Tuesday, May 31, 2011

Day 2, Post 149

 Goal Weight: 188 pounds 

   Today's Weight:        209.4 lbs
   Yesterday's Weight:    208.8 lbs
   Net Loss/Gain:         + 0.6 lbs


Today, I walked a mile to work, and a mile back. Did 50 wall pushups at work as well. 


This was the first day of normal plan eating, too.  But somewhere before lunch, I realized I was making a mistake... kinda, sorta, anyway. 

Typically, when someone switches to a low-carb diet, they are coming from a high-carb diet, which is to say, the typical diet that includes grains, starches, sugar, as a fairly large component of their caloric intake (usually more than fat, almost always more than protein).  

When  you do that, you have to make a metabolic shift to go from primarily using carbohydrates as your main energy source to primarily using fats for that purpose. This is called low-carb induction, and what is happening is the body goes from whatever was happening before into a state of ketosis - where your body burns ketones (fat-derived fuel) instead of sugar for energy.


Now, I am not coming from a high-carbohydrate diet to a low one. I was eating a substantial amount of starch, yes, accompanied by protein, in the form of beans. Lots of beans. Beans at every meal. So this was not low-carb, but not, of course, high carb, either. 

I was thinking I would just bypass the induction, but I think I won't. I'll go into induction between now and Saturday carb-load dinner - or maybe, just maybe, between now and next Wednesday's carb-load dinner. 


The induction holds total carbs to under 25 g/day. This is very low. During this time, protein and fat are unlimited, and, in fact, some sources claim you should be emphasizing eating fat to make the shift faster and easier. Well, can do! 

I will be emphasizing meat, poultry, fish, cheese, nuts, butter and oil for the next 4 to 8 days, and we'll see how that goes.
 

Food Log
Breakfast
     Breakfast protein shake:  1 whole organic egg, 1C unsweetened vanilla almond milk (2 g carb), kale, 1C blueberries (12 g carb), 3T shelled hemp seeds (1 g carb), 1/2C whole milk yogurt (3 g carb), inulin and stevia (1 g carb). No picture of the blender-ful this makes - and I drink it right out of the blender container.
    Carb count: 19 g.

Early Lunch
3 oz organic uncured ham with balsamic vinaigrette on romaine and cabbage.
    Carb count: 1 g.
 
Late Lunch
    1/4 C raw almonds and about an ounce (actually a little less) of Montrego cheese.
    Carb count: 2 g

Dinner 
3 oz of organic uncured ham (not shown). 2 cheeseburgers with mustard and a side of faux "mashed potatoes" - actually mashed cauliflower with butter, salt and pepper.
    Carb Count:  15 g.


Day total carbs:  
    37 g. net carbs (all carbs - fiber). 


Note: Except during induction, some vegetables are not counted as adding to the carb total, e.g., they are 'free' and unlimited).


Liquid Intake
    Coffee:  24 oz,   Water: 128+ oz. 

Monday, May 30, 2011

Day 1, Post 148 Starting Measurements

 Goal Weight: 188 pounds 

    Weight:          208.8 pounds
    Chest:            40.0 inches
    Waist:            39.0 inches
    Hips:             38.0 inches
    Total inches:    117.0 inches


This is where we start. My goals are to lose 3 inches from my waist, and drop another 20 pounds or so.  


My plan to do this is relatively simple: Eat a diet that contains less than 60 grams of carbohydrates a day, with no more than 25g of carbs at any single meal. Eat 4 or 5 meals per day. The amount of carbohydrate I eat is the only number I count. I'm not counting calories, or the amount of protein or fat. Wednesdays and Saturday dinners are the exception: These are carb-load meals, with unlimited carbs (preceded by very low carb eating). Except at the carb-load meals, I intend to eliminate grains from my diet. I will also be avoiding trans-fats and vegetable oil.


The only other feature of the diet is that there are unlimited amounts of some vegetables that do not count towards my carb limits.

I will continue doing the PAGG (Policosinol, ALA, Green Tea extract, Garlic extract) according to my current protocol (3 AGG, 1 PAGG 6 days per week (Tuesday off); one week off every 8 (next is coming in mid-June). I really don't know if this is effective for weight loss or not, but I have the pills, there are benefits other than weight loss to all of them, so I'm thinking, "chicken soup" (for those of you who didn't grow up in NY, that's shorthand for, "It couldn't hurt...").


Today, I started somewhat off-plan, in that I only had two actual meals, later in the day. Breakfast was at around 3pm, dinner at 8pm. I had, for the second day in a row, slept in, and had no hunger earlier. By the time dinner came around, I was hungry. I did manage to keep the carb count under the limits, but just barely, because while my main dish had no countable carbs (broccoli is unlimited and doesn't count towards the meal, the bowl of cereal I had after had about 30 grams and the almond milk had 7; the cottage cheese had 6. Breakfast had about 20g of net carbs for a day total of 63, above where I wanted to be, but I'm finished with the cereal, and have plans for much more limited carbs in my diet going forward.


