The initial feeling of being tired, groggy, achy, etc. is called the "low carb flu."[1] Usually it takes a week or three for the symptoms to pass before you get over it. The more you relied on carbs as energy before, the longer it will take. The first time I switched to a paleo diet it took about 2 weeks before I felt normal. After that passed energy levels will skyrocket. I no longer rely on coffee and have high energy throughout the day.<p>You need to incorporate more good fats into your diet if you are still feeling low energy this far into it. There are two sources of energy for our body, carbs and fat. The low carb flu happens as your body is adjusting from using carbs as energy to using fat. It's likely you have lost so much weight because you haven't eaten any fat so your body is eating itself (literally).<p>Examples of good fats to eat are: coconut (meat, oil, butter), avocados, olives (oil, whole), and animal fats. You should definitely up your intake of these. That should help with your low energy.<p>Reading about paleo, primal, eating real food, or whatever you want to call it would be helpful. It is definitely a sustainable way to eat. It is essential to eat fat though. Lots of people have done and researched variations of these. Regardless of whether they are "fads" it is useful educate yourself a bit before jumping into something.<p>[1] (<a href="http://www.marksdailyapple.com/low-carb-flu/#axzz26B70TsmP" rel="nofollow">http://www.marksdailyapple.com/low-carb-flu/#axzz26B70TsmP</a>)
I feel stupid asking this, and I ask forgiveness if it's a dumb question, but why are there so many people improvising diets?<p>What is wrong with dietologists[0] ?<p>I have been overweight and went to a dietologist, got back in shape (lost about 16kg/35 pounds) in a few months and have stayed stable for years. And I did not have headaches and was allowed some "free" meals, alcohol and sweets, with "moderation" caveats.<p>I can't think of another health-related area where people think that it's better to form your own expertise than to go to a doctor, at least not in the same scale[2].<p>It seems strange to me, if you have persisting headaches you see a doctor, if you have a bad posture you get foot support, but if you are overweight you start reading books on nutrition and try to hack yourself.<p>What am I missing?<p>[1] medics with a specialization on diets, since chrome says this is not an english word. Possibly "nutritionist".<p>[2] except possibly body building, where arguably there is not a "problematic precondition"
First off: congratulations on the weight loss and actually sticking to a diet, that's a really hard step.<p>Anyway, I recently started working at Fitocracy, a fitness website, and decided to make a similar decision to yours. In fact, one of the main reasons I took my job offer was because during my initial interview the CEO looked at my workout history on the site and said "Whoa, nothing logged since March? We'll change that", since starting just under 3 months ago I've done down 25lb in weight and have gained a shit ton of strength. It's freaking awesome. Here are some things I've learned along the way:<p>1. I absolutely hate diets that consist of "eat this, not that", diets like this set mental barriers that difference between "good food" and "bad food" and can have lasting negative effects of "oh god why would you eat that that's terrible for you" which, combined with the fact that most do this to carbs makes you feel bad about yourself because you'll spend a lot of time on your cut thinking about the delicious foods you can't have.<p>2. You'll get much better results if you combine diet and exercise, you'll get faster results, and you won't have to be on such a strict diet because the exercise will make up for it.<p>I'm currently combining Leangains with a strength based workout program and have lost around 2-3lb a week consistently for the last 2-3 months, and I feel fucking awesome every day. I get to eat whatever I want as long as it fits in my macros, and my macros have specific guides set up to include being able to go out and get drunk semi-regularly.
I don't think I would consider this hacking your metabolism. In fact, as the author mentions, his metabolism actually seems to have "slowed down" since he feels fatigued more often than before. For a completely no-carb diet, this should be expected. Cutting out carbohydrates forces your body to primarily convert stored fat for its fuel instead, which is a slower and less efficient source of energy.<p>IMHO, practice moderation in all things, including moderation. Do I need to cut out ALL carbs? Should I really consume NO fruit? I can NEVER enjoy a good beer? Those rules would simply never be sustainable for me.<p>I generally stick to what I would call a healthy diet: mostly fruits and vegetables, eggs, whole wheat bread/pasta, small portions of meat (usually fish) with most dinners and some lunches. At the same time, I don't feel at all guilty about grabbing a couple beers or ordering the wings if I'm out to dinner or happy hour with friends. This system has been working for me because I also exercise regularly: alternating between jogging and hitting the gym most days of the week. Yes, it clearly took a bit of discipline to get into these habits. But now it's just become a lifestyle I find easy and enjoyable to maintain. What hacker doesn't appreciate a good challenge with such immediate and important results as your good health?
