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

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. 

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.

Messed up, then balanced and now finding a new way

I have not been blogging. Last weekend went for a little day hiking trip with my family to Point Reyes. Beautiful nature and ocean. I realized I get an appetite when outdoors and walking. Probably all the fresh air .....

I brought good food with me. Beef Jerky (Sophia's Survival Food, I really like the Original flavor, just grass fed beef and salt), quest bars, cucumbers, canned tuna, hard boiled eggs, nuts, even had flax muffins with me!

I did not limit myself with food and didn't stress about it. But then in the evening we stopped in San Francisco for dinner. I went to a sushi place with my daughter. I sneaked 2 seaweed rolls and couldn't avoid the white rice. I also had cucumber salad and grilled chicken bowl. I am sure the soy and other sauces were not great for me. I did not feel full/satisfied after I ate and I was,having increased appetite for few days after. 

Problem is two days later we went again to Asian buffet and I couldn't resist buy try some dessers. I am sure I wouldn't have even contemplate trying them if I hadn't slipped with the sushi two,days before. 

In any case, I didn't dwell on it, I just returned to my eating and training. Two days later my weight is same as before. I am a bit disappointed I am not down but happy I am not up. 

My husband has been sick with flu since Tuesday. He's moping at home. Kids were off school and I have been shuffling them around all week. I only trained once,this whole week. It wasn't super hard. I think I am ready for week 3 day 1 do c25k. Really want to be moving but am just worn out from having kids 24/7 AND a sick DH who keeps moaning about how sick he is. I cannot help but think, if it was the other way I would still be driving kids around and arranging activities for them. He doesn't have to do it. He can just rest. I guess it is what it is. He didn't have to carry them, give birth or nurse them either.... :-)

I asked on the Ketogenic Dieters FB group about losing the last 10-15lbs and someone pointed me to a fabulous new blog My Zero Carb Life. It totally threw me into curiosity mode. I have been reading and joined the FB group Zeroing In On Health. I started reading about Vilhjalmur Stefansson experience with the Eskimo and got really intrigued. 

Since I don't have any success with the low carb and it doesn't seem like the 20g net carbs are making any difference for me I will go into 30 day zero carb. Just meat and water. It seems easier in many ways. From what I have read so far, it kind of let's body regulate everything by itself. Appetite and body composition.

I haven't gone zero carb just yet. For the past couple days I have reduced my veggies to just a bit of cabbage, spinach and some homemade Paleo bbq sauce. I only had shredded chicken breast in fridge but I understand it is lean meat and thus not suitable for this way of eating as you need to eat meat with fat. Not that you need added fat, you just need meat with its own natural fat. I will need to add some fat for cooking but not vegetable fat. 

So far, I seem to be doing well. My clothes feel loose. I have energy and so far no problem with #2, but I read that if I do happen to have problems just up the fat.

I am going to make Grinbenes/schmaltz it seems really nutritious, yummy, fulfilling and a really good snack. 

Will keep reporting on a more regular basis.

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 .....

Thoughts about quantities of food

I have been thinking a lot in the past few days about quantity. Dr. Berkley says that the quantity of food you eat in maintenance doesn't change drastically from the amount you ate while losing weight. 

When I was on Medifast/TSFL it was one of the first things I learned that the quantities I always thought normal and healthy are actually gigantic!

I remember visiting my cousin in The Netherlads gazillions years ago, when I was still young and single, in my early 30s, she had breakfast and a sandwich for lunch her main meal was dinner. I thought back then that she eats very little. Little did I know that she actually was more in the right direction than the three big meals plus snacks and endless lattes that I was eating. I never thought my coffee with low fat/non fat milk 3 and sometimes 4 times a day was contributing to my growing appetite and body.

