Rash

Still ZC most time

I haven't blogged at all. Summer Break was very hectic and I had my challenges. 
As I did mention I had my challenges through the summer. 
Strawberries. Restaurant meals. Veggies and even fried zucchini in a restaurant.

I have been eating pretty clean ZC for the past few weeks. Mainly ground beef, ground chicken, ground turkey, chicken drumsticks, beef jerky, brisket. 
I have not been eating many eggs, just the eggs I cook my ground meet with. I used to eat 3-4 eggs a day I don't do it any more. I am pretty full from just meat. 
I am still not fond of fatty beef cuts. Cannot tolerate fat. I just eat what I can tolerate and relate to.  It is pretty simple and economic. 
I have not eaten cheese too. The past week-10 days have been pretty clean ZC. My only deviation is Heavy Whipping Cream. I take about 2 TBS twice a day with my coffee. I drink 1 cup in the morning and 1 decaf in the afternoon. 
If i add another cup i try to drink it without HWC but sometimes I actually do add about 1 TBS to it. 

I haven't weigh in yet but my body feels back to normal. Bloating is over. Acne is mostly gone. My face pretty much cleared, FINALLY!!!! It took a while but finally my face is back to normal, that is acne free. I have no cravings at all! I know when I am hungry and when I am not hungry. It is no longer confusing. 
I usually eat twice a day late morning and either afternoon or evening. 

I did eat few raw veggies, like tomatoes, olives, cucumbers last weekend and even few pieces of cheese but it didn't seem to affect me, neither bloating, acne or appetite.    

Back on Track

I finally got a grip on my strawberries and clean ice cream slippery slope. 

Back to meat, eggs, HWC in my coffee and a little cheese few times a week. 

My weight and body measurements have crept up, to alarming state for me. I'm back to where I've started this journey. 

Not happy.....

Back to square one. Learned an important lesson. It seems harmless. What can a few strawberries do? It's from nature. But seems like they actually can. 

Sliding down the strawberry roller coaster

I am still here, although haven't been blogging due to being busy with the kiddos during summer break.

I am still into eating meat but i cannot resist strawberries. I eat them daily. Some days i eat  A LOT of strawberries. More then i'd eat when i was eating low carb or even when i was eating carbs.

I am still eating meat mainly but these strawberries are my soft spot.

My wight crept up. The 6 lbs I dropped are back.
My energy level is great. I don't have cravings. My acne is pretty much ok.

I am really not happy with my weight and how my clothes fit me but i am not doing anything about it.

I am not particularly enjoying eating meat.
I like the meat sliders that i make from Sophia's recipe and need to make them in few minutes. I'll probably experiment with some flavors as i have a ton of ground meat.

My ZC experience is still on. Almost 6 month.....still at 5 months. I hope to level myself with the meat only and start losing weight after 6 months.

Out of control ..... back on track

For the past couple weeks I was a little out of control. After my detour with berried the week before this past weekend I had some more berries AND a Tiramisu plus a lemon custard. The next day I had some veggies too. 

It wasn't horrible but it wasn't great. 

I was curious to see what my body would say. 

I was pretty lucky. Nothing horrible happened. I didn't get cravings or increased appetite. I even didn't get a flare of acne. 
My tummy is a little bloated. I decided not to weigh myself. I know I have gained back the 4lbs i dropped plus I still haven't gotten my period. So the numbers aint gonna be pretty. .... 

I'm just back on track, eating meat and drinking water. Plenty of water. With ice. We had a heat wave here in CA and it was HOT! 

My favorite food now is meat sliders made of ground beef, ground turkey and ground chicken, mixed with eggs and some spices and fried in duck fat. I don't like the work involved, mainly the cleaning but I really like the taste so I am willing to work. 

I also bought some beef bone marrow and tried making it yesterday on the skillet. I was afraid I won't like it but it actually tasted pretty good. 
Will try making them in the oven now that the crazy heat is over. 

I also made shredded beef yesterday in the slow cooker. Just put it a bunch of beef chuck roast, with some onion, garlic and spices for 6 hours on low and then shred it with 2 forks. Not bat. Very fatty. I still don't really like the fat..... 

My next challenge is liver. 

Eating some carbs and sugar ......

Yesterday i had some berries (strawberries and raspberries from farmers market), today for some reason I couldn't resist leftovers of tiramisu and lemon cream pie. Not the best choice but I will report later today and tomorrow about consequences. 

Yesterday and this morning my tummy was bloated. I didn't feel bad per se, just not exactly happy with the way my tummy looked. Pure vanity.

I don't think the relatively small amount of berries I had would throw me off. I wonder if the sugar in those cakes will though. 

It was a pleasure but not really very gratifying. 

