Tag Archives: glycolysis

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What can I replace my rice and pasta with if I want to go low-carb?

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Ask:

I normally use rice, pasta and bread A LOT in my cooking, but now I want to lose weight and cut back on carbohydrates. However, I have no idea what I can replace these ingredients with. To me, a meal without anything starchy just doesn’t feel very filling!
I am so used to eating these ingredients at every meal that I just don’t know where to start …
Has anyone else gone low-carb and what have you used to fill the gap?

Answer:

Low carb creates a natural appetite suppression after 3 days of minimal carbs. Fat is used to fill the gaps (I know it sounds strange) because there is not enough calories in vegs. but you are burning fat as fuel with low carb so it becomes as filling as carbs.
Change your mindset just adapt it to low carb –
replace bread with lettuce
replace pasta with cabbage
replace rice with cauliflower
replace potatoes with brocolli

The core of Atkins program is converting the body from glycolysis (burning glucose as fuel) to ketosis (burning fat as fuel). Dietary fat levels need to be at >65% of total calories, if not, the body will still remain in glycolysis by converting 58% of excess protein into glucose (via gluconeogenesis).

Simple carbs are addictive & can be disastrous to health. The best way to break the addiction is NO carbs for 3 days. Make a huge batch of deviled eggs, eat one every time you want “something” – have huge omelets with bacon, sausage, peppers, mushrooms & cheese. Pork chops smothered with peppers, mushrooms & cheese – pork rinds & dip or tuna/chicken/turkey/egg salad – steaks – a huge sugar free cheese cake. Eat so much you won’t feel deprived of anything. By the 4th day, the addiction will be gone & you can start making healthy choices.

You can lose more body fat eating protein & fat (don’t eat protein alone) than not eating AT ALL. To lose weight fast, eat all you want, but nothing but meat, eggs, healthy oils, mayo, butter & half an avocado a day (for added potassium). Keep the calories high & the fat percentage high, at least 65% of calories. Green vegetables & some cheese will continue weight loss but at a slower pace.

The first 2 weeks eat several cups a day of (mostly) lettuce & celery, cucumbers, radishes, mushrooms, peppers & more variety of vegetables thereafter – add 5 grams per day additional every week (20 grams day first 2 weeks, 25grams 3rd week, 30grams 4th week etc) til you gain weight, then subtract 10grams. That will be your personal carb level (everyone is different & depends on how active you are.)

Start with meat, fats & salads for 2 weeks and then slowly add in more green veg, wk4 fresh cheeses, wk5 nuts & seeds, wk6 berries, wk7 legumes, wk8 other fruits, wk9 starchy veg, wk10 whole grains. You will learn how your body reacts to different foods.

The first week is just water weight but fat is lost thereafter if you keep your calories high enough. Otherwise the body will strip it’s own lean tissue for nutrition. Although that may look great on a scale it will make it MUCH easier to accumulate fat in the future (since all that pesky lean tissue burning up calories will be gone). The body won’t release fat stores if you lower calories below what it needs. It will slow metabolism to compensate & store every spare ounce as fat. If you continue lowering calories, it will continue lowering the set point, til it can survive off nothing & store fat on anything. The body will only release it’s fat stores if it knows there is plenty of nutritious food.

Eating carbs while trying to lose body fat is terribly inefficient. When in glycolysis (burning glucose as fuel) you have to lower your calories (which slows your metabolism) & exercise heavily to deplete your glycogen stores before burning body fat.

It takes minimum of 3 days to convert a body to ketosis, (but only one bite to convert back to glycolysis). People feel sluggish the first week but most feel better than ever thereafter.

Simple carbohydrates (sugar, flour, bread, cereal, pasta, potatoes, rice) trigger the fat storage hormone insulin. The more protein the more the fat burning hormone glucagon is released. Continue reading What can I replace my rice and pasta with if I want to go low-carb? →

Ask and Answer

What should I stay away from if I want to follow through with a low carb diet?

