Well, we’ve come to the end of our Weight Loss & Wellness Adventure. I hope you’ve learned as much as I have from the many comments that have been shared, and thank you all for joining in to help each other reach our 2011 goals! Today we’ll talk about where we go from here and other diets you may wonder about. But first…
There’s still time to enter the giveaways!
You have until noon Eastern today to sign up for any of the giveaways listed at this link to the main post on the Wellness Adventure. Winners will be announced tomorrow in the Kitchen Kop newsletter, which I hope you’ve signed up for by now, and in there I’ll also give you any coupon codes that my sponsors are offering for those who didn’t win!
(By the way, for those who I’ve confused: the newsletter is sent periodically with extra scoop that might not be on the blog, or special coupons for stuff from the Kop Shop or from other bloggers. By signing up, you also get a chance to win a Real Food Ingredient Guide. Signing up for blog updates via RSS or email is different: this is just to get new blog posts emailed to you or to show up in your feed reader so you don’t miss anything. I hope you’ll do both!)
Where do we go from here?
Your plan from here on out depends totally and completely on YOU…
- Do you still have a lot of weight to lose? Then you’ll probably want to keep on the low-carb plan, continue getting more exercise, and eat only Real Food. If
you ONLY did that last one, which is not difficult to do, then that would go a long way in helping you to meet your goals! (See below for a deal I have set up to help you with that part!) - Do you have health issues that aren’t yet resolved? Then you’ll probably want to stay grain-free and sugar-free for a while more, and possibly even move to the GAPS Diet for total healing.
- Did you meet your goals? Is so, then you’ll probably be able to go back to a few grains (properly prepared grains are best) or sweets now and then, as long as you take it easy and watch how your body does.
My plan:
Personally, I’ll continue with very few grains and very few sweets, but I’ll indulge on rare occasions and not freak about everything that goes into my mouth. But this is because I’m healthy overall. I have good energy, my clothes fit fine (although I’d love to lose a few more pounds), and I feel really good most days, unless I stay up too late the night before again. But I know that as I creep closer to middle age (I’m not at middle age yet right? At 43?), there are more and more chances and reasons for things to go awry (dumb hormones anyway). So I’m thankful to be practicing and learning, a little at a time, more about eating better. Lastly, I’ve been doing fairly OK with the exercise plan (at least twice/week), and when spring hits I’ll be ready to get outside and step that up more.
What’s your plan??
Any diets you’re wondering about?
I’d love to get your thoughts on these:
- When I was speaking to Dave at Green Pasture to set up the giveaway and telling him a little about the Wellness Adventure posts I was working on, he gave me his take on the whole low-carb thing… A South American he spoke to once said that they don’t limit carbs or protein, but what they do is only eat them in separate meals. Because these digest at different speeds, instead of eating them together in the same meal, if you eat them separately only, and always with plenty of healthy fats, you’ll lose weight. Dave said it worked for him. (I’m paraphrasing, but not very well, does anyone know what the official name for this diet is?) I’m not sure what I think about this (except the healthy fats part makes perfect sense) and would love your thoughts.
- My brother in law (remember Kevin, who did the alcohol testing on my Kefir Soda?) went to Taiwan for business recently. He said that the people there ate rice or noodles with every meal, and always with a some type of sweet sauce, which he got really sick of after a week. He didn’t see any soda pop there, everyone had green tea or “white tea” (tea with milk) at meals. They ate a lot of seafood since they’re on an island in the Pacific. They also did a lot of walking. He was in a 7-Eleven and saw no candy, just bagels and coffee. He didn’t see ONE person there who was overweight. Isn’t this interesting?! All this makes me wonder even more if Dr. Lustig was right? Maybe it really is not so much about the carbs, but more about avoiding fructose for good health and normal weight?!
- Have you seen this post? Is it possible to lose weight with Weight Watchers while eating Real Food?
- Do you have any interesting observations or a certain diet you’re wondering about?
Resources to help you move forward:
Have you visited Kim, the Nourishing Cook’s, new site yet: Eat Fat Lose Fat? If not, you’ll want to! She’s blogging all about the Sally Fallon/Mary Enig book and sharing her own weight loss journey along the way.- To help you continue toward wellness, I’m going to put up a discount on anything in the Kitchen Kop Shop: my Real Food guides, the 12-week Real Food for Rookies class, or consultations. Just through Wednesday get 15% off with the code: BE WELL.
{ 31 comments… read them below or add one }
I have a lot of weight to lose so I’ll be sticking to it as long as possible. I am still struggling with some things but I hope to realize that my health is worth it!
Sommersizing was something that used the principle of not eating carbs and proteins together (there were categories of proteins/fats and carb and fruit; fruit must be eaten on an empty stomach). It was the first lower carb diet I tried over 10 years ago and I lost 60lbs, even having meals with the carbs (which could not contain fat or protein) but it was hard and needed a lot of planning.