Had some fruit and veggies

A week ago my husband took me out to lunch to Middeterenian restaurant. The meat was great of course. I had lamb since I don't normally make it at home. I skipped the rice. They also had salad and hummus on the plate and I couldn't resist but nibble at it a bit. It was great.
No big deal.

Then last Sunday I went to the farmers market and tasted some berries (strawberries, blueberries). I ended eating some raspberries at home the next day.

I didn't suffer any consequences. I'm glad. No crazy cravings, although I do think I had a little bit of more thoughts about what to eat.

Since yesterday I feel like cheese isn't best for me so haven't eaten it. I'm sticking to meat and eggs and 1-2 TBS HWC in my coffee twice a day.

My taste is still kind of funky. I am not tolerating fat. It makes me gag. I am not attracted at all to steaks. Chicken doesn't seem very appealing. I am not exactly sure what it is that I want to eat.
Today I made sliders/kotleti from 85% GB and 93% ground turkey (and 3 eggs). They came out delicious! Love them!!!!! I don't like all the work involved in making them and the splatter but they are good.
I also LOVED beef bacon that I bought at US Wellness Meats. It's pricey though...... I polished the whole package for breakfast and it was like $13. Turkey bacon is less expensive around $6 but doesn't taste as good, and is less fatty.

I love beef jerky but it's too lean and also expensive.

Made beef oxtails this week in the oven. 15 min in convection oven at 435 and then 15 more minutes on broil. It tasted great right out of the oven but when i warmed it up in skillet from the fridge they tasted like rocks. I will throw them in the crock pot for broth with chicken bones.
Next time I will make them in the crock pot to begin with.

I don't see myself going back to other way of eating any time soon. I still have 2 more month until i'm 6 month on ZC. I wonder if anything will change ?

Today I got some Vit. D capsules and started taking it. Maybe it will make a difference in my energy level.

Reply do my doctor's concern

I decided to seek a new doctor after my doctor always pushes pills on me. When I had a UTI few months ago she immediately prescribed antibiotics without even running a simple urine test. The new doctor I went to see indicated she believes in nutritional prevention and seemed more holistic. Boy, was I wrong. After I told her I was Paleo she wasn't happy. 

Here's what she wrote: "The good points of Paleo diet is that it encourages cutting out sugars, refined grains and oils, and processed foods. The bad part is it also cuts out beans and legumes which are a great source of lean protein, and depends too heavily on animal foods. There is overwhelming evidence that consuming large amounts of animal foods is bad for you. The caveman didn't generally live past 40 so the didn't have time to develop heart disease, stroke, roost of our modern disease which have been shown to be related to animal product consumption."  

I let it slide although I was very unhappy with her ignorance. But when my blood test results came back with a very high number of total cholesterol (421) she said:
"your cholesterol is incredibly high and it is imperative that you cut back on the meet, cheese and eggs in your diet. As we discussed, cholesterol is not the only factor involved in heart disease but it is certainly a big one and we need to get your down ASAP." 

I am still debating if I should even reply. In the meanwhile since I am very interested in the topic here's the draft that I prepared and researched. 

HI Dr. XXX,

Thank you for your note regarding my test results. What are your thoughts about my Vit. D levels? Any suggestions? Should I just spend more time in the sun?

Even though my total cholesterol number seems high I am not really concerned with them. I will explain below but according to Dr. Davis and Dr. Pinney, it might be related to body fat loss and low carb http://www.wheatbellyblog.com/2012/06/i-lost-weight-and-my-cholesterol-went-up/

The recommended cholesterol number of 300 mg/d isn’t exactly backed up by science: http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/20683785

http://www.washingtonpost.com/blogs/wonkblog/wp/2015/02/10/feds-poised-to-withdraw-longstanding-warnings-about-dietary-cholesterol/

Scientific Report of the 2015 Dietary Guidelines Advisory Committee,  "Previously, the Dietary Guidelines for Americans recommended that cholesterol intake be limited to no more than 300 mg/day. The 2015 DGAC will not bring forward this recommendation because available evidence shows no appreciable relationship between consumption of dietary cholesterol and serum (blood) cholesterol, consistent with the AHA/ACC (American Heart Association / American College of Cardiology) report. Cholesterol is not a nutrient of concern for overconsumption." http://health.gov/dietaryguidelines/2015-scientific-report/06-chapter-1/d1-2.asp

There is plenty of more recent scientific information and growing body of scientists suggesting that dietary cholesterol is not something to be worried about. There have been many changes regarding nutritional recommendations in the past few years year and more official recommendations are in the works.   

