Pigs Fly – Day 5

Saturday, July 9, 2016

Still 270.2. I’m fine with that. Remember – for me this go-round the priorities are:

1. Portion control
2. Low carb
3. Number on the scale

The number on the scale will come if I mind the other two first.

Low carb will probably veer off course occasionally when playing the long game.

Everything will be OK in the end if I make portion control the cornerstone of the diet – and as low carb reduces hunger it works quite well to help promote portion control without hunger.

I’d find it somewhat worrisome if the weight loss had continued – too fast is not good for you.

Also – yesterday I ate the most calories so far – though not by much – and it seemed a lot.

That perception shows I am beginning to habituate myself to a different idea of what a ‘portion’ is.

Prior to the diet there was a nice catered lunch at work and a standout was a mac & cheese dish with gouda cheese and bacon bits – fabulous. The next day leftovers were taken out and some of my coworkers were sitting and chatting and invited me to join them. I grabbed a plate of the Mac & cheese and sat to begin to eat. From the table a long ‘woah’ – like I had just jumped a motorcycles over 20 cars.

That might have been the case – I had taken maybe 2 cups of this incredibly heavy dish and plowed into it with gusto – perhaps I looked like a competitive eater to them.

Of course, as the fattest person in my small company, folks are going to pay attention to that.

It might also be interesting to note some of the other things I have NOT been doing. I haven’t been drinking. I’m obviously not chemically addicted since I stopped with no symptoms. That’s not to say that the amount I usually drank was healthy – it wasn’t – I just don’t have a physical addiction. I’m better off without though I *did* state as one of my goals that I won’t drink until I’m below 200 pounds – my new ultimate weight loss goal.

This leaves the door open for drinking – and why not? If I can maintain my weight where I want, I drink if I choose. If I don’t, I won’t.

I’ve also avoided artificial sweeteners except for the ones in the Atkins shakes. I used a lot of MiO ‘water enhancer’ in the past but this week I drank just plain water – or chicken broth.

Additionally, I have not had any bread or grains. I think this is probably what I miss the most. For me, bread is more addictive than sugar, alcohol, cigarettes – and perhaps even breathing itself.

Ugh – just thinking about it makes me sad.

Another thing I *think* I’ve avoided is the notion of a ‘flavor fast’ – but maybe that’s proof it’s working. My notion of a ‘flavor fast’ is that by reducing the variety of foods you make the foods you do eat taste better and reduce the urge to eat just for the flavors. I thought the food I ate last night was pretty yummy – almost decadent – but compared to a week ago it was highly restrictive – but I didn’t notice.

I’ve also avoided exercise. Not a fan. I really wish I could get into it but everyone I see doing it look miserable – I’ve never seen a smiling runner nor cyclist, weightlifter nor treadmiller. And they’re always talking about their ‘sports injuries’.

It’s always seemed to me that a good way to get injured is to do something stupid. You compound the stupid by doing the thing that injured you by doing it again. Exercise seems to cause repeated injuries so I think it’s smart of me to avoid it.

My day stated with a mug of coffee with a splash of Atkins shake, then another 1/2 mug. I cooked my younger daughter sunny-side-up eggs and there was a bit of yolk leftover that I ate.

Around 12:30, trying to keep to my weekday routine, I had the 2 tablespoons of psyllium stirred in a big glass of water.

Around 2:30 I had 1/2 avocado with salt sprinkled on it. Just by itself, I think this is delicious. The problem with avocados is finding one at the perfect ripeness. This one was so it was great. I then followed up with a multivitamin (Centrum Silver – the only supplement I take) and a glass of water.

Still hungry – or maybe bored? – I had some celery sticks. Ugh. This particular variety was way too stringy and had an off, overpowering flavor. It might be good stir-fried, or in a soup, but it was awful raw.

My daughter was cooking at the time and I had 4 pieces of the bacon she made, a bit of tomato and Kerry Gold cheese as well as a few slices of tomato.

Maybe around 3:30 I decided to take a nap. I love doing this when I can.

I woke around 7:30 and felt it time for dinner.

This is where I came closest to overindulging myself:

I had a burger with cheese and ketchup using 2 thin slices of onion as a substitute for bread. Nothing wrong here – but I followed it up with a second right after. In retrospect I should have paused, had a glass of water, then had the second.

I did have water afterward – as well as some of that seaweed in sheets that my family sometimes gets. My daughter opened a package and it was too spicy for her so she offered it to me. The stuff has nearly no calories (and I like it) so I had that as well.

I then need *something* to get that raw onion flavor out of my mouth so I had another Atkins shake.

Finally, right before bed I had 4 chunks of the leftover fried tofu from Friday.

I patiently tried to record all these itsy-bitsys in my Loseit! app – which again SUCKS because it doesn’t track net carbs on a daily basis anymore. I still use it, however, because the last time I checked all the other food tracking apps sucked even more.

Anyone have recommendations for a low-carb-friendly calorie tracking app?

So the totals for the day were certainly acceptable as well as under the total calculated for me my the app as my quota – a little under 2,000 per day.

I totaled out at about 1,900 calories. My net carbs were around 50 grams  – that’s fine. Protein was 130 grams – fine as well. Fat was about 120 gram – again, I’m fine with that.

After 4 days of fewer calories, this felt like reckless abandon, yet when comparing to how I ate prior to the diet I would have groaned at the restrictiveness. Weird how our perceptions of norms can change so quickly.

Still – no time for complacency – I am still ripe for a fail. There’s another day of the weekend to get through.