progress?

The last few weeks I've tried to not worry so much about every morsel and have been just eating the meals I know suit the diet I'm on and the calorie range I'm aiming for, with a eye on my nut intake and the addition of probiotics to help with the digestion of the increased amount of protein I'm eating.

I still weigh between 132-135 every time I'm on the scale, but I do feel like I'm noticing a slight change in my body composition. It does appear to me that I'm becoming more lean. Not thin...but more lean...like more muscle than fat. When i grab parts of my body that used to feel kinda fatty, then feel more muscular now, though I'm the same "size". Perhaps slightly smaller, or at least shapely in a way that feels like a real human body and not like a package of cottage cheese. (I know, cottage cheese doesn't come in packages, it comes in tubs...but I couldn't think of another analogy) I measured my waist and hips today and saw that my waist is the same, maybe a 1/2 inch smaller, but my hips are an inch smaller, and the lower "pooch" of my belly seems smaller. Shirts that used to be a little tight around my belly are hanging now. THAT'S PROGRESS, RIGHT?

Mark Sisson talks about "re-programming your genes" with this diet and that most people experience gradual change as their body becomes programmed to burn fat instead of carbs. Not the kind of over night change you might have come to expect with weight loss regimens. Perhaps this is happening? Or maybe the probiotics are helping me digest better? Or maybe I'm just not stressing so much about the whole thing and the absence of stress is lowering my cortosol levels? Who knows. But I'm feeling pretty good about where things are at the moment.

One other thing...I've noticed that my hunger pains don't exist much anymore, yet I'm eating fewer (if any) snacks during the day outside of my meals. I don't have much to say about that...just that this is happening. I'm trying to eat only when I'm actually hungry, which usually means that my meals end up being about an hour or two later than I would eat if I weren't paying attention to hunger. Again...just an observation.

Till next time...

I'm back

Wow - yeah, I've neglected this blog for a while. Oops! The deal was that yeah, I was getting pretty frustrated. I felt like I'd been doing everything to the T in those first 3 weeks, measuring every ounce, every teaspoon, yet I wasn't seeing any change. Then I went on vacation to Canada. Although I didn't lose any workout days there (I used the hotel gym and was walking quite a lot), I did slide down the slippery slope with regards to food. I find it VERY hard to eat out and stay low carb. Hardly any restaurant offers that kind of fare. And I always have this conversation with myself:

Me: "this is so unfair - I do so good 90% of the time at home. I'm at a nice restaurant with foods I'd never have the chance to eat at home. I should be able to try some of this stuff.

Me: "No Carrie, you have to stick to it. You're never going to see changes if you don't practice some restraint."

Me: "Great. Then I NEVER get to enjoy a nice dinner out? Look at that amazing bread right there, just one piece won't hurt anyone"

Me: "oookay then...go ahead and do it, but just this once"

Me: "awesome! (picks up bread and eats it. and it's delicious). Well, I mean, now that I pretty much blew the whole diet, I may as well order that amazing dish right there complete with potatoes, bread and rice. Oh....and after dinner, I may as well partake in that ice cream list"

Me: shaking head with disgust.

And this goes on and on, every day of my vacation. It's impossible to follow the diet without feeling like I'm somehow missing out on some great culinary piece of travel - yet if I succumb I have to deal with my conscience that shames me.

My lovely boyfriend doesn't see the big deal, he thinks that anything is ok in moderation. And he's right. Except every time I spend a few days with him we go out to dinner. And eating out as much as we like to eat out means its not moderate at all.

ANYWAY.....waa waa waa. I came home from Canada, I still weigh 135, went immediately on a camping trip. HAD to eat Smores. Fell even further off the diet. Then went back on right away at the beginning of this past week. I didn't record my calories, I just followed the same general input as usual, but maybe eating 4 nuts instead of 20, one egg instead of 2 in the morning. Stuff like that. Yesterday I weighed 132. But today I was 135 again. Stupid. And of course, last night was a wedding so I drank - today is a goodbye luncheon so I'm sure I'll eat off course a bit - and tomorrow is a trip to Wisconsin. Guess this would be easier if I didn't like to go out, didn't like to try new and awesome restaurants, didn't have any interest in socialization, which almost invariably leads to eating and drinking in some form.

Oh...and another disheartening thing. I went bathing suit shopping this week. Uh....yeah. Tim and I are going to the Wisconsin Dells tomorrow to hit up a water park. Haven't gone to a water park since Wet Willies in St.Louis. However, my current 2 piece is a bit flimsy and wouldn't hold up to slides and chutes and whatnot. So I decided I would buy a tankini this time, so that I don't have to worry about belly flab as I double over in my innertube on the lazy river for 2 hours. :-) So I tried on bathing suits and I wasn't that horrified with what I saw. I like my size and much of my body is pretty firm. Except there were these 3 way mirrors and bad lighting in this dressing room and I saw angles I wish I had never seen. Angles and light that revealed something that is increasing steadily with age. CELLULITE. Why god WHY do women have to deal with cellulite???!!!??? It's all over the place, mostly on my legs and butt. I wish god would be fair and give it to everyone, instead of giving it just to a few people.

I guess the good thing about this last week was, however, that I feel great. Besides being blinded by cellulite in a bathing suit, I'm pleased with how I look in clothes. My moods are amazingly positive. I blasted through my workouts with tons of left over energy. Relaxed. So I guess i can't really ask for much more.

