Zero Carb eating

Dante_80

Hope you are doing well Russel, and get over that cold soon!

russellholtslander1

I ended up in the hospital...the sore throat was nothing. I don't have the Flu, pneumonia, or Covid.. but I gained a bunch of weight last week from too much fluid.. I started consuming chicken broth, and did not get rid of it.. because of my CHF.. I added bouillon cubes, which added sodium, which made me retain more water. In the end, I gained 20 lbs.

The fluid caused the phleghm I was coughing up, and eventually I started adding 5-10 lbs. a day. In 2-3 days, I had trouble breathing, and was still consuming broth and water, thinking I had the flu or something. It just got worse, very quickly. I added over 20 lbs., in a few days, and had to be taken to the E.R. by ambulance.

They eliminated any causes through testing, and then realized I gained a lot of fluid, and had a bunch around my heart and lungs, and needed to lose water weight.

Basically, they told me broth was stupid, and adding high Na Bouillon cubes was even worse. They put me on diuretics, but the hospital also put me on a high carb diet, despite me being diabetic. I threw a lot of thm away, since they weren't picking up leftovers ( too shorthanded ).. so i skipped the canned fruit, fruit juice, milk, soup, pudding, and iced tea. Still had to eat breaded tilapia, chicken quesadillas, eggs, some real fruit, and veggies,, plus I had 3 salads in 4 days.. probably only got 1000 calories a day, out of the 1800 they sent me, but kept my BG below 165.

They tested me for Magnesium, Phosporus, Potassium, Chloride, Calcium, and Sodium, and I was in range on them all.. waiting for more tests to show up in my e-mail.. see me PCP on Monday, and my cardiologist on Dec 1st.. so hopefully I get my A1C, and lipid results soon.

I was at 60 days on Carnivore, but the last 3 were a lot of broth, not as much meat.

During my 4 days in hospital, under heavy doses of diuretics, I lost 2 lbs, even though I needed to lose over 20 I had recently gained. I blame the diet they put me on. I got out last night, and at noon the next day, I have lost another 6 lbs. I had a 1/2 slab of ribs last night, then 4 Jumbo eggs, cooked in 2 Tbsp. butter .. slept this morning, and lost the 6 lbs. Lunch was 12.5 ozs. of 73/27 GB, with 2 ozs. finely shredded sharp cheddar, and dinned will be the other half of that.

Despite BG reading between 109-165, they added a diabetes pill ( Farxiga ), and then they added Magnesium, even though I was already in range.. guess more won't hurt?? So now I am up to 18 pills a day, and my basal Insulin ( 15 units ) at night. I'll have to watch to make sure it doesn't go too low. I pick up the Farxiga tonight, when i go grocery shopping, and we'll see what happens.. supposed to help my kidneys work better, even though I have perfect kidney function, and have no trouble losing water weight, when not eating a ton of carbs.

The fluid on my heart and lungs, prevents me from breathing deeply. That'll improve as I lose the water weight.. in exchnage for not staying in the hospital, I agreed to be on oxygen at night, and I have a portable tank for when I exercise, which I hope to restart tomorrow, but close to home for now.. Just 2 liters, and when i am at the office, or watching TV.. not moving, my oxygen is fine, but when I walk, or maybe while I sleep, I could drop below 90% pulseOx, and we don't want that, so hopefully, this is temporary. The respiratory specialist said, if I get back to walking, it will get better quickly.. the more I do, the easier it will be to do so. Then I can get rid of the oxygen again.

So I am taking pills/Insulin, eating Carnivore again, staying below 2 liters of fluid, and losing weight quickly, so I should be good in a few days, and eventually off oxygen.

My BP was 85/55 most of the time I was there. All the NA's thought they messed up, and checked me 3 times. Eventually, they stopped giving me my BP pills, and it went up to 104/67, and they gave me the pills, and back down to 85/55.. normal for me is about 95/60. STILL, they won't cut a pill, or drop a dose.. worried about low BP, which they give me 3-4 pills for, but more worried about reducing any of my meds, despite evidence of 3 years of my BP being 90/60.. it's LOW, because you medicate me, and my diet has improved, and helped lower it even more.. just give me less medicine!

Instead, they added.. we shall see if my BG drops more, and I think extra Mg ( 400 mg ), isn't going to be an issue. At some point, either my BP is going to get dangerously LOW, or they are going to drop how many meds I take. I've lost a lot of weight in the past 70 days too, which they should take into account. Doctors are hesitant though.. expecting patients to go back to what caused high BP.

One good thing, is the high carb food was not a problem, as far as cravings. I had not desire to eat them, and got right back on track, with Carnivore foods, which are much tastier. I used to binge when I ate carbs, but of course, I wasn't eating hospital foods.. more fast food.. so it shows that some carbs won't be an issue, which if I go back to keto, opens up some possibilities.

I'm back on Carnivore, but haven't really decided I am sticking with it. I could have simply used the 4 days off plan to say i tried it, and it was good, but I was moving on.. still may, but it just feels normal right now, and I AM trying to lose water weight, which lower carb helps with..

