 1 Lunch: 78.2% fat

At 1:30 p.m.: 4 cups green salad with half of a medium tomato.

(See specific recipe with next photo.)

234 calories (183 from fat); 4 g protein; 4 g fiber; 6 net carbs

And now, regarding the Fat Fast, let me begin with a caution. The Fat Fast is not a long-term diet. In fact, Dr. Atkins only intended it for those few people who were completely resistant to all other healthy weight loss methods. It is very low in protein and, thus, should only be followed for a limited time. Some people do it for 3 to 5 days to jump-start ketosis and take off a few pounds, and then return to their usual controlled-carb way of eating for a week or two before doing the Fat Fast again. Many have done the Fat Fast longer with no ill effects.

I think it's a personal choice. However long you Fat Fast, monitor your own health and adjust accordingly. I have done up to 2 weeks at a time and felt great, with excellent blood sugar and blood pressure readings. I do not recommend anything longer than that without a break.

You can use any kinds of greens you prefer for this salad.

My salad: 2 cups of iceberg lettuce; 2 cups of baby kale and spinach

(available in a bag at Walmart; normally I dislike kale, but this is pretty good,

and it's a nutritional powerhouse, one of the highest in antioxidants);

1 Tbsp + 1.5 tsp extra virgin olive oil; 1-2 Tbsp red wine vinegar;

and I added half a tomato that was left over from dinner the previous night.

Ordinarily you don't add the tomato during Fat Fast. Without it:

217 calories (182 from fat); 3 g protein; 3 g fiber; 3.5 net carbs,

raising your fat percentage to 83.9%

 

If you're interested in Dr. Atkins's original explanation of the Fat Fast, you can find it in Part 3, Chapter 20 "Metabolic Resistance: Causes and Solutions," on pages 272-274 in his book Dr. Atkins New Diet Revolution, published in 2002 (at least, in the version I own).

 

Day 1 Dinner: 75.8% fat

At 8:00 p.m.: 2 eggs, devilled (4 halves).

(See specific recipe with next photo.)

207 calories (157 from fat); 12 g protein; 0 g fiber; 1.2 net carbs

The objective of the Fat Fast is to force your body into ketosis, the state in which your body burns its own fat instead of sugar (provided by carbohydrates). That's a simplification, but I'll share more of what I've learned about ketosis in future posts. Both past and recent research is showing surprising health benefits to ketosis.

 

For people with relatively healthy metabolisms, ketosis can usually be achieved through a typical low-carb diet. That's how I used to be able to lose weight so easily each time I strictly followed the Atkins diet. However, with the onset of menopause I became more metabolically resistant. Thank goodness, a bunch of low-carbers who are smarter than I am managed to figure out both the problem and the solution. 

For 2 eggs: 2/3 Tablespoon of mayo, and season to taste.

For 14 eggs (that's how much I usually do at a time):

1/4 cup + 1 Tbsp mayonnaise.

To achieve ketosis, the Fat Fast suggests keeping to about 1,000 calories per day, usually through five small feedings (there's not really enough food to call them meals) of roughly 200 calories each. It is certainly possible to modify this as you wish. For instance, you could have four feedings of 250 calories per day for 1,000 calories, or even five 250-calorie feedings for 1,250 calories per day. You know your body best, and you can adjust as you see what works.

 

The most important feature of the Fat Fast is the fat makeup of each feeding. For each 200-calorie feeding, between 75 and 90% of those calories need to come from fat. The closer you get to 90% fat calories (which can be hard to achieve unless you like to eat mayonnaise right out of the jar, yuck!), the faster you will lose weight. As you can see, my percentages ranged from 75.8% to 88.9%

I don't usually eat eggs twice in the same day, but since I was whipping up a batch...

I hate peeling eggs, so when I do devilled eggs I take time to do a week's worth.

The amount of mayo in these left the yolk mixture a little dry, hard to spread.

Next time, I might experiment with adding a bit of Dijon mustard.

You'll notice that I only had 4 feedings yesterday: 2 fried eggs, a green salad, 2 devilled eggs, and a cup of hot cocoa. I was so busy yesterday that I literally forgot about eating. And, no, I actually didn't feel hungry until I remembered to eat. Fat is a natural appetite suppressant. 

That said, you really don't want to skip feedings. In fact, that may have contributed to my small 0.6-lb loss. I only ate about 873 calories. It's important to avoid your body going into "starvation mode" and refusing to part with those pesky pounds. It kind of defeats the purpose, you know?

Day 1 Dessert: 88.9% fat

At 10:30 p.m.: hot cocoa with 1/4 cup heavy cream

I use Swiss Miss "Sensible Sweets: Diet" hot cocoa mix.

This is my favorite bedtime treat. I have it nearly every night.

225 calories (200 from fat); 2 g protein; <1 g fiber; 7.5 net carbs

My schedule at work is so busy this year that I won't have the time I'd like to devote to this blog. Most days, especially during the school week, I may barely have time to post my daily menu and nothing more. But I'll try to share more information whenever possible, especially if anyone posts specific questions. If I don't know the answer, I promise I will find out.

And so it begins!