A nicely thought out definition of what is "a paleo diet"...

A paleo diet is:

• Eating foods that best support the biochemistry of human animals with a multi-million year history of hunting and foraging, primarily on the African savanna.
• Avoiding foods, such as grains, grain oils, and refined sweeteners, that actively disrupt the biochemistry of these human animals.

The whole article is fun reading. If you're doing Paleo, how's it doing for you? Drop me a line in the comments or a link to your blog or post discussing its effect on you.

We aren't strict Paleo, but we've moved closer and closer in that direction compared to our diet a year, 10 months, 9 months ago. We eat a lot differently than we have most of our married life. And I am reversing some of the damage I've done in those decades.

I'll be honest: I don't see myself giving up butter, cheese, or yogurt anytime soon--though I did ditch milk. ; ) They're not taking away the sucralose for my coffee. But ya never know...we continue to ...er...evolve... in how we eat here....

Ticker Update: 118 Pounds Lost...A different ME is revealed when hubby is out of town...and I Resolve To Never to Eat Modern Wheat Again

Tanita-san: 181.0

That makes 118 pounds off. Ticker reflects this as of...a minute or so ago. :)  I am eager to cross that barrier to the 170s...so eager.

Food has been so easy this week. Hubby is out of town --boohooo--so I only have to worry about MY food. Which means...heck, easy-peasy. I do whatever is minimal, and I only go into the kitchen when hungry. This means I barely hit the kitchen. Yay!  I don't lose 2 pounds in five days unless I'm eating less. So, yeah, I'm eating less. But it's cause I'm following my natural rhythm: Only go into the kitchen when I'm hungry or just before I think I'm about to get hungry (preventative meal-making).

When hubby returns, I have to be regular with cooking, make extra for his lunches/snacks. It makes me think of food more, have to eat more on a schedule. That means more eating.

I want to win the PowerBall and never have to cook again. I'll be 125 pounds that way. hahahahahhahaha!!!!!

joking, half-way. ; )

I remember when I was morbidly obese and hubby went on trips. I saw that as "Woo-hoo, let's order delivery like mad" time. Order a pizza with the toppings MY way, no compromise. Order lasagna and meatballs. Order Chinese binge-feasts.

Now, I'm a different gal. I didn't order delivery once. I fixed all my meals. They were focused on protein, veggies, fruit, nuts, good fats,  with one deviation last night. I had a small portion of some leftover rice n beans, topped with salsa, alongside my home-made quickie-chicken-picatta and wilted spinach. Honeydew for dessert.

I actually could have not eaten at all on Tuesday--really had no appetite--but I always worry that if I go too long without, I'll get TOO hungry and set up a bingey thing. So, while I'll do intermittent short fasts (17 to 21 hours), I won't go longer. I guess I don't trust the binge-monster in me completely, even if I feel like a transformed person. Better safe than sorry.

I finished WHEAT BELLY, reviewed it at Amazon, and it firmed up my resolve from a few months back not to eat wheat/gluten. Hubby is on board, so it makes shopping/meals easier knowing he supports this. I know he's seen how it's done me good, and he sees how it's done him good, and why go back? His coworkers are frequently asking him what he's doing, cause they see he eats A LOT of food and has gotten radically slimmer. I think they see his three tupperware cooler of two-lunches and assorted snacks and wonder how he is so sleek, when he wasn't so sleek before. hahahah.

ETA for JoBee:
People become dependent on bread/wraps/crackers/pasta because it's simple/easy/no brain. To ditch the wheat--stop thinking of any food as a lunch food or a breakfast food. Any food is okay any time. Chicken for breakfast. Eggs for dinner. Veggies for breakfast. Steak for a snack.


For hubby, to simplify, I cook extra at dinner. A lot extra. And then I can use extras for the next couple days. And right after supper, I might make scrambled eggs with ham or cheese or both and he nukes it for breakfast with fruit.


