Days Two and Three

So far, so good. After my first low-carb day (Friday), I was down exactly 2.0 lbs. That should be about half of the accumulated water weight and bloat from five weeks of overindulgence. After my second day (Saturday), I'd lost another 1.2 lbs, for a total loss of 3.2 lbs in two days. Not a bad start. After I lose another pound or so, I should start losing fat instead of bloat.

I'm happy to report that I'm already seeing positive changes in just three short days. The brain-haze that sets in after a carb-heavy meal (you know the one: the I-can't-focus, I-need-a-nap feeling that renders you essentially useless for an hour or two) is completely gone. I feel more alert and less sluggish all day, so my energy has already begun to increase. It's nowhere near where I expect it will be in a few more weeks, but definitely improved!

After I return to work tomorrow, I expect these blog posts will slow down. There's just too much to be done in the few hours left at the end of the school day. My goal is to chronicle and update my progress at least once a week, probably on Saturday or Sunday.

So here's what I did yesterday and today.

SATURDAY

BREAKFAST

Two fried eggs.

I ate breakfast at 10:00. Like Friday, I had eggs fried in butter, except this time I reduced the number of eggs from three to two. I got hungry a little sooner, but my body will adjust to smaller portions soon. That's the beauty of enjoying fats with your meals. Healthy fats (butter, olive oil, mayonnaise, etc.) make you feel satiated, and I know from experience that within a week or two I won't even want larger portions because my brain will begin to recognize that I get full on less.

Somehow that doesn't happen when I eat fats coupled with large amounts of refined carbohydrate; in other words, sugar, including the abundance of natural sugars found in foods such as white rice, white flour, corn, and potatoes. I suspect that's because, just like heroin, when a lot of sugar hits the system, the brain releases copious amounts of dopamine, the feel-good neurotransmitter. More and more research is confirming that too much sugar (in its various forms) is addictive, leading to cravings, loss of control, and even a heightened tolerance to sugar, requiring more to achieve the same levels of pleasure.

And I admit it. I am one of the world's top sugar addicts.

Check out this EXCELLENT VIDEO on the effects of too much sugar on the body. I only disagree with her on one point: for those of us who are already addicted to sugar, that one wedge of grandma's chocolate cake will hurt us!

LUNCH

Diced green onion and celery added to 5 oz of tuna.

Lunchtime was at 2:00. I love tuna sandwiches, especially with a tall heap of alfalfa sprouts. Unfortunately, you can hardly find alfalfa sprouts around here anymore (maybe I need to start sprouting my own). Also, unfortunately, if I can't put my tuna on bread then I must dress up the tuna to make it more palatable by the forkful. More like a tuna salad.

Celery is a must, for the crunch. Green onion lends a nice flavor. I also like chopped egg and olives, as well as lettuce or sprouts, but never tomato. I love tomatoes, but something about the combination of tuna and tomato just doesn't taste right in my mouth. Since I had no boiled eggs on hand and didn't want to open a whole can for just a handful of olives and wanted to save the head of lettuce for Sunday's dinner, I settled for green onion and celery this time.

Mixed with about a quarter-cup of mayonnaise.

SNACK: I got a small case of the munchies around 5:30, so I sat down with two squares of Godiva dark chocolate (72% cocoa) and enjoyed letting it slowly melt in my mouth while I scrolled through Facebook.

DINNER

Leftover chile relleno casserole with a side of green beans.

Dinner was late again, at 8:00. We kept it simple this time, just leftovers. I reheated Friday's chile relleno casserole, but this time we had green beans on the side rather than green salad. The green beans were sauteed in butter with just a bit of dehydrated minced onion. Since the natural sugars in dehydrated vegetables (and fruits) are condensed, it's a good idea to use them sparingly, if at all. I just happen to like their flavor in my green beans.

I never cook my vegetables in water, whether they're canned, frozen, or fresh. You lose too many nutrients that way, plus I don't care much for the flavor of most vegetables unless they are buttery. My mother used to boil her vegetables, pour off the water, and then add a pat of butter. I've cut out the middle man. I melt butter in the bottom of the pan and use it to saute the vegetable. That way the vegetable stays crisper, and we get the nutrients because we eat the butter, too! 

