I thought maybe half-a-dozen people would show an interest. I get back from my trip and find 50-odd requests. I really appreciate your enthusiasm and support!
Rather than attempt to respond to you all personally, I've put a slightly-updated document here for those who wish to use it as a working plan:
It now has the recipes, and some minor corrections. However it doesn't have the sciencey stuff in Appendix 2, which I'm still working on and which (I guess) very few people will really care about.
Just a few notes prompted by some initial feedback:
- It probably isn't much use for people who have being doing LCHF for a while (unless, I guess, you've been doing it wrong ). It's aimed very much at the beginners, especially those who might have some residual suspicion about the "high fat" thing.
- (inconsistent) capitalization of "Plan". This arose because I wasn't quite sure what to call it. If anyone can think of a sensible name, other than "LCHF", feel free to offer suggestions!
- I'm thinking of expanding the list of suggested meals. If anyone has any favourites, please let me know.
This is still a draft/work-in-progress. At some point I'll hire a professional editing and typesetting service. I'll also replace the image thumbnails with properly-licenced photos and probably have it reformatted for Kindle - you'll find that it's legible on an e-reader or tablet, but only in landscape mode.
Feel free to be brutally honest about the content. Inevitably, I won't be able to please everyone, but we'll have all had slightly different experiences with LCHF and you may feel that I've failed to address some particular issue.
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TheAwfulToad
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Without writing a novel...I did try LCHF, for around 4 weeks, lost weight the first week, then it was STS for the following three weeks. Clearly, I was eating too much fat, in sauces and cheese, with meals. I did love becoming fat adapted though, and not thinking about food, or, wanting to eat.
I do want to try LCHF again, when I get my insomnia under control.
Thank you for all of your hard work, doing this 'Plan' for all of us ♡
It probably wasn't "too much fat" as such - maybe you just didn't give it long enough! Most people take several months to a year to get close to their "target weight".
I've noticed that people have quite different reactions to LCHF during the initial adjustment period, and that bouts of STS are common. There's almost always a slowdown after the first week.
Although it's tempting to look for explanations and fiddle with things, I've suggested in the document that "if it ain't broke don't fix it" - in other words, if you're not actually getting fatter, just stick to the plan and you may well see a further weight reduction later on, for no apparent reason.
This is brilliant Toad. I've been doing LCHF for a couple of years so much is now second nature, but I've noticed carb-creep during lockdown and shielding so it will get me back on track. If you were a celebrity you would be getting a fortune for publishing this in time for Christmas! Thankyou thankyou for generously giving us your time and knowledge.
Ah, that wasn't the intent. I'll have a look at it again and make sure that gets clarified.
I was trying to point out that getting fat isn't the normal state of affairs - something that just happens to everyone. It only happens when your metabolism has completely gone off into the weeds (although I was attempting to say that without actually saying obesity is an "illness" ... sigh, this stuff gets complicated).
Love it. Great writing style. Feels very personal, as though you have a real interest in helping the reader. Have had just a brisk read through so far.
I know you said you think it's not that useful for people already eating LCHF... but it really really is useful. It always helps to have a good, supportive reference to hand.
I wish it had all become second nature to me by now, but it hasn't. I fully understand and believe in the science of why LCHF works, and am fully committed to it as a way of life, but for some reason I have periods of time where I still revert to the old way of eating... not scoffing huge amounts of cr*p, but eating things like wholemeal toast too often, and pasta here and there... then suddenly I'm off down a rabbit hole for a few weeks before coming right again. It's been 16 months since I found this LCHF forum, and during that time I've lost 25kg, gained 10kg during lockdown, then lost 5kg... so 20kg down at the moment.
All the practical, no nonsense advice in your guide will be helpful to many more people than you expect! It makes a very easy read. I'll look forward to reading the missing "science" appendix as and when.
Congrats on putting together such an excellent document! Are you going to be marketing it for sale?
Thanks for that thoughtful response, Cosmo501. Perhaps I ought to expand a bit on your experience, because I have a hunch it's normal (or at least on the spectrum of normal). I mentioned it briefly at the end, where I suggested that "carb cycling" might work for some people. It could be that you're a natural "cycler". At this point, I don't believe that everyone has to be low-carb, all the time, for the rest of their lives.