My menu for the next 10 days is Carnivore.. going shopping tonight.. and I'll think more about it, when I drop another 10 lbs. or so.

rheddmobile

Glad to hear you are home and safe! The farxiga is supposed to be for certain types of heart failure as well as diabetes - hopefully it will help prevent more edema around your heart and lungs. It can cause hypos though so watch out especially if the doctor who prescribed it doesn’t understand that you normally eat carnivore!

Good to hear you are not having craving problems with the higher carb diet. Speaking for myself, cutting out just a few key carbs really cut down on my cravings and when I was forced to eat some of the things I used to for social reasons, I found they didn’t tempt me anymore.

russellholtslander1

I have no idea what " hypos " is.. please explain. Hypoglycemia? I do check 3 times a day, before every meal.

I was a bit surprised that i had no cravings, but I'm back on track now.. 1.5 days on Carnivore.

I had 4 Jumbo eggs cooked in 2 Tbsp. butter, with 1-2 Tbsp. Parmesan sprinkled on top, for breakfast. Lunch is 12 ozs. of perch that I cooked in 2 Tbsp. butter, and dinner is another 12 ozs. of 73/27 GB.

My morning BG was 102 mg/dL, and THEN I started taking the Farxiga.. on top of Glimiperide. Tonight I take a Januvia, and before bed, 15 units of Basaglasar.. basal Insulin. I'll see if my BG drops significantly, and I have food here, if I get blurry vision/low BG reaction.

I thought they would use Farxiga to replace one of my other pills, but they simply added it on.

Other than that, I stayed below 2 liters of water.. no other fluids.. might be some with perch ( butter ), and GB ( grease ).. because I cooked up a bunch, and this is the last serving.. so most of the fluid. If it is too much, I'll drain it.

I lost 2 more lbs., down 10 lbs. since Saturday morning, still up 16 lbs. I am at 257.2, and hope to keep losing 2 lbs. a day, until I get back to 240ish. My coughing up phlegm has dropped, and my breathing is even better. I'll probably start walking again tomorrow, with the portable oxygen, to build my cardio back up, so I can get off this oxygen. It makes my nose fill with bloody boogers, and I have to clear that out every morning.

Now, I just need to use the bathroom more, to get rid of fluid. Diuretic effect of Carnivore should help, along with diuretics, and fluid restriction.

Monday, I will bring up the idea that I should drop some meds.. my BP is too low, my cholesterol is low, my BG is pretty low, it's been 9.5 years since I had a gout flare-up, and I still take the same amount of pills. Up 2 pills now, despite great results on my tests.

One other thing. I was tested for Calcium, Phosphorus, Magnesium, Chloride, and Sodium.. and was in range for all of them, AFTER 60 days on Carnivore. I don't get the RDA for these, so they were a concern when I cut vegetables.. but obviously not an issue. My Calcium level was at the top of the range, despite not getting 25% of the RDA, unless I consume cheese. Potassium was OK too, but I take pills for that.

Dante_80

Phew! Very glad to hear you are back and getting back on track. Was a little worried really, since it was close to 10 days without logging in! Keep at it!

russellholtslander1

I stayed the exact same weight, and I think it's because I drank too much fluid after eating salami roll-ups.. salami w/cream cheese.. I went shopping for a few groceries, and the idea of GB again did not sound appetizing. I got home, and my BG was 90 mg/dL, so I ate 5 salami rollups. Then I read until 7, when the Pistons game started, and reheated the GB.. ate about 1/2. and it's back in the fridge.. probably toss it. Then at halftime I ate the other 10 salami rollups. I finished my one liter of water, and the other one was frozen still, so I threw 4 ice cubes in a cup, and used tap water.. I drank 3-4 cups, but I think the cup is 16 ozs. I started coughing up a bit of phlegm at the end of the game, so I stopped drinking anything. I weighed in, and was up 4 lbs. I lost down to exactly 257.2, so guess I just lost 24 hours.. it isn't real weight gain, just fluid, but today I am having an actual 0 carb day.

Breakfast was 5 sausage links, cooked in 2 Tbsp. butter.
Lunch is 12 ozs. of boneless, skinless thighs boiled, with 4 Tbsp. mayo.
Dinner is a 1 lb. pork steak. I count it as 12 ozs, because of the bone, cooked in 2 Tbsp. butter.

2,313 calories, 177 g fat ( 71% ), and 165 g protein ( 29% ).

My breathing was better yesterday. I went to sleep without oxygen. When I woke up at 4 a.m. I felt a little winded, so I used oxygen for the last couple hours. I think I'll keep wearing it until I get back in the 240's, and talk to my doctor Monday. It's better, but still not right. It felt really good though, when I went to sleep. So it is getting better.

I plan to hold off longer on walking. It's cold, and the idea of lugging oxygen along isn't appealing. I know I have to start walking again, but not today. Restarting Carnivore may have something to do with it as well. I am a bit tired.. today is day 3. I decided to come to the office, just to get out of the house, and I'll probably go back home this afternoon. At 6:30 I have to come back for a meeting, and at 8 p.m., we have a Zoom meeting.. hopefully I get home by 10 p.m.

I ate breakfast at 7, my BG was 115. lunch is going to be at noon, and dinner at 5 p.m. This only gives me 5 hours between meals, but supposedly 14 hours without food is better for me. This lets us eat dinner before I have to come back here. I've always ate later, like 7-8 p.m., but that's when sports or TV starts. No reason why I can't eat earlier, and then fast for 14 hours.