And lest there is still some concern about adding fat to everything, here's another little tidbit I learned from a nutritionist several years ago. Certain nutrients in vegetables, such as lycopene and beta-carotene (which help prevent heart disease and cancer), cannot be absorbed by the body unless they are ingested with some fat. According to Web M.D., as much as 6 grams of fat are required to fully absorb the healthy carotenoids in a serving of vegetables. So stop feeling guilty about including a little fat with your foods!

DESSERT: My usual bedtime cup of low-carb hot cocoa with a couple of Tbsp of heavy cream, around 11:30. Luscious!

SUNDAY

BREAKFAST

Two eggs, beaten in a bowl.

For Sunday's breakfast, at 11:30, I had two eggs scrambled in butter with my beloved garlic salt. I liked eggs okay as a child, but scrambled was not one of my favorite egg treatments. It always seemed too dry to me. Then one day, way back in the 1970s, my friend Peggi showed me this little trick. Now I use it every time.

A drizzle of heavy cream keeps the scrambled eggs from drying out.

Pour the beaten eggs into the hot butter and stir occasionally until the eggs are almost set, but not quite. Then drizzle a little heavy cream over the eggs. (Peggi actually used milk, and so did I until I found out that milk is high in natural-sugar carbs. Then I switched to cream.) At this point I turn off the pan so the eggs won't over-cook. Then I stir the eggs in the still-hot pan until the cream has been absorbed. I love scrambled eggs made this way!

Voila! Perfectly moist and fluffy every time!

LUNCH

Boil the eggs, peel them, cut them in halves, and pop their yolks into a bowl.

Mash the yolks with a fork and add some salt (or garlic salt).

You can toss in other spices or herbs you like, or even real bacon pieces.

Never use fake bacon bits. They're like mystery meat...with carbs.

I don't usually have deviled eggs for lunch, but I was already making a big batch to use for quick before-school breakfasts this week, so that's what I ate when I finally felt hungry for lunch around 5:30. (Yes, I went a full six hours between lunch and breakfast without dying of hunger.) I ate three eggs (six halves), although it was really closer to two-and-a-half eggs since I used the ones that were hard to peel, meaning the eggs' whites had big chunks missing all over them! However, I'll be eating only two deviled eggs for breakfast each morning this week.

Some people like their yolk mixture with lots of mustard flavor.

I don't like yellow mustard but I do throw in a couple Tbsp of Dijon.

I love the little spicy kick it adds. Then I add mayo until I get the texture I prefer.

Finally, stuff the hollows in the egg halves with roughly equal amounts of yolk mix.

I do sprinkle them with paprika. Some people say paprika has no flavor,

but I disagree. I can tell the difference when it's missing. Plus it's more festive!

DINNER

Guacamole Ole! Peel the avocados, scoop out the pulp, and mash fine with a fork.

Add a small can of diced green chilies and 1 Tbsp lemon juice (or lime, if you prefer).

Finely dice a tomato and about a dozen green onions and add to mixture.

Finally, add about a quarter-cup of sour cream, season to taste, and mix well.

We like ours seasoned with garlic salt and course-grind black pepper.

Tonight, being Sunday, was our weekly family dinner. Mark grilled us some pork chops (which I somehow forgot to take pictures of), I prepared my homemade guacamole, and Sarah made us a big green salad. Most people think we're a bit odd, but we like our pork chops best when they're smothered in guacamole. What can I say? It's yummy!

Sarah made the salad of lettuce, tomato, cucumber, celery, and green onion.

The guys had ranch dressing, but we girls had our favorite, vinegar and olive oil.

NO DESSERT TONIGHT! Not even any dark chocolate... Now wish me luck as I return for my first week back on the job!

New Year's Resolution

Okay, so it's not exactly original, but my goal for 2016 is to reclaim my health and lose weight. Yes, this must be the 30th or so time that I've made this resolution. And I have been successful in the past, losing as much as 77 lbs and getting as close as 10 lbs from my ultimate goal before I gradually packed it back on over the next few years. I'm a stress-eater. Food is my most comforting friend. And there's always plenty of stress waiting around the next corner.

