Goals and looking back - oh God.

One thing that I really liked about the Atkins Bulletin Board, is that the people frequently post their goals and "mini-goals", and celebrate for every 10 pounds lost to keep up the excitement and interest.  I think that is a great idea, so I have added a "Goals" section to my home page, to keep track of my goals.  I am only .5 pounds away from 220, so I am really excited to make that goal.  It means a lot to me.

Prior to this making this lifestyle change, I'd been stuck between 225-236 for a long time. 

I took some time to look back at my history of being overweight:

• I don't think that I got chubby until I was in the 2nd grade, because that is when the teasing started. 
• I remember weighing 130 pounds in the 3rd grade, and being 5'2". 
• After that, its a blur until I get to freshman year of high school in 1994, and I'm just under 200 pounds. 
• In the Summer of 1995, I joined Weight Watchers and lost about 25 pounds, and had a weight of about 175 or so and looked really good.  I went back to school in the fall, and remember that this jerk from French class, who had teased me mercilessly the year before, was suddenly nice to me and told me how "fantastic" I looked. 
• Then, a romantic relationship ended badly, and I gained that lost weight back in a heart beat.  I maintained at 190-195 from my sophomore year of high school in 1995 through October 2001, the beginning of my senior year of college.
• In October 2001, I was sick and lost a ton of weight in about 3 weeks.  I weighed 175 and was a size 10-12 and thought I looked pretty phenomenal.  That came back by the following summer (2002).
• I  started law school in 2002 at about 195 or so. 
• I ended law school in 2005 at 236.
• I weighed 236 when I got married in 2005.
• I weighed 236 when I got pregnant in 2006, was up to 240-something during my pregnancy, and after I had my daughter in 2007, I weighed 224. 
• I ballooned back up to 236 by Summer 2008, then managed, during that summer, by way of diet (frozen diet lunches and yogurt every day), to get down to 217 at my lowest in August 2008. 
• That didn't last for very long, and I slowly (over the course of a year) gained it back. 
• My weight, since about August 2009, has fluctuated within the range of 225-236 pounds.  When I started this diet in January 2011, I weighed 231.5. 
• I am currently at 220.5,  as of 2/28/11, which is as thin as I've been in a while. 

It is a little shocking to realize that I can never remember having weighed my goal weight of 150.  Going back, I can calculate that I was probably at 150 or so in the 5th grade, but I have no real recollection.  I was a size 14 in middle school, so I was probably at 180+ by the 7th grade. 

So, when I reach my goal weight of 150 pounds, I will probably be the thinnest I have been since I was 10 or 11 years old, and I'll be about 4" taller. 

Isn't that shocking?  Isn't it sad? 

I hated being the fat girl.  It really has been my "label" since I was a young girl.  It doesn't matter that I have always had positive characteristics that I (or others) could use to describe myself, too - like smart, funny, beautiful, kind or successful.  I never used them until adulthood.  I just listened to my mom tell me these things over and over, and I never really believed her.  Thank God I had her to keep up that refrain when I was at my most vulnerable and self-loathing - during my adolescent years - because it somehow, eventually got through, and I am a healthy-minded adult.  Just makes me realize one more thing that mom did for me that I never got a chance to thank her for.  I hope that she knew, before she died, that all of the laudatory things anyone can say about me are nearly 100% attributable to her hard work and excellent example.  I wouldn't have been the person I am today if it hadn't been for her.

Sad.  Now I miss her, and have cried my eye makeup off while at work.  Fantastic.  No more blogging about this stuff during lunch.

2/28/11, Day 37 "duh"

I realized, after yesterday's frantic post, that I have once again been forgetting to take my HBP meds.  Yesterday afternoon, I took my regular dose.  I drank my regular amount of water.  I peed all day.  I checked my weight this morning, and low and behold, I’m down two pounds from yesterday morning, to 220.5.  Clearly, I retain water unless I take my HBP meds.  I am impatient to get that under control.  The problem: I am starting a new schedule on the weekends, which involves working in the morning(s) and going to the gym.  I’m not showering at the same time and doing the same stuff that I usually do to get ready during the week, so… my routine is off and I keep forgetting to take my meds.  Ugh!!  Must fix routine and figure out how to balance all of my obligations, personal and professional!  Life!!

