Ad Lib April -- Week 1 Checkin

Dragonwolf

So, how'd you do?

I'm down almost 2lbs from the start of the month, with the help of cracking down and being more compliant with my carnivory, though I had a couple of days that included non-compliant stuff. I'm still "up" from a month or two ago, but it's moving in the right direction, which is awesome!

DorkothyParker

So far so good.
I am down 2 lbs as well from last week but I also ate almost a pound of almonds in 5 days last week so I think that contributed to my sticky scale. Almonds are banned for a while and I will get single serving bags only once they are welcome again!

I do keep seeing my calories, but I am reminding myself not to let that influence me. I do feel like I am actually eating less (and I think I've mentioned this three times) as I try to listen to my body more. No reason to squeeze in chocolate just because I want it if I am not at least a little physically hungry (or at least not full which I am after eating yummy meat and veggie dinner). Still aiming to hit 70-80 grams of protein regardless! This is in the .8-1 gram per lb of lean body mass range.

I am not weighing or measuring my food, though items are premeasured or I am familiar enough that when I log, I think I am getting a close estimate. TBH, I am probably eating more calories than I am seeing and that's okay too.\

I was pretty shocked by my scale this morning. I am seeing a lot less tummy bloat as well. Oh, and I got a pair of size 26 7 For All Mankind jeans for $28! (Double NSV!) (7FAM jeans run $150-$200 retail typically!)

redimock

Doing good here too! Down 5.5 lbs from last Friday. (Went down 3 lbs the first day, so that was probably a "whoosh" from the week before).

I am tracking my carbs on paper, and I have stayed well under my 20 g. I also banned nuts this month, in addition to artificial sweeteners & alcohol, my 3 biggest pitfalls, I think. (Other than flat-out cheating ).

I am learning to listen to my body better, and eat when I am genuinely hungry, and not when I am used to eating. Also, as someone mentioned (maybe in the animal thread?), that since I cut out most of the easy snacks (read: nuts, peanut butter, and cutting back on cheese) I actually have to cook my food, so I wait until I am genuinely hungry to eat.

macchiatto

I'm up 1.8 lbs but hoping it goes back down again. (It had gone up 3 lbs.) We'll see. Still trying to figure out maintenance goals.

macchiatto

I think for next week or at least 3-4 days I want to try logging just carbs and see how that goes.

Phrick

Doing well. So far I'm -0.2 lb (was more earlier in the week but I had a run-in with a dozen low carb cookies last night haha). I've managed to stay under my net goal (30) every day but due to the sugar alcohol in the cookies I was over my total goal (35) yesterday. Oh well. This week's been quite the ride with several medical things thrown my way including a ruptured ovarian cyst, several injections for back pain, and being referred for a hysterectomy! All in all I'm pleased that I've done as well as I have especially since my goal with this challenge is more or less to maintain - if I lose anything at all it is a pleasant bonus but I really am pretty much at a happy weight as it stands.

slimzandra

Down 1 pound. So exciting! Let's see.. There are 52 weeks in the year...
Oh, my oh my. Miss boring.. As I continue to slowly chip away, one-by-one. step-by-step.
I upped my MCT oil this week, helped a lot with that bored hunger feeling mid-morning & mid afternoon. Otherwise than that it was back to the same old, same old, all week.
Didn't venture out of my comfort zone. Weekly menu - Duck breast, steaks, loins, tips, tuna fish, mayo, broccoli, parm cheese, brussels sprouts, avocado, strawberries, cream, coconut oil, butter, tea, water, coffee. That's what works for me.

After several months of eggs, I find they bother my stomach now. At least that's the connection I'm making. Not sure if I just never noticed it before, but more recently they do not agree with me. Even going out for an omelette, (thought maybe it was my eggs) I have a weird 'stuffed' feeling then IBS. hmmm. Giving it a break and I will restart in a couple of weeks and see if it happens again.

macchiatto

LOL how is everyone else losing weight ad libbing?? I must be doing it wrong.

