Low Carb Chronicles

2009-08-04T10:15:00.000-07:00

I have not been good, not good at all. I've been totally low-carb, so all is well there, but as far as counting calories goes, well that went right out the window this weekend. I actually have good, grown-up excuses though. My hubby had his White Coat ceremony Saturday (this is where medical students get to dress-up like bonafide doctors and make the supportive, loving, patient family feel good about the impending reversal of fortune that will surely take place once the medical student is an actual doctor), so we had a little soiree at our house, which included juicy ribeyes and low-carb cheesecake, made by yours truly (and also eaten by yours truly). I knew I would eat more than 1500 calories, so I figured I would just add another day to my "test phase" on this 1500 calorie per day plan. But then Sunday was completely overtaken by my baby having a little "intestinal" problem that meant I couldn't put him down long enough to change his dirty, dirty, dirty diapers (many, many diapers). And my husband played the stereotype to perfection by being about as helpful as, say, a cantaloupe.

By Monday I was exhausted and didn't really give a damn anymore about how many calories I was eating. Fitday? Are you kidding? See, this is exactly the kind of thing my husband would do; seriously, if we suddenly were enveloped by a nuclear winter here in South Louisiana in August, he'd still try for an internet connection to fitday his food. Me, on the other hand, will likely shoot real daggers out of my eye sockets if Fitday is even mentioned when I've had a rough few days. I find it a useful, evil tool that I loathe for some reason. I really don't know why I dislike it so much, except that I always have the feeling that if I were suddenly diagnosed with incurable cancer or hit by a Sidney Torres truck whilst sitting at a red light and my time card was permanently punched, I would be so regretful for the time I took cataloging my food consumption. So maybe I need to reframe the exercise as some means to an end... a way to get where I want. Or maybe I just have to do it and not think about it so much.

Well, I'm going to fitday my food for today (see, I just audibly groaned, thinking about trying to fit that irritating task in my day). So no looking back now- I did what I did and here I am: not one pound lighter. Nothing to do but move forward. Same plan of 1500 calories per day, but I haven't decided how long to give it. I'm thinking maybe Monday. I can behave this weekend. I just have to go into the weekend with my head set right about how I want to eat, and remember that I have a goal in mind.

Calorie Counting

2009-07-29T12:22:00.000-07:00

This pic has nothing to do with this post, but my
son is so dang cute, I just thought I'd share!

Today is my first official day of counting calories on my low-carb diet. I fitday'd my meal plan and this is what I came up with:
1,502 calories
102.8 grams of fat
10.8 grams of carbs
126.6 grams of protein

Broken down, this comes to 36% protein, 62% fat, and just 3% carbs. I will give this plan a full 7 days to see if weight loss occurs. So, I reaccess next Wednesday morning (8/5). Hopefully the reduction in calories will prove to be the key to getting the scale moving again.

I did a little more research on the subject of low carb and calorie reduction and found that this is a very debated topic. For example, Dr. Eades, the author of Protein Power, posted about calorie restriction on his blog. Basically, he says that calories ultimately do matter.

Dr. Eades stated the following in the aforementioned post: If you are working hard to keep your carbs at or below 50 grams per day, your insulin levels will be low and your glucagon high. The doors of your fat cells will be open and fat can easily come out to be burned. But if you’re throwing back a few ounces of cheese or nuts (or both) here and there, you’re going to be providing your body with enough fat to meet all its energy needs with some left over. And your weight loss will come to a screeching halt.

Then I stumbled onto this exchange on Jimmy Moore's blog, Livin La Vida Low Carb, where this exact posting was getting kicked around and picked apart. In particular, look at Charles' comments on Dr. Eades post (Charles sounds like he always gets his extra credit points). Also, Charles basically thinks Dr. Eades is full of shit when it comes to calorie restriction. His assertions boil down to "only carbs matter," and that to lose weight, one should cut back more on the carbs. Here's Charles' view: We can’t have it both ways. Calories matter or they don’t. The science says they don’t. I lost 66 pounds by avoiding carbohydrates, plain and simple. If I eat them, I gain weight. If I avoid them, I effortlessly remain lean regardless of calories. If weight is not being lost, the carbohydrates have to be dropped even further to the point of zero if necessary. This is all that is possible from a dietary perspective. If there is some hormonal issue, then that must be solved first.

Now Charles didn't write a book (that I know of) about low carb dieting, or any such endeavor, but he is a guy who lost a substantial amount of weight low carb-ing, so his opinion should be considered. Of course, there were other people on that same forum stating that without calorie restriction, their weight loss went nowhere.

I guess I shall just consider the week ahead as an experiment- if the calorie counting works for me and I successfully begin losing weight again, then I don't really care what, in theory, is supposed to be correct or scientific. I just want to weigh 125 again. And eat steak while doing it.

