The concept of low carbohydrate living is not new. It has been around from day one. It is the diet that fed early humans and kept the growing population healthy long before modern medicine evolved into what it is today.
The Low Carbohydrate Diet Time Line
Early Humans: Hunter-gatherers consumed diets high in both protein and fat and mostly low in carbohydrates.
1797: A low-carbohydrate diet became the standard treatment for diabetes, and it remained so throughout the 19th century.
1863: William Banting published a booklet, entitled, "Letter on Corpulence Addressed to the Public", a diet for weight control, eliminating bread, sugar, beer, butter, milk, and potatoes. His approach was so popular that the term “Banting” became synonymous with “dieting”.
1967: Dr Wolfgang Lutz, an Austrian physician, published his book, which was later introduced in the U.S. as Life Without Bread.
1972: Dr. Robert Atkins first published Dr. Atkins Diet Revolution, a low-carbohydrate diet, successfully used for weight loss with his patients.
1981: The glycemic index was created to track the speed of digestion of carbohydrates and how fast of an effect carbs have on blood sugar levels – simple carbohydrates cause a rapid increase in blood sugar while slower digesting complex carbohydrates cause a slower rise in blood sugar.
1995: Dr. Michael Eades and Mary Dan Eades, M.D.'s published Protein Power.
1997: Diana Schwarzbein published The Schwarzbein Principle: The Truth About Losing Weight, Being Healthy, and Feeling Younger.
2000: Research begins to emerge demonstrating that a low-carbohydrate diet isn’t just used as a treatment for obesity, but for numerous health conditions, notably diabetes, epilepsy, chronic fatigue syndrome, polycystic ovarian syndrome.
2001: Dr. Atkins published Dr. Atkins New Diet Revolution.
Ida Fiorella and Emily Fiorella embark on a low carbohydrate lifestyle.
2004: Approximately 1 in every 6 Americans is on a reduced-carbohydrate diet.
American corporations adversely impacted by the popularity of low-carb diets form powerful lobbies and mobilize forces to squash the credibility of low carb diets.
2006: The American Academy of Family Physicians (AAFP) released a discussion paper on the Atkins Diet, acknowledging it as a legitimate weight loss approach.
2007: The Journal of the American Medical Association, researchers at Stanford University compared four popular, brand-name diets: Atkins, Ornish, Zone, and the USDA food pyramid, demonstrating a 40 to 70 percent greater weight loss of women following Atkins as compared with the other diets.
Good Calories, Bad Calories, by Gary Taubes, is published, explaining the importance of living a low carbohydrate lifestyle. Three years later, his second book, Why We Get Fat and What to Do About It becomes another best seller.
2011: Ida Fiorella and Emily Fiorella publish Thin and Thinner, detailing the success of ten years on a low carbohydrate diet.
Wheat Belly: Lose the Wheat, Lose the Weight, and Find Your Path Back to Health, by William Davis, M.D., is published.
The following is just a small sampling of articles attesting to the health benefits of a low carb diet:
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Low-carbohydrate_diet
A low-carbohydrate diet is being used as a treatment for obesity, diabetes, epilepsy, chronic fatigue syndrome, and polycystic ovarian syndrome.
http://www.emaxhealth.com/1020/low-carb-high-protein-diet-curbs-cancer-growth-could-be-good-prevention
Adopting a high protein, low carbohydrate diet can benefit cancer patients by slowing tumor growth. (2011)
http://www.nutritionandmetabolism.com/content/2/1/34
Low carb diets are effective in controlling type-two diabetes. (2005)
http://www.guardian.co.uk/science/2008/may/03/medicalresearch
Giving children with epilepsy a special low carb diet reduces the number of seizures they experience by 75% compared with children on a normal diet, according to a study carried out at Great Ormond Street Hospital. (2008)
Saturday, September 24, 2011
Monday, September 5, 2011
Q. What motivated Thin and Thinner to try a low carbohydrate diet 10 years ago?
The Science Behind the Diet!
Our bodies burn calories in the following order: carbohydrates, fats, and then protein (muscle).
When carbohydrates are consumed, the body turns them into glucose which provides instant energy.
But, if you don’t burn off the carbs immediately, your body will release insulin. Once your insulin hormone turns on, it takes the sugar out of the blood, and stores it as fat. At that time, you will no longer feel energetic.
