365lb ~~ my quest to lose weight!

[Helena-in-England]

Hi Rita

I went shopping last night and bought Induction veggies. So I am moving up the rungs a bit, from ZC to induction. Obviously I have to keep a close watch on this to discover how much I can tolerate without falling out of ketosis.

A stall that comes at the beginning is very hard to judge or know what to do with, for it seems to be saying "This WOE is wrong for you, try something else". In this instance I stuck with it, and lost 11lb without changing.

I'm v happy!

[Helena-in-England]

My first day on induction proper.
Things are not going too well...

I made Dr Atkins own recipe red cabbage coleslaw. Had it for breakfast with a big roast chicken breast with skin on and plenty of mayo.

Within a few minutes of eating I felt all funny inside. Not ill, but kind of excited and a little shakey. Am wondering if this is the feeling of insulin rising, blood-glucose rising, adrenalin rising, or some kind of other reaction. I've felt this feeling before, but certain have not felt it during my six weeks on zero carbs. Whichever it is, I don't want this happening at this stage.

This does not bode well. I wonder if it is the wine vinegar?

Now, just two hours later, I feel hungry, as though I could eat a whole meal again. I am concerned because (a) if I ate a steak, I typically would not feel hungry for 8 hours and (b) it is this kind of feeling that has contributed significantly to my weight gain.

While I was piling on the weight all this year, it was quite the usual thing for me to eat a full meal then eat another one straight afterwards, or an hour afterwards.

I'm dismayed that even a "good" carb like red cabbage can set me back to craving, overeating etc. I really wish I had not eaten it now. Of course I made up a good lot of the coleslaw and as much as I hate waste I fear that it is going to end up being thrown away.

I have just ordered fifteen one-pound bags of steak mince from my butcher. To save money, I am going to eat more hamburgers and less sirloin steaks!

The other veggies I bought are: brussels sprouts, broccoli, salad, cucumber, mixed capsicums and spring onions. I deliberately did not buy tomatoes because I know that I just love them too much, that they taste sweet and will doubtless start off sugar cravings in me.

[RitaCeleste]

I usually eat broccoli with a slice of cheese. Cucumbers like they are or with salt. Canned french style green beans or Asparagus. Lettuce I tend to put too much cheese or dressing on but I still have some. Someone mentioned that cabbage is good fried in bacon grease. If you have some left you could measure it out and try that recipe to test it again and see if the cabbage or the other stuff in the other recipe getting to you. I have better luck with hunger if I spread the carbs out a lot and don't put too much in me at one time too. Like eating a whole can of the green beans would make me want a potato. Also I eat the bowl of broccoli, and then follow it with a hamburger or something when makes me feel a little hungry later. I know its silly to eat things one at a time, but its kinda how it works out. If I ate the hamburger and broccoli at the same time it might not work, but the broccoli then the hamburger satisfies me.

[Helena-in-England]

Hi Rita

Well the experiments with veggies has not gone well. I've enjoyed eating them, very much, maybe too much, but OMG they have knocked me out of ketosis!

What a pity!

Seems I really do have to be zero carb!

[RitaCeleste]

I find my ketones don't show up on the strips at all times of day. How much fat I ate, did I have veggies a couple of hours ago, did I walk all affect what's on the strips. I won't get a reaction on the strips everytime I test. If I don't get a reaction, I wait a couple of hours and test again. Since you are really sensitive you could try a low carb salad veggie maybe a couple of times a week instead of everyday and see if you still loose weight. Its okay for those strips not to turn for a little bit after eating it if they go right back in a little while. Even too much protein and mine will drop out for an hour or two. Its also okay if they just turn a little. Some people get no response from the strip and still burn fat. I thought I had to eat 20 grams of carbs or three cups of veggies. Most days I don't do that so I understand about having to watch the carbs. What I didn't think I could do moving up the rungs was to eat a food once or twice a week, leave off something else and still keep carbs low and loose. That's the only way I was able to go up rungs. I could noway keep adding 5 more grams of carb and loose. But its worth it if you find you can have 5g or 10g a day or every other and still loose weight. Any bit you can handle is good. And just cause is isn't working now doesn't mean it won't work in a couple of months either. A body can heal and get better at burning the fats. It can take time and some testing.

[Helena-in-England]

Hi Rita and thank you

I carried on with the induction veggies. In fact, just salad, or brussels sprouts, or broccoli. Weighed in today and have gained 2lb. I feel very, very depressed about this.

Either it means I can have no veggies at all, or it means that after "shocking" my system by instantly ceasing to eat chocolate, sugar and all carbs overnight, and losing 11lb, that 11lb is all that my body was ever going to lose.

So, it's happening again: every time I embark on a new diet that is going to change my life, I don't lose any weight. This has happened to me about 50 times in 33 years.

[RitaCeleste]

A little of that, like two pounds could be water weight, not actual fat. You could try cutting the carbs again and see if goes away again. Again a body can like to hold on to water. I wasn't kidding about my dad holding water for a month. He really does. If you feel more comfortable on a lower carb diet, go there again and see what happens. Its so easy to hold water or to loose a little weight and stall, its gonna take time for you to find out what your body is truly doing. Just hang in there, your body seems to be trying to get in gear. Make sure you take multivitamin low in iron. Have you tested for yeast? I had to do a yeast cleanse once and stay away from cheese and mushrooms when I did it. There are a few things that can truly make difference. Sometimes its one of the supplements in the book you are low on and need to burn the fat. Remember, persistence pays off! The other times, you gave up, this time you won't and that will make all the difference!

[RitaCeleste]

11 pounds isn't nothing lost! 9 pounds isn't nothing lost! Do read up on yeast and see if you have any of those symptoms. It was explained to me that they can literally grow carbs inside you or something weird like that. Its been a while since I read up on it. But doing the yeast cleanse got my weight loss in a better place.

[Helena-in-England]

You are right Rita when you say that this time I won't give up. I cannot ever go back to the way I ate before. That makes me sad, and at the same time there is a kind of sigh of surrender to this WOE.

The most depressing thing is that any carb at all knocks me out of ketosis. It means much less variety, feeling even more like a freak than the average atkineer, and the knowledge that I will never, ever, be able to creep up the rungs like normal people.

And you really do get sick of the flavour and texture of meat, meat and more meat every day. I tried with omelets and with chicken but they just don't hold me for as long as proper red meat.

But for all the miseries of a protein-only diet, I still think it is more palatable than being a vegan!

[Aways2Go]

I would think it might be possible as you lose and continue to move closer to a more normal weight, your body chemistry may change some, functioning more normally, and it might be that you can begin to try some other foods and maybe they won't affect you so negatively in time.

It's just a thought.