Day 14

Sorry no update for a long time – things just got very busy lately before the Holiday season.

Today I went up to 279 up from the average of 277-278. The weight loss seems to have slowed.

That said for the last two days I have somewhat “cheated” and had excess carbs and excess/carbs calories Monday at the Oracle Christmas party… and a burrito for lunch because my boss bought lunch!

Probably most of the weight gain from the 1-1.5 pounds was from water gain from re-introduction of carbs. I felt exhausted last night probably from the carb binge.

Today we have a buffett lunch FML, at Hokkaido Seafood buffett in Foster City. I’m going to try to stick to things like shirmp and sashimi without rice to keep things low carb.

On Thursday we have Christmas Eve dinner at my parents house and Dim Sum the next morning FML FML FML. After that I’m going to Napa with Nancy from Friday (Christmas Day Dinner) to Sunday night FML.

I’m simply going to have to do as much damage control as I can when I get back from the trips. I’ll probably try to keep things light during Napa as best as I can.

The Holidays definitely have a way of screwing up diets completely.

This is my “hell” week for sure. Hopefully I’ll be able to make wise choices. I’m currently 2,000 calories over my desired daily intake. I’m going to try to crank out some exercise today after work if I can – I’m going to need it.

Day 8

I had great news when I stepped on the scale 277 lbs down from 291-292 lbs when this experiment started (and 4 down from when I downloaded the iPhone app “Lose It!” back in September when I was about 281-282)

I bought a new pair of jeans from Kohl’s (not just because I lost weight, but one of my pairs has develope a hole). I bought it 40×30 down from 42×30. My lower sitting pair of 38×30 (rides lower on the waist) will most likely fit better as well. They were quite uncomfortable at my highest weight.

There are other great benefits I experienced this weekend having a smaller gut during certain  “maneuverings”  I did but lol I can’t really speak of it on this blog *wink*. I leave it up to the imagination to figure that one out.

On a more serious note, I think my body has adapted quite well to the diet. I will use another ketone stick to determine my ketosis level tonight to see if everything is going ok. On day 4/5 it appeared to be in full swing when it turned pinkish (medium?) level of ketosis. I assume it’ll be the same since my water consumption has been rather high. I want to be sure everything in my body is going ok.

I have also been putting in a little more solid food to feel more satiated in the form of not just tuna, but sardines and salmon. I’ve been getting really tired of boiled chicken (for SEVEN days in a row) and I needed a substitute. The sardines in mustard dill sauce are DELICIOUS and I’ve been trying to do extensive research on mercury levels. Some places say despite the low levels, eat only two cans a week and some anecdotal posts on yahoo answers say some people have been eating it mostly every day for decades. I bought cans of wild salmon and farm raised trout from Trader Joe’s as well to mix it up. I’ve been doing research also on the mercury of farm raised trout.. no clear answers.

I suppose I will err on the side of caution and try to limit my fish intake, but it’s such a convienient and healthful solution.

I will update on this issue as time goes by.

Day 6

Today has been the best day of them all.

I actually had to force myself to remember to eat. No more back pains, but I do feel weak. Not like a overwhealming light headed weak, but I can reach muscular failure rather easily doing everyday things such as when work at night in a warehouse lately packing boxes. My arms were getting a bit tired sooner than they should.

I suppose it is the nature of using these ketones for muscular propoulsion rather than glycogen for carbs.

I need to find an easy way to incorporate potassium in my diet as I feel I will have a propensity for cramps later on.

Day 4/5

The general groggy feeling has generally subsided and my energy level feels good.

Unfortunately today it’s replaced by a differnet problem – I have pretty intense back pain.

From trolling around forums I figured that I’m magnesium deficient, or need to supplement with additional magnesium and calcium (my multiple vitamin only supplied like 33% magnesium of the RDA and i think 50% calcium)? By far if I’m to finish this up long term, I can’t keep trucking on 33% of RDA. So just to reach to reach the 100% RDA I should supplement. I hope this will make the back pain go away because I can hardly bend my back without pain it’s the oddest feeling I’ve ever felt in a long time.

Today I forgot my fruit to include with the protein shakes which could be bad… but my energy level has been steady – waning a bit this aternoon but I still feel steady. I had a ton of energy this morning, but it might just because coffee in the morning is hitting me WAY harder on this diet than normal.

I’ve been drinking a ton of water, I’m definitely over the 64 oz minimum… I have consumed two botles of sparkling water at 18 fl oz each and at least three 750 ml bottles (~25 oz each) so I’m definitely doing well on that water.

I just worry about my kidneys because of the stress of dealing with the ketones that may be circulating in my body.

I will buy some ketone strips at CVS tonight as well as some bouillion cubes. I wanted to make some broth to drink to fill me up a bit (and add maybe a bit of salt to my diet). I figure I’m not getting much salt since every scoop of whey is about 60mg sodium (3% RDA) and that takes me to 15%… the boiled chicken I’m eating probably doesn’t have much either although a can of tuna has 521 mg (22%). But that would actually still leave me probably for the first time in my life under the RDA sodium requirements haha.

