Christopher Gardner, PhD. 25 year vegetarian and in his own words “had to swallow a bitter pill” and write a medical paper that was published in the Journal of the American Medical Association on how Atkins Low Carb is shown to be medically healthier way of eating.

They conducted a study with 311 pre-menepausal overweight women. The researchers took four popular diets including the National Dietary Recommendations for high carb and low fat, the Atkins diet, the Zone and the Ornish diet. They took these women and educated them on the diets and made sure that they understood them completely. They then asked them to follow a selected diet for a period of 12 months. They followed up with them periodically. The researchers wanted to know what the “real life” results would be so they did not interfere.

I find this study fascinating. This is a long video but I hope that this does not discourage you from watching it. I do have some highlighted points if you are short on time and want to jump to that part of the video.

• Weight Loss stats for all the groups  @ 20 min
• No other group that did better in health criteria than Atkins. @ 23min. They measured Weight, Systolic Blood Pressure, Diastolic Blood Pressure, Triglycerides, HDL Cholesterol, LDL Cholesterol, Insulin and Glucose.
• Health parameters improve on Atkins vs. all other diets @ 30:15 min.
• A controlled study that had participants lose the same amount of weight on different types of diets  had the low carb participants still have better blood chemistry. So this concludes that it was not the weight loss that made participants healthier -  It was the low carb diet @ 31:45 min.
• Low Carb and High Fat diet is more effective for insulin resistant people @ 41min. The more overweight you have then the more insulin resistant you are.  @ 44 -45 min
• My favourite nutritional advice is @ 47:55 – 52min

The Battle of the Diets: Is Anyone Winning (At Losing?)

What are your favourite points on this study? I would really love to know?

To your health and wellness,

Catherine Osthaus

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So what is the real deal about behind Low Carb success? Is it a metabolic advantage that Dr. Atkins claimed? Can you eat all you want till you feel satiated and still lose weight? Or can the weight loss be due to reduced calorie intake?

I will share with you some of my experience and thoughts…. While on the low carb diet my appetite did drop drastically to the point that I was skipping lunch and just eating a good hearty breakfast and dinner with a veggie snack in between. My calorie intake did drop and my food cravings were non-existent.

I was having muscle cramps due to not enough potassium so this past week I have been increasing my food intake to ensure that I get all necessary vitamins and minerals.  Eating this way I eat 3-4 meals a day.  I do not feel hungry but I eat anyway. My calorie and carbohydrate (veggie sources) intake have increased.  I have not counted the calories, but have deliberately increased the amount of food eaten. I have not decreased portion sizes at all. My food cravings are still non-existent and I am feeling full all day.

I am eating a lot of low carb food but I am not bloated, or have digestive issues, or cravings and no binges! All of these nasty side effects would have happened if I had eaten grains and legumes.

Did this extra eating result in extra weight gain? – Nothing. No weight gain or weight loss.

But…  I do weight bearing exercises.

So to me the metabolic advantage does not matter.  The benefit to the low carb dieting lies in how my body physically reacts to it.

The critics can claim that low carb works because of calorie restriction yet I can easily balloon and gain 5 lbs in a day if I eat high carb and have all the above mentioned nasty side effects.

The diet to choose is the diet that makes you feel good. This is important because diets are meant to be a way of life and not “just a diet”. You should be able to continue with this way of eating even when weight loss stalls or you have reached your goal.

What about you?

• what has your experience been?
• Do you think that eating low carb has a metabolic advantage?
• How do you feel when you eat low carb?

To your health and wellness,

Catherine Osthaus

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Thanksgiving is just around the corner and I was looking for a good pumpkin pie recipe to use up the last pumpkin from our CSA share. I came up with this wonderful treat using Stevia Sugar. I hope you enjoy this as much as I did. Top it up with some whipped cream and it will melt in your mouth.

Low Carb Pumpkin Pie Recipe

8 Servings

Almond Crust

1 cup Almond Flour
2 tablespoons Butter
1/4 teaspoon Stevia Sugar
1 teaspoon Vanilla Extract

extra butter for greasing pie dish

Butter pie dish and set aside. Combine almond flour, butter, Stevia and vanilla. Pat down into pie dish.

