Karen's Figuring Out What the Hell is Stalling Me Experiment

Karen G

I'm going to start with meat, salt free dry seasoning, and water - hopefully keeping this up for more than 2 weeks before adding in various other food/drinks and see what happens with each. At some point I will probably vary the calories. At some point, I may decide to do CKD with fruit and veggies but not right away.

I'm shooting for 1500-1700 cals per day, with 70% or more fat.

I cook my beef to med rare, pork & chicken well done, and haven't had much luck getting more rare than that without inducing nausea while eating. Maybe that will get easier. I am starting with no supplements, but will add them in eventually to see if there is any effect from the supplements.

I'll be posting my food each day.

Please share any advice or ideas you might have.

Karen

Bobi

Sounds good to me, Karen. Just make sure you keep well hydrated. This type of WOE contributes to water retention loss. Keep swilling the water!! Wink

Manaloa

You might also find that after two weeks, you don't want to add anything else in. Just hope you don't feel like you have to, if you get to that point.

Dean

I know that adding in butter after a few weeks helped me to get my fat ratios up. You have no idea how much I missed the butter. Just ask Heather! Devil

Karen G

How could I forget about the butter?!? I will also be eating butter Yup

Dean

Karen G

Karen G

Not sure if I should count today as day one, because I had coffee. But what the hell, I'll post my food anyways:

8 oz coffee black - 8am
36 oz water (and still working on it) throughout the day
6 oz chuck steak no seasoning - noon
2 1/4 lb ground beef patties with Mrs. Dash - 5:30pm
3 oz chuck steak - 7:30pm
2 tbs butter - used about 4tbs to cook all the meat, drizzled a little on top, but didn't lick my plate or the pan (spank me if you must), so I only counted 2tbs.

Daily Plate shows this as 1560 calories, 123g fat (73%), 102g (27%) protein.

I tried to get another 3 oz chuck steak down at 7:30, but started to gag and took that as a good sign to stop.

Please, I need some more feedback on keeping calories up vs. eating when hungry. If I ate when hungry today, I would have not eaten the last portion of chuck steak, and stats would have been: 1301 calories, 105g fat (74%), 81g protein (26%) Come to think of it, I probably wouldn't have had the second beef patty either, but I'm too tired to enter that in and see what it would have meant.

So should I push myself to get calories up, or just eat until full? These two things don't seem to coincide naturally. I can't believe how hard it is to eat that many calories of protein/fat. I haven't been nauseated, but I'm not hungry. At all.

And I'm really tired. Slept through my alarm clock this morning and was really tired/disoriented when I woke up. Probaby a little induction flu after my last carb mishap.

Dean

Dean

Karen G

Karen G

Dean

I love a new member who comes with prior experience. Wink

Karen G

If this thread were in the back of the bus, I'd tell you that I once heard that from a man, except he said experience with a member, not a member with experience.

But we're in the Ward, so I won't say that. Wink

Dean

On the overeating thing, after my last Ward experiment, I can totally relate. LOL

Maybe for the first week you could eat whatever you really feel like eating, and keep track of cals. Then, the next week, you could force more calories. Either way, if you are planning on keeping your fat ratios high (with lots of butter Devil

) you shouldn't have a problem with getting in plenty of calories naturally.

Dean

Karen G

I haven't had the tour yet, are you the tour guide?

Dean

Boot Babes are in charge of this place. Just ask AC! LOL

Karen G

Well someday I'm sure I'll stumble across the rehabilitation wing, and I'll just have to hope the Boot Babes will let me check it out. Yup

Dean

Considering all your experience, I'm sure they'll wanna recruit you. Devil

Manaloa

Karen G

Ok, this is going to make today easier. I'm just going to eat to appetite through next Friday, track my calories, and see where that leaves me.

