First of all well done on your current weight loss!
Second, I notice you said low carb and LOW fat. Is that a typo or do you really plan on going low on both? Will be extremely hard for you to make calories as well as being bad for you.
Agree with this, they don't have to be mutually exclusive, carbs and fats are useful and needed in a diet.
Whats your protein intake like?
A low carb diet is the bodies natural diet which consists mostly of fat and protein, there are studies which prove low carb diets to be great for the body.
You do need some carbs for the body, I agree that modern diets are rubbish, owing to our simple carb fetish, but carbs are very much necessary as we need the glycogen that carbs produce to actually "do" anything. I do agree that a good 1.6g per Kg of weight is a good recommendation for protein intake which is about 150% more than the RDA. Complex Carbs and low GI carbs are the best, depleting glycogen is not sensible though and will affect your workout performance and your muscle performance and stunt your development, even for losing fat/weight.
Carbs are not needed at all in a healthy diet, its only because they have become so hyped by the "fat is bad for you" crap that people live in today that people rely on them so much, that and they are cheap.
See above, EFAs and some fats are vital I agree, but just as Carbs are.
When you start a low carb diet you are basically forcing your body to make use of fat for energy instead of replying on carbs. This is fine as long as you ease your body into it, don't cut out all your carbs over the course of a week and expect not to feel like poo. High fat has benefits such as fat loss and higher testosterone levels.
That's not true, your body doesn't hit fat stores once it has depleted it's glycogen stores, but you are right about cold turkey dieting. LOWER carb diets are good, I agree, but even getting 50% of your cals from Carbs if they're the right ones is more than fine.
Fats (saturated) have the maximum amount of hydrogen tied to them (i.e. all of their carbon atoms are linked with a single bond of hydrogen, and often come from processed foods, and often are hydrogenated and emulsified.
Mono have less hydrogen because they contain one unsaturated bond (or double bond) hence the word "mono" - one. These are good and can reduce cholesterol (LDL) and help promote HDL - nut oils are usually high in monos as well as nuts and seeds and avocados.
Polyunsaturated has the most amount of free carbon chains and the least amount of hydrogen two or more free bonds hence "poly" - many. These are the dog's danglies and a subcategory of these are the EFAs we all talk about - fish oils, some vegetable oils - however they can lower HDL slightly too. So it's a good idea to balance mono and poly to get a good balance.
Though your point about test levels is worthy of bringing up, low fat diets can reduce lionelic acid and linolenic acid which are an essential fatty acid found in seeds, nuts, veg oil, oily fish etc.. and can lead to lots of negative health issues one of which is prostaglandin (hormone) imbalance which leads to much more imbalances inthe body. Also if your BF% drops to single figures and heads to below 7% your test levels drop like a stone! However this does not mean being fat makes you a sex god, because having excess fat has negative effects on other parts of the body,. Hence why it's a good idea to be between the 10-22% for young men.
As you probably know Omega 3s can have the following effects:
- improved delivery of oxygen and nutrients to the cells because of reduced bloody viscosity
- more flexible red blood cell membranes and improved oxygen delivery
- enhanced aerobic delivery
- increased energy levels and stamina
- increased exercise duration and intensity
- improved release of growth hormone in response to sleep and exercise, improving recovery and promoting anabolic (or anti-catabolicc) environment
- anti-inflammatory, join care and tendon care
- reduction of inflammation by over training and assisting in healing injuries
When I mentioned hydrogenated and emulsified fats, these are the big no nos, as they contain a higher proportion of trans-fatty acids, some trans fats are typically found naturally in meat and dairy products, however the majority in modern diets come from processed foods/fats. These are worse than sat fats and should be avoided completely.
A myth that is known around the world is that saturated fats are bad for you. This is wrong. Your body makes its own natural source of saturated fat if it is not given enough, and it will also not make you fat.
see above, not quite 100% right, but not 100% wrong. As you said some sat fats are needed, but it's getting the good ones in and keeping the bad ones out.
For this diet, whole eggs are your best friend. They are the fastest absorbed protein you can eat, they contain a lot of good fats and they are very easy to cook.
Eggs are good, but you need variation in your diet - however I agree they're brilliant.
I eat 6+ whole eggs everyday, mainly as scrambled eggs at breakfast as they are absorbed fast after my body is in a fasted state from the nights sleep.
SOme people can develop allergies, and I'm a big fan of variation in the diet, 6 every day seems excessive to me, but if you're happy with that then keep at it. However you're right, their bio-availability is very high, though reduces significantly when cooked unfortunately. Poached is the most "clean" way of having them as you're not oxidising the proteins - but that's getting onto microbiology and is a little excessive
Olive oil, where ever possible add this to your meals, on salad, in your scrambled eggs (if you have them), in your shakes etc...
Don't think sunflower oil and that is good for you, it isn't all what people make it out to be, especially for frying as it oxidizes. Use lard if your doing to fry.
Coconut oil is phenomenal for this - but most people use olive oil - but I agree olive oil rocks. You can try nut oils, again a good source of fats. But frying is second to grilling/poaching/roasting IMO.
Is there ant particular reason why you wont eat cheese? High in fats and protein and tastes lovely
This is where you have to be careful, as a lot of cheeses are processed and not "pure" - and as such contain naughty fats. A little amount of cheese is ok, but it is very calorific with not the best macros for your dietary intake, but a couple of thin slices are fine. Now cottage cheese on the other hand is the snack to have.
Fish such as salmon/mackeral is high in good fats, very healthy for you.
YES! Very good. Mackerel is even better though. Sardines are brilliant too.
Nuts, again a good snack which can be taken nearly anywhere, high in good fats and protein.
Nuts are good as long as they're not roasted, salted, and as plain as possible.
Just a few which I use, been low carbing for a while now and I love it. Not for everyone though, just needs a bit of experimenting to see what suits who.
http://forum.myprotein.co.uk/
Far and away the best health forums I have come across, friendly and knowledgeable.
There are better forums out there, but I have a lot of friends who use it and say it's ok... muscletalk, esnpro and bodybuilding.com to me come across much better and knowledgeable - with hard facts nad proof.