The Fat Fast- I'm worried

[Pineapple]

I hoped I'd never make a topic on this.

My friend is doing Atkins as well. She has more weight to lose than I do (she's shy so I wouldn't ask her how much, but by the looks of it since we're about the same height, she has at least 40 more pounds), and after a month and a half of induction hasn't lost anything, and I know she's been eating the same as me. Two weeks ago she went through all the other options that were in the resistance chapter with her doctor, and she wasn't them, so she told me she's decided to do the fat fast.

My concern is that since she plans to go on it for five days, won't 1000 calories put her in starvation mode? And to be honest I really don't know much about the fast save for what's in the book. She even has percentages for how much she should have (100 grams fat 90% of calories, 15g protein, 10 carbs or less)- and I don't know where she got it! What if it's phoney? What if she's going to hurt herself? And when Atkins used the word "dangerous", that's my biggest concern.

[RationalBeing]

She'll be ok. Its probably better if she can manage 40g of protein instead of those 15. Try 0 carbs. Eat pure butter or heavy cream only with 2 simple 100 calorie high yield protein shakes like www.allthewhey.com (0 carbs, 0 fat, 25g protin per 102 cals). As for fiber there wont be much concern as cream and butter "will slide right through her". Perhaps a fiber supplement however.

[Pineapple]

Doesn't the body need at least a tiny bit of carbs? I'll tell her about the constipation bit, lmao.

[RationalBeing]

No the body does not need carbs at all. In fact I read a report about this guy who was traveling the amazon jungle, fell into this underground pit/cave of sorts where he broke both his legs. He was there for 2 weeks straight, couldn't move. He lived on these minnow fish for 2 weeks that he caught in the stream that was running by him. He knew he was in ketosis but that it wouldn't hurt him. 0 carbs for 2 weeks straight - pure live raw fish!

I thought it was pretty neat.

[Pineapple]

Oh, ok, so she won't get sick or go into starvation mode on this diet either? That carb thing is pretty amazing!

[Elmark]

If you don't get enough carbs (the brain only uses glycogen for fuel = sugar) you body is smart enough to transform some protein into glucogen. The body always feeds the brain first, then the heart....and then the rest! Clever thing!

[cleochatra]

My doctor assures me that for people with fat to lose there is no starvation mode.

I liken it to this: when someone has weight loss surgery they're bringing in between 600-900 calories per day. This is the preferred state of weight loss for those patients. The only difference between them and someone else who is watching caloric intake on Atkins is that we didn't require the surgery. Don't try the fat fast, as it is incredibly unhealthy and superbly boring. DO look at caloric intake instead while following Atkins. I'm down 14 pounds in 4 days and it's because I'm counting calories and doing induction. JMO and YMMV.

[Super Duper Matt]

Since practically no one except the super experianced know exactly what the fat fast is, here is a direct copy from DANDR.

The Fat Fast

The rationale behind the Kekwick diet is crystal clear: It forces the body into lipolysis so it burns its stores of fat. Lipolysis cannot take place if there is a significant source of glucose. Since all carbohydrates and some protein convert to energy by way of glucose, eliminating almost everything but fat from the diet forces even the most resistant body into lipolysis. That explains the ninety percent dietary fat component of the Kekwick diet. Lowering the caloric intake accelerates the need to burn up body fat-thus the 1,000calorie limit.

When I wrote the first edition of this book years ago, I realized that a small but intensely suffering segment of my readers would need to know how to overcome metabolic resistance. So I decided to make the Kekwick diet as enjoyable as possible. But no matter how I tried, the quantities were simply too small and the selection too limited to meet the satiety and tastiness criteria that I had been demanding for people following my program.

I gave it the name "Fat Fast" because it contained virtually no food except for fat. I tried it on scores of patients and was not surprised to observe how often it worked for those who were unable to lose in any other safe, drugless way. Nor was I surprised to hear that none of my patients relished the idea of staying on it. But ten more years of experience with the Fat Fast has taught me how to make Kekwick and Pawan's brilliant concept a truly useful technique with which to combat metabolic resistance.