2009-07-28T15:31:00.000-07:00

Just a quick check-in. I'm still low-carbing, but returned to just regular Atkins Induction. I haven't been counting calories as planned until today. I'm shooting for around 1500 per day and will have to see if that gets the scale moving in the right direction. I have read lots of posts in various forums from people stating that if they don't count calories, they don't lose weight. I know that on this low-carb diet, I have certainly eaten more than I have EVER eaten, and did lose weight in the beginning. I guess I'm just shocked that I haven't gained any weight, dining on ribeyes, full fat salad dressing, and desserts made of cream cheese, cocoa, and splenda. Yummmm.......

Tomorrow, time-permitting, I will begin a daily food log to track my caloric intake, and hopefully, my weight loss.

No More Fat Fast!

2009-07-23T06:04:00.000-07:00

Yesterday was officially my last day (day 3) of the Fat Fast. I lost another pound by this morning, but I honestly don't think the experience was worth the pounds lost. I was hungry, crabby, and felt terrible- no energy, listless, stomach pains, headache, and generally in low spirits. No, I'm pretty sure the pounds lost were not worth feeling like that. Now I'm back to Atkins Induction phase until I figure out what I should do next. My husband made me the most delicious omelet for breakfast this morning as way of introduction back to normal food. I could have eaten 4 more. See what I mean?! The Fat Fast has me craving EVERYTHING! And everything tastes sooo damn good now, too. Anything that makes you this obsessed with food is a bad, bad deal.

I'm thinking that I might be able to progress into OWL (ongoing weight loss), where I add 5 grams of carbs in the form of additional salad or approved veggies, but I'm not sure about this yet. I want to do a little more research into the area of calories on a low carb diet. My weight loss has totally stalled on Atkins Induction phase, so I'm not sure how adding more carbs could be beneficial, however many people have posted in forums that their weight loss started again after moving into OWL. But I really hate just winging it on the basis of what worked for someone else. I'm really stumped here as in which direction to go; I am not one of those people who can wait for weeks and weeks to see weight loss. I get unmotivated and down in the dumps. I feel like life is happening all around me and I'm still over here, trying to lose these extra damn pounds! It's such an irritating problem- if I just knew what would work, I'd do it. Well, you can definately cross out the Fat Fast. That is truly a quick fix. I can't imagine anyone having any long-term success by incorporating the Fat Fast into their weight loss program. What a bonehead idea that was.

I emailed Dr. Jeff Volek, an exercise and nutrition researcher at the University of Connecticut who has done extensive research on low carbohydrate dieting and the effects on obesity and other health issues, to ask him what his educated and informed opinion is on calories. One assertion that is often made, and is one of the "selling points" of low carb diets, is that you don't have to count calories. As long as you count your carbs, you can eat without worrying about how many calories you consume. Now, is this assumed to be true becasue it is believed that people will feel more satiated on a low carb diet, and will thus eat less, or is it believed that "calories in versus calories out" isn't the bottom line? I'm hoping to receive an answer from Dr. Volek that might shed some light on my question. If you're intesested in reading more about Dr. Volek's research, there's a great interview with him on T-Muscle, and another on Livin La Vida Low Carb.

2nd Day of Atkins' Fat Fast

2009-07-21T06:34:00.000-07:00

I am beginning my second day on Atkins' Fat Fast, and I must say, I feel very listless. It required a great deal of effort for me to summon up the motivation to even type this entry. I have a slight headache as well that was pretty uncomfortable last night. It seems to be lessening, though, so maybe I'm adjusting; or maybe I'm just too tired to have a headache. The great news, despite feeling generally lousy, is that as of 6am this very morning, that stubborn ketostick actually turned purple!!! While on induction, I could only muster up a light pink, but my 2nd day in the Fat Fast and it's already purple! So I guess my body is really out of glycogen stores and is burning up fat!

In addition to the ketostick success, I am down a few pounds- 3 to be exact. I was holding some water, I think, from the weekend (I ate a few more carbs than usual), so I'm sure the dramatic 3 lbs in one day is mostly water, but hey, I'll take it and be happy.

My meals yesterday:
1. 1/4 cup heavy whipping cream in my coffee
2. Peanut butter cream cheese concoction
3. 2 tablespoons peanut butter on a 7 inch stalk of celery
4. 1/2 ounce pork rinds with 1/4 cup sour cream, combined with 1 tablespoon Parmesan
5. Peanut butter cream cheese concoction

If you're interested in reading more about the Fat Fast "meal" options, click here:
http://www.carbsmart.com/fatfast.html

I'm cutting this post short, as I need to go stare out the window while my eyes glaze over. I can daydream about watching the scale creep closer to my goal weight.

