The Steaks Are High

Kimkins Controversy

Anyone surfing around the low carb blogs and forums these days can't miss the controversy exploding over the latest low carb plan to hit the newstands: Kimkins.

The very short, very condensed version of this story is that a poster by the handle Kimmer over at Low Carb Friends creating quite a following by proposing that calories actually were important in low-carbing, and too many people were forgetting this. My very first post of this blog described Kimkins like this:

"Kimkins is a stricter version of Atkins Induction, developed by a low carber named Kimmer. The basics of this approach to weight loss are:

- < 20 carbs (no fiber subtraction)

- 70-90 g protein

- just enough fat to make your menus work

- absolutely no low carb treats and very limited cheese

Being this strict ensures a state of real ketosis, symptoms of which include strong appetite suppression and very rapid weight loss. This is a chance to see what it's like.

Warning - not everyone likes the feeling, even if you're losing weight very rapidly."

The way I saw Kimkins back then was as I see the Atkins fat fast, the meat and egg fast, and the protein sparing modified fast I'm currently doing. It's a way to lose weight FAST, but realistically not a permanent way of eating. You have to transition from pure meat & egg at some point, same with the shake deal, same with Kimkins.

So what's all the fuss about?

Unilateral Nutritionism
Jimmy Moore used this phrase this week while defending Kimkins to describe the phenomenon of other low carbers turning against a new or stricter way of eating. I can personally testify to this happening to the Meat & Eggers thread at the Active Low-Carber forums (the first post of which was a description of the Kimmer Experiment!), and also to The Bear's "zero carb" thread. That's why there now exist two spin-off forums: Meat & Eggers For Life, and Active No-Carber Forums, for people who felt their chosen plans were constantly under attack. No doubt there is part of this spirit occurring with the Kimkins bashing. Whether people feel that a stricter plan is an implicit criticism of their own, or a bastardization of Atkins, are jealous of Kimmer's incredible success or genuinely believe this way of eating is unhealthy is hard to say, and I suspect there are folks in each of these camps and more.

Problems with the plan
For the people who want to debate the merits of watching fat as well as carbs, of counting calories and avoiding frankenfoods for clean eating...bring it on! I actually don't have a problem with the Kimkins plan as written - in fact, the shake plan I'm doing now is probably pretty close to one of the Kimkins options, which states you can replace meals with protein shakes. I LOVE losing weight quickly! I understand why people are so motivated by this, and I don't think it's harmful unless you get into a binge and lose cycle, or fail to recognize the need to learn healthy eating habits for maintenance.

The plan behind the plan
Here's where things get a bit sticky, for me. While Kimkins plan as written seems fine and doable and above board, a lot of posters over at Low Carb Friends have described her "plan behind the plan" - Kimmer's advice on her infamous "Ask Kimmer" threads there, which seemed to include some very dubious statements. The following transcript was quoted:

Poster: "Kimmer, I don't know what's happening. I haven't cheated at all and I didn't loose a pound today.?? I ate maybe 4 bites of lean chicken,my coffee and two diet cokes. What causes a stall? Is this normal or is my coffee finally catching up with me? Or could it be bathroon issues? HELP ME KIMMER???"

Kimmer: "*name deleted* what's in your coffee? What about constipation? What kind of chicken? What have you eaten the last 3 days?"

Poster: Coffee:SF carmel 2g carbs,30 cals,2.5 g fat, per tbsp (I use 2 carefully measured) sweet n low (1 packet) 1 cup day. 2 days ago I had 2 cups.
Friday Hardly nothing to eat,c 2 cups coffee,2 diet drinks,water
Saturday,1/4 chicken breast cooked in George Forman w/ salt,coffee my way,Snow cone w/ SF syrup2oz (did not measure) 5 cals,o carbs o fat,2 diet cokes,
Today Roast beef broiled in oven about the size if a tennis ball 1 diet coke,1 cup of coffee.

Kimmer: "...Have you considered taking a mild laxative each night you're doing "protein only"? Or, hate to even suggest it, make up a batch of the horrible Epsom salt solution and take a couple tablespoons each night?..."

Okay...bear in mind, I did NOT witness this conversation as it happened, and this is someone else entirely reporting the conversation. However, from the sheer number of people agreeing that this is exactly the sort of advice she gave, and other similarly disturbing examples of encouraging people to go lower and lower and lower on calories, I'm inclined to believe that this sort of thing was going on.

This advice is patently ridiculous. Anyone who tells you they're eating four bites of chicken and a coffee in a whole day needs, in this order, a big hug and a healthy meal. Many posters describe such a way of thinking as pro-ana (pro-anorexic) and it does set off all sorts of eating disorder warning bells.

HOWEVER...I also think it's possible to separate the pearls from the swine here. She doesn't seem to be giving this kind of advice through any official Kimkins channels, so I think people could follow Kimkins in a healthy way. This is little comfort to the people who had bad experiences with Kimmer over at Low Carb Friends, but taking a step back is necessary to evaluate the plan as it now exists.

Kimmer's identity
Here's where people get all conspiracy-theorist...
Kimmer refused to post pictures other than tiny, blurry avatars for some years, and when she finally did release before/after shots, people questioned whether it was the same person. Here, check out the pictures for yourself and see what you think:

Or check out the shots from the Kimkins site:

Personally, I haven't measured or scrutinized to this degree, but detractors are claiming that specific ratios of the facial features change between pictures, as does arm length.

Others are suspicious of her beautiful skin tone and shapely arms in the red dress picture, which looks more like a 20 year old than a 47 year old.