Almond Crust: Calories 95.6, Total Fat 8.9 g, Total Carbohydrate 2.4 g, Dietary Fiber 1.4 g, Protein 2.6 g

Pumpkin Pie Filling

2 cups pumpkin puree
2 eggs
0.5 can coconut milk
1 teaspoon cinnamon
1/2 inch fresh ginger (peeled)
1/2 teaspoon nutmeg
1 cardomon pod
1 tablespoon Vanilla Extract
1.5 tablespoon Stevia Sugar
1 Cup of Pecan halves

Preheat oven to 350F. Put all ingredients into a blender. Blend until smooth and spices are all mixed. Pour into pie shell. Add pecans on top of pie filling. Bake for 60-70min. To check the pie if it is ready to come out, insert a knife into and if it comes out clean then it is ready.
Let pie cool completely before cutting it.

Pumpkin Pie Filling: Calories 185.2, Total Fat 17 g, Total Carbohydrate 6.6 g, Dietary Fiber 2.2 g, Protein 3.6 g

To your health and wellness,

Catherine Osthaus

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Potassium deficiency while eating low carb is quite common. This often results in muscle spasms and leg and foot cramps. I found that my appetite decreased so much that I just was not eating enough foods and wanting to skip meals.  I am doing weight bearing resistant exercises and the muscles cells need the potassium. It is very important to get adequate potassium because the heart that keeps us alive is a contracting muscle.  We don’t want to cause damage to the heart or irregular heartbeats.

I was looking for a potassium supplement at the health food store and was quite disappointed that they only carried doses of 99mg.  That is a pitiful amount since we should be consuming about 4700mg of potassium everyday. A cup of brewed tea contains 88 mg so it is not worth buying a potassium supplement.

So since the best source of vitamins and minerals come from our foods I did a little research on www.nutritiondata.com to find the best sources of potassium on a low carbohydrate diet.

So here they are… 

(all foods measurements are for 1 cup unless otherwise noted)

Spices
Parsley 332 mg, Cilantro 83 mg, Basil 70 mg
Paprika (1 tblsp – 158mg)

Vegetables
Sweet red peppers – 314mg  , Tomatoes  – 427mg,  Beet Greens  290mg, Spinach – 167mg, Swiss Chard – 136mg , Portabella Mushrooms – 416mg, 1 Avocado 975mg – , Winter Squash –  1 cup 896mg, Zucchini – 325mg, Kale -299mg

Dairy
Whole Milk 349mg , Yogurt 380 mg

Nuts and Seeds
Sunflower Seeds 903mg, Flax Seeds 1366mg, Peanuts 1029mg , Almonds 1008mg, Coconut Meat 730 mg and water, Cashews 888mg

Fish
1 fillet of
Cod 954mg, Salmon 1434 mg, mackerel 352mg, tuna 408mg (1 can)

Meat 
Pork (chop 773 mg) and Beef (blade steak 471 mg)

Low Carb Fruit
Cantalope 427mg

Sticking to a wide range of *whole foods* on a low carb diet will decrease the risk of potassium deficiency. Bananas and potatoes are not the only high potassium foods. Eating and rotating the foods on this list will provide all the potassium needed on a low carb diet without having to supplement.

What has your experience been? I would love your feedback.

To your health and wellness,
Catherine Osthaus

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It has been six months since I made a life altering decision to eat a low carbohydrate lifestyle.  It was Candida yeast issues that brought me to removing all sugars and grains out of my diet. Although it has been half a year since starting on this journey my Candida issues have not been solved by it and still remain. The symptoms have been minimal but nevertheless they are still there.  I have not started any particular anti-Candida cleansing program other than the diet, eating garlic and taking oil of oregano during cold and flu season.  I also eat plain full fat yogurt every day for the probiotics and have just started making sauerkraut.  I need to look into removing my mercury amalgams ( in December) and then get serious about healing and get rid of Candida. Mercury poisoning and toxicity and Candida are related.  Mercury inhibits the immune system and it is unable to get rid of the Candida infection.  This is the reason why I have not addressed Candida until I am able to remove and cleanse the mercury.

