I'm back, back in the weight loss groove

Starting weight: 78.4kg
Last recorded weight on the "Lose Your Middle Aged Middle Diet": 72kg
This week's weight: 74.7kg
How I'm feeling today: sluggish!

Well I'm back home from my time away in Wellington, and back on the blog for the first time since having to stop the Lose Your Middle Aged Middle diet. The Eades never did write back to give me an idea of what went wrong.

My weight went up when I started eating carbohydrates again but not to what it was before I started the diet, so I pretty happy with that considering how gung-ho I've been with my eating since I got sick during those (nasty) "Meat Weeks".

After vomiting for three days and suffering residual nausea for a further four all I wanted to eat were some nice, plain, carbo filled crackers.

I've done some research into this now, and discussed the diet with numerous people - dietitians included - and here are my conclusions:

• Why I got sick: it's possible that I had alcohol poisoning on two glasses of wine. From what I've read, alcohol is broken down much more rapidly when you're in ketosis, into ketones and acetaldehyde and on an empty tummy, with a stressed liver, probably causes all sorts of nasty reactions. However I was feeling increasingly sick, so it may also have been due to too much meat and protein. My body has never processed meat well (stomach cramps).
  
  
• Low Carb Diets: I agree with the science of starving your body of carbohydrate to force it to use fat as fuel, however I looked ill during ketogenesis. Really ill. Pale, sunken face, dark rings under my eyes. What else is going on during this process? And is it good for your liver? It certainly didn't feel like it. Apparently feeling nauseous is part of the switch to ketosis, but it is supposed to pass after a week or so. I felt faint and a little nauseous for two and a half weeks then threw up for 3 days before finishing that week hobbling through a higher level of nausea that made me wonder if I'd done some permanent damage. Too much meat. Too many eggs. I was craving vegetables. While I was considering it , I just can't face going on the Eades diet again. I got some blood tests done two weeks after stopping the Meat Weeks to see what was going on, and my doctor has written to me to come back in as my liver results weren't normal. I'm hoping that this is because I still had elevated ketones - I'll post the results after the next test.
  
  
• Paleolithic Diet: the concept is that modern diseases occur because of the post-agriculture diet we now consume, as genetics have scarcely changed in the last 10,000 years. It's controversial, because of course people died much younger back then, and it could purely be the calories that we consume nowadays that are the problem. I'm also suspicious of it as an approach to healthy eating as nutritionists have given me conflicting advice over what form it should take, which does not inspire confidence. So am discounting it as an argument until someone convinces me.
  

What Next?

I'm not going back on the Eades's Lose Your Middle Aged Middle plan, but I'm going to get back on track with my goal of losing weight and regaining my fitness. I have three books on the table this week, and will decide on which one to follow over the next week:

• Leslie Kenton: The X Factor Diet
  Another low carb one that would be interesting to compare with the Eades version from a writer I trust.
  
  
• Rick Gallop: The GI Diet
  I read this book some time ago but put it down after finding the food lists hard to interpret for the New Zealand grocery store, and general dislike of the recipes in the book. However I prefer the idea of including carbohydrates in your diet, rather than stripping them out completely. The Eades agree that Low GI works, but that it's easier to go Low Carb and cut out carbohydrates altogether.
  
  
• Jan Scrivner: Detox Yourself
  A 30 day detox plan I have done before and found excellent. It's based almost entirely on diet alone (none of those gimmicky supplements). This detox claims to cleanse your liver, which is what the Eades also claim, a big difference however is that last time I did the detox I looked healthy, had the clearest skin I've ever had, and had noticeably more energy.Unlike the Lose Your Middle Aged Middle plan.