I'm down to 185.3 this am, from 186.4 yesterday. Ecstatic

It's just water, but hey, I'll take whatever I can get. I can see the difference in my ankles, they are much less puffy this morning. I also slept for 11 hours. I don't know where I got the idea, but I think that sleeping more helps with weight loss. Maybe that's just one of my many excuses to sleep late on weekends. Happy

KATHYINTX

.. thought I'd drop by to join in some NAUGHTY stuff, Karen! LOL

Congrats on your overnight whoosh!! Thumbs Up

I lost 5 lbs this week.. hoping for more soon and thinking about more drastic measures!

All this talking about BUTTER is getting ME in the butter mood! I love to lick Butter... especially off my plate and the pan too! Hmmm.... I wonder if there are any single men out there who have the same fettish??!! Maybe we could have a garlic butter body feast! Devil

Karen G

y0u

Woo Hoo...lots of losing going on...congrats!!

y0u know what they say..."It's better with butter"....and I mean EVERYTHING. Devil

Karen G

Thanks, y0u. You're right about the butter! Whip

Karen G

Another day down. I almost popped a piece of sf gum in my mouth when I went to the gym tonight out of habit. Almost. Whatever. It's a shame, since my trainer's so hot and all, but I pay him hard earned money to smell both my sweat and my keto-breath, right? Yup

And... I had to put up with my kids making brownies here. Mad

I wanted to tell them no, but they rarely want to do anything together, so I let them. I kept opening the back door to get rid of the smell. Lol - they kept bitching about the cold; I kept bitching about the smell. The brownies are covered and heading to x's house tomorrow. Happy

I don't need that crap in the house.

I probably over ate when I got home, but now there is no chance of eating one of those damn brownies.

Here's what I ate today:

Water - 60oz and still going
Ribeye with Mrs Dash seasoning - 6.5oz 12:30pm
Pork Restaurant Steaks with Chipotle Chili seasoning - 10.5oz Inhaled at 8:30pm so as to avoid brownies.
Butter - 2tbs. with meat

Again, I didn't lick my plate, so I recorded 1/2 the butter I used to cook. Spankings in order once again. Devil

I don't know what pork restaurant steaks are made from, but they look like ground pork patties, so that's what I put into daily plate. I think they could have been pork steak run through the tenderizer, but there was no one there to ask. They were very fatty and very delicious.

Here's my stats for today:

Food: Calories 1397 Fat 114g (75%) Protein 86g (25%) Carbs 0g

Exercise: (keep in mind that I am totally out of shape here) 15 min treadmill 2.7 mph with 2% incline while waiting for my hot trainer who was hung up at work. 10 min intervals on the recumbent bike, 35 minutes lifting weights & doing squats - total 60 minutes of getting my ass kicked. Literally. My ass felt as if it was on fire for 15 minutes after I left today. Shock

jeff

You're doing great, Karen. You don't like the butter off your plate? Shock

That's unimaginable to me. LOL

For the time being, don't worry about the calories. Just let them fall where they may. Eat only when hungry, and eat until you are full.

Karen G

Karen G

jeff

Dean

Karen just needs to practice licking butter off of some other things. Wink

And I know just the place where she can learn these skills. Devil

jeff

Karen G

Karen G

Day three. Or is it day two? I had a cup of coffee on the first day, but that didn't seem to make any difference, so I'll call this day three.

Food today:

Water throughout the day
6 oz chuck roast with salt-free garlic herb seasoning (yes, Dean, I rub meat, too) - 1pm
8 oz pork rib - 5pm
Butter - 2tbs

Stats: 1656 calories 111g fat (62%) 154g protein (38%) 0g carbs

Total weight lost so far: 2.4lbs Excellent

I was eating dinner at my mom's, so I didn't have access to the pan to lick the pork drippings; however, I did pour some over the chuck roast, hence the butter count. And this time, I kept my portion smaller so I could lick the plate, too. Shock

Tonight I feel like it's getting a little easier to stick to this, but I still have a bit of a craving for a couple soft egg yolks over a nice piece of salmon.
And I still have other unsatisfied cravings, but that's another story... Devil

Dean

Yes, with all the ~~sex~~ food talk on this board, sometimes it's hard not to get cravings. Wink

Karen G

y0u

Karen G

Karen G

182.6 this am. Shock

jeff

Karen G

Weight taken in am:

Day 1 - 186.4
Day 2 - 185.3
Day 3 - 184.0
Day 4 - 182.6

Probably all water so far. Dunno

jeff

Mostly water. Maybe a pound or so fo fat. Either way, good job. Keep it up.

y0u

I say take what y0u can get and run with it....Good job!

