What I know about LCHF

On my Facebook page, I'm getting LOADS of interest in the LCHF life - what is it and how it works. If you came here from that post, the next little bit is going to be a repeat before I get into the nitty gritty of what you're probably looking for.

First off, I'm not an LCHF expert by any stretch of the imagination. In fact, I'm still learning and researching this way of life and every day, I learn more and find new things to investigate. It's a process and I strongly encourage you to gather your own information to help answer your questions. The information is out there, you just have to find it. However, I am willing to help you find it as I share the teensy bit of knowledge I've gained. Pay attention to the title of this post. This is what I know. This is what I have learned in my research. If you know more, great. Please share it. If you found something different from what I know, great. Please share it. The wonderful thing about learning is that there is always more. And I want to soak up as much as I can.

Secondly, I'm not a doctor. I can't tell you this is a medically sound way of living for you because I'm not a doctor. I can, however, tell you about the things I've learned behind the science of this diet and how it works. I can link you to medical research studies and blogs written by nutritionists and encourage you to talk to your own doctor.

With all of that said, here is a little bit of what I've learned about LCHF. This post does not, by any stretch of the imagination, encompass the entirety of this lifestyle. It is merely a starting point. A place for you to jump forward in your own research journey.

What is LCHF?

I had a bit of trouble trying to figure out where to start with this thing in answering questions, so I guess I'll just start at the beginning. LCHF stands for Low Carb High Fat. It's not a new thing - it's been around for a little over a hundred years. Originally, it was developed to help people, mostly kids, with epilepsy. The eating plan evolved to help others with different sorts of medical issues when doctors and scientists realized how it was helping their patients in areas they weren't specifically treating. For a while there, it was touted as the best thing to replace sliced bread.  Something happened over the decades and people became weird about such a simple solution to medical issues. Pills and prescriptions became the preferred method of fixing what was wrong with us. And suddenly, fat was bad. LCHF eating was overlooked as a fad diet or mocked because someone decided eating fat is equivalent to ingesting cancer. Occasionally, the diet comes back in popularity with a new name and a few tweaks, but, ultimately, it's the same. Your diet consists of eating foods low in carbs (really low in carbs), and high in fat. You control your protein intake and your sugar intake is pretty much null. It's a way of life that is, truly, sustainable so it's not a fad diet. It's not really a diet at all, because, once you've become invested in it, it really is a way of life.  

Okay, so what is it, really? 

LCHF is how you modify your diet to stop using the food you're eating as your only source of fuel and start using the fuel you already have stored for energy (AKA the fat you want to melt off your thighs and hips). There's a whole bunch of science and chemistry involved in food digestion and how what passes our lips ultimately lands on our hips. I won't bore you with the details because, unless you're a science geek like I am, you won't be interested in it anyway. Here's what you need to know: You eat fat to burn fat.

Cool, right?

Still don't understand? Go here. This doctor does a better job of explaining it. He's pretty much a top guru for the lifestyle.

Pay Attention To This Part:

Now comes the warning part because most people see they can eat low carb, high fat to lose weight and go a little crazy. I know I did. You should be ready for these warnings because, if your a lifetime dieter like I am, you've heard them before. In fact, they're pretty much the basis of any diet, way of life, eating plan, or whatever you want to call it. Calories in minus calories out equals weight loss. If you want to lose weight, you have to eat less than what you expend in energy. Low carb high fat does not mean you can go hog wild (oh, I am a punny one). You can't eat as much bacon and butter as you can handle in a day and expect the pounds to melt off.  You can't sit on your couch and think that, because you haven't had a gram of sugar or a spot of starch in your diet, your ass is going to magically lose inches.  

You HAVE to monitor your calories.  

You HAVE to monitor your macros.  

You HAVE to exercise. 

But, I have special circumstances! My body is different than yours!

No, actually, it isn't. Your body works the same way mine does when it comes to this. Every body does. Take a look at this article, it's filled with the science of thermodynamics. Calories in and calories out equals weight loss. Yes, some people struggle a little more than others because there is more to the science of weight loss (and the article addresses that - put your excuses aside and read it to understand it), but, ultimately in the end, bottom line - calories in vs calories out equals weight loss.

Monitor your calories. Monitor your macros. Exercise.  

If you aren't losing weight it's probably one of the following reasons: You're eating more than you think you are. You aren't exercising enough to burn off the excess calories.  

