30 day personal challenge

missyyclaire

Hi All,

On Monday, April 9th, I'm going to tweak my eating even more than I have been. I've eaten Primal since Dec 1st and it's been life changing. Cravings have nearly disappeared, control is back and better than ever, losing weight slowly but surely, feeling a general good in most all respects.

What I've found is my late nights sometimes are issues...and that I'm probably pushing the use of dairy too far. I've been allowing myself either mascarpone or heavy whipping cream with my berries late at night. And I don't mean a Tablespoonful. Like a bowl full. That is binge thinking and eating. I'm also going to not eat berries or fruit. I plan on going on a very low carb diet for 30 days, hopefully pushing myself into ketosis.

So, for 30 days, I'm going to take away the dairy as in cream and mascarpone and fruit. A little cheese and butter will be okay, but the cream and mascarpone needs to stop for a while. I'm hoping to see some weight come off. I'll do measurements on Mon and a weigh in. I want to get my sugar intake even farther down than it's been.

I just read "Why We Get Fat" by Gary Taubes and have been inspired to give this a big try. Primal has been great, and now I'm wanting to see if going very low carb will trigger some more weight loss. I have about 50 lbs to go, so there's plenty of fat for fuel!

Anyone is welcome to join me, or comment. I welcome your thoughts. If you join, I'll be very supportive.

mehaugen

I suggest taking out ALL dairy for at least a week. I finally did it, and noticed that I had slightly more energy. If I had not done it, I would not have noticed the difference at all. I slowly added in butter, which does not affect my energy levels. I have not tried cow cheese yet, but I am going to start with goat cheese first.

I am also going VLC for awhile because I have a strong suspicion FODMAP and frucose foods are giving me problems (unexplained bloating and GI problems). I did meat only for 4 days and totally crashed on the 4th day, I couldn't function at all! I had a white potato (no FODMAPS) and felt soooo much better afterwards. I've never experienced low carb flu that badly before! However, my tummy was happy and flat for the first time in weeks. So I have to experiment with each vegetable to find out which one bothers me. Its so frustrating.

missyyclaire

Funny, I'm having just the opposite today...high carb blues! I ate a ton of cookies this afternoon and am now paying the price, headache, tired, achey....Oooh, I want to remember this feeling! And not repeat it!

mehaugen

Funny, I'm having just the opposite today...high carb blues! I ate a ton of cookies this afternoon and am now paying the price, headache, tired, achey....Oooh, I want to remember this feeling! And not repeat it!

I'm sorry to hear that. May I suggest only cheating with gluten free cookies?

missyyclaire

Good idea...that's what they were, cookies made with almond flour, honey and pecans...still those bad binge thoughts ran through my head and before I knew it, I'd eaten the whole batch. Even with a low sugar-gluten free cookie, I still had no control. This is after 4 1/2 months of only one other binge. I'm not going to beat myself up too much as I know I haven't completely given up. What I did yesterday is a throwback to old bad behaviors. Fortunately what I've learned over these months is I won't crave it unless I taste it. And if I do, it's possible that the sweet thing I'm tasting will trip me up. Best just not to taste it.

I'm still going to forge ahead, go VLC starting tomorrow. I've found my weight has crept up about 6 lbs this month and my suspicion is it's from dairy, possibly from the berries too...we'll see what happens over the next 30 days!

missyyclaire

Well, I should have known if I posted anything about low carb on my page that I'd get negative feedback. Instead of arguing back, I just deleted the whole post. I'm not doing this to start a fight, or frankly to get advice from people who don't either believe or know about this. I'm doing it for me. I'm doing this to see if I can move my body into a fat burning state, to help me continue to lose the 50 lbs that I need to lose, to regulate my blood sugar, to help lower my blood pressure and cholesterol. I'm giving this first trial run 30 days, if it works, I'll keep going. If not...well, then time to re-consider.
I thank you folks here and am grateful to have a haven of openminded people. I'm lucky too that I have a person at work who has had great results from low carb...he's kind of my personal guru. We ended up chattting the entire 2 hour flight today.
So, day one, not bad, though dinner was a little hard to account for. We went to Leo's in El Paso, an old childhood favorite. The tostadas smelled so good that I found myself drooling, but I didn't indulge. I had a little guacamole, lots of queso blanca, steak tampiquena with green chiles, and ate some of the cheese off the enchilada and beans. No sopapillas tho the boys had many. Oh, and one fried egg. Not low cal, but I think it was low carb.