Except for that cellulite to go away. Just saying.

Frustrated

I've been away from daily reporting of calories, but rest assured I've been counting them. I've been staying at Tims house for a week and the room with the computer was a room without air conditioning and sweat kept me from going in there too much.

So whats the deal with how things have been going? Well, to be honest...not great. And that's not to say I haven't been good about not eating sweets, that's not to say I haven't been good about sticking to the nutrient ration breakdown, and I've certainly been exercising. All of that said...why have I been getting rashes, difficulty with digestion (I had some serious bouts of nausea, cramping, and diarrhea one day) --- AND...why did I come back to my scale today only to see I'm 135 again?

Not cool.

I don't know what to do/say about any of it, really. Working extra hard and getting nowhere. I suppose it's possible I'm under estimating my caloric intake...but most days I struggled to get to 1400, and many days I didn't make it that high and was 100-250 calories below. I use a heart rate monitor when I exercise so I'm logging all my calories burned. And what's up with last week losing 4lbs...this week I changed nothing and gain it all back? It was obviously water weight, but that's not fair! As for the digestion issues, I have read in certain places that when you replace carbs with protein you often need the assistance of probiotics to get everything digested properly. I'm a fan of probiotics so I'll pick some up today at the grocery store.

Maybe I'm eating too many nuts? I'm afraid to lower my caloric intake too much for fear I'll fall below 1200 and be in that zone where your body starts to store fat to survive. Not sure what the change-up plan is yet. Any suggestions are welcome.

RASH!

Oh goodness, I've obtained a rash.

I've never been a very rashy person. In fact, I don't know that I've ever had a rash in my life, so you can imagine the concern when one suddenly popped up. It's all over my stomach and luckily doesn't itch. While going over all the variables that may have caused it, I can say the only thing different is that I've cut sugar out of my life. Could this be the culprit?

I've read a few different things online that say that cutting sugar out of your diet can lead to things like headaches, rashes, and loss of energy. You're basically detoxing so I guess it makes sense that this would happen. You often detox via your skin. So I'm gonna wait, hope it doesn't get worse, and see.

But gross. A rash?

Day 8

Gotta say, I slipped a few times. They were tiny moments of indulgence that honestly probably didn't add up to a whole lot. But maybe if people would stop offering yummy treats it would be easier to not have them. I had a few bites of bagel at work and 2 crab rangoon (which actually aren't so bad content wise as far as the high fat diet is concerned, but the flour shell is where I faltered). Luckily, I rode my bike for a total of 600 calories so I had about 200 extra calories to eat so because of that I'm not going to freak out. But honestly, its these little slip ups that often add to a pint of ice cream and a pizza so this is what makes me nervous. Gotta stay in line.

I'm staying at Tim's where there's air conditioning while he's out of town and it's 1 million degrees out so there will be no weigh ins this week.

Calories = 1778

Carbs = 62

Fat = 115

Protien = 82

FAT

In case anyone is wondering why I believe in a high fat, low carb diet, you might want to check out the documentary Fat Head. You can watch it on Netflix instant. The first half is kinda dumb (though poignant at times), but the second half is a great explanation about the myths behind low fat diets and cholesterol. It gives some really clear explanations about how our bodies utilize fat and how carbs and sugars thwart our attempts at losing weight. Check it out. Till then, have a look at this clip.

You may also want to check out the book, "Good Calories, Bad Calories" which tells the tale of how all calories are not the same and which ones to choose when you're worried about them or tracking them.

I have to say, however, that ever since I've started eating more animal fat, eggs, bacon, and things such as nuts and avacados for my fat intake, my energy has been through the roof. I hardly ever get tired during the day. And who doesn't want to eat lots of bacon?

Days 5 & 6

Day 5:

Weight = 132

Calories = 1322

Carbs = 85

Fat = 87

Protien = 83

I was feeling a little nauseous in the afternoon and at that point my carb intake was super low, like 40g or something - so I decided I needed some more carbs. I put a cup of blueberries in a shake and that jacked it up to the number you see here. I felt better after that.

Exercise:

Rode my bike along the lakefront and did some sprints. I try to do this 1x a week. I sprint for 20 seconds, regular for 10 seconds - I repeat that 10x (5 minutes) and then complete the ride at a regular pace (somewhere between 125-140 bpm). Burned something like 470 calories.

Day 6

Weight = 131

Calories = 1224

Carbs = 97

Fat = 67

Protien = 65

This day was hard because I had brunch at a friends house for my friend's birthday. This sorta threw my numbers all out of whack with regards to ratios of carbs to fats and whatever, even though I ate fine (quiche and fruit) I TOTALLY resisted the pastry treats and doughnuts there, oh AND mimosas, other alcohol, and juices. Turns out, saying no to the super sugary stuff hasn't been nearly as hard as I'd anticipated.

EXERCISE:

None. Today was my day off. :-)

I am a little worried about the 4lb weight loss in one week though. I think it is possible that my RMR (resting metabolic rate) is a bit higher than I have gathered off internet calculations and am therefore burning through calories at a faster rate. It's also possible that with the amount of muscle I currently have, that my metabolism is working faster than I'd calculated for. Not gonna complain! But I'm going to see how it looks this week and if I continue to lose lbs that fast I'll up my caloric intake a bit to slow it down a smidge. I don't think its really healthy to lose more than 2lbs a week.