I am trying to decide now if I am eating too little or too much and of what. I haven't been able to lose any weight in the past month. It is disappointing. When I was doing Medifast/TSFL I had a set routine. It was easy and pretty much predictable. I usually dropped about 2lbs a week unless it was the week of my period. I stalled here and there,when I got closer to 135 and the last 5lbs from 135 to 130 were very s l o w. I was doing C25K then and had to up my protein. 

I now have a good idea of the reasonable quantity of food for my body. There is that much meat/figs/eggs I can eat a day. So that's my protein and it is hard to overeat. It is actually sometimes hard to eat enough (if you go by Pinney/Volek/McDomald 40g recommended protein per meal). My other food staple veggies, are also not likely to cause overeating. Another point is that I eat from a salad plate, I fill it with protein and veggies. That's it. 

I do it 3 times a day. Hard to overeat. But..... There are nuts. I am not sure I overeat them. I am not sure they are the ones stalling me. I have had weight loss after I ate more than my usual nuts. I do eat small quantity 1 or 2 oz max. I had days when I didn't eat them at all and still didn't lose. 

Perhaps my body is still adopting to Keto. I am not sure. Perhaps it is hormones. Perhaps I am in peri menopause. 

Time will tell. 

I was down to my usual 147.4lbs this morning after yesterday's 149+. I remember that when I did cardio training I was advised not to weigh in the day after and thought perhaps my running had something to do with the scale gain. I now make sure to walk on days that I don't run. I do feel great! I will continue to figure it out.

Refuse to Regain

If the cultural forces that overwhelm us with food are like a flood, we must respond in kind. 

Dr. Barbara Berkley rule 1, avoid moderation.

Chapter 10 in Dr. B's book is very powerful for me. I also relate to her notion that the food attack and S foods are worse than drugs because drugs are not advertised and pushed on us on daily basis. Drugs are not mainstream while S foods are considered 'normal'. 

These are things I already know but she put it in good perspective for me. Now that I have associated it with drugs it is even easier to look at all the baked goods and desserts. 

My new strategy is plugging everything into My Fitness Pal. I am in the zone and in the flow. 

I think it has become a habit. For example I was at Starbucks Yesterday and tried the new Flat White. I plugged it in MFP and made sure to adjust the macros for the rest of my day. 

I don't like it BTW. Don't feel the coffee, it is basically whole milk. I will go back to my Americano with TBS of heavy whipping cream or just plain black. Maybe an occasional cappuccino. 

Who needs all this milk?

I think that I don't. Even though my nutriens where fine yesterday and I took a nice walk with my daughter I woke up this morning with 3 extra pounds! I got very upset when I saw 149+ on the scale. 

I am suspecting all this milk didn't do good to me. This is when 'a calorie is a calorie' proves wrong. I had 25g net carbs (47 total and 22fiber), 69g fat and 96g protein. 

My hormones are probably also contributing to the mix. I finally got my period after missing a month. 

I am just going to stick with my food template minus the milk and make adjustments. I will not reduce calories if anything I will slowly increase them. Especially now that I am doing the C25K. Running is great. My sleep is better just after one day of running. I am going to run again today. 

I will end this post with a recipe for a great carb free toast that someone on Ketogenic Dieters group on  FB posted:

1/4 cup golden flax meal

1 egg

1/2 tsp baking powder

2 tbsp water

pinch of salt

Mix and cook in microwave for 2 min. (I used a short mug, you can use a silicone bagel/donut mold), slice and toast

190 calories, 14g fat, 8g fiber, 12g protein 0 carbs

Add low fat meat and veggies and you have a great portable meal. 

I had it yesterday for lunch with leftover turkey hamburger as I needed to run out of the house to drive my daughter to piano lesson.

Off to run now. 

Surprising loss and first step to healthy lifestyle

This morning I stepped on the scale and saw a nice surprise. 3lbs loss. I couldn't believe it so stepped again, this time it was 2lbs loss only. I began to think something must be wrong with my scale so I tried few more time and moved the scale around but it was the same. So I am officially 2lbs down. Right after nuts disaster yesterday. 

