lowcarb food journal
Fat Fast Day 2…
On September 26 I started Banting (basic ketogenic/low carb) and lost 12 kilos/27 lbs. in just on seven weeks. Then I stalled for two weeks. I did some carb cycling which helped move the weight a little, and then it stopped again.
Yesterday I started the Fat Fast armed with Dana Carpender’s Fat Fast Cookbook which I find extremely helpful. I also researched sites and forums on the subject and made up a list of helpful hints. I was armed…and also a little al-armed as the day started closing and I had almost reached my calorie limit. Macadamia nuts and a small block of Philly cream cheese saved the day and then everything was just fine. I went to bed knowing that I could have eaten more, but was happy not to. It was a very comforting feeling.
My weight dropped over a kilo overnight. I know that will not continue. Today has been good and I have been drinking a lot of water. The day started with lemon juice in hot water and some probiotics. Mid-morning was Creamy Coffee time and the menu for the rest of the day was eggs, cheddar cheese, bacon, kale, Philadelphia cream cheese, macadamias, sardines and mayo. 1190 calories total.
There was very little fibre in the day’s intake but my tum has been fine. I think it might be the fats that are keeping the intestines oiled, although I wouldn’t do the Fat Fast for longer than 5 days, and also not too often. It is really only to be used by people who are stubbornly metabolically resistant. (That’s me. I have the tum to prove it. Apple shaped.) The Fat Fast is never to be used as a fad diet. Once my body starts burning its own fat stores again, ketosis will keep cravings away and fats (coconut oil is my best) will suppress the appetite.
It is day three tomorrow and I have made bone broth in the slow cooker so I will be drinking that most of the day. The fourth day will be a low to no carb day (meat, eggs and fats) without dairy, and then I will move on to the basic ketogenic/high fat/moderate protein/low carb/Banting lifestyle: Meats, eggs, fats, nuts, seeds and vegetables, adding berries and dairy in small amounts. I have to admit that cream is a standard in my fridge. I have one cup of creamy coffee per day (and another one black) and sometimes I will put coconut oil in it as well. I use cream and Greek yogurt in my cooking so dairy really is a staple in my diet. High fat Boursin cheese has to be my all time favourite. Obviously I am not allergic to dairy but I am aware of the carbs.
This is an interesting experiment and I cannot say that I feel bad at all. The taste in my mouth is changing though, so I will be chewing fennel seeds for that keto-breath! Incidentally, fennel is a diuretic herb so it can help to rid the body of excess water that is being released from the fat cells while we are losing. Well, that’s my take on it 
Day three tomorrow. Bring it on…
Fat Fasting Starts…
Food Journal 8 December 2014
Today begins the Fat Fast.
Back in the late 90s when learning about low carb through Atkins I came across the Fat Fast as a way to jolt the stalled weight loss or plateau, but did not take too much notice of it then. Today I know a lot more about fats and am more than willing to try it out in earnest for three days. You can also do it for 5 if you wish. I am settling for three days.
The only real rule in the Fat Fast is to keep your calories low – Atkins suggested 1000 calories – but I am doing half of my normal low carb calories as I eat calories according to my weight at present, minus 1 000. That’s my take on it. If you need clarity on how many micro nutrients are in foods, sign up with SparkPeople and use their nutrition tracker. That is where I go to and it works very nicely.
I am gathering ideas on foods to eat – and here are a few with which to start:
Egg yolks hard boiled with mayo
Sour cream with cucumber slices
Cream cheese and nut butter on celery
Bacon and egg yolks
High fat cheeses such as Philadelphia and Boursin
4 slices of bacon
Cream cheese on top of a slice of salami
2 Eggs yolks beaten and stirred into chicken broth
Bone broth with marrow
Tuna and mayo
Spoonful of coconut oil
Coffee with cream and coconut oil (Bulletproof coffee)
Today I have had bacon, eggs, creamy coffee, spoonful of coconut oil, and Philadelphia cream cheese. I will probably have tuna and mayo for a snack and a cream chocolate mousse for supper. (Whipping cream with stevia and unsweetened cacao powder, really good.) All this adds up to a superb appetite suppressant! there is only one way for you to find out how it works, just do it! I will be back tomorrow to report on my progress. Have a happy day!
Getting it on with The Revolution!…
Banting Babe Lunch…
Food Journal for today:
Breakfast – Overnight slow cooked chicken necks and feet with turmeric, cayenne pepper and Italian parsley. Lots of gelatin!
