Bunky42 said:Carb Freebie said:Has any one tried the fat fast?
The Fat Fast, as outlined by Dr. Atkins in Dr. Atkins New Diet
Revolution, is a tool that low carbers who are metabolically resistant
can use to get themselves quickly into ketosis. It is also used by
many low carbers (myself among them) to break a weight loss plateau or
as a means of forcing themselves to get back on track when they have
gone off-plan.
Simply put, the Fat Fast consists of a 3 or 5-day cycle in which you
consume just 1,000 calories a day. 90% of those calories should come
from fat. (The Fat Fast should not be extended beyond 5 days because it
is deficient in protein.)
Dr. Atkins states that eating 4 or 5 mini-meals is better for our bodies
than eating one large meal while doing the Fat Fast. During the Fat Fast
you may consume either 4 250-calorie mini-meals or 5 200-calorie
mini-meals. Consuming these small meals frequently throughout the day
actually works better than complete fasting.
Dr. Atkins mentions cream cheese and macadamia nuts as the "perfect" Fat
Fast foods. Ten ounces of cream cheese would be an entire day's food
allotment; divide the cream cheese into 5 2-ounce servings. You could
also opt for 5 ounces of macadamia nuts split into 5 1-ounce servings
and consumed throughout the day.
That's not a lot of food. I find that when I do the Fat Fast I think
about food constantly. I don't obsess about food because I get hungry
(surprisingly, I do not get hungry), but simply because I can't have any
- at least not any that I really want. The Fat Fast makes regular strict
low carbing look absolutely luxurious.
I'm going to be completely honest here: I hate, loathe, and detest doing
the Fat Fast. I get very grumpy because I get frustrated. My family says
that I don't, but that just makes me think that they don't notice the
difference because maybe, just maybe, I'm a pretty grumpy person all the
time. It's either that or the kids are ignoring me in the same way they
do when I tell them to clean their rooms or do their homework. Or
perhaps they simply value their lives and know when to keep their mouths
shut. The survival instinct is very strong in my brood.
(***Note: "But I was doing the Fat Fast!" is not a legitimate legal
defense for mayhem or murder. I know this is true. I've checked.)
OK, I know what you want to ask me: "If the Fat Fast is so incredibly
awful, why do you do it, you stupid woman?!?" (Well, you might not say
the "stupid woman" part because you are ever so polite, but I know
you're thinking it.)
Why? Because it works for me. If I am not in ketosis when I start the
Fat Fast, I am when it's over. If I am having cravings to beat the band
and hanging on by the skin of my teeth, when the Fat Fast is over the
cravings are G - O - N - E and I'm perfectly happy to go back to
munching on chicken legs and salads. If I've hit a plateau and stopped
losing weight, my weight loss is jump started.
I've done the Fat Fast a half a dozen times in the last three years, and
each time I have lost between 5 and 8 pounds during the three-day cycle.
After I go back to eating normal low carb, I gain 2 to 4 of those pounds
back, but have always ended up with a net loss for the 3-day period of
between 2 to 4 pounds. (Your experience may be different from mine. The
only way to find out for sure is to try it.)
Of course, a lot of people don't even consider doing the Fat Fast to get
into ketosis or to break a stall because they can't stand the idea of
subsisting on plain cream cheese and/or macadamia nuts for 3 days. I
don't know about you, but I would be more likely to be able to cut off
my big toe with a dull paring knife than I would be able to gag down 10
ounces of plain cream cheese. My throat closes up at the very thought.
And I don't particularly like macadamia nuts, either.
Well, I don't have to choke down plain cream cheese or eat macadamia
nuts, thank goodness. You don't, either. Dr. Atkins lists several
alternatives in his chapter on the Fat Fast, and although caviar and
avocados don't appeal to me, you may very well like them.
I have also developed a list of alternative food choices for the Fat
Fast, which I've listed below. Some of them don't quite come up to the
"90% of the calories from fat" parameter, but they come close enough and
have worked for me.
Fat Fast Ideas And Recipes
There is one further plus to the Fast Fast which I haven't mentioned.
There is very little food preparation involved. None of the ideas or
recipes listed below will take you more than 5 minutes to prepare.
1. 1/4 cup heavy or whipping cream in a large mug of coffee (I use
this to jump start my day and prevent abuse of those near and sometimes
dear to me. In the summer I make it the night before and put it in the
refrigerator, then pour it over ice. You could also pour it into
popsicle molds and freeze it for Coffee Fat Fasticles. Yum!)
