I’ve been following Tim Ferriss’ Slow Carb Diet for five weeks now.  I started right after I got back from my vacation in Mexico and have been very pleased with my progress so far.    According to the book, women over 40 with kids often struggle during the first 4-6 weeks, so my expectations were very low.

I have lost over 10 pounds during the first 5 weeks so I am very pleased.  But more than the weight, it’s the inches lost that make me so happy.  My body is shrinking and I can see it happening before my eyes.

The concept (no white carbs, no sugar, no dairy, no fruit) sounds far more drastic than it is in practice.  It’s easy to eat meals made with real ingredients and enough protein and fat to be filling.  The best part is my energy throughout the day is level, even at 3 PM.  I don’t need to snack at all.

I really like this concept of higher protein and less carbs, since it is physically more filling as well as just makes me feel better.  But, even though it is working for me I continue researching to find out why it works.  I started reading Gary Taubes’ Why We Get Fat: And What to Do About It which is a life changing book.  He makes the case that we are not designed for the highly processed high sugar, high carb diets that we eat.  We were hunter/gatherers for 2.5 million years (eating animal products and root vegetables/berries) and have only been agrarian for 12 thousand years eating grains.    And we have only been industrialized for a hundred or so years eating products instead of food.

So why are we getting fat?  I don’t think I’m giving away any plot points by telling you…it’s insulin.   Carbs (sugar, flour, even whole grains) trigger a production of insulin that tells our bodies to store fat.

I will write a more thorough review next week after I’ve had time to read it again.   But for the moment, I’m very excited that there is a reason why eating low carb is working for me.

Here are my totals by week so far: