The FastDay Forum

As most of you know I have now settled in to a mix of 16:8 and LCHF and have managed to undo the damage I did to my blood glucose levels when I first tried 5:2. The weight still isn't shifting at a measureable rate although I can see changes in my arms and thighs. Unfortunately I only measured hips and waist at the start so even that is just an impression from clothing.

What I wanted to ask is your opinion of something I read last week. Can't remember the name of the author (it was a sample book) but the lady in question advocated a low carb diet but having one day a week where you eat a hefty amount of carb. Her theory is that it works on the lines of our 5:2 wey-hey days and stops metabolic slow down. Now I always thought that any sort of cheating on low carb would knock you out of ketosis pretty much straight away so wouldn't this be counter productive? Especially as its generally though that it takes around 2wks to convert to fat burning in the first place.

Just wanted a few opinions before I try it!

Miffy, I'm low carbing but not a nerd, sorry! I read exactly the same article and it had me wondering too. Was it something posted on here or a link maybe?

Memory jog - I think it had something to do with thyroid function. Keeps it healthy.

@izzy pm'd me details of a book called 'The Dissident Diet' by Dawn Waldren - sounds very much like what you're looking for FatDog

Sounds like bollocks to me. Sorry.

One of Volek & Phinney talked about it taking quite a while to get back into "nutritional ketosis" after losing it, which a high carb day would certainly do.

At least one of the relatively recent low carb studies showed that of the diets tested the low carb people retained the higher metabolic rate, for what its worth (30g of nuts perhaps).

Perhaps its an emotional placebo to ensure adherence ?

Thanks everyone. It didn't make sense to me having read most of Phinney and Volek. I wondered if I'd missed out on some research though. My personal feeling is that even a small amount of carb sets me craving more but I'd have given it a crack to try and get off this perishing plateau. I'm eating under 20g a day with only moderate protein. According to MFS my actual calories are averaging around 1100. Right now I'm trying to be content with having got my BG back on track and just hope the weight eventually starts to shift.

I have been low carbing since January , lost a hefty amount of weight and then added 4:3 in May as well, while ontinuing LC(but not as strict). I do alot of research on things (Too much sometimes) and I have never heard of having one day of higher carbs to reset. I am losing at a good rate still with the combo and personnaly would not change anything unless I saw a slow down or hit a plateau. I have noticed however that if I blow it on LC, there is not too much damage if you get right back on track after the bad meal. I had read something awhile ago about how insulin releases more if the carbs are eaten over a period of a few hours, so to try and limit your carbs to no more than a one hour period. I have seen this to be true in my own diet so that is what I try to follow. Its sometimes more of a psychologocal battle in that I think if I blew it on one treat or meal, I might as well binge and continue, and start up the next day, but that not good.
The combo of LC and 5:2 does work well if you want to accelerate weight loss more than the 1 lb per week average most people see, but I would want to clarify that you should focus not really on Low Carb, but Good Carbs (Vegetables, whole wheat,etc) which have a low glycemic index.

I've been low carbing for a couple of years now. I know my weight loss is going to be slow because of my other health problems. Like most people I lost a lot at the start but then slowed down. I got another spurt when I started fasting but then that dried up as well. I did add in more carbs and changed more to calorie counting when I started 5:2 but it messed up my BG so I'm back to hard core low carb. It suits me as it improves my energy levels a lot and grains really don't do me any favours so most of what carb I do eat is from veg. I stick with things that grow above ground (except peas and sweetcorn). I just wish I could shift a bit more weight a bit faster!

Miffy, my personal experience whilst low carbing is as expressed in Volek and Phinney, and I would whole heartedly agree with PhilT when he says it is bollocks to eat high carb levels ever! I have indulged in daft carbs on a couple of occasions in the last 3 months, and the impact has been dreadful, taking more than 2 weeks to resolve.
I feel that Dr Atkins lost his way by even suggesting we could reintroduce carbs at increasing levels, once weight loss reached optimum. I wish he had stuck to what Volek and Phinney are advocating now, that over 50-60g CHO is quite unworkable for a great many folks out there, and we should accept that fact.
I suggest just keep low carbing, and if the weight is not shifting, then at least the biochemistry won't be declining, I feel sure of that.

Yup! I console myself with the thought that weight isn't the be-all and end-all and that its important to keep various bits in decent working order!

I tend to feel that Atkins went downhill after Robert Atkins died. Those who came after got tied up in the politics of higher carbs and counting calories and its rather list its way. I believe theres quite a market now for the old versions of the book amongst people wanting to do the original diet. I don't think the company is even owned by the family now is it?

I'm still reading Phinney and Volek. I tend to read at night and keep nodding off!

The combo of LC and 5:2 does work well if you want to accelerate weight loss more than the 1 lb per week average most people see, but I would want to clarify that you should focus not really on Low Carb, but Good Carbs (Vegetables, whole wheat,etc) which have a low glycemic index.

Wholewheat ? Wholewheat bread made from flour has a pretty similar GI to any other high carb bad stuff.

Mythical whole grain foods (where the grain is intact) may be different.

Green veg can indeed have a low GI, less than 20, but whole wheat bread has a GI of 71 at http://www.health.harvard.edu/newsweek/ ... _foods.htm

Low GI wheat/ grains? No such thing!!
Any carbs will cause a glucose/insulin reaction. You will fail to burn off fats for some time following their ingestion.
Ingest no carbs, and you will remain is a fat burning state, using ingested and stored fat for body metabolism.
As a mug who followed instructions to eat 50% CHO to manage my diabetes, and no doubt pander to the diabetic drugs, I made tremendous efforts to eat "healthy" CHO,. I went to the extent of stone grinding my own, organic wheat berries, and rolling my own organic groats for porridge. Now you can't get more intense than that can you? But the weight increased, and the diabetes became unmanageable.
So......NO. .......to........CHO, except in the smallest quantities to make meals varied. I fail to add the word nutritious, because CHO is not needed nutritionally in adults.
Spending my weekend re-reading Dr Malcom Kendrick again, this time I will not be brow beaten into dismissing him.
I have found such an enthusiasm for life, enjoying excellent food and wonderful work to study and keep the old brain box healthy at the same time. All due to low carbing.

"rolling my own organic groats"

140lbs, I read this as 'Rolling my own organic GOATS" I laughed out loud when I realised my mistake but I have to say it is hard to erase the mental picture from my mind

Ballerina x

Well trust you! You've done it now! The image is there forever! Plenty of hills to roll em down in your neck of the woods 140lb!

Ballerina, all that birthday booze has gone to your head!

Home safe and sound. Just have to go and visit the couple of lovely goats grazing on the cliffs---they will take on a very different image now! Must leave them alone!!