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! :)

Lower Your Blood Sugar Naturally

If your blood sugars are elevated and you cannot achieve truly normal blood sugars with diet alone…

READ MY BOOK! How to Reduce Blood Sugars.