Not much to report still eating ZC it's simple

I haven't blogged at all for a while. Simply because there is nothing much to report and I didn't want to wrote boring blog posts.
I am still eating ZC. Meat, eggs, fish. 
My taste has changed. I am still not tolerating fat. Am not interested in steaks at all. 
I do not like ground beef like i did in the beginning. I got leaner ground beef a couple times but didn't exactly love it anyway. So I switched to other meats. 
Chicken wings (I cook them in duck fat), drumsticks (also in duck fat), brisket, shredded beef, salmon (in lots of butter).
I do drink about 2-3 TBS of Heavy Whipping Cream with my coffee once or twice a day. I still drink 2-3 cups of coffee (usually one of them decaf). I eat a little bit of cheese. I try not to do it every day although i had few days that I didn't want meat so had eggs and more cheese than usual. 

I really love not having cravings! It is just an amazing feeling!!!!!   

Time is doing it's thing. I feel like I am healing. 

My energy is getting better. I didn't notice it until I saw someone ask about it on FB group. I suddenly realized my energy level is much better. 

My acne is not as great as I'd like it to be but i am suspecting hormones. I am giving it more time. Although I don't have huge breakouts as I used to in the past and no big under the skin volcanic pimples I still get smaller blemishes. On my chin, as usual. 

As to my weight, I am also not where I wish to be but I am still in a good place. My period is late so I am sure it is somehow related. I also believe that it will take me the whole 6 months to fully balance my body. 

I am keeping on with ZC. don't think that i'm ever going back to anything else. i definitely will not go back to grains. I was Paleo and LC before so that's not even a question. Veggies i don't really miss them. I've had a bite of veggie here and there in the past few days since i have been at events were i felt i couldn't avoid it. Just a bite or two. Perhaps that explains my acne outbreak..... it didn't exactly rock my world. 
I might try berries at some point but am not feeling i really need it right now. 

I was having hard time eating my meat so i used a little bit of tomato paste for my beef. I still consider myself ZC. 

Zero Carb beyond 30 days

I have been eating meat and drinking water for a month. 

Do i want to go back to eating other things? Not really. 

Has anything changed since my last post a couple of days ago? Not really. 

Well, a little. Yesterday I had cravings. Not cravings for something sweet or starchy but I just wanted to snack. Wasn't exactly hungry but wanted to chew on jerky. I did eat jerky but it also filled me so i didn't eat dinner. The jerky turned out as my lunch and dinner. 
I also had a very bad mood, felt kind of down and irritated as well as tired. 
I believe all these are connected to my upcoming period. 

My face is still clear and the old marks are slowly disappearing. 

My tummy seems to be shrinking. I don't feel the same with other body parts but that's how my body is, tummy is the first to shrink or last to grow while thighs and behind last to shrink and first to grow. 

I finally stepped on the scale this morning and am down 0.2 since last time. i am not really excited about it as at this point I just want to let my body to do it's thing. 

I haven't been trying to lose weight. I just want to be at peace with food. I am tired of the addiction and pre-occupation with food. 
It will take few months for my body to change, the fast changes I was used to from carb/calorie controlled eating will not happen here. The changes from this way of eating feel different. I have a feeling that my body composition is changing. 

I am guessing that in 6 months if i look at before/after photo there will be a difference. A big difference. We shall see......

I have finished the antibiotics and didn't have any severe reaction like some people said on FB, I have been a bit more tired and actually still am. I went to sleep before 10pm last night and was still dragging at 7am. 
I do not have tons of energy. I hope that this will improve with time. 

The other thing that is happening with me is that I am not very excited about my food. I am not particularly enjoying it or the taste. The only 'food' that I do enjoy and like is the beef jerky. I also really like the chicken wings that I make. I do eat beef, ground beef and about once a week hamburger and it really fills me up for a long time but i do not enjoy the taste even though I still put spices in my food. 
I do like my eggs and eat a little bit mozzarella cheese approximately every other day. That is filling for only about 3-4 hours, not as long as meat. I also use about 1tbs HWC in my coffee once a day. 
I have 1 or 2 plain cups of coffee and plenty of water as I still do get thirsty. 

I hope that my taste will change and i will acquire the taste for natural meat and it's texture. Sometimes i just gag on certain bites. Not even sure why? The jerky sometimes has fat in it and i do eat it but i don't like the texture.  

4 weeks on zc milestone

It has been 4 weeks. Really?

The transition became easy and smooth once I gave up the little nuts I was eating and the 2 squares of 100% chocolate. It took me about a week but once I stopped I sailed smoothly into the heaven of zc land.

The hormonal acne I had nonstop just ended as by miracle.
I was doing a lot of research online trying to figure out what to use but could only marginally handle the breakouts after they happened with sulfur cream. My face has been clear for 3 weeks! I still cannot believe it! So simple. The photo shows all the products I am bagging and don't need anymore to control breakouts. I also have some wipes not pictured.....
No more energy waste or upset about breakouts or looking for cure and no more buying products to treat this unpleasant condition I have battled with since teenager years.
Phew, what a relief!

When I started originally I was already vlc, eating about 20g net carbs. Switching to meat only really simplified my life.

I have more space in my fridge, pantry and kitchen, I don't need long shopping lists or frequent trips to store, I spend much less time cooking and eating and most of all, I am no longer obsessed with food.
I was hoping for it on vlc bur it didn't happen. With zc I am no longer thinking food. I eat until  I am full and I stay full for hours. To the point where I really do not want to eat anything. ANYTHING!

Some days I will eat twice a day and some days 3 times a day but usually not more than that. There were a couple of days during this month that I only ate once, it was a bug meal but I trusted my body and ate until I wasn't interested in food any more. I am glad I did it.
I haven't experienced ANY cravings or wanting to nibble or snack on something for over 3 weeks, since I cut off the small amount of nuts and chocolate.
It's amazing!

My kids and husband are carboholics and my husband is a meat phobic too. He raises humane issues regarding animals. But I think that it doesn't makensense. He still eats meat just not enough. So he still consumes animals, why not do it in a way that helps him stay healthy? He eats nonstop in the evening, getting 3 or 4 dinners. He is religious about eating his salad, bread and cottage cheese and will have some nuts even after claiming he's full from dinner but after an hour will eat more, and after another hour some more and sometimes even more at night (cheese, bread, fruit. ... all things he considers healthy). All this while I feel totally happy, full and satisfied.

I look at him and vaguely remember how I ate like this or how I limited my eating with meal replacement products when I was on Medifast. I used to rely on my willpower not so long ago. Just a little over a month ago I was dealing with ending a habit of afternoon snacking. Well, it is so simple now. I have no habits anymore. Just eating meat and drinking water (or tea/coffee). I do not need to execute  any will power.
It is amazingly simple I am still shocked.

Yesterday I finished my antibiotics and after the last pill finally peed the right color. I feel that finally the uti is over. I will do a urine test tomorrow. I have been somewhat tired since the antibiotics and hope to have more energy from now on. I also suspect that I didn't have much appetite this week, also due to antibiotics.

I am expecting my period and am starting to have some back discomfort. Looking forward to see how this month will go.

I wanted to lose 15lbs when I started zc but somewhere along the way about a week ago lost interest in the scale and my weight. I know that if I lose weight I will feel it in my body and clothes and besides, I am starting to accept my body the way it is.

I am enjoying the simplicity zc introduced into my life and am looking forward to what lies ahead.

Two Weeks on Zero Carb Carnivore eating

It has been 2 weeks. It seems like a long time. It was a pretty easy transition for me. 
Made my life really simple. 

Physically it is really simple. Psychologically it is a little more complicated.  

I think. That's a problem. 

I have all kinds of thoughts. Fortunately I also have counter thoughts. 

When I started 2 weeks ago, I figured i'll just remove everything but keep the 100% dark chocolate and a tiny amount of macadamia and brazil nuts. I didn't eat them every day. But them I started eating them every day. I'd think about food and reach out to them. 
They didn't fill me up. They didn't satiate me. It was just an indulgence. Just so I am not bored with just meat. 

Initially my skin cleared. I have hormonal acne, my chin always had breakouts. Sometimes they were big, under skin and sometimes small. when I switched to ZC even with the nuts and chocolate, my skin cleared but then when i indulged daily I still had a breakout. Seemed smaller but still breakout. 

People on the ZIOH forum suggested I remove the nuts and chocolate. I did. 3 days ago. 
My skin is clearing and fast! I am not using anything on my skin. I used to put sulfur during the night and/or tea tree oil. But now i do not apply anything. 
I haven't had any new breakouts and my skin seems to be healing nicely. 

Now that's really great as I was really puzzled about it. Just 3 weeks ago I was researching hormonal acne, considering I had PCOS and trying to figure out what products to buy to clear my skin. Oil cleanse, vitamins, creams bla bla bla bla....... 
It is funny how i don't need to spend ANY money (or time!) to clear my skin. 

I did the Whole 30 in January and was hoping my skin would clear but it didn't. I also didn't lose any weight even though I was keeping my carbs low. 

In the past couple days my mind is playing tricks with me. I want to eat but I think I am tired of eating meat. I don't feel like eating anything I have. It kind of seems boring. 
I made lamb roast on Friday and I really don't like it. It doesn't taste good to me. The only thing I think is ok for me is ground beef or burger. I kind of want store food and not meat that I made. Not sure why. Like I really feel like going to Safeway and buying their chicken wings. I don't know what they put in them or what fat they cook them in. 
Last week I had Wendy's and Burger King burger patties. I didn't care much for Wendy's but BK tasted good. I wonder if those fast foods have some sugar in them and are causing my funny mind tricks. 

Beef seems to be good for me. I think I will just buy Trader Joe's clean frozen burgers and 80/20 ground beef and stick to them for a while. 

People on ZIOH talk about steaks. I never fancied steaks. Who knows maybe my taste will change? 

I am thinking of quitting cheese for a while and sticking with just beef and chicken until my body settles down with this WOE. The only dairy I am keeping is ~1tbs of Heavy Whipping Cream in my coffee  once or twice a day. 

Zero Carb journey second week

I am still doing zero carb. Even though I have entertained thoughts of stopping or actually eating something non meat after the 30 days I don't really want to do it. when I think about what specifically I want to have there is absolutely NOTHING! 

Yesterday I had to take breakfast with me, in 5 minutes I heated Applegate breakfast chicken sausages with a couple of eggs and put in a thermos container to go. I made 2 cups of coffee in to go cups and took my kid to figure skating practice. 

I didn't have time for lunch so stopped at Burger King drive through and got 2 patties in a bowl. They were much better than Wendy's but not as good as Five Guys. 
I also quickly took out of the fridge salmon. 
Got home around 7pm and popped salmon with butter and lemon pepper into oven for like 18 minutes at 430. It came out delicious! The kids licked it. ;-) 

Also shopped at Costco, got a ton of meat but didn't buy any salmon. The frozen one is super expensive (like over $30) and the fresh one is farm raised. 

I bought lamb and plan on roasting it tomorrow for our guests for dinner. Also go a big pack of ground beef. Beef seems to be very satisfying and easy to make. I'l just throw it in pan with duck fat or beef tallow (which I ordered on Amazon) and some spices. 
I am not yet sure but I think that the days that I have more beef I am less hungry or more accurately I am full for longer and think less about food. 

I am still eating 100% Grenada Chocolate (yesterday had like 3 squares!!!!) and some days macadamia nuts. Yesterday I as also hungry in evening and had some pure mozzarella cheese. I really like the fact that I do not count my macros any more and I don't feel guilty about eating any more. When I am thinking about food I eat meat (or macadamia nuts....sigh). I wish I would just eat meat and not macadamia nuts but I am not even 2 weeks into it and am giving myself more time. 

My skin is getting gradually better. Yesterday I still had a new breakout on my chin, it was small although a little under skin and a tiny bit painful. I forgot to put my sulfur cream but nevertheless this morning it is improving on it's own. 

I am not waking up with tons of energy and some days I am tired in the evening by 8pm. Unlike some people on the forum Zeroing In On Health I am not experiencing bursts of energy but I am feeling better in terms of food addiction or more precisely lack of it. No cravings. If i want to eat or am thinking about food I eat. I made hard baked eggs today and have purchased beef jerky http://grassfedjerkychews.com/ and have them with me on the go. I also can always stop at Burger King and buy some burger patties if i am hungry. 

I know that this is a journey and will take time. I am not expecting immediate results. My body and mind will take time to heal. 
I am not going to weigh myself until next week. In the meanwhile my jeans I fitting much better, they are a bit roomier. I hope to fit into my small jeans by the end of March but if it doesn't happen that's ok. I also hope that the acne will be gone but suspect that as long as I am eating those macadamia nuts (even though it's only about 5-10 of them a day) I cannot really expect my skin to clear. 
I think that when my skin cleared I wasn't eating them or eating them only 1-2 times a week. Time shall say. 

Finally the scale is moving in the right direction!!!!!!

I stepped on the scale this morning and it is finally moving in the right direction. 

I could feel it in the past few days, my tummy is tighter and my jeans are getting more loose. 

I am at a very nice weight of 144.4 lbs...... I have not been under 145.4 for quite a while and even that weight was very temporary. I have been mostly hovering around 146 + for months now. With all my Low Carb, very low carb (20g net carbs) moderate protein and lower fat, precise measuring of macros, tracking, exercising and having mild cravings or just wanting to eat, looking up recipes, shopping for fresh veggies at least twice a week. 
I am very happy to finally see results. 

With this way of eating I have none of that. I just eat meat and drink water/coffee/tea. I am not hungry. I am not emotionally hungry. I do not have cravings. I do not spend a lot of time on cooking and shopping. I am not spending time on tracking my macros. 
If i am hungry or thinking of food I just eat meat and drink water. WOW! Just WOW! Well sometimes i eat few macadamia/brazil nuts and 1-2 squares of 100% dark chocolate. I am not super happy with it. I wonder if anything would change if i wouldn't do it. My problem is they are a weakness. I have them in the house. If i wouldn't have them in the house or in my purse I wouldn't eat them. But I am not feeling deprived and that's good. Even with all that and the few days of eggs and cheese I am still moving in the right direction. 

I feel pretty good. I have good energy level during the day. I have been getting tired in afternoon and evening and am not waking up with high energy these past few days.
I attribute it to late nights and a couple of days of not eating enough meet (ate eggs and cheese on the go). 

I think that when I eat mostly beef I feel the best. I will have to eat beef for few days and see how I am doing. I love chicken but seems like beef is really satisfying my body.

I am so full today

Yesterday I put on a pair of jeans that I didn't wear for few days only and were lying around, have not been in washer or dryer. They felt very tight! My legs and butt were squeezed in. I panicked. these are my comfy jeans. 

I weigh in the day before and was still the same. 
During the day I found out it was that TOM. Perhaps the body change has something to do with it or perhaps it is my new way of eating. 
Most likely it is both. 

I had ground beef scrambled with 2 eggs for breakfast and then for lunch I stopped at Five Guys for the first time in my life and ordered 2 bunless burgers. To my surprise I actually got 4 patties as apparently each burger has 2 patties. I wasn't able to finish all 4, I ate about 2.5 patties and saved the rest. 

I cooked in crock pot a beef bone in rib and it turned out really good. The girls LOVED it! It came out soft and tasty. I made it with cocoa nibs and cinnamon. I was too full to actually eat dinner. 

Yesterday was the first day I didn't want or have any nuts (macadamia or brazil)  or 100% chocolate. The only non meat I had was about 2 tbs of heavy whipping cream in my afternoon coffee. 

I had plenty of energy during the day but was tired  in the evening around 8pm. Went to bed early (like 9:30). 

This morning I woke up with a headache. Still not hungry. Had a little bit of the rib beef from yesterday but am still feeling full and do not want to eat. Drinking tea and am still constantly thirsty. 

Still have plenty of meat in the fridge. Ground beef, burger patty leftover and of course the rib. 

Food is so simple right now. It is liberating! Making meat is so easy. I have a couple of recipes now, chicken wings, chicken drumsticks, whole chicken or even duck for roasting, beef bone rib, beef hamburger, ground beef, salmon (in oven with butter, can't wait to try it, until now only had it with olive oil!). I haven't investigated other beef parts as I already have enough variety and don't really want or need more. But in future I will venture into top sirloin and chuck. 
I also want to buy lamb chops and try to make them. I had a Paleo recipe for a while but never bought them as they seem expensive. 

