Twelve Musketeers!
I can't be the one to prescribe penance, because I too have recently been so far off the wagon as to be uncertain how many wheels it had.
I'm not a 12 Musketeers kinda guy but I do understand beer. Good beer. Lovely English ales. I spent some time in Dublin this summer and was delighted to experience the new (to me) craft beer scene there. On my last trip to Ireland in 2004 it didn't exist.
But I hate to tell you how fat I got in the past year or so. I'm not just talking about beer, but also all manner of other stuff, all the while somehow convincing myself that I was "sort of" lowcarb.
Late in August, the doc put me on blood pressure med. It made me feel like crap. I took a hard look at myself and realized I was just another fat old guy headed for trouble. I decided to get a fresh start. And I also decided to keep it as simple as possible.
Ironically, your experiment, Jim, was part of my inspiration.
Over a year ago, I did a two-month zero-carb experiment. It wasn't a great success. I lost very little weight, and found that I needed Falstaffian amounts of meat to keep hunger at bay. I didn't want to repeat that.
So this time I decided to try the "Optimal Diet" of Jan Kwasniewski, the "Polish Atkins.". Actually, that's not quite accurate, since I didn't even buy his book and study the details of his plan. I just got the bare bones of it online and decided "I'll do this.". I was also encouraged by the endorsement of Peter, at Hyperlipid, who I consider one of the most insightful nutrition-health bloggers around.
The essence of the OD is: limited protein, limited carb, lots of fat. His protein prescription is fairly low: 1g per kg of "ideal weight. That's about 93g/ day for me. Carb should be .5 to .8 of that. According to some sources it's .5; others say .8; apparently JK himself has said different things at different times. I don't care. Keep it simple, right? So I shoot for 45-65g/ day. Close enough, and easier to comply with a "window" than a single number. He also prescribes 2.5-3.5g of fat per protein gram. That's a lot of fat, and I just ignore that and consume fat to satiety, which is always less than those numbers. I see no reason to force-feed myself fat.
That's it. To make it work, without a lot of extra effort, I use dairy fats liberally. I track everything I eat, using the FatSecret app on my BlackBerry. Most days, fat accounts for 70-75% of my calories. I try to buy quality meats and produce. I avoid vegetable oils as much as possible. Apart from the dairy fats, I try to choose paleo foods, but I don't obsess about it.
I started OD on August 22. I've lost 23 lbs to date. I was able to get off the BP med after two weeks on the diet. I feel good and, most importantly, don't find the diet overly burdensome. I have the occasional Amstel Light and enjoy it--and record it. It's not as nice as Old Specked Hen but it's okay. I was staring to get some slyt arthritis in my hands. Gone now. I have about 40 lbs more to lose, and I finally have some confidence that I can do it.
This isn't paleo, so I apologize for sending it to the list. It can be made paleo, and perhaps I'll eventually do that. But I've realized that the best diet is the one I can actually follow, rather than the one that I think I should follow but don't.
For example, when I need a quick and simple meal, and I have no time to figure out what to eat, I found that the full-fat Greek "Fage" yogurt is nearly perfect, in terms of protein, fat, and carbs. I get a 500g container and eat it and I'm good to go. It's very filling, in fact. And it's easy to find in supermarkets.
I'm careful not to make the mistake of skipping the carbs. Even though my brain tells me I should just be able to have more protein instead, it just doesn't work out as well. My appetite gets crazy. I don't know why, but that's how it is, and I'm just going to accept it. It doesn't take a lot of carbs to stay on plan, but it takes some, whether I understand it or not. As long as it works, I'm going to resist the temptation to tweak or "improve" it.
Todd Moody
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