Here's another picture, Kimmer's avatar picture on Yahoo Answers:

To this I can say a few things: airbrushing works wonders, low carb does great things for the skin, but if I had to put my hand on my heart and swear, I don't think I could say the various pictures Kimmer has posted are all of the same person.

There is also a lot of suspicion over the fact that she has consistently refused in-person interviews and face-to-face meetings, even with some of her most successful followers. Jimmy Moore offered to fly out and meet with her in person, but no dice.

So, who cares? Jimmy Moore in particular seems to be saying that all of this is just a big ruckus about nothing - if the plan works, work it! And don't waste time looking up Kimmer's real name and address and trying to find the real person behind the name.

Critics claim that since she is not a doctor, the real authority behind this plan IS Kimmer, and her testimony about her plan should be backed up by more evidence than just words typed onto internet forums. Her claim that she lost 198lbs in 11 months is what drew people in to begin with, and that should be verified. Personally, I'm curious about why she wouldn't just put all this drama to rest by doing a few interviews in person. I don't think it's the kiss of death to her plan that she's a mysterious, missing person, but it does seem pretty shady.

Affiliate marketing
The Kimkins plan is marketed very successfully through affiliate marketing. This is when bloggers or other internet folks post links to the Kimkins site. When someone clicks on that link and joins the site, the blogger who posted the link gets paid! Woo! Currently, Kimkins affiliates make 25% of the $59.95 membership fee, which is $14.99 per joining member sent by the affiliate. Affiliates who signed up earlier could make up to 30-40% of the join fee.

Okay, this is nothing new in internet marketing. Check out the links to the Amazon books at the side of this site - if you click on and buy those books, I get some money. (I have made approximately 75 cents off this since my blog began, but hey, can't blame a girl for trying!)

The complaint is that various bloggers, including Jimmy Moore, are not being straightforward and open and honest by saying "I make X amount from promoting Kimkins!" There are many Kimkins support sites and blogs cluttered with links, some of which are probably genuine Kimkins-followers who want to share this plan and make a little money while they do so (no problem with that) and others who see this as a chance to make some quick cash and throw up fake sites with fake pictures and fake stories (not very ethical).

I think it's unfair to attack Jimmy in particular for having links and banners up to the site. He has banners and links to all sorts of low carb programs and products all over his blog. This is a guy who spends a huge amount of time each day blogging and reading and researching and responding to people who are curious about low carb life. Why shouldn't he be compensated for his hard work in building a massive readership and huge amounts of traffic to his blog by throwing links and banners up there?

I like Jimmy a lot. Do I think it would be more completely squeaky-clean for him to disclose to his readers that he's making quite a bit of money promoting Kimkins? Sure. Do I think that would fit with his straight-shooting, laying-it-all-on-the-table blogging style? Definitely. But is that holding him to very rigid standards of accountability that aren't necessarily expected elsewhere on the web? Yep, absolutely!

If you tweak it, it isn't Kimkins
Alright, last but certainly not least is the following information to consider from the Kimkins site:

"The original Kimkins Diet:

As much lean protein as desired from the Kimkins Food List

0-20 total carbs per day (no fiber or sugar alcohol subtraction)
0-3 cups List 1 veggies per day  OR
0-2 cups List 1 veggies + 0-1 cup List 2 veggies per day
Use minimal fat to make your menu work (careful, calories count!)
No alcohol or low carb products (sugar free candy, energy bars, ice cream, frozen meals)
Your appetite will reduce naturally after 3-5 days
Take a complete multivitamin each day plus other desired supplements." [My emphasis added.]

Kimmer also clearly states in the instructional section:
"Question: Can I modify the Kimkins Food Lists?

Please don't. If it's not the list [sic], don't eat or drink it!  Remember that Kimkins is a lean low carb plan. The #1 reason for slow weight loss is 'modifying'."

And a quote from Kimmer on Low Carb Friends:
"I hope you won't think I'm a total snot for saying this, but please don't "modify" Kimkins. Just call your plan Atkins instead."

This has people running around yelling that Jimmy Moore isn't in fact doing Kimkins, since he HAS modified it to include some foods he enjoys like Chocoperfection chocolate bars and some low carb wraps. How dare he claim he's losing all this weight from Kimkins, give Kimkins all this credit, when in fact he isn't actually doing Kimkins?

My thoughts on this are first, congratulations to Jimmy for being honest about what he's eating. How much easier would it be to just pretend he's sticking to pure Kimkins, and not have to face any of these detractors?

Secondly, who the heck doesn't modify their eating plans?? Every single person I know on the Meat & Eggers Forum has personalized their plan, some including Cool Whip (why, I have no idea, but hey) and others adding veggies back in, still others carb-cycling.

The important thing here is that Jimmy Moore and countless others have taken the general guiding principle of Kimkins - watch the fat along with the carbs, and calories will limit themselves - incorporated that principle into their diets, and seen amazing results.

I'm not sitting here thinking, "Oh, well, he's not really doing Kimkins, so all this is crap," - I'm thinking "Damn! He's eating all those frankenfoods and STILL losing all that weight? Kimkins is scary fast!"

Scary is right, and that's where I'll finish this gargantuan post. People are scared by fast weight loss for a whole host of reasons, some sound and valid criticisms, others not so worthy of attention. People are rightfully scared by doubts and shadiness about Kimmer's identity, and rightfully worried about the previous disturbing eating disorder-esque advice.

I think it'd be relatively easy to clear up a lot of this fear and doubt and infighting by Kimmer coming clean about her identity and putting the picture doubts to rest once and for all. I wish she'd do that.