As it seems, cholesterol levels are produced by the body and not related to intake from food. Eating cholesterol has very little impact on the cholesterol levels in your body.  http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/19852882  

Years ago the Canadian Guidelines removed the limitation of dietary cholesterol as well as  Australia, New Zealand, Korea, Japan, the EU and other countries because the research no longer supports limiting it in your diet. http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/15640515  The United States should really catch up (and hopefully will do so by the end of the year). http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/22037012 as indicated in the 2015 dietary guidelines mentioned above.

http://www.health.harvard.edu/blog/panel-suggests-stop-warning-about-cholesterol-in-food-201502127713

Thank you for recommending Dr. Fuhrman’s work but as we discussed when we met we agree only on the removal of sugar, sweets and refined foods. I am very happy with Primal nutrition and it’s working well for me.

You and I seem to agree about prevention of illness through nutrition but we don’t see eye to eye regarding the rest of the picture. I and social science strongly disagree with your statement regarding the caveman not living past 40. Those who survived the childhood years had a very good chance to live a long life. They did not die of bad nutrition but more of environmental causes (battles, plaques, accidents etc.).

If you are interested I highly recommend reading the writings of Viljamur Stefansson in our modern day era (beginning of 1900s). The Eskimo lived on meat only in harsh environment and lived very long lives. The Native Americans and many African tribes did so too. Health and Rise of Civilization by Mark Nathan Cohen is one among many excellent accounts.

We can agree to disagree.

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. 

Lost more lbs than I thought

I stepped on the scale this morning and I am at 141.8 !!! Yey! Dropped more than I thought. I started at a little over 146 hovering just below 147. That's why my pants are getting more comfortable. 

Meat and water.....l

Weight is slowly dropping, feeling stable

I have been zc almost 3 months now (2.5). Things are pretty good. I have a pretty balanced appetite, no craving usually. I eat 2-3 times a day. Life is much easier. I thought I got rid of hormonal acne but it seems like about 1.5 weeks before period I still get 1-2 breakouts and get a bit moody. It seems to be coming together. I get into this down mood, things that don't go the way i want bring me down. I also get these hormonal acne, not exactly pimples but a small painful 'hill' in various locations on my chin, it's under the skin condition. Relatively easy to hide with makeup as there no white head. The acne goes away after a day or 2, the mood evens up after few days to a week. My energy seems to have balanced. I have good energy and good sleep. I haven't had any dramatic change in weight but over the past 2.5 months I have dropped 3.5 lbs without any effort and with ease. It sort of happens by itself. I am fitting into my small jeans which i wasn't able to to when I started zc in Feb. I am very happy. I wish the acne would go away completely..... but it is what it is. Perhaps it will change with time, after like 6 months? I am sure I will have some interesting changes when I go through menopause but there's still few years to go until then..... wink emoticon

Update, still zc, eating challenges, weight slow but reducing

I have been quiet for a while. Not much new. I have struggled a little. 

Zero carb is not super hard but something happened to my taste buds. I,started to be repulsed by most beef and beef fat. I couldn't stand steaks, even rib eyes. I couldnt stand fatty ground beef (73%) I even don't like the lean ground beef anymore. I am not excited about eating meat at all. I do not want anything else though. It's not that I want veggies. I don't want carbs for sure. Here and there I do want chocolate or ice cream or strawberries. 

My face has been clear most of the time. I had a breakout during TOM, but it was small and went away fast. I suspect it also might have had to do with jerky with raisins that I had, very small quantity but still, I binged on like 2oz of it. 

I am now accepting what it is my body is taking me through. Eating what I can whether it is eggs, chicken wings, salmon, and even a little cheese. 

I try to eat whatever beef I can tolerate. I did try US Wellness Meat Pemmican and like it.

The weight seems to be heading down but very slowly. This week I am down to 143lbs and finally fit in my smallest jeans. 

Most of all I feel it is the right way of eating for me. Perhaps my taste craziness is designed to reduce my food consumption? I don't know, I know my body knows better than me and I hope to understand one day. 

Hormones, difficulties and a little balance

I haven't blogged, things were going well. I removed cream.  It was boring, nothing to report. Then few days ago I started gagging on fat, not liking steak, not liking any beef I made. Even my staple ground beef caused me to gag. I crave beef jetky, want eggs, salmon, butter, chicken.
After consulting with zc Facebook group zeroing in on health I stopped feeling guilty, bought turkey bacon and started eating what I wanted without guilt. Yesterday I had 2 pimples pop out of the blue. An unpleasant surprise and I also had cravings I think it is probably related to my period. Seems like about a week before it starts. Today I am better. One pimple is annoying, but not as big as previously. I will not touch it. My old marks are almost gone.
I am sticking with zc. It is an interesting experience.

Infection, a little weight loss, and zero carb on

I stopped counting the days I have been on ZC. I don't see myself eating any other way. 

I just love not having any cravings. I eat, I am full for hours. I am not tempted by anything around me. It is just such a blessing. Some added bonuses are: less shopping, less cooking, less recipes, less time spent on food, shelves and fridge uncluttered. Not to mention saving money. 

I love not having ANY acne. I just love it. No more breakouts. 