Breakfast: have eggs any way you like with veggies. Add fruit if you're not insulin resistant/diabetic. Or can't live without it. hah. Have leftover dinner food. Have any protein with any veggie and some healthy fats. My fave is veggie omelettes, usually with some cheese (feta, cheddar, swiss). I almost always have fruit.  But I've had leftover chicken with spinach for breakfast. Hubby has had leftover buffalo chicken (I make it at home, no breading) for breakfast. He has turkey and cheese. He has leftover burger. As long as there's protein and some plant item, it's good.  I cook his stuff in EVOO, butter/ghee, or coconut oil.


Lunch: I have to fix him two lunches, cause he gets too think since ditching gluten and most sugar. Here is one day's packed lunches/snacks:

 Here's one "lunch set": There's grilled chicken with chopped carrots and diced celery over romaine; carnitas pork with rice and mozzarella cheese, applesauce, cashews; snacks include hummus/carrots, Larabar, dark chocolate square. He took his usual banana/apple in his workbag.

The above includes food from meals (leftovers). Grilled spicy chicken over yellow rice with a spinach mozzarella salad side; cheeseburger (sans bun) with asparagus (cooked in EVOO) with real mashed potatoes on the side (butter, cream); Snacks: Beanitos and salsa, cottage cheese with cantaloupe and strawberries, and there's dark chocolate under the bag of Beanitos. On top of this, he took an apple, a banana, and a bag of peanuts.

I stress that *I* can't eat like this. We tried totally grain free, and he dropped 5 pounds a week and was heading toward seriously UNDERweight. I added rice and taters back for him. I have them maybe 2x a week. I have metabolic issues he doesn't. But he has lost about 60 pounds from his highest weight.

I find salads are easiest: chopped cheese and turkey or chicken or ham or leftover steak or chicken or pork on top of greens with some veggies he'll eat (diced celery, broccoli slaw, shredded carrots). He's not got a big veggie vocabulary, but I do my best. :) He often has hummus with carrot sticks. I love using the Sabra single serve ones. Perfect for a snack. I also buy him Larabars (raw, gluten-free), which he enjoys. I can't eat them (too carby), but it helps him keep weight on these days. :D Cheese and nuts with crudite veggies and fruit can make a perfect no-cook meal. Breakfast can be non-sweetened yogurt with berries and nuts.

Just focus on protein/veggies as the spotlight, then add nuts, cheese, fruit (in moderation for those sensitive to sugars/carbs), seeds as accents, lots of nice spices. The starches that are safe and a allowed in our home--tubers, rice. For the non-carb-sensitive, gluten-free oats can be used. Use legumes if you aren't sensitive to them and they are properly soaked (although it's not Primal/Paleo, it's up to you. Dr. Davis gives the okay to moderate portions t keep glucose under control).

If you have any suspicion you might be wheat or gluten sensitive, if you have diabetes or insulin resistance (like moi), if you have a belly (ie, fat one), if you get cravings for wheat/gluteny products (that is, when you do your uncontrolled snacking, is is made of wheat or gluten-containing products, like crackers, pretzels, pizza, wraps, cookies, etc--or are you night snacking on roast chicken and spinach or honeydew and Manchego cheese?), if you have autoimmune conditions, or if you have low HDL/high triglycerides and dangerous small LDL that's HIGH--read the book.

The September 5th Woman's World magazine (your supermarket has it), gives a quickie overview and sample eating plan. But I recommend the book as he shows why wheat has been altered from its ancestral type. How it's not even the wheat eaten a couple generations ago. Different beast.

I'll eat ancestral wheat, should I come across bread made from it. I won't eat modern rejiggered/engineered wheat with its scary properties.

I don't need it, anyway. There's no nutrient in wheat that I can't get from the whole foods I eat, and in better form :) And I bet you don't need it, either. You might desperately want it. You just might be addicted to it. (And yes, he addresses that in the book, and if you have a loved one with schizophrenia or autism, you do want to read about the experiments in these areas with regard to wheat.) But that's all the more reason to assess your dependency on this not-benign grain and staple food.

So, that's my book recommendation for the week. WHEAT BELLY by Dr. Davis.

If you read it and try the program, really give it a good shot of at least 30 days,  let me know how it goes for you.

Have a great Thursday, eat well, move well..be well.

Closer to the "One-Seventies", Wheat Belly, And Not Hungry...And almost half of you hung in there in Slimmer This Summer, which is great.