So it has been six months since going on a low carbohydrate diet and for me this is a long time to stick to a diet. Normally I would restrict total calorie intake, but would not be able to sustain it for long. When I am hungry I want to eat. I never really understood portion control. If I am hungry, isn’t my body telling me that I need to feed it? I am still losing weight even though I eat fats at every meal.  I don’t count my carbohydrates and don’t have to count calories. I know which foods cause my eating to get out of control (grains, sugars and processed foods). I just stay away from those.

Would you say this is long term success? I think so. I am not gaining the weight back. In fact I am still losing (lost another pound today- yay!). There is only one drawback that I have encountered just recently and that is leg muscle spasms. But I was able to get some magnesium supplements, make bone broths and eat high potassium foods like avocados, spinach, and yogurt. And that stopped them.  I am not taking a multivitamin or mineral supplement because I like to get my nutrients from whole foods.

Let me know your thoughts, ideas, successes or concerns?

To your health and wellness,

Catherine Osthaus

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Eating the low carb way is one of the easiest way to lose weight. I have had great success with it. But I was wondering why it does not suit some people. Food is a very personal choice and the choices we make can nourish or create illness.

Here are my thoughts on why some are successful in losing weight and some fail.

There are 5 main reasons

- Lack of knowledge on the diet
- Not knowing how to cook
- Eating processed “low carb” foods
- Not knowing alternatives to breads, cereals, grains
- Not eating enough good fats to curb cravings

Let me know what you think.

To your health and wellness,

Catherine Osthaus

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Food is a very personal issue and it affects us on so many levels. We have belief systems around food, emotional ties and physical addictions. It is hard to break through those to get to the underlying fat issues. I myself thought of myself as pretty knowledgeable about nutrition. It has always interested me and I read many books on it. But I was totally oblivious to how bad carbohydrates can be. I was struggling with weight issues but I thought that I only needed to control my calorie intake. But it was hard when I was constantly hungry. I ate a lot of fruit thinking that it was good low calorie snacks. But little did I know that it was only fuelling my hunger.

Late one night I stumbled onto this video that changed my view on the Atkins Diet. Like many people, my idea on Atkins was that it was pseudo science. It could not possibly be true!

I started to search and found more and more Atkins and Low Carb success stories. Stories of great weight losses and health gains. I read Dr. Atkins New Diet Revolution and was astounded at the research to back up the health benefits of Low Carb eating.

There are people that do not succeed at this diet. But there are many that do. It does not become a diet, but a way of living. It is a satisfying diet. The Atkins diet originally removes a lot of carbohydrates in the induction phase but then re-introduces them in stages. There are many recipes that can simulate foods like breads and desserts. It is a way of life.

Fat Loss Success Tip: Find someone who inspires you and follow what they are doing!

What about you?
Do you have anyone that inspires you?

To your Health and Wellness,

Catherine Osthaus

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Eating Low Carb is a great way to burn fat but there is some uncertainty if a low carb diet will cause muscle mass loss. It could depend on the type of exercise being performed.

Amino acids in protein build muscle. Muscle burns calories. If you eat enough calories than building muscle is possible eating low carb. Some studies have shown that muscle can be gained while on low carb diet. This is because the amino acids feed the muscle. So it is important to eat good quality protein that is found in meats, fish, eggs and nuts.

Exercise does deplete glycogen from the muscle. Carbohydrates replenish the glycogen. The problem arises when the glycogen stores are used up and muscle mass may be lost.

To increase and boost muscle strength it is beneficial to eat a combination of protein and carbohydrates. I prefer to eat vegetable carbohydrates because I am on an anti-candida diet. Grains and fruit sugars feed candida yeast and at this point I am not able to eat them. Coconut water is a great post workout drink. Coconut water contains some carbohydrates and sugars but it also contains essential vitamins, minerals and electrolytes. Coconut, coconut oil and coconut water are anti-fungal and are allowed on an anti-candida diet.

When doing long duration exercise like cycling or running the body will need more carbohydrates. Short burst exercise like High Intesity Interval Training has worked well for me on low carb. But you may need to experiment with your low carb diet and track performance and how you feel. If strength and performance begins to drop that is a good sign to increase carbohydrates. Just make sure to stay away from the refined flours. The muscles only use a small amount of glucose and if there is too much it will raise blood sugar levels and insulin.