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Ask:

Okay, so I heard the low carb diet is great and I wanna give it a try. Could you guys give me some tips or dos and don’ts of low card dieting?

Answer:

You can lose more body fat eating protein & fat (don’t eat protein alone) than not eating AT ALL. To lose weight fast, eat all you want, but nothing but meat, eggs, healthy oils, mayo, butter & half an avocado a day (for added potassium). Keep the calories high & the fat percentage high, at least 65% of calories. Green vegetables & some cheese will continue weight loss but at a slower pace.

The first 2 weeks eat several cups a day of (mostly) lettuce & celery, cucumbers, radishes, mushrooms, peppers & more variety of vegetables thereafter – add 5 grams per day additional every week (20 grams day first 2 weeks, 25grams 3rd week, 30grams 4th week etc) til you gain weight, then subtract 10grams. That will be your personal carb level (everyone is different & depends on how active you are.)

Start with meat, fats & salads for 2 weeks and then slowly add in more green veg, wk4 fresh cheeses, wk5 nuts & seeds, wk6 berries, wk7 legumes, wk8 other fruits, wk9 starchy veg, wk10 whole grains. You will learn how your body reacts to different foods.

The first week is just water weight but fat is lost thereafter if you keep your calories high enough. Otherwise the body will strip it’s own lean tissue for nutrition. Although that may look great on a scale it will make it MUCH easier to accumulate fat in the future (since all that pesky lean tissue burning up calories will be gone). The body won’t release fat stores if you lower calories below what it needs. It will slow metabolism to compensate & store every spare ounce as fat. If you continue lowering calories, it will continue lowering the set point, til it can survive off nothing & store fat on anything. The body will only release it’s fat stores if it knows there is plenty of nutritious food.

Eating carbs while trying to lose body fat is terribly inefficient. When in glycolysis (burning glucose as fuel) you have to lower your calories (which slows your metabolism) & exercise heavily to deplete your glycogen stores before burning body fat. Continue reading What should I stay away from if I want to follow through with a low carb diet? →

Ask and Answer

What multivitamins can I take if I am in a low carb diet?

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Ask:

I want to take a multivitamin supplement, is this allowed while your are in a low carb diet? If so what can I take?

Answer:

A multivitamin is highly suggested also magnesium, sea salt, potassium and lots of water. A half an avocado a day will be very beneficial. I highly suggest a salt substitute (potassium chloride) is a cheap potassium supplement.

There is no reason to ever go off a low carb way of eating, you slowly re introduce carbs to your way of eating and as long as you don’t exceed 9grams of carbs an hour (144 carbs a day) you will never trigger insulin (the fat storage hormone) no matter the calories. Most of us do low carb most of the time and occasionally cheat and slip back into low carb the next day. If you gain weight, drop your carbs a few grams til you slide back into loss mode. Who wants to spend their life on semi deprivation? The longer you don’t do carbs, they really kind of lose their appeal. (Tastes like wet dough) I still cheat with sugar occasionally. It’s just not a regular part of my life (as it was preAtkins, nearly 6 years ago, when I felt it controlled me & I had no control)

You can also cheat easier than someone in glycolysis. IF you trigger insulin, all those carbs that would go to fat cells on someone in glycolysis instead fill up the empty glycogen stores & go to muscles for burning instead of fat cells. Which would slow weight loss but if you’re in maintenance, weight loss is not a concern. (neat little bonus package) Some folks with massive amounts of weight to lose, do weight loss, maintenance & back to weight loss mode – gives them a cheat period without blowing anything.