When you start monitoring what passes your lips on its way to your thighs, you'll be surprised at what you discover.

Macros? WTF?

I've mentioned macros a couple of times and if you aren't familiar with the term, you might be wondering what magic I speak of.  

Macros is a short way of saying macronutrients. There are three of them and they are the fundamental keys that your body relies on to function.  

Protein

Fat

Carbohydrates

While looking for a better and easier way to explain this to you all, I found this blog post that does a pretty awesome job of saying what I wanted to convey about the keto lifestyle. (Keto is another name for LCHF). She also has some pretty cool links on the sidebar that will take you to other places with more really great information on LCHF. Go here to check it out.

Clear as mud?

Did you click the links? Did you read to understand and not just get that part over with to get to the good stuff? Go back and read them again - that was the good stuff. Go back again and click through the links they supplied. Like I said in the beginning, there is LOADS of information out there, you just have to look for it. More than that, you have to be willing to look for it. If you're not willing to learn for yourself, I can't teach you.

Sweet dreams are made of these

In my quest to not diet, enjoy life, and just be me, but a healthier me, I made a super delicious dinner tonight.

I had to go into town to go grocery shopping after school and, of course, there's a snow storm going on (the kind where people miraculously forget to how to drive), so it took for-freaking-ever to get there and then home again.  It was late by the time we got everything unloaded and my kids were moaning about growling tummies, so the meal I had planned on wasn't happening.  I needed something quick, but I still wanted to stay healthy.  I had some ham steaks on hand, so I heated those up.  I had a BBQ ranch broccoli slaw that I had gotten at Sam's (and it's divine), so we had that with it.  And, I had bought some sweet potatoes tonight, too.

Now, I've bought sweet potatoes before and they always end up moldering away in the pantry until I toss them out.  Not only have I never been a fan of that overly syrupy marshmallow glob covered dish served on Thanksgiving, but I just didn't know what to do with them or how to cook them.  Yet, I still bought them from time to time with some crazy idea that just never hatched fully or got carried out to completion.  In my research this weekend, I learned that the sweet potato is a powerful little commodity in the battle of the bulge, so I bought them again tonight.  And I was determined to get over my fears and use them.  Thanks to Google and some modifications, I added sweet potatoes to the meal to help fill those ever hollow bellies that I live with.

Can I just say . . . O.  M.  G.  soooo fricken good!  How did I not know these existed to be cooked this way?  These may become a new guilty pleasure.

So, how'd I do it?  I washed 4 medium sized sweet potatoes and then poked them twice (once on each "side") with a steak knife.  Then, I put them in the microwave for 10 minutes on high.  I pulled them out, sliced them open in half and then kind of pulled the knife through the meat inside to kind of open it up for the seasoning.  I put a pat of butter in the middle of the crease and then sprinkled a little sea salt and a whole lot of pepper all over them.  Then, I put them in a 450 degree oven until smoke billowed out the front because I failed to take into account the high heat, the butter and the fact that I put the spuds on my rectangular cooking stone and not one that had sides.

Oops.

But, it was maybe about 5 minutes or so that they were in there.  After opening the windows and turning all the fans on to air the house out, I dished up dinner - including the now smoked sweet potatoes.

Despite a near tragedy, these babies were delicious!  Tender and savory with just a hint of sweet.  Not that overpowering syrupy sickness that I was used to pairing with a sweet potato.  No, THIS is how a sweet potato should be made.

My guys agreed they were good, but were maybe not as enthusiastic as I've been over them.  But, what do they know?  They eat boogers.

Anything Goes

I've spent the weekend reflecting.  And I've come to realize something very important.  Something that needs to be stopped immediately before someone gets hurt.

You see, Prince Charming and I have been misbehaving badly.  Very badly.

Especially when we go out in public.

Or are left to our own devices in the kitchen.  We are very, very naughty.

No, not like that, you dirty minded little perv.

We've been enabling each other like crazy.  "You're tired, don't cook, we'll go out."  "We're in town, anyway, we'll go out."  "I just cleaned this kitchen spotless, I don't want to mess it up.  Let's go out."  And we've been falling back into our old bad habits - eating out way too much.  And it's showing.  The scales aren't dipping like we want them to.  And then the few days we DO behave, we expect glamorous and shocking results and get pissy when they don't happen.  By pissy, I mean we get depressed and angry and say mean and hurtful things about ourselves and other people.  It's not good, it's not pretty.  And it really does need to be stopped.

