A dietary test

I have been doing some research trying to find out why my body fights weight loss any time that I try to lose weight.  I keep food journals every time that I am on a diet.  I've tried balanced low calorie (1200-1500 cal) diets with exercise.  I've tried low fat diets and low carb diets.  Everything is about the same.  I can drop about 20 pounds and I level out. 

I remember when I was in my thirties and using Richard Simon's Deal-a-meal program (similar to Weight Watchers point system.) I had hit a plateau for about a month when the people that I car-pooled with suggested stopping on the way home someplace for an ice-cream cone on a Friday afternoon.  I convinced them to stop at my favorite custard shop in Excelsior, Minnesota.  There is nothing better than Adele's Frozen Custard. http://adelescustard.com/

Overnight, I dropped five - YES 5 pounds.  And over the next couple weeks I continued to lose weight but smaller amounts.  I remember realizing that I had cut too much fat out of my diet.  But I forgot about that until this past week.

A specialist that I see has mentioned to me that I might be carb sensitive.  One way to check is to go for a short period of time with almost no carbs.  So here I am preparing for a Fat Fast which is five days of eating no carbs, 80% of my calories from fat and 20% of my calories from protein.


Making Bacon Bits

 In preparation, I decided to portion my protein.  A portion of bacon will be two slices. The books I've read recommend that you cut it into small strips to cook it up.  Normally I drain off the fat but not this time.  I am putting the fat right in with the bacon.  Both will be added to a raw egg for creating an egg scramble.


Bacon set aside with it's grease

It is difficult for me to get my head around the fact that I am supposed to get so much fat into my diet for this week.  I have been trained or should I say brain washed to remove as much fat as possible from my diet. One thing that the books recommend is incorporating coconut into the diet.  It is a high fat product.  I received instructions to take 4 cups (8 ounces) of unsweetened coconut flakes and put it into a food processor. This is the base for making coconut butter.


4 Cups coconut flakes

 Turn on the food processor and walk away for 10 minutes. Come back and scrape down the sides then turn it on again for about 7 minutes.


Turn on the food processor

 Pour into a container(s) for storage.  No need to refrigerate unless you plan on keeping it for more than three months.  I am not sure what I am going to do with this yet.  But looking at some of the recipes that I have so far.  I think I am going to need to find something to do with it.  Because I am short on the daily fat intake.  (I just carefully opened one of the containers of coconut butter and it has hardened like butter in a fridge - and it was sitting on the counter top. Hmmm.


Coconut butter

I am excited to see how this works this week and how I feel.  If it turns out that I am carbohydrate sensitive, that is going to be a challenge as the USA is designed around a Carb heavy lifestyle.

Don't forget if you fail to plan then you plan to fail! Plan for success!