Healthy-n-Fit.Net

I’d just like to add a couple comments to the great weight loss tips post.

> – Calories should be 10-12 times your body weight. So for instance if you weigh 200 pounds your calories should be 2000-2400.

Many people don’t seem to understand that when you’re eating a high-healthy-fat, low-carb, moderate protein diet, calories don’t count like they do when you’re eating a low-fat, high-carb diet. I’ll post an interesting article shortly that describes why “a calorie isn’t just a calorie” when you’re following a low-carb, high-fat diet.

I bring this up because the calorie issue can be just as important for people who’re underweight (or of average weight.) If you have trouble keeping weight on, remember that you may need more calories than you think are necessary because your body is using the nutrients you provide it quite efficiently.

> – Avoid eating 3 hours before bed time. If you get hungry before bed, have 1-2 tbsp plain coconut oil. Also you can always bring coconut oil with you to eat in emergencies.

If you’re pre-diabetic or diabetic though, you may need to eat a high-fat snack (which can include a bit of protein too) right before bed to combat the “dawn effect”. Personally, I can’t stomach plain coconut oil, but I have been known to have a shake before bed that includes 1 egg, 1T butter, and 1T coconut oil (along with some stevia and a cup of water.) That fat/protein snack is really easy to digest AND it keeps my liver from thinking that it needs to make glucose overnight. When I have something like this right before bed, my morning fasting glucose is always much better than it is if I eat at 6:00pm and then don’t eat again ’til the next morning.

> – Eat your largest meal in the morning, and break your food down into 4-5 smaller meals (unless you have digestion issues).

Again, if you’re pre-diabetic or diabetic, it’s wise to eat your largest meal (which presumably contains the most carbs and protein) in the middle of the day. Blood sugars can run higher in the AM because of the dawn effect, so you don’t want to go and dump more protein/carbs into your system when your body’s already struggling to deal. And if you have too many carbs (or too much protein) with your evening meal, you don’t have a lot of time to mediate your blood sugar through activity. Again, you’ll head into night time with higher blood sugars and then your liver can compound the problem by thinking it needs to make even MORE glucose.

Yes, following a quality candida diet (low-carb, high-healthy-fat, adequate protein) goes a long way toward helping you maintain stable blood sugars, but people often still have trouble as they heal their bodies because of the damage that the candida toxins do to our endocrine systems and cell walls.

> – If you are stalled, make sure your calories are correct and your ratios. Do not go overboard with either protein or fat.

FitDay.com is our friend, everybody! No matter whether you’re overweight or just tracking your diet as you cure your candida, that site is invaluable! It can really let you know where you stand, and if you start to have problems, you can look back at what you’ve eaten to see if you can figure out what’s going on. For instance, some long-time low-carbers will get to the point where they have trouble losing weight. They start entering their food in Fitday and find that they weren’t eating enough or they were eating more carbs than they thought. The same bits of information can be helpful to candida sufferers. For instance, if your symtoms get worse, you can spot-check. Am I getting enough fat? Am I eating too many carbs? Am I feeling poorly because I’m not getting enough calories?

> – Also if you are stalled, consider ditching stevia, dried spices, salt, lemon juice and butter along with your typical candida diet.

Respectfully, I have to disagree on the salt thing. If you use nothing but sea salt, and you use it to taste, AND you’re drinking your water, it’s likely that the salt is not the issue. Nutrient deficiencies as well as the consumption of refined, iodized salt can certainly cause weight loss issues though.

If you suspect salt is a problem for you, look at your diet. Is there refined salt that’s sneaking in? Is your butter salted? What about seasoning blends that you use with protein and veggies? Are you eating any protein or veggies that are hiding extra salt? (Some canned fish and frozen veggies will contain added salt, so you have to look.) A little refined salt can actually do a lot of damage, but if you use SEA salt to taste, you drink your water, and you maintain an adequate mineral balance, you shouldn’t have any trouble with “salt”.