On a different note, my urine test still shows blood. No bacteria shows in culture. My doctor wants me to see a urologist which I have an appointment with on Thursday. My back is starting to bother me more and more. Looks like I might have kidney infection but will see what urologist says. 

I stepped on the scale today after drinking coffee and water and looks like I am down 0.8 even with drinking. So looks like weight is coming off gradually. I hope to be under 140 soon...

Love Zero Carb, life is simple

I am done with antibiotic. I am finally feeling better and my energy is better. I still don't like getting up in the morning but once I get up my energy is good all day. 

My appetite is decent. I lowered my coffee intake to one caffeinated in the morning after breakfast and one decaf in afternoon after meal. 

I learned to make steak and am learning to make brisket. Got this great book from the library called Great Meat by Dave Kelly and others. Made pretty good rib eye yesterday, even the girls loved it. 

The breakout is over and I didn't have any new ones. My skin is still clearing. I still have small red marks from old breakouts. They are slowly disappearing. 

My food cost seems to be down this month, even without shopping at Costco for meat. If the kids would go off their crap food we could really save some money on grocery bills. All that bread costs a lot of money! 

Zero Carb eating is really simple. I make 2lbs ground beef and it lasts me for 2-3 days. It fills me up for hours and hours. Just amazing. Today I had Salmon baked in butter and 2 sunny side up eggs at 8am. I got hungry only at 3pm. At 3pm I ate some ground beef with my attempt at beef jerky (I.e. Some strips of flank beef) and it is now almost 9 pm and I am not exactly hungry. I did have decaf coffe during afternoon. I sip it for like 2 hours.....

I am not losing any weight so far but I seem steady. I have no cravings at all. I have no hassle with food. I want to eat, no problem. I am not trying to figure out if it is or isn't true hunger, like I used to do before with implementing mindful eating. If I want food or think about it, I eat meat. That's it. 

I am really happy.

Acne, appetite and meat

I am still on antibiotics. Still not feeling energetic. 

I do not have an appetite. I also don't have cravings. I don't particularly have desire to eat meat but I also don't have any desire to eat anything else. Well, maybe whipped cream or tiramisu......

I do not miss veggies or nuts or quest bars. 

I just don't really have interest in food in general. It might be related with the antibiotic and infection. 

I was at friends during weekend and had a little but of soup she made,miso had some tomatoe paste, garbanzo beans, spinach and probably some other plant foods in there. I did not have cravings but I do have a breakout right the next day. It is small and hopefully will go away soon but it is the under skin bulge type, the hormonal one. 

I don't see any other reason for the breakout but the soup. 

I am a little concerned with my lack of interest in food. The meat doesn't taste great to me. I am not really enjoying my food. While it is a relief not to eat for entertainment, staying full for longer time and not having cravings I would still like to enjoy my food and meal. Now I just eat for substance. I also suspect I don't eat quite enough. 

I am not experiencing the wonderful benefits others have experienced on zc. I was hoping for more energy, needing less sleep and weight loss or more precisely dropping one size of clothes. I will keep going at least for 3 months. Need to first heal the infection and be off antibiotics. Also need to figure out how to make meat that tastes good....

Infection seems better, ZC still working out well

It seems like the infection is getting better I am feeling much better since i started the new antibiotics. I have better energy. I didn't have any cheese, just eggs, water and once it twice a day a tbs of HWC with my coffee which I am trying to limit to one in am after breakfast and one decaf in afternoon. 

I was surprised to have a small pimple on my chin a couple days ago. It was above skin, not my typical bump under skin and it was very small. I thought it was reaction to cheese I had the day or two before and perhaps even antibiotics and infection. I didn't do anything with it, no cream or wash and it is almost gone now. The marks from my old ones are almost gone. I can't wait for them to be gone already and for my hair to grow....l

I bought different cuts of steak just to get familiar with tastes and texture. I just sear them in pan with some salt and TJ 21 seasoning and a tiny bit of tallow. I really like the rib eye taste and texture so far. I am not a big fan of meat. I hear all the ZCers talk about what they eat and I am not there, have a very long way to go yet. I am ok with burgers but the ground beef is just not tasting great. I really like sloppy joes but without tomatoes ground beef is just not the same for me. 

I hope that the steaks will make it better for me. 

I like chicken wings but they are not as satisfying as beef. 

There is also the matter of smell in the house. cooking beef leaves a smell in the house and while I don't mind my husband really doesn't like it. 

I hope to figure these things out along the way. 

I am not missing cheese and my food cravings and funky appetite or just wanting something to chew/eat is gone. 

I am suspecting I am not eating enough and will need to somehow to eat more beef. I still have a couple more steak cuts in fridge to try but if I am not excited about them I will just go with rib eyes, burgers and ground beef and probably couple times a week chicken wings as my kids love them. 

