Dropping the Fat

• Other uses for the induction phase

• Are vitamin and mineral supplements a good idea

• What cooking at www.lowcarb.ca

 

Watch Dropping the fat Episode # 4

Transcript

Hello, I’m Mark Moxom, and welcome to Dropping the Fat. In this episode, we take a long look at the Induction Phase and different ways you can use it to make your diet more successful. Our reader’s question this week is about supplementing vitamins and minerals, and in our Healthy Click feature, we look at the recipe section of lowcarb.ca. All that, and more to come, in this edition of Dropping the Fat.

intro

Low carb and Atkins induction phase secrets

Now everyone who does a Low Carb diet properly must go through a period that we call induction. All the main controlled carb diets use it – Atkins, Protein Power, South Beach and the rest – and they all have an induction period, although Protein Power likes to call theirs the “intervention”. It’s during this period that you drastically limit your carbohydrate intake for typically two to three weeks, although some people get quite a buzz out of the rapid weight loss and they may continue, without ill effects, for longer. Normally, after that, each of the controlled diets allows more variety and with that, slightly more carbs, so that you reach your target rate at a slower pace the nearer you get to it.

Now it’s a sweeping generalisation, I know, but it’s also true that practically everyone loses fat during the induction period. However, it’s after that that the problems start for some. Here’s why:

The induction phase of all these diets is, as you know, the first real contact that people have with any low carb diet of any worth. Its newness normally means that we don’t actually have any experience or knowledge about the subject, so we are obliged to follow guidelines – and that would normally be something like a book, or a well constructed programme, hopefully. Naturally, when you’re doing something “by the book” you follow a well worn, tried and tested path that others have proven works; so it’s no surprise at all that it’s going to work for you too.

However, after having achieved what for most people would be terrific fat losses, and having proven to all especially ourselves that the diet works, most people move onto the next phase of the diet; and quite rightly. The ones who get to this stage are happy to tell anyone who will listen about their amazing success. Now, with such brilliant results under their belts and the resulting praise and adulation that’s heaped upon them, it’s no surprise if at this point, they become “experts”, well, at least in their own opinion.

Of course, experts don’t really need to consult books, do they? After all, they know it all.

At this stage people move onto having more choice about what they can eat, meaning that they have to start making more decisions about what they eat. They’ve now built up a certain amount of knowledge about the diet, so they don’t have as much need to consult the manual any more. They’ve proven the diet works by doing it, and so as far as they’re concerned, they’ve become veterans of the diet. Now, veterans of course no longer need to do things “by the book”, they can make their own decisions after all, and even if they make a mistake about it, well, it doesn’t matter, because, well, they’ve lost weight easily the first time and it’ll be just as easy to do that again.

I think you probably can see where this is going! Too many people get post-induction slowdown in fat loss, sometimes even a fat gain, because they get cocky and try to go on their own. Honestly, if any of these points strike a chord with you, just get back to the book – or the manual – or the plan – and follow it!

If you do that, nine times out of ten, you’ll be back on track in no time. And the joys that you knew when you first started will be yours again. Which leads us neatly onto the first of the alternative uses for the induction phase of a Low Carb Diet.

In truth, induction is not just a once in a lifetime experience. Far from it – you can use the induction phase as many times as you need to when it’s appropriate. Induction, if you like, is the big RE-SET button. You can use it to overcome bad habits which may have crept in like we’ve described above; or if you’ve gone totally off-track for a while and become what I call a prodigal dieter, it’s a great place to come back to to restart your plan for health and fitness.

Some have described it as a bit like coming home, to something familiar, wholesome and something that just works. Similarly, if you’ve been on a bit of a binge, say for a wedding feast or you’ve eaten to excess over the festive season, induction has a wonderful way of righting wrongs in both body and conscience. And don’t forget, the induction phase of virtually all carb controlled diets is a very successful way of breaking a stall, so if you slow down a bit, go back on induction – it works nearly every time.

Also, a use that’s not widely known is following it as a way of limiting your intake of different foods while you go through an elimination diet to see if you’re sensitive to certain foods. Many people have found this to be true for them, in that they have seen problems with their skin, their digestive system, energy levels, brain fog, and many other things improve when they’ve been on the induction phase of their diet.

Let me quote Dr. Mercola. He says “In terms of food sensitivities, a comprehensive nutritional approach is extremely important, as most people sensitivities dramatically improve when they follow the nutritional plan. This includes avoiding sugar, fruit juices and most grains and pasteurised diary products.”

On a personal note, it helped me discover I was sensitive to grain based carbs. Also some people have found that their IBS has been reduced or eliminated when they went on induction. All those things are food for thought!

