Eat Fat and Be Slim

Maybe that would be a good title for a book. But would anyone believe it?

Even I cant believe it sometimes. I get on the scale each day ( yes gone back to daily weighing I just cant resist) and find that I either weigh the same as the day before, bit disappointing but then I am eating so much and so well, or I find a 100 to 200gms weight loss. I very rarely see a gain even with all the calories I am eating which is quite remarkable.

It has taken me 14 days to lose the last 1kg or 2.2lbs. The kg before that took 10 days. But am I bothered?
Not at all. All I want to see is a lower figure on the scale and a cure for my eating disorder ( binging) and adding fat into my meals has done that.

This is not a restrictive diet. I can eat most things at meal times as long as I stay away from starch and sugar. I leave the table feeling satisfied. I dont weigh anything or count any calories I dont portion out my plate.

I eat like a normal person and my cravings for starch that used to plague every afternoon have vanished as if they never were a problem.

I have been on endless diets before. All of them restricting fats and oils and some of them restricting protein portions and all of them with fat free veg. Every day I battled on them to stay on the program and not to give in to cravings and to start a binge which I would not be able to stop. I do not have to go to bed early to stop myself eating snacks in the evening.

This is so different. When I do bother to add up my calories from meals they come to about 1600 for the day. Normally on that I would have no hope of losing any weight. I might even gain! But on 1600 with about 600 from fats and oils I am losing, steadily and regularly.

Maybe my fate is not to be the obese person I always have been. Perhaps there really is a smaller body here somewhere.

This is an eating plan not just to lose the weight but for life.

Fats v Carbs

http://online.wsj.com/news/articles/SB10001424052702303678404579533760760481486?mod=trending_now_1

I was very interested in the above article in the Wall Street Journal.

For over 50 yrs I have been trying the uphill journey of weight loss by cutting out all fat and counting calories. Endless misery for very little result.

Yes maybe I lost 20 or 40 or even once over 60lbs but my insulin problem was still there, still waiting for me to relapse which I always did. The eating disorder would kick in, the cravings would become uncontrollable and the weight would come storming back on.

I have now lost 10kg or 22lbs in 4 months. It has not been a crash diet it has been steady and doable. The eating disorder has gone. I eat a good meal at lunch time and my afternoons now speed by with productive activities and then it is time for dinner. The fats and oils I am consuming during meals are holding back the cravings for carbs and the only 'bread' I eat is flax bread, 2 small slices, once a day. Not 6 slices of toast in a binge mid afternoon.

Can I eat like this for the rest of my life? Yes I believe I can. I can cope with restaurant meals and holidays. My only issue is eating at other peoples houses. Do I take my flaxbread? Do I take a suitable drink just in case they only have wine or sugar filled mixers?

For years I was on a low fat diet. Even when not dieting I still did not deliberately add fat to my meals. So this is a big change. I am not just consuming a normal amount of fat or oil. For me normal was zero. So I have to make sure I put pats of butter on my veg, or add olive oil to my salads. I take sesame oil as a supplement and have 1 tspn per day.

All this is giving me about 600 to 700 calories from fat a day. I am consuming about 1500 cals per day. Far more than on my low calorie diet.

Interestingly when I work out what I think my calorie needs are for the day it used to work out about 1800 cals per day. Food eaten calories plus calorific value of weight lost ( assuming all that was fat). Working that calculation now gives me a figure of 2270 which means my calorie needs have increased by 470 cals per day because I now eat fat instead of carbs.

Another fact I picked up is that the body can waste fat. If it is getting too much and does not need it it can be burned off with the brown fat and can be excreted. All carbs if not needed for energy are stored as glycogen and fat. The body does not waste any sugar or starch.