I love not being entertained by food anymore. I was at a lunch yesterday and just wasn't tempted by anything since I was still full from my breakfast of eggs and ground beef. 

I took my daughter to a birthday party yesterday, the theme was candy land. The amounts of candy was INSANE!!!!!!!! I just saw a huge buffet of drugs. It is absolutely criminal! Chocolate fountain, various candy, sugar sticks, mousse, Oreos, marshmallows and of course 'healthy fruit' to dip in fountain or just eat plain. I am really torn with this as I don't want to not let my kids have it but I also truly believe it is horrible, addicting and not just plain unhealthy for our body it is horrible for our teeth. I really do not feed them the way I believe they should eat, I cannot do that mainly because my husband is not on board. He will never give up bread. 

I am hoping that if I make meat in a way they like, such as chicken wings they will eat it and be too full for anything else (like rice or pasta). I haven't figured out yet what meat to give them for school lunch. I got Applegate beef hotdogs last week, my 8yr old loved them but my 11yr old didn't like them. Perhaps another brand? I need another alternatives of fatty meat. The lunch turkey I can buy all have sugar and/carrageenan and while I still get it I hate it. 

Will try to tackle it and research the topic. 

I don't think I lost any more weight. Did not step on the scale and am not eager to do so. My clothes are feeling comfortable. I am hoping to drop a clothes size to fit back into my size 4 jeans which are still a bit tight for me. For that to happen I will probably need to be under 140. At least 4-5lbs to drop....but I will not focus on that but rather on healing my body. Need to get rid of the infection first and then let my body heal with meat and water. 

Fiber Menace, back on antibiotics, removing cheese

Heard about this book on FB, Fiber Menace and finally downloaded it on Kindle. Right from the start was shocked! I remember knowing that corn flakes where discovered by accident but I never knew the real origins of Kellogg cereal. 

 http://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/John_Harvey_Kellogg

I was amazed to learn that the whole Fiber and whole grains trends are based on vegetarianism and conservatism. 

Even Graham cracker have origins is this nonsense.

http://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/Graham_cracker

I am still digesting how harmful fiber is for our body. I don't know why most shocking for me is how much damage it does to our teeth and gums, cavities and gingivitis. It totally makes sense since fiber is present in carby food and carbs basically turn into sugar in our body. 

For few months before zc I was living and calculating net carbs hoping to lose weight but with no success at all and with cravings and wanting to eat. All these mathematical calculations.....it is so much easier just eating meat. If I ever do go back to other foods it will just be vegetables and I will never count net carbs! 

I am too scared to have nuts now since I really like not having acne. Having a clear face every day without doing anything is such a blessing! I still wake up every morning and look in the mirror with disbelief. I keep touching my face trying to feel if there is any new breakout forming under the skin (which would always happen and I would try to tackle it with sulfur or tea tree oil before it grows). 

I did urine test on Tuesday but still have some sort of infection. I am taking another round of different antibiotic for 10 days, I am not supposed to have milk with it. I suspect that dairy isn't doing much for me but create cravings and wanted to eliminate it anyway. I don't really need it. Meat is completely satisfying. There is no reason for me to have any cheese, I don't eat it much anyway and it is a snack for me. Plus I really want to drop a size and will never know until I really give meat and water a try.

I am still clinging to my coffe an really want to have HWC once a day but I will give up the cream once I finish the one I just bought and probably will make whip cream for my daughters to finish it faster. 

I will stick to coffee and have it after I eat just to make sure I am not suppressing my appetite. 

I might ditch the coffee in a month.....who knows? 

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.

Still doing great on ZC

For some reason my food addict brain decided to experiment with cheese. I asked about some cheese I got on forum and someone said it had 1g of sugar and it's rather high. That sent me into curiousity on how cheeses are made and why some have lactose and some don't. My research was interesting and I finally have better understanding about cheese making process. It starts with milk. Some,of them go through more process (the hard cheeses go through most) and some a little less. For some hard cheeses there's also bacteria involved. It's a mixture of art and science. After understanding better how mozzarella, mascarpone and ricotta are made (least processed) I got, for some strange reason I can only explain by addiction, curious and just had to buy them. Stopped at TJ and spent $20 on something I didn't really need. Had to try sour cream mixed with mascarpone. Why I don't know. It wasn't a huge joy. Made waffles with ricotta cheese (1/4 cup ricotta, 2 eggs, 1/2 t baking powder and some cinnamon, nutmeg and cloves). Topped the waffles with sour cream. Really?! I just had to have variety. I had some sort of tiredness with meat. 

It was ok. I was full for shorter time. Normally when eating meat for breakfast I will not get hungry before 2/3 pm but with dairy I was ready for lunch around noon/1pm.

I also felt a little bloated for a couple of days and my stomach was grumbling like crazy. 

