People doing 2 day a week low carb lost MORE weight....

Today's Post: Tuesday, 12-13-2011

There are many ways to lose fat and its weight but some give you a larger return than others.

The ideal way would help you lose more and be easy enough to do that you can easily sustain it.

That way you would get enough results to give you an incentive to continue. And, you’d find it doable for you to do so. That way you’d lose more weight AND keep it off.

One way to do just that was recently tested to work!

It’s known by many that a low carb diet or even a very low carb diet is effective at fat loss. And, it’s known by some that being extra strict every other day can help you lose fat without triggering your famine response.

It’s also known that people who succeed in losing fat with a 7 day a week low carb diet often drop out because it prevents eating ANY of so many kinds of foods.

And, one French doctor who helps people use low carb fat loss methods teaches his clients to only eat protein foods and nonstarchy vegetables ONE day each week to maintain their fat loss. He found it to be effective.

So, some researchers decided to test if having people who were eating a Mediterranean diet that was mildly restrictive on calories might lose more fat if, on two days a week, Monday and Weds or Tuesday and Thursday for example, they ate a very low carb version of it.

They also decided to see the results if on those two low carb days, calories were cut back extra for one group and there were no restrictions on how much food people ate in a second group.

The test was done on women at above average risks of breast cancer since it’s known that obesity adds to the risks of breast cancer.

But my strong belief is that the results would also be the same for other women and for men who were making an effort to lose fat.

All the women were eating a Mediterranean diet. But one group just did that 7 days a week.

One group on two days a week could have all the lean meat, olives, and nuts they wanted.

And, a third group ate those foods but less than half as many calories worth as they ate on the other 5 days.

Both those last two groups eliminated bread and pasta on those two days. (Potatoes and rice are NOT part of the Mediterranean diet. But to be sure, they were asked NOT to eat any on those 2 days.)

(Note that soft drinks, packaged snacks, home made desserts, packaged desserts, and baked goods and pastries are NOT part of the Mediterranean diet either!)

The women in both the no restriction and the reduced calorie low carb 2 days a week groups lost 9 pounds in 4 months. And the women who ate the Mediterranean diet 7 days a week lost 5 pounds in 4 months.

The women in both of the two low carb day a week groups also showed greater improvements on insulin and leptin and insulin resistance.

That’s part of the reason they lost more fat. But it also means they were more successful in avoiding or partially reversing type 2 diabetes and the slightly too high blood sugar that often leads to it. So, that means they got more heart protection too!

The women tested also must have been relatively health oriented before the test period. Had they done this test on women who, before the test period, were fatter due to consuming a lot of drinks, packaged snacks, home made desserts, packaged desserts, and baked goods and pastries, the results would have been better. The weight loss would have been a lot more in all 3 groups.

Also, the results would have been better for all 3 groups if the program had also had a good exercise program and emphasized increasing nonstarchy vegetables all 7 days a week for all 3 groups. Emphasizing beans and lentils and all the days except the low carb days would also have gotten better results. (Eating some beans and lentils on the low carb days also might have made the program easier to maintain long term for some people according to the results of one fat loss expert.)

But, this report has convinced me to take 2 of my weekday every other day strict days each week and make them even more low carb than they were.

Note that the emphasis in the South Beach Diet and the more recent Atkins diet plans on health OK proteins and oils for health reasons has been shown to be important and health protective.

Small amounts of sour cream, butter, and fatty meats WILL work in a low carb fat loss diet. So will processed meats such as bacon, sausage, ham, pepperoni, and salami.

But the preservatives in processed meats and the omega 6 oils in those foods if they are from animals fed grain are now well known to be harmful to your health and to help cause heart disease.

So very eating lean meat, wild caught fish, nuts, and some eggs are better choices for protein. And, olives, nuts, avocados, and extra virgin olive oil are dramatically better choices for fats and oils for protecting your health.