I've been trying to get into shape myself and I've found that any kind of novelty diet like this may get rid of some pounds but doesn't ultimately stick. Because you can lose 19 pounds in 3 weeks and then gain it all right back in the same amount of time.<p>You have to make a change that you can live with for the rest of your life, as depressing as that sounds. But what has been working for me is:<p>1) not eating late night (this is the hardest for me but also the thing that makes the biggest difference)<p>2) eating smaller portions. once you get into the habit this actually becomes rather easy. just eat 1/2 or 2/3 of the portion size you'd normally eat. eating until I was totally stuffed was just a habit I didn't even realize I was doing<p>one easy way to eat a little less is to skip the sides. like if i'm eating a hamburger - skip the fries. Or skip the bag of chips to go with the sandwich.<p>3) kinda watch the snacks and desserts. i don't cut them out but just keep in mind if i ate a bowl of ice cream yesterday, then skip dessert today.<p>Aside from that I pretty much eat exactly what I have always ate. I have lost about 22 pounds. I'm currently stuck at that weight because I keep cheating on my own system! But I think it's important not to be too hard on yourself otherwise you tend to just give up.
[No way of commenting on the blog post]
I've been doing more or less the same thing for the past five months - I lost 15 pounds so far, and I'm down to between 11-14% bodyfat.<p>I do find paleo to be sustainable - I would make it a point to include nuts and multivitamins into your diet - that will make a lot of the negative things go away.<p>I would also recommend the book "Why we get fat" by Gary Taubes, he goes into the science of all of this.
My pet theory is that most diets aren't really that effective, but what _is_ effective is thinking about what you eat. It's not about how many carbs you consume or whether this food item would have a face or not. What's important is that you're consciously thinking about what you're eating. "Do I really need to eat this snack, or can I wait another hour til meal time? Is this junk food or is it healthy?"<p>I've found that simply tracking my calories (not with any specific goals in mind) has helped me drop weight like nothing else. I don't think "Oh, I have to get under 2000 calories today", but I think "Man... this little 2.5oz bag of cheezits is 200 calories! Maybe I'll eat an apple instead." And you know what? It works.<p>Bottom line is that what you eat matters less than what you think about what you're eating. That's my two cents.
I'm wondering if it's just because those foods happen to also be foods with low glycemic index [0].<p>Based on an NPR story I heard yesterday [1] (if correct), I'd guess that you'd get similar results eating any of those types of foods [2].<p>[0] <a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Glycemic_index" rel="nofollow">http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Glycemic_index</a><p>[1] <a href="http://www.wbur.org/npr/160757730/low-and-slow-may-be-the-way-to-go-when-it-comes-to-dieting" rel="nofollow">http://www.wbur.org/npr/160757730/low-and-slow-may-be-the-wa...</a><p>[2] <a href="http://ajcn.nutrition.org/content/76/1/5/T1.expansion.html" rel="nofollow">http://ajcn.nutrition.org/content/76/1/5/T1.expansion.html</a>
I don't understand why people diet without exercise. The two go hand and hand. Don't have time? Make time. It's really a small commitment with an enormous upside. It's like trying to become a billionaire without investing any of your money. You need to invest your healthy diet into a good exercise program and the rewards will be substantial. Then you can do carb loading (eating carbs on days you exercise and avoiding carbs when you are not exercising) and avoid all those no-carb side effects.
Hi Bryan: good job experimenting to improve your own health and happiness, and thanks for posting so others can learn from your experiments. My wife and I have started a blog about this sort of diet, which is sometimeas called a "ketogenic diet": <a href="http://www.ketotic.org/" rel="nofollow">http://www.ketotic.org/</a><p>Our first blog entry was about the tiredness and headaches you've experienced and some suggestions for how to get past them: <a href="http://www.ketotic.org/2012/05/keto-adaptation-what-it-is-and-how-to.html" rel="nofollow">http://www.ketotic.org/2012/05/keto-adaptation-what-it-is-an...</a><p>For what it is worth, I think a keto diet is probably a very healthy way to live long-term. I wouldn't want you to just take my word for it, though. Eventually I hope to write enough on our blog to explain why I think that.<p>Regards,<p>Zooko
While it would make me a nice person to congratulate you on your weight loss, as a fitness enthusiast I feel compelled to point out that short term fluctuations in weight - even if they are in the magnitude of 19lbs in 3 weeks - are meaningless. What matters is whether that weight loss is sustainable in the long run.<p>Becoming fit is actually similar to becoming rich. Both are about having good habits that govern one's lifestyle. People who try to "hack" their way into weight loss end up gaining back that weight relatively quickly. Similarly, people who "hack" their way into richness end up either poor, or in jail, or both.<p>Bottom line is that in order to undo the effects of eating badly for years, you need to eat well and exercise for years. There are no shortcuts.
