Round

Okay, I have to admit the not losing weight thing is getting a bit frustrating.

I’m up one pound today after staying the same last week.  For the last few weeks in fact.

There are a few things that could be going on :

- Maybe the extra period weight is still hanging around (would be gone in a day or two at most…)

- Maybe the carbs that I’m eating is too high.  For most of the 4 day weekend it was probably around 50 grams a day by the time I count the sunflower seeds, pistachios, strawberries (which were very sweet) and the few cherries I ate from the tree.  I also had 3 bites of a zucchini casserole at some friends’ house before realizing it contained white rice.  A nice week at home in complete control of my diet would be helpful right now, but it isn’t coming for a while yet…

- Maybe I need to start counting calories in addition to carbs (thanks Eileen!).  Currently my calories are probably around 1800 per day and maybe that’s too high to lose.  There are several things I could do to cut back the calories pretty easily so I need to probably pay more attention to this.

- Maybe the whole carb-restricted thing just won’t work for me and I need to evolve it to something else.  It’s been almost 6 weeks now and I have not lost much weight, although I still think I lost some inches a few weeks back, and I’m pretty thrilled about the loss of hunger.  Still, if I’m not losing any weight while doing this, then the result is not congruent with the effort and I need to make a change.

I’m willing to start by carefully tracking all my food (instead of the numerous half days I’ve tracked recently) and try to get the carbs restricted to the levels of 20-30 for a week to see if it makes a difference.

I’m not discouraged, not even terribly frustrated, just kind of annoyed with the lack of progress.  I keep thinking I’m being pretty good, but am now starting to wonder if I’m doing as well on the carb restriction as I need to be.  Seems like a good first place to get serious before I make any big decisions.

I’ll keep a close count for the week and let you all know how it goes… Just thinking of my week makes me think I’m maybe nuts to try, but I’m even more sure I’d be nuts to throw in the towel.

I took my team out for lunch today.  It was the first time we’ve had a birthday in the group, and I wanted a rapid teambuilding thing, so figured it was a good choice.  Our office in Germany is in a business park in a suburb, and frankly there isn’t much around.  We eat everyday at the company cafeteria.  But today I decided to try one of the local restaurants near the train station (5 min walk) and the birthday boy chose a pizza place.  Pizza.  Pasta.  Oh, finally I found a chicken with vegetables option, but it was looking iffy for a while.  No sweat, no hesitation, no longing for something else.

Then for dessert he didn’t want the desserts at the pizza place, but instead wanted to return to the crazy ice cream shop we’d passed earlier, so we went over there and I passed easily on that too.  It’s one thing to decide ahead of time to have a special treat of gelato in Rome, but I’m not having ice cream in Germany that is in technicolor hues only found in chemical sets, not in nature.  Another easy pass, but again one I thought was worth noting for a pat on the back.

Lunch had been small so I did have some of the German salami snacks I keep on hand at the airport, knowing that otherwise I’d be ravenous by the time I got home.  I still ate quite a bit of the roasted chicken my DH had made, but managed to make my DSS pasta without even tasting it for doneness (called him to do it).

Yesterday I did track my carbs to midday as I mentioned I might.  Freaked myself out a bit by seeing how many carbs were in the small box of raspberries I’d just scarfed down - and I realized that I could quite easily be eating many many more carbs than I thought… Probably that realization helped me stick to the straight and narrow today.

My weight was 211 on Monday May 4th and when I got home on Friday I was disappointed it was only 210. I should have taken the one pound victory, because both yesterday and today the scale read 211. Since Mondays are my official weigh in day, I entered it into my tracker, so posting no loss for 2 weeks.

So all of my “maybe I should think about ___________” from my last post probably still apply. Maybe I’m overdoing the calories. Maybe there are more carbs than I thought (although I appear pretty solidly in ketosis when I test). Maybe it’s just a stubborn plateau that needs persistence and patience.

Having been away from home for almost 2 weeks I was so anxious to weigh in I did it last night.  Never mind that I know better, that I know we weigh more at night, that I am pretty confident that my small amount of gelato was the only real cheat I’ve had in 6 weeks so I knew I’d be more or less okay.

