Been sick since Friday, so not much birthday celebrating going on. Plans to celebrate with girlfriends have been commuted to later this week when I'm feeling better.
So, the food plan over the weekend kinda went out the window. Just concentrated on drinking water/tea and ate a lot of vegetable soup. I'm actually feeling bloaty because of the salt in the soup. It was home made, but the chef was not thinking clearly!
I am back on the right track today! Thanks for checking in with me and making me accountable! I've been kinda fooling myself, letting too many carbs slide in recently. Thinking it wasn't going to really matter. I am so...undisciplined!
This morning, I weighed in at 297 lbs.
Breakfast: bison steak and eggs, cooked in a little organic, grass-fed ghee.
Lunch: tuna salad on endive (with mayonnaise, celery and olives)
Dinner: baked sweet potatoes with brie and prosciutto (Oh! That was lovely!) and Greek yogurt with lemon and pear marmalade (sugar-free)
And then I had the munchies after dinner. Just felt empty, so I had some cheddar cheese and mayonnaise on Julian Bakery Amazing Sourdough bread.
Now I feel satiated. Wish I could have stopped short on the carbs at around 50 gm. So hard!
Protein - 130 gm
Carbs - 112 gm
Just going to track protein and carbs now. That's what this leptin resistance thing is about, afterall.
I kinda overate yesterday, but have totally made up for it today! Didn't really feel hungry this morning so I didn't have breakfast right away. I know that the leptin prescription says to eat within half an hour of rising, but I just wasn't feeling it till around noon.
Breakfast: at noon...scrambled egg and whites, bacon, and a little gouda cheese, cooked in ghee.
Dinner: half a rotisserie chicken and a big bowl of spring mix greens with olive oil and seasoned rice vinegar dressing.
And I think I'm done eating today! Wow! If I get hungry later, I'll record it, but for now, as of 6:10 pm, this is it.
Protein: 82 gm
Carbs: 36 gm
I got noshy...ground beef with whole wheat pasta and chopped tomatoes with home made pesto. And some parmesan cheese. And then some dark chocolate!
Relapse of the stomach flu I had late last week. Didn't feel like eating in the morning because I felt nauseous, but by later in the day, I was really hungry. Tried to eat some scrambled eggs with chicken cooked in ghee but it churned around for awhile. Then later, I thought I'd try some whole wheat couscous (an old comfort food favorite). I added chard and spinach to it, plus some olive oil. I know, I know, not part of the prescription, but my tummy seemed to settle down. And I ate all of it!!!! I hate it when I do that!
Had half-n-half in my coffee too.
Protein: 106 gm
Carbs: 191 gm
Fortunately, I was done eating early, like around 4:30. I good to go for bed tonight!
Feeling a little better this morning, but still not clear headed enough to exercise. I'm still wheezy and coughing.
I ate a BIG breakfast. A couple eggs, half of a rotisserie chicken, all cooked in ghee. A slice of my high-protein low-carb fiberous bread. And butter! Cream in my coffee too. 766 calories! And I had to do the numbers to tell myself to stop eating, because I still felt empty. But about an hour after breakfast, that feeling went away because the food hit my bloodstream.
(I'm getting a new glucometer this week. Obviously I still don't have control over my blood sugar.)
It's now three hours after breakfast. My head tells me I want to eat, but my appetite isn't there yet. I'm not hungry. So, staying out of the kitchen is important right now.
Lunch, 4.5 hours after breakfast. Big bowl of salad greens (endive, mesclun greens mix, arugula) with a can of light tuna, sliced olives and fresh garlic. Dressed with olive oil and seasoned rice vinegar. MMmmmm!!! A lunch of just over 500 calories. And 20 minutes after eating, I still want to eat. Just going to ride it out till dinner.
Just finished dinner. It was tasty! Spaghetti squash with a little brie and some home made pesto. But I wanted something more, as lovely as that was, so I ate two Applegate hot dogs. I still feel like scrounging around. All afternoon I was jonesing for a big Starbuck's oatmeal cookie, but managed to avoid that.
Protein: 139 gm
Carbs: 56 gm
Hmmm, that's pretty cool! I will try to keep from eating anything else. It's just after 5:30. If I can make it to 9, I'll be fine!
7:55 pm - I ate another hot dog, celery with peanut butter, a piece of dry Jack cheese, and a big mug of cinnamon tea. And I still want to eat more! I don't know what to do at times like these.
Protein: 161 gm
Carb: 66 gm
I did really well with the carbs. Will push harder to get even lower. Maybe I'm having too many vegetables too? The spaghetti squash alone was 32 gm of carbs. This hunger must be from the carb redux.
I'm feeling kinda low this morning. I got on the scale. My calories in and calories out this week are about the same as last week, and the week before, and the week before that. But I'm up six pounds this morning!