This time, I'm going to work into an exercise program. I intend to do some  short duration workouts utilizing kettlebell swings, and short duration high-intensity intervals.




Food Log
Breakfast
     This was a protein shake made with 2 eggs, unsweetened vanilla almond milk (2 g carb), kale, blueberries (12 g carb), 3T shelled hemp seeds (1 g carb), 1/2C yogurt (3 g carb), inulin and stevia.
    Carb count: 18 g.
Note:   Only the ingredients with carb counts contribute to the meal and daily total carb count.

Dinner 
Broccoli-cheese casserole (broccoli, cheese, 2 eggs, onions and peppers, walnut oil, salsa) (5 g net carbs), Not shown: small bowl of Ezekiel sprouted grain cereal with unsweetened almond milk (39 g net carbs) and 1/2 C 2% cottage cheese (2g net carbs),
    Carb Count:  46g.




Day total carbs:  64 g.


Liquid Intake
    Coffee:  24 oz,   Water: 80+ oz. 

Sunday, May 29, 2011

Day 147 - A New Beginning

 Goal Weight: 188 pounds 

It is the first post-SCD post. 


It is the Sunday of the 3-day Memorial Day weekend. I will be feasting. I will, mostly, be ignoring any diet. I will have alcohol (responsibly). I will be with friends I love. I will be happy. 


I will not miss a day of blogging, even though I will, inevitably, be playing catch-up and writing this the day after.


I will not weigh myself today - that will come tomorrow, and that will establish my base weight for the coming days. Tomorrow I will exercise. A little.


I will define my coming diet plan fully, tomorrow. 


I have only one picture, of breakfast:
Coffee and sausages, and a cheese omelette (1 whole egg, 2 egg whites) with spinach and hemp seed and peppers and onions.


Things I ate and drank the rest of the day: Wasabi peanuts (there was 8 hours of driving involved) and 64+ ounces of water in the car, grilled chicken breast and cole slaw (too sweet), a Hebrew National 'chubbie' (1/4-pound beef hot dog) with sauerkraut, a barbecue short rib, guacamole, a grilled portobello mushroom with chevre and pesto, 3 good-size glasses of wine, rum cake (2 small, very intense pieces), a slice of chocolate/raspberry torte, 1 espresso, 1 americano, and 1 cup perked coffee. 


But the food (excellent, every bite enjoyable) was not nearly as good as the friends I shared this feast with. In a beautiful setting in a the Mohonk valley, I was at a gathering of old friends, most of whom I have known for 50 years, some of whom I have known practically my whole life. The day was warm, but not too-warm, the conversation was full of laughter, there were smiles after smiles. And kids. And grandkids. And a pervasive atmosphere of well-being.


An afternoon extremely well-spent.


Drivingback to Syracuse, I decided to stop at a local jam session, the first I ever went to in this area, where I was also warmly welcomed, and got some playing time in. More good times.


By the time I got home (around 1am), 4 hours had passed since I last ate, so I had a bowl of Ezekiel sprouted cereal with blueberries and almond milk (and a little stevia for sweetener) with some more water to drink and take my before-bed supplements and medicine. 


It was a beautiful day, a beautiful night, and a wonderful interlude. See you tomorrow.

Saturday, May 28, 2011

Day 56/146 End of the SCD Road

GOALS
  • Goal date:                    May 28, 2011
  • Weight goal:                199 pounds
  • Total Inches goal:        115.5
 Today's Weight:        210.2 
 Yesterday's Weight:    210.2 
 Gain/Loss:             - 0.0 

Here are the numbers for this week's official weigh-in and measure-up:

            Last Week      Today       Difference
Weight        202.8        210.2        +7.4 lbs
Chest          40.0         40.0        -0.0"
Waist          38.5         38.5        -0.0"   
Hips           37.5         37.5        -0.0"   
Total "       116.25       116.0        -0.0"


Please leave a comment if you visit here. 
Thank you.
As is pretty obvious here, I gave up on Wednesday. I basically followed all the rules, for 143 days, while the rules  only worked for me for the first 85 days - so I need to change plans. This is the end of SCD for me. I'm going to take tomorrow and probably Monday off, and start the new plan - simple rules that I'll write about on Monday - and start on the new diet Monday. 

The Charts
Weekly chart showing actual weight on measurement day, goal for that day, and the trend.
This is a chart of my weitght loss on SCD from the 1/1/11 beginning to the 5/28-11 end. The low was on 5/21, 202.8. End weight, 5/28/11 was 210.2.

