If you're used to vegetables and other carb sources, you might look for recipes that offer a variety of textures (crispy/stewed/roasted, etc) for the period where you have trouble only imagining one kind of food.

Juliste wrote: »

Hello everyone. New to this group and I would like to join the ZC challenge.

Welcome aboard. This one is a bit of a challenge. But, it should be fun.

Something like a Whole30 can help with cutting AS, since you have to go cold turkey from sugar and sweeteners in all their sneaky guises. http://whole9life.com/2010/06/sugar-sugar-sugar/

I already know there will be a couple of failed days for me (birthdays, one of which is mine and there's a dessert I've really wanted to try), but I accept them and will move on. At least both the weekends in question are early in the month. The second and third (out of four) birthdays shouldn't be impossible to avoid cake and such. I'll just excuse myself with a "sorry, I don't have much of a sweet tooth anymore." So it hopefully won't be too much of an impact.

I've just finished 5 days without dairy (naturopath's orders) which means I've eaten more meat. I've lost more weight in this 5 days than any other single week since going LC - well, probably ever! Just had an omelette for lunch (hubby cooked) and half way through realised that cheese is a major ingredient. Fortunately I'd completed my 5 days, but it'll be interesting to see if the cheese makes a difference on the scales tomorrow. If it does, I may be greatly reducing a life-time addiction in the very near future

GrannyMayOz wrote: »

I've just finished 5 days without dairy (naturopath's orders) which means I've eaten more meat. I've lost more weight in this 5 days than any other single week since going LC - well, probably ever! Just had an omelette for lunch (hubby cooked) and half way through realised that cheese is a major ingredient. Fortunately I'd completed my 5 days, but it'll be interesting to see if the cheese makes a difference on the scales tomorrow. If it does, I may be greatly reducing a life-time addiction in the very near future

Very, very interesting, May. I've been adding avocado to my breakfast and loved eating it. Oddly, I've been feeling more hungry after eating breakfast and I didn't know why. This morning it occurred to me that likely it's the avocado carbs that have thrown me off kilter. Something so good is still problematic for my body. I didn't have it this morning, and I'm more satiated with my eggs and sausage, without that lingering "want something more."

It's amazing that you've lost more this week after eating mostly meat. Bet that feels great!

Since a big part of the appeal of this is not thinking about food, I think I'm going to take it one step further - I'm not going to read books about health or nutrition. I spend waaaaay too much time researching and not near enough time doing.

I feel fine @wheatlessgirl66! Taking my vitamins but not feeling any ill effects! I'm a believer!! Good luck! Will be getting labs drawn in July before seeing the doctor for a check up. That will be 5 months on this woe, so I am anxious to compare results!

My doctor wanted new lab results from me around this time. But, the office hasn't called. I wonder if I should call them and remind them. I don't really care enough to go hunt them down.

When I get results, whenever it is, I will post the full work-up on here. I did last time. I wonder if I can find the link. There, found it. Posted the results even though my total cholesterol was high, which some people might think is bad. I didn't think it was bad, especially with the trigs and HDL, but my doctor wasn't happy.

My Results from January 2015

Hmm, that's not the full work-up posted though. Everything was in the normal ranges though. The only thing the doctor didn't like was the total and LDL. That's why she wanted to retest in 3-4 months. We're passed that point now.

When I get the next test(s), I'll do a post for everyone. Even if things look bad. I highly doubt they will be bad, but I promise not to hide anything. It doesn't benefit anyone if I am not transparent.

I think the reason my doctor didn't argue, more, with me is because of my results. This was my first visit to this office as a check up, but I had been there before when I was sick. It was maybe two years before this appt. At that time, I was probably around 200 pounds or higher. So, they had that information from back then when I went for my check up. There's only so much a doctor can say against the obvious health and wellness improvements.

When asking about my energy levels and exercise, she was pretty shocked that I didn't do much but, when I did, I was pretty intense and capable of keeping up intense exercise for a while. For example, I might not ride my bike very often, but when I do it's usually at a pace of 14-16 mph for an hour or so. I might not run three times a week, but when I do, I get back to the point where I am running and participating in 3+ mile obstacle course races.

