DIETING

Eva did it, and so can YOU

My sister in law, Eva, began eating a low-carb diet in February and has lost 46 pounds! She only has 4 more pounds to reach her goal. She looks great, feels great, and says she’s different inside. You’ve probably heard that before from people you know who have lost weight, but do you wonder what finally put them over the edge? What it was that finally brought on that “conversion” that it takes to do something this huge?

I’ll let you in on our conversation the other day:

• What made you decide to begin eating low-carb?

It was a lot of things that happened at about the same time. For years I’d talk to my friends, Jeri & Cliff, and we’d wonder how we can want something so bad and not just make ourselves do it? We’d all commit to keep trying. Then we went on this cruise in February and I was miserable trying to find anything to wear. Soon after some friends asked us to go on a trip over spring break, but I just thought, “No way could I go with you, you’re too thin, I’d feel like a whale next to you on the beach.” I’d watch Biggest Loser and pray, “Lord, help ME lose weight so I can feel good, too.” You just come to the end of your rope and decide it’s time.

• Why do you think some people never seem to get to that point?

They stay in denial, they don’t want to give up that favorite treat that they think helps them through their day, but instead it’s just a 5-minute pick-me-up. They have no idea how good this feels.

• What do you like about eating low-carb, rather than some of the other diets out there?

Many reasons: 1. There are just so many things you can eat, I never feel hungry or deprived at all. I eat meats, healthy fats, and lots of different veggies – they’re so full of flavor. 2. With low-carb, weight steadily comes off. When I tried cutting back on overall calories, I was always hungry and I’d lose a pound or 2 every couple weeks, but with low-carb it just comes off fast. 3. In the past, every month I’d have a big fluctuation of emotion depending on where I was in my cycle, but all that is gone now – no more extreme highs and lows, things just don’t bother me like they used to.

• Do you exercise?

I walk 2-3 miles every day and I LOVE it – I can hardly wait to get out there, I plan my day around it. I have so much energy and can’t wait to get going. I’ve even added a little bit of running. It’s also a great time to pray. (Note, I asked Eva if she would run a 5K with me in the spring and she said, “maybe”!)

• Do you miss bread or sweets?

If someone would have told me that after only a couple weeks of not eating carbs I wouldn’t crave them or care if I had them at all, I wouldn’t have believed them. But now a typical sweet dessert tastes just too sweet. Sometimes it might smell good, but I tell myself that I’ve eaten enough of those sweets my whole life, I know what it would taste like, but instead I want to be healthy enough to make it through the 2nd half of my life!

• What have been other’s responses to your weight loss?

For some it makes them uncomfortable, especially other women, because deep down that is what they want – which is how I always felt, too. I just keep telling everyone that you have to get your head straight before you start, figure out why you want it, and then give yourself a year. Tell yourself, “I’m going to do it, whether it takes me all year or not.” Give yourself time and be patient. I had to remind myself of that over and over. Doug (her husband, my brother) asked me, “How do you eat an elephant? One bite at a time.” He helped me be patient when I’d go through a plateau.

Other people try to make you feel like you’re going to put it back on as soon as you’re eating a regular diet again, but they don’t understand, I don’t plan to ever eat that way again. I don’t want that stuff, I feel so much better now. (Although soon I do plan to slowly try to add in whole grains.)

Then there are those who are so excited for you, and want to support you or even lose weight with you. My friend, Jeri, has lost 11# in 2 weeks on low-carbs. My friend, Cliff, who is also eating low-carbs, has lost 58#.

• Is it tricky getting used to being thin?

Someone called me skinny the other day and I couldn’t even believe they were talking to me! For years I felt so miserable, now it makes me cry, it can’t even sink in that I finally did it.

We talked about all the ways she feels better about herself:

• Spiritually, because denying yourself is good for the soul, and so is connecting daily with the One who made you. (She prays daily on her walks.)
• Emotionally, because self-discipline is empowering. Eva’s words: “Self-loathing really wears on you.”
• Physically, for obvious reasons. When a flight of stairs is easy again, it’s no small thing. There’s nothing like moving your body, and the feeling that, “I can really do this!” That’s how I feel when I’m running – even through the pain, I feel very alive out in God’s world, seeing and smelling all His gifts around me.