Last Day Food

Breakfast
   A smoothy made from 6 oz almond milk, 1C frozen blueberries, 2 C kale (packed), 2 whole eggs, 3T hemp seed, inulin, and stevia.

Lunch
    Preceding lunch, I had some Simply Grapefruit juice.
Breakfast for lunch: Simply Grapefruit juice (not shown). A Spring Mix greens salad with black beans and balsamic vinaigrette with a spinach, peppers, onions, hemp seed and cheese omelette, made with 2 whole eggs, 2 egg whites and coconut oil.

Dinner     
Two baked chicken breasts (one shown) topped with salsa, with peas and cheese.


Today's Liquid
     24 oz black coffee and 64+ oz of water.


As always, please leave a comment if you read this blog post.

Day 55/145 - Fail! and Fail again...

GOALS
  • Goal date:                      May 28, 2011
  • Weight goal:                  199 pounds
  • Total Inches goal:         115.75 inches
 Today's Weight:         210.2 
 Yesterday's Weight:     206.6 
 +Gain/-Loss:            + 3.6 

Please leave a comment below if you
visit here. Thank you! 

Of course, the title of today's blog entry says it all. Last night, I (rather unexpectedly) was offered an opportunity to finish a rare and wonderful bottle of my favorite alcohol brand, Jameson's. Irresistable (to me) since this bottle of 12-year old Reserve cannot be purchased in the US.

One thing, as they say, led to another. I ended up eating a lot of food, very late at night, finishing up with a very off-plan bowl of cereal and almond milk. Weight-wise, I paid the price. But also, it triggered something else - now that I'm not Slow-Carbing, I just let it go a little today, and when I was offered cookies and brownies and coffee after lunch, I just said, yes, didn't even make an attempt at self-control.

And then, I went to the supermarket, and bought the one think I have missed most while slow-carbing: cheese. Cottage chese, montrego, and some wonderful sharp cheddar.
                                   
Weight-Loss on the Slow-Carb Diet (SCD)


Weight since starting the Slow-Carb Diet on Jan 1, 2011. The first 5 days were estimated. The dotted red line is the 6-day moving average. Meaningful progress seems to have ended after 3/26. The chart now has an end-date of 5/28.
 
Daily Weight vs Goal 


Today's Food
Breakfast
Spinach, hemp seed, 1 whole egg, 2 egg whites in coconut oil topped with salsa.


Lunch
At the Taj Mahal Indian Restaurant, lentil vegetable soup, 2 kinds of chicken curry, Tandoor chicken, spinach and cottage cheese. Not shown: Vegetables and hard-boiiled eggs.

Snack
   Brownies and chocolate chip cookies.

Dinner
   Montrego cheese. Cottage cheese. Sprouted grains cereal with blueberries and almond milk. A pint of French roast coffee ice cream.



Today's Liquid
    18 oz. of black coffee and 64+ oz. of water. 


As always, please leave a comment if you read this blog post.

Thursday, May 26, 2011

Day 54/144

GOALS
  • Goal date:                      May 28, 2011
  • Weight goal:                  199 pounds
  • Total Inches goal:         115.75 inches
 Today's Weight:         206.6 
 Yesterday's Weight:     205.4 
 +Gain/-Loss:            + 1.2 

Please leave a comment below if you
visit here. Thank you! 

Well, in my mind, I'm off the SCD, but I figure, not really - I will be modifying my eating a little through the Saturday weigh-in, then I'm going to stop SCD and start my new plan on Monday. More on that this weekend. But I will keep blogging. In the meantime, I will follow the established form, so to speak.

Meeting the May goals for weight or inches is pretty much out of the question. On the next go-round, there will be only one weight loss goal (185 pounds), and no goal date.
                                   
Weight-Loss on the Slow-Carb Diet (SCD)


Weight since starting the Slow-Carb Diet on Jan 1, 2011. The first 5 days were estimated. The dotted red line is the 6-day moving average. Meaningful progress seems to have ended after 3/26. The chart now has an end-date of 5/28.
 
Daily Weight vs Goal 


Today's Food
Breakfast
  No picture. About a cup of 2% cottage cheese. Definitely the last time you will see that in this blog (I like full-fat, and I'm not fat-averse at all).

Lunch
Organic smoked turkey with black beans and balsamic vinaigrette over Spring Mix greens.

Dinner
At Ling-Ling's: Hard-boiled eggs, mixed steamed vegetables, kim-chee; Mongolian BBQ with shrimp, broccoli, onions, peppers, beef, mushrooms and garlic sauce.

Pepper shrimp, roasted chicken.

Snack
   A kill-the-last-of-it amount of Jameson's 12yo Reserve - barkeep's private stock. 1 T almond butter. Then, turkey with a little mayo. 


 Snack

   Sprouted grains cereal with almond milk.

