30 day update on Primal Blueprint

 Low-Carb Lifestyle, Uncategorized, Weight Management  Comments Off on 30 day update on Primal Blueprint
Jun 032013
 

primalblueprintSo about 30 days ago I posted that I was going to make some pretty fundamental changes to my health and wellness plan. I researched quite a few different eating and living philosophies that meshed well with my low-carb lifestyle. I was pretty firmly committed to the concept that sugars spike the blood sugar levels causing fat storage, so I wanted to find an eating plan which supported that theory. Thankfully there has been a lot of progress on that front in the last few years. Gone are the days where the Atkins diet was the only alternative for someone seeking a low carb lifestyle. While I have enjoyed some success over the years with Atkins, I never could really get it to stick. I would lose the weight when I went into benign dietary ketosis, but then gradually would all come back as I introduced grains and refined sugars back into my diet.

It was also important that I find something that I felt was sustainable from an ease-of-use point of view as well as a food consumption point of view. As you know from my prior article, I decided to go with primal blueprint. This is very similar to the Paleo diet, but is slightly less restrictive when it comes to dairy.  There is also  an emphasis on organic foods, stress free living, and exercise which more closely resembles the type of activities that our ancestors would have been naturally enduring in the more primitive world.

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Primal blueprint lunch

 Weight Management  Comments Off on Primal blueprint lunch
May 032013
 

About to dig in to a solid primal blueprint lunch! Organic chicken, non-nitrate ham, baby spinach and sweet potato. All tapped off with some extra virgin olive oil. Yum! The drink is unsweetened almond milk with a quarter cup of blueberries and a quarter cup of strawberry.

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Power 90 Spring 2013 Day 1

 Power 90 (Spring 2013), Uncategorized  Comments Off on Power 90 Spring 2013 Day 1
Apr 282013
 

The last time I checked in on my weight loss log was August 2012.  At that time I was 168 pounds and 20 percent body fast measured using the US Navy Body Fat calculator at a height of 5’9, weight 168, neck 15 inches and waist at belly button of 35.  Since that time I have lost a half inch around my neck and gained an inch around my belly and gained 7 pounds, three of which are muscle.  That brings my current stats up to 22% body fat.  Needless to say this is not making me very happy, especially considering the effort I expend on a daily basis to attempt to remain fit.

So in the last few months I’ve embarked on a couple of different experiments in order to push my body fat percentage down.  I know of course that I can apply the techniques used in Lyle McDonald’s body recomposition.com and push my percent body fat down, but that technique does not support a lot of aerobic activity and since that is an important part of my life I’d rather not go that road.

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Low-carb Cheesecake

 Recipes  Comments Off on Low-carb Cheesecake
Sep 092012
 

I know it seems crazy to consider, but it is actually possible to make a cheesecake (that most indulgent of deserts) with only 2 grams of carbohydrates per serving.  The following recipe was proclaimed by my daughter Lauren (who is quite the Cheesecake lover) as “Yummy!”   I think the almond-meal crust actually comes out better than a traditional graham cracker crust.  The first time making this it might seem that it is complicated because of the two step process of baking the crust and then the cake, but the second time around it should seem much simpler.  I also think the water bath might be intimidating to some, but really it turned out to not be that big a deal.

Each serving has 2 grams effective carbohydrate plus 1 gram fiber, 6 grams protein, and 221 calories
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168 pounds, 20% Body Fat (34 pounds of fat)

 Weight Loss Log  Comments Off on 168 pounds, 20% Body Fat (34 pounds of fat)
Aug 312012
 

Another 6 pounds down in 6 weeks, so my usual slow average of one pound a week.  As I get closer to my goals it seems to get harder and harder.  I have a carb restricted diet of a max of 25 (healthy) carbs a day and the rest is fat and protein.  As of this measure I slide from “overweight” to “normal” using the US Navy Body Fat calculator using parameters of height of 5’9, weight 168, neck 15 inches and waist at belly button of 35.

