"Life Without Bread"

[Turgon]

Turgon, you may be keeping a bunch of hostile bacteria alive by feeding them with sweet potato and/or carrot. I had issues until I went totally keto for a full six weeks.

Okay, I've been thinking about this the last day or so, and it may be coming up again for me to try zero carbs again soon. I have been hesitant after my last experiment with it because I didn't do the reading to prepare me for it and just plunged myself into trying it. I'm still catching up with LWB thread and only half way through but pretty much all the issues I've had has come up at some point with pointers and experiences from other members on what to do - which is why I want to follow the line of development in this thread before reaching the Ketogenic thread. And it also does provide some relief that there isn't 'something wrong with me' by some of my reactions to certain foods like pork, which really bothered me because I do love bacon and it's easier to get pastured lard than beef tallow in Canada.

I think my main focus still should be gut healing as I don't think I was ever properly on the diet this last year and made a ton of mistakes. Until about 2-3 months ago I wasn't really keeping track of my carb or protein intake other than what seemed like enough and judging from that if I was in ketosis and using ketostix. I never ate excess amounts of carbs but one day here and there I would have more than usual and I never measured protein and was still taking in some inflammatory's like spices and possibly cross-contaminated meats.

When I went zero carbs for those two weeks, I dropped another 9lbs, to 115lbs total which spooked me a bit because I do have this deeply lodged program of avoiding losing any more weight and actually would like to put on some weight.

I've put some of it back on since reintroducing some carbs and increasing my protein intake again, but I tried some lettuce today for the first time in forever and I found the taste and texture unbearable. Sweet potato is the only carb I can actually tolerate well. Green leafies are out of the picture, same with nuts of any kind.

I'm zooming through this thread now and think that I should wait before I drop carb intake to zero again, at least a bit longer until I read the reasonings why and give my body time, but if I'm acting emotionally or there's no sense in it, please let me know.

On another note, I have noticed that there has been some healing this last month. Recently, my body went into another phase of being more satisfied with a bit less foods, and a few times I felt as if I only needed two meals in a day rather than three. Even cravings and memories of beer and pizza have gone away and sitting with people eating evil foods doesn't cause my mind to swirl remembering what it tasted like. So I'm on the right track finally...

I've got another broth that I just put in the fridge, I won't be heating it up to eat it this time (thanks Psyche!), but will have it as gelatin instead to see how my stomach reacts and am only eating Ghee and pastured beef as my source of fat and proteins along with some sweet potato. I've cut out eggs completely, just in case, and have only been using salt to season for the last few weeks.

 

[dugdeep]

Just FYI, videos from this years Ancestral Health Symposium have started to be posted on their vimeo channel page. I haven't watched any of them yet, but some of the titles look quite interesting. Nora Gedgaudas' vid is on page 2 :)

http://vimeo.com/channels/418298/videos/page:1/sort:preset

 

[loreta]

Yesterday I went to see my homeopath. Two weeks ago I brought to her some articles from Sott.net in Spanish about the Paleo diet. She told me that she is doing the diet since and studying this diet (she is also a nutritionist) and she feels so good! She thank me for the information and thank me for giving her this new perspective of this diet that nobody in this region knows. I told her that this is thanks to Sott.net and that we give, we receive and this is why people grow: she help me with my health, and then now I helped her with the information that I receive from you, from this forum and this site. She was really happy! Told me that she adores to eat fat with eggs and see in this diet the solution for diabetics. Also she is feeling extremely well and continue to look for more information. Surely she will propose this diet to some of her clients, I am sure.

On another topic I wanted to ask to the women that follow this diet: did your breasts changed? Mine have diminish hugely. Is that normal? I can not tell you the size because I never knew exactly which size was my bra, but I can tell that my breasts diminished almost 3/4. I used to have a well form average breast but now they are small. I really don't care, even I prefer that but is it normal? Did other women here also see this diminution in their breasts?

And also one more thing: I used to have a very dolorous knee at the point that I was unable to do some Yoga very simple poses. The other day I saw with surprise that my pain is completely gone!

 

[nicklebleu]

On another topic I wanted to ask to the women that follow this diet: did your breasts changed? Mine have diminish hugely. Is that normal? I can not tell you the size because I never knew exactly which size was my bra, but I can tell that my breasts diminished almost 3/4. I used to have a well form average breast but now they are small. I really don't care, even I prefer that but is it normal? Did other women here also see this diminution in their breasts?

Sorry, I am not a woman ... but, did you loose any weight at all?
Weight loss may contribute to breast getting smaller (as a big proportion of the breast tissue is fat).