I got up and went for a walk/jog, well basically I am back to C25K. I did a little less walking and a bit more short runs. After 3 sets of 1 minute I was getting slow so I ran 3 more 30 sec sets and walked in between. I got home streched and did some push ups just to work my arms. Enough with laziness and excuses. I don't like the gym but I have excercise videos at home, I spent the money on them and I need it. No more excuses. No more complaints in my head about how boring it is. Most of my day consists of driving so I just have to do it. That's it! Enough!

My husband decided to compete with me :-) he said that if I run he will too. So now he is out on a walk/run. He pushes himself more than I do but I remember it is very good for both of us. I think it affects our hormone levels for the better. 

Anyhow, Time for breakfast now and keep reading Refuse to Regain  :-) 

Ketogenic diet thoughts

I was doing pretty well or at least so I thought but after lunch I started to feel deprived. I couldn't stop thinking about nuts. I ended up giving up, resentment was starting to set in. I ended up eating nuts and a small pack of beef jerky. I skipped dinner and only had a slice if Swiss cheese, cucumber and quarter tomatoe. 

I went for a short jog and walk in the evening and am drinking hot tea. I decided to stop pursuing ketosis. I will go back to just protein, fat and low carb just from veggies and berries and keep track of my food on MFP. 40g protein is a lot and 20g carbs is too low for me. I want to be able to eat my veggies. I feel really deprived limiting food such as tomatoes and cauliflower. It is not sustainable for me and triggers emotional response so it seems. 

So my first non Whole 30 food was Swiss cheese. 

A bit of TMI...I am having gas. I suspect it is from the nuts. 

I am browsing through Dr. Barbara Berkley blogs and really found this one interesting. My main learning is to become an athlete. I am going back to walking/running. I am turning 46 in less then 2 months I have to establish this habit and keep it going. Especially since I still have menopause ahead. 

http://www.refusetoregain.com/2013/01/practical-weight-guidance-for-the-menopausally-challenged.html

Whole 30 Day 30 Is it the END?

Yesterday was the last day of The Whole 30, can't believe 30 days passed already. It was a piece of cake! It is not hard at all to eat a clean diet. What is hard is to keep quantities. Here's what i ate yesterday. No 100% chocolate and no nuts. I was totally fine. No hunger just a couple of times, the old times for snacks i wanted something to eat. like in the afternoon around 4:30/5 pm and in the evening around 9pm.
Something strange is going on with me. It doesn't happen after breakfast, mainly after lunch. I finish my meal and even though I am pretty full and satiated I want something to eat. so in the past I have eaten chocolate but do i really need it? I would like to eat that 1-2 squares of chocolate a couple times a week but I am not sure i want to eat them daily on a habitual basis, which I have been doing. Yesterday I had a little under 1200 calories but I was not hungry at all. I hit all my macros and just didn't want to eat anything else, well i did WANT but my body was perfectly fine and happy.
With dinner I don't usually want to eat after i finish my meal but sometimes when i sit down around 9 pm and my husband munches i feel like i want something too. I usually deal with this by making a cup of tea. Sometimes i do eat like 1oz of nuts.
But i don't want to snack like this any more.

I was at a social event yesterday at noon and they served a very nice catered lunch with hummus, salads, falafel, bread of course, puffs, muffins, brownies, cut veggies, cut fruit, dates......etc. There was absolutely no protein (unless you count the falafel and hummus as protein although nutritionally it is not a complete protein as they are partial amino acid chain). I was a bit distracted but I was still full from my breakfast. I had the thought of having just cucumbers but then reminded myself that even cucumbers have carbs and that I was not really hungry and it was not time for my lunch. So i just kept drinking tea. I went home and had my lunch when i was hungry. I did take 2 muffins and brownies for my kids..... wouldn't want them to throw everything ;-)

