Low carb eating (keto) and fasting

[AliGal]

Yes - l wouldn't be able to do this if l was at a job with breaks. Some people l know just don't eat at work - but for me the reduction in food/meals has come naturally without forcing myself. I'm probably going to go to pure Eat Like A Bear later this year a Ridiculously Big Salad or hot meal once a day. Now I eat mostly twice a day.

 

[AliGal]

I broke my fast after 3pm, having cleaned the guest suite. 3 egg scramble with half a pepper and a handful of small tomatoes, butter and cream, sale and pepper. Many low carbers think tomatoes are off limits. They are not very high carb and taste delicious. Sl i always have them n my mx. Fortunate as I'm growing tomatoes in the garden. No glass house so it'll be a wait.

Low-Carb Vegetables – Visual Guide to the Best and Worst — Diet Doctor

What are the best and the worst low-carb vegetables? There is a simple rule, vegetables growing above ground are low carb and can be eaten freely.

www.dietdoctor.com

I also ate 2 shortbread fingers - probably 16 or 17g carbs. Very compelling - so fortunately Mr AG finished off the pack a guest brought for us. would not have stopped at 2 if it had been just me and the packet.....

 

[tipperary]

I use tomotoes only in a sauce, something, like meatballs really need them.

 

[AliGal]

I rarely use them in a sauce - mainly a few chopped fresh in salads, or chopped into an omelette or possible as added as a veggie in a dish.

 

[AliGal]

Yesterday I had meat loaf (made with lots of veggies in it and a little crumb from stale almond scones) and some tomatoey gravy/sauce, 73 cal tin of low cal pink gin and lemonade to celebrate some good news and later a steak and cream sauce and a piece of chocolate.

No nuts. Nothing snacky.

This am, I had ticked down when I daily weighed. I am getting sooo close to 2 stone off. Less than a pound to go. I know from experience that on weigh day (Monday) it's possible I still won't be through 2 stone as my scale weight can vary so much day to day! Just a pound and half to get into the 280s, and 11 1/2lbs to get into the 19s. Typing here keeps me focused.

Today I had a special coffee this am. I don't do this often as I tend not to drink calories. I want to use the fat I wear, not drink it. I had erythritol, a slosh of MCT oil (which I use every few weeks - the bottle will last for ages!) and a little cream. I whizz it so it's creamier and has a head of foam. A real treat.

So when I ate this afternoon c2.40pm, I had already broken my fast with that coffee.

I made the aubergine chip recipe. I didn't peel them. The coating stuck OK. I used couple of stale almond scones whizzed up as crumb instead of almond flour, and then did some more aubergine chips with milled flax seed and whole chia seed. The egg wash has some oil in it. think that makes them come out crispier.

I also cooked them at a higher heat with the bottom element on. I forgot them - so didn't bother to turn them half way through cooking. They were great. Mr AG has requested I make them again.

I served them with some baked tomato and pepper whizzed with a small bit of meatloaf left over and some cream. It made a good thick dipping sauce. I also cooked the reminder of the egg wash mixed with the remaining flax and chia seed in a little ramekin. It made a small sort of savory muffin.

More later.

 

[AliGal]

Hey Ali, I wanted to join and I did not find a team Xmas though I've found a team 50 by Xmas is that the one?

Well my plan is 9 miles of walk in two 4.5 miles sessions a day, one hour of weight workout and one meal of 2000 calories

Thank you I was absolutely dreading it for the fact I feel but bad about myself right not but pleased I managed it. I am sure the people in the place we were at must have been she is very miserly just having fizzy water

A bit annoying weigh in for me this week - just 0.8lb short of 2 stone - having gone up a lb overnight on daily weighing.

So 1 stone 13.2lbs lost in 92 days - 8.5% & over half way to shedding 50lbs by Xmas. No change in clothing size yet - although my trews are lose at the waist.

Just under 23lbs to gone on the 50lbs to Xmas challenge.

Month Three was I 1.4lbs I 0.6lbs I 1.6lbs I 2lbs this week so 5.6 lbs down - an average of 1.4lbs a week.

l really don't understand the variations in weekly losses - why some weeks I've shed 1/2lb and other weeks 1 1/2lbs or more. It's doesn't really matter as long as I keep tracking downwards.