I also think that, parsing through all of the fighting and anger and genuine hurt, there's some sound dietary advice to be had from the Kimkins plan as written. Too many low carbers return to Atkins Induction with bad habits from previous low carbing stints - eating frankenfoods, being used to massively fatty portions and overeating, skyrocketing their calorie counts and wondering why the weight isn't dropping off. Kimkins manages to cut out a lot of these problems by stripping Atkins down to the bare essentials (she admits her plan is simply a tweak of the original Atkins from 1972) and limiting fat to what's needed for cooking.

As I wrote last year, I believe this is a very useful tool for dropping you in deep ketosis and stripping your diet down to the bare essentials. You can then add in different foods and experiment with what works for you personally.

And hopefully, hopefully, all of us can sit down over some Kimkins-friendly, Atkins-friendly, Zone-friendly, Stillman's-friendly, Bear-friendly chicken and be friends again.

Shakin' It In Florida

I'm in Florida visiting my family for a few weeks, and so far enjoying mornings of beautiful sunshine and catching up on reading during the stormy afternoons.

One of the greatest diet-related aspects of this trip is that I finally have a partner in crime: my mum!

So far, using the shakes plan, she has lost 27.5lbs in just 58 days! This was no quick-n-easy water weight drop by going suddenly super low on carbs. She had been low carbing on Phase 1 of the South Beach Diet since January and reached a frustrating plateau before I told her about the Protein Sparing Modified Fast. She had already lost 25 lbs before starting this, which only makes her speedy weight loss even more impressive.

I have to say, she looks absolutely fantastic. One of the things she's most excited about is that she bought her first dress with a belt! She also has TONS of energy, and as far as I can see, close to zero carb cravings. (She's cooking up a batch of cinnamon rolls for the rest of the family as I type.)

It's been awesome doing this together since I got here: making shakes for each other, sharing lovely low-carb meals and weighing in together in the morning. I think having a diet partner really helps my own accountability, and just being around someone who is so successful on this plan is very inspiring.

We decided to come up with some handy tips for anyone following this, based on our experiences with the plan. I'm getting tons and tons of emails asking questions about the best ways to do it, and reporting amazing results, so keep 'em coming!

Accept that you'll feel like crap for the first few days
Like the good old Atkins flu, starting this plan WILL leave a lot of people feeling tired, groggy, lethargic, slightly nauseous or spacey and out of it. This can depend on the person, and some people just breeze through it straight away. However, especially if you've been eating a high-carb diet previously, you will probably not feel very well as your body makes the switchover to getting energy from protein instead of carbs. Hang in there - your energy will return, and you'll be feeling fine in less than a week.

Weigh every day!
This flies in the face of a lot of weight loss advice, but both my mum and I have found it extremely motivating to get on the scales each morning and see what we've lost. Since weight loss on this plan is so consistent and fast, weighing in is rarely a disappointment.

Journal it
Write down your weigh-in number every day so you can track your loss. There's a great program to do this online - FitDay - where you can get a graph of your weight as it tumbles down. By doing this, you'll also be able to get a more accurate picture of your average weight loss week-by-week.  It's very typical to lose 8-10lbs the first week, and then average around 2-3lbs per week after that, but this will help you keep focused.

Get back on
If something happens and you do end up eating off plan, get right back on. This is easy to say, but the encouraging part about this diet is that anything you gain will drop right off...if you get back on plan immediately. You may experience the yuckiness of a carb hangover the following day, which is further motivation to stay away from the sugar!

Sugar-free gum
Bear in mind that you're eating real, solid food once a day, so it helps to occasionally give yourself something to chew. Sugar-free gum can also be a dietsaver in meetings where people are passing around sandwich plates and baked goods: if you pop a piece in right at the beginning, your mouth will be full of flavor and the treat will seem less tempting.

Shake doctoring
If you're not too thrilled with straight protein shakes, people have come up with a number of ways to doctor them up. Bear in mind that the original Thin So Fast plan as described by Dr. Mike Eades added all sorts of stuff to the protein shakes to make them palatable (this book was published back when protein powder tasted dreadful). Some variations to try:

- After you have your morning coffee, pour the rest of the pot into a pitcher and leave it in the fridge. Mix the cold coffee with protein powder for a delicious and energizing shake.

- Add a teaspoon of vanilla essence, or the sugar free syrup of your choice for different flavors.

- Mix the powder with diet soda - but be careful of the fizz! This makes for a float or creamsicle type drink, depending on the soda you use.

- Add cream! Some people like to add a couple of spoons of cream to the coffee version, and our latest treat is to squirt some whipped cream onto a chocolate shake and sprinkle a little unsweetened cocoa powder on top.

Treat yourself
Nope, not to sweet treats - to good quality tea and coffee. We are a Starbucks-loving house, especially the bold blends like Komodo Dragon and Arabian Mocha Sunani. I'm also a big fan of different teas: both Stash and Republic of Tea make some amazing flavors. (The Republic of Tea Ginger Peach flavor is lovely, and great if your stomach feels slightly off.) Drinking high quality tea and coffee fills your mouth with gorgeous tastes without adding hardly a carb or calorie, and the caffeine will rev you up too. 

Beware the side salad
One common fall down is ordering salads from fast food outlets or restaurants. Atkins and South Beach and Protein Power and even this fast encourage eating vegetables with your protein, so having a side salad often seems like a fairly safe option. Now, if you're at home, and sticking to the greens (romaine, iceberg, spinach, cucumbers, asparagus, broccoli, avocado) you'll be safe. Where people get into trouble is ordering something like Boston Market's chopped salad which weighs in at 12g carbs before adding dressing. Quizno's Black & Bleu salad might look like a low carb dream, sprinkled with beef and blue cheese, but clocks in at 27.9g carbs! Steamed vegetables are often a safer choice, or you can always stick with trusty old caesar, hold the croutons.