Lunch: A delicious Banting Burger at The Red Plate in Haenertsburg with some new Banting Babes. The burger had avocado, bacon and cheddar on top and it was placed on top of a Courgette Fritter. Yummy. It is so nice to have a restaurant in our little village that has a Banting Menu.
Dinner was a fresh garden salad with pan-fried Pork Neck Steaks and a cream and mustard sauce.
Snacks: Greek Yogurt smoothie with frozen Strawberries, 6 Macadamia nuts and 3 Brazil nuts. Lots of water, hot water and lemon, iced Rooibos and Green Tea, sparkling mineral water, filter coffee with cream.
2236 Calories: 44 Carbs:
Generally, my calories are anywhere between 1900 and 2400 and generally my carbs are anywhere between 40 and 80. On very low carb/protein days days I do some cardio – walking and/or spinning – while on higher carb days I will do free weights and eat the higher carb snack or meal after my routine. I use the mini trampoline to warm up.
This is all very new at this time, but so far so good! Being 12 kilos lighter has got me moving more, and I am finding that I have more energy than I have had in a long time. Instead of finding reasons to sit at my desk, I am out in the garden more, sharing territory with my horses, checking fences, planting seedlings and generally getting out and about. It elicits in me a warm feeling of hope for the future! It also makes me want to keep on keeping on.
A serious commitment needs to be made if you want to take on this new lifestyle, because it is a lifelong commitment, just like a marriage. There will be good times and bad, but you don’t just give up – you work through it and get to the other side, and you also don’t just give up because you are bored. You do what it takes to succeed. Make it interesting if it bores you, try something different, get a new recipe, cry on your friend’s shoulder and then get back in the saddle and ride that horse! (Note that I speak mostly to me!)
Looking forward to trying out a few more different Banting recipes. Watch this space, the weekend could be creative!
Banting cooks!…
Banting…12 kilos gone
Wow, it’s been a long time since I was here on my blog and that is because I was caring for my husband after eye surgery. He is now on the mend and I am back doing what I usually do when I am not being Florence Nightingale
The good news is that I have lost 12 kilos to date – that is since the last week in September. I hit a plateau after 10 kilos and that lasted for about 2 weeks. I researched and ended up doing a carb cycling programme and then the weight started moving again. Yay! I also did a day’s fat fast which also helps to shift the weight.
Calorie counting is said not to be necessary by some advocates of low carb living, but I am finding that it really is a useful tool. I punch my food into SparkPeople’s nutrition tracker and it tells me all I need to know – fat grams, protein grams, calories, carbs, fibre…it’s all there. So useful.
Today’s food intake has not yet reached my calorie goal and yet I am sated. I need no more food. Cream cheese was my helper today. I just wanted that mouth feel! This morning’s brunch at 11 was Green Scrambled Eggs with Swiss Chard, Turmeric and Cheddar, Bacon, Zucchini Fritters with Coconut Flour. Snack mid afternoon was Blackberries and Cottage Cheese while dinner was Vegetable Soup with Beef Broth and again some Cream Cheese as a snack.
Walking is becoming easier for me now and I find I can walk a little longer and further every week. There are many more kilos to lose, but it is beginning to feel like it is not impossible anymore!
Banting sure Rocks!…
Back and Still Banting…
If you have been following this blog, I do apologise for my absence. My husband was my patient for three weeks after a serious eye op.
I have been very well behaved on the food front and Banting away merrily. I put on 2 kilos in one day and lost them again the next. This tells me it is not a good idea to jump on the scale every day! All in all I am down 9 kilos since I started in September around the 26th. About 6 weeks. An average of 1.5 kilos per week. It has now slowed down and I am beginning to look at tweaking my intake and doing a bit of a Fat Fast. More about that in my next post.
The acidity of all the meat I have been eating has had me a little concerned which has resulted in a desire to see how one does a vegetarian low carb diet. I am now going to concentrate on getting in some alkaline veggies in green smoothies, using the lowest carb vegetables and some whey protein powder. It does not mean I am going to stop eating meat, but I am going to add more vegetarian options to my new lifestyle. This means a minimum of legumes, like a 1/4 of a cup, (which is around 10 carbs) and the vegetables highest in protein content, along with the protein powder.