Food Journal

I am going to add a food journal page and start keeping track of what I eat on paper. 

2/27/11, day 36, weigh in week 5 "no weight loss, change in measurements"

I am a little confused!!  How does one lose inches without losing a drop of weight in three weeks?  I am so interested in getting this question answered that I submitted the question to an Atkins bulletin board under the heading "Plateau".  I hope I get some answers, because I've been stuck at about 222.5 for three weeks!!  No joke!  What's up with that?!

This week, I thought for sure, I'm going to lose weight.  I followed the diet super well, felt great, exercised, etc.  However, here's the delta from last week:

No weight change.
Measurements: -.25" neck; negligible loss at wrist; -1.5" at bust, -1" at waist, -1.5" at hips this week.
Since I've first measured myself on 2/13, I've lost a total of -.5" neck, -3.5" bust, -3" waist, -3" hips.
That's pretty good.

How can you lose inches, be in ketosis, but not lose weight.  I mean, I don't think I've been exercising enough to put on sufficient lean body mass to account for the weight staying the same, but my adipose tissue is clearly going somewhere!  Where has it gone, and what has replaced its mass on/in my body? 

2/26, day 35 "busy Saturday"

Well, I am getting myself together. Today, I did the work thing and put in 4.3 billable hours, which is pretty good for a Saturday. Then, I grabbed a Blt cobb salad at wendy's with avocado ranch dressing, half size, 7 carbs. It was good ;). I picked up my sister and went to the gym for 45 min of cardio then some resistance training. I am a little sore. When I came home, I made low carb "magic rolls" from md eades' protein power cookbook. They are like popovers and each sizeable roll was only 2.8 g of carbs. Very good but needed more salt. I have been in ketosis for 1.5 weeks. I exercised this week.

From the experts...

NPR collection of interviews with obesity experts from its Frontline: Diet Wars investigation.

Nutrition website Harvard School of Public Health (Willett, MD).

2/23/11 "hard days night" - 2/24/11 "day of rest!!"

OMG, another long night with a ton of pressure and a small measure of disappointment at the result of all my efforts. City politics, why do I bother with you? All you do is fill me with frustration, anger, and disappointment that most of my fellow politicians are unethical, and care more about power, reelection, and saving face (the big THREE) than they do about getting the job done and being candid with the populace about the state of our municipality and the way that our administration is being run. They are mostly motivated by fear and greed. It turns my stomach (contributing to lack of appetite, making it easier to diet...maybe there is something positive to this??)...

The diet it going well. Yesterday, I had a massive salad for lunch with a side of barbequed chicken breast, which didn't seem to saucy, and a couple of deviled eggs (yummo). For dinner, after the meeting from hell, I had some buffalo wings and celery sticks (my go to, low carb choice for when I don't cook). I enjoyed that with a small glass of white wine. I remained in ketosis when I checked in yesterday morning and before bed. This morning, 2/24, I am still in ketosis. So, maybe an occasional small glass of wine is acceptable, considering, of course, what else I've thrown down my gullet that day.

Tonight, I'm just chilling out. I have to do some grocery shopping, and I'm going to see about going to the gym after Anna is in bed. That's the plan. I think some exercise is called for.

Once again, proud of myself for arising at 6 a.m. and getting into work at 7:30. I'm not as productive as I want to be yet, but I am establishing the habits that will lead to productivity. That's the plan.

I am toying with adding in some meditation for stress relief and focus.

I am researching the controversial Gary Taubes. Check out this NPR interview with him from 2003. Let's see if he wrote a book.

Funny!!!

