April challenge support
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Wow, that's interesting. I'll be meeting a group of friends at a Chinese buffet next week, and I've been a little worried about it. But if you can do it, so can I. I still eat a few veggies though, so should be able to find some broccoli and bok choy etc, along with the plainest looking meat I can find. It's the sweet sauces, bad oils and MSG that worry me the most....0
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I drained as much of the sauces as I could and tried to stick to mostly unsauced meats. This buffet also had hardboiled eggs and pre-cooked bacon on the salad bar. And a fully cooked ham. Best part, everyone was leaving the pieces that had the massive 1" thick fat cap on it. Awesome score for me.
The shrimp, boiled clams, crayfish, and the muscles were also hit pretty hard. The worst offenders were surely the sliced beef (which had a sauce that I could taste the sugar in), the turkey in a thick gravy (starch city), and some of the cooked shrimp I had that were in a cream sauce (don't trust it).
But, there are usually "tolerable" options. Obviously, anything breaded and fried is out. Anything with a very thick sugar sauce is out. I thought about some egg-drop soup, but I know that's thickened with starch. I should really make some of that myself. I could get/make some chicken stock and buy some eggs.0 -
We have a good Chinese buffet near us. I've only indulged once since going LC. It's not too bad for a moderate low-carber like me, but damn, I miss my sesame balls.0
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Thanks FIT_Goat. Good idea to check out the salad bar when I get there, I usually would skip that part. But I know they have plain shrimp etc there too so that's good. Yeah, I'd stay away from the soups, since we gave up stuff like cornstarch even before I started LCHF.
HHmm...egg drop soup.....I'm making chicken bone broth right now...egg drop soup might be tomorrow's breakfast.0 -
GrannyMayOz wrote: »wheatlessgirl66 wrote: »We'll see where I land on May 1.
Ouch! (If you'll pardon my weird sense of humour.)
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The only weird side effect? I actually found myself looking at various candy bars in a store later that night. I was slightly tempted by them. Not enough to actually act on it. But, it crossed my mind. This isn't typical, because I normally don't even think to look at them. On top of that, I was still physically stuffed from the buffet at this point. The actual thought of which one might taste good turned me off. But, the fact that they even appealed at all, that was unusual.
I've experienced that as well. Not sure if it's from the cumulative sugars, starches, and soy, or from being kinda "binge-y" when I'm at a buffet ... probably a combination of factors.
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Nice find, kirkor!
A SuccessStory of ridding Lyme Disease
on an all Meat, ZeroCarb diet since 1998:
'...Although she felt great immediately removing All the Fibers, Vegetables, and Grains that she had been eating for years, she also felt the effects of Starving out her Lyme Bacteria....'
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I was in a cafe a couple of days ago looking at the cakes as I ate my Caesar salad. I found that I was thinking that they looked pretty; that they appealed to my photographic/artistic eye as objects, and then suddenly laughed out loud because the thought of eating them had not crossed my mind even for a moment. Fortunately hubby was with me, I wasn't alone, laughing like a maniac
No loss so far this week, but I had 3 short night's sleep and that'll always do it. One good night's sleep last night has got rid of the 300g gain, but I feel exhausted today! Sleeping hours over the last 4 nights were 6, 7, 7 and 10. I'm an 8-hour girl so I guess I'm still in sleep deficit tee hee! So I kinda have 2 more mornings to get a loss to report for this week. We shall see what eventuates. I'm really enjoying not counting calories and look forward to the time when I can quit logging and counting anything at all. Weighing and measuring is a pain at times, even though I do love my stats and records in other areas.
Eating out yesterday threw my carbs way high. I had cauliflower in cheese sauce, forgetting that commercial cheese sauce is made with flour, so probably hit 29g carbs yesterday; definitely my highest since I began this on 23rd January. 21g had been my record high otherwise.
@Goat It's good to know you're human 0 -
When I ordered takeout a couple weeks ago, which I realize is very different from a buffet style, I got the "diet" meal of boiled chicken, beef, and shrimp. It came with broccoli, which I mostly gave to my husband, and a separate sauce that I threw right out. It was pretty satisfying, and it's good to know there's a quick option (other than bunless fast food burgers) if I just can't cook.