On a different front I have a UTI and am on antibiotic for 5 days. 

Feeling some relief today on 3rd day of antibiotics. Will have to test urine on Monday to verify that all is well. 

I am nearing 4 weeks on this way of eating. All I can say is WOW! It is mind blowing on so many fronts.  Simplicity, cost, health, hormones, appetite, cravings. 

It is just simple. Meat is so filling. I can eat a large quantity that initially scared me, but I will stay full, completely not hungry for a very long time. Like all day. I had a day when I just had one large meal. Like 4 hamburger patties, that's it, I was done for the day. Not interested in food at all. 

It's so simple. When I started I asked on the forum how to know when I'm full as my body wasn't really signaling me.. I was told to eat when interested in food and stop when not interested. It made my life so simple. I stopped doubting myself. I stopped thinking about hunger signals and instead when I just entertained though about food I just ate meat. It became very clear to me when I was full. I just didn't want to eat any more. I was FULL, without any doubt. In addition, I stayed full for a L O N G time!!! Very long time. I never experienced it before. 

Nowadays I eat mostly twice a day, that is if I don't mess up with cheese.....then I eat 3 times. 

I still want to eat steak. Yesterday I met a friend at BJ's Brewhouse. Ordered steak, well done. It was really good. 

I do not have cravings any more. I don't need snacks. The snacking habit was so hard to kick, even when on VLC. I always carried with me a Quest bar and some nuts and 100% chocolate, just in case I need to snack. I don't remember what snacking is nowadays. I do carry 4oz of beef jerky with me but it is not for snacking, it is for when my meal is not enough to fill me or if I am in the run and cannot stop at a burger place. Eating on the go is so simple and cheap now, I will stop at Burger King and order patties. 

I am shocked at how simplified shopping became and the grocery bill is down. If I hadn't experimented with cheese it would be even better. 

Best part so far is I haven't had acne breakout on my chin for about 2 weeks!!! No more under the skin volcanos, no painful bumps under my skin!!! I still use concealer to cover the remaining marks but hope that with time they will clear. I have some photos I've talken in the past 3 weeks of area but it doesn't really show the big improvement, something with the lighting. I'll put it here anyway. The one on the bottom is from today, middle is last week and the top left one is from few weeks ago. 

I am still not a huge meat lover. I have some resistance in my mind and am still not totally excited about the taste of pure meat. I do use spices, salt, pepper, paprika, cumin, cinnamon. I am giving it time though. Even if I don't grow to love meat, I am really enjoying lack of cravings, hunger, snacking and constant thinking about food. I really don't miss working in the kitchen preparing veggies and trying to figure out net carbs or recipes. I also realize that chicken breast is not so tasty thus the need for recipes and various sauces to make it.....like teriyaki chicken or sweet and sour. 

3 weeks on zero carb

It has been 3 weeks. I will need to change the title and description of my blog pretty soon.

My life is just so much better. Simplicity.

I cleared my fridge and pantry. Gave away protein powder, Quest bars, Psyllium husk, coconut milk. No need to make mayo or sauces any more. No need to make veggies. They are not rotting in my fridge any more. Packs of greens are not keeping me busy buying, washing, storing, sorting and then throwing away.
My fridge looks neat and clean. When I want to eat it is very simple. There is meat in the fridge.
If I am really unprepared, I make an omlette or just have hard boiled eggs. I also have sardines in water in pantry just for emergency. There's also beef jerky from www.grassfedjerkychews.com

I love it!

Yesterday was my birthday and for some reason I wanted variety so I had 2 eggs scrambled with French version of sour cream  (something I got at TJ). It was filling but not for as long as meat. I also felt bloated. My tummy was grumbling most of the day, especially after I ate anything including meat.

I spent the day looking up the process of cheese making as I got curious about it. I really didn't know anything about how it was made. Seems like the hard cheeses are more processed and have more bacteria and salt. From what I understand for now, cream and mozzarella are least processed.
I live in Bay Area and would really like to go see a cheese artisan. Perhaps will organize a family trip.

I think that my desserts on zc would be cheese once in a while.

My face is still pretty clear. Yesterday night I started to feel a little new breakout on my chin, it is under my skin small bump. A little painful. I put sulfur for the night and tea tree for the day It seems under control. I hope it will subside. It might be from cheese or just time of month. I was wearing concealer yesterday. Might be related or not. I will have to stop with cheese to really know for sure. I also think it will take the full 30 days if not 90 to know better about my acne. Maybe it is the eggs?

I will test some more with time.

I also think that once or twice a week will not affect me as much as few days in a row.

Yesterday I made chicken wings and the girls loved them. Duck fat, salt, pepper, paprika, cumin, coriander. Simple ant tasty. 30 min at 450 then flip and 30 more min.
They didn't want any rice or pasta. Yey!
Hope they like chicken thighs too. Will make them same way this week. In meanwhile I am defrosting a duck I got at Costco. Will roast it tomorrow.