Karen G

jeff

Karen, the link didn't work for me. Sad

Karen G

jeff

Yep!!! Get it while you can, baby!

Karen G

An Ode to Coffee

My lover, my sinful drink...
You're tastier than one might think.
You're rich and creamy,
Hot and steamy,
But I'll have to pour you down the sink.

How I miss your stimulant rush,
With cream and crushed ice in a slush.
Your flavor divine
Your scent, so fine
But I'll have to give you a flush.

Don't fret, my caffeinated friend,
We may, someday, meet again.
Only time will tell
If I handle you well.
If so, I'll have a cup or ten.

Karen G

Day 4:

8 oz ground beef patties with salt free garlic herb seasoning- 10am
6 oz chuck roast with salt free garlic herb seasoning - 3:30pm
Water throughout the day
Butter - 2tbs. to cook meat
No coffee Cry

Calories 1282 Fat 99g (71%) Protein 91g (29%) Carbs 0g

Total weight lost: 3.8lbs

jeff

Karen has a hidden talent! Nice poem.

Karen G

Thanks Jeff. I'm glad you liked my corny poetry. I've given up coffee before, recently, in fact. But it didn't haunt me like it is now. I wonder if it's because I've given up all carbs? I'm still dragging butt. I made it to the gym this am, like a good girl, but now I could go back to sleep if I wasn't working.

I slept 7.5 hours last night, which is normal for during the week for me. I tend to sleep a lot more on weekends (10-12 hours). I probably should try to get to bed earlier during the week and keep the same sleep schedule on weekends. I'm desperately hoping I eventually fall into the "I need less sleep" pattern that I have read about so much on the bus.

Hey, should I put all this rambling in a journal, or is it helpful to list whether or not I'm tired, my cravings, and my corny take on coffee here? Suggestions anyone?

jeff

I suppose the jounal section might be more appropriate. To make it easy on you, I bet Dean could transfer the whole thing for you. That way you wouldn't have to start from scratch. If that sounds good, I'd suggest you send Dean a PM.

Dean

Well, this is an experiment in the Ward, no? And, hearing all about the issues that are affecting you as you go through this experiment is very helpful and useful. Yup

Of course, you are perfectly welcome to start a journal as well, if you want, Karen. Cool

jeff

Nevermind........ LOL

Karen G

So maybe I'll leave this here, list my food and other things that could be related, and then start a journal for all my other shenanigans. Or we could just stick with shenanigans in both. Devil

Figured out why I'm so tired. The old bod was getting ready for the migraine that hit today. It's not so bad, didn't put me to bed, but I ended up taking 4 ibuprophen. Tried 2, that didn't cut it. Still feel like crap. Maybe I'll tackle the journal thing another day.

I've been trying to abstain from the OTC pharmacy in my kitchen cabinet. I just realized I forgot to mention a claritin I took the other day when I went to my mom's so I could handle all the pet dander. She has two cats and two dogs, and when everyone comes over for dinner, they bring their dogs along. I think there were 5 there on Sunday. Shock

I remember reading somewhere that NSAIDs can screw with your hormones or something. And histimine? I suppose I should google it again unless someone here could enlighten me. Anyways, I figured best to avoid stuff like that.

Karen G

Food for Day 5 - 3/3:

4oz ground beef patty - 9:30 am
4oz chuck roast - 1:30
6oz pork steak - 7:00
1tbs. butter
Water

Calories: 1204 Fat 91g (69%) Protein 90g (31%) carbs 0g

Total weight lost: 5.2 lbs

jeff

Nice job, Karen. You're doing great. Yup

Karen G

3/4/09 Day 6

1lb ground beef patties
Water

Calories 1360 Fat 114g (76%) Protein 80g (24%) Carbs 0g

Weight 181.2 Total weight lost 5.4 Looks like the water loss is finished.