Insulin is needed to take sugar out of the blood because too much sugar in the blood is damaging. High blood sugar leads to circulation problems, blindness, and many other issues. One of the more recent discoveries is that cancer cells thrive off of it. Often times, too much insulin is released and it mops up all of the sugar in your blood, leaving you with ultra low blood sugar levels, causing you to crave more carbohydrates.
The key is, if you eat moderate to little carbohydrates, your body will never release too much insulin, you won’t feel deprived, and then you can move to burning fat for fuel.
If you have a constant supply of carbohydrates/sugar in your blood, your body will NEVER burn fat. As explained in the first point in today’s blog: “Our bodies burn calories in the following order: carbohydrates, fats, and then protein (muscle).”… Not until you run out of carbs to burn will you get to fat burning mode.
Let me simplify and over-explain:
1. Carbs are converted into sugar in the blood and then get stored as fat.
2. Carbs make you crave more carbs.
3. Carbs won’t let your body burn fat because the sugar molecules have to get burned off first.
If you want to learn more, don’t hesitate to buy our book, Thin and Thinner! We are not celebrities, nor do we have personal Chef’s. Planning what to eat isn’t any easier for us than it will be for you, as we both work full-time jobs, and have real world responsibilities. We are just the girls next door that want to help our neighbors lose weight and keep it off.
In the book, we share with our readers what we eat throughout the week, easy and delicious recipes, grocery lists, substitutes for numerous comfort food cravings, where to find the best authors and doctors for more motivation and encouragement, and so much more.
You can find us on amazon.com, barnesandnoble.com, smashwords.com, as well as via the link on the side of this web page. Our e-book reviews and feedback have been extremely positive. We are presently moving forward with producing soft cover books.
Our bodies burn calories in the following order: carbohydrates, fats, and then protein (muscle).
When carbohydrates are consumed, the body turns them into glucose which provides instant energy.
But, if you don’t burn off the carbs immediately, your body will release insulin. Once your insulin hormone turns on, it takes the sugar out of the blood, and stores it as fat. At that time, you will no longer feel energetic.
Insulin is needed to take sugar out of the blood because too much sugar in the blood is damaging. High blood sugar leads to circulation problems, blindness, and many other issues. One of the more recent discoveries is that cancer cells thrive off of it. Often times, too much insulin is released and it mops up all of the sugar in your blood, leaving you with ultra low blood sugar levels, causing you to crave more carbohydrates.
The key is, if you eat moderate to little carbohydrates, your body will never release too much insulin, you won’t feel deprived, and then you can move to burning fat for fuel.
If you have a constant supply of carbohydrates/sugar in your blood, your body will NEVER burn fat. As explained in the first point in today’s blog: “Our bodies burn calories in the following order: carbohydrates, fats, and then protein (muscle).”… Not until you run out of carbs to burn will you get to fat burning mode.
Let me simplify and over-explain:
1. Carbs are converted into sugar in the blood and then get stored as fat.
2. Carbs make you crave more carbs.
3. Carbs won’t let your body burn fat because the sugar molecules have to get burned off first.
If you want to learn more, don’t hesitate to buy our book, Thin and Thinner! We are not celebrities, nor do we have personal Chef’s. Planning what to eat isn’t any easier for us than it will be for you, as we both work full-time jobs, and have real world responsibilities. We are just the girls next door that want to help our neighbors lose weight and keep it off.
In the book, we share with our readers what we eat throughout the week, easy and delicious recipes, grocery lists, substitutes for numerous comfort food cravings, where to find the best authors and doctors for more motivation and encouragement, and so much more.
You can find us on amazon.com, barnesandnoble.com, smashwords.com, as well as via the link on the side of this web page. Our e-book reviews and feedback have been extremely positive. We are presently moving forward with producing soft cover books.
Sunday, August 21, 2011
Thinner Fuels Her Work Week with Low Carb Convenience Foods
I work in sales and marketing where I’m constantly running around with clients. In order to perform all of the functions necessary for the job I must have an endless source of energy.
By eating the proper foods (protein, healthy fats, and fiber) I know I can achieve having a high energy level all day long without any cravings.
