I strongly caveat this is my own personal journey and is working for me. I have seen positive results on the scale and in my blood tests for my overall personal health. Success for you may be different, and I encourage your individual path by employing what works for you.
Summary:
I began a health journey in April 2023. I have found success with a Low Carb High Fat (LCHF) diet combined with Intermittent Fasting (IF) and including Aerobic Exercise. I knew for me that counting calories or carbs and/or weighing food was not going to do it for me. I simply am not going to do that. I decided I was going to be in tune with my body, listening to what it needs and satiation. I educate myself with several YouTube channels, not accepting them at face value, but finding pearls of wisdom that work or I adapt for me to make my own pearl necklace. My favorite is Dr. Ekberg followed by Dr. Berry and then Dr. Berg. I do not buy any diet items; supplements, pills, powders, elixirs, equipment, NOTHING!
Intermittent Fasting (IF)
I employ IF, starting with an eating window of 8 hours and narrowing it to 6, 4 and then to One Meal a Day (OMAD). On occasion I fasted 36, 48 and even 72 hours. The longer fasts help break through plateaus and are much easier than I thought. I typically eat dinner at 7 or 8, so I would not eat anything until noon. I then gradually pushed that time forward narrowing the eating window.
Low Carb High Fat (LCHF) Diet
First of all, I now believe that sugar is an addiction. I also have learned that sugar is in EVERYTHING! By far the most difficult piece of this journey is overcoming sugar, both physically and mentally. The body turns carbs into glucose thus exacerbating the sugar problem. The key for me is eating whole/unprocessed foods and keeping them interesting with spices and condiments. Salt is my friend. I chose regular table salt because of the added iodine that helps support my thyroid which has been borderline low in the past. I also mostly eliminated bread, pasta, crackers, cookies, candy, cake, pancakes, waffles, fries, etc.
Every day I typically eat 2 hard-boiled eggs and an avocado, both with salt. Sometimes I add a dollop of mayo and squirt of mustard with a dill pickle slice to the eggs. A great trick my wife taught me.
For “lunch” I typically have a Chick Fil A cobb salad with grilled nuggets and light Italian dressing, or roasted chicken thighs with Greek salad. On occasion when I need more fat in my diet, I have Five Guys double bacon cheeseburger (w/o bun and no fries of course) with all the fixin’s (except ketchup b/c of the high sugar content). They gladly serve it as a bowl.
For dinner, we subscribe to HomeChef. This works nicely because they send you fresh ingredients and eliminates the drudgery of thinking what to make. Without it, often it was too easy to succumb to quick processed food or take out. We recently moved to an area where fast food and delivery was not an option, which is a blessing. On non HomeChef nights cooking on the grill is an easy option of steak, burger, brats chicken etc. Grilled zucchini with some butter and lemon pepper is a favorite of mine as well as sautéed mushrooms. On nights besieged with being tired or time gets away, I keep some baked ham and swiss cheese slices that I wrap around a dill pickle spear, sometimes with some spicy mustard.
Drinks
This is particularly challenging to overcome because of the sugar addiction. I like a coffee in the morning with French vanilla creamer, and water was bland to me. I could not do this “cold turkey” and had to wean myself. For some reason handling this at home was even harder. So at work I was able to transition to nothing but water. At home I used the crutch of Mio flavoring for quite some time, and have for the most part weaned off it, but remains a challenge every day to be honest. As for coffee, I tried a variety of different things with limited success. My dad, who drank black coffee you could tar the driveway with, is laughing at me in heaven. I tried bulletproof (butter) coffee. Blech!! I tried some zero sugar creamers. I didn’t care for them. So, a cup of coffee with French vanilla creamer became a treat a couple times a week before kicking it completely.
Aerobic Exercise
I walk 3 miles every day. I bought into the theory that anaerobic exercise and heavy strength training increases cortisol (stress hormone) that increases insulin thus inhibiting fat burn. I could have added HIIT exercise, but it was easier for me to just take a walk.
What’s Next I don’t foresee abandoning my LCHF and IF lifestyle, rather I will evolve it. Like any other addiction I must guard every day against sugar relapse. I will need to experiment, but it appears that IF of 18:6 works best for me, eating 2x/day. I will have to make new goals, potentially additional weight loss and/or gaining muscle strength. These will impact how I employ the LCHF and IF lifestyle going forward.
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