As discussed briefly in a previous post, I completely changed my diet in December. Hello to anyone who didn't close your browser, screaming, when I said the word "Atkins." You may be wondering why the heck I decided to start a ketogenic diet when I had no weight to lose, and perhaps more intriguingly, what such a diet entails. These two questions will be answered in this and subsequent blogs.
Here are the basic principles of my diet:
- The macronutrient ratio is high fat, moderate protein and low carbohydrate. I consume about 0.8-1.0 grams of protein per pound lean body mass per day. I consume between 10-30 grams of carbohydrates per day. The rest of my intake is fat. I don't worry about the type of fat. I happily gorge on foods that are high in cholesterol and saturated fats, with the exception of foods containing hydrogenated oils.
- My carbohydrate sources consist exclusively of vegetables, nuts and occasional fruit. I eat no grains and rarely eat legumes.
- I avoid processed foods. I get almost all my fats from fatty meats, supplemented by nuts and some dairy. In particular, I avoid foods containing vegetable oils (hydrogenated or not). This includes mayonnaise, most salad dressings and pre-prepared foods. I cook with coconut oil, lard or butter.
- I do not count calories, but I will tell you that I generally eat more on this diet than I have in the past and have not gained weight. My estimation is that I was eating about 1800-2000 calories a day prior to this diet, and now I'm eating between 2000-2500, depending on how hungry I am.
- Occasionally, I carb cycle because I am very active, and carb ups replenish stores of glycogen in my muscles, allowing me to perform better (more details on this in a later blog).
So Neatski… where did you come up with such a bizarre plan?
Ketogenic diets have been around for a very long time- some claim for much longer than the carbohydrate-based diet we currently eat. Primal or paleolithic diets operate on similar principles as Atkins, with some variations. My diet draws on both. When I can afford it, I will also be eating all free-range meat because I think that the additives in my diet affect my health. However, I think that the biggest factor in the change in my body composition has been the macronutrient ratio.
In terms of the macronutrient ratio, I could not have imagined living a low carbohydrate lifestyle just a few months ago. It is widely villified and derided by nutrition experts, and I bought into that. I read that that the brain needs glucose to survive so my cognitive capacity would drop, that I would be doing myself long-term liver and/or kidney damage by eating a lot of protein, and that it wasn't natural because our bodies need carbohydrates for basic functions. However, these statements reflect a fundamental misunderstanding of this type of diet, which prompts the body to synthesize its own glucose. I'm a Ph.D. student and would certainly have noticed if my cognitive capacity were reduced. In fact, I'd say my memory has improved because my attention span is longer. In addition, the diet is certainly not high protein, debunking the idea that my liver and kidneys will be destroyed by it. I will not go into a scientific discussion here, but Good Calories, Bad Calories by Gary Taube is an excellent book that discusses the scientific evidence against carbohydrate-based diets and makes a case for ketogenic eating. It certainly was a psychological adjustment to throw out all my pre-conceptions about saturated fats and cholesterols, but I have never felt healthier in my life. Gary Taubes provides some very compelling evidence against the idea that cholesterol and saturated fat have anything to do with health ailments, and my experiences support this.
I am grain free mainly because I limit my carbohydrate intake and grains are high in carbohydrates. There are those who believe that grains themselves are unhealthy for human consumption. See Mark's Daily Apple for some interesting discussions on this topic.
I avoid processed foods for a myriad of reasons. There are some ingredients, like soy, that I'm purposely trying to avoid because of their phytoestrogen content, and there are others that contain mystery additives that I don't trust. Processed foods also generally lose many of the components- enzymes and vitamins, for example- that make them worth eating. More than anything, though- the fewer processed foods I eat, the more unprocessed foods I eat, including fresh meats, eggs and leafy green vegetables. I credit this principle for the drastic increase in my consumption of vegetables.
I let my hunger be my guide. There is no need to count calories. The beauty of this diet is that I have no food cravings, and my hunger only seems to occur when I actually need to eat. Before this diet, I sometimes needed to stop myself from snacking because I knew I would overeat otherwise. Plus, I get to eat food that tastes so good! Fat is the best flavor enhancer around. I rarely need to add salt to my food anymore.
Ok… so WHAT exactly do you eat every day?
- High fat meats like pork (uncured sausage and bacon) and fatty beef
- Coconut oil
- High fat ground turkey
- Leaner meats like chicken fried in coconut oil
- Eggs
- High fat dairy like cheese and cream
- Green vegetables like spinach, romaine lettuce, broccoli and zucchini
- More occasionally, other vegetables like beets, turnips (yum!), raw carrots, tomatoes
- More occasionally, almonds, walnuts and pecans
- Occasionally, berries and apples
Here's a sample menu if you're interested. Keep in mind that this is just an example, and I often add more than listed here, depending on my appetite.
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Coming soon! I'll actually explain the obscure exercises I do in my routines.