“In the beginning, God created the Heavens and the Earth and
populated the Earth with broccoli, cauliflower and spinach, green
and yellow and red vegetables of all kinds, so Man and Woman would live long and healthy lives. Then using God’s great gifts, Satan created Ben and Jerry’s Ice Cream and Krispy Creme Donuts. And Satan said, “You want chocolate with that?” And Man said, “Yes!” and Woman said, “and as long as you’re at it, add some sprinkles.” And they gained 10 pounds. And Satan smiled. And God created the healthful yogurt that Woman might keep the figure that Man found so fair. And Satan brought forth white flour
from the wheat, and sugar from the cane and combined them. And
Woman went from size 6 to size 14. So God said, “Try my fresh green salad.” And Satan presented Thousand-Island Dressing, buttery croutons and garlic toast on the side. And Man and Woman unfastened their belts following the repast. God then said, “I have sent you heart healthy vegetables and olive oil in which to cook them.” And Satan brought forth deep fried fish and chicken-fried steak so big it needed its own platter. And Man gained more weight and his cholester ol went through the roof.
God then created a light, fluffy white cake, named it “Angel Food Cake,” and said, “It is good.” Satan then created chocolate cake
and named it “Devil’s Food.”
God then brought forth running shoes so that His children might
lose those extra pounds. And Satan gave cable TV with a remote
control so Man would not have to toil changing the channels. And
Man and Woman laughed and cried before the flickering blue light
and gained pounds. Then God brought forth the potato, naturally low in fat and
brimming with nutrition. And Satan peeled off the healthful skin
and sliced the starchy center into chips and deep-fried them. And Man gained pounds.
God then gave lean beef so that Man might consume fewer calories
and still satisfy his appetite. And Satan created McDonald’s and
its 99-cent double cheeseburger. Then said, “You want fries with
that?” And Man replied, “Yes! And super size them!” And Satan said,
“It is good.” And Man went into cardiac arrest.
God sighed and created quadruple bypass surgery.
Then Satan created HMOs.”

2/23/11, Day 32, exhaustion

My body does not want to get up at 6 a.m.  I fought an internal battle of wills this morning to get out of bed - really, it was more my will v. my desire to sleep in.  I made it, though.  I was at work for 7:30.  It was a close thing.  I am trying to keep foremost in my mind that I can do anything, and that, if I want to make up the billables I missed when I was taking care of my dad, I need to put in an extra 1.5 hours 3-4 days per week, or lose every weekend for the next 6 months.  Plus, two of my bosses (yes, I have several bosses - I think 7 of them) went office to office yesterday to discuss billables and revenues with each attorney.  Pressure! 

I have to push myself, but I know that I have to also take care of myself.  For example, Tuesday was a good work day - up at 6, in by 7:30, billed 8+ good hours before I left early for a City meeting.  But... the meeting went on forever.  I didn't get home for dinner until 7:30 p.m.  Then, I just had no juice left to do anything but relax.  I had no gym in me.  On days like these, something has to give.  I can't have a City meeting, work a 9 hour day, go to the gym and be supermom all in one day.  Something has to give!  Schedule: bend to my will!!  Ugh.  See, I'm totally bonkers.

The diet is going well.  I am in ketosis - I have been in ketosis for 8 straight days.  I don't have any hunger issues, but I'm noticing that I'm starting to have some carby cravings.  There is a mental element to it, too.  I caught myself thinking "I can never eat this again".  Yes, I was talking about fried chicken, and yes, it happened last night when I was exhausted and succeptible.  So, I got myself a low carb cookbook and I'm going to see what I can do about making some fried chicken - there is a recipe in there, but it looks like I will have to get on the internet to buy the stuff I need.  Where do you even get vital wheat gluten flour??!!

No gym tonight

Ugh. My meeting didn't get out until after 7. I got home at 7:30, made an omelet, and am in the zone. No gym tonight!

2/22/11, Day 31, "working it"

Working on a new me!  This diet has helped me to regain some of the confidence and sense of responsibility that I have been missing.  I realize that I’ve been drifting for a while.