2. 4 strips of bacon
3. Peanut Butter Cream Cheese
* 1 ounce cream cheese
* 1 tablespoon sugar free peanut butter
* 1 tablespoon heavy or whipping cream
* 10 drops Liquid Sweet & Low (or artificial sweetener of your
choice)
* 1/8 teaspoon ground cinnamon
Blend all ingredients in a small bowl.
Serves 1. Approximately 208 calories.
***Note: If you life this one, make up several servings at one
time and stick them into the refrigerator in custard cups for individual
servings. That way you only have one cleanup.
4. 2 ounces of cream cheese stuffed in one large celery stalk
5. 1/2 pork rinds with 2 ounces of sour cream
6. Pork Rinds With Sour Cream Dip (This is not my recipe - Judi
(Island Girl) forwarded it to me.)
* 1/2 ounce plain pork rinds (1/6 of 3-ounce bag)
* 1/4 cup sour cream
* 1 tablespoon grated parmesan cheese
Blend parmesan into sour cream and use as dip for pork rinds
Without Parmesan: 164 calories, 8 grams fat (79%)
With Parmesan: 187 calories, 15 grams fat (77%)
7. 2 tablespoons of sugar free peanut butter on an approximately 7
1/2-inch stalk of celery.
8. 1/4 cup heavy or whipping cream, whipped, sweetened with
artificial sweetener, and flavored with vanilla or some other extract.
9. 2 ounces of sour cream on approximately 1/2 cup sliced cucumber.
10. Tuna or chicken salad with triple the usually amount of mayonnaise.
I cook the bejeebers out of a whole chicken in the crockpot until
the meat is literally falling off the bones, then shred the meat and
save it for chicken salad or for soups. I strain the broth carefully
(watch for small bones!) and freeze it.
I will usually reuse the broth to cook more than one chicken,
which results in a superb, flavorful extra-strength broth which is great
to sip on if you're sick.
11. 2 egg yolks mashed up with lots of mayonnaise, salt, and pepper
(like you would for deviled eggs), but eaten plain or with a few pork
rinds, cucumber slices, or a celery stick
12. Peanut Butter Pudding (This is Rani Merens' recipe.)
* 2 tablespoons of sour cream
* 1 teaspoon sugar free peanut butter
* Splenda (to taste)
Combine all the ingredients. This thickens up magnificently, and
can either be eaten "as is" or partially frozen, but don't let it get
rock hard unless you just want to suck on it.
***Note: If you life this one, make up several servings at one
time and stick them into the refrigerator in custard cups for individual
servings. That way you only have one cleanup.
13. 1/4 cup heavy or whipping cream in a can of diet soda (any flavor)
14. 1/2 package sugar free Jell-O in 1/2 cup whipped heavy or whipping
cream
15. 1/4 cup heavy or whipping cream, whipped, with 1 teaspoon
unsweetened cocoa powder and a few drops of liquid artificial sweetener
added (to taste).
***Note: If you life this one, make up several servings at one
time and stick them into the refrigerator in custard cups for individual
servings. That way you only have one cleanup.
16. Jell-O Whip (Someone named Chris sent this to me a couple of years
ago.)
* 1 small package sugar free Jell-O (any flavor)
* 1/2 cup boiling water
* 4 ice cubes
* 8 ounces cream cheese, at room temperature and cut into cubes
* 4 tablespoons heavy or whipping cream
Dissolve the Jell-O completely in the boiling water, then add the
ice cubes to cool it down and to thicken it.
When the ice cubes are melted, pour the gelatin mixture in the
blender and add the cutup cream cheese. Whirl it around until the
ingredients are completely blended. Pour the mixture into a mixing bowl.
Whip the four ounces of cream, then fold it into the cream cheese
mixture.
Divide the mixture into 5 equal portions, cover each with plastic
wrap, and put them in the refrigerator to chill.
This makes 5 servings, or all the you need for one day of the Fat
Fast. Of course, you wouldn't have to eat all 5 servings in one day. You
could alternate them with other food choices.
17. Cream Cheese Jell-O Chunks (Someone sent me this idea, too, but
I've misplaced their name).
10 ounces cream cheese, cut into 20 equal squares (Not softened!)
1 small packet sugar free Jell-O, any flavor
Pour the dry gelatin powder into a small bowl or onto a salad
plate. Set aside.
Roll the 20 cream cheese squares into balls. Roll each ball in the
dry gelatin mixture. Place the coated balls on a plate, cover them with
plastic wrap, and put them in the refrigerator until you're ready to eat
them
Each Fat Fast serving is 4 balls.