Double up on shakes
A lot of people have found they've been skipping shakes, either due to time, forgetfulness or lack of access to shake making materials. A simple solution is to drink double shakes. Say you're on four scoops of protein powder a day: just make a shake with two scoops in the morning, and two at night to ensure you get your protein requirements met for the day.

Enjoy your meals
This is obviously not very hard when you're eating once a day! But I think it helps to put in the effort to make delicious meals. I will post some sample menus in the days to come, and there are always the recipes here for more ideas. A huge part of sticking to any diet is finding it psychologically satisfying, and making yummy food and treating yourself to nice drinks and interesting shake variations will undoubtedly help you stay on plan and keep losing.

Get support
You can join the very small but very friendly group following this plan over at the Meat & Eggers Forum. Here's the thread link: Arckins Plan Challenge so stop on by and say hello. Or try doing it with a friend, partner or family member so you can help and motivate each other.

Good luck, and here's to your very great loss!

At The Butcher's

A couple of guys walk into a butcher's and see two joints of meat hanging up. One of them says to the other:

"I bet you $200 you can't roundhouse kick both of those down."

His friend replies:

"Nah, I can't do that man - the steaks are too high!"

Going Against The Grain

So, cognitively the best thing to do with any diet plan is to focus on the positives and what you love about your chosen plan. I try to do that a lot here, meat pusher that I am, never forgetting the advantages of low carb in terms of fast weight loss, overall health, curbing hunger, delicious foods.

But, today, I'm doing the opposite, and answering the question: what's the worst part about doing low carb?

For me, it's that low carbing can be an essentially anti-social diet. As a culture, we choose to celebrate by sharing food. Now, some people will counter this by saying the focus on food as a necessity for celebration is not healthy, and we should just opt out of it altogether. I think that's a bit extreme, and as someone who gets a lot of pleasure out of cooking and sharing a meal with friends and family, I'm not about to throw out the very delicious baby with the carby bathwater.

The problem with low carb is the one I brought up during the low carb conference call back in February: this is not a widely socially accepted diet. People counting calories can always just eat less, or stick to the salad and fruit which is generally always available. People on low carb have to be wary of sugary salad dressings and shredded carrots, ask about sauces and marinades, and skip many courses altogether.

While we may have only started incorporating carbs into our diet fairly recently in evolutionary terms, socially, carb eating seems to be well ingrained.

Restaurants that cater to low carbers are few and getting fewer as marketing departments dismiss this way of eating as a long-gone "fad". (Single tear here for the loss of the incredible low carb cheesecake at Ruby Tuesday's. Full disclosure: I used to waitress for Ruby Tuesday's, and I had a whole one of those cheesecakes for my birthday cake two years ago. Yum!)

I get annoyed going out to eat and paying double to eat half as much. For a twenty-something in the big city, the lack of low carb drink mixers available in bars and clubs is also a social concern. Gin or vodka and diet coke can only last for so long before you realize wait, this tastes revolting, and sugar gives people worse hangovers anyway so why not offer some lower carb options?

While we're on the low carb options kick, I find the plethora of ready made carb options in the grocery store ridiculously disproportionate to the rotisserie chickens or lunchmeats available for us. Add in the "heart healthy" or "sensible solution" stickers all over products crammed with high fructose corn syrup and a bunch of chemicals, and I'm positively growling by the time I get to the steak section.

I also find being invited to a restaurant or event has a little extra layer of stress: will there be something I can eat? I'm not about to call my host and demand they lay on the protein for me (I've read too much Miss Manners for that), but it is a small worry.

So, what's a low carb girl to do?

1) Change the culture
Watch this space. In all seriousness though, one of the reasons I try to blog about low carb whenever I can is to spread the word. Slowly, slowly, people are starting to pay more attention to the way sugar affects them, and a variety of low carb plans are getting more positive media attention.

2) Make like a Boy Scout
Being prepared for little to no low carb options at certain gatherings helps me stick to plan. It's way easier for me to do this if I have a protein bar stashed away, or if I down a protein shake beforehand to tide me over. Also, checking the restaurant menus ahead of time can ease your mind.

3) Realize other people's comments are about themselves
This is a powerful tool when combating negative energy about low carbing. I learned this from a wise poster over at the Meat & Eggers For Life Forum, who advised anyone worrying about what others would think that diet-bashing comments usually just came from a place of insecurity or hurt in the commenter. This may not always be the case, but it is ALWAYS the case that their comments are more about themselves than about you.

When people come at me with the usual Atkins myths, I just grin and tell them how much I love it, and how I've been doing it for years and never felt healthier. If they actually want to engage in discussion, I enjoy telling them about the studies and research backing up low carb. If it's just a drive-by bash (you know the ones I mean!) then I just grin and get back to my meat. Remember, though, you don't have to defend the way to eat to anyone.

I bring up these points not to be negative about low carbing, but because I believe in painting an accurate picture of this way of life. I know I can deal with problems much better by writing about them and analyzing them, and I think it's important to be very honest about all aspects of a plan.

So, what about you? Do you find it harder to low carb in a carby culture? Any tips for survival?

Shake, Shake, Update!

Check out my dinner today! Yum. I actually overdid the beef a bit (I like it pinker and juicier), and I settled for dijon mustard with horseradish instead of straight horseradish, which is my fave with beef. But you know what...I valiantly made it through the meal!!

So my second official week on the Protein Sparing Fast is over. (Just to clarify, Protein Sparing refers to saving the muscles in your body, not reducing or limiting your protein intake.)