monkeydharma

I had a little guacamole, lots of queso blanca, steak tampiquena with green chiles, and ate some of the cheese off the enchilada and beans. No sopapillas tho the boys had many. Oh, and one fried egg. Not low cal, but I think it was low carb.

If that's what you ate, I don't see many carbs. The guac is all fat, cheese is fat and protein, steak is protein. The chiles have carbs - but only a few.If you didn't sneak in any beans or chips - you nailed it.

missyyclaire

I had a little guacamole, lots of queso blanca, steak tampiquena with green chiles, and ate some of the cheese off the enchilada and beans. No sopapillas tho the boys had many. Oh, and one fried egg. Not low cal, but I think it was low carb.

If that's what you ate, I don't see many carbs. The guac is all fat, cheese is fat and protein, steak is protein. The chiles have carbs - but only a few.If you didn't sneak in any beans or chips - you nailed it.

Cool! Yeah, no tortillas or beans, though those tortillas and the tostadas smelled sooo good. I'm sure they were freshly made in house. Don't know where I got the strength to resist those!

missyyclaire

I went up to the 10th floor gym just a few minutes ago and did my first High Intensity workout. I used the recumbent bike. Going slowly for a minute, then as fast as I possibly could for 30 seconds, rinse and repeat eight times, cooled down for a few minutes. From what I read, a workout like this (13 minutes total) is supposed to up your growth hormone levels. So instead of an eternity of pure boredom on a treadmill, you just gun through a fast blast of a workout. It was pretty easy too. I watched my heartrate climb to 140, then drop back down to 110. Next time I might try this on an elliptical if our hotel has one...though I really like the recumbent bike.

luckygirl007

I have to say that I love whipped cream and berries myself so what I do now is take a can of coconut milk and whip it on high speed with my stand mixer. A little vanilla and a little stevia. I is a less thick than whipped cream but once you refrigerate it for about 2 hours it thickens up just great and is delish on berries. Top with toasted almonds and coconut and you have a low carb treat with the exception of the berries. Probably best to eat earlier in the day.

mehaugen

Yes I cannot believe the post topics that show up on my sidebar Home feed for carbohydrates! "Good or bad!" "How do we feel about CARBOHYDRATES?" "I eat fast food almost every day and still lose weight." Most of the SAD people think that low carb = no carb???? I don't even read them. Nutsos. And why brag that you eat fast food? That stuff is nasty, I didn't even eat it before I went gluten free (2006) or primal (2011). They should be jealous of the delicious fatty steaks I eat on a regular basis. MMMM ribeye!

And props to the coconut milk whipped cream, it works fabulous. I use Native Forest brand.

missyyclaire

I have to say that I love whipped cream and berries myself so what I do now is take a can of coconut milk and whip it on high speed with my stand mixer. A little vanilla and a little stevia. I is a less thick than whipped cream but once you refrigerate it for about 2 hours it thickens up just great and is delish on berries. Top with toasted almonds and coconut and you have a low carb treat with the exception of the berries. Probably best to eat earlier in the day.

I'm a big fan of canned coconut milk, especially Thai organic. I tried Goya one time and it was much too watery. When I have a kitchen again, I'll be sure to stock up. For now, no berries for me, just for this month. It's a trial for me to see if I can stay very low carb and get into ketosis...and drop some weight. There will be a few things I'll want to add back in later on, and berries are on that list.

missyyclaire

Yes I cannot believe the post topics that show up on my sidebar Home feed for carbohydrates! "Good or bad!" "How do we feel about CARBOHYDRATES?" "I eat fast food almost every day and still lose weight." Most of the SAD people think that low carb = no carb???? I don't even read them. Nutsos. And why brag that you eat fast food? That stuff is nasty, I didn't even eat it before I went gluten free (2006) or primal (2011). They should be jealous of the delicious fatty steaks I eat on a regular basis. MMMM ribeye!

