Trying the egg/meat fast.....got advice??
 

Well, I have been sort of stumped and frustrated for weeks now. I was doing good and losing during Induction. Then I gained most back and can't seem to break my stall or loose again, even though I have been SO strict. :daze:

I read some other threads and heard about the egg/meat stall. Thought I would try it out for about 3 days to see if I could pick things up again. As some know, I am trying desperately to shed about 6-10 lbs before my wedding in a month! Everyone really seemed to have a lot of good results when they did this fast.

Has anyone else tried this and had luck? Got any suggestions for meals?

My big question is how do I move back into Induction without going too fast? Like 2g/day, or 5g a week? I heard if you increase your carbs too fast you could gain the weight back.

I have done REALLY good with this, you just have to make sure to stick around 5 carbs total for the day. Drink TONS of water, and do not cheat whatsoever, not even one nibble! I have lost 1/2 pound to 1 pound every day but one, which I stayed the same, so I believe that it DOES work! I am not hungry, I am in ketosis, and I am LOSING, what could be better than that?

When I do add carbs back in I will start with a small salad or something like that, I do not want to gain any of the weight back :) GOOD LUCK & keep us posted!!

:cheer: :cheer:

Dr Atkins recommended a fat fast where you restrict your calories to around 1000 and almost all those calories are from fat. The purpose is to induce ketosis not particularly to lose weight-and is meant to be done a very short period of time.
He never advocated an egg fast or a meat fast...those are made up by fad dieters-crash diets with no basis in nutrition or science. Crash away if you want but don't make yourself sick over a 5-7 lb change-you want to be a lovely happy bride not a sickly,shaky waif.

I just got done with meat/egg fast for 3 days and shed about 4 pounds. Drink lots of water and take your vitamins. Have plenty of meat snacks and boiled eggs on hand for easy to grab snacks. I did grab a string cheese snack one day and still had good results. It is worth a try. I am adding some more carbs back in today though as I miss my salad. Will see how that goes.

IMO it's not worth the cholesterol risks. Essentially...when I've read posts by people who've done an egg fast, they wind up severly restricting their calorie intake simply because it would be near impossible to get even 1000 calories on eggs alone (without making yourself sick). There may be more to it than that...but I personally think the calorie reduction plays a big part. In my opinion...a better option is to cut your calories down significantly but continue eating a healthy selection of foods. As with anything along this idea...the more you have to lose...the more effective it is likely to be in the short term.....such as a 3 or 4 day fast/restriction.

Wanted to add a note...I dont necessarily think that a fast is bad on a rare occassion...but many people get themselves into a cycle of them. When that happens, they train their bodies to conserve what is given in order to prepare for the next bout of deprivation...and THAT is something no one with weight issues needs to have their bodies trained to do. Better to accept a slower rate of loss and maintain a body that doesnt cling to every morsel that passes between your lips.

Deprivation??? I love Egg/meat fasts! There is nothing unsafe about them. As long as you are taking a multi and getting your nutrients its fine!

A FAST no matter what kind is meant to get weight loss moving. And to be perfectly honest, It helps with cravings and hunger.

It sets you in deep Ketosis and kicks starts loss. You can stay on it for weeks, months or to goal! I know people who have and are now at goal and have been there for years.

Also Eggs are not as bad as people say with the Cholesterol issues. Another issue people need to study up on.

My Calories are from 1200-1300 on the egg/meat fast. NOT LIMITED TO 1000.

I've lived on pretty much eggs and meat for two months each winter for the last few years. Never restricted calories. My inch loss never speeded up, and perhaps even slowed down, although I get out a lot less during the winter, and there are other things at work. I've never found any reasoning that makes me think that less than 20 grams of carbohydrate will make any difference. Won't hurt you, but I've never been told (after LOTS of asking) why it would help.

I've eaten six raw eggs a day for as long as I've been low-carbing, and I couldn't be happier with my lipids. Gold standard.

What's probably going to happen is that you'll lose fat faster if you eat more rather than less.

And if you return to induction-level carbohydrate after all this, it's only 15 grams, for Pete's sake. Fifteen grams of incuction veggies is still really low. If you gain from 15 grams, you might have to consider yourself very insulin resistant, and it might even be time for some bloodwork and a consultation.

Ladycody- Please don't take that as a rude post or anything. Just trying to be informative.
:)

Newlywed,

I think the meat/egg fast will work great for you, because it will reveal mistakes with your induction menu, which might be why you are stalling.

Some advice if you do this:

* use fitday.com to log everything that goes into your mouth other than water. Use fitday to choose a goal for the calorie deficit. 1000 calorie defiict might be a good goal for you. If your deficit is too low, you wil stall. If your deficit is too high, your body will slow metabolism and you will stall anyway.

* no cheating.... this really means only egg and meat literally. Try very hard not to use any salt and eat only sodium free deli meats. Alternatively put deli meat through water to remove some of the sodium. All snacks must be meat or egg. No low carb frankenfoods, protein bars, veggies, fruit, etc.

* make the egg the centerpiece of your meal. Each egg has only 70 calories. Try to make some of your meals eggs only. Some meats are very dense in calories and may reduce your caloric deficit significantly, so eat eggs. As a bonus, eggs are a lot cheaper than meat.

* Try to eat four or five meals per day, evenly spaced out.

* drink lots of water througout the day other than while sleeping. Unless somebody invents liquid meat or liquid egg, water is the only drink allowed.

* you'll need a sugar free fiber supplement and a multivitamin

When you go back to induction, you won't be able to add in a lot of carbs without exceeding 20g carbs. My guess is that you will only be able to add another 15g carbs or so and that's not a lot. Lose the low carb frankenfoods and add back all net carbs except fiber. Your induction menu will look very similar to the meat/egg diet.

Good luck.

Caveman, sorry for asking this here, but you do not have a journal. Did not the caveman have egg shortage during winter months? Birds usually do not lay eggs in winter.

Please, do not get me wrong. I do not try to make fun of your diet, but much more heard about it :-) I love "natural" type eating plans.
(I can imagine to eat only FISH for months for example.)


Eva

P.S>: Your missing scale is a great caveman idea :) .

You're right. My idea is to not consume carbohydrate for a large part of the year, since humans didn't have access to plants during the winter. This is a big enough idea/experiment in itself, but maybe someday I'll get to a point where I'd nix the eggs except for the spring, too. I'm not sure why I would, though.

Thanks for all the great comments everyone! I haven't started the fast yet, as I wanted to have one more weigh-in (tomorrow) and, most importantly, get a little feedback from you all before I delved in. It sounds like a great idea, and heck, 3 days can't be that bad!!

My biggest question though, is how many carbs do you add back on the first day off the fast? Do you add a couple on day 1, and a couple more on day 2, and so on? Or do you go to 15g/day on the first day off of the fast?

I would aim for a 12g/day addition in one shot. This leaves 3g/day for errors.

You can add in 1.5 cups of salad with 3 tablespoons of a salad dressing with 1g carbs per tablespoon. This is 12g already.

1.3 cups of cooked low carb veggies such as broccoli/green beans/spinach is 12g carbs already too.

Or one bottle of regular beer. :) 13 grams of carbs in one drink.

The above is not a lot of food, so like I said, Induction should look a lot like the Meat/Egg fast.

Thanks, TrailRunR! I will give it a shot and let you know how it goes. :thup:

Is alcohol (spirits) outlawed during the fast, as well? I am assuming so, but just curious...

Oh yeah, one more question. Is it okay to exercise during the fast?