Karen G

Forgot to post exercise for the last two days:

Tues Day 5 - 35 min weight training 12 min intervals on that damn bike.

Wed Day 6 - first yoga class 75 min forcing myself into positions that look incredibly easier than they really are.

Karen G

3/5/09 Day 7

Same as yesterday:

1lb ground beef patties
Water

Calories 1360 Fat 114g (76%) Protein 80g (24%) Carbs 0g

Weight 180.5 Total weight lost 5.9 Typo in yesterday's weight, should have been 181.0. Still losing! Happy

Exercise today: 30 min weights; 10 min walking on treadmill; 8 very long minutes doing intervals on the bike - however, today I got my revs up to twice my recovery. Yay!

I am still tired. I am sore as hell from all this activity that I am not used to. Hopefully I will get used to it soon. I've noticed that the coffee cravings are prevalent when I get really tired: in the morning when I get up, and again in the afternoon. No cravings for carbs, even the egg/fish cravings are diminishing now.

Dean

Karen,

Have you gone for a week now?

If so, can you post a synopsis of what happened? Pretty please. Grin

If you are not stalling, then are you going to stay on the same regimen, or are you going to do something else? If you are stalling still, what changes are you going to employ to break the stall?

Inquiring minds wanna know. Wink

Karen G

By popular demand Wink

here's a synopsis of the first week.

Data: Total loss 5.9lbs; Ave calories: 1403; Ave fat 109g (72%); Ave protein 98g (28%); Ave carbs 0g (0%)

I am not stalled as of yet. I lost 5.9 lbs in the first 7 days, I think a lot water, and some fat. I have not used the fat % thingy on my scale because I don't think it's really accurrate, but I will tomorrow am, just to see what it says. I have exercised more this week than in the last two, and continued to lose, so that blows my theory that maybe working out stalls me. Good thing too, because I am fat and flabby now, and I don't want to be skinny and flabby when I reach my goal.

But, this morning I was 180.9 - up .4 lbs. This could be water fluctuation due to exercise or whatever, not enough sleep last night, or a reflection of the two pieces of sf gum I had last night while out. So I will continue with meat, butter, and water for a few days to see if the scale moves in the right direction again.

If I don't stall, I will add in fish, shell fish, and eggs with a few days in between each. I would rather add each in one week at a time, but I may be going on vacation with my kids the week of the 23rd, and I feel I need more choices for eating out for 4 days. But that all depends on whether or not the taxman tells me if I can afford vacay. I have a feeling I might not go, since I am in tax hell this year. Sad

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=jzLry3ABpV0&feature=related

I'm not planning to try to increase my calories. They hover around 1200-1400. The average for the past 7 days is 1403 because I had two days that were higher. I am going to try to keep this type of schedule where a few days a week the calories are higher because I believe calorie cycling is important for me to continue to lose.

If I do stall, I will try CKD. I'm thinking a day of fruit and veggies will be enough to throw me out of ketosis. Then I will immediately go back to meat, butter and water until I stall again. In the past, my stalls start around the 7-10 day mark. If this is a pattern, it would leave me with one carb up day every 10-14 days. To me, a stall is 3-4 days of gaining or not losing. Might not seem enough to determine a stall for other people, but for me, if I go 3 days without losing, it will continue until I do something to change it. I do expect a gain from the carb up day, but historically I lose 2x the gain in the week following the carb up.

What I really hope happens is that I don't stall, can add in fish and eggs without any issues, and don't need to do CKD. If this is the outcome, I will add in caffeine (in the form of black coffee). I really am curious to see how the caffeine affects me. And I really love my stimulants. Devil

I am considering dropping one of my weight training sessions during the week since adding yoga. My trainer doesn't see it as a problem, but I am so sore and tired today after 3 days in a row of this, and he doesn't have to live in this body. He also swears that I need lots of cardio to lose weight, and I don't buy that crap, either. Maybe I'll give it another week and see how it goes before making this decision. My exercise schedule is: Tues am lift weights, little bit of intervals; Wed pm yoga (just started this week); Thurs am lift weights, little bit of intervals; Sat pm lift weights, little bit of intervals. The Tues/Wed/Thurs combo is what is killing me.

