Category: Years Past: Food & Exercise Diaries

Years Past: Food & Exercise Diaries

Higher Carb Starch Solution: Results and What’s Happened Since!

Miche

Update 2021: if you want to know what my diet and progress have been like since this post, see my current Instagram! Also, check out my Youtube playlist for in depth videos on my different diets, weight loss, and before & after photos. 

It’s time for a post that has been in my drafts for months: the final results and thoughts about my higher carb starch solution experiment! (If you don’t know about the starch solution, check out the book)

The fact that it’s taken months for me to post this means I can also talk about the long term effects (and if the weight stays off) and what I’ve been doing since then.

Photo Apr 28, 2 06 34 PM

Results and thoughts about the 4 week experiment: (see original post)

  • I lost 3 pounds–from 121.5 to 118.5lbs, which is a big loss for me as I’ve been hovering at 120-122 for years–most of which happened in the first week. I think I ate too little in the first week, which made me crave a lot of fat in the following weeks–I have a lifetime habit of craving fat and pastries whenever I’m in too steep a calorie deficit!
  • Counting calories (which I did for the purpose of sharing my intake with you guys, not for restricting them) stressed me out and got in the way of intuitive eating. For future food diaries, I think I would leave out the calories/macros. For example, when I had a smaller breakfast because I wasn’t hungry, I would compensate by eating more for lunch simply because I thought I “needed” more calories–but then I would overeat til uncomfortably full just to meet some arbitrary calorie requirement!
  • I think that my happy zone–aka eating whatever I want without thinking about macros–is around 77% carbs, 12% protein, and 11% fat. Before this challenge it was more like 75/10/15, so I guess it has moved my tastes towards a slightly lower fat diet! (These may seem like tiny changes, but 4% is a big change when the total is only 11%!)

Overall, it seems that this challenge showed me how it’s almost too easy to lose weight while eating to satiation on high carb, and if you have rebound binge eating like I do, you have to make sure to hit a sweet spot with your calorie deficit if you want to be able to stick to it! It’s also helped reinforce my intuitive eating by reminding me that calorie counting is not only not particularly useful, but actually gets in the way of eating what my body needs.

Since then & Goals:

  • Since May, I’ve lost 2.5lbs more and am down to 116lbs, just doing intuitive eating (still high carb), and running, and occasional lifting! I got a dog right after the end of the experiment, and I think all the walking helped some too 🙂 Progress photo below is at 117 a few weeks ago, featuring little miss Maia! (she’s always improving my photos)
  • My current main goal is to replace my pooch with some semblance of abs by September. The weight isn’t particularly important, but is easier to measure progress with than the mirror.

Photo Jul 03, 2 18 14 PM

Thanks for reading!

Miche

Starch Solution, Years Past: Food & Exercise Diaries

A month of Starch Solution, Round 2! (This time, with even more carbs!)

Miche

Photo Mar 27, 1 55 14 PM

Hey guys! Long time, no text posts. Sorry about that–I’ve just been really into making videos lately, and unfortunately I only have so much time between my honors thesis and finishing up my last semester at Berkeley. But I am so, so appreciative of you guys’ support on my fledgling little Youtube channel! ❤

Now back to the blog: I’ve noticed that my Starch Solution experiment from September 2015 is still getting quite a bit of attention, and because the point of this blog is to help people discover the joys of veganism (and the weight loss/health benefits of high carb, low fat veganism), I thought I’d do another little month-long experiment for you guys!

Photo Mar 14, 2 03 17 PM

During that initial Starch Solution round, I was transitioning into full-on HCLF (high carb low fat), so I ate quite a bit of fat compared to a lot of high carbers out there–around 30 grams, or 15-20% of my calories. This time, I’m thinking of doing a hybrid of Starch Solution and Maximum Weight Loss (aka MWL, Starch Solution in “hardcore mode”), where I’ll try to do around 75-80% carbs, 15% protein, and 5-10% fat if my body is okay with it. The higher protein is because I lift weights and I feel like a little extra could help with strength/muscle building, although society’s obsession with protein is totally overblown. I haven’t been counting my calories or macros since the last round so I don’t know how much fat I’ve been eating lately, but it’s probably around 10% these days and I still eat along the lines of the Starch Solution. But I will starting counting my macros again for you guys, because I feel like it’s much more informative that way!

The reason I’m calling it a hybrid of Starch Solution and MWL is because I’m planning on eating lots of vegetables and not eating many overt fats (MWL), but I will still be eating as much flour and sugar and fruit (normal Starch Solution) as I please. Oh, and I will be getting fat-filled vegan cinnamon rolls and/or gourmet “meaty” sandwiches once or twice during this because it’s my last month in Berkeley and therefore my last month of having access to Cinnaholic and The Butcher’s Son (AMAZING vegan places), and I’d like to enjoy them while I can. Hooray for moderation!

