Life In The Low Carb Lane
By Di Bauer, CarbSmart Editor
Posted 3/9/2002
The Fat Fast (also called the Atkins fat fast), as outlined by Dr. Atkins in Dr. Atkins New Diet Revolution, is a tool that low carbers who are metabolically resistant can use to get themselves quickly into ketosis. It is also used by many low carbers (myself among them) to break a weight loss plateau or as a means of forcing themselves to get back on track when they have gone off-plan.
Simply put, the Fat Fast consists of a 3 or 5-day cycle in which you consume just 1,000 calories a day. 90% of those calories should come from fat. (The Fat Fast should not be extended beyond 5 days because it is deficient in protein.)
Dr. Atkins states that eating 4 or 5 mini-meals is better for our bodies than eating one large meal while doing the Fat Fast. During the Fat Fast you may consume either 4 250-calorie mini-meals or 5 200-calorie mini-meals. Consuming these small meals frequently throughout the day actually works better than complete fasting.
Dr. Atkins mentions cream cheese and macadamia nuts as the "perfect" Fat Fast foods. Ten ounces of cream cheese would be an entire day's food allotment; divide the cream cheese into 5 2-ounce servings. You could also opt for 5 ounces of macadamia nuts split into 5 1-ounce servings and consumed throughout the day.
That's not a lot of food. I find that when I do the Fat Fast I think about food constantly. I don't obsess about food because I get hungry (surprisingly, I do not get hungry), but simply because I can't have any - at least not any that I really want. The Fat Fast makes regular strict low carbing look absolutely luxurious.
I'm going to be completely honest here: I hate, loathe, and detest doing the Fat Fast. I get very grumpy because I get frustrated. My family says that I don't, but that just makes me think that they don't notice the difference because maybe, just maybe, I'm a pretty grumpy person all the time. It's either that or the kids are ignoring me in the same way they do when I tell them to clean their rooms or do their homework. Or perhaps they simply value their lives and know when to keep their mouths shut. The survival instinct is very strong in my brood.
(***Note: "But I was doing the Fat Fast!" is not a legitimate legal defense for mayhem or murder. I know this is true. I've checked.)
OK, I know what you want to ask me: "If the Fat Fast is so incredibly awful, why do you do it, you stupid woman?!?" (Well, you might not say the "stupid woman" part because you are ever so polite, but I know you're thinking it.)
Why? Because it works for me. If I am not in ketosis when I start the Fat Fast, I am when it's over. If I am having cravings to beat the band and hanging on by the skin of my teeth, when the Fat Fast is over the cravings are G - O - N - E and I'm perfectly happy to go back to munching on chicken legs and salads. If I've hit a plateau and stopped losing weight, my weight loss is jump started.
I've done the Fat Fast a half a dozen times in the last three years, and each time I have lost between 5 and 8 pounds during the three-day cycle. After I go back to eating normal low carb, I gain 2 to 4 of those pounds back, but have always ended up with a net loss for the 3-day period of between 2 to 4 pounds. (Your experience may be different from mine. The only way to find out for sure is to try it.)
Of course, a lot of people don't even consider doing the Fat Fast to get into ketosis or to break a stall because they can't stand the idea of subsisting on plain cream cheese and/or macadamia nuts for 3 days. I don't know about you, but I would be more likely to be able to cut off my big toe with a dull paring knife than I would be able to gag down 10 ounces of plain cream cheese. My throat closes up at the very thought. And I don't particularly like macadamia nuts, either.
Well, I don't have to choke down plain cream cheese or eat macadamia nuts, thank goodness. You don't, either. Dr. Atkins lists several alternatives in his chapter on the Fat Fast, and although caviar and avocados don't appeal to me, you may very well like them.
I have also developed a list of alternative food choices for the Fat Fast, which I've listed below. Some of them don't quite come up to the "90% of the calories from fat" parameter, but they come close enough and have worked for me.
Fat Fast Ideas And Recipes
There is one further plus to the Fast Fast which I haven't mentioned. There is very little food preparation involved. None of the ideas or recipes listed below will take you more than 5 minutes to prepare.
- 1/4 cup heavy or whipping cream in a large mug of coffee (I use this to jump start my day and prevent abuse of those near and sometimes dear to me. In the summer I make it the night before and put it in the refrigerator, then pour it over ice. You could also pour it into popsicle molds and freeze it for Coffee Fat Fasticles. Yum!)
- 4 strips of bacon
- Peanut Butter Cream Cheese
- 1 ounce cream cheese
- 1 tablespoon sugar free peanut butter
- 1 tablespoon heavy or whipping cream
- 10 drops Liquid Sweet & Low (or artificial sweetener of your choice)
- 1/8 teaspoon ground cinnamon
Blend all ingredients in a small bowl.