Tanita-san: 181.8

Yes! A bit more down. Closer and closer to breaking that next barrier and hitting the 170s. I don't know how long, but I hope before the challenge begins on the 11th. :D

I just downloaded a book I've been looking forward to reading since I heard Dr. Davis was going to release it. It's just now available on Nook and Kindle (I Nooked it), and it's called WHEAT BELLY. I'm a big fan of ditching the wheat. Hubby and I both feel great, great, great, since ditching the gluteny grains. I may review it on the blog later. May not. Dunno. But you should at least go look it over if you have issues with obesity. The author, Dr. Davis, also has a blog. It's on my blogroll.

I had a good Pilates session yesterday and my core is nicely sore. Weather is miserable, so no walking today. I'm so gonna be happy when cooler, drier late autumn days come back.

I am not hungry. I just realized, right now, I have not eaten today. I'm gonna go fix something after I publish this post. Not cause I have an appetite, but cause I don't wanna get hit by the hungry beast and then have to decide what to eat. Preventative eating, yeah!

I visited the last Slimmer This Summer update linky blog to see how many challengers made it to the finish line. About half. That's pretty good. It was a moderately lengthy challenge--12 weeks--and my hearty congratulations to those who hung in there. TWENTY FIVE made a final post. Some did great, some not so great, but they finished.

We've got a nice number of challengers already for the CHRISTMAS DRESS COUNTDOWN CHALLENGE. I've got a few on the under-consideration list. Basically, I need to know you can finish what you start, which is why StS and DDDY peops were automatic acceptances if they finished a challenge/phase. You stick it out. I consider that important. I've learned that's important, even if you do poorly. You understand weight loss struggles go on for life and you just don't quit! So, thanks to the StS who made it to the finale. And if you're in the CDCC, welcome. Do your prep work. Get READY.

See you in that challenge soon.

And to all: Have a good evening . Be well....

Day 28 Son of DDDY Challenge: Is this finally the dreaded carb uptick? Dunno. But Sucks...food/water log

Sooooooooooooooo sleepy. Only slept five hours. Ack.

Tanita-san says, "241.8"

What the hey?

Okay, I was waiting to see how my ever-increasing carb intake (still trying to find a way to test that DNA test result recommendation, but breaking eating habits is hard) takes a toll. Yesterday may have started the initial carb stall/uptick.

I had: ww bread, potatoes, rice, corn, beans, fruit (including the low-carber's dreaded BANANA, well, half), bran cereal, raisins.

And I'm up a pound a change in the last three days without going over my calories.

I knew this would be hard--it's hard--and that this is just what carbs do to a body and if I'm gonna ratchet up to 55 to 65% carbs, I had to expect it.

Don't like it, though. I don't know if I can be patient and do this. We'll see. I expect it's a temporary body adjustment thing and as long as I stay in a good caloric range, the drop will eventually come.

Still hard. I was spoiled with a pretty consistent rate of loss in the last 3 months, so this irks. And is a tad scary.

So, will I stick it out or go back to my lower carb ways? Hah!

For now, staying the carby course to test the genes.

food log:

BREAKFAST:
2 slices ww toast
1/4 cup egg whites and 1 slice 2% cheese
1 cup fresh papaya chunks
2 cups coffee
6 glasses water

calories: 239
fluids: 64 oz

Pilates: 55 mins with trainer
4 glasses of water afterwards

LUNCH:
1 can Amy's lower in Sodium MINETRONE soup
1/4 cup kidney beans (added to soup)
1/4 cup reduced fat mozzarella (added to soup)
1 tbsp shaved parmesan (soup topping)
8 glasses water
2 glasses iced tea

calories: 266
fluids: 80 oz

Okay, so the problems with the new WW Points Plus Plan...I think Roni's Right....and don't get suckered on kits sold on eBay and Amazon

641 days and 82.4 pounds to go...

Roni nailed it.