In addition to the almost immediate eight pound drop, I have lost another three pounds this week! My "skinny" jeans are fitting again, which is very comforting after my bounce upwards into scaryland.

My basic thought right now is "if it ain't broke, don't fix it". I am contemplating just sticking with this until I hit goal, which, if this loss continues, shouldn't be very long at all! arc for one says he's using this as his weight loss phase, kind of like Atkins Induction expect he's staying on it until he reaches his goal weight, and then switching to Meat&Eggs just to get chewing more than once a day, and then upping his carb levels a bit for maintenance.

Right now I know I have some "off" days coming up, although I find it funny that I'm now categorizing what are actually very low carb days as "off" plan. That means I'll probably be on the protein fast for much of the week, and just low carbing it on weekends when we have events or other social eating to do.

I would like to add to my list of advantages to this plan that I am really, really enjoying my meals. I know this is because I'm experiencing more genuine hunger than usual, and food always tastes better when you're hungry.

I've also felt like I've had more energy for workouts than I generally do on very low carb (to me, VLC means less than 10g a day, without subtracting fiber and no sugar alcohols). I don't know if this is just because I'm definitely getting my protein count in for the day, because I'm getting daily salads, or because I'm definitely getting enough fluids in.

On the boredom front, I did switch up shake flavors. I got the same brand, Ultimate Nutrition Bioactive Whey Protein Whey Sensation 81, but this time in Iced Vanilla Cream. Why they didn't just call it Vanilla Ice Cream, I have no idea, but it does taste like cold, melted vanilla ice cream. To a carnivore, anyway!

My biggest fear remains that I'm just kidding myself about being fine with this and soon Famine Brain will rear its ugly head and I'll break out of all this strictness like a wild woman. I mean, we've all been there, on weird cabbage soup diets or subsisting on lettuce and insisting we're "sooo full" and "feeling great" just to see the scale budge down another lb or two.

However, I honestly don't feel like that. Even though, objectively, it's a decently strict plan, I don't feel like I'm hemmed in with strictness. Martha Beck talks about "white-knuckling it" in The Four Day Win, a perfect phrase to describe that holding-on-at-all-costs feeling you have when forcing your body to stick to a plan. I have learned from past experience to keep a careful eye on the mental side of dieting, to look out for overly restrictive or unhealthy food behaviors. The beauty of this "fast" is that you're getting the benefits of a fast without starving yourself: you're getting a steady stream of almost pure protein delivered to your body throughout the day, and an amazingly delicious meal at night. Or, if you like, eat in the middle of the day and arrange your shakes accordingly. I can therefore happily report healthy, relaxed, pink knuckles and a generally chilled out feeling about the whole plan.

At the risk of sounding like a broken record, I'm going to give this another week! I'm guessing my losses will slow as I'm circling closer and closer to goal, but I was surprised to lose this much this week.

Onwards and downwards!

The Bear's Spicy Roast Chicken

The Bear, or Owsley Stanley, is not only a former underground LSD chemist and soundman for the Grateful Dead, but perhaps one of the most controversial carnivores out there, judging by the storm he caused over at the Active Low-Carber Forums. At age 71, he has eaten nothing whatsoever from any vegetable sources other than spices for forty-seven years. He believes the natural human diet is completely carnivorous. You can find his words of wisdom, and a band of loyal followers, at the spin-off Active No-Carber Forums...

But what you find here today is an amazing recipe he shared. The spice mix is not too important, and you can throw in whatever combination you like, but the cream cheese mixed with the butter makes for the juiciest roast chicken I've ever tasted. If you have a spit and can slow roast the chicken, even better.

Ingredients:
1 fresh whole roasting chicken
½  package (4oz) cream cheese, softened to room temperature
1 stick unsalted butter, slightly softened
1 tablespoon ground cumin
1 tablespoon ground coriander
2 tablespoons curry powder

Method:
Preheat oven to 450°F. Line roasting tin with aluminum foil.

In an electric mixer or blender, combine cream cheese, butter and spices. Beat to form a smooth spice paste.

Separate the skin from the chicken with your hand, and push spice mixture between the skin and the flesh of the chicken. This gets messy! Use a spoon to reach awkward spots like the thighs or sides of chicken. Spread remaining spice mixture over the surface of the chicken skin.

Place chicken in the roasting tin, leaving uncovered. Let chicken roast for 15-20mins, then turn down the oven temperature to 350°F. for the rest of the cooking time.

The length of REMAINING cooking time (after first 15-20mins) will depend on the size of your bird:
2½ -3 lbs ---------> 1 hour
3-4 lbs ---------> 1 ½ hours
4-6 lbs ---------> 1 ¾ hours

A New Whey Of Life

So I've been on the protein fast (or arckins as arc has now dubbed it!) for one week and one day now, and I thought I'd update you on my progress.

After my initial big whoosh, I haven't seen any more weight loss. Apparently it's normal to see the water weight drop away and then the fat burning begins and the rate of loss slows down. This, of course, depends how close you are to goal, and the closer you are, the slower the loss. I personally have between 7-12lbs to lose, so I'm not getting all worked up about a slow crawl downwards.

I've stuck with the fast for several reasons:

1) Cost
I'm finding it a lot cheaper to eat (or, more accurately, drink) this way. My big purple tub of protein powder, Ultimate Nutrition Bioactive Whey Protein Whey Sensation 81, in yummy Chocolate Truffle flavor, cost me $28 USD, and lasted me eight days with three or four shakes a day depending on hunger. That's $3.50 a day to replace two meals, plus an extra thirty cents on the calcium supplements I've added. I've blogged about low carbing on a budget before, because buying the high quality items like meat and fish and cheese tends to add up, so this is a good solution for anyone finding the purse strings a little tight.

