Moabnuts diary

Early yesterday, my roommate told me that he wanted to have steak and shrimp before he left. I of course looked at him like a deer in the headlights, stumbling over my words as I said “…I caaan….t … eeat th..thaaat!” He said, “why not, they have no carbs” I of course replied that I wasn’t doing the Atkins diet, I only did it for a week. Then the lightbulb went on over my head. You normally take 3 days to go into ketosis on Atkins. I am on a VLCD and I can kick into Ketosis in one day tops. Also, they were having the monthly pizza party for the students the next day (today). I wasn’t planning on going. But I thought…if I go into ketosis, I can eat just the toppings off the pizza and be able to eat the shrimp and steak the next day. So that’s what I did. I started eating the same low calories, but all proteins. By about 4 PM today, I knew I was in ketosis. (Its amazing how fast it happens when you eat very little and work out a lot) I went to the pizza party, and too my luck, it was at a restaurant that also had steak and shrimp, so to avoid the temptation of eating crust, I ordered steak and shrimp….I get steak and shrimp two days in a row!....hehehe, I love my diet sometimes. I did have one piece of pizza with just the toppings though, and I had a few carbs here or there. I didn’t feel like I was in ketosis afterwards whatsoever. I got stuffed, ate way too many calories. But I know at least they wont count quite as bad as if I ate the pizza, crust and all. I went home and weighed my self for fun and torture, I had gained 4 lbs in one meal. I wasn’t surprised though because I had 3 diet cokes. Water weight, intestinal weight…blah blah blah. Anyway, so me and my friend coaxed each other into going to the gym. We only had an hour but I had an awesome workout…tons of energy, though still feeling a bit bloated. Lost a lot of water weight and weighed in again at only 1 lb heavier than before eating out. (I weigh myself a lot, I find it very interesting for some reason) I burned about 830 calories. Not as much as normal, but I didn’t have near the time. I still don’t feel like Im in ketosis again though. I did have too many random carbs, but Im sure Ill be back in it by morning. Just in time for steak and shrimp again tomorrow evening. So I had WAY to many calories today, but I don’t think it will effect me much. I was at 235, now at 236. It will be interesting to see if I plateau for a while because of this. I didn’t last time I did Atkins and I pretty much did the same thing. Ill stay on it for a few days to “run” this extra fat and protein out of my system before switching back to just low cal. Ill keep posting…just incase there are any inquiring minds that just must know. :cool:
 
hi moabnut

so, im curious, what does it feel like to go into ketosis? hey, i might have gone into it and not even known it!
 
Good question SkinnyKate. I love questions!
One of the things we check for in diabetic acidosis patients is a acetone level. Acetone is a breakdown product of fat metabolism. We always burn some fat, but at a much higher level in ketosis. BTW, diabetic ketoacidosis is not really the same thing, but its similar. They have a lot of other things going on too. Ok, so anyway, acetone difuses out of your lungs and you breath it off. You get a slightly funny taiste in your mouth, and nasty breath. As a med student, one of my attending physicians actually had me bend over and smell a pateints breath that we had on NPO (not eating) because he had pancreatitis, just to smell acetone. It wasnt a pleasent experience and I wanted to tell him that I already knew what it smelled like, but somewhere along the way I learned to keep my mouth shut and do as Im told. Anyway, also, you can check for ketones in your urine. (as I understand it, you are actually peeing and breathing out some of your fat... nice hu?) You get a wierd kind of thirst. Always slightly thirsty but unquenchable. And I dont know if other people feel this too, but I do....My liver feels just a little bit funny, like hunger pains in my stomach, but on the right side where my liver is. Your liver is what produces ketones. I might just be off my rocker I suppose, but Ive gone in and out of ketosis enough to know when Im in it. Sometimes not even doing Atkins. I will if Im on a low calorie diet and eating mostly protiens. One other thing and its less specific for ketosis of course, but you are a bit weaker in general, and if your a bit hypoglycemic, you can get a little shaky. I dont like that, its a sign of your body not being able to keep up. Ill pop in a few carbs if I feel like that.
 
Sounds like you are back on track! Keep up the great work. Your exercisinf amazes me, I don't have the time or energy to go that long with it. Maybe I am just out of shape:( Keep up the great work!
 
Thanks Meshellibel. Ive always been good at working out...when Im doing it anyway. I can get pretty intense. Being on track is probably not going to happen this weekend though. I wanted to slowly come off Atkins, but Im taking a road trip this weekend and things may go astray. I give working out a slim to none chance this weekend, but Ill try. Im going to my school which is about 11 hrs drive away. We have an awesome brand new gym but I dont know that Ill be so inclined to visit the gym when there are so many people I want to see while Im there. But its a possibility. Wish me luck! :cool:
 
Good luck this weekend at your school. You have already come a long ways, even if you did slip up a little this weekend, I can't see it putting a huge dent in the great work you have done already! Keep it up!:)
 
I ended up staying on Atkins this whole weekend, and I was glad to be able to be on atkins because I would have failed otherwise. Going out to dinner, I was able to eat the meaty entrées. I had fajitas without the tortillas. I had breakfast with everyone and ate just eggs, bacon, and sausage. I had pizza toppings, I had salads with lots of meat and cheese and I had hamburgers with no buns. I would have to say that I felt like it was a glutfest, but with restrictions. I felt like caving in several times, and even had decided to, but with great support, I was able to get by on Atkins. I came home and expected to have gained 10 lbs, but I was exactly the same as when I left. Hurray for the Atkins diet. Sure, I didn’t lose weight, but I ate a ton so I have the associated water weight and intestinal weight that comes with eating a lot. I had been eating very little before going on Atkins this week, so I bet when I get back on my regular diet I will drop a few pounds quick. I’m working on getting back on track right now. I like doing Atkins short term and I really think its great for times you want to let yourself eat great stuff, but doing it all the time gets boring. Being I am on a low carb type diet anyway, its easy to switch over into ketosis. Right now, Im doing very low Calorie Atkins. Tomorrow I will slowly switch back to eating my normal diet. Now I just need to get my butt back to the gym after 4 days of slacking!
 