It's not a no-brainer anymore to figure out one's target points or the points in food. Here's her take:

Monday, I felt duped and overwhelmed. When I got the meeting I was given the materials and immediately started leafing through. There was tons of great information but no specifics on HOW to follow the plan. What’s my target? How do I figure it out? How do I calculate the points for food?
As the meeting progressed things started to become clear. SInce I couldn’t weigh in I wasn’t given a target. The only way to get your target with the new plan is to weight in, use e-tools or the electronic calculator. I don’t necessarily think this is a bad idea but historically your target was easily calculated so it caught me off guard.

Next I found out there was no slider or easy way to calculate points for food without either looking it up in the pocket guide, using e-tools or purchasing the electronic calculator. Again, I was caught off guard. The Weight Watchers of the past always provided the minimum basics you needed to follow the plan. Now I needed to purchase an additional gadget. One that I’m not the biggest fan of.

I went ahead and purchased the Deluze Members kit (has two points related books, a cookbook, a points calculator, a 3-month tracker, and a carrying case). Not cheap. But the fact that emphasis now is on fiber and protein and a desire to reduce fat and carbs--well, okay, so I'm more concerned at this point with eating more produce and reducing fat and will worry about my higher-carb target in increments--means this may be an easier way for me to structure meals. I have an online membership (I hate weighing in with clothes on and sometimes after meals, so forget real life meetings), and while I find their online tracker so clunky, and prefer the SparkPeople one, I always liked their notebook/journal-style portable trackers. Very handy for "on-the-go" eating days. Adding points in one's head is always easier than adding calories. It means tens of points rather than hundreds of calories, ya know?

I do think they should provide a cheaper way for budget members to figure out points. I, for one, as an "ethnic person" (snarf, whatever, everyone has an ethnicity, but ya know what I mean) often eat--and have eaten--foods that I could not find in the WW books and had to deconstruct to figure out points. Let's face it: WW is not comprehensive, not the tracker and not the books/companions. So, one of their goals should have been a very simple way to ballpark points (like the previous system) or have a comprehensive online accessible list with points that any member (real life or etools) can access. They're a multi-national corporation. No reason they can't have a comprehensive list of all ethnic foods and convenience foods. It's not like they ain't making money off those kits and snacks and magazines and sites and such.

Well, like anything, it takes getting used to. Soon enough, the old points will fade and the new points will be in memory files. And then they'll change the points again in 10 years or so and we'll be back to memorizing new numbers (unless we're senile).

I like this kind of change--ie, more produce, less "stupid food" (ie, nutrient empty or rejiggered FrankenFoods)--and it's kinda fun to go through and learn points (yeah, I'm weird that way). So, we'll see how this goes...

BTW, don't get ripped off on the kits. Amazon and eBay have INSANE prices, sometimes more than TWICE what WW sells it for (and WW is already overpriced kits-wise, imo). Just get it from the source and save. Don't get desperate and get it from rip-off vendors. Gouging always goes on when plans change. Don't get suckered.

And, in case you like doing calculations, one of the commenters on Roni's blog ("Kelly Rowe") gave this as a possible formula for figuring out points. Try it and see:

(protein/10.9) + (carbohydrates/9.2) + (fat/3.5) + (fiber/35)

Day 23 Son of DDDY Challenge: Where I salted my way up 1.2 pounds and where I wonder why it's so hard for me to heat high carb/low fat...food and water log, too!

242.4

Up 1.2 pounds.

If you see what I ate last night, I stayed well under challenge calories, drank my accelerated rate of water (and then some), but I ate salty stuff. Dinner was essentially a 'snack' sort of meal: salty protein snack mix, sugar free chocolate almonds, and a pear. (I was wanting salty and sweet, notice the bag of lower-sugar hybrid cookies with breakfast, where I had shredded parmesan on my salad and I salted the tomato like nobody's business.)

I often wonder why I have such salt-craving days. I no longer have a menses, so it's not PMS related. I just want salt some days, want it bad and often want to counterpoint it with something sweet (fruit, snack treats, chocolate).

Okay, so I better make sure I get some potassium in today to get the bloat down.

