Cholesterol Clarity - Another Good Read!

 I think one of the hardest things to grasp on the Keto diet is fat is good for you. All my life I've been told by doctors and our government that fat is bad and so is cholesterol! I honestly think that is by far the hardest part of doing this diet. It's not easy to learn to be ok with eating natural fats. Especially after being brain washed all these years to thinking it is bad. We have been told time and time again that it will cause our cholesterol to go up and we will end up with heart disease!

Well guess what? Cholesterol is essential for our bodies function! We can't live without it, but we can live with out carbohydrates! Interesting, don't you think? 

Cholesterol Clarity is another book by Jimmy Moore from the Living LA Vida Low Carb Show. It is a great book that gives you the science behind why cholesterol is good and why we should be eating more fat in our diet. He has 29 different experts that he quotes in this book. 

I listened to this book on Audible, which is great because I find it hard to find time to read a book, so I listen in my car. Check it out. It's definitely worth the read/listen!

A Good Listen/Read - Keto Clarity

I found a great book on Audible that I thought I would share about here on my blog. Although written in 2014 this book has a lot of great information that is still useful and valid today. It basically takes all the myths and misleading information out of the Keto Diet! Dr. Eric Weldman is co-author of this book. He also wrote End Your Carb Confusion. The book I am basing my eating plan from. 

There is a lot more detailed information about the Keto diet in Keto Clarity. It helped give me a better understanding of the Keto diet and Ketosis. It also helped explain why this diet is not used like it should be by more doctors to heal common ailments rather then using expensive drug treatments and other medical procedures. 

The book is quite eye opening and a good read! The information provided in this book has inspired me to stick to this way of eating for the long term. It is clearly beneficial for our health as human beings and it is a shame that so many have criticized the Keto diet as unhealthy and dangerous!

The Keto Diet is gaining in popularity. A fad? Perhaps, but hopefully people will see the benefits of such a diet and the word about it's benefits will start to grow and it will become more common rather then just being another passing fad. 

I plan to have blood tests done in the spring at my annual physical and we shall see what the results are then! I will be curious to see where my cholesterol, my LDL (bad cholesterol) and HDL (good cholesterol), are doing. My cholesterol is not high by any means but it will be interesting to see if it goes down or goes up. My gut tells me it will probably go down or remain the same. It will also be interesting to see how this diet effects my HDL. I was always told the only way to bring it up was to exercise. According to the experts, the Keto Diet can also bring it up. 

I am pretty healthy for being obese. Aside from obesity & arthritis and some other minor ailments I am doing fine, for now. My whole reason for doing this is to lose weight and stay healthy so I don't end up on a bunch of medication and immobile when I get older.  I want to be healthy and active for as long as I can be and avoid as many medications as I can. I am a true believer in being in charge of my own destiny and that includes where I am destined to go with my health as I get older. 

I am not really sure how my doctor will react to me being on this diet, but I plan to stick with it either way. I don't plan on telling her until my annual check up in the spring, so we will have to wait until then to find out! 

I'm only about a third of the way through this book but am finding it quite informative. I look forward to learning more details about the Keto Diet in this book! 

Thinking About Carbs In A Whole New Light

 I decided to watch a documentary called Fat: A Documentary & Fat 2: A Documentary. They made a lot of valid points about how carbs have played a large part in the obesity epidemic in the U.S. I think my generation was one of the first generations to feel the real harsh impact government recommendations and fad diets have create! The low fat diet craze, which started when I was a kid, prompted many companies to make foods high in carbs in low in fat. Carbs keep our insulin levels high which ultimately reeks havoc on our bodies and health!

There was one particular doctor that I really enjoyed hearing from in both of these documentaries, Dr. Eric Westman. I got a real sense that he knew exactly what he was talking about after working with low carb diets to help medical conditions and obesity for over 20 years!

I decided to purchase his book "End Your Carb Confusion". I like his ideas as he doesn't automatically say it's one way or no way. Lowering your carbs can be beneficial and does not have to be extreme!

In order to be in ketosis like suggested in Keto diets you need to stay under 50 grams of carbs per day. But with his plan he has 3 phases you can choose from based on your health and weight. He also said that some people respond to variants in low carb diets better then others and sometimes it's trial and error before you figure out what will work best for you. 

Phase 1: No more then 20grams of carbs per day. 

Phase 2: No more then 50grams of carbs per day.

Phase 3: No more then 150 grams of carbs per day. 

I pretty much tick off one box from the Phase 1 section and this is because my BMI is high. But in reality I am pretty healthy. I do think that lowering carbs would benefit me in the long run to help with joint pain and any concerns I have with brain function, due to my mom having dementia and my sister having memory issues, and of course weight loss which is my ultimate goal. 

I've been thinking this through and I don't think I am ready to go to 50 grams of carbs for a long period of time, let alone 20 grams! I think the only way for that type of plan to stay effective is if I can maintain that diet until I reach my weight goal. I want to see how I do if I keep under 100 grams of carbs per day while keeping my calories under 1300 per day. My off days I will still need to stay under 100 grams of carbs! So no matter what, I will need to watch my carb intake everyday, not just my on days. I will try this for a couple of weeks and see how it goes!

If I am not making headway with losing weight then I will commit to either 20 or 50 grams per day. Probably 20 grams to start until I get under 200 pounds. But for now, I want to see if cutting my carbs back to 100 grams permanently will be beneficial or not. So I am going to put one toe in the water and see how it feels! LOL! I do know on my off days I eat usually 300 plus grams of carbs which is a lot! Maybe keeping that under 100 carbs I will see better results. We shall see! 

I am excited to at least have some better guidelines for carb intake. I have always been lost at knowing what exactly is considered a low amount of carbs! I am a true believer in everything in moderation.  I feel that so many countries eat pasta, potatoes and rice and they don't have the problems we do with obesity. I also believe processed foods are another cause of the problems we have today and will do my best to stay away from processed carbs as much as possible! Another problem in America are things are not done in moderation. Moderation will always be in the forefront for me! Unless the results tell me otherwise when it comes to fat or carbs! 

Now it's time to stick to this new plan and track my results! Stay tuned.