There’s no one size fits all unfortunately.
Slight tweeks and knowing your body so a custom plan can be formulated.
And a mental balance needs to be in place as well. I firmly believe negative stress creates an internal battle with ones cells.
You’ll get to where you’re going.
Personally I’m feeling like summer is the best time to make big progress.
Yes. Taking consideration the stress environment you are operating is a key factor in being successful from everything I’ve seen here in the forum and the FB group.
Saturday afternoon low carb usa has an interesting livestream available for free;
https://mailchi.mp/lowcarbusa/remove-controlling-food-1439549?e=bdc2d024a2
first entry in a number of days, largely because weight seems stuck. On the bright side my step count is more consistent day to day (5000+ and a good 45 minutes of walking daily). And I’m not gaining so count what blessings you can. A long important journey to me that started with a conversation about 11 yrs ago is almost over as our jointly owned lake property has sold. Its not going to make me rich, but it will allow me to work part time which at 59 and with my knee & back issues is very desirable and I believe will more easily allow me to find satisfying employment for the next 6 years or so. So I’m feeling optimistic, enjoying my walks (especially this time of year as I enjoy a quiet early morning stroll at sunrise the best. Next Wed I’m off to the lake for 1 week, maybe longer depending on the weather. And morning strolls are glorious there. Golfing with kids tomorrow, sons birthday Tuesday, then Fathers day. (I haven’t celebrated fathers day with my dad probably in 40 + years so I’m very much looking forward to being there this year).
After about a 2 lb jump during the past week, felt good to have a drop. I was not going to weigh in honestly as I have a few meal road bumps ahead due to special family occasions this week & yesterday…an unexpected one. After an enjoyable but hardly grueling 9 holes of par 3 golf with my kids and ex, they wanted to go to Boston Pizza where there is hardly a safe keto choice to be found except a chicken caesar salad. I threw caution to the wind and had a burger & fries & a soda water with a splash of cranberry juice. I had no concerns about the amount of carbs. I was concerned for a moment about keto at which point I realized I was doing exactly the wrong thing. Feeling guilty about a cheat meal, rather than simply enjoying and going back to my better eating after. So I let the thought go and thoroughly enjoyed my first burgers and fries in 2.5 months. And then went home & enjoyed I’m sure related to lots of walking yesterday & my high carb feast, a 3 hour nap. Woke up with a carb inspired I believe headache. The side benefit to my unplanned treat meal as I decided not to weigh this morning, was then going into my son’s bday & chinese food treat tomorrow & post that meal, I would be free of the scale until after I get back from my lake trip, giving me the time to get back on track.
This entry may appear as miniscule ramblings of a food addicted crazed man, but there’s a purpose…to demonstrate what my mind goes through when making food choices…& how wrong it is to give in to daily weighing & how freeing it is not to. I literally had considered bringing the scale to the lake with me which is simply obsessive when I think about it! I KNOW its going to be a challenge to eat keto & calorie restricted for the next 1-2 weeks between eating around my parents, them understanding why I eat what I eat, when I eat. But I will be strong and:
-Remind myself I have to be selfish & keep doing what I need to do for me. Only I am responsible & have to live with the consequences good or bad.
-I will only eat what I choose to eat from the available food. There will be meat, salad, eggs to eat if nothing else & options I can work with.
-One workable concession is to adjust my eating schedule at least temporarily to make it more comfortable for those around me without sacrificing my goals. i.e. right now I tend to eat early in the morning & then either not eat again until lunch time…or 24 hours later which I’m sure my parents will find disturbing plus its hard to be making breakfast at 3-4 in the morning in a small cabin without odours, noise. What I can do is have a cup of coffee with my usual cream & hold off on feeding until lunch time and that will be my OMAD. I may do 2MAD for the week, tracking my carbs carefully as per plan & then I’m eating 2x per day with family. While they eat breakfast, if I just have ny usual 2nd cup of coffee while they have breakfast, I believe it will be the least discomfort for them and totally workable for me. The other benefit for me is ultimately I would like to break my early morning eating habit and eat OMAD at lunch time (exception being 1 morning cup of coffee when I wake up. I refuse to give that up except when doing a fast for +1 days). Why I would like to break my early morning eating habit is I believe its part of the reason I have a hard time sleeping past 2am. I know sleeping better wil be of benefit to my health overall, my healing & my weight loss & maintenance plans. I know that its not simply a case of “I only need 4 hours of sleep” as I can wake up prematurely, have a coffee & eat, then 2 hours later go back to sleep for 2 to 3 hours. So yeah, there’a something there.
Anyways, thats enough of my ramblings this morning. If nothing else it illustrates this journey is not easy…and does not come without a plan. I start my challenging 1-2 weeks on a positive note…thankful for a signifigant weight drop from where I expected to be to motivate me & happy to be setting aside the addiction of the scale, at least, for now.