Because our goal is to get healthy.  Now, I realize that the road is not going to be smooth and even.  It's going to be bumpy and curvy and mostly uphill.  And that's okay.  The challenge of getting there is going to make the final destination so much better appreciated!  (at least that's what I keep telling myself.  Honestly?  It's fine and easy to spout that BS when you've reached your destination, I'm sure.  But while we're still traveling, we'd prefer that smooth, easy route, thank you very much.)

Anyhoots, back to what I was saying - being positive is an important part of healthy living.  Even I, Miss Negative Nelly, understand that being positive is going to make reaching your goals easier.  Because, mostly, losing weight is a mind trick.  We have to get out of our heads and into our bodies long enough to get the weight off, that the positivity (is that a word?  spell check says it isn't.  I am defying spell check and making that a word.) is an absolute must.

Yet, it's very hard to stay positive.  Especially when you have a road that is as long as mine is.  I'm not saying I am special or any more important than anyone else.  What I am saying is that I have been battling my weight my entire life.  And now that I am finally getting somewhere with it, it seems like it is taking for-freaking-ever.  I see these people around me who have tried this and that and the other and their weight is FALLING off of them while I struggle with the same three friggen pounds for weeks on end, only to get past them and move on to the next three pound loss/gain for weeks and so on and on and on . . .   And I wonder - "what the hell am I doing so wrong that they are doing so right?  Why is this SUCH a struggle for me?"  

And I think, maybe, I found an answer.  I think, maybe, I've been diet hopping - trying this new fad diet and that old suggestion and these new supplements that make grand promises but just deliver a lower bank account -  for so long, most of my life, actually, that I forgot how to just be.  How to be me. How to enjoy life and those around me and not be so obsessive with my body, my image, and how much the scale says I'm worth.  But mostly, I forgot what it's like to live life without stressing over every.single.thing that goes into my mouth.

Everything.

Whether it's a healthy stick of celery or an unhealthy chunk of chocolate cake, I stress about it, worry over it, and count things in my head, on online nutrition trackers, and at the gym.  It's all consuming.  It's exhausting.

So, I did some serious research this weekend.  Research on food and calories and metabolism and all sorts of stuff that I am sure you'll find boring.  I did a lot of math.

A. Lot. Of. Math.

Needless to say, this research took some serious time.  But, it was worth it because I think I discovered a secret.  But, it's not really a secret.  Everyone knows what it is already, I just figured it out for myself.

Eat less, move more.

Yep.  Big deal, right?  Eat less, move more.

But that doesn't mean eat NOTHING of this and ALL of that.  It also doesn't mean NEVER can you have this and ALWAYS you must have that.  It just means what it says.

Eat less, move more.

There's not special diet out there that is going to be the magic trick that is going to melt my weight away.  There is no trick or tried and true method that worked for them and must work for me, because everyone is different.  Every BODY is different.  And what works for you, your neighbor, your sister's best friend's aunt's cousin, or whoever is not necessarily going to work for me.  In fact, it probably won't.  Because I tend to sabotage myself.  (don't ask.  I'm not sure why and I know it will probably take too many thousands of dollars and a medically trained therapist to figure it out, so let's just leave it as I do this and I need to stop, but we all know I won't.)  And, I can't stick to anything for any length of time.  I can't help it, it's just me.

You know what else is me?

I love to read.  I enjoy going to the movies.  I like to make out with Prince Charming on my living room couch after the kids have gone to bed.  I love spending my summer days at the pool and my summer nights on my deck.  I like to have my friends over so we can catch up on gossip and our kids can drain their excess energy on each other.  I like to sit back with a glass of wine and a smoke to relax at the end of a hard week.  I like to listen to rock music - the louder the better.  The sound of running water is soothing to me, but being near a body of water is even more soothing.  The sound of my kids laughing, or better yet, being the cause of my kids' laughter, is the best thing in the entire world.

Of course, there is so much more to me, but I don't want to bore you or make this post any longer.  The point it that I am a unique  individual with unique tastes and pleasures.  Not one of those listed above had anything to do with food.  Some of them might involve food, but for me, it's more about the friendship and sharing and relaxing and just being than it is about the food.  So, why have I made my life revolve so much around what I eat?