Today's Liquid
    36 oz. of black coffee and 120+ oz. of water. 


As always, please leave a comment if you read this blog post.

Wednesday, May 25, 2011

Day 53/143

GOALS
  • Goal date:                      May 28, 2011
  • Weight goal:                  199 pounds
  • Total Inches goal:         115.75 inches
 Today's Weight:         205.4 
 Yesterday's Weight:     203.2 
 +Gain/-Loss:            + 2.2 

Please leave a comment below if you
visit here. Thank you! 

Yesterday, I was happy because it looked like I might have been losing weight on this plan again. Today, I think not.

I cannot get past the fact that on day 85, after 11 weeks on slow carb, I  had lost 36 pounds, and it had been steady and constant. A complete success. 8 weeks later, on day 141, I have lost 2.8 more pounds, and my weight is up since then.

And I have to do something about an ongoing, and unreported problem I have had with this diet: Intermittent, sometimes severe and painful constipation. Apparently, while I seem to be immune to the flatulent effect of beans, they are wrecking the 'back end' of my digestive tract in the quantity required as the main carb staple of Slow-Carbing. This cannot be tied to lack of probiotics (I supplement) or dehydration (I drink more water than anybody I know).

I am going to stay on SCD until I run out of some of the specialized food. Currently I plan to change diets soon after Memorial Day (5 days from today). I may just eat without a plan for a couple of days before starting the new diet - maybe, maybe not. I have developed some good habits the last 5-1/2 months.

The plan I am going to use is one I used 11 years ago to lose more than 50 pounds - it is from the book "Natural Hormonal Enhancement" by Rob Faigin, a book the author (a lawyer, but also a researcher and one of the founders of the drug-free competitive bodybuilding movement) self-published., I is now out of print (used copies now sell for 6 times what I paid for mine).

The diet is similar to several other popular plans I am familiar with, being solidly in the low-carb camp. Its main features are 5 days of controlled, moderately low non-sugar non-refined carbs (30-60g net carbs per day - always with less than 25 in a single meal) and 2 lower carb days per week (< 30g total before dinner) that end with carb-load dinners (>100g if carbs at the last meal of the day), spaced 2 and 3 days apart. It does not feature beans in any form (typically, only a small amount allowed daily due to high starch/sugar content). It allows dairy products (I get cheese back!), and does not count calories - only grams of carbs are counted.

Stay tuned. I will keep posting to this blog - that's a good habit for me!
                                   
Weight-Loss on the Slow-Carb Diet (SCD)
Weight since starting the Slow-Carb Diet on Jan 1, 2011. The first 5 days were estimated. The dotted red line is the 6-day moving average. Real progress seems to have ended after 3/26.

Daily Weight vs Goal 


Today's Food
Breakfast
Red lentil and spinach fritatta made with a whole egg and three whites, topeed with salsa.

Lunch
Uncured ham and red beans with balsamic vinaigrette over Spring Mix greens.

Dinner
Chili (grass-fed beef, black beans, red beans, tomatoes, mushrooms, spice) over mashed cauliflower. Not shown: Guacamole.

Snack
   Cottage cheese.  Later, a large amount of freshly made raw almond butter.

Today's Liquid
    36 oz. of black coffee and 84+ oz. of water.


As always, please leave a comment if you read this blog post.

Tuesday, May 24, 2011

Day 52/142

GOALS
  • Goal date:                      May 28, 2011
  • Weight goal:                  199 pounds
  • Total Inches goal:         115.75 inches
 Today's Weight:         203.2 
 Yesterday's Weight:     205.4 
 +Gain/-Loss:            - 2.2 

Please leave a comment below if you
visit here. Thank you! 

Yesterday, I wrote: "We go forward from today, right? Today, I am at my lowest Monday weight ever. I hope I can make that statement every day for the rest of the week."
Today's is the lowest-weight ever for a Tuesday.

So far, so good.
                                   
Weight-Loss on the Slow-Carb Diet (SCD)
Weight since starting the Slow-Carb Diet on Jan 1, 2011. The first 5 days were estimated. The dotted red line is the 6-day moving average.
 Daily Weight vs Goal 


Today's Food
Breakfast
Red beans, spinach and eggs (2 whole, 3 egg whites) in coconut oil topped with salsa.

Lunch
Red beans and organic uncured ham with balsamic vinaigrette over Spring Mix greens.

Dinner
1 hard-boiled egg (not shown), chili (grass-fed beef, black beans, red beans, tomatoes, mushrooms, spice) and cottage cheese over French-cut green beans.

Snack
    Celery with 1 hard-boiled egg mashed with a little homemade mayonnaise (to moisten).

Today's Liquid
    24 oz. of black coffee and 128+ oz. of water.


As always, please leave a comment if you read this blog post.