So, today I was up at 6 a.m. and in to work by 7:30.  That adds an hour and a half on to my workday.  This should help my billables.  I hate getting up in the morning.  But this morning, it wasn’t so bad.  I actually woke up about 5 minutes before the alarm went off.  And, I packed my gym bag and threw it in the car in case I had some extra time after my city meeting this evening. 

I’m working on self discipline.  This week, I’m a success.  I’ve been in ketosis for the past 7 days; yesterday I went to the gym and did some good fat burning exercise for 45 minutes, plus cool down.  Today, I’m at work early, and maybe back to the gym this evening if I can. 

If I keep this up, I may not recognize myself for much longer!!

2/21/11 - to the gym!!

Today is day 30, and it was a crazy day for me. My dad went into the hospital with congestive heart failure once again, and I spent the day at the hospital with him. I stuck to the diet, drank the water, and stayed in ketosis. Plus, I used my gym membership today... 45 minutes on the treadmill and I maintained my heart rate at 135 beats/ minute. I better lose weight this week!

Low carb meatloaf experiment Ingredients: 1.25 lbs ground beef 5 oz vodka sauce 3 tbsp soy sauce 1/2 tsp garlic powder 1/2 tsp onion powder 1/4 tsp chili flakes 1/8 tsp black pepper 1/3 cup Parmesan cheese, finely grated 1 egg 1 piece raw bacon, chopped 2 handfuls pork rinds, crushed Mix together all ingredients. Place mixture in loaf pan. If desired, put 1 strip bacon, cut into thirds, on top of meat mixture. Bake uncovered in 375 degree oven for 1/2 hour, until cooked through and the top is brown. Remove from oven, let sit for 20 minutes before carefully pouring out grease. Turn onto cutting board and slice. Serve.

Weigh In - Week 4 - 1 Month in 2/20/11

Well, it has been a crazy week.  Look at the stats page, and you'll see that I lost only 1 pound from last Sunday.  What the heck happened, you ask?  What about being in ketosis from Tuesday to present day, you demand!!??  Here's the break down.  This has been a MANIC week for weight loss:

• On 2/13/11, I weighed in at 223.5 pounds, reflecting a weight gain of 2 pounds.
• Then, 2/14/11 was Valentine's Day and I carelessly imbibed a ton of champagne.
• The next day, on 2/15/11, I weighed myself in the morning and found out that I had gained 5 pounds since Sunday, arriving at a weight of 228.5 pounds.  Needless to say, I nearly fainted with shock.
• On 2/16/10, I noticed, for the first time, a persistent and slight metallic taste in my mouth, which I believed to be a sign of ketosis (fat metabolism). 
• On 2/17/11, I began testing the level of ketones in my urine with ketostix to determine whether I was actually in ketosis.  I was.
• From 2/17/11 through the present day, 2/20/11, I have checked my ketone level twice daily, and have been in ketosis the entire period.

So, I was up 2 pounds up on weigh in day, up 5 more pounds on day 2 of the week (gain of 7 pounds), and then, down 8 pounds by day 7 of the week.  Totally bizarre.  +7 -8 = -1.  Nuts!!

Lesson learned: ketosis appears to work, being careless with carbs is dangerous; you can't succeed on this diet if you do not perform due diligence on the food that you are putting into your mouth because even little things add up. 

Can I also say that I am so so so SO glad that I measured myself on the past two weigh in days.  I couldn't believe the loss in size in one week, even though my net weight loss from the prior week was only 1 pound. 
I lost:

• 1/4" around my neck;
• 2" around my bust;
• 2" around my waist; and
• 1.5" around my hips.

Freaking fantastic!

My energy is way way WAY up.  Yesterday, we had my daughter's birthday at an activity center, and I ran around having fun with the kids for more than an hour without any discomfort at all.  I worked up a light sweat and increased my heartrate as well.  Plus, my daughter had a ball playing with mommy.  It was awesome, and I learned something very important about getting involved in your children's exercise time.  I felt like a healthy mom, and feel that I am achieving my goals and improving my child's life in addition to my own.  Yay!  Success!

