(Interesting thing about the calories… if you read Good Calories, Bad Calories there is a passage about the discovery that we store almost all of what we eat as fatty acids right after we eat it, and then our fat tissue is supposed to release those fatty acids gradually to meet energy needs between meals. In obese people, the release doesn’t happen–that’s why so many of us are ravenous even though we’re eating a lot of food! What locks up the fat cells? Insulin, of course.)

Jimmy, I’ve run across several people via the ‘net who go zero-carb on a regular basis if not all the time. It doesn’t seem to hurt them and when you consider the Inuit used to be zero-carb and the Maasai almost there, and I just read about traditional Siberian people who subsist on half-frozen reindeer meat and fish, AND these traditional populations were/are all healthy, there’s nothing “ridiculous” about zero-carb if it works for you.

I don’t happen to believe that people are as “biologically diverse” as all that but I think we’re at varying stages of metabolic injury with some slight differences in ancestral background and hence food tolerance. But it’s a fair bet we could all live on no carbs or nearly no carbs because how else did we get through winter before we developed agriculture and effective food storage? What’s the one kind of food naturally available in winter? The kind you have to chase.

THANKS Dana! I’m all for someone finding what works for them and then them sticking to it. And by “works” I mean not just weight loss, but health improvements, too. If that’s low-fat, low-carb, or no-carb, whatever floats your boat. I do think in the end it’s better to consume a few green leafy veggies along the way at some point rather than going completely without them…but that’s just my observation. Thank you again for your comments!

–Jimmy

In about 4 months, I lost about 70 pounds and went down to a low of 155 pounds, and fit into my old jeans from University (28″ waist). I thought I was doing great, I felt great too, lots of energy (PS for the guy above re the waist size comment, this is true, I just have broader shoulders and more weight / size on the upper body – I had 48″ shoulders). Then I went to the doctors office and got a shock.

My blood sugar was 32 mmol/l, or 576 mg/dl. The doctor thought I should be dead, and I was urinating sugar. My body wasn’t metabolizing any carbs and was just cannibalizing protein and fats, thus the big weight gain. That’s how my journey through Type 2 diabetes began, and its a long saga of yo-yo weight gain and loss and escalating medications.

Today, I’ve said enough is enough, and have been eating low carb, higher fat and protein for the last three weeks. I’ve dropped the extra insulin I was injecting nightly (up to 48 units!), and eliminated the baby aspiring, Crestor/Lipitor (statins), and reduced my Metformin and Amaryl (I already had dropped Avandia earlier after the heart attack scares).

I’ve lost little weight – today I’m about 185 pounds, down from 187 when I started, but my body fat % is down, and my lean muscle mass is up. I am noticeably slimmer, and I pray to God that it continues.

My wife had bought into the whole low fat, low protein and high carbs fad, so she finds it really hard to give me any saturated fat – its a daily struggle, especially not taking insulin, but my blood sugar levels today are slightly elevated (about 9.5 / 170 in the morning, dropping to about 7.5 / 135 in the day), but with the benefit of no extra insulin.

Lets see how it goes!

MKS