 

[loreta]

On another topic I wanted to ask to the women that follow this diet: did your breasts changed? Mine have diminish hugely. Is that normal? I can not tell you the size because I never knew exactly which size was my bra, but I can tell that my breasts diminished almost 3/4. I used to have a well form average breast but now they are small. I really don't care, even I prefer that but is it normal? Did other women here also see this diminution in their breasts?

Sorry, I am not a woman ... but, did you loose any weight at all?
Weight loss may contribute to breast getting smaller (as a big proportion of the breast tissue is fat).

Yes, I loose around 17 kilos and I am aware that breasts are fat and fiber, but at that point?!

 

[EmeraldHope]

On another topic I wanted to ask to the women that follow this diet: did your breasts changed? Mine have diminish hugely. Is that normal? I can not tell you the size because I never knew exactly which size was my bra, but I can tell that my breasts diminished almost 3/4. I used to have a well form average breast but now they are small. I really don't care, even I prefer that but is it normal? Did other women here also see this diminution in their breasts?

Sorry, I am not a woman ... but, did you loose any weight at all?
Weight loss may contribute to breast getting smaller (as a big proportion of the breast tissue is fat).

Yes, I loose around 17 kilos and I am aware that breasts are fat and fiber, but at that point?!

Loreta, I went from a 44DD to about a 36 C or D, depending on how the bra is cut. I am actually smaller in my breast volume than I was in high school at this same weight. ( unless bra sizing has changed and a c cup now is not te same as a c cup back then- that is possible ) I did lose a lot of weight though. I went from about 320 to now about 155 pounds.

 

[loreta]

Wow, Daenerys, thank you for your answer. Me too! My size is smaller than when I has 15 years... How strange is our body, sometimes. I feel younger, also.

Ok, so I will accept my small breasts as they are now, without worrying at all. :)

 

[domwatts23]

Sorry if this is the wrong thread for this post, but I would just like a bit of general advice regarding the diet. I have been reading as many of the diet and health threads as can, but there is so much to get through and I'm finding it hard to piece it together enough to give me the first few steps I should be taking.

I started trying to cut out wheat and dairy last year and when I posted on the forum one of the mods sensibly told me that I should not be throwing myself into giving things up until I understand why I am doing it. So I resolved to start giving myself a general knowledge of it all but, alas, entropy got me and I forgot all about the diet.

I am much more determined this time around to really start doing it, but there are so many things I'm unclear on that I don't know where to start.

For starters, I do not seem to be particularly unhealthy physically (by this I mean I don't have any serious conditions or problems which I have to tend to), though I'm sure my diet is negatively affecting my mental health particularly. I am athletic and play a lot of sport, but my diet is generally atrocious.

It is as though I have had a conspiracy against myself for my whole life to eat absolutely everything which this diet says I should be avoiding. For instance, for most of my life I have eaten sweets very regularly. As a result of this I now have an extremely potent addiction to sugar (particularly sweets and chocolate). Also, one of my favourite foods is cheese. I usually eat pizzas very regularly, and I also eat a lot of pasta and a hell of a lot of bread (mainly because it's convenience food).

So, to sum up, my diet is awful. And that list is literally an a to z of sugar, wheat and dairy. After reading a lot of the material I'm sure this must be having a really negative effect on me.

One problem I have is that I'm 23 and live with my parents still whilst I'm saving money to get a deposit on a house - due to this its difficult for me to not eat a similar diet to them. The next problem, which is related (and blew me away when I tried to cut out wheat and dairy before) is that absolutely every single item in the supermarket has wheat and dairy in it. Even a packet of red wine and onion sauce (which I picked up as an experiment regarding ingredients) to go on a steak has milk protein and wheat flour in (where is the need for that???). This really convinced me that there was something going on with wheat and dairy, and I just couldn't see a way to avoid it.

The first thing I have done is give up dairy, and I am now starting to try to give up wheat and sweets completely too. I am doing OK but the sugar addiction is a bit of a tough one and it's hard for me to find meals which have no wheat and dairy in.

Can anyone advise me on some steps to take or whether they think I should be giving these things up all at once, etc (or at all)?

Apologies for the rant, but I know there is so much expertise in the forum regarding diet and I really feel a strong need to sort my diet out now, but don't want to do t completely wrong.

Thanks in advance for any help, I am always blown away by what an unusual forum this is in terms of the level of knowledge across the board held by most of the members.

