Zero Carb eating

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.

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.

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.

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.