Pigs Fly – Day 2

Wednesday, July 6, 2016

The previous day knocked almost 3 pounds off my weight when I checked the scale in the morning. I was 275.2.

Meh. Water weight. Any dope could do what I did. I’m pleased but unimpressed. This is a long-game I’ve got to play and history has shown I play the short game well – it’s getting past the first week, the first month, and the first year that are the problem.

I’m not discouraging myself as much as steeling myself for a very long path of redemption – of saving myself from cookies and ice cream, pizza and beer. I do remember that I adapted to living without these things pretty well when I first lost weight. There was a withdrawal, then the cravings diminished, then for all practical purposes disappeared.

There *was* some unconscious willpower in this – not that I put much faith in that power over the long-term – it’s more a very slow replacement of one set of habits with another that becomes easier as time goes on and success is measured by smaller clothes and the plummeting number on the scale.

There were times, though, when stress levels went through the roof that the old habits tore through the new ones.

For instance: I looked out my window this morning to see a man walking on the sidewalk smoking a cigarette.

Lucky. I thought.

I smoked for a decade in my youth then quit. I started again when my first child was due, then quit and started, quit and started over and over. I would smoke for a few months, then stop again – sometimes for years at a time.

I probably smoked last over 2 years ago and I still miss it.

That sucks.

I don’t think I’ll be starting anytime soon but I need to watch myself.

The diet will need the same casual vigilance even after I get a head of steam up. Milestones can convince one to ‘celebrate’ with the stuff that caused your downfall. The mind can play tricks and convince you of things you know don’t work for you (like ‘moderation’ for me).

Anywho – I felt OK – maybe even a little energetic in the am. I had 1/2 cup of coffee with cream at home then drove to work. At this point – one I know too well – my energy levels careen up then down, mild headaches come and go. The mind goes foggy, then clears.

I’m used to this – it’s the way I feel as my body converts over to burning ketones – something it knows how to do well so I think it’s less profound for me than it might be for people new to low carb.

I had maybe 2 cups of coffee at work using a pour of an Atkins shake as a creamer for each.

It was around 3:30 in the afternoon that I seemed to first notice I had not eaten all day. I wasn’t bothered by it – maybe more a bit concerned. I do this low carb stuff and the appetite just disappears. It seems like a good thing but if my body isn’t accustomed to this sort of thing for a while it might act unpredictably.

Especially because the weatherman says it feels like 108 degrees outside and I have to drive an hour with the air conditioning in my car broken.

I decided to have a small handful of macadamia nuts – I keep these in my drawer at work. I attempted to add all this to my LoseIt! calorie-counting app, but sadly I don’t know if the handful weighed 30 grams because I don’t keep a friggin scale at work!

I hate calorie-counting apps. They have their use as a means to be more conscious about what you put in your mouth, but beyond that – I hate them.

Also – right before leaving work I had another glass of water. I wasn’t thirsty but low carb does deplete the body of excess water and I did lose 3 pounds of water weight in one day – and like I said the temp outside was feeling like 108 – and I’m fat and feel a little weird with the ketosis coming on.

I though I would prefer not being found in my car on the side of the road dry and crispy like a fly that couldn’t find his way out of a light fixture.

The ride wasn’t that bad – or perhaps I convinced myself of that because I had no choice. I was hungry when I got home but had quite the headache. I typically don’t get headaches and also know that some believe this to be a symptom of low carb dieting – you suddenly excrete a lot of salt and it messes you up.

To counteract this I drank 4 cups of chicken broth. I surely didn’t need that much and there was little rational reason to do so – but I did.

(As always – I am reporting – not recommending. I don’t give advice because I don’t know a damn thing.)

My older daughter, a superb cook, was making baked salmon fillets with a bit of apricot jam and almond slivers on top. I had the smallest of the 4 pieces and it was quite good.

I was still hungry though, and looking at the number of calories I estimated so far – maybe 700 – I could understand why. I am not trying to starve myself here as much as retrain myself about how much and how often I eat as well as what constitutes my food choices. I certainly had room for more.

I filled it with some slices of goat cheese on lettuce with a few tablespoons of mayonnaise. Mayonnaise is probably the worst fat I consume regularly – I believe that ‘healthy fats’ come from meat & fish, dairy, eggs, and olive oil – and that’s about it. Vegetable oils are out.

Mayonnaise is loaded with vegetable oil. My particular mayonnaise is made with canola oil which isn’t as bad, say, as soybean oil, but I don’t consider it healthy.

Anyway, my total for the day was about 1,400 calories – low for a 5 foot, 10 inch tall guy, and my fat intake maybe around 70% – that’s kind of what I’m shooting for. My net carbs were probably in the 30 gram range and my protein was lower than I’ve heard it should be – 60 grams or so. I don’t remember the formula at the moment, but I’m low.

So I navigated day 2. Whoop-de-do. Let’s see how tomorrow goes.