My thanks to Eva for letting me share her inspiring story here.

• Lifestyle changes – and how they’re all the same (there will always be people who just aren’t ready to make those same changes)
• Mark Sisson from Mark’s Daily Apple on FOX News talking about which diet really works
• Low-carb dieting - many ideas here for what to eat if you want low-carb!
• Eva is taking her cod liver oil daily, are you?
• Tips on making exercise happen - how I got into it
• My running saga…pathetic!
• Have you seen my other blog yet, Christianity 101? (It’s help for those who don’t “get” the whole “Christianity thing”, which is how I always used to feel.)
• Many more topics along the right in the sidebar

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Wonder how to know which eggs you should buy?

Have you heard that breakfast eggs can increase weight loss?

I can vouch for this story – when I eat an egg (or two) for breakfast, I’m not hungry again for a long time. I always cook it in plenty of butter, shake on some sea salt and pepper, and usually melt a piece of cheese on top, too – NEVER Velveeta or the nasty Kraft “processed cheese food” slices!

photo by the girl

Breakfast Eggs Increase Weight Loss 65%

(Many more topics along the right in the sidebar!)

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Need to lose a few pounds and want to try some no carb or low carb foods?  (By the way, many of the low-carb ideas are gluten-free, too!)

Scroll down if you want to skip to the many low-carb food ideas, or check out this blog carnival with even MORE low-carb meal ideas! But first…

The news I have to share with you this week isn’t a big health or nutrition story that just broke on Fox or CNN, but instead it’s just a little personal news about my latest dieting endeavors.

The more I read, the more I’m finding that losing weight is more about carbs than anything else. (This is assuming you already do the obvious – eating more whole foods, less processed foods, etc.) Carbs (not healthy fats) are what kick in the insulin response in our bodies, which is what leads to fat in all those nasty places. There’s much more to it, obviously, but lowering your carbs is great not just for weight loss, but especially for Type II diabetics, and for our health in general. (Read more at this GAPS post about how no carbs/low carbs can be part of a protocol to heal your whole immune system.) If we could stick to only whole grains (especially properly prepared grains), but not TOO many of those, either, all while eating no refined sugars, breads, pastas, etc., we’d be doing very well. (Oh, but I love my sweets!)

As I told you about in this post, Does Fat Make You Fat?, the dieting in my life usually consists of keeping an eye on things (the scales, my clothes, etc.) and when I start creeping up a little, I’ll do something before it gets really bad. It takes a few days to motivate myself, and I always have to plan it when there’s nothing big coming up (where there might be a lot of tempting foods). I’ll watch the carbs for a week or two, and step up the exercising some (when I can), and that’s usually all it takes to get me back where I need to be. (If I’m a huge pig, it comes back on, but most of it stays off for a good while anyway before it creeps back.)

DAMN DRYER

Well, recently it wasn’t so much a big change in the scales, and it wasn’t my jeans (you gotta love those low-waisted jeans, even if they do tend to fall down without a belt), it was when I had a dress on that I hadn’t worn since fall. In the fall when Kent & I were in Chicago to celebrate our 20th anniversary, this dress fit great, and it wasn’t tight at all. When I wore it the other day, it drove me nuts readjusting it over and over because it got snug. As much as I wanted to blame it on the dryer, I knew that I’d also gotten that “thick” look in the middle. With bathing suit days here, I knew it was time. So after a few days of “gearing up” my brain for it, making a list, and then shopping for the right foods, I started Thursday on my no/low-carbs diet for a while.

photo by joesh labotnik

What have I been eating, you ask? Plenty. Here’s the rundown:

