Thread by @LeeAase

THREAD: After 4 years on my health journey (and having lost >50 lbs.), here are my top 20 weight loss and #health tips, things I really wish I had known 20 years ago. #LCHF

1. Stop the Sugar - Avoid #fructose, sucrose, lactose or pretty much anything else that ends in -ose. #Sugar causes blood glucose spikes, which raises your levels of insulin, the main fat-storage hormone.

2. Limit net carbohydrates to 50g or less daily. Lower is even better, shooting for 15g per meal. Calculate net #carbs by subtracting grams of fiber from total carbs.

3. Avoid processed carbohydrates, which convert rapidly to sugar as you digest them, quickly raising your blood glucose and #insulin levels.

4. Avoid starchy vegetables. This was a hard one for me because I really enjoy potatoes in all their forms. But just as processed carbs convert quickly to sugar, so do these starches.

5. Avoid #grains. Get your carbs from something other than the seeds of grasses. This guidance came from @WilliamDavisMD , author of Wheat Belly and Undoctored.

6. Supplement smartly. As @WilliamDavisMD recommends, instead of multivitamins, focus on a few key difference-makers. Supplements we take daily include fish oil (3,000 mg of EPA and DHA), Kelp (for Iodine), Magnesium, Turmeric, Zinc, and vitamins C, D3 (5,000 IU) and K2.

7. Boost NAD+. I learned this from @davidasinclair via @PeterAttiaMD's podcast. This is the most expensive change Lisa and I have made, at about $45 per month for each of us. I'll have a future blog post on this one.

8. Optimize your gut microbiome. As @WilliamDavisMD suggests, a one-month course of #probiotics and prebiotic fiber lays a good foundation for gut health.

9. When you consume #dairy products, make them full-fat. (h/t @KenDBerryMD) Skim milk is the worst: it has all of the sugar (lactose) and none of the fat. Fat is satisfying. @LisaAase & I rarely drink milk, but if we did it would be whole (4%) milk. Eat full-fat cheeses, too.

10. Enjoy creamy homemade yogurt, another recommendation from @WilliamDavisMD. L. reuteri yogurt, which I make with roughly equal portions of heavy whipping cream and half-and-half, is delicious, filling and has significant health benefits.

11. Drink water instead of milk or sweetened beverages. Don’t drink your calories. (h/t @tferriss) Fruit juice can have nearly as much sugar as soda. And even though drinks with artificial sweeteners don’t have calories, their taste can trigger release of insulin.

12. Eat like your grandparents did. That means eating real food instead of something that came out of a box. Have #eggs for breakfast instead of cereal. Don’t eat between meals, and eliminate after-dinner snacks.

13. Don’t count calories. Eat until you feel satisfied. Beef, chicken, fish, eggs, bacon, ham, butter and other foods that contain both fat and protein “stick to your ribs,” as grandma used to say.

14. Eat fruit in moderation. Our ancestors didn’t have fresh fruit year-round. Fruit has fructose (see #1), so I eat it mostly in season, or mixed in my homemade yogurt (see #10).

15. Eat dark chocolate. I have a 25g Moser Roth® Dark 85% bar as a healthy, delicious treat after my last meal most days, sometimes with a glass of cabernet or merlot. Having broken the sugar habit, even dark chocolate seems sweet.

16. Weigh daily. I have a bluetooth scale, which syncs to an app in my iPhone, and since Feb. 2019 I've weighed almost every morning. I’m down 38 lbs. since then, to 199. I weigh first thing every morning, and this constant feedback will alert me if I ever creep over 205.

17. WHEN you eat matters as much as WHAT you eat. Confine your eating to a 6-8 hour window to have an extended daily period of lower insulin levels, which is essential to getting into fat-burning mode. @drjasonfung is the leading medical champion of #fasting.

18. Lift weights. Building muscle is good for your overall health and vitality, and also increases your metabolism. Free weights are best: they involve the whole body in natural movements. My go-to #barbell exercises are bench press, squat and deadlift on alternate days.

19. Do some cardiovascular exercise. I’ve been doing 20-30 minutes of cardio most days lately using a @WaterRower. I think my combination of resistance training with free weights strikes a good balance for overall health and fitness.

20. Avoidance isn’t always. I still occasionally have a baked potato, pizza, pasta or my favorite ice cream dessert. As @drjasonfung says, “Eat that birthday cake!” When you get your metabolic health in order, you can enjoy those treats without guilt.

This thread is a summary of this post on my blog, social-media-university-global.org/2020/11/top-20…, distilling observations I have shared (so far) as part of this series social-media-university-global.org/my-health-jour… #fasting #LCHF

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