I don't have problems with my BG on low carb real food, but still use the BG monitor (that I used throughout the Optimising Nutrition [ON] challenges) to check the effects of new foods or combos.

In chat I mentioned that plain low-fat greek yogurt raised my BG and caused cravings beyond what would be expected theoretically for my carefully measured 100g serving. A chatter suggested eating it with fiber. Yuk, I thought, imaginging psyllium husks or broccoli. But I tried it with some frozen blueberries like a dessert at the end of one of my two meals a day. Taking the timing of eating the exact same foods into consideration DID make a difference and caused no problem with BG spikes! Now I add a dab of Fage 2% to savory foods too (some containing broccoli) if I need an extra bit of protein. I also found Fage 2% much more satiating than Fage 0% fat for only a few more calories. Being hunger & cravings-free are required for success on any diet.

Just using this website's "MyPLAN" to track my food, I had narrowed my macros and found 2MAD worked well for me pre-ON, but it was amazing how little tweaks like eating the yogurt & blueberries with a meal rather than a couple of hours later made the difference between cravings & satiety. Using Cronometer software I am also learning how to optimize my nutrients and limit things like oxalates to prevent joint pain.

I also found protein powder shakes cause me theoretically impossible BG spikes and cravings, but I can add small amounts to other foods with fiber & fat to nudge my protein levels up with no problems. YYMV, but it is good to know WHY certain things seem to work for everyone but me and that I can find tasty alternatives that work for me.

Dr. Michael Eades was also an engineer before he decided to go to med school (he & Protein Power were my introduction to LC in 1999). As a geoscientist who works with engineers, I like data that helps me figure out WHY something works (or doesn't), and how big a change is needed to get results, which you won't know unless you quantify it. Although Atkins' Diet worked for me starting in 1973, I probably would have stayed on it longer if I understood why, exactly. The arrogant I'madoctor so dowhatIsay approach is not the best way to reach me - I need data and logical explanations! Actually Atkins 1972 cited references with data, but they were unavailable without access to a medical library in the pre-Internet days; I have read most of them since I've had access and found them persuasive.

So far all the engineers in the diet world seem to have necks and keep their shirts on. I appreciate that! I also like how Marty Kendall listens to everyone from teenaged athletes to middle-aged women & seniors, meets them where they are, and makes individualized suggestions based on their current fitness levels & food preferences. That is probably why his approach can work for anyone - he sees the big picture and can deduce the commonalities rather than focus on what works for him.

Diedra, two great posts about how Optimising Nutrition can work for everyone, every diet style!

Three years ago I was so fed up with regaining weight and finding it impossible to lose on LCHF, I jumped in feet first with Naiman's PE food list, which dramatically increased my nutrients without knowing the specifics. I've had to back-fill all of Marty's advice, but it continues to work, and I still learn more as he re-works the Nutrient Leverage data.

Leverage big data to crush your Hunger: https://optimisingnutrition.com/moneyball-nutrition/

Ps: A new article is in the works about carnivore vs satiety.

So true! Trying Atkins opened up a world of food for me, and for a long time, it was simple. The more I avoided carbs, the better my body liked it. Health became more important than weight loss for a long while, but in the end, it was the same thing.

My problem was not eating enough fat, and here I'm sure I'm an outlier. I've grown so comfortable with minimal carbs and oxalate that I use cream cheese as a flour substitute

Not eating enough fat caused most of my diet failures & binging after "being perfect" while following Pritikin, MacDougall etc. for weeks or months at a time. Even when I first started Protein Power I was limiting fat out of habit (if SAD at ~35% fat makes people fat, then under 30%, 20%, 10% must be better). After a few years of LCHF (at ~5% net carbs, 20-25% protein, 70-75% calories from fat) I plateaued & gained some Covid pounds. Nudging slowly on Optimising Nutrition, my sweet spot now is ~10% net carbs, 40% protein, 50% calories from fat ... which is still horrifyingly high fat in the minds of nutritionists. Yet I am getting >RDA in all vitamins & minerals, more protein and complete satiety on two meals a day and building muscle on fewer calories. Actually if I divide my actual fat calories by the recommended calorie intake for a carby "healthy" diet for someone my age & height, it would be "only" ~33% fat, but with grocery prices so high, once I've met my optimal nutrients for the day on less food, why would I want to pay for and consume 500 extra empty calories that would just make me fat and deplete my bank account?

You can also adjust those Macros to reach Nutrient Density goals…which lead to Satiety. A new analysis of Satiety with a few versions of Carnivore (I didn’t know some carnivores allow dairy and seafood?) using the 450 foods most popular foods in the ON community.




https://optimisingnutrition.com/car...nts/#more-41751

Chart includes the important Nutrient Density score, Satiety and Protein results. If you define Carnivore as all meat, no seafood and offal, ON will help you find sources to get more satiety from more nutrients.

It's not that fat or carbs are bad, you just need to find the right balance for fuel and nutrients for you.

Good points. Thanks for shard your n=1 results.

Atkins recommends more fat , in his books. I never limited that, as broiled fat is delicious, but now look at that info as a push against the low- fat tide. How Much fat did he really mean?

