Category: Keto Weight Loss Guide

What have I learned in 14 years?

Fourteen years ago I began coaching clients in how to achieve successful keto adaptation. This after I changed my own life in 2012 , losing weight and centimeters and getting off anti-depressant medication.

Some people have achieved positive life enhancing results during their 90 day course with me. Others have not, and sadly have taken steps back to their former habits and self-defeating lifestyle rituals.

What are some of the foundational elements that successful people have embraced to achieve successful keto adaptation?

5 Success tips from the real achievers

They know what they are consuming

Top achievers are diligent with tracking everything that they eat and drink. This is about taking back the power. It’s about being painfully honest about your relationship with food. We know that living an awesome life is about addressing the social, movement, sleep , relaxation and enjoyment factors of life and that diet is not everything. But it is the backbone to awesome health I believe.

They weigh and measure themselves regularly

Having a weekly hop onto the scale first thing in the morning after sitting on the toilet, as well as measuring the abdomen, lets us know how your body is responding to being deprived of the glucose energy that comes from consuming carbohydrates and sugar. A wise habit is to measure other parts of the body as well, such as the wrist, upper arm, bust, hips and upper thighs. Sometimes the scale will not show a change but a drop in centimeters around the abdomen or elsewhere on the body tells us that changes are happening. This is very motivating.

Using the scale and the tape measure gives important information about the effects that your food choices are having on your body. If weight loss stalls after a weekend, it could be due to that extra meal you had. If weight loss speeds up is it because you are skipping meals sometimes because of not being hungry? (Tip: This could be a good time to introduce intermittent fasting as a weight loss hack.)

They get stuck into keto theory

Successful keto adaptors embrace the learning side by listening to podcasts, watching YouTube teachings and reading books and articles by the thought leaders in this food revolution. They own their knowledge so that if they are challenged by someone who declares that “all that fat is going to give you high cholesterol and you will have a heart attack”, they will already understand how Professor Tim Noakes puts this into perspective in his powerful talk, The Dietary Lies around Heart Disease, and are able to sensibly defend their choices.

They do the difficult bits

No one is pretending that this process is easy and without challenges. Far from it. The successful people bravely face up to what they need to do in order to rescue their health and have a better life going forwards. Things like going without alcohol for a period, in somes cases forever. Or abandoning snacking habits. They have an unshakeable belief that the pain will be worth it.

They learn how to handle social settings

Social pressure in my opinion, is the biggest hurdle to overcome when changing from eating processed, high carbohydrate-based foods that are ubiquitous in Western culture. There is need to limit social events that are essential to our well-being as humans. However, successful people develop strategies to use when they are going to be eating and drinking away from home. They plan ahead. They know the difference and drawbacks between a floating canape reception and a bring-and-share get together with friends. Or a formal sit down event or a family meal where dessert is the norm. They always know what they are in for. Further more they are prepared. They know that they will excuse themselves from some of what is offered, by using kind words.

STEP 1: Reduce your consumption of refined grains is one of the vital steps to weight loss

One of the fundamental steps to weight loss is to avoid foods made with flour such as all baked goods, pasta, breaded or battered foods and processed foods. Avoid also all grains – wheat, corn, rye, oats, barley, couscous, duran, arina, kamut, matzo, semilina, spelt and wheat germ.

Once a plant has been ground into a powder such as flour, it is absorbed into our system quickly thereby creating imbalances which the body works hard to overcome. Modern wheat has a gluteomorphin/gluten which is associated with irritable bowels and mood disorders. Grains contain lectins that cause gut leakiness resulting in inflammation in the body, auto immune diseases, and brain fog. Flour products include all baked goods, pasta, breaded or battered foods, processed foods, as well as ALL grains – wheat, corn, rye oats, barley, couscous, durum, arina, kamut, matzo, semolina, spelt, triticale, wheat germ. (See also https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Opioid_peptide)

STEP 2: Another of the steps to weight loss is to reduce your consumption of added sugars

STEP 3: Moderate your protein consumption

STEP 4: Increase your consumption of natural fats

STEP 5: Increase your consumption of protective factors

After water, tea is the most popular beverage in the world. The ketogenic weight loss diet can include tea. There are several basic tea varieties. Black tea is the most common, making up 75% of global consumption. Tea has its characteristic black colour. This is because the harvested leaves are fully fermented. Black tea tends to be higher in caffeine than other varieties. Semi-fermented Oolong tea undergoes a shorter period of fermentation.

