Ketosis - How did I do after seven days?

The good? I've lost 5.2 pounds in seven days.  Yes, I'm aware most of it is water weight, but I'll take it.  After all, I have to own it if I gain  it back.  The bad? Has it only been a week?  It has been seven very long days.  I'm whining.  Any diet feels forever for me.  I'm very clear that ketosis is a diet.  

I've tried ketosis before and have never made it past day eight.  So why is it working well for me now?  I think the carb "flu" was very short this time around.  I've been eating Primal/Paleo for a while--but with many cheats.  The cheating can last for a couple of weeks.  Overall, I will go weeks eating healthy animal protein and lots of vegetables.  I've learned to cook mixed greens with Louisiana sausage!  I've made zucchini into 'noodles' for my chicken soup!  I made chili that tastes wonderful!  Because of that, I think it was easier for my body to switch from being a sugar burner to a fat burner.  I had that horrible, fluey, out-of-body kind of experience for only two days.  Last time I tried this, I don't think I ever felt good. 

Things that are working for me this time:

• I expected to feel the carb "flu" so I didn't plan anything additionally stressful for the first week.
• This is my version of ketosis, not Atkins or anyone else's.  I own my plan and eating choices. 
• I made a firm decision to do this for at least a week, no matter how hard it was.
• I found alternatives to eating for reward, motivation, comfort:
• I watch junk TV as my reward.  I can't do this forever, but it works as a transition.
• For comfort, I read whatever I want for at least 15 minutes out of the day.
• For motivation, I remind myself I have a graduation in June and a bathing suit vacation in July and I have a lot of weight to lose.
• I asked the kids to put their treats in the pantry so I don't have to look at them on the counter-tops.  I go in and out of the pantry as quickly as possible.
• This one is weird: I pretend that the pretty and enticing food like candy, cakes and cookies is fake.  I imagine biting into plastic, and not enjoying it.  Sounds crazy, but it's staved off many a craving. 
• I shopped for proteins that I really like: chicken wings, carnitas, grilled chicken, wild salmon, pot roast.
• I remind myself I can have spaghetti sauce and yams in a few weeks.  Those foods will be my treats, not pasta and candy.  I have a lot more weight to lose after ketosis.
• I have to learn how to live in a world of pizza, cupcakes, and sandwiches.  Other people will enjoy their food and I'll enjoy mine.   

More good news?  Eating high protein and high fat has dropped my insatiable appetite. That horrible bottomless pit feeling is gone.  I'm glad I read that during ketosis most people's appetite diminishes, otherwise I might have panicked.  I expect to be continually hungry.  I think the last time I did this, I ate a lot of low-fat proteins and processed foods.  I ate lunch meats, protein bars, low carb breads, etc.  That kind of food never makes me feel great or full.  Now I'm eating a steak with a side of spinach salad, or carnitas and sour cream with a few tablespoons of salsa.  I'll have a salad with grilled chicken for lunch or breakfast.  Food that tastes great and is filling. 

Do I still get tired?  Yes.  Am I too tired to work out?  No.  I've been alternating weight training and cardio.  I've kept it to 30 minutes a day.  I need the extra time to watch junk TV as my reward.  Tonight's choice: last night's Amazing Race or Real Housewives.  I'm doing this one step at a time, and since I feel good, I'm doing at least one more week of ketosis. 

Tip of the week, pretend that candy is plastic:

Ketosis

I'm on Day Four of ketosis, and it's surprisingly not bad. During the first three days, I lost and gained the same two pounds of water weight. Today, the scale shows a four pound loss. Even if I bounce back up a pound or two, I'm happy.

I felt terrible the first two days. Thankfully, I knew I'd feel flu-like. This time it felt like some odd, out-of-body experience. Then I woke up the third day and felt like myself again. My energy has been more up than down. When it's down, it's so down, it's hard to move. It doesn't bother me though. When I was in my Easter candy, and bread frenzy, I was so tired in the afternoon, I had to close my eyes for at least fifteen minutes. Thankfully, it happened after work and didn't impact my ability to get things done.

I knew that switching from being a sugar-burner to a fat-burner was going to be tough, so I was prepared. I had carnitas, chicken wings (baked), tri-tip, spinach, shredded cabbage, peppers, mixed greens, etc. to keep my meals from getting too dull. One of the local supermarkets had wild salmon on sale, and that was a great addition. I had it for dinner last night, and I'll add some homemade mayo and celery to it for lunch.

This has never happened to me before, but I don't have much of an appetite. Usually my appetite is on overdrive, and runs my life. All my life I've felt hungry. Now, I wake up and feel good. I don't get hungry until I've been up for four or five hours. Then a simple lunch fills me up until dinnertime. Usually, dinner is pretty light. I don't feel cheated.

Could I start to fixate on sugary treats or honey BBQ sauce? Sure. That's always a possibility with me. My history assumes I'll snap and buy a cheesecake. My history assumes I'll fixate about what I can't eat, rather than what I can. But what my history doesn't know, is this time, I was stubborn enough to make it through the difficult first days. This time around, I feel much better without the processed carbs. But just to show I'm far from perfect, I bought some low carb 'snack' bars, just in case. I want to be successful.  

I'm baaack

I was doing pretty well for a while there, but a few months back, I started some stress eating.  Then that turned into the see-food diet.  (I see food, I eat it--ba da bing.) Now I'm back at my top weight, which would be fine if I were a prize fighter or a marathon runner, but since I'm a mom who works part time at school, I don't need the extra weight.

Sugar is adding a lot of unwanted calories and insulin spikes to my diet.  Easter candy is killer for me, even more than the Halloween treats.  Halloween is little candy bars, but Easter is the good stuff.  It's See's eggs and creams.  It's the "fancy" stuff that I love.  I had to toss the remaining chocolates because I can't keep it in the house.  A Snicker bar can last months around me, but not a scotchmallow egg.  I pretend that I'm keeping it around for the kids, but they don't want it.  If they want something, it's more likely to be Skittles or Funyons--food I won't touch. 

This summer I have both a junior high graduation, with pictures that will last forever, and a vacation near the ocean.  The family plans to snorkel and I'd love to try it, but not if I'm the size of a whale.  I really have to get the weight off, and not at the usual .25lbs a week that I manage.  

What's a dilettante dieter to do?  Look to the internet!  Did any of you see this?

http://gma.yahoo.com/k-e-diet-brides-using-feeding-tubes-rapidly-080053646--abc-news-health.html

It's about the K-E diet.  I gather you have a doctor push a tube down your nose to your stomach, giving you a constant drip of 800 cals a day of protein and fat, with no carbs at all.  It puts you into ketosis, and viola, the tonnage disappears.  I'm sure the nose tube is very fetching, but why not just eat 800 cals a day of protein and fat, no carbs?  

That's when it hit me.  I'll do an under 20g a day of carbs for a week, then up it to about 50g for the next three weeks.   Hopefully, that will get me into ketosis without too much pain.  At 50g, I can still have a nice salad and an apple once in a while. 

I like eating vegetables, chicken, beef and pork without starches or grains.  It's the sugar I worry about.  I have a hard time not eating sugar.  Am I addicted?  Probably.  I'm hoping my desire to look a little chunky in June, rather than fat, will motivate me to give up sugar.  Sugar is my ticket out of ketosis, so I need to drop it. 

I'll let you know how it goes.