I'm also finding it really hard to up my carbs. I've made some gains in reducing fat--using PAM spray more, using less EVOO and Smart Balance, etc--but I still have this mental block about upping the carbs to put that DNA result to the test. I have a REALLY hard time being 65/20/15 in the carbs/fat/protein ratio.  I slipped back into ZONE-like eating yesterday, although I gave it the good ole try by having a full cup of rice instead of half a cup or even 1/4 cup as I have had in the past. I ordered some Dr. McDougall's vegan soups (black bean; spring onion noodle) to have something low-fat/carby to nosh on that's quick and has no weirdo ingredients.

FOOD/WATER LOG:

Breakfast:
2 slices Ezekiel bread with 2 eggs and 1 slice 2% cheese
1 cup papaya with lime juice
2 cups coffee
8 glasses water

calories: 421
fluids:  80 oz

Lunch:
Shredded chicken wrapped in iceberg lettuce leaves with
1/4 cup mozzarella, 1 tbsp lite cream cheese, 1/8 cup corn niblets
1/4 cup BBQ sauce and 1/2 cup baked beans
1 thick tomato slice with 1 cup mixed baby lettuces with 1 tbsp blue cheese crumbles
1 tbsp balsamic vinaigrette
2 cups coffee
8 glasses water

calories: 540
fluids: 80 oz

DINNER:
rotini pasta with mushrooms, broccoli and mozzarella
assorted supplements
BariWise protein bar
2 cups decaf
2 glasses water

calories: 588
fluids: 32 oz

TOTAL CALORIES: 1549
TOTAL FLUIDS: 192 oz

Day 16 Son of Double Dare Challenge: Still with the asthma/congestion, down another 1/5th pound, the quest to up carbs even as my subconscious objects, and Thanksgiving Eve thoughts! Plus food/water log...

Scale = 243.2

A small downtick that pleases me, though yesterday's "whoosh" was fun.

Breathing is crap. Looks like I will miss Thanksgiving. Sucks. Guess I'll have to make Christmas even merrier to make up for it. What makes me even more frustrated is hubby has today through Sunday off, and I 'm not well to go out and enjoy the good weather and happy city with him. I want to go out and DO FUN STUFF!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

Ah, well.

So, yesterday didn't fit the genetic plan. Was low calorie and lower carb. I had 135 grams of carbs (the minimum according to the 65-20-15 plan of c/f/p would have been about 100 more for the caloric level yesterday, a bit under 1400), 100 g of protein. Fat was 57 grams, and I should have been closer to the low 30s.

I'm so used to eating lower carb, higher protein, that breaking the pattern is tough. I instinctively make take-out choices that fit the previous plan. I did meet the plan numbers at lunch and got close to breakfast, which I made at home and was able to tweak.

Well, I knew the first couple weeks would be bumpy with the reconfigurations.  I need to go to Whole Foods when I'm better and get some high fiber, low sugar breakfast cereal (like a multigrain flakes type thing that I can add raisins and bananas, too, and man, it's been a while since I ate bananas), and more low fat and maybe fat free dairy to get the fat down and good carbs up. Some sweet potatoes, some bulgur maybe. Brown rice. Lean cuts of meat (I have no meats/poultry in my freezer right now). Some breakfast soy sausages. Canadian bacon. Whole wheat tortillas (regular, not low carb, which I think taste better, anyhow). More fruit.

So, happy about continuing to see progress. Confused a bit about the eating plan journey. Sad that the holiday is nixed due to my gaspy bronchii. But life goes on and we will overcome, right? :)

Happy Thanksgiving Eve, people. Do NOT overeat tomorrow. Make the conscious decision now to eat light at breakfast, drink loads of water, get in some exercise before the visit to the relatives or feasting begins (even if it's putting on music and dancing with family), and enjoy the things you LOVE MOST and skip the stuff that's just okay or you can have anytime. I mean, really, mashed potatoes is common. Have the rarer, more special, more holiday stuff. Enjoy it in moderate portions. Eat it slowly and SAVOR the wonderfulness of that sweet potato casserole or herbed stuffing or roasted veggies or homemade cranberry relish with the turkey. Savor every bite. Look at it, smell it, let it sit on your tongue. Make that one healthful serving LAST. Be grateful for food and love and laughter. If you have a faith, give a word up to your deity to say you appreciate life and nourishment. Give thanks for the farmers and ranchers and all the people who make nourishment possible.

Overeating won't make you more thankful. Eating with joy and moderation will.

