gsp90x wrote: »

Haven't been on MFP in eons and come back to this. It was @FIT_Goat 's Meativore May challenge that CHANGED. MY. LIFE!! And I've been pretty much zero carb every since and as many cannot tell you the change. Whoa Nelly! I feel off a few times over the year and took about 3 weeks each time to get back on but now I see y'all doing this.... Coincidence?

Yep, it just takes a little personal experience to realize why I tend to be so excited about it. It doesn't seem like much, but taking the carbs all the way down can have a huge difference.

This burger thing is fun, but really not that different from my normal (aside from when I fell off the wagon). I am totally craving some cheese tonight. But, I didn't have any.

SamandaIndia wrote: »

I can see your blog from my android phone n love the meat feast. I went sans counting calories for 10 days in USA and put on 5 pounds. Was eating mostly meat, bacon, egg n a few salads. Also some chocolate n cheese which I think may be evil. Back to counting calories tomorrow. Clearly my body has not learned hungry or not. I still have yummy, eat it n finish it (big serves in USA and only restaurants). Lord help me if a sweetener or cashew nut is consumed then I need to vacuum up everything. Wish I had the results others report with not counting n low carb. My bacon feast starts tomorrow.

You really can't judge from 10 days of not counting, especially if you've been counting and restricting for a while. There can be an adjustment period where your body rediscovers that it is getting exactly what it asks for. I wish I had the link to the original discussion, where I proposed what should be expected and how I would design an experiment to prove/disprove the effectiveness of ad libitum eating.

I explained that it can be typical, especially for those who have already lost weight by counting, to see a short-term stall or reversal on the scale as the body adjusts to having control. At a bare minimum, I would want people to commit for a full 30 days (which is where Ad Libitum April originally was conceived). In an ideal world, I would find people who were willing to give it a complete 3-6 month trial (even if the initial results were poor) and report on their success/failure. The only thing I would want that group monitoring would be total carbs (along with fiber and sugar alcohols) and daily weight. Absolutely no counting calories or weighing/restricting foods without carbs. If the scale is stubbornly going up, restrict the carbs further (starting first with sugar alcohols and then moving on the veggie carbs). No other conscious modifications of amounts eaten allowed.

I find that 30 days is enough for most people to realize that it's not the end of the world. For others, usually those with more stubborn or metabolic issues, it can take 3 months. I know one woman who gained for 6 months before her body stopped hoarding the excess and realized it was in no danger of shortage. She then proceeded to drop the excess in a couple months. This is a hard group of people to find. Very few have the courage combined with a strong enough curiosity to risk putting on 5 pounds, 10 pounds, or even more in the pursuit of knowledge about their own body.

As for why the body tends to stall or gain at first, I imagine it's like people who just moved to Florida. You see, I live in Florida and near the beach. If I visit someone's house, I can usually tell how long they've lived here. If I walk in the house and they have tons of shells, sea glass, coquina and other beach artifacts, I know they're fairly new to the state. Heck, I did it when I was a kid. "OMG, this chunk of coquina is so cool. I've got to take it home." After a while, I realized that it was basically a rock. Actually, it was a very common rock. I could find one like it any time I wanted one. There was no need to hoard a bunch of them in my house. Actually, they're not even that pretty or pleasant. I stopped collecting every bit I found. I eventually got rid of most of it and lost the rest. I doubt there's a single piece in my house. I don't even think of it because I could get one any time I wanted/needed. I am content in the knowledge that it will be there if I do need it. I think it's the same with calories. Once the body becomes content in the knowledge that it will get all the calories it needs, when it asks, it relaxed and dumps the excess. It doesn't need a bunch of extra calories when there are calories freely available whenever it asks.

I wish people would try not counting when they first start low-carb (especially if they haven't been losing through CICO first), because they're going to be less likely to even notice the stall as the change in the diet tends to automatically drop some weight anyway (which can mask the calorie hoarding). No one listens to me. So, I just sit here and eat my beef.

Working on today's posts. These are images I'll need. Link to them in a moment.

Weekly: http://www.myfitnesspal.com/blog/FIT_Goat/view/week-2-summary-825518


Daily: http://www.myfitnesspal.com/blog/FIT_Goat/view/day-15-30-ground-beef-825517