The plan is to limit myself to 51 ozs. of water.. a liter at home, and one 16.9 oz. bottle here. My lunch & dinner won't be salty, so 1703 mg Sodium today.. most in the sausage I had for breakfast. Less sodium, and I'll likely be fone with less water. I'm not thirsty anyways.

I started the Farxiga yesterday.. my BG was 102, and I ate 4 jumbo eggs, butter, and some Parmesan on top, and at lunch it was 135, then 90 at 5 p.m. I am hoping for some low blood sugars. Otherwise, maybe I need the pills, and Insulin.. meaning my diabetes is worse.. under control, but only through medication.. we'll see how it is in a week.

russellholtslander1

Dropped down to 256.0 lbs. A loss of 1.2 lbs. My morning BG was 104.

My morning BG is always good, and the one before dinner is often even lower, but I have had high BG for lunch the past 2 days.. 135 on Wednesday, and 126 yesterday. I had eggs w/ cheese on Wednesday.. 5 sausage links yesterday.. very low carb meals, and after my breakfast I take a Farxiga, and a Glimiperide, so in theory, my BG should be lower by lunch, not UP..

Today, I ate 6 Jumbo eggs, cooked in 4 Tbsp. butter. Lunch is 12 ozs. of haddock, cooked in 4 Tbsp. butter, and dinner is 6 chicken legs, boiled. 2,315 calories.. 62/1/37 macros. A high protein day for me. Dinner alone is 99 grams of protein, but I need 6 chicken legs to feel full. Legs were on sale this week.

Everything is cooked, and I have a data project to complete for a candidate today, so I should be busy, with just a stop for lunch, so no afternoon nap, like I had planned, but maybe i can go home an hour early, if I get a bunch of it done, and sleep from 4-6:30, get up and eat dinner, while I watch the Pistons game.

So just another day, staying busy, hoping for lower BG levels, and weight loss.

Techexp08

Please get your kidney function tested.

There are usually no symptoms of kidney disease in the early stages. It may only be diagnosed if you have a blood or urine test for another reason and the results show a possible problem with your kidneys.

A high protein intake has been shown to accelerate kidney damage in people who have kidney disease. However, higher protein diets don’t adversely affect kidney function in healthy people.

So it's important to know!

russellholtslander1

Tech.. thanx, but I have been on diuretics for 20 years, and ate high protein for 10, and every 6 months, they test my kidney function.. they test EVERYTHING, and my kidney function is perfect.. always has been, except for one time i took too much metolazone.. which is basically a super diuretic.. a year ago, I took it to cover up some cheats.. and it drops 5-10 lbs. of water weight in 24 hours.. but it is meant to be taken only once every month or so.. or for a couple days, and then not for a while.. in an emergency situation.. I was using it 2x a week for several weeks.. and from peeing so much, my creatinine, and kidney function were very high of course.. so they told me to stop, just use Lasix, and re-tested me in 2 weeks.. perfect.

I am a heart patient.. there are few tests you can suggest which I don't do every 3-12 months.. from echos, to simple blood panel.. I take dozens of tests, multiple times a year.. that is what I use my doctors for.. so I don't rely on helpful advice from online users, to save my life.. I have a complete regimen of tests I have to do for my diabetes and CHF.

I won't say I am healthy in any regard.. BUT, my kidneys are very healthy, despite the rest of me being a mess. I have no kidney disease, so high protein is not an issue.

My health is more important than being on any diet.. I could do a higher fat, lower protein LC diet, like Keto, and have more veggies, more fat, and less meat & eggs, but so far, after several months, all my nutrients are in range, even ones I barely get any in my diet from.. or maybe I am somehow, without realizing it, and none of my tests show any problem.

Rest assured though that I see several doctors, and all of them test for every possibility.. of course, they are looking for decline as I age, but seeing improvement at least in the past 20 years.. maybe because I am young ( 47 ). They are waiting for it to get worse, so they can prevent any further issues, but my cardiologist has moved me to seeing him every 6 months, because as he said.. my heart isn't getting any worse.. and actually is a bit stronger.. so other than maintaining my pills, eating healthy, exercising, and doing the testing.. some out-patient now, since they fall between visits.. he can't really do anything for me, unless I start getting worse.. those are things I want to avoid for as long as possible of course.. heart valve surgery for one. As long as I stay the same, and continue losing weight, I bore him.

russellholtslander1

I lost 2.2 lbs. in the past 2 days.. down to 253.8.. still up 12 lbs. due to water weight.. I thought since I put it on in 2 days, it would drop off quickly, but I think that I simply can't pee much more. As long as I get back to 240, I'll be fine, but losing weight that wasn't there 10 days ago, is annoying.

I have lost 13.4 lbs. in under 6 days.. since Monday night, when I got out of hospital. So I guess that's good enough.. maybe another 13.4 this week. Then I can work on new weight loss.

I am off the oxygen, sleeping like a baby without it.. I wake up every 2 hours to pee. I do sleep well though, and can lay flat, and breath just fine, which I honestly couldn't for the 2-3 weeks leading up to going to hospital. I am limiting fluid to 2 liters of water.

