Does anyone else have problems balancing the low cal and high fat elements here? I find myself avoiding things like avocado, cheese and oils because of the high cal value. I console myself with the thought that I know it’s only 8 weeks of combining low carb with low cal.

My advice would be go for the fats anyway and just get used to eating smaller quantities than you used to. It is really good for satiety and I have pretty well trained myself to recognise what a healthy portion of one of the healthy fats is using this method which I am finding very useful now I am maintaining.

Not really. Portion control fixes everything. I bought the smallest avocadoes I can find and eat half of one instead of the whole thing. My cheese limit was 2 oz a day total. I just measured everything to be sure I didn’t cross the 800 calorie limit. I also found easy ways to trim the fat (literally!) in things like salad dressing and veggie sautees. For instance I used to use a tablespoon of olive oil for a salad dressing. Now it’s less than a teaspoon. I use a strongly flavored artisan kalamata oil to make sure I don’t lose deliciousness, and add bulk with a fake mayo I make out of silken tofu. It has the emulsifying power of the oil in 8 calories and .25 gram carbs in a tablespoon (15 grams).

Food combinations are also key. If you’re going to enjoy a higher fat lunch, for example, then make a dinner that’s focused on veg and lean proteins. Sometimes I’ll do a cheesy lunch, for example, and then for dinner have a giant salad with arugula, cucumbers, miso dressing and smoked whitefish. If you plan your menu, there are no nasty shocks and you can indulge in the healthy fats without worrying about calorie count.

Then again, I did the 800 calories regimen for 14 months, so I had plenty of time to come up with systems that worked for me. Now I’m in maintenance and I don’t count calories anymore, but I still measure so I can keep the carbs extremely low. Besides, I’m used to the process and I like knowing for a fact what I’m eating and how much of it.

Hello again, You snooze you gain! Trying to save calories by eliminating
healthy fats like avocado, olive oil and nuts because they are calorie dense
will work at cross purposes to success on this WOE. This is a low carb,
moderate protein, high fat program. Like my fellow maintainers have
said, it’s quite easy to include fats at every meal, as long as you exert
careful portion control over them, i.e., 1/2 small avocado, 8-10 almonds,
a tbs of seeds, etc. They are instrumental in managing hunger as well.
A secondary gain is beautiful skin, hair and nails! If you are finding it
challenging to work out your macros, please ask for help. There is always
someone around who would be happy to help you figure this out 🙂

Best,

Allie

I will add one more voice in support of higher fat. I have no regrets whatsoever of ditching the carbs to make room for healthy fats. The fats go hand in hand with more veg on your plate…you are eating broccoli with butter, and roasted veges drizzled with EV olive oil. That and moderate protein and you have the basis for a very healthy diet high in antioxidants, vitamins and minerals. And fiber fiber fiber. Very few dieters are happy muching raw celery sticks for long. Toss a bunch of broccoli or cauliflower or brussels sprouts ….or all at the same time….onto a sheet pan and roast then at high heat for 20-30 min….add spices and olive oil and you have a satisfying feast.

The fats also do not trigger a rise in insulin….they are the most metbolically benign of all the foods you could eat.

Its a huge change in your thinking….but look at the total calorie count and not the volume on your plate. An avocado smashed on low carb toast and drizzled with some olive oil, salt & a squeeze of lime (and maybe a bit of hot sauce) is amazingly filling and so very very good for you.

A broiled chop or piece of fish with a huge salad on the side nicely dressed (well coated but not dripping) will keep you full …promise you.

I’m off to look for strong flavoured olive oil. Can’t wait for the more interesting varieties of tomato to come back into the shops – I ate pounds of the huge coeur de boeuf tomatoes they had in M&S last year.

One other thing I find really helpful is cauliflower. Mashed cauli was a revelation to me with the taste so different from the conventional veg where the florets seem to be stone cold the minute they hit the plate. It seems to thicken soup really well too. I draw the line at the latest M&S offering of cauliflower steak though.

Fair warning: tomatoes are very high in sugar. I still eat them when they’re in season (my father is an avid gardener and raises spectacular heirlooms every year), but no more than 2 oz at a time, mostly in Caprese form with buffalo milk mozzarella and all it’s lovely fat to offset the sugar hit.

Good luck finding killer olive oil. If there are any international markets — Middle Eastern, Greek, Italian — that’s where you’re likeliest to find the small manufacturers with the highest quality products. You want the oil to be green. Not yellow, not light green, an intense, dark Robin Hood green.

While you’re out and about, look for grass-fed pasture-raised butter too. You can tell at a glance that it’s not like regular butter because it is deep yellow and has an almost tangy finish. A teaspoon of that added to broccoli with a grating of Parmigiano Reggiano and you’ll get a ton of flavor for comparatively little cost in calories. I once had mashed cauli for dinner — literally a plate laden with mashed cauli — with a well of melted grass-fed butter in the middle. It was pure sumptuousness. Good luck!