• Kent’s Easy Asian Pork Loin – Low carb AND gluten-free!
• This tasty Fried Fish with Fresh Lemon Garlic Pesto
• This Yakisoba recipe is SOOOOO good with extra veggies instead of the noodles!
• Low Carb DELICIOUS Bruschetta Without Bread!
• These stuffed jalepeno poppers are one of my favorite low-carb treats. My neighbor friend, Meg, is also cutting back on carbs (read about Meg at this recipe post), so she & I ate a ton of these in the middle of the day yesterday. Besides an egg in the morning, a few veggies and a very little bit of fruit, that’s all I had for the day. My plan worked: I filled up on those, so I wasn’t tempted by all the yummy food and treats at the graduation open house we went to.
• Another favorite are these roll-ups. I’ll make cilantro ancho-chili lime mayo, spread it on a piece of all-natural honey ham, then wrap up the broccoli for a nice crisp and tasty low-carb treat.
• I eat a lot of eggs when I’m watching the carbs – here are all different egg recipes, some with carbs and a few really yummy ones without.
• Joe’s no-carb no-grain Tabouli – yum!
  
• I love a good fried burger with sea salt, pepper and melted cheese on top.
• If I really needed to drop some pounds fast, I’d eliminate ALL carbs for a while (this is not easy, but it’s a good kick-start for a couple weeks, then you could switch to carbs in “moderation” – I hate that word), but I am snacking just a little this time on fruits. (I’m talking about 3 strawberries twice a day, or 5 grapes, so not a lot.)
• Thankfully, it’s farm market season, so I’ll snack on various veggies that I’ve got all clean and in bowls in the fridge, like pea pods, cherry tomatoes, etc.
• Tonight we’re having steak for dinner, and sautéing more farm market veggies, like asparagus in one pan, and green & yellow zucchini in another.
• Salads are always satisfying, especially if you add chicken or steak. I got fresh greens at the farm market the other day, and I may put a couple strawberries on top, a hard-boiled egg, a homemade dressing with less sugar than I’d normally use, some cucumbers, parmesan cheese, and a few crispy pecans. (But be careful not to eat too many nuts when trying to lose weight.)
• Here’s another good one that I love all the time, and it happens to be very low-carb (maybe no carb?): Caprese Salad
• Even though it’s been warm out and it’s not really chili weather, we all still love it. Soon I’ll make traditional chili and a white chicken chili - both are low-carb. (Update: last night I made chili and tonight we had leftovers on the all-natural hotdogs from Cosco. The fam had the homemade buns I made, but I fried up a couple dogs, cut them up and ate them in a bowl of chili – it was so good!)
• I’ll snack on celery and peanut butter – it’s filling and sometimes I need the crunch.  Or if I need a quick snack, I’ll just grab a spoonful of peanut butter by itself!
  
• I’m really missing my sweets, but if I keep myself from getting hungry, it hasn’t been too terrible.
• Meg & I are on the hunt for a no carb/low carb alcoholic bevie, does anyone know of any? Keep in mind, while I’ll rarely have a beer, I mostly like the fruity chick drinks, so it can’t be anything too hard.
• Here’s a fairly low-carb dessert! Homemade chocolate or vanilla ice cream – there’s not a lot of sugar in this, but if you’re trying to lose weight, you may still want to steer clear. (However, if you’re going to have a little treat, this is a good choice, because all the healthy fats in this recipe help slow down the insulin response from the sugar. Here’s another good one for the same reason: Crème Brule)
• This pesto chicken or just cheesy chicken is SO easy SO good and low-carb!
• Organic Broccoli Salad
• Eva told me about these 0 carb crackers for when you need something to eat with dips or for something to spread cream cheese on:  Scandinavian Bran Crisp Bread.  They didn’t look real appetizing, but I ended up liking them, they just taste like a Triscuit.  (They are in a small plastic wrapped package in the ethnic section at our grocery store.)
• 5 minute meal – egg drop soup!
• Fried cabbage is an easy, filling, tasty treat!
• Chicken Lettuce Wraps like P.F. Chang’s
  
• Please comment below if you have other low carb/no carb ideas!