Today, I had 6 Jumbo eggs, cooked in 3 Tbsp. butter, and added 4 ozs. of finely shredded cheddar on top.. it was delicious. I am having a late dinner, because I see my doctor tomorrow.. follow-up from hospital, plus my 3 month check-up.. a month late. So I hope I can get lipids and A1C tested, and discuss the tests I had run in the hospital, and work out a plan for the next 3 months. Dinner is filet mignon.. I planned for it, since I won't be eating for almost a day. I'll probably eat at 6 p.m. I will have 1.2 lbs of filet mignon, cooked in 3 Tbsp. butter. Then I will skip breakfast and lunch, because while my appointment was moved UP on the calendar, but later in the day ( 3:30 ).. normally I just skip breakfast, and then have a big lunch after seeing the doctor.. certain test require I not eat 8-12 hours before, so I just show up not having eaten for 12 hours. They'll likely draw 5-6 vials of blood, and run lots of tests.. then I'll eat dinner tomorrow night.. hopefully the doctor visit takes under 90 minutes.. I see my cardiologist on December 1st, but just my 6 month visit.. I had my echo in the hospital, so don't need to do that for another year. Hoping that is just a formality, and maybe fill some prescriptions.. which reminds me I need to write down how much I have left of each of my pills, and print out my blood sugars and meals, and add them to my binder, so the doctor can review what my blood sugar was, then what I ate, and what it is before the next meal, plus any med changes. I have 124 pages of those to print.

I'm going to watch the Lions, which may raise my BP.. it's still 88/59 this morning, due to excessive medication.. they need to lower a dose or somehing.. I take 3-4 pills which lower my BP.. but this is a bit too low, and I can't overcome all that medication.. and never have tried RAISING it anyways. I need them to admit that I'm managing my BP better, so I don't need the same amount of meds.. that's probably only happening when I see my cardiologist on 12/1. MY PCP does more about my diabetes pills. My BG is 110 this morning.. yesterday was 104, 95, and 102.. so it appears that despite my low carbs.. I am on the proper amount of meds for now.. maybe more exercise in the spring, will help, but I can't really demand a reduction in diabetes meds, if I am in range ( 70-120 ), every single time I test my BG..

Today, I am eating 2,819 calories. 69 % fat, 1 % carbs ( 7 grams ), and 30% protein.

Tomorrow all I have is 1.49 lbs. of 73/27 GB for dinner.. 2,086 cals, 80% fat, 20% protein..

rheddmobile

Curious why you want to avoid the heart valve surgery? My father had it (his heart valves were damaged by malaria) and while open heart surgery is not a picnic he recovered full function and lived another 10 years to die of unrelated causes. Are there downsides I’m not aware of?

Yes, hypos are low bg episodes. The thing to watch out for with any new med is having a low during the middle of the night and not waking up from it. Having it during the day is less dangerous unless you are the sort of person who can no longer feel yourself going low. My friend’s brother just dropped dead while gardening from a low so it’s on my mind right now!

Best of luck at the doctor, hope you get good news.

russellholtslander1

There is a possibility, that if the pig valve can not be matched to the whole in my heart.. attached.. because the heart is too stretched out, so they can't stretch the pig valve to fit.. that I would be put on this battery pack for the rest of my life, with metal bars punched through my body, to rig up the system.

I got a visit in 2016 from a guy who had that done.. he has 3 batteries which last 12 hours, and he has to keep them charged, and rotate them.. if the electricity stops, then he dies. I don't want to live on a battery for the rest of my life.

I am only looking to delay it.. hopefully by losing weight, which causes the heart to shrink, and the valve to work better.. In 2016, I had 2 bad valves.. and was 308, and lost 30 lbs in 13 days in the hospital.. and my pulmonary valve went back into range.. low problems.. my mitral valve has been moderate to severe for 2 decades, but if I was down to 210, which is where they want me to weigh.. my heart should be smaller than now, so MAYBE the mitral valve function improves, and if so, then what if I get down to 160.. I may not have to have the surgery for years to come.

i would love for it to drop back down, and simply keep losing weight, and have the valve function better.. and maybe delay the surgery 10 years or so.. If I need to replace it soon, I will, but I also think that in coming years, they will be able to make mitral valves in a lab, which my body wouldn't reject.. and that at the very least, if I shrunk the heart down more.. the odds of the new valve not fitting, and me being on a battery, would be a lot less.

Basically I think at 160, I would get the pig valve, and be fine.. seems that mitral valve replacements last.. 95% do not need a re-do at 10 and 20 years both. The difference is that at 210, I worry my heart will still be so large, they get in there, and catch attach it, and I end up on the battery.

I'd be OK, if I got down to 210 by next summer, and was let to have another year to get to 160.. and then they said I needed the surgery.. my heart has gotten stronger from losing 110 lbs., but the valve is just as weak.. I get it needs to be replaced at some point, but I want to delay long enough to be pretty sure that I get that, and not be stcuk to a power source.. and the smaller I am, the better odds I have.

My cardiologist, of course, wants surgery ASAP. He sees me every 6 months, and once a year I get an echo.. so he's not doing much.. just waiting. His goal is fix, fix fix.. and get it over with, My goal is the best long-term results, and quality of life.. so I am hoping I am able to delay at least long enough to get to 160, and improve the odds.. but that may not be possible.. it's a matter of what I would LIKE, and doing what may NEED to be done.

