The other day I received an e-newsletter from US Wellness Meats mentioning the Ancestral Weight Loss Registry. In the newsletter, they encourage people who have been doing a low-carb diet to add their weight loss (or weight gain) data to a list for statistical purposes, so I checked it out and decided to add my info.
I find the whole study really exciting because it's more validation for my own experience, and I was fascinated to read the current results of the data they've collected. You can see the data here: http://www.awlr.org/results.html
One of my favorite quotes from the study: "People who eat high protein, high fat diets seem to lose more weight without counting calories." Through personal experience, I know that to be true, but now there is data to back it up. I think that is awesome!
Starving yourself really is not a long-term, sustainable solution to maintaining a healthy weight. At one point several months ago I tried counting calories for a day with an iPhone app just because I was curious, but I found the whole thing ridiculous and cumbersome. I think I calculated I was averaging around 1,300 to 1,500 calories a day, but it didn't really matter. I ate when I was hungry and I ate enough to maintain my energy levels.
As I started making better food choices, my apatite changed, but I also majorly increased my fat intake and I think that played a key role in tiding me over for longer periods of time. Fats like coconut and avocado have more dense calories, so they burn slower and more consistently. It turned out I didn't need as many calories over all anymore. No more insulin spikes and gorging on bags of cookies and chips. Ahh, what a relief.
One of the more frustrating aspects of the registry is that it currently consists mainly of wealthy white people. I really hope that this trend will change. I feel a great burden for all races and classes to know health through proper food choices. I know cost has a lot to do with why this hasn't caught on yet, but I'm confident the Paleo health movement will become too strong to for our nation to ignore. Hopefully, healthy whole food can become more cost effective in the near future.
This makes me think of a conversation I had with my trainer the other day - we were discussing a lady who asked about calorie counting and what to do if she burns say 600 calories during a workout. He gave some advice but ultimately left the topic with "counting calories is old school." Ha! I to some degree track my calories slash use an app as a journal of what I'm eating period, but don't often fill the whole day out. If everyone could just step far away from the processed foods and eat veggies, fruits and lean proteins! Look forward to reading more from you!
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