His "side effects" sound like symptoms of low caloric intake, not "removing dietary carbs". With more attention to his diet (yes, I mean counting calories) he could keep up this plan without the headaches/irritability/fatigue.<p>Also, without knowing other stats (height, age, etc), it's hard to judge if 19 pounds in three weeks is healthy. In general, no, but if he started at 5'5" and 280lb the weight was likely more of a risk than the diet.<p>These cutesy "rule diets" are a very poor way to manage your health. They're relatively easy to live by, but that's about the only good thing that can be said. There's nothing wrong with eating a low/no-carb diet, but you should educate yourself so you know you're being safe and how/when you'll see the results you want.
<i>I’ve dropped 19 lbs in just under three weeks! This is a ridiculous loss of weight. It might even be unhealthy, I’m not really sure.</i><p>Oh, it's very unhealthy. That 19 lbs was probably mostly muscle you burned because you essentially went into starvation mode, Christopher McCandless style. There aren't enough calories in meat and (most) vegetables to survive on.<p>Safe weight loss is pretty simple and there's no other way around it. Cut out 500 calories per day, either by diet or exercise and you'll lose 1-2 pounds per week. Any more and you aren't burning the fat you have you are burning through your muscle.
Strange as it may sound - try to eat more fat? It's an extremely efficient source of fuel. Try eating some nuts (almonds, brazils, hazels) to keep energy up. Really helps!
Nice work. Keep it up. As long as you're eating enough nutrients, your body will adjust to a healthy weight. Like others have said, try adding more healthy fats to your diet. They will help provide energy as well as satiety. What you're doing is sustainable. Visit marksdailyapple.com to see how thousands of others live like this.
Congratulations - you've (re)invented another low carb diet. You're in good company - Tim Ferris did much the same, a few years ago, in the Four Hour Body. Doubtless others will follow.
Yet another "I dismissed the Atkins diet until I tried it" article.<p>Poor old Atkins. Even the so-chic Paleo diet is pretty much what he recommended back in 1965.
Diets that ignore lifestyle are greedy. How about a new term? "Ethnodiet," or "technediet" rather than "logodiet" or "science-based diet." Regardless of the authority of scientists, or nutritionists, you are probably not one. Whereas appealing to the authority of astronomists may be an epistemtically defensible practice, appealing to the authority of nutritionists may not be. The discoveries of astrophysics arguably have direct influence on your life, but if they do, we'd be hard-pressed to integrate those findings in our everyday lives; the discoveries of nutrition, oddly researchers and laypeople alike, seem to carry an inherent imperative as to what-comes-next after said discovery is made. Whatever the content of the discovery, the "what-comes-next" is a matter of decision, but at the same point, it is a decision of whether the discovery is amenable to all of food science or not. In astrophysics, for instance, we have a long-standing set of metarules for the integration and change of the overall conceptual system. Where is this in food science? And what is more, Does a scientist's finding in and of themselves say anything about normative structure? (This idea is from Alain Badiou: "Situations are nothing more in their being than pure multiplicity. Nothing normative can be drawn from the simple realist's observation of the becoming of things.")<p>1. Eat Food (that could be readily identified by most traditional cultures; no Food Disputes; don't eat foodlike substances)<p>2. Mostly Plants (-- they have the most mature survival systems; eat them)<p>3. Not Too Much (learn how to eat little; that is, learn austerity, not asceticism; apply more traditional diets as this doubly expresses a political note and expresses Occam's Razor which does not aim to lose weight, but return one's body to an earlier state of humans within "civilization")<p>Try it. "Science-based diets" tend to lack consciousness of the ethnological structures we must persist within. A diet that says {nothing} about the contextualized features of Eating is blind. -- Something like what Einstein said.