I wondered the same, about carb cycling, when I read that section... it sounds about right for me. I still have some 10kg+ to lose before I'm at a weight I will feel comfortable maintaining.. so I guess I just wish I could feel comfortable staying low-carb all the time, til I've lost the excess body fat. When I eat very low carb consistently, i.e. well under 20 g net carbs daily, then I'm fine. As soon as I raise above that point the desire to eat bread, pasta etc, and increased appetite returns.
The link in the title post should still work (let me know if it doesn't). Originally I sent out one-time links to those who requested it, but the response has been such that I've now just put it on filebin for anyone to access.
What are your thoughts on OMAD? while eating a LCHF way of eating? I found that when I was following the LCHF way of eating, that I didn't really want to eat...so, if after 3 to 4 weeks of being fat adapted, if 'one were' to only eat one meal a day, say in the early evening, would it be a good way of losing weight? (or, do you think that 'one's body' would go into starvation mode?)
I know someone that has done this, and is now quite 'skinny'...just wondering your thoughts, please...but only if you have the time, I appreciate that you are very busy, and have tonnes of messages to respond to.
This is a complicated one. I mention it in the guide and warn people away from it. I've had my reservations about it for a while, but my thoughts on the subject firmed up this week because I have a client who is obsessed with the idea of OMAD and IF. She is seriously overweight and has spent at least two years doing mad diets (usually involving some form of starvation). IMO she is on the verge of developing a full-blown eating disorder.
I've so far managed to steer her away from OMAD and IF, both of which are fundamentally about "eating fewer calories". She's now nearly at the end of a two-week induction and her appetite is dropping naturally, so I'm trying to explain to her the fine distinction between eating fewer calories because your body is burning fat mass and therefore needs less food and eating fewer calories because "if you eat less [than your appetite demands] then you'll burn fat". The former scenario is precisely what you want to happen, and as you noticed, it invariably does. The latter can be dangerous and counterproductive.
I know many people have success with it; I'm not arguing that it doesn't work. Clearly it does. But I'm confident they would be equally successful without funny "enhancements" like IF, and there are definitely some people who can get in a very unhealthy headspace by following this sort of thing.
Apart from the risk associated with advising people to do something that might be harmful, I don't want to give the naysayers (mainstream dieticians) any ammunition they might use to attack this guide.
Thank you; both for your answer, and, for your insight.
I have looked through the first couple of pages of your Plan, on my mobile, but, I am looking forward to reading it properly on my computer.
I was following IF, not to reduce calories, but to allow my body, time to digest my evening meal, and, to hopefully burn calories, and fat, during exercise in the morning, missing breakfast, or, eating it at lunchtime, after exercise. It did help me to feel better.
Thank you for sharing your knowledge and expertise TheAwfulToad
I could mainly eat OMAD but don’t just because our body cannot absorb all the necessary nutrients in one go. It’s a bit more complicated than this but e.g. calcium is needed but the body can only process so much at once, around 500mg, and the amount needed is in excess of this - admittedly the upper limit is debatable at 700-1200mg - so OMAD could leave a person deficient. I believe this works for other nutrients too and makes meal planning too intensive for me.
I know OMAD is a thing but the long term effects do worry me, mainly after finding out I don’t have optimum bone density (which came as a surprise) and want to do all I can to make sure it doesn’t worsen,
As I said above, I'm not disputing that it works for some people - and of course you're right that, on LCHF, you will naturally tend towards fewer meals and larger gaps between those meals. I occasionally have days where I eat almost nothing during the day and then a huge meal at night, but that's invariably a matter of convenience rather than any conscious decision to do so.
My objection is to the idea that we even need to call this "Intermittent Fasting", or "One Meal A Day". It's just a thing that happens. Or maybe it doesn't. If your body naturally tends towards infrequent meals, all well and good; if it doesn't, that's fine too. What I don't want to do is promote it as some sort of ideal to aim for. "Fasting" has connotations that are far too close to "starvation" for my liking, and vulnerable people are going to get the wrong idea.