“But I know that as I creep closer to middle age (I
I need a “Like” button for this one!!
Dave’s South American diet sounds a little like food combining. I read a book about that years ago, but never followed the diet.
I’m still on my elimination diet. It may come to a crashing halt on the 29th when we go to a dinner hosted by my husband’s boss! If I can keep it going, I will for a few more weeks. I’m losing weight and would like to continue that, too.
Kelly, it is called food combining, and I think I heard someone like Sally Fallon of Nourishing Traditions say that we don’t need food combining, that most people in the world, including back before the introduction of white flour, eat something like bananas and meat together. If you want to look more into food combining read Paul Pitchford’s book “Healing with Whole Foods: Asian Traditions and Modern Nutrition”. He talks about it in detail.
Dave’s diet has different names. Mostly it called “Food Combining”. There are lots of books out there on the subject–trust me (I’ve bought a few).
As for China, what they eat now is a lot of white rice and things like that and it has done some terrible things to their health. I have to refer to the same book, “Healing with Whole Foods” by Paul Pitchford, since he talk about the TRADITIONAL asian diets and traditional Chinese medicine.
I personally think Weight Watchers is a waste of money, and that buying higher quality food is the goal.
I am also going to read the “Gut and Psychology Syndrome” and maybe follow a GAPs diet.
Focusing on protein, listening to the needs of my body aka eat when I’m hungry, stop when I’m satisfied. One thing that a restrictive “diet” does for me is make me realize how much eating I do from habit/boredom/”insert list of excuses here”. Real food is the only solution. Fake foods leave the body starving for nutrients.
Our weight loss challenge is over? I’m not ready for it to be over! I still need to lose the weight. I feel like I’m in a holding pattern now. To be honest, I’m not really over weight. I just feel like it because of how low my weight got before. It felt good not to have any pudge, and some of my clothes are a little tight. I want to be comfortable in them so the pudge needs to go.
I will stick with the low carb diet for awhile longer, not just for me but for my dh. When he goes back to the dr I want everything to be normal so he can stop taking the statin.
I know nothing about the 2 diets you mentioned. I’m going to stick with what I am doing. When the weather warms up I will be outside more. That should help.
Just my 2 cents – I think 43 is still young, but I’m 55. I’m still young, aren’t I? I’ll just keep telling myself that.
I’ll do pretty much what you’re doing, Kelly: avoid sugars and minimize grains. I got to the gym only once this week but will go again on Saturday when it will be too cold here to do anything outside, but as much as possible I’ll stay on my routine of exercising 5 days a week. I need to lose 6 more pounds and ideally should lose 5 more beyond that.
I can’t just eat protein (with healthy fats) alone that does not hold me so I have to mix a small amount of carbs into the mix. I have known for years that just eating protein with carbs makes me hungry in 2 hours. I still can’t lose weight NO MATTER what, so I ordered the GAPS book on Monday, unfortunatly it is on backorder.
I am going to keep working on reducing carbs and sugar and exercising a few times a week. Yesterday I walked for at least a half hour and today I am sore, that shows me that I need to do it more often. I have a lot of weight to lose so I want to focus on longterm sustainability for losing the weight. This has helped me to think about what I need to do differently and ways to do it. Thank you!
I’m going to continue without grains. Even if I didn’t have a lot of weight to lose, I’d keep it up. I’m staying full longer. I’m not exhausted and wanting a nap in the afternoons. I’m feeling better and have more energy.
I’m going to add fruit back in every so often. Bananas and berries. And maybe sweet potatoes or brown rice once a week. Dh is really missing those two.
Thanks for starting the challenge!
We ended up on GAPS. As long as I eat lots of protein I feel good! Grains spiked my blood sugar and I just didn’t feel well. And my husband’s allergic to grains and dairy. Fun, right? The kids and I do better on dairy so we’re still having yogurt and hard cheeses, as per full GAPS. And we’re not *trying* to lose weight (I’m 3 months pregnant) but just be healthy!
Food combining is also a central focus of the Body Ecology method by Donna Gates (bodyecology.com). Like GAPS, Donna focuses on strengthening our inner ecology so that we can heal our bodies. She has a book but you can gain almost everything you need from her website. I have found her info valuable.
I continued low carb this month but I did add some whole grains back into my diet after the first 2 weeks. Even though I was eating more vegetables instead of the carbs (and more protein), I do not believe I was receiving enough insolubable fiber.
I will continue no sugar, low carb to see if this helps me lose the extra weight (10 pounds) and feel better.
Kelly-
).