There were birthday leftovers yesterday, on top of a quick and easy pre-grocery shopping breakfast, so my carbs were high again, and my body less forgiving of transgressions a second day in a row, but I'm confident I can "clean house" before check in on Weds. This morning it's bacon and eggs. I'll probably skip lunch, drink tons of water, and leave most of the asparagus on my plate tonight (poached salmon w/ Hollandaise).
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GrannyMayOz wrote: »
No loss so far this week, but I had 3 short night's sleep and that'll always do it. One good night's sleep last night has got rid of the 300g gain, but I feel exhausted today! Sleeping hours over the last 4 nights were 6, 7, 7 and 10. I'm an 8-hour girl so I guess I'm still in sleep deficit tee hee! So I kinda have 2 more mornings to get a loss to report for this week. We shall see what eventuates. I'm really enjoying not counting calories and look forward to the time when I can quit logging and counting anything at all. Weighing and measuring is a pain at times, even though I do love my stats and records in other areas.
I keep forgetting how sleep affects my weight--so there's another reason I'm fat. I'm a terrible sleeper a lot of the time, even with being on a CPAP machine. It's not unusual for me to wake at 2:30 and not be able to get back to sleep.
Then other nights, I sleep well for 7 hours. Must be a cortisol mess.
Love your sense of humor, May!
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The rest of my meal out was grilled red emperor fish and... 4, count 'em FOUR garlic prawns! It was all yummy and I do love cauliflower cheese, but will make it myself at home in future.
Thank you @Wheatless I'm glad if I can give anyone a smile. And I hope you can get good sleep soon.0 -
wheatlessgirl66 wrote: »GrannyMayOz wrote: »
No loss so far this week, but I had 3 short night's sleep and that'll always do it. One good night's sleep last night has got rid of the 300g gain, but I feel exhausted today! Sleeping hours over the last 4 nights were 6, 7, 7 and 10. I'm an 8-hour girl so I guess I'm still in sleep deficit tee hee! So I kinda have 2 more mornings to get a loss to report for this week. We shall see what eventuates. I'm really enjoying not counting calories and look forward to the time when I can quit logging and counting anything at all. Weighing and measuring is a pain at times, even though I do love my stats and records in other areas.
I keep forgetting how sleep affects my weight--so there's another reason I'm fat. I'm a terrible sleeper a lot of the time, even with being on a CPAP machine. It's not unusual for me to wake at 2:30 and not be able to get back to sleep. Then other nights, I sleep well for 7 hours. Must be a cortisol mess.
Love your sense of humor, May!
Same here. I've been a terrible sleeper since birth (per my mother) and have had trouble with my weight since puberty. I gained the most weight after having twins. I'm thinking there is definitely a correlation there somewhere.0 -
I'm not actually doing the challenge, but I thought I'd post this for y'all:
I decided to use the bookmarklet thingy to change my macros. I set it to 2500 calories, 20g carbs, 80g protein, and the rest fat. This way it doesn't yell at me if I do go a bit higher than usual, and it's a high enough number that my brain just goes "Pffft! Whatever" as long as I'm under it.
Yesterday, I ate about 2250 calories including 40 carbs (of things I should not eat) & a TON of fat. I was stuffed. This morning, I'd lost 1.8 pounds. I'd previously had my calories set for 1684 per the Ankerl calculator.0 -
Well doggone... hubby kept twitching as I was trying to fall asleep last night. Every time I nearly dozed off, the (water)bed would make a sudden, sharp lurch that made me jump and brought me back awake again. It's hard to get a waterbed to make sudden lurches, usually it's a nice peaceful rocking motion!!!, so who knows what he was dreaming about. After an hour of this I 'rocked' him with my elbow
and then managed to fall asleep.