Taking all this into account, one of the most important jobs that the induction phase does, either the first time you use it or if you use it later on in your path to health, is that is helps you get back in control of your body and how you want it to be.

Healthy Click – www.lowcarb.ca

Now, here’s something we can all have control of, as we see what’s in this edition of Healthy Clicks.

Truth Number 1: Food was the thing that got you into trouble with excess fat in the first place.

Truth Number 2: Food is the thing that will get you out of that problem as well.

So, how can food be both the problem and the solution? Simply, eating the right or wrong food can be the one thing that will make a diet work for you or cause you to abandon it at the earliest opportunity. That means that one of the keys to success in any diet is eating the right food. Now the easiest way of ensuring you get good food on a new diet, is to get hold of a recommended recipe book suitable for that diet. Another way of course is to look online for recipes that you can use. Before we continue though, I just want to point out I have two caveats about recipes, either from a book or from online. The first is that some recipe makers fall into the trap of using artificial sweeteners instead of natural sweeteners for some recipes. Those of you who know my work will know that I dislike these intensely. The other thing is that many use effective carbs, or similar units, where they offset fibre against carb so that it seems like you’re able to eat more. Well that’s never been a good idea, quite frankly. You can get more information about those from the lowcarbmonthly.com.

Anyway, down to business. One of the better online resources for recipes is www.lowcarb.ca – this is a Canadian website. Yes, they still do have recipes with artificial sweeteners but not as many as many of the other websites do. The other thing about this online resource is that many of the recipes are sent in by the regulars of the site, so to a certain extent you know that they will have been tried and tested, and they are quite yummy too! In additional to that, they have Karen Barnaby. She’s a professional chef with a restaurant in Vancouver, and a number of published cookbooks to her credit. She’s put a number of recipes on the site for your enjoyment.

On the plus side, it’s a very easy site to use with simple and direct access to the recipe topics you want, and there are many but not all of the recipes that have the carb/calorie/and fat counts included, which makes choosing what you want to eat much easier. Also the site is free, you will have to put up with a certain amount of advertising though, but on the whole the advertising is not too intrusive and certainly doesn’t hinder getting around the site. Lowcarb.ca is at the heart of a community bulletin board, so fair play to those that manage the site for making so much information freely available – and you don’t even have to register to view the information.

Well, that’s all for the Healthy Click this time. Remember, if there are any sites you think we should be featuring on the programme, do let me know by dropping me a line at the email address just above my head.

Burning question – Vitamins and mineral supplements

Now, onto this week’s Burning Question.

One of our viewers asks “Is it good to supplement vitamins and minerals while lowcarbing?”.

Well, most of you will have understood by now that I’m an advocate of supplementing for vitamins and minerals when they are deficient in our diets. However, supplementing will never take the place of a well-balanced, nutrient-rich diet. It’s far better to use food to get our requirements of vitamins and minerals than it is to rely on a pill. What we need to remember is that vitamins, minerals and trace elements often serve as catalysts for the different processes going on within our bodies. They can do no good whatsoever if the primary ingredients aren’t good or aren’t there in the first place. Generally speaking, if you are not eating adequate amounts of good quality food, then no amount of vitamins or minerals will make you any healthier. In truth, the bulk of our vitamin and mineral intake should come from the good quality food that we eat, preferably grown on good vitamin and mineral rich soils as that aids bio-availability.

However, there is an important rider to that statement. That food should come from a certified organic source for the best results. The vitamins and minerals that we get as part of our food come in the form that our bodies can use most efficiently, and nine times out of ten, they come with all the other enzymes and cofactors that we need to use them in the most efficient manner. As I said earlier, there are a few cases in which ongoing health conditions caused by mineral and vitamin deficiency can’t be treated by diet alone. If the problem is the result of a deficiency then the solution will often be to reverse that and make up for what’s been lacking by the use of properly diagnosed and quantified mineral and vitamin supplements. Doing that often negates the need to resort to drugs.

It goes without saying there’s one last over-riding statement that must be made. That is that vitamins from natural sources are always going to be far more effective than any synthetic vitamins. So where you have the need to take a vitamin supplement, make sure that yours are high quality, organically based, and from a reliable producer. Never buy the lowest price, as you’ll only get trash.

Well, that about wraps it up for this episode. Next time we’ll be looking at the best way to give yourself a lift each time you measure your progress. Our viewer’s question looks at diabetes and we’ll be having, we’ll be seeing rather, how one click on a website can change your life!

Anyway, remember that this is the programme that helps you lose more fat in no time flat!

This is Mark Moxom wishing you all the best until next time on Dropping the Fat.