The Magic Bus Trip

Karen G

Here's my current weight loss story/struggle:

I’ve been LC since last Nov. Dropped a bunch of weight on starting (25lbs), then stalled for a few weeks before Christmas. I went on a carb bender after Christmas, gained a little, got back on track, lost a bunch of weight (gained 8, lost 18).

Enter 5 week stall.

While in this 5 week stall, tried everything. I was eating VLC – meat, fat, eggs, butter, mayo, water. With these foods, I tried increasing fat, decreasing fat, increasing protein, decreasing protein, lowering calories, increasing calories. I did not cheat. At the end, I tried the fat fast. I lost a few lbs doing that, but have struggled to keep them off. And all that dairy screwed with my system – I bloated up like a freakin’ hot air balloon.

Early Feb I allowed myself to go off plan on vacation, gained a little, got back on track, lost some more weight (gained 5, lost 10).

Enter another stall since then.

The only pattern I’ve found is that I seem to respond really well to CKD. When I eat carby crap and then get back on track, I gain a few lbs and drop twice as much the following week or two. This leads me to consider CKD on purpose instead of on accident.

I’m down about 40 lbs (give or take a few lbs of water here and there), but most of it was lost in the two weeks after starting, the two weeks after cheating at Christmas, and the week after vacation. I have another 70 lbs. to go. I wouldn’t consider CKD if I didn’t have so much to lose yet, because I feel so much better not eating that crap. I’m looking forward to getting to my goal and staying VLC to maintain. I’m definitely not just doing VLC to lose and going back to the low fat brainwashing shit.

Other things I should mention:

1) I’ve been lifting weights with a trainer 3x per week since early Jan (30-45 minute sessions), and I’m starting a yoga class 1x per week next week. I occasionally walk on my treadmill for 20-30 minutes, but running is out til I get more weight off. I think I’m getting enough exercise. Dunno

2) My hormones really screw with my weight loss. For about 2 weeks out of the month, it's very touch and go, what with the estrogen fluctuation bitch running screaming through my veins Shock

3) I seem to have a recurring issue with cravings (ya think?) and right now I'm trying to defuckulate the last two days of carb fest. My plan is: meat, fish, fat, eggs, butter, a little garlic or seasoning, water, and I’m even going to try cutting out the mayo this time and stick to fattier cuts of meat or use butter instead. And black coffee & tea. No AS, no fruit or veggies, no dairy, no added salt. Lactose creates issues for me that no one wants me to discuss here. Anyways, I lost 18 lbs in two weeks doing this in Jan, but then I hit that long stall. And that was with a lot of mayo, too Yup

I've stuck to it all day today, with no cravings. Except when I was stuck at the stop light in front of Burger King, but that smell made me want to eat meat! Happy

4) I'm a keto-stix/scale slut. I gained 1 lb over the last two days. This afternoon I am already back in ketosis (small) after eating a sub, mashed potatoes, cake, and ice cream last night. That is so much more shameful in writing... Blush

I expect to be turning the stick dark purple by tomorrow morning, if history repeats itself.

So to close this extremely long, drawn out, run on post, I would say that I am leaning towards trying CKD just to get the weight off, not as a life style. I do get back on the bus relatively quickly after I screw up, and usually with not too many cravings. The cravings come after sticking to it for a while. I am looking forward to seeing what happens this week after my latest binge, but I don't know what to do after that. I know CKD is hard to control and not that healthy.

So.... Advice anyone??

_________________
Freedom's just another word for nothin' left to loose - Recorded by Janis Joplin

Dean · Posted: Fri Feb 27, 2009 2:31 am Post subject:

Karen,

If you do some sort of CKD thing, what would you be eating on your carb up days and what would you be eating on the other days? How many days off and on, and would it follow a certain pattern? I know, like in exercise and body building, that if you throw some changes at your body, this can help get through certain plateaus. Of course, there are other ways of switching things up, like calorie cycling, fasting on certain days, eating different fat ratios on different days, etc.

If you are already susceptible to cravings, do you think you could handle carb ups? One of the biggest fears I have about CKD is the damage that excess glucose can cause to our cells. Does that not bother you? Personally, I would rather try eating less meat and fat along with more vegetation, than doing CKD, to lose. Have you tried that? Your carbs don't have to go up so much doing that.