Exercise really kicks things into gear

While it’s mostly all about what you’re eating, of course exercise still has to be in the mix. Until recently I was in a bad streak around here where I felt totally buried under my to-do list, so I haven’t been out in a couple weeks. I finally got out and ran last night…while pushing a jogger, which STINKS I’m here to tell ya. Then I roller bladed today – a lot of it was against the wind, so what I’m saying is that after being good all weekend, I’d better be doing a happy dance after checking the scales and measuring tape in the morning.

• Remember, when dieting or at anytime, get rid of the bad fats in your kitchen!
• Read about a low-carb dieting success story!
  
• Whether you’re a diabetic, a heart patient, you’re dieting, or you’re just breathing, avoid trans fats and high fructose corn syrup like the plague!
• When you add the carbs back in, only eat whole grains (as much as possible anyway) – read this post to find out why it is so important
• Don’t forget about the benefits of coconut if you’re dieting- it kick starts your metabolism
• Watch a video about the benefits of low carbs
  
• Overweight Kids – 16 ways to help
• Read about the first time I ever went on a diet
• Do artificial sweeteners cause weight gain?
• Forget Lassie – Simple Carbs Are Man’s Best Friend – I just found this new blogger and love his writing!
• Here’s another “take” on weight loss: try Intermittant Fasting
• Many more topics & recipes along the right in the sidebar

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Does fat make you fat? Could healthy fat actually be good for us? Believe me, I’m aware of how “politically incorrect” I am when it comes to this topic!

TWO PART SERIES ON FATS AND DIETING

• PART 1 – saturated fat, cholesterol and heart disease issues (and one little tid-bit about the role of fats related to sexuality)
• PART 2 – today we’ll look at specific principles related to dieting

LET’S GET TO THE NITTY GRITTY ABOUT DIETING

It’s true; gram for gram, fat has more calories than proteins or carbs. BUT ALL CALORIES ARE NOT THE SAME! As I said before, I’m not suggesting we sit down to a meal of butter, but a diet with 35-40% of calories from fat is nothing to fear, instead we should enjoy it. NOT by counting how many grams of fat we eat per day, either. Just don’t be shy about cooking with healthy oils, and slathering some butter on your fresh veggies!

• Fat helps us to feel full, this is important for obvious reasons. It satisfies us – we crave cholesterol and fat because they’re essential to our health and they help our bodies to digest and USE what we’ve eaten.
• What do fats, protein and fiber all have in common? They all slow down the insulin response in our bodies, which is spiked after eating carbs (bread, pasta, rice, any sugary foods, including fruit, etc.)

WHAT DOES INSULIN HAVE TO DO WITH WEIGHT-LOSS?

Read some excerpts from this Diabetes Health article by Jamie Bailes, MD, The fat-free fallacy, obesity’s enabler?:

• “I researched and relearned the physiology and biochemistry behind low-carb diets. As I began to take a closer look, my findings were not what I expected. It all came back to insulin. Insulin is what causes fat storage. Insulin is what drives weight gain. Insulin is what is secreted when we eat carbohydrates.”
• “Let me say this again: insulin promotes the production and storage of fat. That’s right, even without eating fat, our body produces fat from sugar.” (All carbs convert to sugar in our body.)
• “In the appropriate amount, insulin keeps the metabolic system running smoothly and everything in balance. However, in great excess it becomes a dangerous hormone wreaking havoc through the body. Mountains of scientific evidence implicate insulin as the primary cause or significant risk factor for high blood pressure, heart disease, arteriosclerosis and high cholesterol. It may also have a causative role in type 2 diabetes.”

“BUT I LOST WEIGHT ON A LOW-FAT DIET!”

We all may know someone who has great self-discipline and lost weight on Weight Watchers or other low-fat diets. But what if it had more to do with how they were cutting down on portion sizes and sweets consumption and had nothing do with dietary fat? What if they instead had watched their carbs and portions, ate enough healthy fats (to slow down the insulin response in the carbs), and were sure to include exercise into the plan, could they have had an easier go of it? And a better chance of keeping the weight off? Not to mention a healthier body overall with a stronger immune system, better regulation of insulin levels (as discussed above), healthier liver function, etc.