But I'm no quitter! I will keep working at it until I achieve my dream of feeling fit and fitting comfortably into my smaller-sized clothing. Again.

I made a good start last October 30th. I was good as gold for 4 weeks. In that time, exactly 28 days, I lost a whopping 15.8 lbs. That really is pretty amazing. Then I decided to cheat on Thanksgiving dinner with just a small helping of mashed potatoes. That turned into a large helping (or two) of mashed potatoes, plus buttery corn and two or three rolls and a few slices of pie. Then there were leftovers to be used up for the rest of the weekend. The following week brought the start of the Christmas season, and there were faculty luncheons and gifts of food from students and carbohydrate-laden parties and friends dropping off plates of candies and cookies. Before I knew it, I had regained every bit of the 16 lbs I had lost.

Thanksgiving was my chink. Christmas crashed right through the breach like a tank hopped up on sugary chocolate.

The lesson is this: I know what to do to get healthy and lose weight. I also know that any cheating will be the death knell of my efforts to eat right. Every time. There may be people out there who can cheat occasionally and then get right back on track, but that's not me. That will never be me. The cravings generated by cheating will always overwhelm me. I need to accept that as fact, say my farewells to unhealthy carbs, and move forward.

And so today, January 1, 2016, I begin anew.

BREAKFAST

I didn't actually eat "breakfast" until 2:00 p.m. I still felt so yucky from overdoing it on carbs for the past five weeks, and especially last night at the family New Year's Eve party, that I just wanted to let all that tasty garbage move on through my system unchallenged for a while. When I finally did eat, I fried up three eggs in real butter, sprinkled with garlic salt, and enjoyed not feeling uncomfortably stuffed afterward.

LUNCH

With such a late breakfast, there was no real need for lunch. However, dinner was late (8:00) and I began to crave something around 5:00, so I nibbled on two squares of dark chocolate (72% cocoa) while I sat and paid my bills for January. It contains some sugar, but there is a great deal of research showing that the flavanoids (plant-based antioxidants) in dark chocolate can do everything from lowering blood pressure to fighting cancer to preventing heart attack and stroke. All you need is 20 grams (less than 1 oz) per day, so I'm giving it a chance.

Green salad and chile relleno casserole. My favorite salad dressing is

olive oil, red wine vinegar, and garlic salt. No added carbs!

DINNER

Most days, Mark works until 3:00. One of the perks of working at Denny's is that, on the days he works, he can order any meal off their menu that costs less than $10. Thus, when he gets off work, he usually has a big meal to bring home and enjoy as a late lunch (because he's usually too busy on the job to stop and eat during his work day).

Unfortunately for me, that means he's not hungry for dinner when I am, around 6:00, so dinner is often postponed until 7:30 or 8:00 on the days he works. That's a glitch I'm going to have to work through after I return to work on Monday, because I'm always already famished as soon as I get home from school! For today, dinner was at 8:00. I made a chile relleno casserole (see steps below) and Mark made us a green salad.

If you're interested in the recipe for chile relleno casserole:

Slice open in halves and remove the seeds from 12 to 16 roasted, peeled chilies.

Layer half the chilies in the bottom of a dish. (I used a can of Hatch whole green chilies.)

Shred a 16 oz block of Monterey jack cheese and spread half of it on top of the chilies.

Repeat with another layer of chilies and top with a second layer of cheese.

Then preheat the oven to 325 degrees.

Beat 6 eggs in a bowl, then add 2 cups of heavy cream and mix well.

Season to taste with salt, pepper, and paprika. (I use garlic salt, of course.) 

Pour the egg-and-cream mixture evenly over the chilies and cheese layers.

Place in the heated oven and bake for 45 minutes.

That's all there is to it! It comes out just like this, all hot and tasty!

DESSERT

When I'm dieting, my favorite dessert--the one I look forward to at the end of the day--is Swiss Miss Diet Hot Chocolate with a quarter-cup of heavy cream. Foods labeled "diet" usually mean low-fat and low-calorie. It's usually best to steer clear of those. Natural, healthy fats are not the enemy. In fact, they help stabilize blood sugar and make us feel full. But more on that another day.