But I was kind of excited to see a big drop on the scale because I have been feeling like I’m shrinking - the same clothes (the Fat clothes) that I’ve been wearing for several months (ok, to be honest, it’s been about a year) are starting to feel loose.  I mean baggy seat of my pants loose.  A skirt that was bought because it somewhat hides my big belly is now sliding a few inches down my waist.   Since I travel frequently I have a small number of basics that pack well that I wear over and over - and so the same items have been feeling loose for a week or more, giving me Hope.

But the scale yesterday said Nope.  Granted it was at night, but still, clearly no big drop would be greeting me this morning, the overnight weight loss would show me either steady or with a very small drop, but nothing more.  And in fact, that’s what it showed this morning (although I’ll make the weigh in official on Monday).

I still reacted in a panic.  I’ve really been closely following this carb-restriction pretty much to a tee.  I mean I sometimes eat berries and maybe a bit more veggies and nuts than ideal, but I’ve cut the nuts back these past 2 weeks, and even with veggies I’m training myself not to think of them as unlimited but rather ‘to satisfaction’.  I haven’t been counting carb grams nor regularly testing for ketone bodies (sign that the carbs are low enough to force my body to find fuel in my own fat stores).

So in my panic after the weigh in I started thinking about this diet and what I’m doing and what else I could do to make it work.  Which was weird, because it’s when I started thinking about it that I realized it really is a way of eating that I can live with quite happily.  Eventually I’d like to add more fruit to my diet but the truth is I don’t suffer from cravings nor from moments of hunger other than when it’s been too long between meals or I’ve had to eat very little because low-carb fare was hard to come by (has happened a few times - just eating the inside of a sandwich, for example - not enough calories to fuel me back up so I’m hungry soon afterwards).  Also it’s turned out to be easier than I expected at restaurants and hotels (as long as eggs are a possibility at breakfast, and not just ‘continental’).  I’ve also found salami snacks to keep with me for on the run eating - lower carb than the nuts I used at first, and acceptable for my taste buds, also not something I’d just eat forever (unlike nuts), and shelf-stable, not needing fridge or special handling.

Which is probably why I was so upset to see a number on the scale that I thought might indicate that I’m not losing weight this way.  The problem-solving part of my brain (which is working on overdrive these days in my professional life) kicked right in with a few options :

• Maybe I need to restrict calories along with carbohydrates.  Yikes.  One of the reasons I think this is working is that I’m allowing myself to indulge in things like cheese and a good splash of olive oil on a salad, and cream in my tea, etc… So I feel indulged by the diet, not restricted by the lack of sweet etc. But an option, and the low carb world is full of people on both sides of this issue, so it could be an area to explore.  So far when I have spot-checked a day (a secret habit I have of putting all my food into an online diet journal when I am stuck on teleconferences) the calories have been pretty much in range of what I’ve eaten to lose weigh the traditional calorie-restricted way.
• Maybe I need to count carb grams.  So far I’ve done this without really counting but with pretty much sticking to the rules.  Still, larger servings of veggie, more dairy products, and my frequent strawberry splurges all add carbs, and it’s possible I’m eating a lot more carbs than I should.  The only way to know is to count.  I’m a bit resistent to it as I’m enjoying a counting-free approach, but I’ve been successful in the past with counting things, so I could adjust to doing this.
• Maybe I’m not in ketosis (low enough carbs).  This was a thought I had even later (related to the counting point) so I dug out my ketosis test strips thinking it might not be a good indicator, as I’d had a lot of water all afternoon (therefore less concentrated for testing) and I’d had a big salad for lunch at the airport (only low carb option) so knew it was possible I was in ketosis and it wouldn’t show up in the evening.  So I decided to test then and also re-test in the morning if it was negative.  But surprise, it was a deep pink right away, indicating that all is well, my carbs are low enough to force my body to burn fat.  All was good, I relaxed a lot.  And came to another possiblity.
• Maybe I just lose slowly no matter the approach.  This actually isn’t a maybe, it’s kind of known fact, although I guess I hoped that with a restricted-carb approach I’d be one of those renown people who lose 10 pounds a month.  Ha!