Im seeing more and more youtube influencers saying more fat is better. Especially when starting , per some. Long term by others.

( I dont measure macros: just use fats in cooking or salad dressing without fear. Some days more, dome days less.)

Arielle,
Dr Atkins (and Westman) recommended "more fat" to help someone get into "fat burning" in induction phase, but after a few weeks both of them limit fat through calories.

Dr Westman finally put exact total limits on added fats in his newest book, End Your Carb Confusion. Use no more than 6T total for the day. [that is roughly 600 calories you can do without, so If your goal is fat loss, limit it further] He doesn’t "count calories" until stalled.
My own ON approach is to use tasty salad dressing recipes made from 0% yogurt or cottage cheese, substitutes for HWC, use lean meats, bacon and cheese are only an occasional topping for a lean burger, not a large serving everyday. No LC cheesecakes, LC desserts, and my personal downfall, all nut butters…stopped buying them 3 years ago.

When members of the ON Community do DDF or Macros, the most common revelation is they were "Eating Too Much Fat". These classes help you find what macros work for you. I use 40% Protein 40% Fat and 20% net carbs, not that much different from Diedra, but she exercises more. Though we measure "macros", what we are really doing is increasing nutrient density and satiety.

Keto Lie #5: Fat is a ‘Free Food’ because it Doesn’t Elicit an Insulin Response
https://optimisingnutrition.com/too-much-fat-keto/

Post on the ON FB page: https://www.facebook.com/photo?fbid...413252234180214

Once again, a warning, I'm an outlier. I have a neurodivergent nervous system and my DNA profile says I have a rare muscle structure seen in professional athletes. All my friends have to lie down to laugh. Since I'm congenitally clumsy from dyspraxia, and lucky I can type.

At my last doctor weigh-in, I was underweight. Which hasn't been a threat since I was 14. So I don't have any fat to lose, and being in ketosis, I RUN on fat. But then, I'd always break a stall if I did an Atkins Fat Fast.

I know most people get into trouble with too much fat, when they want to burn the excess fat on their body. That makes sense, and even explains my own experiences... until I got down to my actual healthy weight. Which I haven't seen since 14 (And I didn't go back in time.)

It really shows we have to listen to our body, and if it breaks a rule we have to rewrite them for us, because my rules won't work for others, on average. Starting Atkins turned my idea of food "inside out and upside down" and this process continues.

I actually ate vegetables out of guilt. Now that I feel confident I don't seem to get much in the way of nutrients from plant-based, I don't throw my body off with some external marketing notion.

The idea that every food must prove its worth is a really good one. I've noticed over the years that everyone winds up repeating favorite meals because that's what works best. Even reduces food waste, which is important any time, but especially now.

Optimising Nutrition offers well over 30 diet styles including Carnivore,, Therapeutic Ketogenic and Athletes and Bulking diets, but the plans to Lose Fat and Lower Blood Glucose are by far the more popular.

One goal of the Macro class is to find your "Optimal 30/30". 30 Foods and 30 Meals that work for you…keep you satiated, provide nutrients, all for the amount of calories you need to lose or maintain goal weight.

That's why I love the way it's a SYSTEM. That's good engineering.

Back in 1972 Atkins induction capped carbs and dairy, and there wasn't a lot of fake/junky processed "diet" food around to derail you. So if you were still hungry the only things left to eat were carb-free fat & protein. When he said the amounts would be self-limiting, it was hard to believe at first, since there seemed to be no limit to the amount of ice cream, cookies, chips I could consume when not dieting. But fat & protein in the absence of carbs ARE self limiting as they are satiating. Atkins was the first diet I ever tried that didn't involve white-knuckling it through intense hunger & cravings. You were "allowed" lots of fat (I recall lobster swimming in melted butter), but too much fat leads to feeling nauseous, so you naturally cut back to some butter or some salad dressing rather than pools of them. Somehow just knowing that I could have more made me start eating like a "normal" person, choosing just enough for a good taste & texture.

I remember caps on hwc and cheese.in the 72 book. I think social media is where all the "new" ideas stem from.

The Atkins DR 1972 rules are: https://forum.lowcarber.org/showpos...840&postcount=9
You could if you wished add a stick of butter or a cup of Mayo to a protein. This is where patients might go wrong. As Diedra wrote most would self-limit, but some abused it. As the editions progressed, amount limits were added to all fats. 6T total for the day is clear now. Cheese is still 4oz. So if you count total carbs, inc. artificial sweeteners baking mixes, there is no room for "keto" desserts, etc.

More great "Quick Start Guides" will be coming your way soon, to help people find their way quickly through the basics of the ON program offerings.

I'll post the new guide to "Post-menopausal Weight Loss Challenges" and soon as it is available. In the meantime, this article has the longer explanation of
Menopausal Weight Gain: The Problem and Solution Explained
https://optimisingnutrition.com/menopausal-weight-gain/

There will be other helpful Quick Guides, on fasting and keto challenges, but again to Marty's surprise, in a community poll the most requested was on menopause.