This brings my total weight loss to 77 pounds.

 Posted by at 4:20 pm

Low Carb Apple Caramel Muffins

 Recipes  Comments Off on Low Carb Apple Caramel Muffins
Aug 122012
 

forms-1.3.0-src.zip forms-1.3.0.jar images pom.xml src target temp-testng-customsuite.xml test-output tmwo-test.dat tmwo.datThese low carb treats will make you forget you don’t eat bread anymore! There is less than 2 (non fiber) carbs per muffin and so your blood sugar will not spike when biting into this moist, delicious muffin.  This is an easily adaptable recipe.  You can experiment with different flavors or different combinations of flax and almond meal.  As this recipe stands, each muffin has 134 calories, 5 gm of protein, 11.2 gm of fat, only 1.2 gm of sugars and 2300 mg of omega-3.

Flax seed is good for overall health. In the book “Cholesterol Down: Ten Simple Steps to Lower Your Cholesterol in Four Weeks,” author Janet Brill notes that flax seed can help protect against breast, colon and prostate cancer and also can lower cholesterol. Nutrients such as B vitamins, which are an intricate part of energy production in the body, and vitamin E, which is connected to skin and hair health, are also prevalent in flax seed. Finally, flax seed has been linked to increased brain function due to the omega-3s present in the food.
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Low Carb Egg Muffins

 Recipes  Comments Off on Low Carb Egg Muffins
Aug 082012
 

Egg muffins are super easy to make and provide a tasty breakfast or snack that can be prepared in advance.   They are basically like mini quiches in which you can make in many different varieties.  Because it is made with egg and vegetables there is no explicit carbohydrate component to the recipe.  It only takes about 10 minutes to mix the ingredients together and most of that time will be in chopping up some veggies to add to the mix.  Because of the egg and cheese I do recommend a good no-stick spray like Baker’s Joy.
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 Posted by at 11:31 am

The real truth

 Low-Carb Lifestyle  Comments Off on The real truth
Aug 082012
 

I read this great quote today which nicely sums up the solution to weight loss:

Forget calorie counting – fat cells accumulate fat under the influence of insulin.  Insulin is excreted in response to blood sugar levels.  Only one dietary component elevates blood sugar levels – carbohydrates.  Weight is a matter of how your intake is partitioned into, or out of fat cells, and that is driven by hormones, not by caloric value. Stop eating carbohydrates.   It’s simple.

Low Carb Athletics

 Health  Comments Off on Low Carb Athletics
Jul 312012
 

I am sort of collecting links on people who are athletic on low carbs. This guy’s story is great.

http://eatingacademy.com/how-a-low-carb-diet-affected-my-athletic-performance
http://eatingacademy.com/start-here

Another person I found that I enjoy reading about is Dr T.:

His blog: http://drtrunning.blogspot.com/
His low carb epiphany (and then the articles forward in time from there): http://drtrunning.blogspot.com/2011/10/my-low-carb-ephiphany.html

Bottom line it appears that as your insulin resistance drops over time (from removing carbs) you transition from a glycogen burning machine to a fat burning machine. You do lose some top end anarobic performance, but that is a small price to pay (if you are not a sprinter) for getting access to a practically unlimited energy supply (fat), increased lactate threshhold, reduced body fat and reduced risk of heart disease.

 Posted by at 8:35 am

174 pounds, 23% Body Fat (40 pounds of fat)

 Weight Loss Log  Comments Off on 174 pounds, 23% Body Fat (40 pounds of fat)
Jul 112012
 

I pushed my weight down 6 pounds in the last two months by adopting a more radical low carb lifestyle.  I started on this road when I read a book called “Why we get fat” by Gary Taubes.  I have eliminated all sources of sugar (direct or indirect) from my life and eat basically vegetables and meats.  It has been difficult to adjust to athletics on no carbs but I am past the worst of it now.

 Posted by at 12:16 pm