The diet hot chocolate by Swiss Miss happens to be both low-calorie and low-carb. A win-win. It's my relaxing way to end the day. I'm sipping a cup even as I type this...

And so my first day was a success. I had a menu and a plan, the cravings were minimal, and I got through without a single cheat. Just 364 more days to go!

Surrounded by Temptations

Carb-laden offerings abounded at our conference this morning.

The last time I posted, 17 days ago, I'd lost only 1.2 lbs after my first 3 days of Fat Fasting. I was a bit discouraged, but I kept stubbornly plodding along. Now, 17 days later, my total loss is 10.2 lbs. It's still not as much as I'd hoped for, but not bad for just 3 weeks of eating right.

And that means I'm 35.2 lbs lighter than I was while visiting Atlanta 14 months ago!

I imagine the weight loss has been slower simply because I haven't been faithfully applying the Fat Fast principles. Most days I've done Fat Fast breakfast, lunch, and snacks, but I add more protein to my dinners. Dinner has always been my favorite meal, the time when I want something more substantial to eat. So I've been doing a hybrid Atkins Induction/Fat Fast, which is definitely working, albeit oh so slo-o-owly.

Meanwhile, I encounter temptations at every turn. This morning we had a 4-hour, multi-district teachers' conference in Snowflake. At the end of the first session, the planners distributed goody-bags to each participant. I was afraid to look inside, with good reason. As can be seen in the above photo, along with a mini-composition book, a pen, and an "I teach...what's your super power?" bracelet, the bag was filled with sugar- and white flour-laden junk food. 

Luckily, I'd anticipated the usual high-carb conference foods and brought my own snacks: 1.5 ounces of mixed nuts and a bag of chocolate candies by Atkins. They got me through the morning just fine, thank you very much! I even managed to make the tiny bag of Atkins-style M&Ms last for a full 30 minutes at the end of the final session. My 17-year-old son Dylan enjoyed the bag of bad goodies after I returned home.

Let me also note that I was able to fit comfortably into the student desks we occupied during the sessions. Many of the other teachers had a harder time of it, with the writing surface cutting into their bellies for hours. That would have been me 35 lbs ago. Even 10 lbs ago I'd have been less comfy. 

One of the recruiters introduces our speaker.

Last Friday, we teachers at Blue Ridge High were invited to a presentation by our local Army recruiters. To entice us to attend and learn all about the virtues of ASVAB testing, they promised us a free lunch. I gritted my teeth and joined our faculty at the cafeteria, hoping for something I could eat but promising myself to sneak out at the earliest possible moment and run home for lunch if not.

Each teacher was gifted with an Army folder, writing pad, and pen.

And a gazillion carbs on the side.

The free lunch turned out to be HUGE subs from Subway. And I don't mean just in length. The bread was super-thick. When I got in line, a teacher from my department quipped, "How about some bread for lunch!" And, for good measure, there were bags of chips and decadent chocolate chip cookies. My favorite. Groan. 

My bread-free lunch plate.

But I stayed strong. I peeled the meat, cheese, and vegetables off the bread and plopped them on my plate. It was rather messy, since the recruiters had seen no need for forks, but it was a tasty lunch. One additional plus was being spared the afternoon carb-crash that inevitably follows a carb-heavy meal. I had plenty of energy left to work away the afternoon in my classroom.  

My healthy breakfast at Darbi's.

The previous week was the morning I went to breakfast with two friends, Karen and Liz. Before I met them at Darbi's, I gave myself a firm talking-to. I pre-planned ordering an omelet and nothing more. Naturally, the price for the omelets includes two sides from a selection of breads and a selection of potatoes. Being frugal as I am, I weakened, not wanting to pay the price without receiving every item I paid for. Besides, I would dearly have loved some hash browns paired with biscuits and gravy. Instead, I asked our waitress about alternatives, and I ended up with a side of cottage cheese and tomatoes, and a side of fresh fruit.