If I can sustain that average rate, I'll shed nearly 2 1/2 stone more by Xmas. In a year, I'll be 15 1/2 stone, 73lbs down. Maths is not my strong pont - but I reckon I'll have shed 10% of my starting weight when I'm almost in the 19s.

In one way, I'd like to be on a vlcd with a stone off a month and into the 14 stones by Xmas. But I've had a couple of false starts on vlcds - and know I am unlikely to sustain it without supervision. I am wondering if I can do OMAD or maybe a 5:2 with shakes to speed it up. But at the mo, I'm just plodding on.

2lbs off this week so that's good.

Today - 2 meals the same. Chicken thigh meat with peppers, leeks and a creamy sauce. Although it was a changeover day, I was hungry so broke fast at 11.30am and ate again at 6.30pm.

 

[Bertie81]

2lbs off this week so that's good.

Today - 2 meals the same. Chicken thigh meat with peppers, leeks and a creamy sauce. Although it was a changeover day, I was hungry so broke fast at 11.30am and ate again at 6.30pm.

Well done that’s fantastic!

 

[AliGal]

Again an earlier breafast today - 12.30pm - Chicken salad wth mayo and toms. Supper: low carb sausage and dip.

 

[AliGal]

Not daily tracking here at the mo. Yesterday, I went to the GPs for an infection in my thigh where I bruised myself. I feel well - but the only time I've been in hospiital as an adult was when i was very ill with cellulitis (which started with a bruise on my shin) in Las Vegas (thank god in the Uk for the NHS...). So I've started a course of antibiotics.

The nurse weighed me, measured my height. Still 5ft 6 ins - I'd thought I'd shrunk already.

She also took bloods, blood pressure, heart etc. So a mini check up. I'll get a referral to the GPs' practice about 16 miles away that runs the NHS weight management programme She told me there would be a long wait before I'll be seen there. She offered me going in to be weighed every 3 or 4 weeks. Not sure l can be bothered. I don't thiink they'd call me oif i failed to go and/or dropped out. Being accountable weigh in on Mondays here is working for me.

I was hgh on fat yesterday. I had pork scratchings & a diet redbull on the way home then ate 2 local sausages and local asparagus for lunch after I came home. In the evening I've had a bit of Gouda, 3 sausages and broth. Thursday - 2 pickled eggs, salad, cheese and later a steak.

I was bang on 290 yesterday, 291.4 the day before and 290.4 today. So I am wondering if I'll break through into the 280s next weigh in.

 

[Bertie81]

Not daily tracking here at the mo. Yesterday, I went to the GPs for an infection in my thigh where I bruised myself. I feel well - but the only time I've been in hospiital as an adult was when i was very ill with cellulitis (which started with a bruise on my shin) in Las Vegas (thank god in the Uk for the NHS...). So I've started a course of antibiotics.

The nurse weighed me, measured my height. Still 5ft 6 ins - I'd thought I'd shrunk already.

She also took bloods, blood pressure, heart etc. So a mini check up. I'll get a referral to the GPs' practice about 16 miles away that runs the NHS weight management programme She told me there would be a long wait before I'll be seen there. She offered me going in to be weighed every 3 or 4 weeks. Not sure l can be bothered. I don't thiink they'd call me oif i failed to go and/or dropped out. Being accountable weigh in on Mondays here is working for me.

I was hgh on fat yesterday. I had pork scratchings & a diet redbull on the way home then ate 2 local sausages and local asparagus for lunch after I came home. In the evening I've had a bit of Gouda, 3 sausages and broth. Thursday - 2 pickled eggs, salad, cheese and later a steak.

I was bang on 290 yesterday, 291.4 the day before and 290.4 today. So I am wondering if I'll break through into the 280s next weigh in.

Well done and hope you get in the 280’s tomorrow you really sound like you have the bit between the teeth and determination to achieve your goals!

 

[tipperary]

I hope the antibiotics work and sort it out. And great to have the mini check up, is the weight management a specific diet based one or more of just a weigh in and be accountable. I'm wondering what they would think of the keto based plan as I know here it's not looked at favourably by mainstream medicine yet. Even the dietician at work is still rabbiting on about low fat and high cholesterol.

 

[AliGal]

Yesterday I was able to delay eating after cleaning by having a creamy coffee and then some other no calorie drinks.