I wanted to share the example of what I ate last week and how I prepared a few delicious snacks in advance that offer both variety and convenience.
On Sunday night I stocked up on all of my favorite low carb groceries.
I made Chocolate Chip Bran Muffins for mid morning and/or afternoon snack.
Recipe:
Low Carb, High Fiber Muffin Mix -
2 Eggs
1/4 cup of sugar free strawberry jam
2 tbsp brown rice flour
1-1/2 tspn baking soda
1 scoop protein powder (I use Syntrax Strawberry Mouse)
1/2 cup greek yogurt
1 cup oat bran (boiled/steamed in one cup of water)
Sugar Free Chocolate Chunks -
2 tbsp half n half
2 oz. unsweetened baking chocolate
2 packets of splenda + 2 packets of Truvia
1 full dropper of liquid Stevia
Melt chocolate chunk ingredients in microwave safe bowl for 30 seconds. Mix until thick, pour and flatten onto cling wrap. Place in freezer while prepparing the muffin mixture.
Pre-heat oven 375
In large mixing bowl whisk muffin mixture together, add to greased muffin pan or glass baking square. Break apart chocolate and pour over mixture. Bake for 25 minutes.
I made chicken, hummus roll ups and kale chips for lunch.
Recipe:
Chicken Hummus Roll Ups -
2-3 slices Nitrate Free/No Preservatives Chicken Cold Cuts
1 slice Mozzerella Cheese
2 tbsp Roasted Red Pepper Hummus
Roll up chicken, secure with a toothpick, place in a zip lock bag, then into the freezer (will thaw out by lunch time).
Kale Chips -
1 bag of Kale
2-3 tbsp olive oil
Salt/Pepper to taste
Mix ingredients in large mixing bowl. Then dehydrate at 135 degrees for 10+ hours, until crispy
I eat Yo'tmeal for breakfast. Find the recipe in "Thin and Thinner"
By eating the proper foods (protein, healthy fats, and fiber) I know I can achieve having a high energy level all day long without any cravings.
I wanted to share the example of what I ate last week and how I prepared a few delicious snacks in advance that offer both variety and convenience.
On Sunday night I stocked up on all of my favorite low carb groceries.
I made Chocolate Chip Bran Muffins for mid morning and/or afternoon snack.
Recipe:
Low Carb, High Fiber Muffin Mix -
2 Eggs
1/4 cup of sugar free strawberry jam
2 tbsp brown rice flour
1-1/2 tspn baking soda
1 scoop protein powder (I use Syntrax Strawberry Mouse)
1/2 cup greek yogurt
1 cup oat bran (boiled/steamed in one cup of water)
Sugar Free Chocolate Chunks -
2 tbsp half n half
2 oz. unsweetened baking chocolate
2 packets of splenda + 2 packets of Truvia
1 full dropper of liquid Stevia
Melt chocolate chunk ingredients in microwave safe bowl for 30 seconds. Mix until thick, pour and flatten onto cling wrap. Place in freezer while prepparing the muffin mixture.
Pre-heat oven 375
In large mixing bowl whisk muffin mixture together, add to greased muffin pan or glass baking square. Break apart chocolate and pour over mixture. Bake for 25 minutes.
I made chicken, hummus roll ups and kale chips for lunch.
Recipe:
Chicken Hummus Roll Ups -
2-3 slices Nitrate Free/No Preservatives Chicken Cold Cuts
1 slice Mozzerella Cheese
2 tbsp Roasted Red Pepper Hummus
Roll up chicken, secure with a toothpick, place in a zip lock bag, then into the freezer (will thaw out by lunch time).
Kale Chips -
1 bag of Kale
2-3 tbsp olive oil
Salt/Pepper to taste
Mix ingredients in large mixing bowl. Then dehydrate at 135 degrees for 10+ hours, until crispy
I eat Yo'tmeal for breakfast. Find the recipe in "Thin and Thinner"
Sunday, August 14, 2011
Thin's First Blog!
Thin’s Blog: August 12, 2011 
I am so thankful that I no longer need to diet. Having spent nearly a lifetime trying to shed pounds, I never dreamed that it would be so ridiculously simple to lose 35 pounds and keep it off for life. I have not dieted in over ten years. And, I am happy to say that I have traded in my size 14 for a size 6, and have remained the same size for over a decade.
