Wednesday, November 10, 2010

Induction

Induction is probably the most difficult time in beginning a LCWOL (Low Carb Way Of Life). The first couple of days will be a breeze as you go noshing on all the meat you wish to your hearts desire. The EL-BEES will seemingly melt off. A friend of mine recently lost 10 HER first week.

I think most people who followed Atkins will concur that after day 3 the pain begins. Not actuall pain in most cases, but the withdrawl symptoms from you addiction to carbohydrate. It is real. Some people - as myself- even went through flu-like symptoms. Headaches, body aches, congestion, even sometimes fever. It is very important to stick it out through this. It seems like a test and one that you must pass to kick your addiction to carbs.

When I got cravings during this period I would have a bit of low carb chocolate to stave off the craving and then eat some bacon or a bit of cheese. This really helped keep those urges at bay.

The goal at this time is to get your body into lipolysis- "Fat Burning". Our body has 3 fules for energy- Alchol, Carbohydrate, or Fat. Your body will choose to burn alcohol first, then carbs, then fat. By keeping the carb intake low the body will have no choice but to switch to burning fat. Burning fat produces "ketones" which put us in a state Dr. Atkins called Ketosis. It is important to note that Ketosis is NOT ketacidosis. Ketoacidosis is a condition in out of control diabetics where they are passing ketones, yet still have a sky-high blood sugar. NOT GOOD! Ketosis, on the other hand is where we want to be. It means we are burning fat for energy and our body is releasing our fat stores.

This why it is important to NOT break down and eat what we aren't supposed to.  You can't really turn this switch on and off. And we don't want to go backwards.

You can test yourself for ketones by purchasing "Ketostrips" or "Lipolysis testing" strips at your local pharmacy. They are a bit pricey though, so use them sparingly. Have a high fat meal and the next time you pee after that- test for ketones. The slightest bit of purple means you are on your way to losing weight and better health!

1 comment:

  1. Hi Tom-
    Great to see a male perspective low carb blog!

    I have an addiction to ketostrips :) no really I do (except now I don't because I'm pregnant) but I don't use them sparingly!! To get twice as many from the bottle, simply cut in half lengthwise being careful not to touch the active part with anything but the scissors!!

    Stop by my website some time - www.deliciously-thin.com

    ReplyDelete