hey moab, how many calories do you aim for? i need to do something soon to help my loss. i'm finding it harder to get to the gym because of work and kids (i work full time and am a single mum with two children). i used to go at 0600, but i took about 6 weeks off work over the school holidays and am finding it too hard to go back so early!

thanks :)
 
Hey Shiedi. My calories vary quite a bit. When I am on Atkins I don’t shoot for a calorie number, my intake is pretty high. Normally, I avoid talking about my caloric intake on this forum because from what Ive read here, people tend to shy away from vary low cal diets (VLCD), which is precisely what I do for my regular diet. A VLCD usually shoots for around 800 Cals or even a bit less. I watch everything I eat and eat mostly protein foods and veggies. I also of course take supplements. A dangerous thing that can happen with the rapid weight loss you get with a VLCD is gallstones, which I have personally experienced. About 9 years ago I lost about 50 lbs by exercising. I didn’t diet at all, just ran a lot. I got stones, they had to take it out which stopped me running for 3 weeks and I lost my routine after that. It was winter when it happened too so it wasn’t hard to stop running. Anyway, I quickly gained back all the weight that I had lost. It was a bummer. Anyway, so gall stones are a reason not to do a VLCD…..I don’t have a gallbladder, so that reason doesn’t pertain to me. You can also get gout by having a build up of uric acid. Im trying to avoid this by drinking plenty. I should have my uric acid level checked, but I haven’t yet. VLCD’s are for Obese people with BMI’s over 30….which I was well above. Some people cannot handle the level of determination that is required for this kind of diet and fail. I don’t recommend this diet unless you know what your doing and you actually need to do it. I think I wrote before kinda how I diet, but Ill describe it again. I think you can adapt this to any caloric amount diet and it would help lose weight quicker. I eat about a 30 Cal snack every hour. It can be veggies (bulkier for filling you up) beef jerky (great protein, low fat, high sodium though) Ive done balance bars cut into 1/7th of a piece (pretty unsatisfying) or a nice little snack which is a personal favorite is a 110 cal granola bar (Quaker) cut into 3rds. I carry these snacks around and munch on them every hour. The point is to keep my blood insulin level very low. Insulin drives energy into your fat cells. I stay away from any bread products for the most part. I eat my snacks right through lunch and usually feel OK with that. I like to have a low cal yogurt for breakfast, and Ill have a 200 or so Cal dinner. Chicken stir fry works great. So do the lower calorie WW frozen entrees. My average caloric intake is around 700 Cals to actually answer your question. :cool:
 
This is the last day of Feb. I beat my goal by 3 lbs. 18 lbs lost this month and it was a short month. Wow, I look over my progress over the last two months. Its pretty amazing to be sitting at 232 a mere 2 months after tipping the scales at 280! Plus if you figure in my scale seems to weigh 3-5 lbs heavier… These 2 months have been hard no doubt and sometimes very frustrating. I hate to skip out on social time, and I hate to be a grouchy hermit, but Im back to my “normal weight” in only 2 months of sacrificing and hard work. Some of my pants that I couldn’t button up are now loose! I could get criticized on my calorie intake I suppose, but my metabolism doesn’t seem to have taken a significant plunge and I have had very little of the weakness associated with fasting. Most of the time Ive been week has been when Im doing low calorie Atkins. I switched my goal for next month to be 217 at the end of March. Ive been losing at a constant rate, I lost 18 lbs in 28 days, I figure 15 lbs in 31 days is not too much of a stretch, but it does seem too good to be true. That is a lighter than average weight for me if you average my weight over the last 10 years. :cool:
 
Wow that is incredible to lose 18 pounds in 28 days!:eek: I have all the faith in you that if you stay at the same pace you will make your 15 pounds mark for next month! Good luck and keep up the great work!:D
 
48 pounds in only 2 months??? Amazing!! Congratulations on the great success you are having! Keep up the great work!! :)
 
Thanks guys. Yeah, I keep expecting my weightloss to slow down but it just keeps coming off. After my initial drop of about 15 lbs in less than a week when I first started (waterweight...gotta love it) Ive just been losing at a constant rate. Except for when I visit home, or go out with friends. But I return to losing pretty fast. I love this diet Im doing. A few months ago I got a "diabetic lecture" from an attending physician and we talked about the evils of insulin, so I thought I could try a diet minimizing insulin and maximizing metabolism and it seems to work pretty good. Im sure I could have a great meal once a day eating the calories I have but I wouldnt lose near as fast, and I would be starving the rest of the day. I usually dont get too hungry eating my 30-50 cal snacks every hour....some days are worse than others of course. And I do miss larger or even normal size meals, but if its working, I aint changing it. :cool:
 
fantastic, moab! thank you for your post about your calorie intake - i might try the 30-50 cal snack and see how that works for me!


all the best for march :)
 
Sheidi, let me know how that works for you if you do. I got a little scale to measure out things that didnt come in standard amounts, like fruits and veggies. I figure out how many calories/oz. That way I dont get stuck eating all pre-packaged foods. Good luck
 
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