2) Time
I'm spending a lot less time in the kitchen. Don't get me wrong, I love to cook. But I don't enjoy it as much in the summer, when I'd much rather be outside, and cooking four or five meals a day for both Simon and I takes its toll. With the shakes, I make two in the morning and then chill a pitcher of coffee to make two in the afternoon. Prep time is under two minutes, and no pans to wash either!

3) Simplicity
I don't have to wonder what I'll eat, how I'll schedule grocery shopping and cooking, what my protein count or calorie count is for the day, whether I should or shouldn't snack... I just down the shakes every couple of hours and then enjoy a really good meal in the evening or late afternoon.

4) No Hunger
On approximately 1100-1300 calories a day, I would expect to be a ravenous beast. I did have one day when I felt tired and out of it, kind of like the infamous Atkins flu, but aside from that I've felt great. I have a shake around 10am, 12noon, 2pm and 4pm and then eat dinner around 6:30pm.

5) Energy
I've had a lot of energy this week, more so than usual, even with a bit of a messed up sleep schedule due to the amazing Keane concert we went to on Tuesday night. I've worked out a couple of times, one weight session and one cardio, and I plan on another cardio workout tomorrow morning. I've also walked around a lot (the transit workers in Montreal are currently on strike) and been alert and productive at work.

The most obvious downfall I can see of this plan is boredom. So far, I haven't felt that way but I am on the lookout for Famine Brain...those intense cravings your brain produces when you get super strict on a diet for too long. But I can see how people would get sick of shakes for two meals a day, every day, and I know that's a big reason a lot of dieters get bored with SlimFast fairly quickly.

I think I'm going to give this another week, with probably just a normal very low carb day on Saturday as we are attending various events. I will see where I'm at then, and of course post any and all progress here.

Protein Sparing Modified Fast = Fast Weight Loss!

An awesome guy, who goes by the handle "arc" over at the Meat & Eggers For Life forum alerted me to an old book by Dr. Micheal Eades, Thin So Fast . Published in 1990, this book is the precursor to the brilliant Protein Power series by the Eades, and provides information on a Protein Sparing Modified Fast (PSMF) plan. The basics of the plan:

- Four protein shakes throughout the day
- Dinner made up of 6-8 ounces of meat and a large salad OR 2 cups of low carb veggies

The idea seems to be to allow rapid fat loss without removing muscle - as a typical low calorie/fasting plan would. As I mentioned in my last post, this is a great way of losing water weight after having a bunch of carbs.

In the original shake recipe, Dr. Mike called for:
1 envelope of powdered skim milk (enough to make one quart)
4 tablespoons high quality protein powder (no added sugar)
1 tsp of salt substitute
1 tsp of fructose

However, as you can see, this is a TON of carbs. I tried drinking just one of these shakes and got a major sugar buzz, headache, all the effects of being "carbed". arc did some more research and came up with this email exchange:

"Dr. Mike,
I recently found your “Thin So Fast” book and have been really enjoying reading it. I have been thinking about going the PSMF route to get rid of the last few stubborn pounds and your method looks interesting. I did have a couple of questions, though.

Why the skim milk? Why not just protein powder? Is it for the calcium?

Using your method only provides 65 g of protein. According to PPLP, someone my size need around 120. Is it a problem for someone to up the protein powder amount to cover that?

I know the book is out of print and is probably superseded by PPLP, but it is still something that is relevant today, as the PSMF diets are popular with bodybuilders. Your way looks more doable than eating just chicken breasts and salad. Any thoughts to updating the book with new research (it is a little saturated fat phobic and almost *gasp* praises trans-fats)? It has one of the best treatments of maintenance of any “diet” book I have ever read.

Thanks.

Hi Ryan–
 
Thin So Fast was superceded first by Protein Power then the PPLP.
 
I used skim milk because, hard as this might be to believe now, at that time there were no protein powders available other than a few used solely by body builders. The powders available were made to be mixed with other food to hide the wretched taste. I used skim milk powder simply to have something tasty to use as a base to which were added the disgusting tasting protein powders available at the time. Were I doing a PSMF now I would simply use one of the good protein powders available almost everywhere.
 
The increased protein intake as recommended by PPLP is fine. In fact, it’s better. A number of studies have come out since Thin So Fast showing an increased weight loss with increased protein intake.
 
I was probably a little saturated fat phobic and took a less hard line on trans fats as compared to my views now. But, I’ve had a couple of brain transplants since the Thin So Fast days.
 
I haven’t contemplated updating the book. Each book is more or less an update of all the ones before. I’m glad you enjoyed the section on maintenance; I really enjoyed writing it. It was my favorite section of the book…that and the part about the Eado-Eado tribe.
 
Cheers–
 
MRE

Thanks, Dr. Mike.

I have been trying out the PSMF from “Thin So Fast” and having good results. It is good to know that I don’t need the skim milk as I really don’t care for the taste. It also added a lot of carbs. Were the carbs necessary or just a necessary evil to mask the taste of the protein powder?

Just a necessary evil.
 
Good luck.
 
MRE"

STEP ONE - Calculate your protein requirement
The average person needs .6 grams of protein per pound of lean tissue. To work out how much lean tissue you have, check out this handy online calculator:

http://www.scientificpsychic.com/fitness/diet.html

So, for example, I have 123 lbs of lean body mass. 123 x .6 = 73.8, for a protein requirement of 74g  per day.

