But you are under the impression that your way of eating is the only way. Your way of eating vs this thread is really not that different. Yes, the ratios are different, but I don't see either of us advocating eating Twinkies; however, we skip the brown rice, oatmeal, and sweet potatoes. Yes we both keep lots of the green stuff. If I can say on HF/LC for a lifestyle, would I not fare better in the long run? As far as building muscle, insulin and test are the best there is, but that is a different topic.
Well, I'll agree test and insulin are certainly the best for anabolism. Diabetes runs in my family, so I sadly won't use it. But test sure is best. Ooh rah!
Thanks! Yup skin is less dry, not that I had dry skin before but I do notice a difference. I don't know about the breath but the wife hasn't mentioned anything yet
The Bodybuilder mindset and eating requirements are FAR different than what a normal human being was meant to be and do. I'm sure this diet worked for you when trying to build massive amounts of muscle but that's not what I am trying to do. I appreciate your input but just remember you were eating for a specific goal that is very different from my goal. I've spoken with 3 people I know personally, within my large circle of friends and family, who have done this Ketogenic approach. One girl lost 90 lbs, another guy lost 85 lbs and another guy is still doing it, 5 months in and 60 lbs lighter. The last guy had terribly high triglycerides when he started and recently dropped those numbers quite significantly from eating a high fat, moderate protein, low carb diet. I think part of the problem people have with this "lifestyle" approach is because of the common misconception that saturated fats and cholesterol as are responsible for heart disease and this has now been shown to be totally bunk. Of course big pharma and big agra have enormous incentives to keep the status quo but ever since the food pyramid/Standard America diet was introduced in 1977, we've done nothing but increase the incidences of heart disease and type 2 diabetes in the US. Clearly a high carb low fat diet is NOT what most of us thrive on (not suggesting you are promoting this, just using this post to continue my thoughts).
And since it's a lifestyle issue, it's a matter of making small changes which become habits. And changing one's perspective - it took years to get in your current shape. It'll take months (not weeks), possibly a year or 2, to undo the damage. Full-scale changes have a high rate of failure, and tend to consume all your waking attention. Implement 1 change at a time, then after a short while after it becomes a habit. Then make another. And so on. Much slower, but much surer. And you'll keep your sanity. Look at the lady on The Biggest Loser. She's obviously OCD, manic depressive, or something. She blew up into a walking whale after high school, and then went full-bore in the other direction, dropping 155 lbs in a few months, working out 6 hours a day. Hate to be negative, but I fully expect her to give up some time soon, and re-adopt her old habits, and start piling the weight back on. A future idea - try adding weight training to your routine once you get comfortable with the diet changes. Adding muscle will increase your basal metabolism, and increase your fat loss. Just don't increase your food intake past your new basal rate. I'm doing the StrongLifts 5x5 program (stronglifts.com). Perfect for the beginner. It focuses on building strength at manageable 'workout' levels using compound movements. It's not an all-consuming, isolated exercises to exhaustion program. He has a PDF you can download and read at your leisure. Just click on the Free Report tab. The focus is on progression - constantly adding 2.5/5 lbs per workout per exercise, starting at an absurdly low weight to gain experience, perfect technique, and train your connective tissues to support higher weights later on in the program. The good news, you only need to work out 3x week for about 30 minutes each workout. Quick, fast, and increasingly challenging. The catch is you're doing below parallel/low back squats as the first workout, all 3 days. I say this because a lot of would-be bodybuilders and gym junkies tend to run away from squats and deadlifts like little girls. You know the type - huge upper body/arms, and twigs for legs... I just finished week 8, and my squat is now 180lbs (started at 65 lbs). Aiming eventually for mid/high 300s in about 3 months from now. Obviously, it was really easy in the beginning, but since 160 lbs, I noticed it's effects - much more tired afterwards. Sleeping like a baby. My legs can handle the weight, but my shoulders aren't too happy (being a weak upper body/ectomorph type with 7" wrists and 8" ankles). I expect to start seeing noticeable changes once I hit 225 lbs and higher - more and more fat and weight loss. Just an idea.
For LeaPUP....from Muscle and Fitness Mag http://www.muscleandfitness.com/nutrition/lose-fat/diet-911-ketosis-dummies
Should always keep in mind man's evolutionary history. Up until the last 5,000 years or so, man was a "hunter-gatherer". He killed game and ate what he found in/on ground and in trees. Millions of years of evolution are not supplanted with 5,000 years of eating bread and pizza. Your "Islets of Langerhans" are not genetically evolved to handle a high diet of simple carbs... likely the primary reason so many Americans have diabetes. One way to support optimal health.... eat mostly (only?) what "hunter-gatherer man" might have eaten. IOW... Would "hunter-gatherer man" have eaten a cookie, cake, pretzel, ice cream, etc? No. Might he have eaten a sweet potato, spinach, nuts, apple? Of course.
Unfortunately, for this approach, you MUST make sweeping changes or you won't get into ketosis. If you dont get into ketosis, you won't burn fat stores. So you need to make major changes and stick to it. But honestly, it's not that hard because you get to eat rich foods that are satiating. Bacon and 3 eggs for breakfast, cooked in grass fed butter and 3 tablespoons of carb free organic heavy cream in my coffee....you won't feel hungry for quite some time eating that.