In 2001, I had reached a point in my life, being fed up with diets. I was on vacation in Florida with my husband, visiting our daughter, Emily, who was attending college. I had lived through two weddings as the mother-of-the-bride, being disappointingly over-weight. Strict adherence to low calorie plans resulted in only minimal weight loss, from a size 14 to a size 12. On this vacation, I was again back up in weight. I was not quite sure that the size twelve pants in my suitcase would still fit by the end of the week. Dieting was a constant battle, and I was losing ground (not pounds) in the battle every year. No matter how strict I was, inevitably I would eat something that would derail all of my previous efforts.
I will never forget the evening that I went to the book store in Fort Lauderdale, determined to find the answer to permanent weight loss. I knew then that any low calorie plan was not going to result in long term weight loss for me. Whatever I was going to do, it was going to be something that I could live with for the rest of my life. There were definite non-negotiables. First, I needed to eat food that tasted good. I was sick to death of fat-free salad dressings, all of which tasted like chemicals; fat free cheese which had the texture and taste of galvanized rubber, and vegetables without butter (yuck!). Second, I needed to be able to follow the plan wherever I was, whether at a restaurant, a friend’s house, or a carnival. I had to have a variety of alternatives to eat that I could enjoy in any given situation. Third, the plan needed to be research-based and tested over a long period of time. I did not want to be a guinea pig, trying a plan, and finding out a few years down the line that I had ruined my vital organs by eliminating certain nutrients from my diet. Fourth, I needed to eat enough food to provide energy, as well as a sense that I was satisfied and not hungry. That night, I purchased Life Without Bread How a Low-Carbohydrate Diet Can Save Your Life, written by Christian B. Allan, PH.D and Wolfgang Lutz, M.D. It presented actual data from the medical files of Dr. Lutz who has used low-carbohydrate nutrition on many thousands of patients in Austria and Germany for more than forty years. After reading this book, I knew I had found my answer.
I became a sponge, soaking up every book and study that I could find on the topic of limiting carbohydrates. Here is a sampling of the books I devoured:
6 books by Dr. Atkins and website
4 books by Drs. Michael and Mary Dan Eades (re: Protein Power) and website
3 books by Diana Schwarzbein, M.D. (re: The Schwarzbein Principle)
Sugar Bust for Life by the Brennans
Jonny Bowden’s Living the Low Carb Life
Dana Carpender’s How I Gave Up My Low-Fat Diet and Lost 40 Pounds and website
Lick the Sugar Habit by Nancy Appleton
Thin for Good by Fred Pescatore, M.D.
George Stella’s Eating Stella Style
And recently, Why We Get Fat and Good Calories, Bad Calories by Gary Taubes
One of my favorite websites: Jimmy Moore’s Livin’ la Vida Low-Carb
Another favorite website: SugarFreeSheila.com
With this knowledge, I have achieved the following:
- successful maintenance of ideal weight
- high energy level
- “Everything I put in my mouth tastes great” being my reality
- easy to follow eating plan with flexibility and variety
- extremely good health
Emily and I have experimented in our respective kitchens and have tweaked old family recipes and many new ones to create 55 recipes that have become the basis for a very satisfying low carbohydrate lifestyle. We share every recipe that we use for our breakfasts, lunches, and nightly family dinners, as well as snacks and desserts.
We encourage you to purchase Thin and Thinner in which we provide extremely valuable suggestions to assist you in being healthy and thin for life. Our specific eating plans, grocery lists, strategies for dining out, menu suggestions, and recipes, are all laid out in an easy to follow format .
When purchasing any book that contains recipes, I highly recommend downloading to your computer the pdf version. The pdf version of our book, Thin and Thinner, can be found on Smashwords.com. From the table of contents, you can jump from section to section, and when you come to a recipe or chart that you know you will use, you could just print it and keep it in a handy file, rather than having to store the entire book on your recipe shelf.
We will continue to update this website with additional information and recipes each month. Please visit our site often and let us know how you are doing. We would love to hear from you.
