Carbing it Up

I was told by another Paleo-er (which, we really need a better term to call one another now that I think about it. Unfortunately, since this lifestyle is still a bit too niche, it might actually do us a disservice though) that:

eating a crapload of carbs (complex) and low fat low pro... every 10 daya or so. Keeps your leptin up.

Now, I have been eating Paleo for the past 4 and a half months, with the only cheating I have done being small, very small, amounts. Even when cheating, I never do it enough in one day to even get down to the 80/20 principle that Mark from MarksDailyApple.com suggests for his followers and readers.

What is leptin? According to wikipedia, leptin is:

Leptin (Greek leptos meaning thin) is a 16 kDa protein hormone that plays a key role in regulating energy intake and energy expenditure, including appetite and metabolism. 

and:

The absence of a leptin (or its receptor) leads to uncontrolled food intake and resulting obesity. Several studies have shown that fasting or following a very-low-calorie diet (VLCD) lowers leptin levels.

Now, anecdotally speaking, I have not encountered this problem with the lowering of my leptin or its receptors due to my diet (I consume under 5% carbs from fruits and vegetable on a daily basis). This is more than likely due to fact that I still have a good amount of body fat that I wish to get rid of and leptins circulate throughout the body at levels that are relative to the amount of body fat one still has.

Regardless, since my weight-loss has tapered over the past 2 months to barely noticeable even though my body is still releasing excess ketones through my urine, I though her advice was sound from the application of shocking my system as it were. And yesterday proved to be the perfect time to do, or so I thought.

We had to head into town to procure a shopvac and a few other plumbing items and felt that eating dinner out would be preferable to eating in a home that was filled with toxic fumes (my wife got a bit over-zealous with the Drano). Our poison of choice? Golden Corral. Yes, it has been very disappointing in the past, but I felt that their steaks which are served for dinner, as well as their fruit and salad bars which should be up to snuff would cancel out any of the bad. Also, I planned on carbing it up, intent on consuming over 50% of my calories through carbs.

Alas, we arrived for Rib Night. I pigged out all right, just not on carbs. I mean, if you have thr choice between two different pork rib styles as well as bbq chicken and medium-rare steaks, would you pass that up to consume potatoes, pizza, and pasta? I didn't think so. The most cheating I did last night was a small helping of their soft-serve ice cream, which was a double cheat since I have issues with dairy: My colon does not appreciate it. Luckily, I have had no issues with the dairy nor the bbq sauce that was bound to be full of HFCS but was very lightly applied so I felt that it was not much of a cheat.

Anyways, my day for carbing it out fell flat... perhaps I will wait to use it as an excuse when I have no choice but to eat only carbs or intermittent fast between meals.

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