Starting Again-Again: Journal Entry 1

I thought that journaling this particular attempt at low carb weight loss  might help the process.

Heck, it didn’t work the last time – so it makes sense to try it again, doesn’t it?

Day 1 – Thursday, Sept 17

So anywho – day 1 was , well, awful. The day part was OK – I eat light throughout the day at work – I usually just bring cheese and have a few slices. I have coffee and cream in the morning, and black coffee in the afternoon, equalling a pot a day.

After work, I stopped on the way home and picked up a pizza for ‘the kids’ – that apparently meant me though I didn’t know it. It was enjoyable pizza – all 4 slices, made more enjoyable by the wine that accompanied it.

I did take my vitamins, but I did not take my fiber – I didn’t forget – just didn’t want to.

Great start to that new steely resolve, that iron will, I said I would find in my last post.

Stats:
Morning weight:216.8

Day 2 – Friday, Sept. 18

Zero gain, zero loss. New attempt at resolve involved me buying about $50 worth of Atkins shakes and bars – mostly shakes. Logic being: if I am going to eat  crap – eat Atkins crap.

While I believe this to have worked for me in the past, I doubt the Atkins organization (who I have a respect and fondness for) will be using that tagline in any of their advertising anytime soon.

So I had a shake for breakfast, and a candy bar for lunch. The bar was surprisingly filling – I wasn’t hungry all afternoon, though I did take a nicotine lozenge right after the Atkins bar.

Came home and went right out again – took a walk downtown. When I got home, it was late, and had 2 open-faced ham sandwiches with american cheese and mustard. Had my fiber then. As a contractual obligation-type gesture, I had a pickle to satisfy my veggie requirement.

Technically, an OK day.

Stats:
Morning weight:216.8

Day 3 – Saturday, Sept. 19

I am going to make another change – no more cream in my coffee. I love it, but I like black coffee too, and it’s just unnecessary calories.

I am also going to watch my blood sugar – I am not a diabetic, but I bought one of the test kits anyway because it runs in my family and I think that a low carb diet can stave off the onset of the disease.

I’m also considering what else to track – I’ve tracked so many different things in the past…which ones are the most valuable?

I was thinking of measuring stress – but how do you accurately do that?

On a scale of 1-10, Id say the stress today was 10. I felt like a clubbed baby seal – stunned into a passive zombie-like stupor in the evening from the day’s proceedings. I anticipate work continuing in this fashion until some time in October, so it’s just a matter of hanging in there until the crunch subsides.

Nice surprise from my scale – a 4 lb. drop from the day before. Don’t be too impressed – I have a supernatural ability (for a Man) to retain water. As I understand it, when you eat carbs, your body must retain water to manage them – something like 4 molecules of water for every molecule of carbs. Ditch the carbs, and the water has nothing to hold onto.

It’s the weekend, and the availability of food, and all the rituals of food that involve the weekend make it hard.  We’ll see…

Stats:
Morning weight:212.8 – 4.0 lbs down from yesterday.
Blood glucose: 97