An excerpt from this article, “The fat that can make you thin”:

• “The simple truth is that low-fat diets don’t work-not permanently. You can lose weight on them if you starve yourself. You’re hungry and miserable the whole time. In order to keep the weight off you must continue to limit what you eat and go hungry. Few people are willing to live a life of constant discomfort. For this reason, low-fat dieting is difficult to maintain for any length of time. Consequently, most people eventually revert back to old eating habits. When they do, the weight comes back.”

BOTTOM LINE FOR WEIGHT LOSS

If you want to drop extra pounds and enjoy great health, here are 7 suggestions:

1. Try to get over your fat phobia and add healthy fats back into your diet. Don’t hesitate to put them on things like plenty of yummy local, preferably organic, veggies! (Healthy fats are traditional fats such as: full fat dairy products – preferably from grass fed cows, egg yolks, cod liver oils, animal fats, cold-pressed extra virgin olive oil, virgin coconut oil, butter, and small amounts of sesame or peanut oil. Unhealthy fats include: all hydrogenated and partially hydrogenated oils/trans fats, margarine, corn, safflower, rapeseed/canola, sunflower, and soybean oils, especially when refined or heated.)
2. Watch your carbs and portions – I’m not always great at this part either, but I try to keep an eye on the scale and when I see I’m creeping up a little, I’ll make the decision (often the toughest part), then watch the carbs for a couple weeks, and that’s all it takes to get me back where I need to be. I never cut out meat or healthy fats. (Self-control is never easy, but I try, with God’s help, to control my body, and not let cravings, desires, etc. control ME. I fail often!)
3. When you do eat carbs, make sure they are whole grain.
4. AVOID trans fats and high fructose corn syrup! If you find items in your cupboards or frig with those ingredients, if at all possible, I suggest you toss them straight into the trash. Start reading labels so you can avoid them.
5. Limit or eliminate the sweets! (And hopefully you’re better about this one than I am!)
6. DON’T FORGET YOUR OMEGA-3′S, ESPECIALLY IF YOU’RE PREGNANT OR NURSING! Cod liver oil is a great source! These are very important for everyone, but especially for proper brain development in your baby and the avoidance of childhood illnesses! Here’s one more article from Newsmax on the importance of omega-3’s for pregnant Moms and children for proper brain development.
7. Exercise – find something you love to do! I may not limit the sweets as much as I should, but I am going for a run in a few minutes on this gorgeous spring day!

DISCLAIMER:

As with anything and everything you see on this blog, be sure to do your own research and talk with your doctor before you make any drastic changes in your life. I don’t know what your specific health issues might be and I don’t know your health history. However, don’t JUST talk to your doctor without researching it yourself, too. Most doctors’ main area of expertise is in the field of medicine. I’m not saying that is all bad, but nobody can know everything, so what would be especially helpful is if you had a doctor who is knowledgeable about the natural ways of looking at things, too, and who doesn’t necessarily use medicine as a first line of attack.

RELATED POSTS/LINKS:

• Harmful ingredients to avoid
• Kelly’s yummy popcorn recipe with coconut oil
• My 7 favorite kitchen gadgets
• Life changes, 5 ways they’re all the same
• What if it was all a big fat lie? - New York Times writer, Gary Taubes, takes on the “low-fat is good for you” mentality.

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WHERE TO BUY organic virgin coconut oil.