Any suggestions, comments, or criticism are welcome. Yup

Heather L

Karen- You could drop one of the weight sessions for a few weeks until your body is more adapted to your workouts. If you add it back in again later, you may find that it is not as tiring. My recent experience suggests that you do not need a bunch of cardio to lose fat if you are training with weights and doing yoga. (just my experience- I am not an expert)

I wish you well with the upcoming week. Sunny

Karen G

Thanks, Heather. Everything I've read says the same as what you said about cardio. Great for conditioning, but not necessary for weight loss.

Dean

Actually, Karen, for weight loss, the yoga is the best part of your routine, including what you are eating. Cool

I hope you don't give that up.

Sunny

Karen G

I wouldn't think of giving up yoga! For only going to one class so far, I'm really into it. Although halarious at times (we are a group of very green beginners), it was very relaxing. Ok - it was relaxing when I wasn't sweating profusely and watching my limbs tremor with the tension of holding the poses. But I know that steadyness will come with time and practice.

I can already see that it's a way to get more in tune with myself physically, mentally, and spiritually. I wish I would have had the balls to start this a long time ago. I'm finally at the point in my life where the idea of failure doesn't scare me away from trying something new or different Happy

It's about time I try to do some of the things I didn't think I was capable of.

If I do give anything up, it would only be one of the three weight training sessions I do per week, and like Heather said, I can probably add it back in later when I'm stronger. But I think I may push myself to do all of it again next week and see how it goes. I just don't want to burn out on the exercise thing, because it's important. For my head as well as my body. Sunny

Dean

Yes, Karen, burnout is a very key thing to watch for when beginning exercise. Best to go slow into it. Developing the yoga is gonna be great for stress relief... and, for me anyway, cardio does that as well. Some people get frustrated by doing cardio, and those people should probably avoid it. If it makes you feel good and relaxes you, as walking does for me, it will help you in more ways than you know. I'm so glad the weather is warming up and I can get out and walk in the sunshine again. Cool

Sounds like you're doing great, BTW. Yup

Karen G

Thanks, Dean, hope the weather continues to cooperate with you. Sunny

Karen G

3/6/09 Day 8

Ground Beef 4oz
Butter 1tbs
Water

Weight: 180.9 Total Weight lost: 5.5 lbs
Calories 680 Fat 57g (76%) Protein 40g (24%) Carbs 0g

Karen G

3/7/09 Day 9

Cravings be damned. Holy crap, they are back with a vengence today. But I didn't give in. So that was good.

Really, why do I have to walk past the cookies to get to the spices in the grocery store? And why is the deodorant in the same aisle as the coffee? I spent no less than 5 minutes staring at the coffee and smelling it. Heavenly.

6oz beef stew meat
4oz ground beef
4oz ground pork
4oz ground veal
Water

Weight: 179.7 The 170s - yay! Total weight loss: 6.7lbs

Calories: 1430 Fat 111g (71%) Protein 100g (29%) Carbs 0g

Exercise: 30 min weight training and 12 minutes of intervals. Super hot muscle man went easy on me today because I told him I felt like I got run over by a truck yesterday.

This week is the big test for me. Last week I did well, but that was coming off a two day carb binge, so I think this week's results will be more controlled. I'm hopeful that I will continue to lose, and will be able to add in fish next week. Happy

jeff

Karen G

jeff

Dean

You're doin' great, Karen. And, just remember, this is a learning experience (for all of us, since it is an experiment). You will benefit from it, either way. So, it's all good. Go easy on yourself and you will go a long way. Cravings are not your fault, but, I'm sure you already know that, don't you? Wink

Karen G

Thanks for the support Dean. I'm feeling better about the cravings now. Jeff's quote from Bear did make sense, I may just struggle with this when I have female hormonal changes. Damn hormones! Wink

Karen G

Day 10 3/8/09

WooHoo! 10 days! I made it 10 days! Did I mention it's been 10 days with no carbs? This is me we're talking about here - twinkie/pasta junkie extraordinare... 10 days with no carbs! Ecstatic

Ok, give me a minute to pull it back together.