And props to the coconut milk whipped cream, it works fabulous. I use Native Forest brand.

I'll have to try the Native Forest brand too. Is it thick like the canned Thai is? If so, I'm in!
Ooh, and I love my ribeye steaks, my favorite!

mehaugen

I have never tried the Thai brand coconut milk before. I buy Native Forest because it is BPA free and organic.

shar140

Yes I cannot believe the post topics that show up on my sidebar Home feed for carbohydrates! "Good or bad!" "How do we feel about CARBOHYDRATES?" "I eat fast food almost every day and still lose weight." Most of the SAD people think that low carb = no carb???? I don't even read them. Nutsos. And why brag that you eat fast food? That stuff is nasty, I didn't even eat it before I went gluten free (2006) or primal (2011). They should be jealous of the delicious fatty steaks I eat on a regular basis. MMMM ribeye!

And props to the coconut milk whipped cream, it works fabulous. I use Native Forest brand.

It's easier when I explain I'm gluten intolerant and therefore I don't eat grains, than say I'm low-carb!

mmm, ribeye steak :bigsmile:

missyyclaire

Day 4, long travel day, a little letdown in a private issue and I failed today's goal of VLC. I had been in moderate ketosis this morning, tomorrow I wall not have that honor. Perhaps by Sat I can get back in ketosis. I know I can do this. It's always the first tive days that are roughest for me. Back on track romorrow!

jonski1968

I`ve been constantly under 50 gr carbs per day now for 2 months...still not registering ketosis...Anyone know why not?

I`m not overly bothered...Just when i did atkins 12 years ago i was in ketosis within 2 weeks for over 2 months..

missyyclaire

I`ve been constantly under 50 gr carbs per day now for 2 months...still not registering ketosis...Anyone know why not?

I`m not overly bothered...Just when i did atkins 12 years ago i was in ketosis within 2 weeks for over 2 months..

Well, a friend at work and I chatted a long time this past Monday...he's sort of my LC guru as he's done it for years to help his pre-diabetic status. He helped me see how easily it is to slip 'extras' into our diet with little additions here and there. I appreciate his thoughts on this and am more aware of how they can add up.

If memory serves, on Atkins Induction, he used to recommend staying under 20g of net carbs (total carbs minus fiber) per day to get you into ketosis. Would perhaps lowering down to that amount put you into K? I was pretty low on Tuesday's food and on Wednesday morning I registered 'moderate'.

missyyclaire

Day 5, was a little easier than yesterday, food and emotionally. A great night's sleep helped, almost 10 hours!
I don't know if I've lost any weight but I must say I'm enjoying going to store's and trying on clothes. I used to dread shopping before, getting all hot in the dressing rooms, not liking the way I looked in the clothes...it's getting a little more fun now, I'm getting into smaller sizes, used to be 24 or 2x, now 16-18 and 1x and even 0x. Gosh, that feels good! And when I look into myself, I think "I could do this for life, eat like this, and enjoy being a smaller me".

missyyclaire

In "moderate" ketosis this morning, good! I hope this concept of being in "k" will work as it's supposed to.

missyyclaire

Again in moderate ketosis today. I'm going to weigh in at work today to see how this week has been per weight loss. I started Monday, April 9th at 226 lbs, which is up 6 lbs from last month. Because of this gain, I've decided to put myself on this 30 day personal challenge. For once in my life I don't want to bury my head in the sand and ignore the gain. I embrace it, and am trying to figure out why I gained. My guess has been that I let too many carbs creep in, mostly in the form of Kombucha (LOVE IT) and even though most of the flavors only have 8g per bottle, perhaps my body can't handle the extra carb load. So, no Kombucha this week and no fruit. Thurs was a slight cheat day that threw me out of ketosis, but every other day this week I've registered 'moderate' in ketosis.

Got my fingers crossed for a loss!