1 belt notch down

     I have been doing the paleo, low card/high fat diet for the past 3 weeks. So far so good, I really haven't cheated too much. The times I did cheat were thanksgiving and the day after (damn you leftovers!) but other than that, so far so good. I have been trying to maintain my carbohydrate intake to under 30g a day, until I feel that I have been fully inducted into the new metabolism (almost there!)

     The paleo diet attempts to force your body into a ketogenic metabolism. The way this process works is you have to deplete your excess stores of liver glycogen, otherwise known as your immediate stores of energy. You replenish these stores by eating sugars and carbohydrates. If you do not have enough sugar storage for an extended period of time, your body changes from Glycogenic Metabolism to Ketosis Metabolism.

     To break it down further, in essence, your body has multiple stores of energy. Your body can burn blood sugars for an immediate boost of energy, your body can burn fat cells for a more sustained access to energy, your body can even burn muscle as an emergency store of energy. Metabolism is "the sum of the physical and chemical processes in an organism by which its material substance is produced, maintained, and destroyed, and by which energy is made available."

     When you drastically reduce the amount of carbohydrates you consume, your deplete your excess storage of liver glycogen, or a form of stored energy. Once your body has sustained this diet and lifestyle for an extended period, typically 2-4 weeks, your body starts producing extra ketone bodies which can be found in blood, urine and other bodily fluids. The science behind the process is complicated, but your body has to get energy from somewhere, so it breaks down fat tissue into several components. One of the components produced is Acetyl-CoA, which is processed in the liver to become ketone bodies. The breakdown of these fatty tissues for this new source of energy is what causes you to lose weight.

     The result is when you start this diet, your body is initially starved for energy. You deplete all of your excess storage of fast energy, leaving you with no real other source of energy. For roughly 2-4 weeks, people following the induction process tend to feel sluggish, tired, slow and mentally cloudy. (I can personally attest to this)

     As for me personally, I have dropped a belt notch already, and even this new belt notch is now loose. I honestly don't believe in weighing myself, I think it is more about how you feel than actual numbers. If I had to make a guess, however, I would say I started ~360-370, and I have probably dropped a good 20lbs, if not more. I definitely feel different. I have started working out as well, focusing on low to MISS or LISS training.

     Those that know me know that I have been down this path before, once with great success, but ultimately I put the weight back on. There is nothing I can do to prove that it won't happen again. All I can say is actions speak louder than words. If I can quit smoking after chain-smoking for 10 years, I can drop the weight and keep it off.