I would also like to mention that the low carb cheese cake recipe that is contained in the recipe section of this blog is very, very good, and totally hit the spot.  I enjoyed it yesterday while everyone else was munching down on high carb chocolate cake.  The recipe makes 12 x 3.5 oz. servings, and I've only eaten 3 this week.  But, I think that the addition of chocolate and either orange zest or 1/4 tsp. cinnamon (in place of lemon zest) will be my next attempt to tweak this recipe, once I've eaten my way through the cheesecake chilling out in my freezer. 

In related news, I would also like to say that I am very proud of myself for not eating the pizza or cupcakes at Anna's kids party, and for not eating any bread, cake, or cupcakes at Anna's family party yesterday.  I did eat the cheese off of three pieces of pizza yesterday (leaving the crust behind).  It was good.  I only missed the crust a little.

Not quite super, but pretty good, poop this morning.  Despite the fact that I had a large salad with dinner last night, I think that I need to get more veggies in when I'm on the go.  Veggie intake is not a problem during a regular week, but when I'm in a rush, it is really a challenge to eat as much as I should.  I am going to have to pre-prep some veggie items so that I have them at hand when I'm in a rush.  Wonder what I can prepare then freeze for later usage?  Sounds like an experiment to me :)

On that note, signing off.  Time to do some work. 

Day 27 – 2/18/11

I started off the day feeling phenomenal!  Woke up, had a super poop, and the ketostix indicated that I am still in ketosis and putting out more ketones today than I was yesterday.  I feel slimmer, and think that I notice less fat in my midsection.  No daily weighing!

As usual, I took my vitamins with a ton of water, ate a tablespoon of peanut butter for breakfast (not hungry again), and was out the door.  For lunch today, I grabbed a salad at the office cafeteria: a ton of raw spinach, chopped eggs, cheddar cheese, broccoli, cucumbers, onions, turkey breast and some bacon, topped off with oil and vinegar.  It was pretty good, although it probably would have been tastier with blue cheese dressing or something along those lines.  I’ve been hitting the water – I’m probably up to 5 large glasses by now.

However, an hour after lunch, and I am struck with this strange, heady feeling.  I feel utterly exhausted and as if I could fall asleep where I am sitting.  It is clear that I am burning the candle at both ends this week, and I am getting stressed about the amount of work I’m not doing when I’m busy keeping tabs on my father’s medical care because I can’t trust the medical professionals to do their jobs! 

Jeez.  Maybe just a quick nap – who would notice?  Just kidding!  ;)

Ketostix are in and I am in Ketosis

"Enough said," said the fat-burning machine.

So far so good, 2/16, day 25

I am sitting in my office all day, listening to a phone deposition.  The effects of this lifestyle are somewhat inconvenient at the moment, as I have had to make a desparate bathroom break every 45 minutes to an hour to pee.  This means that I'm bugging one of my friends at work to cover my phone for the few minutes I'm away, running off to the restroom.  I think that this friend of mine is starting to think that my water consumption is a little neurotic.  I would tend to agree a bit.  I bought a 1 liter poland spring water today, and I've only refilled it once... that's two liters of water since I've been at work (10 a.m.).  I just did the calculations, and that is 67.62 ounces of water, or 8.45 cups of water - in four hours.  Add to that the water I had this morning when I took my vitamins and I'm probably up to about 10.5 cups of water.  No wonder its all Niagara Falls up in here.  I'm a little embarassed to bug her again.  I'm going to try to hold it for a bit. 