I'll probably talk to him, and see if it's possible to delay a short time period, and if that would be of benefit. The big thing is, I have had CHF for 20 years, and I've lost 110 lbs.. with 90 to go.. even though I have lost 30 in the past 2.5 months.. I have to prove I can lose steadily. If I stop losing, and am below 210, I think he would say get the surgery done. We'll see though.

russellholtslander1

I didn't eat late last night.. or this morning, because I have to get bloodwork today. My blood sugar was 77 mg/dL, so I brought 1 oz. of cheddar cheese to eat, if I get a low blood sugar.

My doctor visits usually take 90 mins., so I'll get out around 5 p.m., and then I am going to go home, and eat 1.5 lbs. of 73/27 GB. I prefer to be the first patient of the day, but these visits were moved up, so they are follow-ups as I get out of the hospital, so they fit me in where they can.. so my 8:30 on Dec. 9th, was moved up to today at 3:30.. I might be the last patient of the day.

I printed out my meds sheet, with how many pills I have, and how long they will last, and which ones need refills before the next 3 month visit. I take 14 different pills.. four of them 2x a day. I also had to print 120 pages of my blood sugar and food log.. which is all my blood sugars before every meal.. 3 x a day, and then the ingredients of the meals, and the calories, carbs, fiber, net carbs, and Na for each food, them summed up for the daily totals. Each day is a page. I skipped the 4 days I was in the hospital. so 120 of 124 days. I forgot how much work it is to hole-punch 120 pages, and put them in a binder. I keep my copies online, so I can see why my blood sugar is high.

My new doctor is in his 7th year.. I get him the next 2 years until he becomes an actual doctor, and works at a hospital full time.. doing a 3-7 years residency.. so i may see him at the hospital in coming years.. I have had 10 new doctors, and 2 regular doctors guide them.. one on their days in the clinic, the other when they are at the hospital.. in 2-3 years, they move 100% to the hospital, so I get a new 6th or 7th year " doctor ". It helps them learn, and i have only had one mistake.. I saw a stand in for my doctor once, and I had a hernia, so when I came in to this doctor, he did an X-ray, saw stool back up ( I was full of *kitten* ).. so he prescribed Ex-lax for the pain. When my actual doctor saw that I had been in and was having pain at a 10 rating, he said his pain tolerance level is high, and scheduled my to go to the E.R.. and when I got there to get an MRI.. they found my appendix had burst.. I also had a hernia of 10 years, that I pad $1000 to get tested back in 1996.. and they missed, so I had been in mild pain for a decade. So I had to get BOTH of those fixed in 2006.

Overall though, the doctors are good, and normally if there is an issue, the bring in the head doctor. My new doctor was a bit stunned to see what I ate 3 months ago. That was Keto. He should be aware of how I eat by now though.

I haven't eaten in 17 hours, but I feel great.. dinner will be nice though.

russellholtslander1

Doing pretty good. I am still up 10 lbs., but down to 251.4. My breathing is good enough that I am off oxygen at night.

I went to the doctor on Monday, but I was the last patient of the day, and they were running late.. so we spoke for maybe 20 minutes, ordered my pills, and after fasting 22 hours, they decided not to do any more bloodwork.. they had my A1C from the hospital.. 5.6.. which is good, BUT they said wait until you return in 3 months for lipids, and shoved me out the door. A 5.6 A1C works out to a 114 mg/dL average reading.

My morning BG was 98, and I ate 6 sausage links cooked in butter. I only count 1 tbsp of butter, because I don't drink the 3 Tbsp. I cook in. That is also true of the pork steak I will have for dinner tonight. My " lunch is going to be 4 ozs. of extra sharp cheddar.. just grazed on from 11-2, and dinner is a 1 lb. pork steak. That works out to a 66/1/33 macro ratio, and 1,809 mg Na.. not too high considering I'm having 6 sausage links, and 4 ozs. of cheese.

I've considered eating off plan for Thanksgiving. Nothing drastic, just finger food during the Lions game. Pickles, oilves, cheese chunks.. couldn't find cranberry sauce.. sold out. Then I thought.. is it worth it? A few pickles and olives wouldn't be too bad, but also, not that special, so why am I planning to eat them? So tomorrow, I will just be eating my normal meals.

I'm going back to the gym today, and walking outdoors. It is supposed to be mid 40's by 2 p.m., so i am going to go for a walk out to the lake. Then at 5 p.m., I'm going to planet Fitness. Wednesdays are my long, easy workout. I start with Traps, and do shrugs, then do some light delt presses. Next I move on to forearm curls ( I do every body part ), and the worst is abs. I do a couple sets of crunches, which still suck at 250, and then last of all is my favorite.. leg press for the Quads. I do 3 sets of 20 x 360 now, since I can no longer lift 1000 lbs on it.. and to be honest, it's a lot easier not having to load/unload all those plates. Gets me a bit of a burn, almost like cardio. I plan to do this until January, then bump up to 410. I have short legs ( 26 " ), so my legs have always been strong, not to mention carrying my 300 lb. bodyweight around for 1/2 my 47 years. I also did 600 lb. calf raises, but my hamstring curls never got above 200, because that was the max of the machine. So I am 5'6" 251, with legs which have veins, and calves which are shredded, and then I am a mess from the waist up. Pot gut, fat covered biceps.. my chest is big due to benches, but also covered in fat. I'm like 2 different bodies glued together. I am trying to focus more on upper body these days, to build symmetry, and figure do maintenance for legs, and they will look even better as my body fat % drops..don't need as much work on the legs. I am pushing the upper body exercises, but can't lift too heavy around the heart.. things like heavy delt presses.. I just have to do more sets, or more reps per set. and slowly move weight up in small amounts, so never straining. This limits my gains.. bench presses, and biceps also are an issue in this regard.. I can do dumbbell curls for my biceps, but not barbell curls. So muscle gains are limited, but as my BF % drops, it's looking better.. I still have 90 extra lbs. of fat, and more than half is on my upper body.