I don't know what to do with this sort of thing at this point in my life. I make really healthy food choices. I don't go out very much and when I do I choose very carefully, I don't eat packaged/processed foods, I don't drink much alcohol, I don't OD on fruit and juice. No sodas. Plenty of water. Five to eight servings of vegetables a day. Lean grass-fed meat, pastured poultry and wild-caught fish. Eating like this helps me feel really good. I've not felt this good for a very long time.
I exercise, at least five days a week. Pilates, weight training, a little cardio. I'm getting stronger. I can do things now that I couldn't achieve even 20 years ago. I move my body differently too. I love how strong I feel. But all this fat floating over my muscles covers up what I've achieved.
So, am I really super leptin resistant? PLUS borderline type 2 diabetic, PCOS, low thyroid (but not low enough for meds). I have food sensitivities. I'm peri-menopausal. I am HUNGRY! I really struggle with cutting calories. Beyond exercise, I have a sedentary lifestyle (desk job). Just how much do those factors negate the work I already do?
Well, I guess not really negate, but they just make what I want to achieve, a much leaner body, that much more ellusive and unattainable. Yes, I've lost 60 lbs. And I now have rock-hard abs, etc.
So, I'm a few weeks into this leptin prescription that I haven't been able to stick to very well. I guess I'm going to switch to Atkins and really strip the carbs down. I wasn't trying that hard to keep carb intake consistently under 100 gm/day. (And there were days that popped up way over that!) I've done Atkins before. I just reread the guidelines for the induction phase. I hope getting tighter with the carbs is really the key.
One good thing, a good measurement...my upper body has dropped nearly a size in the last few weeks. So I weigh about the same but I'm down a size. That's fat lost and muscle built. And I realize, this six pounds is very likely water retention. I've been sick, I'm still coughing. I've been doing a lot more lunges and squats lately and I can feel my thighs retaining water from DOMS. I'm one of those intermittent whoosers. I can go weeks and weeks completely OP and watch my weight bounce in a 10-pound range and then suddenly drop five pounds, only to have that cycle start all over again. That cycle can go from six weeks to six months. The last time I dropped the five pounds was two months ago. Emotionally, I'm so ready for the next drop!!!
Breakfast: chopped tomatoes and scrambled eggs cooked in olive oil and a slice of my Julian sourdough bread. Plus half and half in my coffee.
(The plan now is to limit net carbs under 20 gm. per day. Not sure about how many calories. I read on one Atkins-related site to eat 8-10x my weight in calories, which is 2400 - 3000 calories. No way! But the official Atkins site says to stay under 1800 calories. I've been averaging 2200 calories, which is why I'm not losing weight. I'm going to shoot for 2000 calories through the weekend.)
OMG! I had the best lunch! But I'm still hungry. I went out to a local Thai restaurant known for their very fresh ingredients and no soy policy. I had the Larb Gai (a chicken salad). Mmmmm!!! I want more!
I had lunch at noon, spent the afternoon shopping at Lowes with my girlfriend, came home to spend time with my son and get some work done. By 4 pm, I was hungry again. And I felt pretty edgy. Dinner just ended up being strung out snacking for two hours. Bison steak, dandelion greens, celery with peanut butter, scrambled egg whites with Monterey Jack cheese. Parts of me feel full, but parts of me are still feeling edgy and hungry. I don't understand this, but I've been plagued with this issue for many, many years.
As of 6:23 pm, here's the numbers...
Protein: 143 gm
Net carbs: 29 gm
Calories: 1800
I may be drinking cinnamon tea for the rest of the evening.
Breakfast: bison steak and eggs, cooked in a little rendered bacon fat, cream in my coffee
(I'm moving all my carbs to dinner. I like my biggest meal to be in the evening. When I don't eat more in the evening, I just want to snack till bedtime. The carbs don't mean a thing to me in the morning and at lunch. I don't crave them at all at those times.)
Lunch: At 1:15 pm, just not feeling like eating yet. Had a coffee with half and half about an hour ago. I expect I'll get the hungries around 2.
Dinner: Actually didn't eat until 3, so maybe with the extra effort to cut out the carbs earlier in the day, the leptin prescription is starting to work. I made some braised chicken thighs with kale, cooked in a little rendered bacon fat and chicken broth. I ate a lot. It was so darn tasty!!! Then, a couple hours later, I was hungry again. Really?! REALLY?! I would have loved to stop at just over 1300 calories, but no. Took my son to In-n-Out and I stuck to my low-carb guns and only had the protein-style burger. Then came home and managed to hold off an hour before I wanted to eat AGAIN! I went for the celery and just a little peanut butter. And then two small biscotti. And I swear, 9 pm hit and my body was done eating. So strange!
Calories: 1895
Protein: 173 gm
Net Carbs: 40 gm
Will be working on getting those carbs back down again tomorrow.
I just had to weight myself a few times this morning. Yep, 296! Wow! That's six pounds in 24 hours. If I can gain that much in a day, why not be able to lose it too?
However, not getting overly celebratory yet. Swimming, swimming, just keep swimming...