All of that food would still have been too many carbs if eaten in one sitting, so I enjoyed my spinach, avocado, bacon, and provolone omelet while visiting with my good friends, and then I asked for take-home boxes and enjoyed the cottage cheese, tomatoes and fruit for lunch later in the day.

I gave Dylan the melon slices (yuck) and ate the strawberries and pineapple chunks.

Thus far I have avoided falling for a single temptation that has come my way. Not a bit of sugar or flour or potato or corn or rice or any other high-carb food has passed my lips for the past 22 days. I feel better. And I know my health can no longer afford to be bombarded with an unhealthy diet. That is my focus and my mantra!

Day Three: Work Days Are Hard!

Day 3 Breakfast, 7:00 a.m.: 2 Devilled Eggs. 75.8% fat

See Day 1 for specifics.

This morning's reading of the scale was somewhat disappointing, but a least it still moved downward. A loss is a loss. Today I was down 0.2 lb, bringing my 3-day loss to 1.2 lbs.

 

That brings my total loss since Atlanta to 28.2 lbs.

 

This is the point where it starts to get difficult, where I begin to ask myself whether the effort is worth it. This is where the lure of forbidden foods becomes the irresistable song of the Sirens, when I beg those chocolate chip cookies, the fudge brownies, the M&Ms and Whoppers, to jump into my mouth.

Only two things are stopping me from from running down to Walmart for a shopping bag filled with sugary goodies. One is the fact that our California trip is a mere 53 days away. I can endure anything for 53 days. The other is this blog and my commitment to write down everything I eat, right up until D-Day (the D stands for Disneyland). So thanks for sharing this experience with me. You matter!

 

Day 3 Lunch, 11:30 a.m.: Spinach and Baby Kale Salad. 84% fat

I forgot to make my salad the previous night, and in the rush to get to work

I just threw into the bowl whatever was left in the spinach-and-kale bag.

It was closer to 3 cups than the usual 4, so that means slightly fewer calories 

and a slightly higher fat percentage, which is a good thing.

See Day 1 for specifics.

It is so much harder for me to stick to a diet at work than it is at home. With a classroom full of teens noshing on cookies, crackers, chips, and bags of goodies from McDonalds, Taco Bell, or Subway, food is continually before my face. (They aren't alowed to eat in class, but they still walk in with it.)

 

And you'd think being super-busy would take your mind off of food, but it never works that way in reality. At home I literally get lost in my favorite projects, and I'm shocked when I look up and notice how much time has passed. At work it's more like, "Is it time to take a break and eat somethng?" and then you realize it's only been 20 minutes since your last feeding.

 

So yesterday, after lunch, I had an unplanned snack and surpassed my 1,000 calorie mark again. As on Sunday, it was not a true cheat. Still Atkins-friendly and all. I ate a 1.2 oz. sugar-free, low-carb Ross candy bar. Oh, so yummy!

Day 3 Snack, 1:30 p.m.: Ross Dark Chocolate Bar. 61% fat

180 calories (110 from Fat), 2 g protein, 3 g fiber, 2 net carbs.

Way too low in fat for the Fat Fast, but dark chocolate is still good for you!

I used to be able to buy these at Walmart, but now I can only find them online.

I buy them by the case, which lasts me up to 2 years.

When melted, they makes delicious dipped strawberries and MacTurtles!

Day 3 Snack, 4:30 p.m.: Tuna and Mayo.  76.3% fat

I didn't wrap it in lettuce at work. I ate it right out of the container

while working at my desk after school.

See Day 2 for specifics.

Day 3 Dinner, 7:15 p.m.: 4 oz Broccoli sauteed in 2 Tbsp Butter. 61% fat

I like my broccoli still a bit crisp after I cook it!

Dinner is served.

Except for the dark chocolate, I was completely faithful to the Fat Fast yesterday. The candy bar really shouldn't have impacted my diet too much. I'm thinking my body is just a little slow kicking into ketosis. For the past seven months I've been giving up too easily. But I'm going to hang in there this time until I finally see the results I want!

Day 3 Dessert 10:00 p.m.: Hot Cocoa with Heavy Cream. 88.9% fat

Day Two: Sunday Dinner

Aug. 10, 2014: Danielle drags Dylan to dinner from his bedroom.