Kind Regards,
Ida (Thin)
I am so thankful that I no longer need to diet. Having spent nearly a lifetime trying to shed pounds, I never dreamed that it would be so ridiculously simple to lose 35 pounds and keep it off for life. I have not dieted in over ten years. And, I am happy to say that I have traded in my size 14 for a size 6, and have remained the same size for over a decade.
In 2001, I had reached a point in my life, being fed up with diets. I was on vacation in Florida with my husband, visiting our daughter, Emily, who was attending college. I had lived through two weddings as the mother-of-the-bride, being disappointingly over-weight. Strict adherence to low calorie plans resulted in only minimal weight loss, from a size 14 to a size 12. On this vacation, I was again back up in weight. I was not quite sure that the size twelve pants in my suitcase would still fit by the end of the week. Dieting was a constant battle, and I was losing ground (not pounds) in the battle every year. No matter how strict I was, inevitably I would eat something that would derail all of my previous efforts.
I will never forget the evening that I went to the book store in Fort Lauderdale, determined to find the answer to permanent weight loss. I knew then that any low calorie plan was not going to result in long term weight loss for me. Whatever I was going to do, it was going to be something that I could live with for the rest of my life. There were definite non-negotiables. First, I needed to eat food that tasted good. I was sick to death of fat-free salad dressings, all of which tasted like chemicals; fat free cheese which had the texture and taste of galvanized rubber, and vegetables without butter (yuck!). Second, I needed to be able to follow the plan wherever I was, whether at a restaurant, a friend’s house, or a carnival. I had to have a variety of alternatives to eat that I could enjoy in any given situation. Third, the plan needed to be research-based and tested over a long period of time. I did not want to be a guinea pig, trying a plan, and finding out a few years down the line that I had ruined my vital organs by eliminating certain nutrients from my diet. Fourth, I needed to eat enough food to provide energy, as well as a sense that I was satisfied and not hungry. That night, I purchased Life Without Bread How a Low-Carbohydrate Diet Can Save Your Life, written by Christian B. Allan, PH.D and Wolfgang Lutz, M.D. It presented actual data from the medical files of Dr. Lutz who has used low-carbohydrate nutrition on many thousands of patients in Austria and Germany for more than forty years. After reading this book, I knew I had found my answer.
I became a sponge, soaking up every book and study that I could find on the topic of limiting carbohydrates. Here is a sampling of the books I devoured:
6 books by Dr. Atkins and website
4 books by Drs. Michael and Mary Dan Eades (re: Protein Power) and website
3 books by Diana Schwarzbein, M.D. (re: The Schwarzbein Principle)
Sugar Bust for Life by the Brennans
Jonny Bowden’s Living the Low Carb Life
Dana Carpender’s How I Gave Up My Low-Fat Diet and Lost 40 Pounds and website
Lick the Sugar Habit by Nancy Appleton
Thin for Good by Fred Pescatore, M.D.
George Stella’s Eating Stella Style
And recently, Why We Get Fat and Good Calories, Bad Calories by Gary Taubes
One of my favorite websites: Jimmy Moore’s Livin’ la Vida Low-Carb
Another favorite website: SugarFreeSheila.com
With this knowledge, I have achieved the following:
- successful maintenance of ideal weight
- high energy level
- “Everything I put in my mouth tastes great” being my reality
- easy to follow eating plan with flexibility and variety
- extremely good health
Emily and I have experimented in our respective kitchens and have tweaked old family recipes and many new ones to create 55 recipes that have become the basis for a very satisfying low carbohydrate lifestyle. We share every recipe that we use for our breakfasts, lunches, and nightly family dinners, as well as snacks and desserts.
We encourage you to purchase Thin and Thinner in which we provide extremely valuable suggestions to assist you in being healthy and thin for life. Our specific eating plans, grocery lists, strategies for dining out, menu suggestions, and recipes, are all laid out in an easy to follow format .
When purchasing any book that contains recipes, I highly recommend downloading to your computer the pdf version. The pdf version of our book, Thin and Thinner, can be found on Smashwords.com. From the table of contents, you can jump from section to section, and when you come to a recipe or chart that you know you will use, you could just print it and keep it in a handy file, rather than having to store the entire book on your recipe shelf.
We will continue to update this website with additional information and recipes each month. Please visit our site often and let us know how you are doing. We would love to hear from you.
Kind Regards,
Ida (Thin)
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