I know it can be very frustrating hitting a stall, especially a long one. For me, I had to dump dairy, and that did the trick. Butter does not affect me, but, other dairy is brutal. Sounds like you know what I'm talking about. Wink

I'm really glad I gave it up. I do get a bit envious when hearing others talk about their love of dairy, but, for me, it's something my body just can't handle.

Whatever you decide to do based on your feedback here in the Cafe, I think an experiment in the Ward would be a great way for all of us to take advantage of your learning experience with this. I know many, including myself, have come across this issue. Thanks for sharing your concerns and experience with it. Cool

_________________
When the power of love overcomes the love of power, the world will know peace.
- Jimi Hendrix

Every day you'll see the dust
Never get off the Bus!

Karen G · Posted: Fri Feb 27, 2009 3:24 am Post subject:

I was thinking I would do 7-10 days of meat, fish, eggs, butter, water, coffee, and then one day of... haven't figured that part out yet. I seem to get the weight loss benefit after knocking myself out of ketosis, so I probably would go straight for the sugar. I do realize that this could do some damage, but - complete honesty here - I've beat the crap out of my cells with insulin spikes for 34 years, so I guess a few more months of that intermittently wouldn't bother me so much.

I have eaten veggies at different stages. Maybe not enough to see a difference, so that may be something I can try, too.

My calories are generally around 1400 when eating more liberally (20 carbs/day atkins style), and less when I go to VLC and cut out cream in my coffee, that cream adds up fast. I lose my appetite on VLC, partly because that's how it works, and partly because I get bored with the food. There are plenty of times that when the choice is more meat/eggs or nothing, I'll just drink a glass of water. For example, today I ate a half of a ribeye this morning, and the other half this afternoon. It was cooked in 3tbs butter. Daily Plate puts this at 757 cals with about 36% fat. This is why I used to add in mayo, to get the cals and fat up. I drank a cup of coffee, water, and a cup of herbal tea. I haven't been hungry since, so I haven't eaten.

After thinking about this a bit, I think the cravings come in when I stall and get discouraged. As long as I see some sort of progress, I'm great with sticking to VLC. When I get stuck in a rut, I really want a twinkie or 6 Bonkers

Thanks for your feedback, Dean.
_________________
Freedom's just another word for nothin' left to loose - Recorded by Janis Joplin

KATHYINTX · Posted: Fri Feb 27, 2009 5:10 am Post subject:

Karen,

I have an idea.... let's just both do the KOOLAID diet! Bonkers

Be patient, LC Angel! Angel

... good things come to those who wait.. and also to those who don't cheat!! Let's just try it VLC for a FULL month starting March 1st and see what happens. Are you in?? Wink

Dean · Posted: Fri Feb 27, 2009 5:37 am Post subject:

Dan · Joined: 08 Feb 2007 Posts: 207 Gender: Male

I've found caffeine wreaks havoc with me. You might try switching to herbal tea. There have been studies linking caffeine to elevated insulin/hypoglycemia, etc.

P.S. I'm stealing the word "defuckulate" from you. LOL

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Viking Dan
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Artwork, code and other atrocities at www.vikingdan.com
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Karen G · Posted: Fri Feb 27, 2009 2:04 pm Post subject:

Karen G · Posted: Fri Feb 27, 2009 2:29 pm Post subject:

Karen G · Posted: Fri Feb 27, 2009 2:32 pm Post subject:

Manaloa · Posted: Fri Feb 27, 2009 3:06 pm Post subject:

I'm not Dean, but...

Personally, butter doesn't bother me either, even though I'm sensitive to other dairy. If you don't have any rendered tallow, then I don't see any reason not to include butter with the meat.

If I were you, though, I would give it a good two weeks to a month (if you can hold out that long) before adding anything else in. You'd be surprised, most people stop being bored with the same thing over and over after about a week. I've been eating ground beef almost exclusively for the last few days.

As far as ratio, most consensus is around 80/20. Some people don't quite get that high and feel fine though. Some days you'll want a higher ratio, other days a lower one. You'll have to listen to your body on that. As well as on the calories, it'll be the same way. Some days I'll eat about 1lb or so of beef, but yesterday I had 2lbs.

The only other thing I'll say is, only eat when you're actually hungry and stop when you are not hungry anymore. Not when you're stuffed to the brim.
Dunno

What do you think Dean?
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Manaloa

jeff · Posted: Fri Feb 27, 2009 3:34 pm Post subject:

Karen, at 1400 calories or less per day, that could be a bit low. I know it's hard to get over the notion that you have to reduce calories to lose, but it really is the case, provided you're ZC.

