Hi Jim and others who experience stalling,
The older we get the greater our propensity for insulin resistance.
Hence, what worked for you a year ago might not work exactly the same now.
The problem, in my opinion, with every low carb diet book that I've read
is that while the authors seem to have a pretty good grasp of the
science and they usually provide relevant menus but none of them seem to
have a clear sense of the variables that the dieter could be monitoring
and how the dieter should be interpreting changes in these variables.
For instance, just monitoring your level of ketosis offers a great deal
of information. I have often found my level of ketosis had dropped and
had to look back over the previous day's food to figure out what caused
it. I would never have known there was a problem and might have
continued to make the same mistake repeatedly had it not been for using
Ketostix.
I developed a program that has worked very well for a number of people
I've worked with to help them lose weight. It is a system that requires
monitoring fasting BG, morning BP, pulse, weight, and level of ketosis,
on a daily basis combined with weekly body measurements and monthly
postprandial BG at one, two, and three hours after eating a test meal
with moderate carbohydrate content but no sugar. This system works very
well and if a stall in weight loss is experienced, there is usually a
clear, fairly obvious explanation. I worked up a book proposal but
haven't had much luck selling it to a publisher. My editor at Penguin
says that it is too daunting a process for the reader. An editor at
Basic Health Books just said he didn't want my book. I know from working
with people who want to lose weight that they do not find it difficult.
They tell me that the daily feed-back on their progress is helpful and
encouraging. Nonetheless, I can't seem to get a publisher interested....
perhaps because I don't have an MD. I'm still trying to sell the book
proposal but in the interim, here is a thumbnail sketch of my program:
You should take one week to establish your base measurements before you
begin the diet. (I know you can't do that Jim because you are already
working on the diet.) Then, allow three days to get into ketosis - less
if you can either fast or drink only olive oil for your first day's
sustenance. Once in ketosis
1. Your fasting BG should be below 6.0 mmol/L or 110 mg/dl during the
first few weeks and below 5.5 mmol/L or 100 mg/dl after that.
2. If your fasting BG is staying high, you are either eating too much
carbohydrate or getting too much protein.
3. If your BP is up and your fasting BG is up, then carbs are the likely
culprit, especially if your ketone bodies are low or gone.
4. If your ketones are high, your fasting BG is low and your weight is
stalled, then you may be eating too much salt.
The interpretation information (such as the above) will fill a whole
chapter, but I thought, since many of you have talked about stalling on
weight loss, that you might be interested in getting a sense of how my
program works and the above are the most important points. All of the
principles used to interpret these self-monitoring test results come
from the books (Taubes, Eades, Cordain, etc.) and discussions that are
kicked around here on this list. So the information isn't anything I
have invented or anything. I am just putting the information into a
format that allows a dieter to have a handy reference text to see what
might be causing a weight loss stall, or a shift out of ketosis, or a
spike in BP, etc. I am still writing the book, and none of the chapters
(except the intro) are finished, but I am getting close to completion.
I hope to have a publisher by the time it is done. In the interim, I
hope that some of you who are experiencing stalls will benefit from the
above.
best wishes,
Ron
On 26/01/2011 12:49 PM, [log in to unmask] wrote:
> I weigh myself on New Years Eve and I am 170.2 pounds. Normal paleo
> weight for me -- not trying to lose weight or do anything special is
> about 155. Being that it's a new year, I decide to lose those 15
> pounds. Method: low carb paleo without measuring protein or anything.
> No alcohol. And I will resume regular high intensity weight training
> after taking a break for a few weeks (with only intermittent workouts
> during that time). I'll continue this plan until Valentine's Day and
> then allow myself a bottle of wine as a reward.
>
> After week one, I am at 165, a loss of five pounds. Good.
>
> After week two, 165.
>
> Week three (now): 165
>
> Huh? No weight lost in two weeks?
>
> I am not at all discouraged. Maybe I've replaced lost fat weight with
> muscle. But it is slightly curious.
>
> Thoughts?
>
> Jim Swayze
> www.fireholecanyon.com
>
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