As someone who has been eating a high fat/ultra low carb diet for over a year now I can assure you it does not have to be bland. Ever see that Frank's red hot commercial? I put that **** on everything. But seriously, the fact that this goes against everything we've been told about nutrition should actually make sense since people have been struggling at an alarming rate and even the modern medicines can't fix us. Go figure.

Just be be sure to get enough fat in your diet to stay satiated and drink enough water to flush out the sodium/ketones. Get a good book called "The Carb Nite Solution" by John Keifer. Basic premise is eat fats and meats for 6.5 days a week then one night eat high glycemic index carbs all night and drink lots of water. Just don't go overboard. Then go back to low carb (less than 30g a day not counting fiber). Lather rinse repeat and watch the fat melt away.

I have been following this woe for around 3 months. It still now feels 'unatural' because of what we continue to be taught about nutrition. We learn that fat makes us fat, that we need bread and pasta to givr us energy, dairy is our best source of calcium.
I have done a lot if reading, watched lots of videos and continue to try and reeducate myself. (You tube video called Fat Head is very informative)
I have lost 22lbs so far, my vitamins and calcium is coming from vegetables, my energy is coming from fat.
The one thing that truly makes a difference to this woe is water. I cannot stress this enough. I drink 3.5litres a day at least. If I don't then my weight begins to stall and I start to feel foggy.

It does feel strange but it does work and you can't argue with the results.
You can't half do it though. Low carb and low fat together does not work, you will be miserable. High carb and high fat and you will be fat and miserable. Keep the net carbs at around 20g. Fat at about 70% of your daily intake and a moderate amount of protein (and plenty of water).

X

come on, this original post was super-old.

It was good to read this thread, even though the original post was from a few months ago. I'm encouraged! I've been low-carbing for a couple of years now (not ultra-low, as that didn't work as well for me. Every body reacts a little differently!) but kind of got sidetracked by the holidays this year.

I know it's a bit late to say this for the OP's sake, but someone coming and reading this thread now, in search of information, might benefit. Yes, this way of life is completely different from all the diets (and crazy diets) I tried over my lifespan. And I tried a lot, including bulimia (not a diet, but a desperate weight-control method). But the only thing that worked for me was primal a la Mark Sisson -- keeping my carbs between 50 and 75g a day, six days a week, and one day of higher carb eating (around 100g), lots of good fats (coconut oil, butter, bacon, avocado, olive oil), and protein intake calculated from an online lean body mass calculator (which works out to about 80g a day).

"Eat fat to lose fat!" is a lot different from "calories in calories out" or "if it fits your macros" but in my case, the first one works, and the other two just left me starving all the time and subject to binging. Oh, and with the other two, as soon as I stopped "dieting" I would gain all the weight back, and then some. And it would be harder to take off the next time.

Oh, and with "eat fat to lose fat" -- it's not a diet. I'm not deprived. I eat a lot of good, wholesome, satisfying food. It's a lifestyle that, unlike a "diet", I can see sustaining for the rest of my life. I can even make "paleo treats" for the holidays and still be pursuing health. I just didn't take the time to do that this year and so I got derailed by our teens' homemade fudge. They have their dad's metabolism -- can eat anything and everything and burn it off. As a matter of fact, they need to eat lots of carbs to keep weight on. Such a problem. Not.

However, one thing I found with "eat fat to lose fat" that I never expected. In the early months, with my calories set to between 1200 and 1300 a day, the weight dropped off at a steady rate. But then I hit the dreaded plateau. MFP had set my calories to its minimum, 1200 a day, but the weight wouldn't budge! Someone suggested to me that I was eating too little, sending my body into conservation mode. Even though it didn't feel right, I upped my calorie intake to a minimum of 1500, and believe it or not, the weight started dropping again! So if you're doing LCHF and trying to keep your calories low, you may be unintentionally stalling your weight loss. Just a thought.

homesweeths wrote: »

p.s. I started eating this way, not as a weight-loss method, as I'd pretty much given up on diets. Dieting triggered my bulimia. It was healthier just to be overweight, but not obsessed with food. No, but I started eating "primal/paleo" (sometimes I have full-fat dairy, some weeks I don't) in a last-ditch effort to deal with severe joint pain, without drugs.

And guess what! Not only did the joint pain mostly resolve, in about six months, but I dropped 30 lbs without trying! (After 30 lbs was when my weight loss stalled, and I discovered I needed to eat more to lose more, as mentioned above. And this way of eating didn't trigger my bulimia!)

This gives me hope. My family is plagued with joint issues, including arthritis. I've eaten low carb before (for extended periods), but it was a cheesy diet (haha I funny). This time I'm going keto-paleo in the hopes that it helps more than Atkins did.

homesweeths wrote: »

Yeah, the problem I would have with Atkins is the artificial sweeteners. I should think keto-paleo (with paleo's emphasis on fresh, healthy food) will help more than Atkins.

Artificial sweeteners and other processed "diet" foods have derailed me in the past. What worked for me was not simply low-carb, but following the basic eating plan set forth by Mark Sisson in his book Primal Blueprint and on his website Mark's Daily Apple. Lots of good fats (coconut oil, avocado, bacon, olive oil), no more polyunsaturated fats was an important part of it. In my case, I had to stop eating nightshades as well (tomatoes, potatoes, peppers and spices made from peppers, eggplant), Who would have thought something as healthy as fresh, homegrown tomatoes would cause joint agony? But nightshades are a serious problem for me, and other people I know.

Look up "paleo autoimmune" for more information.

Oh, yeah, and it's a good idea to avoid dairy and especially cheese if you're dealing with joint pain. I can get away (now, after eating "paleo-and-sometimes-primally" for two years) with full-fat dairy (butter, cream, sour cream) but I do a lot better if I limit cheese to a couple times a week, if at all.

I never did the whole Atkins fake food thing, I just ate plain old meat and cheese with coconut oil and a few veggies.

Will definitely look up paleo autoimmune now, though, thanks!