I have been very good with food today.  This morning, I was not feeling hungry at all, so I swallowed a spoonful of organic peanut butter (about 2.5 carbs).  For lunch, I had a big turkey cobb salad from Au Bon Pain with blue cheese dressing (I removed the croutons and carrots).  So far so good.  Assuming that I make it home for dinner tonight, we are supposed to have roasted chicken and creamed spinach.  If not, I'll have to do some low-carb dining out option.  Luckily, I have not yet had my fill of buffalo wings, which are definitely low carb, and are available at most places.

I am excited to get my ketostix in the mail, because I really think that I'm in ketosis.  So, I'm hoping for some good weight loss this week.  I just got notice from Amazon that they shipped today.  Maybe they'll be in on Friday.

I need to pick up some nuts to snack on when I'm in the office.  If I get hungry, and the cafeteria is closed, I'm really screwed because there is nothing but carbs around here.  Right now, I feel fine.  However, I hate to get caught hungry with nothing to eat.  That's when I start drinking coffee with cream in it.

I feel very good physically (despite the need to pee at the moment).  My gastro system seems to love this diet - I have been without IBS symptoms for the first time in 4 years.  As I mentioned previously, I haven't had any issues with gas or heartburn in over three weeks (from the very first day I started the diet).  I never get the post-lunch 3 p.m. crash that I used to suffer from.  My energy level is great.  My back feels good and strong.  I am very happy - a lot of this is due to the fact that I am taking control of my diet...my health... my LIFE.  I've been bounced about a lot in the past couple of years, and things have happened to me.  That passive mindset was a way to not take responsibility for the irresponsible way that I've been eating, which has endangered my health.  I'm not passive any more.  (Frankly, few people who know me, even my closest, would ever call me passive - but I have been when it comes to controlling my food intake).  I am so proud of myself for sticking to this diet - it makes me happy.  I have told a few people that I am on low-carb, they each sympathized and told me how hard it is.  No one believes me when I say that I am not suffering, and that it is not hard at all once you get past the initial roadbumps in Week 1 (cravings, learning to prep your fresh food ahead of time, flu-ish headachy feeling).  So, I just smile and let them think that I'm the willpower goddess. 

Metallic taste = ketosis?

I noticed last night at about 8pm that I had this weird metallic taste in my mouth. When I came home from my meeting, I brushed my teeth asap a couple of times to no avail. the metallic flavor persists. I looked it up online, and metallic mouth flavor is a symptom of being in ketosis. Yay! I ordered ketostix on monday, and once they come in i will see if i am right. Yesterday was a good eating day. i had french onion soup with gruyere (no crouton) and a salad with chopped eggs and veg on it for lunch. For dinner, i had some buffalo wings with a side salad with blue cheese dressing. Fingers crossed that i turn things around this week!

Study - resistance exercise on ketogenic diet reduces fat mass, does not increase lean body mass

Resistance training in overweight women on a ketogenic diet conserved lean body mass while reducing body fat

by Pal T Jabekk,Ingvild A Moe,Helge D Meen,Sissel E Tomten, and Arne T Høstmark

Conclusion: Resistance exercise in combination with a ketogenic diet may reduce body fat without significantly changing LBM, while resistance exercise on a regular diet may increase LBM in without significantly affecting fat mass. Fasting blood lipids do not seem to be negatively influenced by the combination of resistance exercise and a low carbohydrate diet.

2/15/11 - day 24 - v day massacre!

Last night was Valentine’s Day, and my husband and I had a very nice dinner in – and it was completely on the diet.  We split a bottle of champagne – so I had three small glasses.  Hey, it was V Day and I haven’t had any alcohol in more than a month!  Plus, I&N say that in Phase II (which I am entitled to be on if I wanted to because I’ve been on this diet for 3+ weeks), it is okay to have a glass or two of champagne.  So I did.  This morning, I woke up and weighed myself (I know, daily weighing… slap my wrist), and I gained 5 lbs since yesterday morning.  I also did not have a super poop this morning, and I woke up feeling cotton mouthed (read: dehydrated).

I looked up champagne nutrition, and although carbs in champagne can vary by maker, it is safe to assume that the extra brut we consumed last night had about 5 grams of carbs per glass, times three glasses = 15 carbs.