So today is looking good. I hope everyone has a great Thanksgiving.

rheddmobile

Re: cranberry sauce - I make my own since it usually has sugar added, just put some cranberries in a shallow pan with enough water to cover, on high heat, until they burst. Then squash them with the spatula, add a little lemon juice, vanilla extract, and cinnamon, stir until it turns into jam. For people avoiding carbs it’s much better and if you aren’t used to sugar you won’t miss the sugar. Cranberries are a great diabetic food in my opinion, a ton of nutrients and very little sugar for a fruit. If you’re going to cheat you could do worse! I use them in a lot of things for the flavor.

Re: abs. My favorite abs exercise is roll outs. Much better for your spine than crunches, and hits the muscles on the eccentric as well. If they don’t have an ab wheel at your gym you can do them using a barbell.

kshama2001

Re fasting bloodwork - I've always had this done separately from a doctor's visit. Went yesterday, as a matter of fact, in advance of a doctor's appointment that is scheduled for Monday.

This messes up my morning routine enough as it is. I wouldn't accept a fasting bloodwork appointment for the afternoon, and fortunately, the VA has the good sense to allow me to chose the day and time to get blood drawn in advance of my appt.

Your medical history is complicated though - is there a reason why it has to be done at the same time as your appt?

russellholtslander1

They do my bloodwork, simply because that spaces the tests 3 months apart, and they do A1C one time, and lipid panel the next, plus any other tests.. but those 2 are done every 6 months that way.. rotating.. and it allows me to not have to go to an extra appt. I like it that way.

Normally, I have an 8:30 a.m. appt., and they do a 90 minute visit, covering everything, taking blood too. This was shoved into their schedule, as a follow-up when I got out of the hospital.. I had a Dec. 9th appt. at 8:30, but when they moved it up, as well as my cardiologist visit to Dec. 1st.. the time switched to 3:30.. last patient of the day, and they basically made sure I was OK, and sent me home, because it was closing time at 4:30.. I left at 4:24. My cardiology visit is at 3 on Wednesday, and I'll probably see a doctor about 3:30. Thos visits only take 10-20 minutes though, and I don't need to fast. When they do bloodwork, since I am already at the hospital, they just send me to the lab on the other side of the hospital, near the out-patient doors and I do it there.

Rhedd ~ I do not think you understand how bad I am physically.. lifting weight in front of me, like a box, or barbell.. causes my heart to strain, and I get short of breath.. I can't do pushups. I can physically LIFT myself, and do them, but my HR goes up quickly to dangerous levels.. it is simply too taxing.. anything around my chest area is a problem. So supporting my weight on a wheel, even though it is equivalent to what we used to call a girl pushup.. would result in my HR reaching 171, and that would set off my pacemaker. I don't have a problem with crunches. I have never had back or knee issues, like a lot of people my age. I can basically do ANY exercise, as long as it doesn't skyrocket my HR. The exercises I chose are ones which do not.. like crunches, and for arms, I have to use dumbbells.. one arm at a time seems to be OK, and it's not out in front of me, but more to one side at a time.

At this point, I am simply doing crunches, in hopes that one day, I may see the results. I just started doing them. I haven't done them in years, since it's pretty hard at close to 300 lbs.

russellholtslander1

OK. I ate good on Thanksgiving.. no carbs, and I did have a lower BG.. 68.. no blurry vision or anything.. not that low.. and today my BG was 107. I ate 3 eggs, 3 sausage, with 3 Tbsp. butter. Dinner is 10 ozs. of pork chunks cooked in 3 Tbsp. butter.

I was watching a video, about " lipivores ".. a play on words. We actually eat higher fat meats.. from larger game, and this is why we developed big brains.. different than animal carnivores, who eat leaner, smaller game, due to not having tools, to bash open brain casing, or bones, and get to the higher fat meats available. Interesting, but I am a fan of higher fat, not higher protein, so I am sort of switching it up a bit, and seeing if I like it.. 8-12 oz meats, with 3 Tbsp. butter.. and my breakfast will be the same.. 3 Jumbo eggs, 3 Tbsp. butter, and 3 sausage links.