Happy Monday!
The fact that you are focused on making adjustments to find a workable compromise shows your commitment to the lifestyle.
I remember the days I had to be a different person around my parents. Felt like prison to me.
Any way you can make meal requests? Are you attempting to hide all together your woe?
My folks know I eat keto and fast. My mom is the challenge as she thinks food is love. Lol. She gets moe obstinate the older she gets so I will be very surprised if she doesn’t see me not eating everything as a rejection of her. Food requests? Not a chance with her. Lol.
Show her a fatty body part and tell her you have more love than you can handle 
Hahaha! Good one😁
So I’m a fan of rewarding good behaviour and aside from my ebooks or the occasional items that serve a functional purpose, I don’t need…or want anything (I do want a puppy, but thats another story😃)
But…I got smartwatch envy seeing the new one my ex got from my kids for Mother’s day, a Fitbit Versa 2. And I thought it was an appropriate reward for my weight loss & a good reminder to stay strong on my new lifestyle journey. 20% off at London Drugs yesterday so off I went and grabbed the black carbon version. I was an early adopter of Fitbit devices right from the start. I think I’ve had 3 of their devices before buying a Pebble round which while it still works fine, is a bit beaten up from wearing for everything (including working on my truck) . So the Versa will be my “non work” watch. I love it already! And it will no doubt be a constant reminder to stay on track!
I’ve been thinking about getting one of those devices too. Especially since they upgraded the Zero app to interface with more devices.
Look forward to hearing what you think after you’ve “beaten up on it” for a bit.
I can already tell you I really like it. A lot of free faces available for it with functions, very comfortable, great oled screen to look at things, I found it very easy to learn. It is compatible with a # of free big name apps but I could ask for more. Here’s the current list:
https://www.fitbit.com/us/technology/partnership
I used to log food using my fitnesspal years ago but switched to fatsecret, not supported unfortunately at this point anyway and I’ve invested too much into it (adding my own recipes) to bother switching for that now. Fyi, in conjunction I believe with the right devices it looks like it will track blood sugar? I see some faces with references for diabetics in terms of functionality by setting up an account with websites that can link i guess. Havent got that far into it…yet.
Cool. I like rewards, too. I promised myself a day long Spa/Sauna day after completing my 21 day fast. I am almost done with day 2 of the water fast and I live in Germany, so saunas are big here, even in the Summer. And they just opened up again, hurray. I have a Versa Light, and like it very much, except it does not track how many kms. I have walked, but only steps. It is not as fancy as yours, but I like it.
Hi Mia, I’ve been doing a lot of research here in the U.S. but we are admittedly behind Europe and Russia in regards to experience with prolonged fastng.
I was reading an overview of all the Intermittent Fasting in the U.S. in the New England Journal of Medicine and in it they recommended to look to Europe.
Do you know who the premier fasting research institute is over there? I saw a European fasting documentary and it implied a lot of work is being done in Germany and France.
Let me know as I’d like to compare notes with someone with more experience than me.
If I never had kidney stones and today, my day 8 I have a lower back pain, does it mean I have?
No. It could just be your kidneys working extra hard during detox. However, there is a risk. See how you feel tomorrow. So far, we’ve had one person who was fasting get checked out for a kidney stone but they didn’t find any and she soon felt better.
Thank you so much
Ugh. I have used carbcounter and have imputed hundreds of recipes. Arduous at best. I use this tracker because I cook- A LOT- and adding new recipes etc… is no bueno.
I read all your posts this morning lol. I am so encouraged by your OMAD/2MAD success.
I am a strange animal when it comes to food. It’s all or nothing with me. I hope (desperately) to reset this mindset.
Best to you.
Oh, yes. The Germans are BIG into fasting. Almost every person you come in contact here, either has done some sort of fasting at home, or away at Clinics. One difference I found between Germany and USA (I am a transplanted American), is that religion and state are not separate. There are a lot of state holidays centered around Christian holidays. In fact, there is a “church” tax, that everyone pays, unless they go to their city hall and fill out forms saying they are not in a religion. Remember Steffi Graf owed MILLIONS of Euros to the Catholic Church? Anyway, Carnival is the last “Hurray” before Lent. THEN comes the “fasting” time. Most Germans “fast” from something, sweets, smoking, alcohol or internet…But a lot do some sort of water-fasting. It is in the culture here, to fast. The most famous Clinic for fasting is the Buchinger Clinic. https://www.buchinger.de/ Also the Mayr Clinic is well-known, too: https://www.mayr-kuren.de/
When I have the money, I will do the training to become a fasting coach. Right now, I have to focus on my own health, and issues with grief, depression and emotional eating. That is a long-term goal for me.