The Fat Fast is one controlled carb program where you do have to count calories, I am afraid. You'll eat 1,000 calories a day, with seventy-five to ninety percent fat. Since frequent "feedings" prevent hunger better than three meals a day, I recommend five feedings, perhaps one every four hours, comprising 200 calories each. Because of the high fat content and frequent feedings, very few people on the Fat Fast experience much hunger. The stumbling block for some people is the absence of meals as we know them.

Let's look at some choices for a Fat Fast 200-calorie feeding. Each item equals approximately 200 calories:

• One ounce of macadamia nuts or macadamia nut butter
• Two ounces of cream cheese or Brie
• One ounce of tuna or chicken salad with two teaspoons of mayonnaise served in one-quarter of an avocado
• Two deviled eggs made with two teaspoons of mayonnaise
• Two ounces of sour cream and two tablespoons black or red caviar
• Two and a half ounces whipped heavy cream topped with sucralose zero-calorie syrup
• Two ounces of pate (check label for fat content)
• Two egg yolks (hard-boiled) with one tablespoon of mayonnaise

When to Do the Fat Fast

Let me make it clear that the Fat Fast is actually dangerous for anyone who is not metabolically resistant. For people who lose weight fairly easily, the rate of weight loss is too rapid to be safe. But it carries very little risk for people who can barely lose on any other regimen. The reason why I ask such people to try the Fat Fast is to let them know that it is possible to lose weight.
I ask them to try the regimen for four or five days to see if they achieve what the Fat Fast is capable of doing-weight loss, curbed appetite, positive lipolysis testing strips and improved well-being. If these results occur, most people are willing to stick with it for a few days, even if the food selections are unfulfilling.

Modifying the Fat Fast

If increasing the fat-to-carbohydrate ratio and cutting the calorie count works, any dietary change in that direction might get the job done. Next, you can try four meals a day of roughly 300 calories for a total of 1,200 calories. That should work too, and what it allows is definitely more appealing to the taste buds:

• Two ounces of beef chuck (do not drain fat) cooked in two tablespoons of olive oil
• Two scrambled eggs with two strips of nitrate-free bacon
• Two tablespoons of full-fat sour cream with a tablespoon of sugar-free syrup
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• One-quarter cup chicken or tuna salad made with two tablespoons of mayonnaise
• Three ounces of pate (check fat content)
• One-and-a-half ounces of macadamia nuts

Try the 1,200-calorie regimen for a week, then go back to Induction. Or simply follow the concept of increasing the ratio of fat to protein. No one should have to feel that losing weight is hopeless. Sometimes the key to achieving your goal weight permanently is quite difficult to adhere to, but rarely is it simply impossible! With a clear-eyed approach to the factors that may be standing in your way, you should finally be able to slip into clothing a size or two smaller.

[ladyinred]

Pineapple, has your friend taken her measurements? Sometimes people lose inches but for some reason their body hangs onto the water for a while. I believe Sarah (Iyamamashke) had this problem and look at her now. If she's exercising she will be losing fat but gaining muscle so this might not show up on the scale. The fat fast scares me only because it looks so frickin boring I'd probably get desperate and go eat a cake. Two weeks isn't all that long either. But ask your friend about her measurements and how her clothes are fitting. She may be doing better than she thinks.

[Pineapple]

(She hasn't been on atkins for only two weeks, she's been on it a month and a half, she went to the doctor two weeks ago. I do know what the fat fast is, we both own a copy. She did take her measurements, and weighed herself once a week, still no change.)

Thank you so much for the fat and starvation mode information. She can eat as much protein as she wants so long as 90% of the calories is from fat? The cream and butter is going to be so boring for her, I hope she stops before the five days!