So, I'm not doing it anymore.  I am not dieting.  I am just going to be me.  I am, of course, going to eat healthy and exercise more, but I am not obsessing over it to the point that I lose hours of time and sleep over it.  I will continue to track things, and I will continue to plan out the week in advance so that I can grocery shop as any mother and wife does.  And I will keep looking for healthy recipes I think my family might like to eat.  And we'll limit our eating out to the cheat meal, the "anything goes, who cares if it's healthy, it's going on my belly" meal.  Once a week and more more than that.  And we are probably not going to be positive about it.  I'm probably going to bitch and moan about it to all and sundry.  And guess what?  I think I've just undone all of my plans and realized I am still dieting, I am just not calling it a diet.

Mother trucker.  


Like I said, I can't stick to anything, so we'll see how this goes.

New Year, New me

So, this past year, I have lost 65 pounds.

This past year, I learned that I do kind of like exercise but I still really hate dieting.

This past year, the click was made in my brain about the importance of diet, but the greater importance of exercise and the hugely importance of doing both at the same time.

This past year, I learned I can actually run without someone with a bloody knife chasing me.  I can only run for about a minute.  But hey!  That's a minute longer than I could do before.

This past year, I learned that the more success I have, the more success I have.

This past year, I learned that maybe, just maybe, I can do this.

So, this year, I am going to do this.

Totally.



My twenty year class reunion is this summer.  I'd like to get at least 50 pounds off before then, though a hundred would be my absolute favoritist thing in the whole wide world, I'm going to be a bit realistic here and, knowing myself as I know myself, say 50 is even pushing it.  But, I'll get there.  Right?

 

Experiment in Eating

This past week has been very, very eye opening and educating for me.  For instance, I learned this past week that baseball season and working full time is hell for my dedication to the gym (which is sketchy at best anyway).  I missed all but one day of the gym this week, thanks to practice and game schedules for two busy boys interfering with this crazy thing called my job.  Seriously, this week was crazy town.  Also - it was the last week for my students, which means there were treats galore and I wasn't as well behaved as I should have been (but when a special needs child comes up to you with a plate of cookies and tells you he made them just for you, really, can you say "no thanks, I'm dieting"? Or do you take it and eat a couple in front of him, relishing not only the chocolate deliciousness, but his look of extreme delight in pleasing you?  I chose the latter and got a squeal and a hug for my effort - or a fist bump, or a glowing face and full on grin - depending on the level of physical touching the child's disability allowed for.  It was worth the stress of what the treats were going to do to my scale efforts. I seriously LOVE my job!)  Ok - so now the important tidbit I learned:  I need to eat more.  I know, it sounds crazy.  When trying to lose weight, you're supposed to eat LESS< right?  However, for the past month, I have gained and lost the same frustrating ten pounds and have seriously been considering physically harming my scale.  But this week, I didn't get the regular intense exercise I normally do.  I wasn't as strict in my dieting efforts as I usually am - meaning I actually had carbs and sugar and all things delicious. And I didn't weigh myself at all this week because I knew, I  just KNEW, it was going to send me into a suicidal depression the likes of which only Ben and Jerry could pull me out of and I didn't want to start that cycle again.  But, I bit the bullet and stepped on my enemy today.


And I have lost five pounds in one week.

This five pounds has finally, FINALLY, finally put me under a goal I have been trying to reach all fricken year.  And I am seriously doing a happy snoopy dance today.

Someone told me once, along this crazy journey, that I needed to watch not only that I didn't take too much in but that I also didn't take in too little.  The body is a funny thing in how it works.  It's crazy and complicated and I am pretty sure mine is even crazier and more complicated than most (because that's just how my luck runs).  But, whatever, I cracked a code this week and think I am on to something.

And no, I am not giving up the gym - I know that's good for me and I only have 2 work days left before I am on summer vacation.  But, I am going to increase my caloric intake a bit and maybe add in more carbs - but not the cookies and cream variety so much as the good ones like whole grains and more veggies than just lettuce and tomatoes and cucumbers.  Heck, I might even go crazy and add in some strawberries.  I know, I know - you're saying "Whoa there, you'd better slow down, girl.  That's just crazy!"