 

[loreta]

Surely someone can give more advice than me but you can start to read three important books:

Life without bread.

http://www.amazon.co.uk/Life-Without-Bread-Low-Carbohydrate-Diet/dp/0658001701/ref=sr_1_1?s=books&ie=UTF8&qid=1354879880&sr=1-1

Primal body primal mind

http://www.amazon.co.uk/Primal-Body-Mind-Discoveries-Longevity/dp/1594774137/ref=sr_1_1?s=books&ie=UTF8&qid=1354879959&sr=1-1

The vegetarian myth.

http://www.amazon.co.uk/Vegetarian-Myth-Lierre-Keith/dp/1604860804/ref=sr_1_1?s=books&ie=UTF8&qid=1354879992&sr=1-1

It is extremely important to read all this thread because it is a thread with extremely vital information. And this thread also will give you courage to follow this diet.

Good luck! :)

 

[Nienna]

domwatts23, eating the foods you eat now will eventually harm you physically, mentally and emotionally in the future. The fact that you are only 23 is why you may not be noticing what is going on with you from what you eat. Sometimes, it takes time for these things to show up.

Reading the material that loreta suggested is important.

You may like to read what Laura has posted here about a good way to start changing to a healthy diet. But, still, this doesn't negate reading the entire threads as a lot of experimentation has been going on by various members and these things are important to read.

You basically should not eat any pre-packaged "food" because it is all pretty much contaminated with a lot of unhealthy things, let alone gluten. Again, reading the material suggested by loreta is important.

 

[mcb]

...
It is as though I have had a conspiracy against myself for my whole life to eat absolutely everything which this diet says I should be avoiding. For instance, for most of my life I have eaten sweets very regularly. As a result of this I now have an extremely potent addiction to sugar (particularly sweets and chocolate). Also, one of my favourite foods is cheese. I usually eat pizzas very regularly, and I also eat a lot of pasta and a hell of a lot of bread (mainly because it's convenience food)...

Have you ever watched TV? Read a magazine? Eaten out with other people? We are under constant assault from messages telling us to do unhealthy things. It's not exactly your conspiracy. "The diet" is easier if you have an idea of the difference between the world as you were told it was and the world as it is, and if you prefer what is over illusion. You will find lots about that to explore here.

...Can anyone advise me on some steps to take or whether they think I should be giving these things up all at once, etc (or at all)?
...

Wheat consumption seems to be the source of many different problems. Eliminating it would be a good start, as we discussed earlier in this topic. It's not a matter of food testing and seeing if you can reintroduce it later on -- it is a bad food, and belongs on the list of things not suitable for human consumption. If you are sensitive to it, it might take quite a while to heal before you go on to do other things.

 

[Carl]

One problem I have is that I'm 23 and live with my parents still whilst I'm saving money to get a deposit on a house - due to this its difficult for me to not eat a similar diet to them. The next problem, which is related (and blew me away when I tried to cut out wheat and dairy before) is that absolutely every single item in the supermarket has wheat and dairy in it. Even a packet of red wine and onion sauce (which I picked up as an experiment regarding ingredients) to go on a steak has milk protein and wheat flour in (where is the need for that???). This really convinced me that there was something going on with wheat and dairy, and I just couldn't see a way to avoid it.

Well on the face of things the reason they are in everything is to thicken things like sauces. The deeper reason, of course, should be apparent when you connect the dots as we do here.

The first thing I have done is give up dairy, and I am now starting to try to give up wheat and sweets completely too. I am doing OK but the sugar addiction is a bit of a tough one and it's hard for me to find meals which have no wheat and dairy in.

Can anyone advise me on some steps to take or whether they think I should be giving these things up all at once, etc (or at all)?

I can give you some advice based on my experiences, though I have to repeat you should tread carefully with such radical diet changes.

1. Read read read! If you don't have the knowledge, you will make mistakes. I made the grave error of suggesting a friend to try the low carb diet a few months ago, and even took him shopping to suggest some foods. He seemed really enthusiastic about it at first.
However, he didn't read the books I recommended. Long story short: he went straight to zero carbs, had a panic attack in Uni, and got turned off to the whole idea. He now eats mainly sandwiches, and probably thinks the whole low carb thing is insane due to his experience and my lack of consideration.

2. Start cooking your own meals. Don't buy anything ready made. Make your own sauces, cook your own ingredients etc. This was very daunting for me at first as I'd been living on the same diet as you. I quickly got into the swing of things and learned to cook properly day after day, and it became more enjoyable. You'll also probably start to wonder how you could have been so unimaginative with food in the past when you can make everything yourself.

3. Tackle the addictions one by one, or as you feel you can handle them, but only once you know why they are bad for you. Knowing why will also help you with external consideration when others start to inquire or attack you about your diet changes. You can't be knocked around and persuaded so easily when your choices are based on firm knowledge.