Green tea is non-fermented

Instead the freshly harvested leaves immediatly undergo a steaming process to stop fermentation, giving green tea a much more delicate and floral taste. Green tea is naturally much lower in caffeine than coffee, amking this drink ideal to those who are sensitive to caffeine’s stimulating effects.

Green tea contains large concentrations of powerful antioxidants

Catechins are antioxidants in green tea. They may play a role in inhibiting carbohydrate-digestive enzymes resulting in lower glucose levels and protecting pancreatic beta cells. Fermentation (black tea) changes the catechins to a variety of theaflavins. Polyphenols in green tea area also believed to boost metabolism which may aid in fat burning.

Drinking green tea provides many health benefits

These include increased fat oxidation during exercise, increased resting energy expenditure and lower risk of various types of cancer. A meta-analysis of studies confirms that green tea helps with ketogenic weight loss although the benefit is rather modest: in the range of 2 -4 pounds (1 -2 kilograms). Studies include the Singapore Chinese Health Study, showed that tea drinking reduced the risk of type 2 diabetes by 14 to 18 percent.

All teas may be enjoyed as hot or cold beverages on the ketogenic weight loss diet

There are infinite varieties of tea available to suit any taste. Flavour can be added with the addition of lemon peel, orange peel, cardamom, vanilla pods, mint and ginger.

Herbal teas are infusions of herbs, spices or other plant matter in hot water. They make excellent drinks without added sugars. Some popular varieties include mint, chamomile, ginger, lavender, lemon balm, hibiscus and rose hip teas.

Enjoy tea in all it’s different styles as part of your ketogenic weight loss diet.

REFERENCE:

The Obesity Code – Dr Jason Fung

IMAGE CREDIT:

Unsplash – Loverna Journey

Coffee is healthy although due to its high caffeine content, coffee is sometimes condisered unhealthy. However, recent research has come to the opposite conclusion, perhaps due to the fact that coffee is a major source of antioxidants, magnesium and chlorogenic acid.

Coffee is healthy because it protects against type 2 diabetes

Coffee, even the decaffeinated version appears to protect against type 2 diabetes. In a 2009 review, each additional daily cup of coffee lowered the risk of diabetes by 7%, even up to six cups per day. The European Prospective Investigation into Cancer and Nutrition study estimated that drinking at least three cups of coffee or tea daily reduced the risk of diabetes by 42%.

The Singapore Chinese Health Study showed a 30% reduction in risk.

Coffee is healthy and reduces total mortality

Large scale studies found that most major causes of death, including heart disease, were reduced. Coffee may guard against neurologic diseases Altzheimers, Parkinsons disease, liver cirrhosis and liver cancer.

As a caution, while these correlation studies are suggestive, they are not proof of benefit. However, they suggest that coffee may not be as harmful as imagined.

Store your coffee beans well

Use an airtight container away from excessive moisture, heat and light. Flavor is lost quickly after grinding so investing in a reliable grinder is worthwhile. Grind beans immediately before brewing.

Iced coffee is easy and inexpensive to make

Simply brew a pot of regular coffee and cool it in the refrigerator overnight. You can cinnamon, coconut oil, vanilla extract, almond extract and cream to flavor your coffee without changing its healthy nature.

Avoid adding sugar or other sweeteners.

Replace addictive snacks with coffee in your weight loss diet

Dr. Robert Cywes recommends sipping on hot black coffee during your day, to avoid reaching for processed food snacks when you are Banting or on a keto diet.

REFERENCE:

The Obesity Code – Dr. Jason Fung

IMAGE CREDIT:

Mike Kenneally, Unsplash

STEP 1: REDUCE YOUR CONSUMPTION OF ADDED SUGARS

Beverages: No sugar added

Sugar-sweetened beverages are one of the leading sources of added sugars. This includes soda pop, sugar-sweetened teas, fruit juice, fruit punch, vitamin water, smoothies, shakes, lemonade, chocolate or flavoured milk, iced coffee drinks and energy drinks.