Actually though today I had a surprise. I spent the day at a cardiology office b/c I took my first dose of my new MS med and I was required to have 6 hrs of cardiac monitoring for that since it can cause a lowered heart rate and stuff. When I got there, my BP was only 80/40! THe nurse triple checked to be sure and gave me some coffee trying to bring it up a bit. She checked it every hour after that and for the most part it was like 80/60, 88/60, etc. I realized with not logging, I don't think I've kept up as well with my sodium intake! Going to be more mindful of that now!

bametels

Phrick wrote: »

Doing well. So far I'm -0.2 lb (was more earlier in the week but I had a run-in with a dozen low carb cookies last night haha). I've managed to stay under my net goal (30) every day but due to the sugar alcohol in the cookies I was over my total goal (35) yesterday. Oh well. This week's been quite the ride with several medical things thrown my way including a ruptured ovarian cyst, several injections for back pain, and being referred for a hysterectomy! All in all I'm pleased that I've done as well as I have especially since my goal with this challenge is more or less to maintain - if I lose anything at all it is a pleasant bonus but I really am pretty much at a happy weight as it stands.

What a challenging week you have had. Kudos to you for all you've accomplished! I hope you feel better soon.

carom

I am down 4 kilos for the week. As I had a very high carb weekend away before I started this so I would say 3 kilos is water weight. I feel like I've actually lost about 1 kilo so very happy about that!!

AKcanookie

down 7.2 lbs since Apr 1
Just restarted at MFP after a year or so off. Also joined a weight loss challenge at work - in a clinic - I do EHR for 11 specialists. Most of my competition are nurses. I incorporated some of what I learned at WW years ago and upped my water intake too. I know that first week was mostly water weight - now the hard work will begin. I'm a recovering carb-a-holic, bread is my cryptonite. Hoping to pick up a lot of good tips from you folks as I move ahead. Down 22 lbs all together - working on my next 20 now. 20 more to go after that. Cheer's, thanks-a-lot.

Sunny_Bunny_

Not tracking has been very successful for me. In addition to carnivore. But, before I even started carnivore, not counting was not holding me back as I suddenly began losing the weight increase I had acquired the previous month. It has only gotten better for me, literally day by day. A huge change from previous months! I have been overdue for some time for a whoosh! But honestly, as nice as it is, I am fully aware that it's just what my body has decided to do at this point in time. My choices have only so much influence. If anything, I attribute not stressing over calories and macros to the sudden changes.
Go with the flow. Learn to listen to our body. Hear it calling for real food and understand what real hunger is. It gets you where you want to be.

KenSmith108

I'm giving it a go this week. Last week life just got in the way.
Installed the script but it doesn't hide the calories till I refresh the page.

or

macchiatto

I'm up some more and my pants have already gotten a bit tight. I also need to log my sodium b/c my BP has continued to run too low since Friday. I decided to log everything again for a week, potentially longer. I definitely want to do an ad lib challenge but I think I might need to be in a groove first. Like I think it would have worked when I was already in loss mode and had a good feel for what to eat and how much, or once I've been at maintenance for a couple months and am in a good groove. I also just started a new Rx on Friday and some people experience weight gain with it so I'd rather be able to figure out if the scale goes up, if it's the Rx or if I'm eating more than I think.

Much of my successful weight loss prior to keto was a form of low carb without logging so I know I can do it and I believe in it (I actually had to overcome my logging skepticism when I started keto b/c in the past logging seemed to totally jinx my efforts ); I think I just need to be at a bit of a different place, and get through my phase of experimenting w/different calorie and carb levels, before going back to it.

I'm glad everyone else is doing well and look forward to reading your check-ins!

slimzandra

Back in for another week. I did great all last week until Saturday, then again yesterday.
I undid all my work for the week over the weekend. I did have fun tho! Yes, I know chocolate martinis are not on the list. Gives me a net gain/loss of "0". OK. Starting again this week.
Got my meal prep done. Feeling positive today.

DorkothyParker

I'm heading into Shark Week and sooo hungry. I have also been doing more Fitbit challenges (more physical activity)so, again, hungry. Normally I find myself in typical range when I am logging calories, so I am nervous I will eat too many calories as my body acts wacky days.

I'll try to get more sleep to offset the lack of energy which may be interpreted as hunger? I can't tell.

carom

I am logging as I want to keep an eye on my carbs and protein. I am ignoring the calories. What I am finding is my breakfast of coffee and cream keeps me going all morning and that I like a bigish lunch and that keeps me going until dinner. This is a big change for me as I am the snack Queen! So this is good progress Also I don't seem to stray to far from my actual 'allowed' calories although I am not factoring them into what I want to eat. So Far, So Good!