I am using 3 dinners.. 12 ozs. perch.. 10 ozs. pork, and 12.5 ozs. boneless, skinless chicken thighs.. this gives me 1% carbs ( 3 grams ), and 71-75% fat, so 24-28% protein.. 91-104 grams a day. This is a lot less calories, but I think I have to acknowledge the 90 extra lbs. of STORED fat, and realize I will be just fine eating 1550 calories a day. I can use my bodyfat.. each lb. of fat is 3500 calories.. so if I lost 1/2 a lb. of fat a day, it's an extra 1750 calories.. I doubt I'll starve consuming 3300 calories.

In the Carnivore community, it's more about protein.. eating lots of meat, and if I am hungry, of course I will simply eat more, but I find myself trying to hit 2-3 lbs. of meat a day, and feeling stuffed, and bloated some days. However, I have some telling me to also eat 70-80% fat.. and I'm thinking.. if I eat 3 lbs. of meat.. how much fat do I have to consume, to drop protein below 20%?? 4 sticks of butter would get me to 21/79 split.. but would be 6,250 calories.

I don't care about calories, or fat grams, as long as I am losing weight, but I also want to feel good, and that happens when I eat about 1 lb. of meat a day, plus eggs, and butter... 70-75% fat. I'm still eating just meat, eggs, fish, fowl, and butter.. and on the day I have fish for dinner, I add 1 oz. of cheese.. just to push the calories over 1500.. when I log these meals on Cronometer, they come to about 1750 calories, so I guess it depends on the info I am using to log what I eat.. that's a pretty big difference.

Still, I am not eating tons of meat, and it's more like keto, without any fruit, veggies, and only 1 oz. of cheese every 3 days. I also eat leaner meats, and it turns out.. no red meat.

I don't dislike, or have any concern about red meat.. I simply find 8-12 ozs. of ground beef to be hard to choke down, unless I add a lot of shredded cheese, and I don't like all that sodium. I limit water intake, to keep water flowing in, and THROUGH me, so I don't gain water weight, and have trouble breathing, so higher sodium, defeats that purpose, since sodium helps retain water longer. I could eat steak, but i have damage to my teeth after 20 years ( or more ), of diabetes. A tough steak can cause one of my teeth to break off. So I am choosing softer meats.. in red meat, that means lamb chops, and filet mignon, maybe ribeye.. those melt in your mouth.. BUT are about $16-20/lb.

So i am cheap.. the last reason is that when you cook these meats, they have about 66% fat. I cook them in butter, but I don't drink the butter, so how much is actually ON the steak I eat.. I can't count ALL the butter.. most is left in the pan.

With fish, I cook it in 3 Tbsp. butter, until the fish is mushy, and it's like a fishy, buttery soup, and I eat it ALL, same with pork or chicken chunks. If I could eat 8 ozs. of GB, the grease would be consumed, but when i eat a pork steak, or filet mignon, most of the fat, isn't actually consumed, because it's on a plate, and even if I drizzle the remaining fat on top, most is left on the plate.

I may add in GB every so often, but otherwise, I'm going to just eat pork, fish chicken, with added fat.. I also love the butter on my eggs, as well as the grease from the sausage.. with salted butter, I don't need to add any other seasoning. The result is 1250-1450 mg Na.

It may mean I have to take some supplements eventually, but that will be something my doctor worries about.. no different than a vegan needing some nutrients as well. I think it is more important to eat in a way I can continue with, while feeling good, than to try to copy others on Carnivore. If this means I am not pure Carnivore.. I really don't care. I'm not pushing any one way of eating, just looking for what works for me.

I am back down in the 240's today.. 249.8. Yeah, I know it's barely there, and I was stunned when I weighed in. I didn't weigh in yesterday, and was hoping for 248, but I still am happy, and I'll lose more tomorrow.. maybe by the end of the month, I can get back to 241.. where I was before the hospital.

I have to get a few groceries.. 40 ozs. of pork, 1 pack of perch, 8 sticks of butter, and 24 sausage links, and I am good on groceries for 12 days. I finally did an invertory of the freezer.. seems I have a lot of frozen meat.. gave the steaks, and pork steaks to my brother, and put those, along with half the chicken, and bags of frozen veggies on his side of the freezer. I think he's good for a week as well. He is switching to cereal w/ milk for breakfast, ham sandwiches for lunch, and steak and potatoes or corn, for dinner. Tonight is onion & mushrooms on steak, with a side of canned corn.

I was a cook for years, so i cook it all up.. no temptation whatsoever, and I don't have to do any dishes. I was a dishwasher first.. hate doing that. Now, I don't need to cook his lunches though, since he makes sandwiches.

I will be doing back, triceps, and hamstrings at the gym today. I love working these body parts out. My Monday workout has bench press, which I no longer like, since I have to lift less, but I like the rest of the exercises.. and I noticed that all the crap I am not excited about, got tossed onto Wednesday, with leg presses, which I LOVE. It's like a bunch of vegetables, and leg presses are my dessert, which is the only reason I would do abs. They aren't hard.. just exercises which I don't see a lot of results in, but are part of the body so I threw it in.. so Wednesday is my " garbage " day.. I probably should focus more on those, actually, and less on the ones I like a lot.

My Pistons are playing at 3 p.m., so I will be going to gym, then shopping, then watching the early game.. so by 6 p.m., I won't have anything to do, and already eaten dinner.. I may take an hour walk, just to avoid boredom, if I can work up the courage to go out, since the high today will be 33, and it will be less after 6 p.m., in the dark. I would have to walk several miles through the neighborhood, instead of out to the lake, so I had some light. Then maybe read a book.. not much on TV this weekend, since my Lions already played 2x this week.. 10 days until next game. Guess I can watch more Netflix on the weekend.

