Instead of a regular report (week 33)

After a two month long pause from blogging (has it really been that long???), it's hard to title this as a "regular" report on my LCHF lifestyle progress. Although it certainly didn't seem so, 2 months is quite a long time. Many people were asking me if I have quit or anything, and the answer to that is: most certainly no. I am still eating mainly fats and proteins and staying away from carbs, but I have to admit that I haven't been so strict lately on the ratio between fats and proteins. I am doing a very good job avoiding carbs, but I tend to eat a bit more protein than I should to maintain optimum weight loss conditions.

My weight and waistline in the past 33 weeks of being on LCHF diet.

I suppose this is the reason why my weight has stabilized at 91 - 92 kg and waistline is at around 108cm. I am still a bit chubby, but there is a huge difference from the time when I started. Even though for the past 3 months I have been pretty much stable, the total result of losing 20kg and 18cm of waistline in 8 months and being able to maintain this is still mind blowing in my opinion. So instead of bare numbers, here's a summary of a few interesting things that happened to me in the past two months.

New things on the "LCHF scene"

All the time of me writing this blog, the global as well as the local LCHF scene is growing. I think that never before there have been so many good references, new books, articles, blogposts and whatnot published. At the same time, I am glad to not have noticed any opportunists who want to overemphasize LCHF for their own financial benefits. Every now and then, I see a new product on the market being advertised as "low carb", but us true LCHF-ers know very well that the best ingredients for our meals are those who haven't been touched by marker researchers or accountants.

The most important thing on our local Slovene scene is publishing of two books in Slovene language. The first book is translation of Robert Lustig's The Big Fat Lie. Slovene title is "Mastna laž" and in February, it was on the list of top 10 selling books. The second one is translation of Anita Šupe's "Istine i laži o hrani" from Croatian to Slovene. Slovene title is "Resnice in laži o hrani". Both Robert Lustig and Anita Šupe contributed to my change of paradigm and to my new lifestyle and I sincerely recommend reading these two books, especially if you want to lose weight, have diabetes or have any other diabetes issues.

Anyway, these first 200 days of my LCHF lifestyle have certainly been exciting and I am looking forward to what the future will bring. Sooner or later, a new blog post also.

Occasional steps to the other side

I admit, in the past 2 months I did try a couple of high carb foods a couple of times. I distinctly remember eating a few slices of "potica" cake (traditional Slovene desert which is consumed in enormous amounts at around easter), a portion of mashed potatos, one and a half portion of risotto a few slices of bread and a few pieces of pie. That didn't happen in a day, but, as I said, occasionally in the period of two months. To put it all together, I think it is still less carbs than an average person eats in a week.

The most interesting thing about it was my body's response to all these carbs. After eating it, I felt a huge rush all over my body. My heartbeat went up (often to the point of being uncomfortable). At the same time, I felt tired and full of energy. And, if this happened at night, I couldn't fall asleep and even when I did, I slept poorly. I could be wrong, but I may have regained sensitivity to a hormone called leptin, which regulates our sense of being satiated and makes us burn the energy we have consumed. Since most people eat plenty of carbs, which stimulates insulin, which causes leptin insensitivity, they don't feel this way after eating their lunches and dinners, but I surely did.

The result was that not just I found carbs to be unnecessary, they also starting to feel uncomfortable in any dose larger than 80 grams per day. I honestly have absolutely no desire of eating a meal mainly consisting of carbohydrates and the only time when I am eating a high carb dish is just when I want to sample something new. And even that just to sample, only a bite or two.

Microchanges

So far, LCHF lifestyle brought me plenty of changes. Most of them came in rather rapidly and were clearly visible or otherwise sensed. I was losing between 2 and 4 kilograms per week. Every two weeks, I needed to punch a new hole in my belt. Pants started looking strange and putting on a sweater stopped feeling like mounting a spinaker on a sailing boat.

As it seems my weight is stabilizing, there are still changes, which may not be so obvious, but are actually even more appreciated. The main change is the increased amount of mental focus and concentration. I was never terrible at this, but now I can easily and without any preparations in advance keep myself in focus for hours, without any noticeable side effects. I have also noticed that I remember things better. In general, I am more calm.

Surely, some of it is coming from the fact that I am more satisfied with the way I look now, and this makes it a lot easier to be self confident. But I am certain that some of it also comes from better hormonal stability, at least concerning insulin and leptin. Also, I often picture how my blood is full of lipoprotein packages carrying little molecules of fat, and how the cells of my body only need to say "hey, I'll just take some of that for my current needs" (of course, they do it in their own biochemically complicated way). With insulin out of the picture, energy is always available and there is no force pushing my body to either burn or store what I have just eaten. Things are stable on the cellular level and with a bit of imagination, this stability can be used to maintain inner peace.

It is also A LOT easier to cross my legs.

Cheers!