Beverages and hot drinks such as hot chocolate, mochaccino, cafe mocha and sweetened coffee and tea can also be included. Trendy alcoholic drinks add significant amounts of sugar to your diet, including such drinks as ‘hard’ lemonade, flavored wine coolers, cider beers as well as more traditional drinks such as Baileys Irish Cream, margaritas, daiquiris, pina coladas, dessert wines, ice wines, sweet sherries and liqueurs.

What about alcohol itself?

Alcohol is made from the fermentation of sugars and starches from various sources. Yeast eat the sugars and convert them to alcohol. Residual sugars result in a sweeter beverage. Sweetened dessert wines are obviously full of sugar and not recommended.

However, moderate consumption of red wine does not raise insulin or impair insulin sensitivity, and therefore may be enjoyed. Up to two glasses a day is not associated with major weight gain and may improve insulin sensitivity.

The alcohol itself, even from beer seems to have minimal effects on insulin secretion or insulin resistance. It is sometimes said that you get fat from the foods you eat when you drink alcohol, rather than the alcohol itself. There may be some truth to that although the evidence is sparse.

So what beverages are left to drink?

The best drink really is just plain or sparkling water. Slices of lemon, orange or cucumber are a refreshing addition.

Just be sure to cut sugar out of your life once and forever, in order to succeed on your weight loss diet.

REFERENCE:

The Obesity Code – Dr Jason Fung

STEP 1: REDUCE YOUR CONSUMPTION OF ADDED SUGARS

The advice to eat something, anything, as soon as you step out of bed is often heard, but we can make breakfast optional by downgrading it from ‘most important meal of the day’ to ‘meal’.

Different nations have different breakfast traditions. The big Amercian breakfast contrasts directly with French ‘petit jeuner’ or ‘small lunch’. The keyword here is ‘small.’

Breakfast foods are desserts in disguise

The greatest problem is, that like snacks, breakfast foods are often little more than desserts in disguise containing vast quantities of processed carbohydrates and sugar. One of the main ways to succeed with a Banting weight loss diet or a keto weight loss diet, is to forego sugar altogether.

Breakfast cereals, particularly those that target children are among the worst offenders. On average they contain 40% more sugar than those that target adults. Not surprisingly, almost all cereals for children contain sugar and ten of them contain more than 50% sugar by weight. Only 5.5 percent met the standard for ‘low sugar’. In diets of children under age eight, breakfast cereals rank only behind candy, cookies, ice cream and sugared drinks as sources of dietary sugar.

A simple rule to follow is this: Don’t eat sugared breakfast cereal or simply, make breakfast optional.

Bakery breakfast items

Many breakfast items from the bakery are highly problematic: muffins, cakes, banana bread and Danishes. Not only do they contain significant amounts of refined carbohydrates, they are often sweetened with sugars and jams. Bread often contains sugar and is eaten with sugary jams and jellies. Peanut butter often contains added sugar.

Traditional and Greek yogurts are nutritional foods. However, large amounts of sugar and fruit flavouring are added to commercial yoghurts.

Oatmeal is another traditional and healthy food. Whole oats and steel-cut oats are a good choice requiring long cooking periods because they contain significant amounts of fibre that requires heat and time to break down.

Avoid instant oatmeal. It is heavily processed and refined which allows for instant cooking and it contains large amounts of added sugar and flavors. Most of the nutritional value is gone.

While rolled oats and dried fruit granola attempt to disguise themselves as healthy, they are often heavily sugared and contain chocolate chips and marshmallows.

Eggs can be enjoyed

Eggs, previously shunned because of cholesterol concerns can be enjoyed in a variety of ways: scrambled, over easy, sunny side up, hard-boiled, soft-boiled, poached, etc.

Egg whites are high in protein, and the yolks contain many vitamins and minerals including choline and selenium. Eggs are particularly good sources of lutein, zeaxanthin, antioxidants that may help protect the eyes against macular degeneration and cataracts.