Just one meal. Filling and delicious - salad, pork medallions and creamy sauce. I am still not hungry this morning 13 hours on. I ate the meal and drink within a 2 hour window - so 22:2. The effect of low carb. medium protein and higher fats is amazing to me. I never thought this way of weight loss would work.

This morning I have ticked down again. The Ticker shows less than 100lbs to go now. That feels good. Three more chunks of tIme to lose the same again - and I am almost at goal.

 

[AliGal]

Yesterday I planned to eat after cleaning but then Mr AG asked for a cooked breakfast. So I changed plans (and was hungry) and ate with him at 12.30pm. Bacon, black pudding and an egg.

Then I got sweaty cleaning. I ate again c7.30pm - pork, veggies and sauce. If he hadn't wanted breakfast, I'd have had a coffee and my hunger would have ebbed away. I do almost all the cooking as he's unwell.

Today I've had a coffee and a little pile of scrapings of fried potatoes I made for MrAG. Not really breaking my fast as it will have been less than 50 calories and unlikely to have an insulin response. What do they call it? Dirty fasting - having something other than water, unsweetened tea, or black coffee. I also use erythritol and diet cola.

Edited to add: I had a coffee early afternoon wth some MCT oil. I have a bottle so am using it up. I am not convinced it makes any difference and only remember to take it sporadically. I ate at 6.30pm - Turkish style meat balls from the freezer and veg I'd roasted a couple of days ago - courgette, red pepper and asparagus, in a sauce. Very tasty.

I am a bit surprised I didn't eat earlier. I did mid afternoon take a decision just to sit with the beginning of hunger and had a glass of diiet soda. It went away. I realise how rarely I ever waited - i used to act , almost wth anxiety, the moment I thought I might be hungry.

I haven't changed size in trews yet. I'd have expected to be down a size, having shed 2 stone. My waist bands are looser but not yet into the 24s. I hope I am soon as my current trousers are all getting threadbare from inner thigh rub.

I was 296.6lbs on 31 May. Today, I am 287.4lbs, down 1.8lbs from my reported weigh in yesterday. Whoosh! A vlcd would deliver maybe 12-14lbs in a month but be much less enjoyable than eating real food.

9.2lbs shed in a month - no exercise apart from getting sweaty cleaning 3 times or so a week and very short walks is a result!

 

[AliGal]

Yesterday I ate a ridiculously big salad with some belly pork - quite early, breaking my fast at 12.35pm. Cos lettuce, tomato in vinagrette and a lttle mayo tossed through. with the sliced belly pork. Later 6.30pm, l had another slice of belly pork, the cracklng made from the slices rind and a little parmesan as I was grating some for Mr Stoat's pasta. Down 0.6lbs this am on the daily weigh.

l often eat a Ridiculously Big Salad. It's not quite as ridiculously big as Amanda Rose's RBS. So l often have a second meal. l like what she says about counting here. I am not counting what I eat. I just stick to above the ground veg, good protein and a dressing. I do use mayo which an RBS doesn't have - usually mayo mixed with sour cream. I am conscIous about the amount of fat I add. A lIttle of my mayo mix with some vinagrette makes it very creamy. I can't wait to Eat Like A Bear's cooked RBS book!
l'm going to try to delay eating until after I've cleaned the airbnb. So if l am hungry, l'll have a coffee and see if it lapses. Grehlin rises and falls - so riding through a feeling of hunger can result in not being hungry a short while later. l prefer to clean in a fasted state - as l'm not digesting a meal as l work up a sweat. l also realise how rarely before I was actually really hungry. I am gettiing reacquainted with the feeling and anticipation of a nice meal ahead soon.

l'm fiinishing my antibiotics today and will need some more. The infecton site on my thigh where I knocked it when I fell over is still hot - smaller but stll infected. So I'll be calling the surgery today.

More later.

 

[riverbank]

Hi Ali, very interesting catching up with your diary. Your doing really well with the low carb/ RBS Method . I watched one of the videos great that it helps so many people. Interesting what you say about riding out hunger as grehlin rises and falls. I have experienced that.

I hope you don't mind me adding that I was also reading a Prof of obesity talking in Guardian newspaper recently. He was saying that calories do count but they're not equal, our bodies burn calories digesting protein. I find this stuff pretty interesting as i think knowledge is power!

