Monday:
ATE 4 meals between 4:30 a.m. & 6:45 p.m.: 9 oz pork chop, 2 6 oz steaks, 1 lb 6 oz (2) pork chops, +4 tablespoons unsalted butter (1T per piece of meat for cooking in) -- a total of 43 oz, or 2.7 lbs meat
DID housework: vacuumed, dusted, mopped kitchen & bathroom floors

Tuesday:
scale shows a loss of 0.8 lb
ATE twice, 1:04 PM & 6:30 PM: 6 (4, 2) skinless boneless chicken thighs cooked in crockpot, covered with a few spoons of the broth
DID 1.5 hours activity: (early a.m.) groceries at Walmart, (noon)1+ mile walk (half uphill), (afternoon) lookyloo shopping throughout 99-cent store

Wednesday:
scale shows a loss of 0.6 lb
ATE 4 chicken thighs about 8:30 this morning
Will eat some chuck roast this evening
3-4 hours this morning & afternoon moving & rearranging furniture, tossing out some old clothing, & out for a 1+ mile walk with a friend
4PM: Exhausted. Time to let the inner mermaid out for her daily soak in the tub. Then warm up some roast done this morning in the crockpot

Thursday:
scale shows a loss of 0.1 lb

Not bad, down 1.5 lbs since Tuesday on ZC meat only + water. mo

For me, the major advantage of ZC over LC has been the total elimination of urges to eat other things. Carbs encourage me to eat more carbs. Meat does not.

On ZC, I eat when I remember to eat, not because I'm driven by strong urges or desires to eat certain foods that appeal to my taste buds. I'm not aware of my taste buds until I am eating, & eating just meat satisfies me completely.

I sometimes forget to eat when I've been so physically active in a day that I realize the exhaustion I feel in the late afternoon comes from the fact I've not eaten since early morning. Again, no hunger. Just a peaceful tiredness that lets me know it's time to eat some more meat & drink some more water. When I do so, I'm once more not tired & just as peaceful.

In the past, when I was living LC for my first six months in ALC forums, when I'd eat the Atkins '72 tiny salad topped with a serving of tuna or chicken breast & EVOO, I'd be thinking FOOD within two hours & having stomach sensations of hunger -- I couldn't be REALLY hungry, but that's the effect vegetable carbs had on me.

I eat meat, drink water as well as black coffee in the morning -- no additives to my coffee. In the time I've been ZC since early December, I've stopped using EVOO, mayo, & any added fat except unsalted butter & the natural fats & broth of the meat I consume. I also eat canned fish -- sardines, fish steaks, & albacore tuna -- especially those canned in oil, my only exposure to soybean or olive oil. Some foods (EVOO, mayo) may not have carbs in them but they are also of plant origins which, for now, I'm not using. They also are things I've used solely for the pleasure of my taste buds. On ZC I eat solely to satisfy the physical needs of my body, so I've dropped any flavor enhancers other than a little salt that might appeal solely to the taste buds, the source of urges to eat other things simply for pleasure.

I don't use eggs or cheese. Cheese is addictive for me. I don't use eggs simply because the simplicity of eating only meat keeps me from thinking menu & whether I'm going to eat meat or eggs or both. I simply know that when I eat, I will be eating meat.

I don't have a problem with these products, but don't consume them often either. They mostly give me a quick meal on days when cooking isn't convenient or, as happened three times this month & will happen one day in January, when the water is off for repairs or the electricity is off all day for Edison replacement of poles. I live in a huge retirement community where such things happen & I find ways to work around inconveniences easier (or just as easy) with ZC than I did with LC.

Today my experience with food is so radically different from that experience on LC that I see the difference as between enslavement to carbs & the freedom of ZC. That may seem extreme to some, but to me & my experience it's accurate.

I eat at some time during the morning hours when it's convenient. It wasn't convenient the other day until 1 PM, but I wasn't suffering any of the signs of hunger that I would have had I been eating even 0-5g carb, my carb "hunger" being strong when I'm eating any carbs at all of vegetable origin.

I generally eat twice a day, once in the morning or by noon, the second time about 6 PM. I'm finding I prefer to get my eating done for the day by 3 or 4 PM since I'm an "early to bed, early to rise" person -- to bed by 8-9 PM, up at 4-5 AM.

I also often nap 1-2 hours in the early afternoon if I've arisen even earlier than that or was up later than 9 PM. I'm blessed with deeper & more satisfying sleep now than I've known in recent years. My body wants to sleep when it is tired & so I'm not experiencing the insomnia or "old person" interrupted sleep pattern I was in the past.

I realize there's much repetition in my postings over time, especially since I went ZC, but it helps me to say how things are with me today & to see that the benefits continue over time. Also I share totally from the perspective of Now. Some of what I am doing Today may change in future, of course.

mo

Mo ~
I soaked up every word of your post. Such good stuff!! I'm certainly so far away from getting to where you are. I've just begun my 4th day ZC but have toyed with other low carb plans over the last few years. I loved reading where you've come from and where you've landed with your eating plan. It helps me to read about your success. It reminds me that this is possible for me, too!