Oh God.  The chili that I made….  I have rethought my recipe and realize that I inadvertently made some carby chili and then ate about 2 servings worth of it.  It was basically made up of turkey Italian sausage, peppers, onions, garlic, a container of simply enjoy vodka sauce (which is 12 g of carbs), and ½ pack each of mccormick sloppy joe seasoning mix (8 g carbs) and mccormick chili seasoning mix (6 g carbs).  Total 26 grams of carbs, not including the veggies, and I probably ate about 1/3 of it.  Oh no.  8+ grams of carbs, not including the carbs that came from the veggies I added. 

The horror!  At least 23 grams of carbs from those two items alone.  Okay.  Time to be a very good girl!

Study - Effects of Low Carb Diet on PCOS (which I have)

The effects of a low-carbohydrate, ketogenic diet on the polycystic ovary syndrome: A pilot study

by John C Mavropoulos,William S Yancy, Juanita Hepburn, and Eric C Westman

Excerpt from Discussion Section:

"This pilot study showed that adherence to a low-carbohydrate, ketogenic diet led to improvement in body weight, percent free testosterone, LH/FSH ratio, fasting serum insulin, and symptoms in women diagnosed with PCOS over a six-month period. Further research is needed to determine if the benefits were from weight loss or from carbohydrate restriction specifically."

Day 20 - 2/14/11

I am attacking this diet with renewed ferocity!  Watch out!  Yesterday, I drank at least 9 or 10 large glasses of water, ate a ton of fresh veggies, and was really careful about my carb intake. 

This morning, I had yet another super poop.  Holy crap that was some crap.  Sorry to be gross, but this is totally bizarro and a completely different kind of poop than I've ever had before.  And I experience absolutely no discomfort during its prep and execution, which is new for me.  Once again, I pooed last night before bed - a normal looking, normal sized poo.  This morning, I deposited a long, smooth, thin snake in the toilet that was well over 1 foot in length.  It was effortless, it took only seconds to evacuate.  I think that it is a good sign.  I&N talk about "super poops" as being a sign that the diet is going well.  I've been really careful with following the diet the past few days, and I've been rewarded with 2 super poops in a row in the a.m. 

I daily weighed today.  I just couldn't help it - I had to see what effect my super poops were having on my weight.  It was kind of an experiment.  I'm down 1 pound since yesterday at the same time.  That's it for my daily weighing this week, though.  I am not going to let myself get discouraged.

Week 3 weigh in 2/13/11

Well, this has been a hell of a week. I've been in the hospital with my dad every day, and city stuff went a little haywire on Tuesday, leading to a very public showdown with other members of the administration. It played well, but still produced much anxiety (as if I didn't have enough to start with). Happily, dad's surgery went as expected, and he is recovering well. In the meanwhile, I haven't put the intention and drive into this diet that I have in the past weeks. I didn't cheat this week. However, I didn't do everything i was supposed to, i didn't drink enough water,, i didn't eat leafy greens everyday, and i overindulged on the protein. I actually forgot that the diet required one to eat 2cups of leafy greens everyday. I went back and looked at the book and there it was. One thing that I have noticed is that when my regular schedule is thrown off, such as my being at the hospital all the time, it is hard to get all that water in - i usually just forget to drink until i realize that i am parched, and by then I'm already pretty dehydrated. I should have noticed that I haven't been urinating every 45 minutes to an hour the way that i was when i was guzzling the water in week 1. Also, notably, we did a lot of eating out this week, and its hard to guarantee that what you are eating is as low carb as it seems.

Weigh In
I weighed in this morning at 233.5 lbs. This reflects a weight gain of 2 lbs, for a net weight loss of 8 lbs. Needless to say that i am disappointed a bit, but I have determined what i think i did incorrectly, and i am going to give myself a break because it has been a crazy week. I am also going to give myself a lot of credit for sticking to the diet even when faced with extremely limited food choices and high stress situations, where in the past i would have "treated myself" to a full out pig out. Also, I have not been exercising and i need to do that.