My blood pressure is normal, lower than she expected with the amount of coffee I drink, and just about everything else looks good. She may not approve of my method, but she can't argue with the results. She did give me a whole booklet on how to make healthier eating choices. I read it and had a good laugh. Then I threw it out.

It will be so interesting to see the results from both of you. High cholesterol numbers always get doctors riled up. Mine wanted me to go on a statin in January. I refused and told her I wanted to try to lower it via food. That's when I started eating LCHF, and in a month I brought my cholesterol to normal range, lowered triglycerides and raised HDL. I'm hoping now that I'm eating ZC it won't go back up. I don't even want to tell the dr what my diet is at this point. Definitely a gasp in horror! Good luck to both of you!

I didn't want to tell my nutritionist and doctor about my WOE either BUT I decided to because I just KNEW I was getting healthier where EVERYTHING else had failed and they can't argue that. But more to the point, I wanted to educate them. So to plant that seed for the next person struggling. Just maybe they might look up the LCHF thing seriously and just maybe it will help someone else at some point. At the very least they can say "well, it worked in ONE case I know of".

KetoGirl83 wrote: »

That was 3 months into this WOE, my markers had all improved and I had lost 35lbs (~16kg). Her answer was that I should stop lying to myself because:
a) you don't get this fat being a vegetarian unless you eat a lot of junk (which I didn't), and
b) I lost weight just because I was eating less, and my change in diet had nothing to do with that.

a) I also got pretty fat being a vegetarian. Although, my current opinion is that I ate a lot of junk back then. That junk was stuff like rice, bread, potatoes, etc. It's not stuff most people consider junk. I didn't eat a whole lot of sweets or processed foods.

b) It's certainly possible that you're eating less. But, how could a change in your diet have nothing to do with a change in the amount you're eating. That's just insane logic. It's like saying your resting heart rate is down because you're exercising more and the fact that you started riding a bike to work has nothing to do with that.

And then she proceeded to refer me to a psychology evaluation. That will be next month. I'm still undecided if I'm going to tell the truth or just lie and tell them what they want to hear. When I reach a normal weight I may need cosmetic surgery and these are the people that would approve it, I don't want to be labelled difficult or unbalanced.

There are very few things that make me honestly say, "WTF?" This was one of them. I don't know how I would play this one. It depends on how reliant you are on these specific people approving future procedures for you.

I'm not surprised she referred to you a psychologist. I think it is pretty commong because the doctors are overwhelmed and not up to date on everything but still act like they know all the possible answers. So If they don't know the answer whithin their limited testing, then it must be in your head. I was referred to a psychologist as well, but that is because I admitted to her that I don't know which influences which, my thinking and therefore pain or vice versa. Although, in her defense, she said "it doesn't matter which causes which, at point it's obviously a cycle and you're in real pain, so we need to address both sides". But it wasn't always this way. It took A LOT, A LOT, I mean A LOOOOOTTTTT of searching to find open minded people willing to look at al the possibilites. But if not, I felt it was a waste of my tiime (and theirs). I don't know what exactly you pay for health wise where you are, but in Canada, our general practitioner visits, nutritionist and some psychology (6 visits with referral) are covered by the government, BUT that means they do everything they can to NOT move you around. They try everything to prevent you from getting second opinions (without the consent of your doctor because that costs the system more money. It took years, but... for me there was no other option.

As for your nutritionist, she sounds like a .... unqualified professional to have even said what she did. I also got very fat and sick while I was a vegetarian and even worse when we went vegan. So bad they put me on prozac because of violent hallucinations! That was the WORST time of my life. She's clearly old school and unqualified. I'd be looking for someone else. Your life should not be left to the mercy of one closed minded individual.

That being said, you have to live with the consequences and nobody else, so you need to weigh your options and maybe it's best not to let on what you're actually doing, as long as you're getting better, let them think it was THEIR advice that helped. If they're not listening anyway, it's wasted breath maybe.