Photo Apr 08, 4 40 24 PM
Say hello to Cinnaholic’s chocolate caramel pie gourmet vegan cinnamon roll. I only got their rolls once a year while living here but now my time is running out!

Now the short summary version for those of you who prefer not to read walls of text! 😉

  • I’m doing another month of posts like I did in September, but this time I’m an old pro at eating a high carb low fat diet because I absolutely love it. I’ll be sharing what I eat in a day on the Starch Solution, plus results and weight loss.
  • The differences from last time: more carbs, less fat, with a general goal of 75-80% carbs, 15% protein, 5-10% fat. But once again, no calorie restriction! (You could also say I’m following the 80/10/10 diet. So many similar diets!)
  • I’m sort of combining Starch Solution with McDougall’s Maximum Weight Loss (Starch Solution extreme) because I’ll be eating lots of vegetables and very few overt fats, but still eating all the bread/sugar/fruit that I feel like.
  • I’m moving out on May 12th, so I’m planning on doing this til May 11th or so depending on how hectic things get. (Because I may have to subsist of Clif bars and takeout once I’ve packed up my kitchen…)

And of course, because I’m sure a lot of people are interested in this for weight loss on the Starch Solution, my starting weight is 121.5lbs today. I could stand to lose some fat because I’d like to have more muscle definition (I’ve gained 13lbs of muscle this past year! 😀 ), but my body is not especially interested in getting lighter–so if I do lose anything on the scale, it’d be pretty amazing progress for me!

Photo Apr 09, 6 49 23 PM
The lighting in my room is rather awful which makes the photo grainy, but here’s what I look like at the moment!

Thanks for reading!

Miche

Starch Solution, Years Past: Food & Exercise Diaries

23 Days of Starch Solution!

Miche

2019 Update: See my Instagram for daily posts on my weight loss & body progress, food & recipes, and diet updates. See my Youtube channel for more detailed starch solution/diet updates and before & after photos!

See my Round Two of Starch Solution–a second month of daily food diaries!

Guidelines for my version of the Starch Solution:

  • Center my meals on starch: potatoes, rice, beans, lentils, squash, bulgur, oats, corn, etc.
  • Keep macros around 65-70% carbs, 15-20% protein, and 10-15% fat. (this generally requires protein powder and/or bars for me)
  • Focus on whole foods: avoid flours; no oils
  • Eat more vegetables (currently having small salads with lunch 3-4 days a week and a serving at dinner, but I’d like to get more)
  • No limit on fresh fruits (starch solution guidelines say 4 or fewer servings, but I’m not a fan of that!)
Photo Sep 11, 6 20 47 PM
My lifelong love affair with starch continues! This is a channa masala I made a few days ago

Starting today, 9/15, I’m planning on posting my food diaries of the next 23 days!

Back when I started this blog I would post them everyday, but because I don’t have nearly as much time as I used to, I thought I could instead give you guys snapshots of what I eat every once in awhile. I’ll either do food diary posts that have a day or two each, or do a weekly post with what I ate each day that week.

I’ve been an ethical vegan for a long time now: vegetarian for the last 9 years, 95% vegan for 3 years, and 100% vegan for the last year. Since February, I’ve been dabbling in HCLF (high carb, low fat) veganism on and off, and have been doing pretty well with it since I got back to school three weeks ago. However, I have been eating a bit too much processed food, especially homemade chocolate chip cookies because of too many bakesales and potlucks! Thanks to that and the heaps of stress I’ve been under–applying to grad school while working in 2 labs, doing an honors thesis, and taking a full courseload–my skin hasn’t been too thrilled with me, and my gym performance seems to be suffering.

They're just way too addictive
Dastardly little cookies…

I’ll be visiting my boyfriend in three weeks, so until then, I’m going to try following Dr. McDougall’s Starch Solution principles more closely than I have been. Not only do I already love starches, but his premises make sense to me–and I’m a very cynical/scientific person, so it takes a persuasive argument to get me on board with something like that. I won’t be super strict as I’ll still be including protein bars, Beyond Meat chick’n strips, avocados, and flax seed here and there, but I’m interested to see if I feel and look better eating his way… and I wouldn’t mind losing a pound or two either!

I’m also hoping I can simplify my diet and meal planning, because I’m currently a bit addicted to variety. However, on the weekends I’ll probably bend the guidelines and have some flours in pancakes and whatnot, and experiment with new recipes.

Also, I won’t be counting calories during the day–I’m going to be eating intuitively–but I will write down what I eat so I can put it in Myfitnesspal at the end of the day and maybe post it here! I love data, but I hate planning my day around calories, so this compromise has been working for me.

Thanks for reading!