SamandaIndia

I truly have gone off piste. No tracking in April and no mfp for last 10 days (holiday with girlfriends n carbs). Despite alcohol n lots of high carb group menu selections I managed to dodge a lot of the carbs, withoit drawing attention my way. Over consumed on 2 nights, one of which was "dinner in the dark" after a day where I swam then spent hours quad biking with the girls. Gaurentee I have put on a bit of weight but happy that I recognised hunger and did not feel like eating treats.

PS one girl who is 2-3 times my weight says "like Sam"... she does not eat grains, rice, potatoes and added sugars..she made a real scene of that at "dinner in the dark" to ensure her (and my) food complied, before we went in. After the 3 course meal she was still hungry and bought herself a big bag of cheetos which she inhaled and then mindlessly munched on M&Ms. 8 other ladies with her back at apartment for post dinner drinks who were all sharing or kicking back as too full. Meantime, after her first double GnT she topped her second GnT with a 4xdouble shot of Gin. Denial is a powerful force. Not my role to point the inconsistency out. Our habits do influence our size n shape.

Sunny_Bunny_

SamandaIndia wrote: »

I truly have gone off piste. No tracking in April and no mfp for last 10 days (holiday with girlfriends n carbs). Despite alcohol n lots of high carb group menu selections I managed to dodge a lot of the carbs, withoit drawing attention my way. Over consumed on 2 nights, one of which was "dinner in the dark" after a day where I swam then spent hours quad biking with the girls. Gaurentee I have put on a bit of weight but happy that I recognised hunger and did not feel like eating treats.

PS one girl who is 2-3 times my weight says "like Sam"... she does not eat grains, rice, potatoes and added sugars..she made a real scene of that at "dinner in the dark" to ensure her (and my) food complied, before we went in. After the 3 course meal she was still hungry and bought herself a big bag of cheetos which she inhaled and then mindlessly munched on M&Ms. 8 other ladies with her back at apartment for post dinner drinks who were all sharing or kicking back as too full. Meantime, after her first double GnT she topped her second GnT with a 4xdouble shot of Gin. Denial is a powerful force. Not my role to point the inconsistency out. Our habits do influence our size n shape.

I think this is why I've developed a hard core no cheats mindset. I wouldn't doubt she felt like that was a special situation and was no big deal that day. But it's so hard to draw the line with that mindset. When does the cheat go too far? What do you do when you have several "special circumstances"? And when your body is working against you, like with insulin resistance, I think that makes it insanely difficult to make it a tiny little cheat. That urge grabs hold, and it's over! I don't even have that issue but I fully understand it.
You are so right about the habits. And it's allowing in little non compliant goods that can be one that really undermines the rest of our efforts.

AKcanookie

a bit bummed that i've had a sinus/throat infection for over a week now - feeling sluggish and not up for much exercise. on a plus i have not felt like eating (appetite is low) but my hubby has stepped up and is feeding me terrific low carb meals - a variety of foods - he even decorates the plates like a true chef! how cool is that?! (low fat meats cheeses veggies etc) he has always done ALL of the cooking - insists on it (his mum and grandma were chefs from Denmark and he learned to cook from them, and as a commercial fisherman in Alaska for 17 years he was the main cook on the vessel he worked on.. and he loves it) He's a good guy - and showing so much care after 16 years of marriage is really darned sweet. I love my Scotty. Damn sinuses!! I wish I could breathe!!! .. here's an example of supper ala'Scott it's king crab, scallops, shrimp homemade cole slaw and garlic toast

Dragonwolf

DorkothyParker wrote: »

I'm heading into Shark Week and sooo hungry. I have also been doing more Fitbit challenges (more physical activity)so, again, hungry. Normally I find myself in typical range when I am logging calories, so I am nervous I will eat too many calories as my body acts wacky days.

I'll try to get more sleep to offset the lack of energy which may be interpreted as hunger? I can't tell.

Yes, lack of food can result in lack of energy, since food is energy. The point of this is to learn to honor your hunger signals. This is a two-way street. You don't eat when you are not hungry, but on the flip side you don't not eat when you are hungry. Trust your body to tell you what it needs.