The Results of a 40-Day Low Carb/High Fat Nutrition Plan

Most people gain weight over the holidays.  This post will cover the last 40-days where I was on a low carb/high fat nutrition plan over the holidays.  I did this to show you IT IS POSSIBLE to lose weight over the holidays and still enjoy your social functions.
 
The 40-Day Low Carb/High Fat Plan:  From November 26, 2012-January 4, 2013 I ate less than 50 total grams (20-30 Net grams) of carbs, between 150-175 grams of protein and 200-250 grams of fat each day.  The total calories were between 2,600-3,250 daily with about 70% of the calories coming from fat.  The hardest part was actually getting in enough fat (I used about ¼ cup of heavy whipping cream with each coffee I drank for additional fat).  During holiday social functions (4-5 of them) I drank 1-2 drinks from high-quality hard liquor (i.e. Kettle One, Grey Goose or Absolute Vodka with club soda).  I don’t drink but did during this period so I could be like a “Normal Person” so I would get more realistic results.  As far as exercise I lifted 2-3 days/week and walked on the treadmill at 4.0 mph 4-5 days/week.  The main goal was to get 10,000 steps in/day from the treadmill and walking around during the day. 
 
The Results:  I did a myHealthscore and CardioPoint assessments before and after the time period.  In 40-days (over the holiday season where most people gain weight) this is what happened:

• I lost 7-pounds and 3% body fat based off the In-Body BIA Analyzer. 
• Blood Glucose went from 92 mg/dL to 84 mg/dL
• Triglycerides went from 66 mg/dL to less than 45 mg/dL
• HDL Cholesterol went from 85 mg/dL to 100 mg/dL (You usually want this to increase)
• LDL Cholesterol went from 68 mg/dL to 123 mg/dL (Before every freaks out that LDL went up, “Ideal” LDL should be between 100-129 mg/dL for many reasons.  I can reference why in future posts)
• Triglyceride/HDL Ratio went from .78 to .44
• *Aerobic Base went from 98 BPM to 177 BPM (Not a typo!)
• *Anaerobic Threshold went from 117 BPM to NA (We got the heart rate to the low 180s and couldn’t reach threshold) 
• *The crazy thing about these results is I did EASY cardio, let’s just call it “Grandma’s Walking Program”

Conclusion:  Most people gain 8-11 pounds over the holidays and I lost 7-pounds.  I never thought my blood chemistries would improve like they did eating over 200 grams of fat/day.  I also never thought I would be running at 9.2 mph on a treadmill with my heart rate over 180 BPM and not feeling like I was going to die – especially with no cardio training.  I have done well over thirty metabolic tests since 2000 and NEVER have had numbers like that.  I will go as far to say I if I trained for a half or full marathon I could give over half the LTF Running Club veterans a run for their money my first time out – NO JOKE.  It actually felt good to run that fast and have my heart rate that high.

Lessons Learned: If I had to do it again I would do the following: 

• If I did this in the future I would have eliminated dairy.  I thought my fasting glucose and body fat would have been lower but I am sensitive to most poor quality dairy products so that might have had affect.  However, including dairy allowed more variety in eating and helped increase the daily fat intake.   
• With resistance training I would have cut the volume back so the workouts would be less than 30-minutes long.  Sets/Reps would have been in the 4 Sets X 6-8 Rep range.  Higher volume workouts were brutal because of the initial lack of energy.  After 4-6 weeks the higher volume should be fine based off results of studies done on athletes. 
• I would have done the CardioPoint at the beginning and after 2-3 weeks on the nutrition program.  By doing this I would have had more efficient training zones that no doubt would have resulted in more fat lost and better cardio numbers after 40-days.  I am certain I would have dropped 2-3 more percentage points of my body fat by doing that.

I hope this opened your eyes.  Feel free to ask questions so I can answer them all at once in future posts.  

Thank you!