6oz pork butt roast - not a boston butt roast. Good, but not orgasmic.
6oz angus ground beef - much closer to orgasmic, almost... Like being right on the edge, but not quite getting there.
4T butter
Water

Weight: 179.1 Total weight loss: 7.3lbs
Calories 1150 Fat 98g (78%) Protein 62g (22%) Carbs 0

Dean

Karen G

Dean

Karen, between paleoman and that cow... things just don't seem to be working out too good. Sad

Perhaps you should start giving these guys some lessons at the back of the Bus. Devil

Karen G

Dean

Don't forget the handcuffs! That's the best teaching tool there is! Devil

y0u

My cuffs have pink fake fur on them...less chafing.

Keep Paleoman in line with thiis.

Karen G

Karen G

jeff

Karen G

jeff

Karen G

3/9/09 Day 11

Pork butt roast - 6oz
ground beef - 4oz
beef summer sausage (0carb) 8oz
Water

Weight: 179.6 Total weight loss: 6.8lbs.

Calories 1605 Fat 137g (78%) Protein 88g (22%) Carbs 0

Karen G

Ok, I am writing in here as to calm myself and become more rational this am.

My weight was 179.8 this am, up .2lbs. It's creeping up again today. Not much, I know, but this is a pattern I have come to know all too well. This is two days in a row now. I am determined to stick to ZC until the I weigh on the morning of the 15th day, to see if it will turn around over the next couple of days (today is the morning of the 12th day).

This is so frustrating. Mad

I mean, WTF do I have to do? My body responds so well to all the crap ways of losing weight, you would think it would be very happy to lose weight AND get healthier AND find something I can stick to forever to keep myself that way.

I was sooooo hoping that my experiment would prove that ZC would stop my stalls. I guess it still could, it's just not looking like such a sure thing today.

Karen G

3/10/09 Day 12

4oz ground beef
4oz ground pork
4oz ground veal
6oz pork butt roast
3T Butter
Water

Weight: 179.8 Total loss: 6.6lbs.

Calories 1338 Fat 103g (71%) Protein 94g (29%) Carbs 0

Karen G

Morning of Day 13

Weight 180.6 Sad

Dean

Karen,

You've lost weight over the last two weeks, and you cannot call these recent measurements a stall. If you weigh the same in another week or two, then you can. See what I mean? Weight fluctuates from day to day, sometimes a lot. It's mostly due to water retention. Don't trip on it. Just keep doing what you're doing and see if your weight goes down by a pound or two over the next week or so. That's my advice. Cool

Karen G

I get what you're saying, Dean. But... This is the same pattern I've seen over and over the last 5 months. 7-10 days of losing (I know it's mostly water, but not all) followed by indefinite up and down with the same 5 lbs until I do something. So I can call it a stall now, or wait a week or two and call it a stall then. Or wait a month and call it a stall then. What's the difference?

Dean

Were you always just fatty meat and water during these previous periods?

y0u

Karen, I looked at how many calories you have been eating. Could it be that your not eating enough? Also, you might want to try eating 80% fat. It forces you to eat less protein. Just a suggestion. These things worked for me...tho I am stalled again now too.. Confused

Karen G

Karen G

Karen G

3/11/09 Day 13

6oz pork butt roast
10oz ground beef
2T butter
water

Weight 180.6 Calories 1240 Fat 99g (73%) Protein 82g (27%) Carbs 0

Forgot to list exercise yesterday - 40 minutes of weights and intervals.

Exercise today - 75 min yoga

Dean

Karen,

Some questions for ya.

How much are you needing to lose?

Have you ever had success on losing, and if so, how did you do it? What did you eat?

What was your longest spell of losing/maintaining and being relatively craving free?

Why are you wanting to do such strict ZCarnivore eating?