Why do a 30 Day Low Inflammation Diet Challenge? To experiment of course!
- remove possible inflammatory foods
- eating a truly low inflammatory meal plan
When I originally did this a couple of years ago… (Strict Low Carb Paleo) I wanted to see the effect of eating ‘super clean’ (no dairy, no nightshades, no eggs) had on my insulin resistance.
The thought was, if I remove all ‘possible’ inflammatory agents (yes eggs are inflammatory to a small percentage of people) that perhaps my body would heal itself. There is no doubt that I have improved my insulin resistance but alas … I still had insulin resistance as noted in this post, “Dear Pancreas You May Rest Now“.
Thirty Day Challenge
I began another 30 day Challenge. This time the reason was different.
Last time I did this I lost 10+ lbs. When I woke on January 10th and I weighed 169.4 … gaining 8 lbs since injuring my shoulder on September 25, 2013, I decided enough was enough.
If you have a few pounds to lose or if you have stalled on a ‘low carb paleo’ plan… I strongly urge you to try this for a couple of weeks… or (4). :)
In short, I only eat fatty meats, leafy green veggies, coconut oil and ghee (clarified butter). I only drank water, unsweetened coffee and unsweetened tea. ( I do drink my coffee with coconut oil and ghee).
I avoid dairy, especially cream, half and half, sour cream and cheese. Why? I do not believe in the two extremes of caloric accounting. I do not believe in ‘calories in vs calories out’ equals weight gain or loss… nor do I believe ‘calories do not count’.
I do believe that extended over consumption of energy (calories) will lead to weight gain… it does for me. Our bodies are much more complex for a single sentence explanation of weight loss or weight gain. Stress, inflammation, lack of sleep among other factors impact weight gain/loss.
I avoided dairy because these foods, especially cream, butter and cheese are addictive to me (and high in calories),
I love to drink cream by the cup! I call it… ‘the nectar of the gods!’ :)
My Results
Weight:
My weight this morning was 161.6 my low during the 30 days was 160.8
From my weighing this morning I lost 7.8 lbs … not too shabby in 30 days. :)
Energy Levels
Losing weight is fine, but if you do not have gas in the tank to play, work … and LIVE! … then you are doing it wrong in my opinion. :)
My energy levels stayed high. I have eaten a high fat, low carb meal plan for over four years. My body is ‘fat adapted’ and runs very well on high fat foods.
During these 30 days, during a 5 day span I ran strenuous hill sprints four out of five days.
I had also re-implemented my Push Up and Kettle Bell swing workouts in earnest. I had ended them while rehabbing my shoulder.
In short, there was no ‘energy shortage’ from the meal plan. I noted this as well in the previous challenge two years ago.
I’ll close this section by showing the picture below. On this particular day I rode my bike 9 miles to a near by park and back. While at the park I did my usual regimen of push ups, pull ups and sit ups It was a great day!
I stopped to take this picture of food … living as food should live. :)
Food Journal
Here are the numbers… fats, protein and carbs.
Note:
- Protein: I looked at my food journal a couple of weeks into the challenge and I was shocked. My protein was around 67 grams per day. That’s much lower than I like it, I like to at least be above 100 grams of protein.The second two weeks I averaged around 100 to bring the average up to 83 g per day.Since losing the weight, I’m going to attempt to build more muscle, I’ll be increasing protein into the 130 grams per day.
- Fat: My typical fat range is 75-85% and this was no different. I like it. :)
- Carbs: I LOVE THIS! 5 grams of carbs… per day! And it’s all green leafy vegetables too!We do not need carbs to SURVIVE! … nor THRIVE! :)
- ** Potato Starch** : I did consume about 40g of Potato Starch per day, which contains approximately 32g of Resistant Starch. *** I did not include it in the data because if eaten raw it’s not ‘actionable carbs’. It does not convert to sugar, it’s a 3rd type of fiber… read this if you do not know what potato starch / resistant starch is.
Summary
If you have stalled or plateaued on your current meal plan… I urge you to give a ‘fatty meat and leafy green veggie’ meal plan a try.
My blood sugars, as you would imagine were marvelously stable. This meal plan works good too if you are having trouble maintaining normal blood sugars. My carbs ranged from 0-5 most days, my high was 10g of carbs. :)
As noted above, my energy level stayed high … but I was already fat adapted. If you are not fat adapted, you may experience the normal symptoms of going low carb.
My goal weight was 159, I did not quite get there… but I’ll take a 7 lb drop in 30 days, especially if I maintain my energy levels. :)
I will be starting more resistant starch / potato starch testing today. I’ll be eating highER carb foods such as sweet potato, white potato, beans and rice… so stay tuned IN! :)
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