Or keep reading for more info…

“COCONUT OIL IS THE HEALTHIEST OIL ON EARTH”

Coconut oil is a healthy fat that can help to kick-start your metabolism and assist you in weight loss – it is very different from other fats because it turns into instant energy and isn’t stored in fat cells. (Remember not all fats and calories are alike!) It is a lot like butter, cod liver oil and olive oil when you’re thinking of traditional fats and oils that have been used for thousands of years. Compare them to newer fats and oils like margarine, soy, canola, safflower, corn, sunflower and any of the others that you’ve only heard of in the past few decades, and think of how heart disease, diabetes and other issues are on the increase; whereas people have consumed coconut oil in many parts of the world for centuries. You may not have heard what a healthy fat coconut oil is due to it’s high saturated fat content, but coconut oil contains medium-chain fatty acids and does not have a negative effect on cholesterol, it actually can help protect your heart. Coconut oil is also rich in lauric acid. Read more at this “new look at coconut oil” link about the benefits of coconut oil and lauric acid and also find out about the latest studies on coconut oil.

photo by Koshyk

This post would go on forever if I tried to cover each topic at length, so here’s what I suggest: Google it! Whatever your issue is, type that in along with “coconut oil” and you’ll find all sorts of research and help. (If you need my help, leave a comment below.)

HOW TO GET MORE COCONUT INTO YOUR DIET

If you’re like me and don’t like the flavor of coconut (unless it’s in smoothies or in my popcorn), it’s trickier getting it into your diet, but usually you can find some recipes you like it in. Just Google “coconut recipes” and you’ll find a ton. If you find one you like, PLEASE leave a comment below and share it with us!

Also, if I’m making a recipe that I know I don’t want the flavor of coconut in, then I’ll use the unflavored, but that’s refined. From what I’ve been able to figure out, this coconut oil is no where near as beneficial as the unrefined virgin coconut oil that I’m talking about in this post, but it’s still better than none at all. See this post for info on where to get that at the best price.

WHERE TO GET THE BEST PRICE AND OTHER IMPORTANT INFORMATION

• More info from Carrie about eczema!
• First, if you’re wondering about whether or not I make any money if you end up buying the below products, read #3 at my FAQ post and I’ll answer that question.
• Click here for the BEST PRICE on a good brand of organic virgin coconut oil
• Ways to get more coconut into your diet – ideas from YOU
  
• I highly recommend this book, Eat Fat, Lose Fat: The Healthy Alternative to Trans Fats, for more information on the benefits of coconut oil, especially as it relates to weight loss, along with some recipes to help you find ways to get more into your diet – and don’t forget to check out my popcorn recipe! Also, see the link below for more on coconut oil and weight loss.
• If you suffer from eczema, read the comment section at my cod liver oil post (scroll to the bottom) for more detailed information on that topic.
• You can also get the benefits of coconut oil through your skin when applied topically. Unless I’m going right to bed, I like the coconut oil cream on my skin because it soaks in better than the oil. It works well to help heal cuts or painfully dry skin, and is great on my hands after a day of changing diapers and washing a lot – they always heal quicker with this cream. Here’s what I use:
  Tropical Traditions Organic Virgin Coconut Oil Moisturizing Cream – Unscented – 4-oz. I also get this for dry lips:
  Tropical Traditions Organic Virgin Coconut Oil Lip Moisturizer – Unscented. And I really like their coconut oil/tea tree oil soap, which I tried based on Nina Planck’s recommendation. (I love her book, Real Food: What to Eat and Why.) Just do a search at the same link as above (for the cream or lip moisturizer) for “Tropical Traditions soap” and it will come up.
• For more interesting reading, especially for you skeptics out there, be sure to scroll down and check out the RELATED LINKS below!

Related Links/Posts:

• Think this is all a bunch of bunk? Check out this page full of coconut research links
• The fat that makes you thin
• Here’s a good overview on coconut oil benefits, and even though this site sells it (makes my radar go up), everything you read here is information found in many other places, this site just happens to explain it the best
• Some typical questions and misconceptions on fats and oils
• How coconut oil can help your heart!
• More here on coconut oil and weight loss
• Do diet foods make you fat?
• Healthy milk
• More info on coconut oil & dieting, along with the recipe that is mentioned in the comments below
• Coconut oil lowers cholesterol and improves thyroid function!
  

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