Some boullion sounds really nice now, I’ll look foward to a piping hot bowl later tonight to soothe my stomach.

Hopefully though, the magnesium cures my back problem or I might have to end this experiment prematurely. It just bothers me too much honestly!

Day 2/3

Day 2:

Rough day feeling tired all day and rather hungry at night. I deterred from the strict diet a bit and had several slices of Oscar Mayer turkey and a small piece of cheese to stave off my hunger. It worked, and I think it was worth it. Ended the day around 1500 calories, which is still fine.

Day 3:

I decided to weight myself this morning and I dropped to 280. I suspect most of it is poop weight more so than water weight because I’ve been drinking water like a madman.

So far today has been pretty good except the morning. I had a hard time waking up and I felt cold but now that I’m in the office I feel great.

Day 1

I’ve decided to use this old WordPress account I have to chronicle and document my weight loss journey.

After yoyo-ing back to 290 lbs after graduating from college, I decided today to take the first step to weight loss.

I heard good results from the Medifast plan so I have kind of created my “own version” from things I have around the home for a fraction of the cost of the expensive shakes and what not.

I used the ratio Medifast had as a rough guide… Being that each shake is about 90-100 calories, 14 grams of protein, and about 11-13 grams of carbs..

So today I started my first day. I’m using berries and various fruits along with protein powder (half scoop) to achieve the same nutritional profile. Granted, Medifast products have higher vitamin content – I feel a multiple vitamin along with my flax and fish oil pills should suffice.

I’ve read great results of people losing an average of around 67 pounds in 16 weeks. I feel that since I’m at a higher body fat profile like the typical candidates for this type of diet – I can be just as successful.

Dropping 67 pounds in 16 weeks would put me at 223. I can’t remember the last time I was even that weight. I hope to reach 200 as soon as I can and take things from there.

I feel 16 weeks isn’t a terrible amount of time. I’ll document how I feel and the nutrition I’m getting according to my Iphone app.

Day 1:

Feeling EXTREMELY hungry today which is probably normal. I checked my eating logs for the last few weeks that I have been tracking in my nutrition iphone app. It’s astounding:

I average on a daily basis measured through the week:

Fat 140.8 grams (40%)

Saturated fat 47.1 grams

Carbohydrates 338.4 grams (43%)

Protein 127 grams (16%)

Simply astounding… Consider that I averaged around 2800 to over 3,000 calories. I needed this information as a baseline. I didn’t restrict my eating for the few weeks I ran this test. Of course there is no surprise here why just from a calorie standpoint why I’m gaining weight, but the breakdown was very shocking to see on paper.

Today my results are:

1,309 calories

Fat 27.6 grams (17%)

Saturated Fat 2.6 grams

Carbohydrates 87.2 grams (24%)

Protein 216.3 grams (59%)

And WOW, that is the breakdown I feel of basically a healthy diet. I think fat should hover around 20%, Carbs should be 25-30%, and protein should make up 50-55% of the diet for most intents and purposes of training. This is a tough figure I feel to reach normally, unless you eat very lean sources of protein.

I’m following basically the 5 and 1 Medifast plan with the Lean & Green meal as well.

If you’re wondering what my shakes are, today I put half a scoop of protein in each shake along with 1/2 cup to 1 cup of raspberries, blueberries, or blackberries.

I’m sad to say it was kind of expensive being that berries are out of season!

Today I bought a basket of strawberries and I’ll be eating those tomorrow as part of the diet. I decided to try NOT blending the fruit in the drink tomorrow – and instead eating the strawberries whole divided equally among 5 meals.

Anyway, today’s lean and green meal was 7 ounces of canned tuna and spinach.

I bought a whole bunch of pre-packed salads from Trader Joe’s and we’ll be seeing how that pans out this week.

I think this will be a challenge. But they say things get better after week 1 or 2… so I’ll be patient until then. I’ve been through worse.

This whole process is a re-thinking of the strategy I had in summer 2007 when I lost 50 pounds. I simply do not have the the time to do 2-3 hours of vigorous cardio right now with a desk job.

The Hacker’s Diet online tries to draw a simple model of weight loss, and some of the basic principles apply with input/output… but I did notice the QUALITY of the food affected my progress as well. Despite the fact I counted calories I felt there were some massive plateaus and that perhaps my weight loss journey isn’t as simple as counting calories.

As I counted calories and exercised… I lost weight, but the results were very skewed despite the downward spiral.

There has to be an easier way than this. I believe my body adapts RAPIDLY to fluctuations in caloric intake which I feel is a major reason why I haven’t had success in diets.

Hopefully this ketogenic approach to dieting is the answer I’m looking for… I feel it’s the last unturned stone in my quest for a healthy body.

There simply isn’t an option for failure this time.

And so it begins today at 290 lbs. I will try to update daily.