Serves 1. Approximately 208 calories.
***Note: If you life this one, make up several servings at one time and stick them into the refrigerator in custard cups for individual servings. That way you only have one cleanup.
- 2 ounces of cream cheese stuffed in one large celery stalk
- 1/2 pork rinds with 2 ounces of sour cream
- Pork Rinds With Sour Cream Dip (This is not my recipe - Judi (Island Girl) forwarded it to me.)
- 1/2 ounce plain pork rinds (1/6 of 3-ounce bag)
- 1/4 cup sour cream
- 1 tablespoon grated parmesan cheese
Blend parmesan into sour cream and use as dip for pork rinds
Without Parmesan: 164 calories, 8 grams fat (79%)
With Parmesan: 187 calories, 15 grams fat (77%)
- 2 tablespoons of sugar free peanut butter on an approximately 7 1/2-inch stalk of celery.
- 1/4 cup heavy or whipping cream, whipped, sweetened with artificial sweetener, and flavored with vanilla or some other extract.
- 2 ounces of sour cream on approximately 1/2 cup sliced cucumber.
- Tuna or chicken salad with triple the usually amount of mayonnaise.
I cook the bejeebers out of a whole chicken in the crockpot until the meat is literally falling off the bones, then shred the meat and save it for chicken salad or for soups. I strain the broth carefully (watch for small bones!) and freeze
it.
I will usually reuse the broth to cook more than one chicken, which results in a superb, flavorful extra-strength broth which is great to sip on if you're sick.
- 2 egg yolks mashed up with lots of mayonnaise, salt, and pepper (like you
would for deviled eggs), but eaten plain or with a few pork rinds, cucumber slices, or a celery stick
- Peanut Butter Pudding (This is Rani Merens' recipe.)
- 2 tablespoons of sour cream
- 1 teaspoon sugar free peanut butter
- Splenda (to taste)
Combine all the ingredients. This thickens up magnificently, and can either be
eaten "as is" or partially frozen, but don't let it get rock hard unless you just want to suck on it.
***Note: If you life this one, make up several servings at one time and stick them into the refrigerator in custard cups for individual servings. That way you only have one cleanup.
- 1/4 cup heavy or whipping cream in a can of diet soda (any flavor)
- 1/2 package sugar free Jell-O in 1/2 cup whipped heavy or whipping cream
- 1/4 cup heavy or whipping cream, whipped, with 1 teaspoon unsweetened cocoa
powder and a few drops of liquid artificial sweetener added (to taste).
***Note: If you life this one, make up several servings at one time and stick them into the refrigerator in custard cups for individual servings. That way you only have one cleanup.
- Jell-O Whip (Someone named Chris sent this to me a couple of years ago.)
- 1 small package sugar free Jell-O (any flavor)
- 1/2 cup boiling water
- 4 ice cubes
- 8 ounces cream cheese, at room temperature and cut into cubes
- 4 tablespoons heavy or whipping cream
Dissolve the Jell-O completely in the boiling water, then add the ice cubes to cool it down and to thicken it.
When the ice cubes are melted, pour the gelatin mixture in the blender and add the cutup cream cheese. Whirl it around until the ingredients are completely blended. Pour the mixture into a mixing bowl.
Whip the four ounces of cream, then fold it into the cream cheese mixture.
Divide the mixture into 5 equal portions, cover each with plastic wrap, and put them in the refrigerator to chill.
This makes 5 servings, or all the you need for one day of the Fat Fast. Of course, you wouldn't have to eat all 5 servings in one day. You could alternate them with other food choices.
- Cream Cheese Jell-O Chunks (Someone sent me this idea, too, but I've misplaced their name).
10 ounces cream cheese, cut into 20 equal squares (Not softened!)
1 small packet sugar free Jell-O, any flavor
Pour the dry gelatin powder into a small bowl or onto a salad plate. Set aside.
Roll the 20 cream cheese squares into balls. Roll each ball in the dry gelatin mixture. Place the coated balls on a plate, cover them with plastic wrap, and put them in the refrigerator until you're ready to eat them
Each Fat Fast serving is 4 balls.
Further Reading:
Back to Life in the Low Carb Lane by Di Bauer - CarbSmart Magazine's editor offers her view of low carbing and helpful tips to make low carbing easier and more productive.
Back to CarbSmart Magazine - the online resources for hundreds of articles supporting the low carb dieter, diabetics and people reducing their sugar intake.
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