Bye Bye Low Carb/IF Living...

I've fallen hook, line & sinker down the Ray Peat rabbit hole. Buckle up.

If there’s one thing you can count on around here, it’s change. I haven’t really talked about diet lately because I’m in the middle of a huge shift from low carb/IF to high carb 4-6 meals a day, all based on the teachings of Ray Peat.

Time to spill the beans.

I fell down this rabbit hole June 2023 so 7 months ago. No real results yet except — don’t panic — I gained 10 pounds during the first 5 months. That’s because ice cream and OJ are on the menu now and Hal and I kinda went hog wild. I’m ok with it, I’m already married, hahaha!

Besides, I know it will come off as I figure out this pro-metabolic philosophy. We laid off the ice cream, kinda got sick of it, and I lost 3 pounds. That was easy.

I’m committed to the pro-metabolic life for 2024, see how it works. Can I really charge up my metabolism? It’s worked for others and the devotees are sincerely devoted! So why not me?

Why the Switch?

I don’t know exactly — it wasn’t an intellectual decision. It was all gut, intuition. All I know is when I heard Georgi describing the basics of being a Peatarian (see podcast link below), something clicked. I needed to know more about this. My low carb/IF life was not working anymore and I instinctively knew my metabolism was the problem. I also suspected thyroid issues which is a huge topic in Peat-World. I jumped in 100%.

Where I’m Getting Info

• This podcast got me started. Georgi Dinkov has a mind like a steel trap: he reads it, he remembers it and he connects the dots. Ask him a question, he’ll remember the study, the year it was done, then quote results, including numbers. Not just a robot; he’s rationally connecting the dots. I listen to him whenever I come across a podcast he’s on and he’s a guest on a LOT these days. Georgi’s website.

• Just for street cred, both Mercola (“Fat as Fuel” author) and Saladino (“The Carnivore Code” author) have gone high carb!!! They have been famously keto/carnivore for YEARS. Just so you know that I may not be insane.

• I follow Danny Roddy and join his twice weekly Q&As ($49/month, join on his Patreon channel). I’ve also hired him for a couple of one-on-ones.

• I’ve listened to at least half the podcasts on Danny’s blog (I listen on Spotify), lots of the old ones, all the new ones, many of them twice.

• I follow Kitty Blomfield, Kate Deering, Jodelle Fitzwater, and Emma Sgourakis on blogs and podcasts. (I used to follow them on IG but quit that platform because of all the grooming. I’m still on FB for some of the groups like Canning Rebels, Real Food KY, Ray Peat Friends, some crunchy mom groups.)

• Did Kitty’s 7 day challenge.

• Bought Kate’s book and have read it twice.

• Investigating thyroid. Read Broda Barnes’ classic Hypothyroidism: The Unsuspected Illness, reading a 2nd time now. Also got thermometers and pulse ox meters to test.

• Joined the Ray Peat forum. Whenever I do a search, I specify that I want @haidut’s posts (that’s Georgi). It’s the best way I can think of to separate the gems from the noise.

• My favorite podcast after Ray’s passing in November 2022 with Danny & Emma.

What I’m Eating

The macro goal (for now) is 50% carbs, 35 protein, 15 fat. Way, waaaaay different than I have been eating for probably 7 years. And this is subject to change as I figure out how my body handles a higher carb diet.

Also calories count. More on that below.

• All clean food, organic, pastured, glyphosate-free — that is our #1 consideration.

• The basics: meat, raw dairy, organic fruits & OJ (a couple of other juices occasionally but OJ is a staple), coffee, honey.

• I occasionally eat a half slice of sourdough bread with my quail egg breakfast, but that’s it. Hal has more, he’s always been a bread guy. It’s just gotta be sourdough to be Peaty.

• Almost no veggies -- we are not big veggie people besides carrots, onions, celery, garlic, ginger in soups/stews.

• We do some rice but cutting back on that until we feel like the transition is secure. Starches are hard to digest.

• Organic fruits are hard to find in winter, but Costco still has pears and berries, and Azure Standard has a few in bulk so I freeze-dry or can those. Homemade chunky applesauce is a staple around here!

• No PUFAs which are basically seed oils. Good oils are saturated fats: butter, ghee, lard, tallow, bacon grease. Coconut oil is a good choice for a plant-based saturated fat. PURE olive and avocado oils are good, too, but be aware that these two oils are easy to dilute with cheaper PUFA oils. Plus they are often already rancid when I get them in the store. Yuck.

• Sweeteners are organic cane sugar and honey, occasionally maple syrup. Hard stop. Note that “high carb” does NOT include Twinkies, Saltines or Trail Mix!!!

• The only processed foods still in our diets are protein shakes and my daily Energy Fizz. it’s hard to get enough protein when you really don’t eat that much, so shakes are required to fill in the gap. Plus they carry most of our supplements (we get lots in powder form) and they are so yummy! Made with raw milk, of course :)

When to Eat

Breakfast within 45 minutes of waking, then eat every 3-4 hours. Your fire can’t burn without fuel.

Breakfast was hard: I haven’t eaten breakfast in YEARS. I didn’t force it, just kept reminding myself to eat something before 2pm lol. It took a couple of months, but I’m back in the breakfast game!

What Else?

Gotta workout. You simply can’t eat 2500 calories a day then burn only 1500 and expect to stay slim. Won’t happen. So 10-20 minutes a day 3-4 days a week. Tabatas, y’all!!!

NO to chronic cardio. YES to building strength.

It’s not the calories you burn during the workout (which is cardio’s claim to fame and even then not enough calories burned to make it worth it). Rather, it’s the raising of your metabolism so you burn calories all the time, even while you sleep. Muscle does that!

Metabolism?

Yeah, we don’t talk about this enough. And metabolism is a funny thing, it’s not really logical until you dig into the details.

Did you know that if you eat too few calories (input), your body slows down your metabolism (output) to match?

So if you were cutting calories to lose weight, that works at first… until your body goes, “wait a minute — I’m not getting enough fuel (calories) to keep this fire (metabolism) burning. Gotta slow down the fire to match the fuel.”

So it does just that to protect your fuel stores! Argh, major backfire.

To fix this, you have to increase your calories and your exercise to get that fire burning again.

BTW, this is how I gained weight: I increased my calories via ice cream faster than my metabolism sped up. If you want to try this WOE and don’t want to gain weight, go slow. (WOE = Way of Eating)

The two hardest things:

1. Keeping track of macros — I’m using the Cronometer app which I really like. (The free version although I may upgrade to paid.) It’s only a pain when you are entering foods for the first time. After the first week, you start to know what foods work best together to keep your calories within your ratios.

2. Being consistent with exercise, but I’m getting there.

Motivated?

OH YES!!! Aging happens and I don’t like it. If I’m going to slide into home base having sucked the life out of life, I’m going to need a rip-roaring metabolism. So, yeah, baby, I’m all in.

What do you think? I would LOVE to know your thoughts on pro-metabolic living!

xo Sally