Interesting. This is probably where the "lapsed lowcarber" lands, much of the time. Accustomed to eating plenty of fat, the carbs just edge up and up...

Ubizmo

I found the absence of an index to Kwasniewski's "Optimal Nutrition" irritated me, so I compiled my own. It takes up 13 A4 pages and is more detailed than any publisher's index would be. I'd be happy to e-mail a copy to anyone who requests it from me at keith~evfit.com.

It's still in draft, so let me know of anything missing and I'll add the references.

oooh, good point!

What a great contribution. When I get back to my work computer I'll ask for one.

I have distributed a few copies. I'd also appreciate comments on the index from Optimal Diet users who have been on the diet for some time and who may not have referred to "Optimal Nutrition" for a while, but who have enough experience with the diet to make informed criticism of my work.

It is a great contribution, and after receiving my copy yesterday, I enjoyed reading it for a while. My book is still on its way from Poland, and I am eagerly awaiting it.

This seems to be very interesting. It actually makes me nervous to think about my ideal weight which is 130 - 144.... Can I actually make it? Is it too much pressure to even think like that, rather than going for a more comfortable goal weight of my own choosing?

kaarren, these questions are the same that I have. Here's how I decided to think about it:

(1) He says to use ideal weight as the basis for calculating protein requirement, which in turn is the basis for calculating the other macros.

(2) We're to eat the ratios 1:2.5:0.8 (protein:fat:carb) until we "stabilize" at our ideal weight. Well, since I have so much to lose, even with 15 lbs skin, if I get down there I'll be more like 147. If I lose zero LBM and get down to 25 BMI, I'll be 175 (excluding excess skin). This is very confusing.

(3) Focus on the word "stabilize". In all likelihood, if my body (including my skin) doesn't want to get down to 132, my weight will stabilize at some point. What's that mean? Until I have my books and can see if there's any more guidance in there, I'm guessing no weight loss for 12 months. I'm basing this on having read others' experiences with looooong plateaus.

(4) Therefore, I'm basing my macros on ideal body weight, but not using "ideal body weight" necessarily as my goal weight (though that's what I've entered in my stats---for now). If my weight stabilizes at 175---meaning I hang out there for 12 months with no change, I might declare myself finished, and move to the maintenance ratios of 1:3.5:0.8. These will still control my insulin (due to control of both protein and carbs), so hopefully prevent any weight gain after I go to all this work to lose the fat.

hope that's helpful in some way

My copy of Homo Optimus arrived today, 18 days after I posted the form to the publisher. I did not receive an acknowledging e-mail. I was pleasantly surprised to find that the book contains 133 recipes.

It is an interesting read--if you find the first part a little wierd, keep going, because it has dietary information mixed in.

I posted another Kwasniewski topic here.

http://forum.lowcarber.org/showthread.php?t=417646

Perhaps I should have posted it here as this single thread appears to serve as an Optimal Diet forum. What do you think?

Probably a good idea to post it here, since there aren't that many people interested in it, and this thread seems to be the place to talk about it.

Quoting from that other thread:



I haven't read the book, nor do I have any immediate plans to do so. I'm following the diet, to the extent that I try to adhere to the macronutrient ratios, as I understand them. I don't know if JK is ambivalent about carbs, or just trying to be accommodating.

For example, the first set of claims is consistent, if read in a certain way. It's true that there is no dietary requirement for carbs. It's also true that JK we are better off if we eat some. So, although the human organism doesn't "require" carbs, the Optimal Diet does.

Obviously I haven't looked at the recipes. It seems that things like flour and sugar are on the "avoid" list, but not forbidden outright. I agree that this could be confusing. I suppose the best way to understand his recommendations is to think of them as minimizing exposure to sugar and flour.

Ubizmo

OK. I would like to know what dedicated optimal dieters outside Poland (from, say, UK, Canada, USA, Australia) have for breakfast. I don't see most of you having Kwasniewski's porridge or headcheese loaf - so what do you have?

When I tried JK, breaking fast usually consisted of:

3 eggs scrambled in butter

6 oz of potato fried in butter

4 slices of liverwurst

1/2 cup of heavy cream

I often have 3 boiled eggs, 4 strips of bacon, and some fruit or berries in a half cup of sour cream.

Or I just have some leftover meat from the day before.

Ubizmo