Hi all,
I haven't posted in quite a while. I was fortunate to attend a lecture by Gary Taubes last night, and also got his new book "Why We Get Fat and What You Can Do About It." Interestingly enough, I had recommitted to FF on Monday, so this came at a perfect time. I realized that FF + carb restriction can easily work together.
I know some of you are big proponents of low carb, but I haven't been ready to jump on that bandwagon until now. I've done Atkins, etc. in the past with good results, but not so great sustainability. I get bored with the lack of carbs, and I don't feel terrific going too far into ketosis. Just the idea of starting low carb was depressing to me.
However, I know that when I do FF, my appetite decreases, and my belly fat (and thus, insulin) decreases, and that I tend to be in ketosis by the time I break my fast, regardless of what I eat during my window (I know this by testing). So I know that I am already eating fewer carbs overall on FF. This is good because I already know FF and the reduced carbs that come with lower appetite and a limited time to eat is sustainable for me.
So here's the deal: I really want to drop quite a bit of weight by the beginning of summer, so I've decided to pay attention to carbs, keeping them below 40 g each day.
What I am excited about is the realization that FF combined with carb restriction is inherently more doable. Why?
1. 40 grams of carbs spread over 2 meals (in my window) is way better than 40 grams of carbs spread throughout a whole day. With FF, I know I can easily do without snacks, so I won't get tired of dill pickles and deviled eggs, because I will probably never eat them. (I like dill pickles and deviled eggs, but as a snack day in and day out, they leave something to be desired.) In other words, because my meals can each include 20 g of carbs, they are more balanced and varied, and thus, eating this way is more sustainable.
2. I don't have to eat eggs every day. I like eggs, but on Atkins, the idea of eating one more egg (or even leftover meat) in the morning became depressing. On FF, my break-fast/lunch is mid-afternoon. I COULD have an omelette, fritatta, etc. Or I could have an open-faced roast beef/gorgonzola melt with an apple, or a nicoise salad with berries for dessert, or any number of things that include some carbs. Call me crazy, but that just makes me feel so much better.
3. FF makes planning easier. 2 carb restricted meals is easier to plan than 3 carb-restricted meals plus snacks. This also makes eating out with others easier, because I will have something resembling a normal meal (1/2 a baked potato with my steak, for instance).
4. 20 g of carbs spread over two meals will keep my blood sugar/insulin/ketosis on a more even keel, eliminating the fatigue and chills I seem to get when I dip too far into ketosis. (Fasting doesn't seem to make me feel that way, as long as I don't go too low on carbs at my meals.)
5. With FF, there's no need to buy and eat the Atkins bars or other protein bars (ugh). They're fake food, they're expensive, and the sugar alcohols upset my sensitive tummy.
5. A bonus is that by limiting bread to one slice per day, max, I will save even more money on FF, as the gluten-free bread that I must eat is expensive.
I already started doing strength training a few weeks ago, so I'm ahead of the game there. I'm past the sore muscles phase and starting to feel (if not yet see) results.
So, the bottom line is that I'm really excited about this new plan. My life is on an even keel again (crazy life circumstances gave me a poor excuse to extend my window from 3-8 pm to noon to 10 pm. So I'm confident that I'll be easily able to stick with this WOE and will be rocking new clothes come summertime. Yee haw!
Susie
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