I have friends who eat healthier than anybody, but it takes them all day. And if they don't have their sprouted bread, they go into a seizure. I can eat a Big Mac. I'm not going to love it, but it won't put me into toxic shock. It's like if a car is too high-performance, then it's sensitive to any kind of fuel. I like being more like a truck. If a little diesel gets in there, maybe a little water, it'll cough and burp a bit, but it's gonna get through it and keep running.
The whole article list is good, but this particular point really stood out to me. I may lose weight faster on a cleaner diet but when/if I do cheat the repercussions are bad. When I eat mostly clean and then cheat, I still feel it later but it isn't halting me in my tracks.
I believe cutting out the junk and eating clean to restart your system, curb your cravings and reprogram your psychological need for certain foods is a great thing. In the long term I think 80/20 is best for me. If I need to tweak it then I can go up to 90/10.
While I don't believe in doomsday, I do believe in being prepared. My goal is to create a kit that is both useful for every day life, work (I travel a lot) and basic survival.
Just because there are cellphones, help might not be able to get to you. You may not have service and can't call for help. During a natural emergency (snowstorm) you may be stuck and help can't get to you either. For all of these reasons, I want to have some basic tools on me or close to me at all times.
This is a work in progress and the list will be updated and modified. This is actually what I have.
This is just a quick little update on my progress thus far.
I started about January 1st at over 272 lbs. It was during break, so I didn't technically weight myself (I know right) but I did weight myself about 2 weeks before and it was 272.4. I am pretty confident I did not lose any weight over break, maybe even gained some.
It is now January 20 and I weigh 259.4. That is some considerable real weight loss. It is very exciting.
I find it is easier to be strict then to give a little. For instance, sure I can chips but only X amount to keep me under my carbs for the day. Instead, I avoid all foods that are based solely on and have a lot of carbs. No rice, flour, potatoes, sweets or fruits.
This is not a new year's resolution, because those have a bad completion rate and this is happening. This is a new life resolution. My goal is to reach 200/190 lean pounds. Then I would like to do some races and sky dive.
I found a updated version of the paleo diet. Well, technically it does not have to be in the spirit of paleo, but since I believe in keeping food sources as natural as possible ie local, organic, pasture, grassfed etc, I prefer the paleo spin on keto(genic). In other words, paleo emphasizes food sources as much as food type. Whereas keto emphasizes just food type.
I try not to be preaching or even draw attention to eating keto. Diet is like any other taboo thing out there, where common table manners tell us not to share unless specifically asked about it. But I will say it is hard not to, especially if you go out to eat. If someone wants to go to the new noodle place, not a lot of options for the keto diet there.
Atkins and South Beach are poplar versions of the keto diet. I attempted these diets with little luck however. There are subtle differences to following just a keto diet rather than following a branded version of one.
Atkins diet is a phase diet, where the first phase (or induction phase) is very similar to just following a keto diet. The main difference is that the other various phases gradually increase carbs, where keto tends to promote 100 grams of carbs/day or even less. Atkins also emphasis a low fat protein approach. Keto actually encourages fat over protein.
South Beach is oftentimes compared to Atkins and then of course keto. Although South Beach truly is neither. South Beach has phases just like Atkins, where the first phase is essentially keto. After that, various carbs are allowed and increased over time, especially if they are complex or have a low glycemic impact. However South Beach does not promote itself as low carb, so it really is not keto at all.
Keto is essentially no carb or at least no food that is just a carb. Traditionally people think of carbs as breads, flours and pastas, so none of those area allowed. Fruit is barely allowed either, since they are high in sugar. Keto emphasis fat first, then protein and finally vegetables that are not starchy/carb loaded.
The video below is Dr. Eric Westman of Duke University who does a great job at explain and illustrating the keto diet.