Physical changes i have noticed
I realized this week that i have not had either gas or heartburn since i began this diet. Also, i have never felt sickly over full, as i used to after nearly every meal. My gastro system seems to be working more effectively and healthily without all of the carbs. even though I gained wight this week, i have to say that i feel slimmer than i did last week. I have this persistent impression that my belly fat is melting away. There is some evidence of that in the way that my pants fit. It was so striking this week, that i finally went out and bought a tape measure to record my measurements. I will do those later and update the stats page.

Number 2
Today i had a super poop. I have never seen anything like it. It was fluffy textured, healthy looking, chestnut brown, and unbelievably, approximately 18 inches long. It was like a soft textured snake in the toilet. And my belly wasn't even uncomfortable before i went. Even after i was done, i had absolutely no idea what i had produced. I have literally never seen anything like this in my entire life history of pooping. And I think i pooped last night before bed too. It was bizarre. Where did it come from? I mean i don't think I even ate enough yesterday to supply my body with enough stuff to make it. Wow. I wish i took a picture. It was that crazy.

2/11 day 19

I am despairing about weighing myself on Sunday. I haven't cheated at all, but I just haven't been able to drink all the water and eat all the fresh veggies I usually get. Plus, I'm really pigging out on the allowed foods...for example, we went out for barbecue tonight and I ate way too much ribs, brisket and pulled pork. Well, at least I ate all of the collard greens and avoided the beer and BBQ sauce. We will see on sunday!

Day 15 - Weigh In

I weighed in on Sunday morning.  My current weight is 221.5, which reflects a total weight loss to date of 10 pounds.  Very happy about this, although it seems clear that my weight loss has slowed from the first week. That's okay with me.   I haven't cheated on the diet, which is good.  Its been a long two weeks.  Everyone is sick!  My dad is in the hospital.  Posting is hard at the moment, but I'm going to stick with it, even if the posts are very brief. 

Days 10-12 // 2/1/11 - 2/3/11

It has been another long week, once again, dominated by poor winter weather conditions and a sick toddler.  So, here’s my update for the week.  Days 10-12 passed in a blur.  So far so good.  I have stuck to this diet pretty well. 

I have made a minor (but permitted) deviation – I was absolutely craving some chocolate, so I went to the store to buy some unsweeted baking chocolate and some Truvia (erithrytol).  You’re not supposed to have chocolate yet, but I&N allow a small bit if you can’t help yourself, so long as you keep it as low carb as possible.  They recommend melting a small amount of chocolate, sweetening it with artificial stuff, then adding in heavy cream and whipping it to make a sort of chocolate mousse.  This is basically what I did, although I didn’t whip mine, and I added some more spices, and kept it the consistency of a chocolate sauce.  It was very satisfying, and only a few tablespoons were enough to take care of my craving.  I’ll post the recipe.  It was really enjoyable, and only 2 net carbs.

Water Retention

I want to explain my weight gain and quick loss between Days 10-12 this week.  The weight gain was due to water retention.  I ran out of my BP meds, and couldn’t get to the pharmacy to refill (our roads were treacherous).  So, I racked up some serious water weight over about 3 days.  I was finally able to get the meds on the afternoon of Day 11, and then I peed away about 2 pounds of water or so by the morning of Day 12.  I know this wasn’t a good thing, so don’t chide me.  I won’t do it again.  Just goes to show that I really need to be healthier and lose weight  so I can get my BP under control.

State of Mind

I am treating low-carb like it is just the way that I eat.  I’m not sure when I stopped thinking about “being on a diet”.  But, somehow, amazingly (and for now), I’m just going with it and it is not a struggle.  I think it is going to be key to keep myself out of the “starvation” and “suffering” mindset by being positive minded, keeping myself full and indulging in the stuff we’re allowed to eat on this diet plan.