Okay, food log time:

BREAKFAST: (The balance ended up about 52%c/25%f/22p--not too bad)

Diet To Go mushroom-leek strata with soy sausage
1 2/3 cups papaya with 1/8th cup lime juice drizzed over
3 cups spinach cooked in 1 tsp EVOO and garlic
2 cups coffee and 6 glasses water (4 before, 2 after)


calories: 487
fluids: 64 oz

LUNCH: (wasn't overtly hungry, but had something that was in the fridge anyway to keep things stable)

1 cup pear and watercress soup (raw, organic, vegan)
3 small bites of raw vegan zucchini lasagna
2 cups decaf
4 glasses water

calories:  221
fluids:  48 oz

DINNER: Today is organic co-op pick-up day, and Hubby is going to the kosher Israeli restaurant, so I'm getting their very low fat bean soup, a bit of rice to dump on it, some Israeli salad, and maybe steal a couple of falafel and hummus from hubby's appetizers. There should be greens and fruits in the co-op share.

2.5 falafel with 2.5 tbsp hummus
1 cup white bean and carrot soup and 2/3 cup white rice
1/4 cup Israeli Salad
4 glasses water

calories:  681
fluids:  16 oz (should have had more)

SNACK: Got hungry around 1am

1 organic apple
1 bag FiberGourmet cheese crackers
1 slice 2% Kraft deli select cheddar cheese
1 WS Vanilla protein shake (made with 8 oz water)
4 glasses water

calories: 331
fluids:  32 oz


TOTAL CALORIES: 1720   (46/34/20, getting closer to 50/30/20, the intermediary step)
TOTAL FLUIDS: 168 oz  (enough to meet and exceep accelerated rate of oz, but less than I've been having. I attribute this to the bit of difficulty I had swallowing...harder to drink. But, must try harder.)

So, How Much Water Weight Is Gonna Return?

CarbTripper's Water Doodle!

Today, I genuinely start to up my carbs and lower my fat and protein intake. (I shudder as I say this.)

As anyone who has ever done a low to lower carb eating plan--South Beach, Atkins, even the Zone--knows, when you cut carbs, you dump a nice amount of water weight that first week. You just piss out a bunch of pounds. On South Beach, I lost more in one week than I ever have, but I know it wasn't all or most fat. It was mostly water. I know cause I was in the bathroom a lot. :)

The weeks after I stopped Atkins and South Beach, I gained 6 to7 pounds of water weight. In days. That's what happens when you add back carbs. It's not fat, but it is a bit disconcerting.

So, I do wonder how many water pounds will rebound.

Today, scale: 244.2

Same as yesterday. I expected that. I slept 5.5 hours, which is not enough for me to drop weight in one day. I know from years of dieting experience that--barring VLCDieting--if I sleep poorly, the weight kind of maintains or goes up.

Or it might be a function of me adding a bit more carbs yesterday. I had a big bowl of legumey soup for lunch. I had a chunk of carby bread. I had 3 fruits.

This morning, I had 2 slices of bread and fruit with my eggs, instead of the protein hot cakes.

We shall see....

Just Changed Settigns on my SparkPeople Nutrition Tracker to Reflect Genetic Test Suggestions

So, I took a while to figure out the calories per macronutrient and the grams to reflect between 1400 and 1600 cals for the 65/15/20 recommended breakdown.

I'm really nervous. That's A LOT OF CARBS!!!!!!!!!!!!

I have been eating way, way fewer carbs and way, way more protein and fat.

It's making me jittery.

But part of me is excited and curious to see how this affect 1. appetite 2. sense of well-being and 3. weight loss rate.

I've calcuated ranges of grams/calories for fats, protein and carbs. It looks tough. A big change from how I've been eating since around May/June.

Ranges:
carbs-- 227 grams/910 calories to 260 grams/1040 cals daily
protein--52 grams/210 calories to 60 grams/240 calories
(that seems such a piddling amount!)
fats--31 grams/280 to 35 grams/320

Man. Man. Maaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaan.

