My adventures in veggie land (aka meditation retreat)
KetoGirl83
Posts: 546 Member
Hello everyone, it is good to be back! It took me a couple of days to get to write this because I arrived completely exhausted and had other things to attend to.
So, thanks to all the suggestions I got before leaving, the experience was not as bad or as difficult as I had feared.
I managed to stay in ketosis (blood read between 1 and 1.5mM) and didn't stray from the diet. My blood glucose was also controlled, even if the fasting levels were still a bit higher than normal (but then I'm diabetic and the values didn't change significantly from those I have at home).
My day was:
Breakfast (provided): scrambled eggs, sometimes with mushrooms. With that I had coffee with coconut oil.
Lunch and Dinner (in my room): big bowl with lettuce, spinach and other green leaves, 1/2 avocado, 1/2 tomato, 1/4 cucumber and a different protein each time, tinned mackerel, sardines or tuna, or cold meats. It was all seasoned liberally with olive oil, balsamic vinegar and parsley, coriander and whatever herbs I had.
Snack: Miso broth or Earl Grey with coconut oil, in the middle of the afternoon and before sleep.
I had to leave and go to the supermarket to buy the fresh ingredients and twice I took the opportunity and bought some chicken from the takeaway counter. Other than that it was basically the same food for lunch and dinner the whole 10 days. It doesn't bother me, I was never hungry and never felt the need to use the almonds and walnuts that I took as s safeguard.
When people asked me why I wasn't eating with everyone, I didn't exactly lie but I was not exactly truthful either. I said I had been recently diagnosed diabetic and was having a detox from sugar and refined flour. As to what I was eating, a vague salads, avocados, coconut, cheese... was enough for most people. But from some of the comments it was obvious that it is ok to shun sugar but the reaction would be very different if they knew exactly what was in my salads.
To a couple of closer friends and one of the teachers I told the whole unabridged story. To my great surprise, they proved to be a lot more open than I would have been just two months ago and supported unequivocally everything that would contribute to my health.
The teacher, especially, was a great relief because I have been eating this way but couldn't shake a guilty feeling about it. And he, who eats the plainest of vegan fare, told me that my health must come first and that it is not possible to do anything good for the planet, the animals or anyone else if I myself am sick. It was as if a great weight had lifted from my shoulders because this is someone I really admire and respect. He also suggested that it would be easier for me if I kept the diet changes private to avoid being subjected to fundamentalist reactions.
What I missed most was the time to talk with friends because meals are almost all the free time we get. The most difficult was to have to say no to all the offers of food (fruit, cakes, biscuits, sweets, chocolate...) which every time meant a repetition of the explanation of why I couldn't accept. I never realised just how often food circulates in these events!
Anyway, I was convinced that I would have lost weight so as soon as I got home I was very disappointed: 1kg/2lbs more!
I was very puzzled: should I have eaten less? Eaten more? Was it not enough fat? Was it the meditation and being seated 14 to 16 hours a day that slowed even more my already slow metabolism? Sometimes I really don't know what to do with this diet.
One day after I was back home I was at my pre-retreat weight and today (2 days after that) I lost another kg/2lbs. It seems things are getting back as they should be!
Copied from my blog because not many people see it and I wanted to thank all that helped me with suggestions and support before I went to the retreat. ::flowerforyou::
So, thanks to all the suggestions I got before leaving, the experience was not as bad or as difficult as I had feared.
I managed to stay in ketosis (blood read between 1 and 1.5mM) and didn't stray from the diet. My blood glucose was also controlled, even if the fasting levels were still a bit higher than normal (but then I'm diabetic and the values didn't change significantly from those I have at home).
My day was:
Breakfast (provided): scrambled eggs, sometimes with mushrooms. With that I had coffee with coconut oil.
Lunch and Dinner (in my room): big bowl with lettuce, spinach and other green leaves, 1/2 avocado, 1/2 tomato, 1/4 cucumber and a different protein each time, tinned mackerel, sardines or tuna, or cold meats. It was all seasoned liberally with olive oil, balsamic vinegar and parsley, coriander and whatever herbs I had.
Snack: Miso broth or Earl Grey with coconut oil, in the middle of the afternoon and before sleep.
I had to leave and go to the supermarket to buy the fresh ingredients and twice I took the opportunity and bought some chicken from the takeaway counter. Other than that it was basically the same food for lunch and dinner the whole 10 days. It doesn't bother me, I was never hungry and never felt the need to use the almonds and walnuts that I took as s safeguard.
When people asked me why I wasn't eating with everyone, I didn't exactly lie but I was not exactly truthful either. I said I had been recently diagnosed diabetic and was having a detox from sugar and refined flour. As to what I was eating, a vague salads, avocados, coconut, cheese... was enough for most people. But from some of the comments it was obvious that it is ok to shun sugar but the reaction would be very different if they knew exactly what was in my salads.
To a couple of closer friends and one of the teachers I told the whole unabridged story. To my great surprise, they proved to be a lot more open than I would have been just two months ago and supported unequivocally everything that would contribute to my health.
The teacher, especially, was a great relief because I have been eating this way but couldn't shake a guilty feeling about it. And he, who eats the plainest of vegan fare, told me that my health must come first and that it is not possible to do anything good for the planet, the animals or anyone else if I myself am sick. It was as if a great weight had lifted from my shoulders because this is someone I really admire and respect. He also suggested that it would be easier for me if I kept the diet changes private to avoid being subjected to fundamentalist reactions.
What I missed most was the time to talk with friends because meals are almost all the free time we get. The most difficult was to have to say no to all the offers of food (fruit, cakes, biscuits, sweets, chocolate...) which every time meant a repetition of the explanation of why I couldn't accept. I never realised just how often food circulates in these events!
Anyway, I was convinced that I would have lost weight so as soon as I got home I was very disappointed: 1kg/2lbs more!
I was very puzzled: should I have eaten less? Eaten more? Was it not enough fat? Was it the meditation and being seated 14 to 16 hours a day that slowed even more my already slow metabolism? Sometimes I really don't know what to do with this diet.
One day after I was back home I was at my pre-retreat weight and today (2 days after that) I lost another kg/2lbs. It seems things are getting back as they should be!
Copied from my blog because not many people see it and I wanted to thank all that helped me with suggestions and support before I went to the retreat. ::flowerforyou::
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Replies
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Thanks for updating. I'll glad things turned out so well. It looks like whatever nonsense caused you to go up in weight has resolved itself. Sometimes the body is just stupid.
KUTGW.0 -
Welcome Back KG and congrats.KetoGirl83 wrote: »Hello everyone, it is good to be back!
<snipped>
Anyway, I was convinced that I would have lost weight so as soon as I got home I was very disappointed: 1kg/2lbs more!
I was very puzzled: should I have eaten less? Eaten more? Was it not enough fat? Was it the meditation and being seated 14 to 16 hours a day that slowed even more my already slow metabolism? Sometimes I really don't know what to do with this diet.
One day after I was back home I was at my pre-retreat weight and today (2 days after that) I lost another kg/2lbs. It seems things are getting back as they should be!
<snipped>
As to all the "was it's.." - could have been any of those or none of them (who knows?)
Could just as easily have been the stress (even if you didn't "think" you were putting yourself under it) - just worrying about it will do it and stress does absolutely have a metabolic effect (and not a good one).
Pretty much NOTHING that happens day to day is a direct result of what you did yesterday or the day before and weight fluctuations of 4-6# for "no reason" are common.
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Welcome back! I'm glad that it went so much better than you originally thought it would, and also glad you received acknowledgement and support from those folks you chose to share you choices with. I'm sure that was a good feeling.0