Hope your thigh heals properly soon

 

[AliGal]

Yes - calories definitely matter. We need to eat at a deficit to use up the calories we've stored up in our bodies. It's interesting he says they aren't all equal - re the "cost" of burning them. They also aren't equal in the impact on homones especiially insulin. Some calories spike it (sugar, bread etc) and some don't - fats.

ELAB has been hepful to me in terms of thinking about weight loss as a process of eating right and letting the body have time to use the fat I've stored.

I am not a great counter - so I find it easier to eat the right things to satiation and manage fat portions - as those are hgher energy/calorie, by being careful and not sloshng in! I know I may need to do so as my weight loss progresses.

Down 0.2lb today - to reach a nice round 32lbs shed.

I'm meeting a zoom friend today in real life to work on a website for a women's rights group. So that's exciting. I'll probably eat after she's gone.

 

[AliGal]

No loss today for my Team 50 weigh in. It's a bit frustating as I was 2.6lbs further down when I last weighed 2 days ago and over 10% of starting weight lost.

I've left my profile weight on the left at the lower weight - and expect to be back there later this week. I have changed my ticker back up so thats current. Not sure why I was up 2.6lbs in 2 days - maybe I ate too much roast yesterday, it's a fuller gut or if it's inflamation related to my leg infection. The body is a mysterious thing! So 20.6lbs to go in the next 24 weeks on the Team 50 by Christmas.

Today, l cleaned the airbnb after a coffee wth a little MCT oil l bought ages ago and haven't used. l ate at 4.15pm - pork stir fry - a mushroom and sprouts mix plus some onion and an egg (so egg like egg fried rice - but no rice!). lt was nice and filling. The mix had more carrot in it than I'd realised. l prefer to buy bean sprouts alone - but there weren't any in Lidl. I could have delayed eating until later but Mr AG wanted a meal so I ate with him.

 

[riverbank]

Congratulations on losing 10%! I find it very frustrating too when weight loss isn't linear.

 

[AliGal]

So down 08.lbs over night. Coffee with some MCT late morning.

A slice of cheese ( no carbs 120 cals) and a desert spoon of pork, veggies and rice early afternoon while cooking for Mr AG, who is feeliing lousy at the mo.

I have cleaned the airbnb, answered lots of parish council emails, had a few conversations and then video calls wiith some women who'll be joning my women's group.

I am astonished to find it is 6.15pm and I haven't eaten more. I do drink Lidl diet cola XX (like pepsi max) during the day. Being busy really helps delaying eatiing. when I delay eating I eat less. So now I never eat at breakfast time, so one meal removed. The rest of the time I eat twice and sometimes once. today I broke fast with maybe 200 or 250 calories and a few carbs in the rice.It didn't spike my hunger so that was good. it probably would have caused an insulin action.

It'ss been helpful listening to Dr Jason Fung. Today, he descrbed obesity as a disease of insuliin and a pro cancer disease ( the cells uses food as encouragement to grow) as it makes some cancers (eg breast cancer in women) more likely. I found that very motivating - as my mum and other women in my family have had breast cancer. I knew this before - but somehow what he saiid really hiit home today.

I am definitely hungry now. I'll have chicken, leek (lower carb than onion) and cabbage I roasted 2 days ago with the pork for my meal. I may have some high protein ice cream too if I fancy it. Ediited to add: I had homegrown chopped lettuce too, with some mayo, and tossed wiiith hot cabbage and chicken and no leek. This week, my protein is chicken breast. So I'm lowering the fat to see if I still feel full. I did have some fat - cooking the chicken and a spoonful of mayo. No protein icecream as I was full.

Back to over 30lbs lost - and soon - later this week I'll be less than 100lbs to go!

If you are reading this and lurking, come and join us! The water is lovely!

 

[AliGal]

Not tracking here daily - but being very conscious of the decisions I take. No exercise except short dog walks and sweat inducing airbnb cleaning 2or 3 times a week. I am eating twice a day. I drink diet Lidl XX cola and black coffee. I delay my first meal as long as possble. It's almost always after 1pm and sometimes several hours after that. Most times when I clean, I eat after cleaning.

Yesterday, meatloaf wth lots of veggies in it twice, once with lots of lettuce, once just with gravy rather late after a Parish Council meeting.
Today, I was hungry and had a creamy coffee in the morning. Then meatloaf, no carb gravy and coleslaw for lunch. More later.