I figure I'll be bumping along trying to figure out how to fit stuff in to make the day balance out. Having it on my nutrition tracker will at least let me see how the day is working out meal by meal, snack by snack, and give me a pie chart to see the breakdown once the day is done, and then I can analyze to see how to tweak.

I'll give it a month, maybe more. If it works out well in terms of appetite/rate of loss and my labwork comes out good, fine. I'll consider it a successful experiment. If it makes my appetite rage and my glucose in the labs changes for the worse, then, back to the higher-protein, lower carb. Cause...man, that sure is a ton of carbs.

Oh, I found an article that discusses the particular genetic variances. It's not happy reading for me, given how I turned out on the tests, but it is illuminating for those who are curious. And yes, science-speak: Genotyping and the diets to lose weight

One lady did comment over on the Facebook for Inherent Health that her hubby, also a Fat Trimmer, lost a lot of weight and got to goal weight in a relatively short time (months, not years). Like 50 lbs in 3 months using the recommendations.

I have a lot of my protein stuff around, and fortunately most are low-fat, too, so I don't have to ditch them. Just figure out how to incorporate. 

Here is a blog post by someone else who is a Fat Trimmer/High Met.

Onward to the experiment....

The Results of my DNA testing for optimal diet/exercise as per my genes

Okay, here it is. Finally.

Actually, it took a couple weeks and that's what they said.

First, if you don't know what I'm talking about, I used one of those little brushes to swab cells from the sides of my mouth (like you see in CSI on tv) and sent them in. I paid for two tests done by the company that was referred to in the plethora of television show segments and news reports back in spring talking about the type of diet basedo n DNA: one for a marker that shows a predisposition for heart attack based on inflammation, the other for what would be the type of diet and exercise level most suited for my genotype. There are some categories  people fall in:

1. Fat Trimmer
2. Carb Reducer
3. Balancer

There are also differing optimal exercise levels based on genes. For some, moderate exercise is optimal. Others require high intensity exercise.

I thought I'd be a Carb Reducer or Balancer. I was wrong. I tested out as a Fat Trimmer. Here is the "interpretation" of the results:


Individuals with this genetic pattern absorb more dietary fat into the body and have a slower metabolism. They have a greater tendency for weight gain. Clinical studies have shown these individuals have an easier time reaching a healthy body weight by decreasing total dietary fat. They may have greater success  losing weight by following a reduced fat, reduced calorie diet. In addition, they benefit from replacing saturated fats with monosaturated fats within a reduced calorie diet. Clinical studies have also shown these same dietary modifications improve the body's ability to metabolize sugars and fats.


I hoped I was a moderate exerciser, but I'm a "High Met" (Higher Intensity):


High Met: Individuals with this genetic pattern are less able to break down body fat for energy in response to exercise than those with the alternative genetic pattern. They tend to lose less weight and body fat than expected with moderate exercise. These individuals require more exercise to activate the breakdown of body fat for energy and weight loss. They must also maintain a consistent exercise program to keep the weight off.



Their recommendations for me are:

1. Diet--Reduced-Fat
65% carbs, 20% fat, 15% protein

2. Exercise --High Metabolic Equivalents
High intensity activity of 6 mets or more at least 3x per week.
Total weekly MET score of 13 or greater.

My intermediate level Pilates that I do 2x a week with a trainer falls in the 5-6 MET range, with some bursts of up to 8, but probably averaging closer to 5-6. So, I've been doing 10 to 12 METs. Not enough.

I can't jog or run or do treadmill or elliptical (bad knees/ankle). So, my options for higher MET would be recumbent bike (at a particular level, of course) or rowing (OMG!). I've tried rowing. That is not for me.

I've been doing higher fat/lower carb/higher protein. I'm gonna start to play with the diet. I want to decrease fats, not overly decrease protein, and start to slowly raise carbs (ideally, good carbs, right?) I don't want to face hunger pangs again (which I do tend to get with carbs). But I like the idea of having more fruit (which I have restricted some). I don't know if 65% carb is really ideal--appetite-wise. But I"m willing to give it a go. I just have to figure out how to make the meals fit.

If anyone has a recommendation of a diet that fits this profile, do let me know.

You can google up METs (lots of charts out there) to see where your activity falls.


Hope this was interesting for y'all.