The cholesterol in eggs may actually help your cholesterol profile by changing the cholesterol particles to the larger, less atherogenic particles. Large epidemiologic studies have failed to link increased egg consumption with increased risk of heart disease.

Eat eggs because they are delicious, whole unprocessed foods.

Consider this: If you are not hungry, don’t eat at all.

Simplify your life.

Reference:

The Obesity Code – Dr. Jason Fung

STEP 1: REDUCE YOUR CONSUMPTION OF ADDED SUGARS

The ‘healthy snack’ is one of the greatest weight loss deceptions. The myth that ‘grazing is healthy’ has attained legendary status. If we were meant to graze, we would be cows. Just don’t snack. Even as recently as the 1960’s people ate only three times a day. Constant stimulation of insulin leads to insulin resistance.

The solution? Stop eating all the time.

Snacks are often little more than thinly disguised desserts.

Most contain prodigious amounts of refined flour or sugar.

These pre-packaged conveniences have taken over the supermarket shelves.

Are snacks necessary? No. Simply ask yourself this question. Are you really hungry or just bored? Keep snacks completely out of sight.

If you have a snack habit replace that habit loop with one that is less destructive to your health. Perhaps a cup of green tea in the afternoon should be your new habit and will ensure success with your weight loss keto diet.

There’s a simple answer to the question of what to eat at snack time.

Nothing. Don’t eat snacks. Simplify your life. Period.

REFERENCE:

The Obesity Code by Dr. Jason Fung

To avoid added sugar is a fundamental step in weight loss. Dr. Jason fung makes this clear in his statement below.

“Obesity is a hormonal disorder of fat regulation. Insulin is the major hormone that drives weight gain, so the rational therapy is to lower insulin levels.” – Dr. Jason Fung

In his comprehensive book. The Obesity Code: Unlocking The Secrets Of Weight Loss, Dr. Jason Fung identifies and explains what the 5 basic steps of LCHF, ketogenic weight loss are.

In the next several blog posts, I will lay them out for you.

STEP 1: REDUCE YOUR CONSUMPTION OF ADDED SUGARS

SUGAR STIMULATES INSULIN SECRETION , but it is far more sinister than that. It contributes directly to insulin resistance in the liver and over time insulin resistance leads to higher insulin levels.

Many natural, unprocessed whole foods contain sugar, such as fructose in fruit and lactose in milk.

Naturally occurring and added sugars are distinct from one another. The two key differences are amount and concentration. Sugars are added to food during processing or cooking .

Why we need to avoid added sugar. What are the pitfalls?

• Sugars may be added in unlimited amounts.

• Also, sugar may be present in processed foods in much higher concentrations than in natural foods.

• Sugar may be ingested by itself, which may cause people to overeat sugary treats, as there is nothing else within the food to make you feel “full”.

For these reasons, we need to avoid added sugar, rather than natural sugars in our diets.

Here is the first step to doing that:

READ ALL LABELS ON PROCESSED FOODS

Almost ubiquitous in refined and processed foods, sugar is not always labeled as such. Other names include sucrose, fructose, maltose, dextrose, glucose, molasses, hydrolyzed starch, honey, invert sugar, cane sugar, high-fructose corn syrup, brown sugar, corn sweetener, rice/corn/cane/maple/malt/golden/palm syrup and agave nectar.

These aliases attempt to conceal the large amounts of added sugar.

If it comes in a package, it probably contains sugar.

Asking how much sugar is acceptable is like asking how many cigarettes are acceptable. Ideally, no added sugar at all would be best if you want to succeed with your weight loss keto diet.

In the next post, we will look at how to deal with deserts.

REFERENCE:

The Obesity Code by Dr. Jason Fung

Reproduced from a Business Insider article, here are plenty of lower-carb grain alternatives to add to your plate. Not all of these will be available in your local food market, but some surely will be.

“The good news is that if you’re looking to limit your carb intake, there’s plenty of options for you — especially when it comes to replacing grains.” – Business Insider

So start experimenting.

Broccoli and cauliflower as lower-carb grain alternatives

Reference:

Business Insider