This morning’s weight showed a one pound drop from a week ago Monday.  Not as much as I’d hope, but also down, which is definitely the right direction.

Conclusion : chill out and stay the course.  Maybe try to take measurements so I can see progress.

Getting dressed this morning I tried on 3 pair of pants from my closet (not the “travel” - 2 are the “fattest” of the fat pants, both were pretty much too baggy to wear and I was wearing them in January.  The other is a pair of pants with the tag still on, that I bought to go with a jacket but they’ve been too snug to wear.  They still were in my opinion, but frankly they were passable today and will enter into the rotation when I’m down another 4 pounds.  So the progress I was starting to think I imagined seems to be real, even if the scale is being a bit miserly.

Long post (because I’m on a long teleconference!) but I wanted to capture the thought process I went through yesterday, because I went from near panic to being pretty reassured and resigned to just losing it slowly.

Diet report from Rome

As one of the axims of my work life is that “management attention drives behavior” I am trying to extend the logic to paying attention to what I’m eating here on my trip.

Dinner 7 May
Fried artichoke starter - removed the breading and just ate the artichoke
Main dish was turbot w artichokes, it was dipped in flour that I tried to scrape off. Ate all the artichokes and almost all the fish. Also had a fried artichoke which was divine. Dessert of berries. Didn’t have pizza (though I had 2 bites of the cheesy-meaty topping and it was amazing.

Lunch 8 May
Gusto restaurant : starter salad of artichoke and parmesean, was ok but kind of flat. Main was wok of veggies and chunks of beef decent, low carb but not too flavorful. Dessert of strawberries. Didn’t have even a bit of my husbands excellent pasta, nor touch the tempting bread basket put in front of us.

Cafe de grecco 8 May
Cappucino, not a huge one, so not too much milk.

So far not feeling at all deprived.

Dinner 8 May
Starter salad spinach bacon parmesean and quail eggs - really good. Skipped the pasta course with no regret, had the hamburger patty w parm sauce which was hand chopped meat and really good. Was totally full from this meal which was just a normal amount of food. Had cheese plate for dessert mainly to keep myself occupied and not take bites from everyone, and I knew the others would eat it (they did). I jst had very small bites of 4 cheeses and was done. Leaving the meal I feel full but not stuffed. Did eat 2 one-inch square cookies when the others had coffee after the meal. No real reason why except that I was bored…

Lunch May 9 - Gina Restaurant
The most amazing mozzarella of my life with some not-bad-for-May tomatoes, a plate of bresaola with arugula and parmesean with olive oil & lemon, some of a pretty boring salad w chicken.

Gelato May 9 - 2 stops
We stopped in 2 locations for gelato. It’s my first real sweet treat since I started the restricted carb thing about 4 weeks ago. The first stop I ordered a ginger-cinnamon gelato which was not good and I only took 2 small bites before ditching it (I also knew we were heading to the second place…). The second stop was more successful - a medium cup where I got sweet cream, cinnamon & blueberry. The blueberry was the best, and I ate about half of the total amount (plus a few bites of my husband’s) but was quickly saturated and didn’t feel the need for more.

Dinner May 9
Starter was a weird egg soup, nothing special but I guess diet friendly for me. The main course I split 2 things w my husband, one was veal saltimbocco - amazing, and the other was a rolled up veal thing, good but not excellent. Dessert was cheese, and the fresh and aged peccorinos were excellent.

Lunch May 10
Starter was another fried artichoke and parma ham and a vegetable antipasto plate (all split w my husband). Main course 2 kinds of veal, one marsala, the other saltimbocco. Both good, but I was full and didn’t eat too much. I did have about 2 glasses of wine however and was feeling no pain for a while there… best wine we had in Rome, although neither of us were convinced of Italian wines by our trip. Dessert was berries, and a few bites of my husband’s gelato.

Dinner May 10
Bresaola with arugula and pamesean, and mozzarella-tomato salad, all drenched in good olive oil. Yummy. Had a few strawberries for dessert but they were not great so didn’t eat many.