Mi familia: Sarah, Jacob, Dylan, Danielle, and Jacob!

Our family gets together for dinner every Sunday night, and I love it. But I knew going in that it would create problems with sticking to the Fat Fast. I decided that I'd allow myself to enjoy 4-6 oz. of whatever meat the family was enjoying on Sunday evenings, but nothing more. The Fat Fast is short on protein, so in this way I'd be getting a bit more of the protein my body needs while I Fat Fasted.

 

Still, I'd hoped that this first week I could stay strong and not indulge, especially since we were only serving unexciting hamburgers. My resolve lasted only until the scent of Jacob's frying burger patties wafted to my nose. I buckled. So I cheated a bit on Fat Fast, but I was still true to Atkins. 

 

I was a little nervous to get on the scales this morning, but it was okay. I lost 0.4 lb more, bringing my 2-day loss to exactly 1 lb.

 

That brings my total loss since Atlanta to 28.0 lbs.

 

Here's today's menu:

 

Day 2 Breakfast, 8:00 a.m.: 1 Egg fried in 2 tsp Butter and grease of 1 oz Sausage. 78.9% fat

213 calories (168 from fat); 17 g protein; 0 g fiber; 0.6 net carbs

1 oz of sausage is pretty tiny!

I prepared 2 weeks' worth of 1-oz sausage patties the day before.

I sliced up a roll of sausage (12 oz makes 12 slices, etc.)

with a deadly-sharp knife. You get cleaner slices if the sausage is frozen.

Then I put the slices in snack-size baggies and replaced them in the freezer.

Day 2 Brunch, 10:30 a.m.: 2 Devilled Eggs. 75.85% fat

See Day 1 for specifics. Remember, I made a bunch of these the day before.

Again, I hardly ever have eggs twice in the same day, but it was so convenient!

Day 2 Lunch 2:00 p.m.: Tuna Lettuce Wrap. 76.3% fat

219 calories (167 from fat); 16 g protein; 0.5 g fiber; 0.6 net carbs

A 5-oz can of tuna makes two feedings.

Each is 2.5 oz tuna in water (drained), mixed with 1 Tbsp mayonnaise.

I wrapped half the tuna in lettuce leaves for lunch.

The other half  went in the fridge to take to school the next day.

Day 2 Dinner 5:00 p.m.: Green Salad. 83.9% fat

I left out the tomato this time. See Day 1 for specifics.

And then, like the Hobbits, Second Dinner at 6:15 p.m.: 74.7% fat

My son-in-law's plate on the left and mine on the right.

 

I was really tempted by the chips and dip my family were devouring (except Sarah), so I put the dip on my burger. It was a 4-oz ground beef patty, with about 1 oz of cheese, a thin slice of tomato, and maybe 2 Tbsp. toasted onion/sour cream dip. No bun, no potato chips.

 

Here's the breakown:

4 oz. patty = 290 calories (210 from fat), 20 g protein, 0 g fiber, 0 carbs

1 oz cheese = 110 calories (90 from fat),7 g protein, 0 g fiber, 1 carb

1 slice tomato = 8 calories (1 from fat). 0.5 g protein, 0.5 g fiber, 1.5 carbs

2 Tbsp sour cream = 60 calories (50 from fat), 1 g protein, 0 g fiber, 2 carbs

Scant dip mix = 2 calories (0 from fat), 0 g protein, 0 g fiber, 0.4 carb

 

Totals: 470 calories (351 from fat), 28.5 g protein, 0.5 g fiber, and 5 g carbs.

 

WAY over my 1,000 calories, by about 500. And the scales still moved downward! I can't be doing that everyday, though!

Day 2 Dessert 9:30 p.m.: Hot Cocoa with Heavy Cream. 88.9% fat

See Day 1 for specifics.

I have to give kudos to my daughter, Sarah. Like me, she has gone back and forth on dieting. But she's motivated to feel healthier for Disneyland, too, so she got back to it a week ago today. She's doing straight Atkins, and she lost 6 lbs in her first 6 days! GO SARAH!

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!