My skin is totally cleared from acne! It is just amazing! In less than a week! I have done the Whole 30 and my acne didn't budge. Now in just few days it has cleared completely. I do not feel anything developing under my skin. I haven't been cleaning my face with wipes or doing any of the stuff I was trying to do before (and actually didn't help!). I stopped drinking ACV daily. I was trying to do it following some recommendations I saw online but yesterday on my ZV group they said the ACV damaged teeth, so I am glad I am not doing it any more. The only thing that happened since I started cleaning my face and drinking ACV was that my face was super dry. Now it is not dry and clean. I haven't used moisturizer today yet. My face feels great. I only used sulfur yesterday on 2 spots that haven't cleared yet but today they are clear. Now I only hope the old marks fade away. Not sure i I should apply anything on them or not. 
My skin feels really nice and soft. 

We are having dinner at the Rabbi's family today. They are vegetarians. Will serve salmon and a bunch of carbs, fruit and veggies for sure. 
I should probably go on a full stomach. It is almost noon and I am still not interested in food. Learning to listen to my body. 

Switching to (almost) Zero Carb

I have about 15lbs to drop which I gained on low carb grain free diet. 
I have been eating ultra healthy diet, my friends think I am very srict since I do not touch grains or sweets. But in reality I have been over thinking food for a very long time. Paleo/LC recipes. All those nuts and almond/coconut flour baking ...... Even all the veggie recipes. 

I have been doing xtra lc for a couple days now, almost zero carb, with just some cabbage that I had made before with my ground beef (crack slaw), 5 brazil nuts and 2 squares of 100% chocolate. I am feeling really good. I even think my skin is starting to clear. I have always had hormonal acne (only learned about this term in the past week!) on my chin (even though I am turning 46 next month!) I haven't stepped on the scale but I can feel my clothes fitting a tiny bit looser, I feel my tummy a little tighter. Can't report anything on my thighs and behind ;-) I will weigh in and report either way in the next few days.  

I have been at around 20-25 net carbs for about a month and did not lose any weight. I did have appetite, hunger and cravings sometimes but in the past 2 days I haven't experienced any problem! 

Life is so much easier. I just need meet.

What I am finding interesting is I am not sure about how much to eat. I think that with time my body will adjust and give me signs of fullness. They say to eat until I am full/satisfied but even after over 2 years of low carb and grain free my body is not exactly trained in when to stop eating. When I was still on the old SAD diet I stopped eating when I would explode and not be able to eat anymore. I had to overeat because that rice, quinoa, hummus, whole wheat pasta or even vegetables, tasted soooo good and I just 'had' to have another serving.

When I was on MF/TSFL I missed that fullness but stuck with the diet and started to enjoy not feeling so full. But psychologically I still had some expectation for this feeling and a bit of deprivation of not having it.

It has been getting better but I am still not sure when to stop eating or if I had enough. Sometimes I know I want to eat out of just wanting.

I hope this psychological eating will disappear.

New Habits and eliminating snacking

I have established a new habit. I drink all the time between meals. Coffee, tea, water. At any given moment I have something to drink.
My best new habit is in the evening and it's already become a reflex. I put hot water on a little after 8 when girls start to get ready for bed.  I make a huge mug of herbal tea and sip it for the next hour.
Works well for me. I am glad I managed to establish this new habit. It is much better than my previous Quest bar in afternoon around 4:30pm.. .

Got this article on Ketogenic Dieters FB group I am on. http://www.everydayhealth.com/diet-nutrition/0503/eating-for-pleasure-not-hunger-activates-the-brain.aspx

Really resonates with me.

Importance of nutrients

During the past few days I learned that when I don't eat enough protein and fiber for breakfast the rest of my eating is off. Greek yogurt with almonds is a sustainable breakfast but only until noon, then I am hungry. 

The days that I hit my macros are really good days for me. I feel good. My body feels good. There is something about these numbers that really works for me. I am satisfied, no food cravings,I get to the next meal without drama and I have no drama after the meal. No wanting something additional after my meal, no temptations. If I only can stick to what works I will be in good shape.

I stopped weighing daily. In the past once or twice a week worked for me. 

I started week 2 in C25K and it is challenging. I was only able to jog 1.5 min twice the rest 4 jogs I made it only 1-1.15 min. Will probably need to repeat week 2 for two weeks. Breathing is not my problem, my legs are.

Will weigh tomorrow .....