Today, however, was a seriously carnivorous day: here is my intake…
Meal 1
Boerewors 200g 6 Carbs/26g protein
Eggs x 2 XL 1 Carb/15g protein
Full fat milk ¼ cup 3 Carbs/2g protein
10 Carbs/43g protein
Snack
Macadamia nuts 30g 4 Carbs/2g Protein
Coffee x 2 0
Cream 30g 1 Carb/1 protein
5 Carbs/3 protein
Meal 2
Swiss Chard 50g 2 Carbs/1 protein
Mushrooms 1/3 cup 2 Carbs/1 protein
Broccoli ½ cup 2 Carbs/1 protein
Garlic 1 tsp 1 Carbs/0 protein
Onions fried 1 Tbs 2 Carbs/0 protein
Lamb chop 200 g 0 Carbs/41 protein
Coconut oil 2 Tbs 0 Carbs/0 protein
Lard 1 Tbs 0 Carbs/0 protein
Feta Cheese 30g 1 Carbs/4 protein
10 Carbs/48 protein
TOTALS 25 g Carbs/94 g protein
Still Moving On with the Revolution…
Banting Carb Counts and Vegetables…
24 October 2014 Food Journal
Today marked a special day! 10 kilos gone. I was in ecstasy looking at the scale. I got off and stood on it again. I hadn’t seen that number for a long time. A couple of years in fact. After giving up on Atkins some years ago and putting on a lot of weight I was so scared to start another low carb diet, but this one seems to be OK. The Ketogenic, Banting lifestyle appears to be working for me.
I know that I have an addictive personality and that means I can never touch certain foods again. It’s like smoking. An addict can never again touch a cigarette because that would mean he would end up smoking even more than before. I should know. That happened to me no less than three times. I have been free of cigarettes for the last 18 years and I know that if I should ever smoke a Gaulois or Gitane again, that would be it. I still love the smell of those French cigarettes!
The same would happen to me with sourdough bread and potatoes. And perhaps an original Almond Magnum. So they are off the list permanently. If it means I need to learn how to make lowcarb ice cream then so be it. If it means I need to learn how to make a flax seed focaccia style bread, then bring it on! This is just the beginning of a lifetime journey and there will be much learning along the way.
Today’s Food:
Meal 1 at 1 pm
Pork Eisbein 200g – 0 carbs/56 protein
Lunch Totals – 0 Carbs/56Protein
Meal 2 Snack at 5:30 pm
Macadamia Nuts 0.5 cup – 9 carbs/5 protein
8 Tbs Cream (with 4 coffees) – 4 carbs/3 protein
Beef biltong 200g – 0 carbs/79 protein
Snack Totals – 13 Carbs/87 Protein
Meal 3 Dinner at 7:30 pm
Beef Chuck 200g – 0 carbs/56 protein
Celery 2 stalks – 1 carb/0 protein
Hellman’s Mayo 1 Tbs – 0 carbs/0 protein
Dinner Totals – 1 Carb/56 protein
TOTALS = 13 Carbs/199 Protein
Fats 61%/Protein 36%/Carbs 3%
How do I feel? I think I need more water. The increase in coffee is perhaps not a really good thing, but it does seem to help in keeping the cravings at bay.
Too many grams of protein today. I need to up the fats and lessen the protein. Too much protein can apparently stall weight loss and I don’t want that! I have read that excess protein results in gluconeogenesis, which breaks down your muscles and also results in a rise in insulin levels. Apparently a good ratio is 70-25-5 fats to protein to carb ratio.
Another little oversight today is no vegetables. That won’t do. Two cups of salad leaves and one cup of vegetables in a day is really not too much to ask now is it? Why am I going overboard on the protein and not having vegetables? Easier, perhaps. Thank goodness for my jug of clean celery sticks in the fridge otherwise I might really have had no vegetables at all, except that 2 sticks of celery is not enough. Really. I might have to turn over a new leaf tomorrow.
The vegetables in the fridge which are to be cooked on the weekend are mushrooms, spring onions, brinjal, cabbage, tomatoes and carrots (those are mostly for the horses!) There is fresh lettuce and Swiss chard in the garden. Hungry we will not be, but getting greens in at each meal is sometimes a hard task, but I shall keep on keeping on.
Persevering with the Revolution…
(Guided by The Real Meal Revolution by Tim Noakes et al)
Feeling Banting Good…
9 kilos gone this morning. What a thrill to see those numbers go down. K.I.S.S. Kilos In Sensational Slide…:) OK. I know it will be mostly water weight, but it still feels good.