I'm sure that, back in the days when humans were hunters and foragers, and were subject to the vagaries of nature, they often went long periods without eating. Is that a good thing? Maybe, maybe not; but my research so far suggests that, if there's any benefit at all, it's not a remarkable one.
In short, I've tried to boil LCHF down to the bare bones, without introducing any complications that aren't strictly necessary.
Hear hear!! It turns this notion of "fasting" into some sort of fetish rather than encouraging people to eat as and when they're hungry, without giving it some label.
Thank you Toad for producing this really useful plan, I will read over the weekend and get my mind round it. 😀
Thank you for the download I know I’m overweight and know I need to do something it’s motivation and being a fussy eater that’s my downfall. Have you any suggestions for breakfast and packed lunch easy that doesn’t take too much prep?
I suppose it depends what you mean by "fussy". Is there anything in particular you absolutely can't eat?
To be honest, the guide does make the point that if you're not prepared to make some big changes, you're probably going to stay fat. There's just no way around that. You have to work on expanding your taste horizons and spend more time in the kitchen (by taking away time from other things if necessary). If you don't want to do those things then you probably don't want to be slim that badly. Unfortunately, with many things in life, we sometimes have to hit rock bottom before we decide that enough is enough, and that the pain of making changes is less than the pain associated with our familiar, well-worn groove.
Having said that, you don't have to prepare gourmet meals every day. An omelette or a scrambled egg takes literally four minutes (I've timed it). Keep some bagged salad in the fridge, dump it on a plate ... that's breakfast sorted. Instant coffee with cream takes another 90 seconds. Sausages can be cooked in spare moments and kept in the fridge. For packed lunches I've found that a piece of grilled chicken, with some more salad and a creamy dressing, is dead easy and very filling. Sometimes I use a tortilla wrap, but you wouldn't want to do that during the first few weeks of low-carb.
Sorry to keep pestering you, but it keeps Coming back as ‘safari cannot open the page because it could not establish a secure connection to the server”, whatever that means.
It means Apple software isn't as great as everyone says it is
I suspect your browser is attempting to connect with unreasonably high expectations for a secure connection, but I'm just guessing there. Try using a PC, or a different browser. Or, if you don't mind disclosing your email address in a private message, I could email you the document.
Thank you for your patience. Tried to use my husbands lap top and still no joy. The firewall won’t let us access the network. We don’t want to mess with his firewall settings so... how do I send you a private message With my spare email address? Thank you
Re meals, one of mine is usually egg-based - omelette or frittata, by itself or with veg or salad. The other tends to be meat/fish with veg, or something vegetarian like cauliflower cheese with extra veg built in, green soup, veg stir fry or curry.
Some favourites/regulars
Blue cheese and walnut omelette with green veg.
Smoked salmon and cream cheese omelette with green veg.
Courgette, sliced and cooked on a griddle pan (for stripey effect), topped with a sprinkle of chilli flakes and a poached egg or two.
Frittata with red onion, red pepper, chorizo, halved cherry tomatoes, maybe a handful of spinach, topped with cheddar: start as an open omelette and finish under the grill.
Frittata with whatever's in the fridge and needs using up.
Broccoli and blue cheese soup: I include leek or celery and cauliflower, including the stalks of broccoli and cauli. Veg stock and any blue cheese, whatever is on offer. Two bowls is a filling meal.
Bacon, egg, mushrooms sauted in butter, tomatoes, something green if it needs using up: plus black pudding: I know how you love that
Hi TheAwfulToad , thank you for the plan, Short and to the point 👍 it’s a good base and solid ground to build on LCHF way of life...
Had great read yesterday and will correct were I’m going wrong with LCHF since started in July. This morning had omelette and spinach for breakfast cooked in coconut oil🤞🤞🤞
As you requested to go through it carefully I noticed only one double word in your last paragraph on page 3??? Quote:
Content on HealthUnlocked does not replace the relationship between you and doctors or other healthcare professionals nor the advice you receive from them.
Never delay seeking advice or dialling emergency services because of something that you have read on HealthUnlocked.