Hi YSYG don’t dismiss cauliflower steaks, they are quite tasty (although I’ve never bought any, just cut up a cauliflower). Brush with oil and any spices/herbs you fancy and roast in the oven – delish 😉. There is actually a thread (use the search box as I can’t add a link at the moment) 101 ways with cauliflower, it might give you a few new ideas.

Hi all, I am almost back on track after Christmas. I tried to stay on plan but although I was much better than usual I was waylaid by a small amount of chocolate and potatoes and a moderate amount of biscuits and put on 1.5Kg, but usually at Christmas I would be much heavier, but I am back on plan now. Before Christmas I vowed to follow the Esnecca method of strict counting and not one step back, but I didn’t quite keep to it but I am back on track now and keeping a strict count of carbs and drinking my prescribed amount of water.

I have a question about gram flour. Is it low carb, it does seem to be quite high on the carb counters that I have looked at. I am going to try it as an additive to thicken soup and see if it causes me any problems with BG levels. I have been making sure that my carbs are as low as possible and wonder if there is a downside with very low carb?

I was on YouTube today and I watched a video about fasting, and this trainer said that anything that you drink other than water or green tea during a fast breaks the fast. I have read The Obesity Code by Jason Fung and I am sure that he advocates bullet proof coffee during a fast, with no adverse effects. I will have to do my own clinical trial so watch this space.

Esnecca, your description of sumptuous mashed cauli with organic butter is almost too hard to take, it is making me hungry. I think that I will have to go to bed quickly.

Sorry about that, Jim. The good news is you can make the butter lake caulimash yourself whenever you like. 😀

At 50 grams of carbs for 100 grams, chickpea flour is a big screaming no for me. There’s no reason to destroy your numbers for the day just to thicken a soup. You’d be far better off using a fat (creme fraiche, heavy cream), plant fiber (guar gum, xantham, konjac powder) or animal gelatin (collagen). There’s no downside I’ve found to low carb eating. From my perspective, it’s all upsides as far as the eye can see.

Dr. Fung acknowledges that any calories ingested break the fast. He just doesn’t think it’s that big of a deal depending on what you’re eating. I don’t recall him advocating bulletproof coffee during a fast, just normal coffee. BPC has an enormous amount of calories so it doesn’t seem like much of a fast to me if you guzzle hundreds of calories worth of butter or coconut oil every day. If you eat nothing else, I suppose you’d be doing a form of IF. A sort of 24 hour fast, if you will.

I use goats milk butter in the absence of grass fed. It has a distinctive flavour that I like very much. Readily available in Waitrose. NB I’m off to buy a cauli tomorrow

Hard to imagine that black coffee can break a fast when green tea doesn’t. Must confess I tend to use Marvel in my drinks, because I just have not been able to acquire the taste for black tea or coffee. The amount I use, especially for tea, is minimal. I find that I really don’t like the taste of fatty milk any more and wet milk both goes off before I can finish it and makes tea cold.

I think Bulletproof coffee makes it more of a fasting mimicking diet rather than a true fast, although I stay clear of dairy on my FMD so would have to use another plant based oil as well as the coconut (maybe Walnut? I might try it next time) I do find the bulletproof coffee very satisfying for a long period.

As a tea geek, an interesting point, the Chinese drink Pu Erh when they want to lose weight. This is a “red” tea which has been left to mature and has quite a rich taste, so an option as well as Green Tea.

JulesMaigret when I visited China I went to a tea tasting. I don’t recalled what their weight-loss one was called but it smelled like manure-filled stable straw. I’m not in a position to compare the two tastes as I’ve never had a brew of stable straw, but didn’t like the tea. Maybe you lose weight because it puts you off eating?

You never know!

I got into tea to replace wine during my first BSD800 and it satisfies the need for a variety of beverage tastes and a nerdy level of knowledge.

Oh dear, I must be really weak willed because I can’t imagine any tea replacing a glass of Chablis or Sancerre. I cling to the thought that I can maintain, with vigilance, on a low carb regime and am prepared to cut down on the high fat, high calorie goodies until I lose my weight.

I watched a prog the other day which showed that fish was much better for weight loss than meat, so I’m off to the fish market next week to stock up on goodies. Also the local Chinese supermarket has frozen squid tentacles which are great in stir fries.

I’m taking courage from Theodora’s example. Successfully maintaining and enjoying a couple of glasses of wine on weekends!

Can’t wait to reach maintenance. For the moment I am sticking to the low calorie method. If only salads were as appealing as chips, and sometimes I find myself with a piece of bread in my hand. Strangely enough, I find it easier to resist sweet things than savoury.