Additionally, the lack of my guaranteed short walk in the night meant that I had not drunk nearly enough water yesterday. My reward? A gain of 700 grams (just over 3 lbs) this morning. Nooooooooooooo!!! It's weigh-in tomorrow, I don't want that! I only had a 200g loss to report as it is. Fingers crossed I can shift all of that today
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Fingers crossed for you, @grannyMay!0
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700g is just over 1 pound, not over 3. You're going to be ok. 0
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wheatlessgirl66 wrote: »Fingers crossed for you, @grannyMay!
Thank you Wheatless
700g is just over 1 pound, not over 3. You're going to be ok.
Oh, whew! Thank goodness I'm useless at maths. Thank you Goat.
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Well, that's much better!0
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The danger of thinking you know anything: I let my brain take over my eating, and I have been consuming far more than I actually needed the past few days. Daily weights are reflecting this.
At the same time, I look back and see that I frequently have a few days of "up" before a sharp "down" and I'm left wondering if this is just how my body works, or if I weekly spend a few days thinking that I know better than my hunger.0 -
My weight tends to do that. I will go up for a few days, then drop. Go up for a few days, then drop for a few. It does reflect my overall eating, but the long term is more important, and that moves in the right direction.0
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Well, I had a piece of lemon meringue pie today. My Mum turned 75. I didn't eat the pastry crust because I don't like them but holy cow there must have been a LOT of sugar in that little baby. I was flying high and my brain was buzzing. I won't be doing that again in a hurry. I paired it with a vienna coffee which probably did nothing to mitigate the sugar hit. Looking forward to that steak my sister is cooking tonight.0
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I feel as if I've lost touch with sensible hunger today. I've had 2 days out of the last 3 where MFP gave me a 'too low' warning. I've had several meals lately where the recipe was shared amongst a number of adults and children (different sized serves) so I have absolutely no idea what 'my share' was to be able to log it correctly. Today I wasn't hungry but felt low energy so made myself eat some brunch at 1pm. It was a small serve. It's now 4pm and I feel low energy again, but not hungry. Is there someone without the calorie-hiding script that can tell me if I've been doing OK over the past 3 or 4 days, or should I be eating until my energy feels higher again?
I've been going really confidently until now, but very unsure all of a sudden whether I've been too low.0 -
@granny You did well on Friday, but for a few days you've been quite low. Eat up, girl! Your energy is depleted b/c you're not getting enough food. Yesterday was particularly low and would probably be low even if you had added calories from the small meal you didn't record. Yes, eat until your energy returns! 0
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Thank you so much @Wheatless that's a real help. David will be home from work in half an hour (8pm) and we have leftovers for dinner. I will eat my full half of the meal and maybe grate some extra cheese to go on top.
I did record what I thought I ate in full yesterday so there wasn't an unlogged meal, just probable inaccuracies, which of course could be under as much as over.
I've just been on the treadmill; I know - duh, right? and didn't achieve my usual. Jogged for 3 3/4 songs but then just walked on an incline instead of 2 sprints. Done for the day now though 0 -
Trust your gut GrannyMay. If you're tired and think it's because you haven't eaten, even if you're not super hungry, then go and up the amount you're eating. Sometimes hunger only comes after you start eating. It's one of the perils of low carb diets. LOL
I mowed my lawn and did a ton of yard work today. It was about four hours worth of outside work during the hottest part of the day. It was pretty exhausting.0 -
hello all!
finally checking in again. i decided to start zero carb last saturday and i sort of fell down the 'zeroing in on health' page rabbit hole on fb. (:
feeling really good so far. i did have a weird episode with eggs this morning, so those are out for a while. also cut out dairy (except butter) & caffeine. mostly it's beef, bacon and some seafood, plus water right now.
feels so liberating to be free from counting, logging, or even really worrying about food all that much.
sleeping super well, moods are calm and even, clothes continue to fit better and i can almost see my abs! (: still haven't stepped on the scale but i feel strong and not bloated or flabby. my pms was mild this time (unbelievable for me).
gonna keep keeping on!
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Trust your gut GrannyMay. If you're tired and think it's because you haven't eaten, even if you're not super hungry, then go and up the amount you're eating. Sometimes hunger only comes after you start eating. It's one of the perils of low carb diets. LOL
I mowed my lawn and did a ton of yard work today. It was about four hours worth of outside work during the hottest part of the day. It was pretty exhausting.
