Phase 4 Follow-up

This is a follow-up on my post from a couple of months ago. Since then I’ve tested a few things out, some studies have come out, and I think I know at least my short term plan.

Take 1

I definitely do not eat like I did before January 2019 any more. I still have a sweet tooth at times, but I’ve got that mostly under control, I think. Except for this past week. I went a little nuts, but I’ve also been working my butt off to try and make up for it. Restarting on Monday I’ll cut down the sugars to Friday night / Saturday only basically.

Key points:

  • Staying in ketosis is not a goal. If it happens, great. Not an issue if I go out of it.
  • I was doing Bulletproof, then did Paleo for a short time, and now my goal is low-carb (<150 net carbohydrates a day).
  • I’m doing real (not ‘Bulletproof’) Intermittent Fasting at least 2 days a week.
  • I’m doing a protein fast once a month or so. Since cycling out of ketosis isn’t a priority, and I’m inducing autophagy with an actual 16 hour fast, this isn’t strictly necessary. But going full vegetarian for a day once a month isn’t going to hurt anyone.

I’ll list a major category and then what my approach to it is.

  • Dairy: I don’t think I’m lactose intolerant, but I may have a casein sensitivity. Turns out acne can be brought on by this. So, I limit the amount of dairy I consume. I’ll try to keep this under a few items a week which contain dairy. For instance, I’ll either have my coffee black, or with coconut milk or almond milk. Oat milk is OK too. But on Saturday I may get a coffee with half & half or heavy cream. Or I’ll have an egg sandwich with cheese.
  • Wheat: It turns out that there is no advantage to avoiding wheat / wheat gluten if you are not sensitive to it or have Celiac disease (this was from a recent Australian government study). I have no ill effects when eating wheat, so it is back in my diet. However, as part of being low-carb, I do watch what I am eating. Not eating giant helpings of pasta, or 4 sandwiches in a day, etc. With regard to bread I’ll probably stick to high quality sourdough bread, however. But it is nice to be able to eat real noodles, such as with ramen.
  • Soy: With the exception of fermented soy (soy sauce, miso paste, etc), I am still avoiding this. Definitely no soy milk, attempt to avoid soybean oil, soy lecithin (an emulsifier).
  • Corn: Always thought this was a nutritional dud, so no reason to eat it if wheat is back on the table. (ie back to flour tortillas or grain free tortillas, not corn.)
  • Starches: Sweet potato is still better for you than white potatoes, plantains are good, cassava is good, etc. Basically just avoiding white potatoes.
  • Sweeteners: I’m not sure about sugar alcohols, but I’m OK with them for now. Sugar in small amounts, honey in small amounts, sugar alcohols OK, stevia and monkfruit ok. No to artificial sweeteners (Aspartame, Splenda, etc) except if I’m having a sip of a diet soda. I generally don’t consume diet soda anyway.
  • Drinks: Water, iced tea, coffee. Spirits OK. Ciders were good but potentially higher carb then one would like. Beer is back on the table but only in small amounts, again carb content.
  • Meats: Definitely eating more chicken than I was before. Pork still OK. Steak still OK, but eating less than before. Fish is good, especially Salmon due to high Omega 3 fat content.
  • Fats: More unsaturated fats now - eat more avocados. :) Saturated fat is OK, but not excessive amounts. Bulletproof coffee is out except for protein fast days, and then it’s 1 tsp of each, not 2 tbsp. Cook with coconut oil, butter, avocado oil. No corn, soy, or canola oils. Nor margarine.
  • Fruits: Ok, but treat as if it’s a treat, unless the fruit is also high in fiber (eg raspberries).
  • Nightshades: (Tomatoes, eggplant, onions, peppers). No issue, totally fine.
  • Processed food: Avoiding. Limiting things like deli meats, no cereal, no potato chips, hot dogs, etc. Haven’t had a doughnut since starting this new way of eating, but will probably limit - too many bad things in one spot - high carbs, fried, high sugar…
  • Legumes: Peanuts, beans… Peanuts are overrated (except peanut M&Ms), I’ve found things made with almond butter are just as awesome. Jury is still out on the beans thing, I need to do more research. For now avoiding beans, although I had lentils the other night at a Mediterranean place, but I assume they were soaked long enough to get rid of a bunch of the oxalates. So, avoiding for now, for the most part.

Summary

So, for the most part, I am avoiding: corn, soy, beans, crappy food. I’m trying to be sensible about the amount of carbohydrates I consume. I’m trying to not let my sweet tooth rule me.

I’ve also decided that I need to be active for at least 30 minutes a day. That means a minimum of 30 minutes of walking. Or walking + some exercising, etc. No day should be a complete sit-on-your-butt day. Always need to move a bit. I’m trying to build up a little more muscle now that I’m pretty lean. My efforts are working - I can do 30 push-ups in 40 seconds, and about the same amount of sit-ups. I used to have to be against a wall to be able to do that, but now have enough core strength that’s not an issue.

I’ll also try to limit sweets consumption to the weekend only.

I’ll post what I ate in a few weeks. I’ll also be in South America for 2 weeks, so that should be interesting too…