I feel pretty good. My energy is balanced. I don't have tons of energy but I am not tired.  Just good energy to go about my day and reasonably tired at night. I sleep well,based usual. This morning woke up at 5am with a cramp in my right hamstring. Oouch.

I am not crazy thirsty anymore. I do get thirsty, especially after I eat but it is reasonable thirst.

I haven't stepped on the scale. I don't think I lost any weight. My tummy feels tight but my legs and but feel the same. My clothes feel the same.
I think I might drop some weight after I get my period.

I also want to learn to make steaks. I am totally clueless.

Skin clearing Miracle

I have been eating meat and drinking water mostly for about 2.5 weeks now. 

It is easy. Surprisingly easy. 

My skin has stayed clear for the past 5 days since I stopped macadamia/Brazil nuts and 100% chocolate. Not a single new breakout. No dry skin. Old marks are healing. I am trying to remember to take photos. 

The scale is not my top priority for many reasons. I did weigh in today just because I woke up early and was curious. I am back to 146.4 but it doesn't really matter. I feel that my body composition is changing. My tummy is feeling much tighter and it feels like it's shrinking and becoming almost flat (like in my 20s) I have a bit of love handles (which I don't remember having in my 20s). I snapped photos today and will measure at some point after a month or two or three. 

I am just feeling good! Not feeling guilty for eating, eating when I want to eat, not questioning my appetite, not inventing what to eat. It is so simple! Not laboring in the kitchen and the store.

Today I cleared the pantry and fridge. I can even return few items to Trader Joe and will get burgers instead. 

Did I already say I love the simplicity? 

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. 

No nuts no chocolate = clear skin

It has been 2 days of just eating meat, eggs,a bit of mozzarella cheese (about 1oz) and about 1tbs HWC. The first day, Friday, I had ground beef cooked in duck fat and some spices. I ate it with a hard boiled egg, I ate what seemed to me like a lot. I didn't measure. I ate until I really wasn't interested in eating any more. Then I stopped. Whatever was left in my plate I covered and put in fridge. That was about 9:30/10 am. I was so full for the rest of the day.

I made roasted lamb for dinner but wasn't really hungry. I tasted few pieces,but that's it. 

The next day I was more hungry. I had the same ground beef with hard boiled egg but I got hungry around 2. I wanted more food most day and did eat meat/egg/cheese when I did want food. 

What I didn't eat was macadamia or Brazil nuts nor did I have any dark 100% chocolate. 

Within 2 days my skin cleared. I didn't even apply sulfur at night, no green tea cream. Today my skin is soft and clear. 

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.

My first week on Zero Carb

So it has been a week of eating zero carb. It wasn't eat meat drink water completely but still mostly meat and water, plus coffee and tea.

In the past few days I have been on the go and didn't have time or even want to eat burgers. I made eggs with hard mozzarella cheese (about 1oz) and threw in there smoked fish. It was ok but not emotionally filling as meat. I wasn't hungry but psychologically it didn't feel satisfying. I would have preferred if it would only happen once in a blue moon and not 3 days in a row. 

I also had macademia and few Brazil nuts. When I had Five Guys burgers and steak last week I didn't even reach out to the nuts and was feeling very full even to a point of skipping a meal. 

It seems to me like beef is very satisfying meat. Much more than fish and chicken. 

I had Wendy's burger for lunch yesterday as I skipped breakfast and didn't have time and energy to make anything. For dinner I was with my younger daughter at the arts center from 2pm since she was performing in a show. I took the eggs with mozzarella in a thermos, I also gobbled 2 hard boiled eggs which I did in this cool new way. I put 6 eggs in muffin tin (one egg for each tin) baked at 325 for 25 minutes and then immersed in iced water. PERFECT eggs. Not to soft not to hard inside and super easy to peel. 

I also had some macadamia nuts and few Brazil nuts. And coffee of course.

This morning I had turkey bacon. 

I popped chicken drumsticks in the oven. Made one tray (9 drumsticks) with ghee and another tray with expeller pressed coconut oil. Some spices and 45 min in convection oven at 375. 

I hope the girls like it. 

I am defrosting trader joes buffalo burgers I had in freezer, hope to make them tomorrow. Between the chicken and burgers I have food for the next 2-3 days. 

I need to go to Costco to stock up on meat. 

My jeans are fitting me again. I think my hysteria with my jeans being tight on butt and legs was a combination of new eating with TOM bloating. I am finally feeling great with my body. My face keeps clearing. I have a tiny new pimple in an unlikely place near my right brow but I attribute it to lack of meat and consumption of too many eggs. It is a small pimple that will be gone in a few days, it's not one of my regular hormonal ones in chin area, these are usually bilky, develop under my skin and are big, hard to get rid of and leave marks on my skin for very long time even after they are gone. 