I haven’t really been following along with the weight-loss plan (although I wouldn’t mind dropping 5-10 pounds, we’ve just had some crazy stuff going on with our house the last couple weeks!). I did want to comment on the low/no-carb thing, though. You might want to read some of Matt Stone’s writings on the subject, as he pretty much debunks the whole low-carb philosophy, pointing out plenty of people around the world who have done just fine eating plenty of carbs. I am really starting to believe that it is mostly sugar and fructose and refined carbs that are the issue, and that it’s important for people to note their own individuality when it comes to this stuff-some people do really well with more protein and fat, while others may do really well eating large amounts of high-quality starches, etc. with less protein. Dr. Mercola talks about this on his site, and I think it makes a lot of sense (although it should be noted that I do take everything he says with a HUGE grain of salt
I guess when it comes down to it, it just seems a little silly to me to preach the benefits of eating REAL food only to turn around and vilify things like potatoes, carrots and other starches, and even grains when prepared properly (and which were mentioned throughout the Bible). So, I’m all for cutting down on sugar and refined carbs, but the whole low-carb approach in the end just doesn’t make a lot of sense to me…
Oops, I’m jumping in a little late here, but just wanted to say I agree! I am surprised honestly about how the WAPF community has embraced low-carb. Weston A. Price himself certainly never shied away from carbs. In fact, things like oatmeal, freshly-ground wheat (grains – the horror!) were features of the healthy diets he recommended, along with root vegetables, etc. I think any time we demonize any group of real food it’s moving in the wrong direction. Just as butter shouldn’t be demonized, neither should potatoes or bread or fruit.
I tend to think everybody is different. Some do really well on a low carb diet. Some do best to limit certain types of grains, but not all carbs. Some do better with more or less fat. Some need more protein than others. While I think everyone should be eating real, whole food, I also think it is important to find out what combination of those foods work best for you. I feel healthier and more energetic when I include starches in my diet, and I’ve never lost an ounce on a low-carb diet. My brother-in-law feels his best on a low carb diet and it is the only way that gets him to an optimal weight. We’re all different.
These comments have been really interesting. Whe I first lost a lot of weight I kept it off with the whole food diet. It’s been at least 2 years. Now all of a sudden I have a few extra pounds on me. I don’t know how that happened. I have made it a point to exercise regularly and stick to low carbs, but nothing’s changed. I was thinking today the low carb diet doesn’t seem to be working for me. I am watching the sugars more carefully, omitting them when I can. No desserts, so I don’t know.
Hi Kelly. I’m close to my short term goal but still have about 15 pounds to lose total. I’ll be watching our carbs via refined sugars and grains. We still do sweet potatoes because our grocery store had them for 25 cents a pound! ha
Also, my baby will be one in a few days so I’m making room for some birthday cake. It is not low carb!
I do agree with previous commenters that carbs have their place and nutrients as well. For me though, it’s just a small short-term change I can make to jump start some weight loss. And, I’ve still been very healthy because I’m pretty much just increasing the veggies. Salad almost every meal.
As soon as I can get a copy I will be following GAPS in my home. My family is doing so much better and eliminating all grains seems to make my life easier!
I just found the weight loss challenge a couple days ago and I have been reading. I was sucked into the low fat world of Weight Watchers in November. I was losing weight but felt so tired and horrible. I have turned back to my whole traditional foods ways. It has only been a week but I am already feeling better. I am going to keep using Weight Watchers because it helps me with portion control but I am eating more protein, fats, and properly preparing my grains. I think the program is a great tool for those of us who don’t have a good handle on portions but they give horrible nutrition advice.
Your post inspired me to start a blog today. It is about my experience combining weight watchers and traditional whole foods.
COOL!!!
PS…I don’t think grains or carbs are evil but just like other things like dairy, nuts, or gluten some people can’t handle them.
I did really well! I was bad 2 days this week (I have a few other friends who are also following the WAPF diet, but they have been doing it longer so are more relaxed and follow the 80/20 rule. Still though, I wasn’t *too* bad)
I lost 20 lbs since the new year. I plan to keep on doing what I was doing till I reach my target weight (another 30lbs) and then slowly reintroduce grains…
I’ve read some of what Matt Stone has to say and I don’t think he has debunked low carb at all. As a default way of eating, low carb works just fine for the vast majority of people. Most importantly, low carb is vital for people who are on the spectrum of metabolic syndrome and diabetes. (I know it’s the fad lately for type 1 bloggers to complain about low-carbing, but they have no more business eating a high-carb diet than do sufferers of type 2, even if they’re not fat!) It’s people who are metabolically HEALTHY who can get away with eating more starch, and occasionally natural sugars.
If you’re not healthy, don’t listen to Matt Stone just yet. Do an Atkins-style approach of dropping your carbs down low and then gradually easing back into them til you find your upper tolerance threshold. If you can eat enough to include tubers and fruits and sometimes properly prepared grains, then fantastic. If you can’t, then you will just have to resign yourself to eating differently. It beats going on metformin or insulin and if you do it right, it’s a lot cheaper.
Makes great sense to me. Well said.
I read The Perfect Health Diet by the Jaminets around new years. They talk about eating “safe” starches–I really love their approach because it’s balanced and science based.
I’m assuming their “safe starches” are things like root vegetables and fruits? Just curious.