The rungs to reintroduction of carbs in 5 gram units – all available to very active people in as little as 11 weeks. Make sure you do them in order & you can skip a rung if you do not intend to include it in your permanent way of eating, such as the alcohol rung.:
* (minimum week 3 – maximum 25grams day) Acceptable vegetables, larger quantities
* (minimum week 4 – maximum 30grams day) Add 5grams Fresh cheese
* (minimum week 5 – maximum 35grams day) Add 5grams Nuts and seeds
* (minimum week 6 – maximum 40grams day) Add 5grams Berries
* (minimum week 7 – maximum 45grams day) Alcohol can be added if desired
* (minimum week 8 – maximum 50grams day) Add 5grams Legumes
* (minimum week 9 – maximum 55grams day) Add 5grams Other fruits
* (minimum week10 – maximum 60grams day) Add 5grams Starchy vegetables
* (minimum week11 – maximum 65grams day) Add 5grams Whole grains
If you are continuing to lose or maintain (whichever is goal) in week 12 and beyond, you continue to add 5grams a day per week til you reach your personal carb level.

Many people gain weight on high carb, then switch to low carb to lose weight & then are shocked when they return to high carb that they gain weight. (Isn’t insanity defined as doing the exact same thing, in the exact same way and expecting different results??) Many people can return to moderate carb levels but very few can really eat all they want of sugar and maintain weight or health.

You will lose more body fat eating protein and fat (don’t eat protein alone) than not eating AT ALL. To lose weight fast eat all you want but nothing but meat, eggs, healthy oils, mayo, butter and half an avocado a day (you’ll need added potassium). Keep the calories high and the fat percentage high, at least 65% of calories. Adding in green vegetables & some cheese will continue weight loss but at a slower pace.

Your body won’t release fat stores if you lower calories below what it needs. It will slow your metabolism to compensate and store every spare ounce as fat. If you continue lowering your calories, it will continue lowering that set point, til you can survive off nothing and store fat on anything. The body will only release it’s fat stores if it knows there is plenty of food. Continue reading What multivitamins can I take if I am in a low carb diet? →

Ask and Answer

Can I go on a low carb and low fat diet while going on Accutane?

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Ask:

Hi, I really want to go on this strict low cal low carb and low fat diet, and exercise as well. But, I heard that you should take the accutane pill with fatty foods, because it absorbs better? Any thoughts? Would it be dangerous or will the medicine not work well if I do go on this diet and exercise regime. Thank you.

Answer:

I would suggest not doing Accutane right now. I am betting if you do a low carb way of eating, your hormones will balance out & you won’t need Accutane.

A low carb diet should NEVER be low fat or low calorie. Otherwise you are using protein for fuel (which is not healthy) & leaves no protein for cellular needs which forces the body to catabolize it’s own lean tissues. Fat is needed for hormone production, immune system & bone structure.

You can lose more body fat eating protein & fat (don’t eat protein alone) than not eating AT ALL. To lose weight fast, eat all you want, but nothing but meat, eggs, healthy oils, mayo, butter & half an avocado a day (for added potassium). Keep the calories high & the fat percentage high, at least 65% of calories. Green vegetables & some cheese will continue weight loss but at a slower pace.

The first 2 weeks eat several cups a day of (mostly) lettuce & celery, cucumbers, radishes, mushrooms, peppers & more variety of vegetables thereafter – add 5 grams per day additional every week (20 grams day first 2 weeks, 25grams 3rd week, 30grams 4th week etc) til you gain weight, then subtract 10grams. That will be your personal carb level (everyone is different & depends on how active you are.)

Start with meat, fats & salads for 2 weeks and then slowly add in more green veg, wk4 fresh cheeses, wk5 nuts & seeds, wk6 berries, wk7 legumes, wk8 other fruits, wk9 starchy veg, wk10 whole grains. You will learn how your body reacts to different foods.

The first week is just water weight but fat is lost thereafter if you keep your calories high enough. Otherwise the body will strip it’s own lean tissue for nutrition. Although that may look great on a scale it will make it MUCH easier to accumulate fat in the future (since all that pesky lean tissue burning up calories will be gone). The body won’t release fat stores if you lower calories below what it needs. It will slow metabolism to compensate & store every spare ounce as fat. If you continue lowering calories, it will continue lowering the set point, til it can survive off nothing & store fat on anything. The body will only release it’s fat stores if it knows there is plenty of nutritious food. Continue reading Can I go on a low carb and low fat diet while going on Accutane? →