I still have few marks from previous ones and they are getting better.

I would prefer to eat just meat and not eat cheese or nuts.it seems like it's working best for me. The nuts are trigger food for me, a weakness. I can easily binge on them. They comfort me. 

I am also having heavy whipping cream (about 1 tbs) a day in my coffee, which feels ok but if i stall with weight it will have to go. But first I need to just eat meat and drink water.

The crazy thirst is also gone. I do notice that I get thirst after I eat meat. 

Food shopping has become so simple and easy. My refrigerator is very simplified, neat and clean. Dishes are also becoming easier. Yey! 

I am not stressing about macros anymore, although I would love to keep logging my food on MFP and it is pretty easy because my food is easy, I haven't done it in past few days just because they were hectic and I forgot. 

My first week of zero carb has been a good experience. I wonder if and when will I be starting to lose weight. People in the FB group have had different experiences. It seems to me that people who have more weight to lose experience faster weight loss from the beginning. Others experience body changes, clothes becoming bigger and the weight following later. Someone,told me their clothes started falling off but no change in weight and then suddenly after a month 7lbs dropped in one day. 

I am staying open and am curious to see what my body says. 

Period seems to be over. Tomorrow I will weigh in. 

One more easy day on zero carb eating

Yesterday went very easily. I was pretty full most day but had a lingering headache, probably from my period. I put about a tsp of Celtic salt with a cup of water and drank it. I think it helped, the headache went away and I was pretty energetic all day.

Dinner was really good. They served matza ball soup. I just had the broth although I know there was no real broth in it and it was made with commercial powder full of crap. They also served salmon in teriyaki sauce which was also probably not ideal but the fish was good and I was happy. 

I was really full and was not able to put anything else in my mouth even though they served a pretty plate with berries. The ice cream didn't tempt me at all either. I felt really full all evening and was crazy thirsty at night. So I drank water. 

This morning I am not yet hungry. Still full and mildly thirsty. I woke up early and am full of energy. 

Life is good :)

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. 

Feeling great today and planning ahead

Eating zero carb is tasty, satisfying, filling and low cost. With each day I feel better and less doubtful about it.

I just finished my lunch, 10 (plain) chicken wings I bought at Safeway earlier (for $8) I might have a piece of fish as I think I still haven't lost interest in food.

I had eggs and chicken for breakfast (estimated cost $4?) and will make ground beef for dinner (estimated cost $3). 
I have been drinking coffee (can't calculate this but probably around $1 a day?) sometimes I add about a tbs heavy whipping cream (25c?). 
A whole day worth of food for about $15 and it is soooo simple! 

No need to spend much time (and money!!!!) at the store, plan menu, count calories and nutrients figure out why this hurts or why this happens or why weight isn't dropping and how can you eliminate this or that or what to change in my diet? 

Also, no need to store tons of ingredients at home. When I was low carb I stocked up on: nuts, nut butters, almond milk, protein powder, flax, almond/coconut flour, psylium husk, quest bars, a large variety of (low carb) veggies, avocados, olive oil, avocado oil, and probably even more items that I cannot remember right now.

It all adds up and require me to go to the store more often since veggies have limited shelf life. I needed to cook few times a week so I could prepare the veggies.

I have been at it only about 4 days now and I feel great. I have no cravings AT ALL!!! The first few days it was a little hard to wake up, but on these first days I also had a little bit of cabbage in my beef. I am also eating a couple squares of 100% chocolate and 5 brazil/macadamia nuts, a habit I can't yet kick.
Now I am only stuck with the chocolate and brazil/macadamia nuts.

My skin cleared. I have no cystic acne since I switched to meat, it completely cleared. It improved from yesterday until today. Unbelievable! I still have dryness in that area. Hope it will improve tomorrow. I don't feel any new acne developing which feels great.

Day 3 of zero carb update

Haven't weighted still but I do feel like I am shrinking. My clothes feel good on me. My tummy feels tighter, less bloated. 

My hormonal acne is clearing. I do not feel anything new developing and I really hope it stays this way. 

I stopped drinking the apple cider vinegar. It wasn't awful but I don't think it was helping. I forgot to apply sulfur yesterday on the remaining 2 spots and haven't put tea tree on the old marks that I would like cleared. It is very dry now. I have a feeling I need to eat fattier meat. Will get the skin off chicken drumsticks I have in fridge and fry it in ghee.... I also have turkey bacon which I plan to have with eggs for breakfast. Then chicken drumsticks for lunch and burger for dinner. 

I also noticed I am more thirsty especially at night. 

I am so relieved I don't need to think up recipes and prepare. 

I am only wondering about quantity. Not sure yet how much to eat? Hoping to learn to get signals from 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.