Today is the first day I am not on The Whole 30 anymore but i still haven't changed much. My weight is still the same didn't suddenly drop ;-) I am suspecting my body is adjusting to the new macros switching from high fat to higher protein and lower carbs. I will give it 2 weeks. Now that I started to figure out the food template for my recommended macros I really want to be consistent for 2 weeks. I really want to get a handle on my nuts and dark chocolate habit. I have significantly lowered my fat intake. Need to see that indeed my body will start dropping weight once my fat intake in grams is lower than my protein intake. Also trying to figure out what protein sources to eat so i get enough protein (120g) and try not to have any carbs in it so i can get my carbs from veggies only.

Here's my breakfast today visually and nutritionally. I will not eat Turkey Bacon very often. It is too expensive and the same goes for the smoked salmon (which also has carbs!). Both bacon and salmon were too salty for me. I think i will make my own turkey/chicken breakfast sausages and freeze them. although I really like AppleGate Farms chicken apple sausages they do cost more than what I will make myself and I think I do not need to apple sweetening and can save these carbs by making them nyself. I will have a box or 2 in the freezer for emergency. Otherwise it just seems that my previous breakfast which included 2 or 3 eggs and vegetables had too many carbs and not enough protein.

Accomplishments:

1. I have gotten into the habit of logging my food on MFP which is really good. 
2. I stopped snacking between meals, mainly between lunch and dinner. 
3. I have more control over what i eat. I actually choose what and when to eat, more often than not. Once in a while i still give in and munch on nuts (like on Wednesday) but the frequency is decreasing. I am not tempted by available/free food at social gatherings. I am more conscious of the unclean ingredients even in the salads (like tuna salad is probably made with cheap mayo loaded with soy oil, salad dressing loaded with unthinkable ingredients). 
4. I finally started to understand what to eat to get to the macros I aim for. 
5. My skin cleared up, almost completely. Before I started the Whole 30 I had a bad breakout on my chin (my oily area). Had another breakout while that one was disappearing but it was smaller and i immediately treated it with sulfur cream. It is now almost gone and I hope not to have any new ones any time soon. I suspect that it was a result of too much fat. 

What I would like to change next 

I would like to focus on the wanting/needed to eat "something" right after I finish my lunch. This is when I got into the habit of having chocolate and/or nuts as part of my lunch. I thought I will trick myself if i incorporate it in my lunch so i don't feel like snacking in the afternoon. But it is not exactly a nutritional must since I can get my nutrients from my actual food. 

I am still not sure how to handle this one but i will give it a thought. 

Whole 30 Day 29

Yesterday went by fairly easy. The only problem was in the evening, after I had dinner, I was down from interaction with my husband and although I was full from my beef stew I snarfed some nuts that I had with me in my purse. 

It is not included here below on MFP log..... 

Today I am up a pound!!!!! Even though I ate pretty well for few days. 
I don't think these nuts were to blame here. I think it is connected to my hormones as I haven't gotten my period this month and this morning I think it is finally coming ...... i am probably retaining something. I plan on exercising today and just keep doing what I am doing. 
I finally managed to hit my macros as recommended by the FB Keto Dieters group I am on. 120g protein (40g x 3) 71g fat and 20g net carbs. 
Yesterday i finally managed to eat 18g net carbs, 120g protein and 69g fat. 
I know i have more than that because of the nuts and coconut flakes binge in the car....but at least now I know what i need to eat to hit those macros. 

I am probably better off staying away from nuts.... seems like they are trigger food for me. As Barbara Berkeley recommends in her book Refuse To Regain, it is better to have a total abstention from trigger foods and then introduce them back very carefully..... I will probably need to plan carefully the nuts in my daily nutrition.  Calculate the macros and check that they fit in my daily plan or else NOT EAT THEM! 