All in all - it was no problem to stay on my diet on this trip. I was never hungry for breakfast (must admit we slept late every day) and didnt get hungry between meals. I had my gelato I’d been planning for and was happy to have it, and happier still it didn’t open the floodgates to wanting more sugar. I also refrained from bread at every meal and skipped pasta completely - not even trying the dishes my husband or friends took. We did tons of walking, so although it’s not the same as a good session at the gym, it was much more enjoyable!

Now back on the on-the-road routine here in Germany, plan to stay focused this week and I’ll check in next week with the weight…

Another of those horrid pounds was gone today, bringing me to 10 down in about 7 weeks, which is pretty fast for me.  I’m quite happy. I’m heading into my 4th week of restricted carbohydrate eating and I really think there is a difference in terms of hunger, blood sugar dips and probably calories in general.

Its been ages since I kept a really close count of calories, but every so often I throw a day into some softward (usually one of the diet programs on my iPhone) and I did that for yesterday - mainly to check the carb grams, only to find that the calories were not as astronomical as I thought. 

My new “standard” breakfast is 2 fried eggs, and they weigh in at about 180 calories, and keep me totally full until lunch, which is interesting because my old oatmeal or muesli breakfast was considerably higher calories and would have me wondering when lunch was coming — and now I’m always surprised when I see, ‘oh, it’s lunchtime’ and I havent had the slightest hunger twitch.  In fact when I’ve been home I’ve been listening to my hunger and often go 6 hours between meals, but here in Germany the cafeteria hours are quite restricted and if I miss lunch and get hungry a few hours later there are no options - especially no restricted-carb ones (everyone seems to have chocolate and fruit on their desks however).

I’ve also decided that I can have 1 serving of something carb-full this weekend in Rome (will likely be a gelato).  I’m re-reading South Beach Diet and while that’s not really the program I’m following, I’m definitely enough weeks in to be able to have one carb serving in a week without it blowing everything.  That way I also can plan how I’ll spend the carb serving, and won’t risk feeling so deprived that I just blow it. 

You know how when you diet you find your groove at some point?  And suddenly choices are easier, you feel good, you have some momentum behind you and you feel like even though you have a long road ahead you can actually make it?

Well, I’m in the groove now.

It’s my first-ever restricted-carbohydrate groove, but it’s definitely here.  I have the energy and drive to exercise.  That is huge.  I dont feel remotely tempted to cheat on my diet.  Granted, I can eat butter, cheese, cream etc so there are plenty of ‘indulgent’ foods that are legal for me.

Last night we even went out to dinner - something I’ve been trying to avoid when I’m home in Paris, since traveling for work gives me more than enough challenges, and eating at home is just so much easier, but we were at the Louvre yesterday evening and my husband wanted to go a nice Japanese place near there where we’ve been in the past, so I said ok (knowing I wasn’t too hungry and there were plenty of things I’d be able to eat later at home if I struck out at the restaurant).  Then of course the restaurant was full so we tried a new-to-us place - Korean, and it went really well — I was able to just choose items without rice and have some tasty new flavors and completely low carb.  On our way home my husband wanted to stop at Haagen Das and that didn’t even phase me - I took a sample spoon taste of his and didn’t even finish that taste - it had zero appeal to me and was WAY too sweet.  Went a little nuts with the strawberries and rasperries when I got home, but all in all quite a good showing - didn’t even feel like a fight for control.

I even feel like I’ll be able to handle next week’s Big Challenge - a weekend in Rome.  Yes, the newly restricted-carb dieter is going to the land of pasta, pizza and italian breads - gelatos, tiramisus and the like all will be around me.  And I think I’ll be okay.  There are really lots of good cheese and meat dishes in Italian cooking, not to mention the salads and veggies, and these days every nice restaurant is obliged to have just plain fruit as a dessert option, and in the month of May that fruit is very likely to be berries, so I think I’ll be fine.  In addition, we’re actually staying at a friend’s house, so my egg breakfast should be easy enough to arrange.