Oh! I forgot you were away when I started the whole diet thing. Basically there was this article about Dr. Atkins and his low-carb philosophy and it convinced me to give it a try. You really have to read his book to get his whole philosophy, but here’s the basic gist. Your body only has two possible sources of fuel: glucose (which it gets from breaking down carbs and sugars), and ketones (which come from burning stored fat). The idea is, when you start the diet you cut way back on carbs (like down to 20 grams/day), which forces your body to start burning fat to make up the missing glucose energy. This is also what happens when people fast, but because you’re eating lots of protein, you only lose fat and not muscle tone. You can tell you’re in “ketosis” with these little strips you get at the drugstore that you wee on. Okay, so the 20 grams/day lasts for two weeks so you can see some weight loss. Then you’re supposed to gradually start increasing the number of carbs you eat until you find the threshold where you can maintain your target weight. It’s different for everybody, depending on your metabolism and insulin levels and all sorts of stuff. Since I’ve still got a ways to go, I’m staying on the 20 grams for a while longer. It’s not as a boring as you might thing, but it’s still restrictive. You can basically have all the protein (meat, fish, fowl, eggs) you want, and lots of “good” fats too (olive oil, butter, anything that’s liquid at room temperature). These things also have the benefit of taking longer to digest, which makes you feel sated longer and cuts down on cravings. You’re also allowed cheese, lots of salad greens, and certain vegetables (basically anything that’s not starchy, like potatoes or carrots). I’ve been having bacon and eggs for breakfast, salad for lunch, and then meat and veg for dinner. The hardest part is just seeing the carb count on the things I used to eat every day: 40 grams for a bowl of cereal, 25 for a tub of yogurt, astronomical for pasta. The first couple of days are the worst, as you go through withdrawal for a sugar addiction you didn’t realize you had. It was worth it though; I can finally drink diet soda now! Like I said, if you’re interested at all you should pick up a copy of his book. There’s a lot more to it, about insulin and blood sugar and stuff. The copy we have also has some pretty good recipes.

I think a pescavore could do it, but I don’t think it’s recommended for vegans. You have to get the protein somehow, and get it in a form that doesn’t come with a lot of extra carbs. Fish are all good, though, so as long as you didn’t mind the boredom of it, you could do it.

hmm…i do like sushi… 🙂

mmmm…. sashimi!