On a different note, I heard a very interesting interview on NPR yesterday 
http://www.npr.org/blogs/health/2015/01/28/381622350/why-teens-are-impulsive-addiction-prone-and-should-protect-their-brains 

Never realized that addiction is a form of learning. I wonder how do we "un-learn"? My daughter is still 11 but already showing teenager signs....she does a really good eye roll ;-) 

And a final note. Today is my last day of Whole 30!!!!! 
It has been completely uneventful and simple journey. I do not miss anything, especially not dairy or sugar. 
I will now go back to buyer my regular lower cost ghee (the one I got for the Whole 30) is Organic while the regular one I buy at Trader Joe's is not organic. 
Will i change anything tomorrow? I don't think so. 
I think that cheese and dairy do not fill me as protein sources. 

I am really enjoying not having any cravings. I am enjoying knowing I am making good food choices. 

I sat in a board meeting last night and on the table where pretzels, 2 types of cookies and water. Of course i didn't touch them (I came with my own BIG cup of herbal cinnamon tea and sipped it for like 2 hours) and I wasn't even tempted. People munched on everything. I remember the days when I couldn't resist those pretzels and think "how much harm could it be eating just a few" but after having one i wanted another one and another and it became harder to stop nibbling them, sometimes i would just give up and just eat and eat. 
There is never a good source of protein anywhere. It is much more expensive than the cheap wheat/grain/sugar snack..... 

Oh well. I believe I will just keep eating this way as I am enjoying it. If i do want heavy whipping cream in my coffee once in a while (once/twice a week) or whole milk at Starbucks I will have it (I will not buy it to have at home as it will become a regular thing that i don't want) but the rest? Not even sure how to incorporate cheese/greek yogurt in my nutrition now. Protein is too low and carbs too high..... Somehow the dairy never fills me especially melted cheese, I just want more.... ;-) 

I am sure i will figure it out with time. But for now I am focused on dropping my extra weight and finding my way to do it. 

Whole 30 Days 27 and 28

I didn't have time to blog yesterday, well technically I did but I tried to do a screen shot from MFP and it didn't work so I tried for half an hour to figure it out until I gave up..... 
Today I was able to figure out a way to do it although the PrtSc worked just a couple days ago it isn't working now even after restart.....go figure. 

I am trying to get my macros right and am not having much success so far. I need 1200 cal, 120g protein, 71g fat and 20g net carbs. 

I don't know what protein source to eat that will keep me at 40g per meal but at ~23g fat and very low carb. All my regular sources seem higher on fat and/or carb. I also realize that I need to limit my vegetables, especially tomatoes. 
I am at 31-35 g net carbs. 
I also want my food to still taste good though..... 

I am happy i was able to log my food on MFP. I will have to keep monitoring and figure things out. 

Tomorrow will be the last day of my Whole 30!!!! I like eating this way. The only change i might have is to eat frozen grilled chicken, somehow it always has sugar or some additive that is not Whole 30 approved. 
I still haven't decided if i will go back to dairy. I actually feel pretty good and am not sure i want to change anything. 
I was looking into Fage Greek yogurt this morning to figure out macros, the 2% one has 20g of protein but also 8g carbs and 0 fiber so I am not sure i will eat it since I will still have to consume additional 15-20g protein more fiber but no more carbs. Not sure what it is i can eat to provide fiber without carbs. Also 8g carbs seems a little high for since it will require me to have less carbs in my other 2 meals. 

The good news are that i have no problem not snacking. That was an easy habit to instil. After the initial sabotage last week, this week is no problem. I am over snacking! I eat my nuts and 100% chocolate as part of my meal. 
I don't need any cream in my afternoon decaf coffee so I will probably not go back to my old habit of having afternoon decaff coffee with 1tbs of heavy whipping cream (or coconut milk). 

Another good thing that I figured out since logging my food religiously is that I don't get enough protein in but get too much fat. 

I am feeling great, am not hungry or tired. Will measure ketones tomorrow again. Wondering if anything will change?