You will get between 40-50g of protein with a 6-8oz piece of meat or fish for dinner.

The rest of your protein requirement will be covered by the shakes. For me, that leaves 34g of protein in shakes. You can go over this amount, since your body will convert some of that protein to cover your glucose needs without carbs, but this gives you a minimum guideline.

STEP 2 - Supplement while fasting
Be warned - this plan will make you pee! Dr. Mike is very clear about the potential here to screw up your electrolyte balance, so take extra salt and potassium to counterbalance the water loss.

The amount of potassium Dr. Mike advises is 2400 mg.  Adding 1/4 tsp of salt substitute (I'm using No Salt) to each shake should cover that. If you get light-headed, that's an indication you need more salt in you!

Also, removing the skim milk powder from the original recipe takes out a whack of calcium. Recommended calcium intake is 1500mg per day, along with 750mg magnesium so the calcium will be absorbed. Between the shakes and my regular supplement, I'm only getting 850mg of calcium, so I need to add in calcium.

STEP 3 - Drink, fast, and be thin so fast!
According to Dr. Mike, when someone undergoes a true fast, around four days into the fast hunger disappears, real fat burning kicks in and the faster experiences a feeling of wellness and peace. This is often tied to religious fasting.

Unfortunately for the body, however, while the mind is chilling out in peaceful starvation land, there is also a massive loss of lean tissue.

The Protein Sparing Modified Fast circumvents that problem, designed to mimic the effects of a real fast but without muscle loss. With the dinner at night, the plan looks a lot more like the recently trendy Intermittent Fasting (IF) programs.

***Standard warning/disclaimer: Consult your doctor and all that jazz before starting any radical new weight loss program. Also, and this is important - if you are on medications for any heart problem, be careful about taking potassium supplements!

My results so far:

- I have lost 8 lbs in two days! (Bear in mind that much of this was water weight from recent carb intake, but I've never lost even the water bloat that quickly.)

- I was able to do a full weights workout this morning (chest/arms/back/abs/legs). This might be a bit too much when just starting out, since I felt a bit light-headed/woozy. More salt! Less leg press!

- I have felt hungry during the day, but not crazy starving. The shakes hold the hunger due to the protein. I expected to eat more at dinner but was full surprisingly quickly.

- My body temperature feels higher. A raging, fat-burning fire? No-long-bloated-fingers crossed!

Anyway, if you'd like to join the experiment, you can head on over to this thread at the Meat & Eggers Forum, or feel free to post your experiences with it here.

Many, many thanks to Dr. Micheal Eades for the original plan, and arc for unearthing and modifying it.

 
 

Low Carb Slump

Alright, so I've been in a bit of a low carb slump lately. I've been bouncing around the same weight (10lbs above goal), seemingly unable to lose more, but maintaining fairly well.

I'm honestly not too fussed about making a specific number goal on the scale, but I do have some important body shape and food-approach goals. For body shape, I've been doing a great weights workout and some cardio when I'm in the mood. For the food-approach, I'm collecting information from a variety of sources: Martha Beck's The Four Day Win and Marc David's Nourishing Wisdom: A Mind-Body Approach to Nutrition and Well-Being have been invaluable in this quest.

Looking at my progress over the last month, I'm not impressed. I've been eating very low carb, going to the gym, and have not made any downward progress. I see a slight reshaping muscle-wise, but nothing to write home about.

Then...the Mother's Day Diet Massacre hit. I enjoyed a couple of fantastic hamburgers on the grill, and was all prepared with an 85% dark chocolate bar to enjoy instead of the ice cream cake. With dessert, we also had some incredible coffee, whipped up in the blender with powdered milk and no sugar. Or so I thought...

Turns out powdered milk has 13g of carbs for a 4 tablespoon serving! Considering my carbs have generally been under 10g for the whole day, this PLUS the 8g from the chocolate was quite the sugar blast.

When I looked up the carb content, it explained to me my inexplicable decision to dip low-carb pork satays in sugary plum sauce. And my consequent carb-fest the following day - eating toast with margarine (which I don't even like) and vanilla ice cream (my least favorite flavor). I was eating things I'd wondered about for months and been tempted by...just to taste them.

Lessons learned? I find sugar intensely addictive. A sugar surge through my system leads me to crave and most likely give in to those cravings.

The food tastes like crap. Seriously! I thought toast would be so crunchy and yummy - nope. Bland and yucky.

Well hey, I knew that already. This weekend was a humbling experience. I feel like I've come a long way in my relationship to food and sugar specifically, but I clearly still have a long way to go.

I do think it's worth examining what happens or leads up to a fall off-plan like this. Definitely, part of it was the sugar surge from the Mother's Day meal. I'm also pretty sure part of it was brain deprivation from not eating anything remotely carby since January.

Jimmy Moore has an interesting approach to ward off this kind of brain deprivation: planned diet vacations. In his post, Who Says You Can't Splurge On Low Carb, Jimmy explains his "planned splurge":

"I have a date circled on my calendar that I have predetermined is my time to eat and enjoy whatever I want to eat for one meal. Just ONE meal is all this is good for! Whether it is pizza, Mexican, Italian or whatever floats your boat, you can eat all you want of whatever you are craving the most until you get your craving fulfilled."

He's clear that this splurge knocks you way out of ketosis, causes you to gain weight, and may not be the best idea for everyone. But, he concludes:

"...please be careful not to rationalize this method when you see a box of doughnuts at work and tell yourself that THIS will be your "splurge" meal. It doesn't work that way. Plan it well in advance, look forward to it to avoid temptation, do it enjoying every single bite and then get back on the plan as soon as possible."