That's all. I am sort of getting another wind now.. been a little lackluster about things the past week or so, which may be why I am making some changes, and why I though more about what I like to eat. Watching some YouTube videos, and looking for ideas. I think it's all to fight boredom. I need to find another hobby.

russellholtslander1

OK, I settled on a plan for the next 50 days until my 48th birthday.. starting today, I cut the eggs some.. 2 Jumbo eggs, 3 sausage links, and upped butter to 4 Tbsp. My lunch is 10.88 ozs. of 73/27 GB from Aldi's. I will be adding 2 ozs. shredded cheddar to it. Dinner is 9 ozs. perch, cooked in 4 Tbsp. butter.

The GB is 1/8th of a 5.44 lb. package of 73/27 GB, which I can only get at Aldi's for some reason. That ups my fat %, as does the stick of butter, and the cheese. I cut the perch down to 9 ozs., because fish adds a lot of protein, and my goal was 20% protein. Eggs soak up sausage grease, and butter pretty well, an fish mixes with butter.. I like this menu.. even though it is only 1.4 lbs. of meat, some cheese, butter, 2 eggs, and water.

That comes out to 2,612 calories, with a 79/1/20 macro split.. 131g of protein, and 225 g of fat.. 4 grams of carbs. Even with the cheese, my Na is only at 1,529 mg.. right where I want it.. I am using no other seasonings, besides the salt in the butter, and food.

I am not planning to mix up meals on a daily basis. I may decide to replace a meal with some lamb chops, or filet mignon, if I want a break on this menu, and eventually, I will just get tied of GB & perch, and substitute in chicken or pork, but I plan to eat this menu for the forseeable future every day. It allows me to batch cook, and not have to think about what I am eating as much, so I can just live my life.

I have started walking again, and I have the gym workouts on M,W,F.. and I have things I want to do, but have been putting off, at the office, and around the house. I cooked up 2 days worth of meals already, and so I only have to cook breakfast tomorrow, so I have nothing but time to do stuff. I only need to stop every 6 hours to eat. I've made a list of things I always said I would get around to, and that should keep me busy. I think I will feel better when I finally get rid of these things, which I have been saying I would do for years, but always made excuses why I couldn't. I've been making diet & exercise as time consuming as possible, to fill the time, when I have projects which have been waiting to be done. I have things I can do, and I do very well, just eating the same foods for a couple weeks at a time. I can switch at any time, but when I do, I will switch by the week or more. Over time, there will be variety, and I can throw in some special meals if I want.. but the idea of GB w/cheese for lunch, and perch w/butter for dinner sounds good right now, and I'm not switching it up, until I get tired of these foods.

Today will be a bit weird. My lunch is at 12:30, then I plan to take a walk, but when I get home around 2, I plan to sleep until 6:30, when I have to eat dinner.. that is because my Pistons play the Lakers at 9:30 p.m., since they are out West.. normally, I go to bed around then, but I will be up until midnight, so an afternoon nap is in order. This makes me feel old, but I get up at 6 a.m., so I don't usually stay up late. I like 7-8 hours of sleep.

We're supposed to get another inch of snow today, which should be nice to walk in. Hoping it doesn't get warm enough to be rain.

russellholtslander1

Busy for a few days. I am back down to 242.0, just a bit over where I was on November 9th, before I went into hospital.

I have 90 days until I see my cardiologist again.. saw him yesterday for a follow-up from hospital. Everything is going fine.

I don't see my "doctors' until February. I do have my INR ( check blood thickness ) on Dec. 30th, and my 6 month podiatry visit on January 6th, but those are quick, easy visits. I have 1 visit a month in some way, which is great. most days I can just live my life.

Today, it is 50 degrees already, after a couple weeks of being 35 or less. So I took a 5 mile walk already. That is about all I plan to do for exercise today. I have to go buy a new BP pump. My BP has been running 80/55, and yesterday, my cardiologist said.. I want it low.. as long as you don't have dizziness, and it stays above 80, it's OK. The heart isn't working as hard. Since I am on the borderline, I have to buy another machine, and start testing again. I had a cheap one, and it broke a few weeks ago, but when I started this on 9/11.. my BP was around 90-95/60-65. As I have lost 40 pounds, my BP has fallen.. so what if I lose another 40 quickly. So I have to test daily, and if it drops below 80/50.. call, and I guess then, he will drop some of my BP med dosages.

Since I have to go to a specialty pharmacy to get my diabetic testing supplies, they have BP machines there.. after months of testing, I have some idea what I want in a new machine.. hopefully it's not too expensive..the last one was $40 from CVS.. I would be OK, spending $100, for a better machine.

Other than that, I plan to go to the library, and get 10-12 books, so I have something to read for the next 3 weeks, and then watch my Pistons get crushed by the Phoenix Suns at 8:30, since they are playing out West.. guess, I will need a nap today, so I can stay up until 11 p.m. I tend to read for an hour after I go to bed, so basically midnight, which for me is late, since I wake up at 6 a.m.