Today’s Banting Food:
2 Fried Eggs – 2 carbs/12 protein
Boerewors 60g – 2 carbs/8 protein
Light Cream 30ml – 1 carb/1 protein
Breakfast Total = 5 Carbs/21 Protein
Sardines – 0 carbs/30 protein
Lunch Total = 0 Carbs/30 Protein
2 Chicken thighs – 0 carbs/16 protein
1 Chicken drumstick – 0 carbs/8 protein
0.75 Cup Swiss Chard – 5 carbs/2 protein
0.3 cup Coconut milk – 2 carbs/0 protein
0.25 Sour cream – 2 carbs/2 protein
0.5 cup Whipping Cream – 2 carbs/1 protein
0.5 tsp Cocoa powder – 1 carb/0 protein
Dinner Totals = 12 Carbs/29 Protein
3 cups filter coffee – 0 carbs/0 protein
Cream 60ml – 2 carbs/2 protein
Snack Totals = 2 Carbs/2 Protein
TOTALS = 19g Carbs/82g Protein
After drinking tea with milk most of my life, it seems that I have taken a liking to filter coffee with cream. I don’t think I have ever had so much coffee! Or so much cream! (However, I will tell you one very personal thing…the cream and all the fats are keeping my intestines lubricated very nicely thank you.)
Hubby is getting cabin fever from being in one place for nearly two weeks so I am taking him out for brunch tomorrow. Oh wait, he is taking me – but I am the driver since he is still recovering from his eye op! Where we are going has a breakfast that I can eat and of course, organic coffee with cream!
The Revolution continues…
(Guided by The Real Meal Revolution by Tim Noakes et al)
Banting Food Journal 21 Oct 2014…
If I was to be counting calories I might be freaking out today. Nearly 3 000 calories!!! But only 30.4 carbs!And I have lost another two kilos…
I do my nutrition tracking on SparkPeople but they are wrong at times, so I double check with http://www.carbohydrate-counter.org. It is keeping me honest with myself. My fat percentage of calories was 79% today. Weird to see that, but happy I am not hungry or craving bread. If I had to choose which I would like for the rest of my life, bread or fats, I would definitely choose fats. Butter and cream are gourmet foods for me, as are cheeses. How could I possible say no to them! So this is a decision we all need to make re our chosen lifestyles. I know from experience that when you “stop dieting” and go back to breads and sugar, you get really big! So the motto is – Keep on Keeping On!
Food Journal 21 Oct 2014
Eggs 2 – 1g carb
Bacon 3 slices – 1 carb
Spinach 0.5 cup – 3 carbs
Coconut oil 2 tsp – 0 carbs
Filter coffee 2 cups – 0 carbs
Cream 60g – 2 carbs
Breakfast Carbs – 7
Avocado 100g – 9 carbs
50 ml full cream milk in tea – 2 carbs
Lunch carbs – 11
Boerewors 200g – 6 carbs
Cheddar cheese 30g – 0.4 carbs
Mixed Salad 1 serving – 5 carbs
Oil and Verjuice Dressing 1 Tbs – 0 carbs
Dinner Carbs – 11.4
Celery Stick 1 – 1 carb
Kiri Cream Cheese 90g – 2 carbs
Snack Carbs – 3
TOTALS
Carbs 32.4
Calories 2 858
Keeping on with the Revolution…
(Guided by The Real Meal Revolution – Tim Noakes et al)
Banting Food Journal 20 Oct 2014…
Food Journal – Monday Oct 20
Breakfast
Coconut oil – 0 carbs
3 bacon rashers – 1g carbs
Coffee 2 cups – 0
Eggs 2 – 1g carb
Cream 2 Tbs – 1g carb
Lunch
Mixed Salad – 3g carbs
Cheddar Cheese 50g – 1g carbs
Olive oil – 0g carbs
Beef liver fried 100g – 5g carbs
Supper
Coconut oil 2 Tbs – 0g carbs
Mozzarella cheese 35g – 1g carbs
Scrambled Egg 4 – 4g carbs
Bacon 4 – 1g carbs
Snack
Celery 2 – 3g carbs
Macadamia nuts 12 – 8g carbs
Hellman’s Mayo 2 Tbs – 0
Total Carbs 28
Calories – 2 510
{And if I had drunk a glass of red wine, Brian, I would have added 2.7g carbs per glass.)
Cruisin’ with the Revolution…