I know a few low carbers swear by the occasional carb-up, claiming it kicks their metabolism into gear. I've always been pretty skeptical about dipping my tongue in the satanic sweat that is sugar.

But I've been doing some reading around, and I think from a psychological point of view, these cheaters are onto something! I'm not planning to eat carbs every 6-8 weeks, but I do think a forseeable future of purely strict, clean eating can send you a little bit loopy.

Thus, very occasional "diet vacations" are beginning to make sense to me. My hat is off to Jimmy Moore for being able to do this in the weight loss phase of his plan - I don't think that would work for me. But for the maintenance stage, this seems like a sensible enough strategy, and lets you have a rare day off for a special occasion.

So, what do you do after a carb-up, whether it's planned or not-so-planned? Dr. Micheal Eades' book Thin So Fast recommends a version of a Protein Sparing Modified Fast (PSMF), which seems to get your insulin levels back to normality, and gets rid of the water weight gain FAST.

That last part was all I needed to hear to give it a try. Check out my next post for full details on how to do this fast, and my massively speedy weight loss after just two days!

Better than...Kissing?

Chocolate seems to be all over the news lately, so I thought I'd share some of the latest (and to a chocolate fiend like me, the greatest) studies. The benefits of chocolate, I've found, are many: massive amounts of antioxidants, lowering your blood pressure, guarding against blood clots, and even more pleasurable than kissing!

The April issue of The Archives of Internal Medicine brought us an analysis of four studies of black tea, green tea and dark chocolate. Researchers chose from over 3,000 papers, favoring the most randomized and controlled studies. After using statistical technigues to combine the data, their analysis found four of five studies showing that chocolate reduces blood pressure after eating.

None of the tea drinking studies found any significant benefit.

Chocolate, however, is where it's at: eating three squares of dark chocolate was almost as effective as taking common antihypertensive drugs.

The good things found in dark chocolate are chemical substances called polyphenols, which are known to help control blood pressure. Milk proteins will prevent the absorption of polyphenols, so milk chocolate is not effective in helping blood pressure.

Find the full text of the study here: Effect of Cocoa and Tea Intake on Blood Pressure: A Meta-analysis (Site requires registration)

Another paper from the Pennington Nutritional Series outlines the advantages of cocoa powder as a powerful antioxidant. In Cocoa Polyphenols, the authors Heli Roy and Shanna Lundy break down the antioxidant capacity of various foods.

The method they used to quantify the antioxidant capacity of food is Oxygen Radical Absorbance Capacity (ORAC). Basically, the technique measures how well a sample food disarms free radicals, and how long it takes. ORAC values are expressed as mmole TE/g (micromoles Trolox equivalent per gram of substance – Trolox being a water-soluble derivative of tocopherol, the standard control for antioxidant activity). And if all of that was Greek to you, let the numbers speak louder than words:

Strawberry 1,600

Blueberry 2,200

Prunes 5,700

Milk chocolate 6,800

Dark chocolate 13,000

In other words, dark chocolate wins again!

Researchers from Johns Hopkins University School of Medicine and Bloomberg School of Public Health also found that dark chocolate guards against blood clots. This was a pretty funny story: 139 people were excluded from a larger study on aspirin. Why? Participants were told to refrain from eating certain foods known to affect platelet activity - including chocolate – and these chocoholics just couldn't stay away!

Professor Diane Becker said: "What these chocolate 'offenders' taught us is that the chemical in cocoa beans has a biochemical effect similar to aspirin in reducing platelet clumping, which can be fatal if a clot forms and blocks a blood vessel, causing a heart attack."

And lastly, Dr David Lewis, formerly of the University of Sussex, and now of the Mind Lab, found that "chocolate beats kissing hands down when it comes to providing a long-lasting body and brain buzz. A buzz that, in many cases, lasted four times as long as the most passionate kiss."

This study monitored the heart rates and brain activity of couples in their 20s, as they melted 60% dark chocolate in their mouths, and as they kissed.

Dr Lewis said: "These results really surprised and intrigued us. While we fully expected chocolate- especially dark chocolate - to increase heart rates due to the fact it contains some highly stimulating substances, both the length of this increase together with the powerful effects it had on the mind were something none of us had anticipated."

As the chocolate started melting, all regions of the brain received a boost far more intense and longer lasting than the excitement seen with kissing.

So, I hear you wondering, what's a low carber to do? Well, the interesting part about all these studies for me were the conclusions which emphasized that both milk and sugar undo the benefits of consuming dark chocolate. Low carb chocolate treats are the way to go!

• Try eating a couple of squares of Lindt 85% chocolate – at 1.25g of carbs per square, these will not set you back far in your carb count, and are delicious too.

• If sugar alcohols agree with you (and be warned, they disagree with many tummies), you can try some of the low-carb chocolate bars around. I've been taste-testing a few available in Montreal (just doing my part, ya know), so I'll be posting the results soon.

• Use cocoa powder for your sweet treats! There's the Ten Minute Chocolate Cake recipe, or low carb hot chocolate made with unsweetened cocoa powder and Splenda.

• Make some bark, a perennial favorite for low-carbers dying for some crunch. Melt a couple of unsweetened chocolate squares, pour in two tablespoons of sugar free syrup (or substitute Splenda), add a couple tablespoons of coconut oil, and then stir in the unsalted nuts of your choice: pecans, walnuts, pistachios or almonds all work well. Spread the mixture on some wax paper or foil, and pop in the freezer for 15-20 mins, until hardened.

Lastly, sit back and enjoy – you're doing your body good. And even though it apparently doesn't do much for blood pressure, I still enjoy a cup of tea with my chocolate.