Also: You may consider yourself to be healthy now, but if you continue with this you will be proven wrong. It took me just under a year to go from pizza+ice cream to 0 carb ketogenic, and the changes in this 20 year old body/mind have been fantastic. Things I took for granted like spots, periodic depression, fluctuating energy levels, difficulty focusing, nightmares, they are all gone :).

 

[Absyllyon]

The first thing I have done is give up dairy, and I am now starting to try to give up wheat and sweets completely too. I am doing OK but the sugar addiction is a bit of a tough one and it's hard for me to find meals which have no wheat and dairy in.

Can anyone advise me on some steps to take or whether they think I should be giving these things up all at once, etc (or at all)?

I am a little surprised by this. I also have a very sweet tooth which is probably why I still drink kefir and cream - the sugar in the lactose makes it a little bit easier. On the other hand, wheat is just evil for me. Wheat is a pure abomination and a psychotic.

Perhaps it would be better to firstly give up the wheat and maintain the milk products until you are conditioned enough to give them up too. This way you can load up on the fat without overloading your body with the added stress of wheat as well. In saying this I wouldn't do this with anything other than raw dairy. My preference.

Appart from 3 days of pure hell things have improved considerably despite the dairy, which will be the next to go. In saying this there are a few dairy products that my body cannot tolerate, such as feta and cheese. Everybody is different.

In my experience giving up everything at once will result in binging in the other direction. Better to acclimatize at a steady rate. Imo without finding viable sources of fat and working them into the diet , failure will result.

My dinner last night consisted of shredded grilled chicken and skin reheated in a frying pan with lamb dripping saved from a previous roast. It was only a hand full and sated me completely.

 

[nicklebleu]

The first thing I have done is give up dairy, and I am now starting to try to give up wheat and sweets completely too. I am doing OK but the sugar addiction is a bit of a tough one and it's hard for me to find meals which have no wheat and dairy in.

Remember, you have to take things slowly, one step at the time ... if you have read the entire thread that should be clear to you.
I think that the best first step you can take is get gluten out of your system. Leave the rest as it is, it's already a big step!

The easiest way to get rid of gluten is to only eat foods prepared from basic natural ingredients. Avoid anything processed, or that comes in a package. I personally don't put too much faith in labels, there are no clear guidelines as to when something has to be declared and when not. I understand that you still live with your parents and that this limits what you can eat - maybe you start being the cook in the family and this may help you turn around the way the whole family eats? Maybe this is not feasible, but then maybe you disconnect yourself from the food they eat and cook for yourself? I think if they know that you may be "sensitive" to gluten and need to try out a certain period of time without it, they may understand.

Once gluten has been out for some period of time you can tackle sugar, but I think that gluten is the first step as it has a lot of influence on addicitve type behaviours for other substances.

 

[Turgon]

A bit of an update on my situation with the rashes and digestive issues with the Broth. I have no idea why but at some point into this transition, my body did some sort of 180 degree turn and started responding very well to broth without the stomach pains. It didn't matter if I ate it cold, hot, with or without fat - my body is digesting it with ease. However, when I ate sweet potatoes several days ago after a three day hiatus, I started getting severe stomach pains again!

So I've been no-carb for the past 5 days with no issues except for some gas which I had today after marinating beef in vinegar. I was also constipated and didn't have a bowel movement in several days so took some Vit C and that helped get the bowels moving again. Although it was really unpleasant, resulting in a 2am wake-up call that had me on the toilet for 20 minutes with some bad stomach cramping, and another long session today which wasn't nearly as bad. Not to be too explicit, but it felt like my rectum was very sensitive to it, similar to when you eat spicy indian food and have that extremely uncomfortable exit the next morning.

With the histamine issues, which I'm so sure I have, I started taking magnesium with taurine 5x a day to help deal with potential flare-ups. I'm trying for the 6 weeks without carbs to see if some of these issues might clear up, but havent reduced my protein intake to 1 gram per 0.8kg of bodyweight. I'm getting skinnier again after I dropped the carbs so I'm trying to keep my proteins above starvation levels, usually about 4oz per meal. I'm hoping if it's mainly bad bacteria in my system, that if I starve them out and they are seeping from the nutritious value of the food, then I might put some weight back on to a more normal level afterwards. Hoping...

So far the rashes only seem to flare up when I have diarrhea as far as I can tell, so right now with the constipation they aren't flaring up at all. They haven't completely gone away, but they aren't itchy or uncomfortable, so I'm wondering if it's permanent scarring that I just have to live with.