FAT in PHASE 4 or after.. For Life...???
 

I am very near my goal weight and am currently upping carbs by 5g a wk until I stop loosing/gaining.
I have never really established how much fat to add after phase 4... And what is the purpose of that fat.. Is it to remain in Ketosis for life? Or to fill you up?

I suffer from chronic constipation and find sweet potato the best form of fibre For Me (I've tried EVERYTHING)
So I would like to start to add a bit of sweet potato to my evening meal. In the past (after weight loss, I would either eat Fat Free with carbs or High Fat low carb.. It is a new concept for me to add butter to a piece of sweet potato, I'm just trying to establish what would be the best approach FOR LIFE..After the diet.. And to fully understand the Reasoning for adding fat..
I do tend to get hungry suddenly every four hours and can sometimes over eat protein in the form of multiple cans of tuna. I'd like to up my veggies and generally learn how to feel full after a meal.

This is an interesting question. There will be many others here who will know more of the science than I do and I look forward to the answer!

My understanding of Atkins is that he said something like - you may find that you will need to eat a lot like the diet you ate to lose weight, only you are able to deviate in small ways. I’m pretty sure Just Jo has the quote at her fingertips. And the “small ways” mean more cheese, fruit and veg, not donuts!

For me, following the macros when increasing carbs over the summer seems to have worked. So where I was keeping carbs to 5% of my diet last year, over the summer while traveling I looked at more like 15-20% of my diet (but not made up of sugar - mostly fruit and legumes, occasional slice of bread) which automatically forces the fat and protein into a slight rearrangement. I use fitness pal to track it. I ignore the calories, but you do have to set calories in order to work our percentages so I chose to set it at an average of what I noticed I was eating over the first year. But basically I go by carb count, hunger, and not eating between 8:30 pm and noon. If I got cravings or woke up hunger in the morning, I knew I was eating too many carbs even if they weren’t,t “refined”!

But still, anything under 100 carbs a say is still considered low carb by the diabetes association.

I really think this is personal experimentation.

The only thing I know for sure is falling into the trap of both high fat and low carb is a recipe for disaster.

Im looking forward to what our most experienced members have to say!

If other foods with fiber don't work, how do you know that it's even the fiber in sweet potato that makes you go?

A diet that leans more on fat and protein vs. carbohydrate should give lower insulin whether it's at weight loss levels or in maintenance. Low insulin foods might matter more in maintenance--especially if maintenance for you involves needing to take in more calories. Losing weight primes our system in various ways to get fat again, if the opportunity arises--and increasing insulin/carbs too far going into maintenance counts here as an opportunity.

In my family, We regularly supplement our diet with probiotics. From pills, to yogurts, kefir, komioucha, buttermilks, etc. Fresh sauer kraut. ANd the fibers to support these. Eating these regularly makes all the difference.

Why both high fat low carb a disaster exactly?

I'm guessing at a typo and the intention was to say that high fat paired with high carb was a disaster.

Thanks teaser, yes.
High fat and high carb (think French fries or pizza) = instant weight gain.

Falling of the wagon in that way can lead to to very sad results. At least it did for me. Losing the fear of fat and then adding in carbs was my personal 2008 disaster.

I would think eating sweet potatoes could work well because you have lost most of the weight you wanted to lose. There is even a book based around dieting through eating sweet potatoes. See "The Sweet Potato Diet."

Book

3 or 4 table spoons of Flax seeds are healthy and high fibre. I also get constipated due to pains meds slowing everything down.

I have perfect BM daily but I also eat a fresh veggies daily. I cannot do any type of hulls/fiber or seeds so the veggies work fine.
I was craving sweet potato last year and it wouldn't stop until I had some. I think it was a vitamin A deficiency though since LC keeps me away from carrots and sweet potatoes/root veggies.

My favorite ones are called Garnet Yams, the small tubers are tender without the woodiness of larger sweet potatoes. I boil and mash with butter and they're divine!! Haven't had them since last winter but looking forward to buying them again when they're in season.

The sweet potato is delicious with no side effects like flax or bran. However I'm calculating just a 1/4 of a medium s.potato is still around 15 net carbs. I'm aiming for 25 net carbs this week then 30 next wk and so on but I have gone over the past 2 days because of the potato sizing. Time will tell how much of one I can eat daily when I figure my CL. But it really filled me up for the day and stabilised blood sugar. I put a tablespoon of butter on it.

My Mistake, 1/2 medium baked sweet potato is 11g net carbs so fingers crossed I don't go up on the scales this week. May skip the cheese so I can add broccoli as I've never been good at getting my carbs from veggies, I have a filthy sweet tooth and cheese fascination.

Have you ever tried pumpkin (it is known to ease constipation in pets)? I buy a large can of pure pumpkin puree, divide it into ~1/4-cup portions (~5g net carbs each) & keep them in the freezer. You can eat it plain or with butter or throw it into a savory dish or go sweet and make a pumpkin pie pudding: thaw one portion in the microwave, add some cinnamon & stevia & butter, stir & and heat it some more for a warm pumpkin-pie-tasting pudding. It is easier to apportion than a sweet potato and keeping individual portions in the freezer keeps it handy & fresh.

Ive eaten it lots but only sweet potato works on me.

If you're in Phase 4, have your sweet potato. Cut it up in quarters and have one or two pieces. Add a spoonful of coconut oil if you like. See how you do with that. Dairy is constipating, so the oil will probably work better for you than butter. If you find you need to adjust the amount or frequency of the oil or the potato (your body and the scale will let you know soon enough), you can make that up as you go along.

If you like avocado, try eating that, too. I sometimes eat one entire small Haas avocado for breakfast or lunch. It is delicious, nutritious, filling, and cures a multitude of ills!

High-water-content vegetables, melons and berries will add fiber and water to your diet, so go for those first. Cucumbers, tomatoes, celery, bell pepper, romaine lettuce are good choices. Add mayo to your tuna. Mash it in there good. :) Try canned pink Alaskan salmon as an alternative. Think lubricating and hydrating to fill you up and keep you more regular and not just "roughage" which can actually cause constipation!