Breakfast: Bacon and eggs scramble, a little cream in my coffee.
Lunch: Lamb shishkebab! And fatoush salad, but no croutons. Baba ganoush too...mmm, I love Arabic food!
Dinner: Had dinner around 5. Started with a romaine lettuce salad, then broccoli raab, the roasted chicken wings. Took two hours to eat. Still hungry, so I'm going for a slice of colby jack cheese, and then I'm done!
Calories: 2356
Protein: 223 gm (yipes!)
Net Carbs: 12 gm (holy crap! Didn't know I could go that low!)
So now I'm insanely curious how I'm going to do on the scale in the morning. Because calories is calories, and 2356 is just over my RMR. Theoretically, I should weigh the same. We shall see.
Last minute entry...stressed from still being hungry and caved to an ounce of naked baked pita chips. Too mad at myself to face those carbs. AND I'M STILL HUNGRY!!! Going to bed.
You're welcome to join in here, if you like. Really, anyone. As much as my life is "all about me!!!!", I welcome the company!
I used to do a strict Atkins a few years ago, but I went through a period of high stress and had a tough time sticking to it when I was emotionally eating my way through a divorce. I've been keeping carbs well under 200 gm a day for a couple years (with an occasionally indulgent day every week) to manage my diabetes, but it still wasn't enough to lose a substantion amount of weight at any sort of pace I was happy with. I'm glad that I'm finally in a place where I can concentrate more on my effort.
So I'm going to be here, daily, for the next six weeks. Or longer, as needed.
296 lbs. Today I'm going to start working at cutting calories again. And getting back on a regular sleep cycle.
Breakfast: ground bison and egg scramble, cream in my coffee.
Lunch: big greens salad with olive oil an lemon juice, 2 Rocky roasted pepper chicken sausages. (Wasn't too hungry when I started eating, around 1, then got caught up with work and didn't finish lunch till 3. That was an anomaly! But now, 30 min later, I'm feeling noshy.)
Dinner: tuna salad with celery and mayonnaise, roasted asparagus, and I was craving my Julian bread so badly, so I toasted it with a slice of jack cheese.
Calories: 2076
Protein: 154 gm (a little too high still)
Net carbs: 22 gm (not bad!)
Well, my problems with the leptin prescription are #1. I just can't seem to eat within 30 min of waking. Between making breakfast and lunch for my kids and getting them off to school, I just can't seem to do it. I know that's a cop-out. I should try to plan better, and I should put my oldest to work on his own breakfast and lunch. And, #2, I just can't eat that much for breakfast! I think I'd be sick.
Anyway, today (several hours after waking), I did have venison sausage (my husband is a hunter), cheese, and eggs (we also have our own chickens). I had cream in my coffee, too.
Lunch, broccoli cheese soup (low carb - I modified an existing recipe).
I struggle with #1 as well, for very similar reasons. And frankly, I'm not hungry in the mornings. It's why I was doing so well with IF for a few months. But then I hit a wall. I couldn't cut calories below 2200 any more. My trainer thinks it's because I have increased my weight training workouts, but I'm not convinced of that. She may be right. I don't know.
But once I start eating in the morning, I have no problem eating that much! I'm a tall, muscular woman and have always had a big appetite.
I get my eggs from a local CSA that raises pastured hens on a soy-free feed. So tasty! Venison sausage...I'm so jealous! Since switching to a Paleo diet, and due to food sensitivities, I've been making my own bulk sausage. But I wish I could get my hands on some venison because I like it. I need to date a hunter!
LOL I guess being married to a hunter does have it's perks! I wasn't too thrilled a few years ago when he said he wanted to raise chickens. I'm a "city girl." But then, when I started eating Paleo-ish, it worked out really well. I have blood sugar issues, also, so I had to go low carb. I really believe in it. I've just been stuck since last June at the same weight. I guess that's not terrible, but I really did want to get to my goal weight. My mom looks so good. She did low-carb, too, and now she is at goal. I just want to get there, too.
295 lbs this morning. Feeling cautiously pleased about this. I had dropped to 293 lbs one day a few weeks ago, for maybe 20 minutes. When I blow past that and hit 290, then I'll start feeling more excited about this.
I wonder about initial phases of weight loss. When I started with this committed effort five years ago, the initial weight dropped really quickly. Like 12 lbs the first week. But here I am, five years later and nearly 60 lbs downs, and I'm wondering how much of this is that initial water weight and how much is actual fat. But then, now I know better, I guess. With any fat burning, there's water that comes off too.
I had a giant breakfast this morning! Oh my lord! Don't know what I was thinking! Half pound of ground beef with an egg scrambled in, on Julian toast with a slice of cheese. And cream in my coffee.
Lunch was later in the day after I had a coffee and cream at 1. Tuna with mayonnaise on a bed of mixed salad greens.
Dinner of baked chicken wings and a slice of veggie pizza. I know! But it's pizza!
And, #2, I just can't eat that much for breakfast! I think I'd be sick. 