Thank you Goat. I ate until I was stuffed for dinner last night but still came in under calories according to the little message on my home page. Feeling more energised today though so I guess the extra was enough.
Had an unexpected 4.5 km walk today in the mid-day heat after my car broke down. Half of the journey on a concrete footpath sheltered from any breeze. I've done 4 times that distance in the past, including climbing stairs up a cliff face and jogging (in cooler climes). But by the time I got home today I was nearly dead. Turned the aircon on full blast and laid flat out on the cold floor tiles for half an hour before I dared get up. *Surely* this isn't a result of LC is it? I'm past all the breathlessness stuff that I had during my induction phase, and I felt that it was only the heat getting to me rather than the distance, but with all the exercise I've done in the past 6 years (aerobic bootcamps being pushed by a 'sargent-major') I've never had to lay on a cold floor before. The 'heat' was 27°C according to the weather bureau, so not excessive. I've gone out jogging for around 5 kms in 35° temps before now - 3 years ago when I was a baby of 55 years That was doing letterbox drops so it was 60% jogging/40% walking with a brief stop at each house. I guess with all the food and sugar abuse in my past it's going to take me a long time to fully recover. I've always been overweight so that part isn't contributing to the problem. I'm 83 kgs now and I was 82 kgs during my fittest time.
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I've been way over on calories lately (I use the app and am aware of my caloric intake though I haven't adjusted for it). Steady gains, I've almost gained back the weight I started with. I was sorely tempted this morning to try and eat less (calorie-wise), but I picked myself up by my bootstraps and added extra coconut oil to my coffee this morning, and will add extra herb butter to my sirloin at lunch. I'm going to continue treating my retention issues with fat and water.0
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octobubbles wrote: »I've been way over on calories lately (I use the app and am aware of my caloric intake though I haven't adjusted for it). Steady gains, I've almost gained back the weight I started with. I was sorely tempted this morning to try and eat less (calorie-wise), but I picked myself up by my bootstraps and added extra coconut oil to my coffee this morning, and will add extra herb butter to my sirloin at lunch. I'm going to continue treating my retention issues with fat and water.
I feel you. I've lost nothing the whole month. I hadn't been logging anything but carbs. But started logging everything on Sunday, as I had planned to the last part of the challenge, just out of curiosity. I'm not letting it determine how much I eat. "Sweet 8lb 1oz Baby Jesus" is all I have to say about my calorie intake. Sunday was 2500. Yesterday was 1953. My TDEE is estimated between 2000 and 2100.
Oh well. At least I know that I can maintain easily, right? I still have 9 days to possibly shed the water weight I have from some seriously salty bacon and naked wings I had Sunday. And from darn sinus allergy meds. And if I just keep maintaining, I'll have learned a few things.- It's nice to only log carbs and not obsess.
- I'm capable of maintaining my weight loss with little trouble just carb counting.
- I can eat more than MFP says and still lose, but there's a limit. (This I had already learned partially from other n=1 experiments.)
- I have to count calories to lose weight.
So, I'm not going to hit my goal weight by my 1 year ketoversary, but that's alright. As long as I get there by my 15-year wedding anni in Sept. 0 -
I think I am having trouble eating to hunger cues rather than just by the clock. On weekends my problem is that I tend to not drink enough water (not being at a desk all day with a full water bottle at hand), and on week days, I eat at the socially-accepted times (before work, during lunch break, when I get home).
So today I (again) renewed my intent to only eat when hungry. I started with coffee (which you will never get me to skip in the morning) plus heavy cream and extra coconut oil, and two soft-boiled eggs. Normally a coffee alone could hold me until around 3, but it's 10am and now I'm hungry again. Of course not hungry like I'd have been with a carb-laden breakfast. I can easily wait the two hours for lunch (though I'm thinking of making some broth to make up for the unsalted breakfast).
When I get to work I make myself a 16 oz tea and fill my 25 oz water bottle, to make sure I start drinking early. I also take some vitamins with about 8oz of water in the morning after I eat.0
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