But one thing I've learned this week is maybe I need to experiment more.  I am also learning that patience IS a virtue and I need to have a little more.  It didn't all go on overnight, it's not going to come off the same, either.  Even though I wish it would.  
   

give me strength

True story - I had myself talked out of the gym by the time I was done with work this afternoon.  It was kind of a crap day, the kids I work with were in an uproar most of the day, one of the other teachers had a major attitude problem, I was thoroughly exhausted and still super sore from yesterday's workout.  Really, I just wanted to go home and veg in front of my lap top with some tea in the peace and quiet of my house for a bit before I went to pick up the kids.

And then, on the way home, there is a turn I need to take.  If I take it, I get on the interstate and go home.  If I keep going straight, I end up at the gym.  I couldn't get into the other lane because some jackhole kept speeding up and slowing down, thereby eliminating any space or chance I had to get over.  After mentally flipping him off, I kept going straight after I missed the turn onto the 229 and ended up at the gym.

My body is seriously pissed at me and I don't think I will be able to walk tomorrow.  I haven't been to a strength training class since my original ten week challenge (when I went to the gym before, I was only going to the kickboxing classes.  Because, well, those damn strength training classes are HARD!) and it was TOUGH.  It was lower body today.  My thighs and ass still haven't quit burning and the class ended 3 hours ago.  When I bent over to take dinner out of the oven, I am pretty sure I strained something.

However, I don't really regret going.  Sure, I hurt.  BUT, I was reminded during the class by a screaming instructor trying to encourage us to work harder that strength training is just as important as cardio.  And the lower body days burn more calories than any kickboxing class ever could since the largest muscles in our bodies are worked.

Do I regret going?  nope.  And I need to remember that.  However, I might regret it in the morning when I can't get out of bed.

New Year, New Plan

Hm, it's been a while since I've checked in.  And, I suppose since I am going all out this year to make sure I get ALL of this damn weight off, I should update.

Firstly - I finished the first 10 weeks of Farrell's and did extremely well.  I was so pleased with my results - how much stronger I became, how much better I felt about myself.  And the weight I lost helped a BUNCH.

Secondly - I signed a one year contract with Farrell's at the end of my ten week challenge and then promptly fell off the wagon.  And by that, I mean, I fell off, got drug behind for several weeks until someone finally cut me loose.

Thirdly - when I was cut loose, I did horrible, terrible despicable to my body -  things that we won't discuss here.  We'll just say those 25 pounds I lost are back in the game and need to be lost.  A-freaking-gain.  argh.

Fourthly - I caught up with the wagon train and they are willing to let me jump back on.  I did that today.

Can I just say that going back to the gym in week five of a ten week challenge sucks?  You see, the ten week challenges start off slow and then build your strength and stamina over the course of the challenge.  At the end of the challenge, there is about 3 weeks of crazy high impact kick boxing and uber psycho sessions of strength training before the next challenge starts again, at a slower pace and then building up again.  This works for several reason:  mainly that your body has to keep guessing where you are going with your exercise.  AND you are defining and toning your muscles, rather than bulking up like a muscle head while losing the fat.  I like this. I like the classes. I like the challenge.  But o. . . . m . . . . g!  When you don't go for a couple of months and then just jump right back into the program mid-challenge, your body pretty much screams at you throughout the entire class and then, once you get into you car to drive home, it laughs hysterically and maniacally while refusing to allow your arms to lift high enough to grasp the steering wheel or your feet to move from the brake to the gas pedal.  Let's not talk about how I got home.  Right now, my legs are groaning and moaning and I am pretty sure I heard a curse word or two a few seconds ago after the threat of leaving me for someone else.  Bastards.

Fifthly - I am back on the 17 day diet.  I am not following it STRICTLY, but I am following it very closely.  I had such great success with it before, I want to see those results again.

And finally, I started a new Facebook page to hopefully try and keep me accountable and motivate me.  With that page, I plan to keep track of my exercise AND what I eat everyday.  Well, maybe not EVERY thing I eat, but if I have some good recipes to share, I will and if I misbehave and do naughty things to myself (gutter minds!!  I mean things like eat a chocolate and peanut butter cup the size of my garage. Or drink my weight in Coca Cola.)  So, anyway, I will probably be blogging more, I will definitely be using my FB page often.  Feel free to share it.  I have this idea in my head that the more people I have looking on, the more pressured I will feel to finally just get off my fat ass and make it not so fat anymore.

It's an idea, and well, let's just hope it works.