Weight is controlled hormonally. For people with whacked out hormones, it sometimes takes awhile for things to get straightened out. All we can do is try to set up the proper hormonal environment. That's what ZC does. If you're a person who hyper-secretes insulin, it may take several months to overcome this, even with ZC. It can take the body some time to learn that it doesn't need all that insulin.

Good luck. And I won't tell the governor that you're ditching dairy. But hey, as long as you're keeping butter, it's all good. Wink

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Eat, Drink and Be Merry, For Tomorrow We'll Die

Karen G · Posted: Fri Feb 27, 2009 5:23 pm Post subject:

Karen G · Posted: Fri Feb 27, 2009 5:46 pm Post subject:

Heather L · Posted: Fri Feb 27, 2009 6:21 pm Post subject:

Karen- I can relate to what you were saying---how when you are not making progress then you find that you really want something like a twinkie. I am the same. When I am seeing progress and feeling successful, then it is easy to stay on plan. When I get stalled out, then it is so hard. Hang in there, experiment, and find what works for you. It isn't easy, but it is worth it, right? Happy

y0u · Posted: Fri Feb 27, 2009 7:26 pm Post subject:

Karen, I have had really long stalls as well. In January I cut out cheese and ate really close to no carbs and cut my coffee consumption a lot. This month has really just been meat, eggs and 1 or 2 oz of cheese every few days and a bit of cream..the rest is meat and eggs. No more than 3 carbs a day. I guess you would say it's an elimination diet. No AS, very little caffeine, alcohol once a month, no condiments or vegetable oils. It really got the scale moving as well as inches off. I have no cravings. It might be worth a try minus the dairy for you..just a thought. If not...

You can always have a meat twinkie!!

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Karen G · Posted: Fri Feb 27, 2009 7:44 pm Post subject:

Karen G · Posted: Fri Feb 27, 2009 7:46 pm Post subject:

Karen G · Posted: Fri Feb 27, 2009 7:49 pm Post subject:

Dumb question: Would decaf tea be something I can include right away, or should I stick strictly to meat/water?
_________________
Freedom's just another word for nothin' left to loose - Recorded by Janis Joplin

Dean · Posted: Fri Feb 27, 2009 8:03 pm Post subject:

y0u know, between those Beef Twinkies and those Krispy Kreme Bacon Cheese Burgers, I think we just may have solved the craving problem. LOL

Karen, I think you should start out your elimination diet with naked Walmart beef. Wink

Dave will grind it for ya... at the back of the Bus, of course! Devil

Seriously, I was doing just meat with dry seasoning (herbs & spices) to begin with. That might be a good place to start. Cool

_________________
When the power of love overcomes the love of power, the world will know peace.
- Jimi Hendrix

Every day you'll see the dust
Never get off the Bus!

Karen G · Posted: Fri Feb 27, 2009 8:45 pm Post subject:

y0u · Posted: Fri Feb 27, 2009 10:42 pm Post subject:

jeff · Posted: Sun Mar 01, 2009 1:57 pm Post subject:

jeff · Posted: Sun Mar 01, 2009 1:59 pm Post subject:

Karen G · Posted: Sun Mar 01, 2009 4:28 pm Post subject:

184.0 at 6am. Ecstatic

I did go back to sleep for a few hours after that, but I didn't weigh again when I woke up.

I've been thinking about what to add in first, and I really can't decide. The coffee/tea is calling my name, but that seems like a waste. I think I'll try a cup of hot water today and see if that helps the cravings. Maybe I just like something hot in the morning? Devil

I think the logical way to go would be either fish or eggs. I've not noticed a problem with either, but this would confirm it, I hope. I'm going to try to get to at least 2 weeks of meat, butter, and water before I try adding in anything else. Honesty, here, I really am expecting to stall eventually without adding anything in. Unless I do calorie cycling. I guess the only thing to do is wait and see, for now.

I am noticing more cravings for other LC food, not the junk. The top of the list is: eggs, fish, coffee/tea, dairy, mayo. I scowled at the brownies this morning instead of gazing at them with lust as I ususally would do. Happy

_________________
Freedom's just another word for nothin' left to loose - Recorded by Janis Joplin

jeff · Posted: Sun Mar 01, 2009 7:19 pm Post subject:

Great job, Karen. As far as the coffee/tea substitute, I've heard of people drinking beef or chicken broth. Might be worth a shot.

_________________
Eat, Drink and Be Merry, For Tomorrow We'll Die