| and dropped about 20 pounds. That averages 2 pounds/week. The no fruit thing stinks bigtime, but I will be at the point where I will be able to add citrus in a month or 2. I've got berries and canteloupe and watermelon on the diet already. Induction is indeed 20g carbs/day, but that's only for the first 2 weeks. Exercize is also a big part of the diet. The other thing, is that you start thinking about your food differently. Going through refined sugar withdrawl is not easy, but you do notice a lack of "sugar highs" and afternoon crashes (I would fall asleep at 3PM unless I had a snack in the old days) after a week or so. You're supposed to have a LOT of water on the diet, hydration is important. It is an easier diet to do than the regular low-calorie diet because you can still eat lox and cream cheese, but you can't go nuts on this stuff, because the calories can add up quickly with these kinds of foods. Portion control does come into the picture. Ketosis does have a higher metabolic "price" than a normal metabolism. They say you should never go more than 6 hours without eating while on this diet, and I think that's because if you don't have anything for your body to digest, you'll start digesting your own muscle protein (like in your muscles and heart, for example)
Compared to the way I used to eat, I'm eating a lot more green vegetables and salads than I ever used to eat.
Later stages of the diet are more forgiving with the amount of daily carbs, and I'm almost at the point where I could add more fruit and some starches (like rice, which I really miss).
I don't intend to be on a low-carb diet for the rest of my life, only a max of 6 months. Adding foods back into the diet one at a time also will tell you if you have allergies to any particular thing (like wheat or whatever), and you can choose to avoid that food. |