Welcome

2009-07-20T09:08:00.000-07:00

I decided to start this blog about my adventures in dieting and weight loss (or the lack thereof) while starting off in a new direction- a new quest, that is. I have decided, after years of low-fat diets, low-calorie diets, cabbage soup diets, the lemon juice/cayenne pepper/molasses diet, the all protein shake diet, the vegan diet, the all fruit diet, the cabbage soup diet, Weight Watchers, Body for Life, and finally, the crushed ice diet (I'm so not kidding), that there just has to be a better way. I've seen the testimonials from others and I'm convinced that if they can do it, I can do it. What I'm talking about here is the "low carb lifestyle." I know, I know, it does sound a little fad-ish, and even slightly cult-ish- like I've "found" religion- but it really, really is a lifestyle, and not a diet, if you want to be successful. Success in this area, for me, is defined as reaching and maintaining (the real kicker) my ideal weight and body fat %, while not starving. I have had it with starving! Fed up! And get this little insight- it actually quits working! That's right- when at one time in my 20's I could go on an extreme, low-cal diet, usually consisting of about 700ish calories per day, for a few weeks or months, depending on how much weight I had gained back from my last diet, and lose that weight without too much difficulty. That's not to say I wasn't eating diet pills, starving, and working out like a whirling dervish, but I did lose the weight and maintained about 125 lbs. on my 5'5 frame.

Now, throughout my 20's and into my thirties, I repeated this cycle over and over. I would diet really hard to lose extra pounds for summer, or some event that was approaching, and when I couldn't take it anymore, I would begin to eat a little more, then a little more, until I was eating probably what is considered a normal caloric intake. I never went off the deep end and started having honey buns or McRibs; I still ate very healthily- lots of salads, grilled chicken, extra lean ground beef, low-cal bread, oatmeal, etc. But just eating a normal amount of calories each day was too much for my very tired metabolism. My body had learned how to function on very little food, so when I couldn't starve any longer and began to eat more, I put on weight. Then the cycle would begin again, but each time I found it harder and harder to reach 125. I cut calories more until, the month before I got married in 12/2007, I was down to about 200-300 calories per day. I found that if I added more ice and more sugar-free crystal light or sugar-free DaVinci syrup to my protein shakes, and less protein powder, it was sorta like having the shake, minus the calories. At this time, I was doing something called the Velocity Diet. Basically, you consume nothing but protein shakes all week, with 1 healthy meal per week (no, not per day) consisting of real, chewable food. The diet lasts 1 month, and in that time I just couldn't get the last 5 lbs to budge. I was at the gym, on the Stepmill, a sweatin' and a steppin', hitting the weights, drinking my breakfast, lunch, and dinner, and the scale nor the tape measure just wouldn't budge. So, that's when I basically went on the "ice diet" and was truly consuming about 300 calories per day. The day I got married, I weighed 126 lbs. The night I got married, we ate pizza in the hotel room, and by the next day, I was up a few pounds already.

Wedding Day

So, to skip ahead to present day, a few things have happened that have truly changed my thinking about weight loss and dieting. First, it's clear that the starvation route just isn't effective anymore. And how long can you keep it up, anyway? I really beat myself up for years over my weight, thinking if I just had more willpower I would workout harder, eat less, and get in the shape I've always dreamed of. But now that I reflect upon all those years, I think I was a real trooper! A real hard-ass actually! I wasn't a failure; I was just using the wrong approach.

Secondly, I had a beautiful, bouncing baby boy who requires a lot of energy and time. I want to be a healthy Mom, and have time to be with my son (not at the gym for hours and hours).

Then there's my husband. He really is my best friend, and we spend a lot of time together. I truly love being with him. I want to be healthy, feel good about myself, and love the way I look because it's important for my marriage. The better I feel about me, the better we get along. It's like I tell my husband, "happy wife, happy life."

So, I'm starting this blog to record my adventures in low carb living. My husband, my Mom, and I are all making the switch! Well, we actually did make the switch about a month ago, but I've already faced some stumbling blocks and am working through them, so I want to reach out to anyone who might be going through something similar, and maybe get some advice and encouragement from low carb veterans. I've been on Atkins extended induction for about 4 weeks now. I lost about 10 lbs the first week, then nothing since. I've done some research on Atkins Fat Fast and decided to give it a try (my Mom is too). Today is my first full day on the Fat Fast and so far, so good. I've gotten just a tad hungry, but it was time to have a mini-meal, so no problem. Tomorrow I will outline the plan, report what I'm eating, and report any changes in weight. I will also give an account of the Fat Fast research I've done.