I’m going to tell you my solution to a weight loss trend that we all still believe even though it doesn’t work. Everyone believes it by now. Low far, low carb.
So wait…removing 2 out of 3 macronutrients?? And then we say meat causes problems.
[tip]So don’t eat too much. Have protein powder. [/tip]
Can’t we just say don’t eat? Everyone knows someone who has been successful doing this. I see it over the long term, and that’s why I say it’s ridiculous. The lean meat and veggies only diet is not enough. You will break down and eat desserts and sugar to compensate. Or, you’ll be perfect and start to see fun changes like hormone suppression, thyroid changes, anxiety, hair loss, low libido, depression, insomnia, and fatigue.
So how do we eat right if carbs are bad, protein is bad, and fat is bad?
Step 1:
Step 1 is always eat real food.
Step 2:
carb fast.
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- No carbs after dinner.
- Protein and fat only in the morning. Eggs are good.
- Mid morning have more fat if needed (like nuts)
- Have 30 carbs at lunch
- Have 15-30 carbs with a snack
- Have 30 carbs by 6 pm
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In a 6 hour period, you get to eat carbs 3 times. That’s not deprivation at all. For breakfast, you have fat. That’s always fun. Why does this work? Remember these tidbits:
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- The longer we go without glucose, the more we repair broken insulin / glucose balance. Only 25% of your day requires insulin balance, so you can repair for 75%.
- We go into storage mode with too many carbs. Staying under 120 per day means you probably are not going into storage.
- Weight gain from night time eating is triggered by insulin levels increasing while melatonin is high. Fat doesn’t trigger insulin.
- You have 8 hours to utilize fat. You have about 2 hours to use carbs or store them.
[info]Storage = weight gain[/info]
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This is the basic framework to rapid weight loss that works for many of my patients. I was thrilled with how easy it was after my third baby when I switched to this approach.
Keep in mind, you may still need hormone testing, thyroid testing, nutrient assessments, and a personalized plan. If you have done that and you want faster progress, this works. As always with all plans, if you do everything and nothing works, you need to have an expert test you metabolically to see why.