I am a little late in writing this so I will combine day 2 and 3. First I am feeling really good already. By the end of day 3 I know I have hit ketosis. WEbMd defines ketosis thusly: Ketosis is a normal metabolic process, something your body does to keep working. When it doesn't have enough carbohydrates from food for your cells to burn for energy, it burns fat instead. For me I know I am in ketosis when I feel cool all over, and I am not talking about what a hipster I am. The best way I can describe it is ice water running through my veins. So I began feeling a little of that toward the end of my first day. I would probably be feeling it even more if not for living in the desert. Yesterday we had a high of 108 degrees. My energy levels are definitely improved. I don't need my carb induced nap in the mid afternoon like before. Yesterday I even went on a hike and then swimming in a reservoir with my kids for 3 hours. It was awesome. I am a little burned but had a great time. Swimming and hiking will definitely be a part of my regime.
Staying on the eating program has been no problem. I've always found the Atkins foods tasty and filling. So you might ask what derails me then? The answer is usually I get tired of making every meal from scratch. If I had a personal chef making me low carb meals I would never eat another way. I think I need to find a way to make meals ahead of time so I have an easy answer if I just don't feel like playing chef three times that day. Another thought on this point. In addition to getting tired of making every meal from scratch I used to have a problem with deciding what to eat. Having a meal plan a week ahead is absolutely crucial for me. If I wait too long to eat and I'm getting hungry, it's nice to know exactly what is on the menu for that night. Trying to figure it out at the last moment is dangerous.
Another thing I'm doing new this time around is not weighing daily. I think the ups and downs of the daily weigh in toyed with my mind too much. Watching that scale for my daily total was so demotivating, especially when I hit a plateau. Another side benefit is how much I am really looking forward to that weigh in next Monday. I know I have lost. My stomach feels a little smaller. My clothes are fitting a little better, and that's just after three days.
I have a real bad sweet tooth so that is another way I derail my low carb diets. I would battle that by eating CarbSmart Ice Cream and other Atkins treats. Problem was, I often would have them too much or too often. Instead, during this first phase I have just cut them out completely. I want to go a month or two and see what that looks like. I think the sugar alcohol sugars, which aren't supposed to count toward net carbs, were not interacting with my body well. When I was weighing daily I would notice my weight loss grinding to a halt a day or so after having a large portion of sugar alcohol. So those are my changes, subtle though they may be. I feel the difference already. I have been using the Atkin Daily Tracker to keep up with my carb and calorie count. I am trying to keep my carbs around 18-20g and my calories at 1700-1900. I am drinking a ton of water and nothing else. I have never liked diet soda and don't recommend it. For some reason diet soda makes me feel hungry right after, like I have dropped out of ketosis. So without further ado here are my meals for the last two days and the stats on each.
I will not be taking pictures of every meal but I will post a few of new meals or particularly yummy ideas.
Day 2 Meals:
Breakfast - 2 Eggs scrambled, 2 pieces of bacon
Lunch - 6 oz Skinless chicken breast cooked in olive oil, cup of steamed cauliflower, dipping sauce(2 TBS sour cream, 2 TBS mayonnaise, half tsp horseradish, mix together)
Dinner - 8 oz beef patty, 1/4 cup sauteed mushrooms, 3 cups salad with BeniHana salad dressing (found the recipe online)
Snacks - AM - 2 Beef Sticks, PM - 1 mozzarella cheese stick
Total counts for day 2, 22g Carbs, 1946 Calories, 162g fat, 88g protein. This is the high side of what I want on the carb and calorie count. Day 2 is often the toughest for me so I often have a little more to offset the hunger pains. By day 3 I didn't really feel anything but thirsty all day.
Day 3 Meals:
Breakfast - 2 Eggs scrambled, 2 pieces of bacon
Lunch - 6 oz Atlantic Cod cooked in olive oil, 5 sticks of asparagus
Dinner - 6 oz chicken breast, 1/2 cup steamed cauliflower, 5 sticks asparagus with butter melted over, dipping sauce (recipe above)
Snacks - AM - 1 mozzarella cheese stick, PM - 2 large beef sticks
Total counts for day 3, 17.6g Net Carbs, 1327 Calories (this was a little low, not what I want), 76g Fat, 124g Protein.
Lunch Yesterday was particularly yummy
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