Let me know what you think about low carb diets and muscle loss.

To your health and wellness,

Catherine Osthaus

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It is fall and with the weather change our family is fighting the common cold. And we have so far done this successfully.  We have had nothing more serious than a day of mild sniffles while most colds carry the symptoms of sore throat, cough, congestion, runny nose, sneezing. The common cold is annoying and most of us can catch it up to three times a year.

So here are the tips to fight cold bug.

1. Rest

Getting enough sleep is crucial for the body to heal and repair itself.

2. Nutrition

Homemade chicken stock has a lot of essential vitamins and minerals like calcium, magnesium and potassium. The gelatin that is created when you make homemade stock is great for healing digestive disorder. One of the best benefits of bone broths are that they are very flavourful, satisfying and taste great when you are sick.

Garlic has great antibacterial, antifungal, and antiviral properties. I eat a clove of garlic per day (in the evening) sliced up on a piece of cheese. I find that dairy takes away the spiciness of the garlic. My kids don’t touch this but if your baby is nursing it will get all the benefits without the strong taste.

3. Vitamin D

It can be found in Cod Liver Oil, organ meats, egg yolks, raw and supplemented milk, sunshine and supplements. Vitamin D is an antibiotic. When the body has the proper amount of Vitamin D it is able to produce proteins called antimicrobial peptides. These antimicrobial peptides fight and destroy the cells of bacteria, fungus and viruses.

4. Moisture

We heat our home by burning wood so in the winter the air is very dry in our house. Humidifying the air in the home will “moisturize” the mucous membranes and protect them from viruses. This can also relieve the symptoms of cough and breathing problems. Drinking lots of fluids will also moisturize the throat.

5. Oil of Oregano

I love oil of oregano for treating colds. It works fast and is very effective. I take it at as a preventative for colds and to treat colds. It is not recommended for babies and toddlers.  Taking it in milk will reduce the heat of the oil of oregano.  This works so great that even my daughter is able to take it this way.

To your health and wellness,

Catherine Osthaus

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Frustration is a hard emotion to live with.  I have dealt with it on many levels.  Losing the post-partum belly has been extremely difficult.  At one point after the birth of my second daughter, I ran into a friend that I had not seen for a long time and she asked me the dreaded question – Are you pregnant again? Well I was not pregnant but my belly looked as if I was 4 months pregnant.  What an embarrassment!  My self esteem just nose- dived past my feet and sunk into the great depths of the earth.  That comment hurt me. I was feeling self conscious about my weight and ashamed of it. To have my friend tell me this brought me to tears.

That comment stayed with me that whole day and it still is with me today. 

I know the frustration.

Since then, I have tried many workout programs to get fit but failed most of them.  When you plant a seed you expect it to grow and flourish. Same with an exercise program – when you start it you expect to grow and flourish and see results.   Well let’s just say that with many programs that I started my seed had trouble growing and just withered and died.

I had set strong powerful goals that I expected to strive towards to succeed. I went after those goals. And I failed. I was extremely disappointed when I could not reach them.

I had knowledge, I had the action, I had the motivation, I just lacked the persistence.

I finally found what worked.  I have found my “tool” for Fat Loss Success.

Albert Einstein once said that Insanity is doing the same thing over and over again and expecting different results. Are you feeling the insanity???

A good weight loss program should be one that addresses the number one reason for failure. We fail because of our mindsets and excuses.

But what if you don’t do anything? 

You will be in the same position as you where yesterday.  Or worse – the seed you may be sowing may be a weed.  Your condition will then get worse just like weeds in a garden. The weeds will rob your garden of all the vital nutrients. They will multiply and soon choke out any other seed you want to plant.

Get the best tools for success. You need a map to follow so you don’t get lost on the way. Follow the 21 Day Unstoppable Fat Loss Challenge. 

A good Fat Loss Program will be one that you will stick with. Don’t let your Fat Loss goals get choked with weeds.

To your Health and Wellness,

Catherine Osthaus

P.S. What kind of life are we living if we do not want a better tomorrow? How do we achieve that better tomorrow? – With an Unstoppable mindset.

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