Really inspiring --- Thank you!

Karrie

Thanx, Karrie, for the kind words. You know, that's how I started, too. I began by specializing in reading those people who inspired me, who made success seem possible to me, too, no matter what plan they were following. We need to get & stay jazzed about what we are doing to stick with the plan we choose. So glad to know my posts are helpful. mo

Hello there ZC'ers.

I have been LC since February and I lost 60lbs on it. But then it stalled hard for 2 months, not one ounce even at under 20g per day.

So last Monday the 21st I started ZC. It's been great, I don't think there's one aspect of it I don't love. 1-2lbs per day so far in weight loss, I feel great, think clearer and i'm just flat out never hungry, it's crazy.

In addition, i've 100% kicked my cocaine-like addiction to Splenda (I was about to buy stock in the company to recoup some of my money, it was insane).

I just wanted to know if anyone has had any slow carb problems with too much protein on ZC? Or was that just a LC thing or is it untrue and you don't even have to worry about it?

I understand that 2lbs per day won't keep happening for too much longer, that would probably be unhealthy anyway. So I know it will slow down, probably soon. But will too much protein turn into carbs and mess me up or not?

Thanks again!

I'm no authority on ZC, lvin4jc, & can only speak from my experience living 100% ZC since 7 Dec. I've eaten between 12 oz & 2 lbs of meat a day. In my experience there's no such thing as too much protein SO LONG as I don't trim the fat off the meat, or are willing to add some fat (such as butter) to very lean meat (chicken breasts, for example). See my earlier posts here for specifics. Hope this helps. mo

Day 10 in my current streak of Zero Carb Days.

Feeling great I should have done this years ago.

Mind you since April I have not eaten more than 5 carbs but getting rid of
the last carbs is wonderful.

Yeah, I don't like the fat on most fatty cuts of meat, steaks, chicken thighs, prime rib, even pork chops unless it's a thin layer on the edge of a pork chop that's golden brown and crispy. I'm fine with bacon fat, even the stuff left after you bake it in the oven and it cools, that white stuff, I can drag a piece of bacon through that and eat it just fine. Most fat is a texture thing with me, makes me shudder when I try to eat it, I just can't.

And I don't know of a decent fat bomb recipe that doesn't include chocolate and splenda. Do I need to start eating sticks of butter???

Actually, the best fat in ZC, from what I read off ZC veterans, is the fat that is on meat. If you're turned off by that, maybe you'd be happier on an LC plan such as Atkins 1972 induction where there's restriction to 0-5g carb & a supportive thread here? It's called Hard Core Atkins '72 Induction Group #8 listed under Countdowns, Buddies & Challenges found on the opening pages of ALC forums -- where you likely found this Zero Carb thread. On HC Atkins, one eats only the foods found on the food list of the induction phase of the 1972 Atkins' Diet Revolution book. It's like Atkins boot camp & several there have successfully lost their excess weight on that approach. If you go there, tell 'em Mo suggested you go there. I think you're better suited for their approach, given your prior experience with the later version of Atkins. Good luck! mo

Ditto for me on feeling better on ZC than on 0-5g carb. Good, too, to see a weight loss most mornings now instead of once in a blue moon, my experience earlier on Atkins. But by far the BEST part of ZC is feeling so high most days my 1960s days as a lost hippie flowerchild are envious!
Good to see you enjoying your ZC life, Larry. mo

As of this morning -- Friday, 1 January 2016 -- I've lost 2.0 lbs over the past 4 days (since Tuesday, 29 December). That's my fastest weight loss since my first week on Atkins at the end of May 2015. I've been traditional ZC (meat+water only) since 7 Dec.

The major changes of the past four days have been being a little more physically active (now have the energy & desire on ZC to be more active) & tossing out several tiny sources of carb that I didn't realize might be hindering my weight loss.

Given the lousy quality of tap water here, I'd been adding a tiny bit of lemon juice to chilled tap water to improve the flavor & I'd also been using a breath mint each morning so my ZC breath wouldn't knock over my walking partner.

Now drinking bottled spring water exclusively (& drinking more water because it tastes good) & using a mouthwash before my walk.

PS: I'm not changing my weight at my profile (see top right corner here of this post) until enough time has passed that I know it's a solid loss.

mo

Zero Carb today. Chicken and more chicken, fortunately it is one of my favorite meats.

Quick question
I am planning on making a meat chili in my croc pot today and since starting zero carbs, adding crushed tomatoes would not be a good idea right? I did a search here AND online and can't seem to find an only meat recipe. ..
I was thinking instead of the tomatoes (for the liquid ) to use chicken stock (I'm baking chicken in the dutch oven today as well) and just then add my seasoning. For more flavor was going to pour in the bacon fat (baking bacon in the bottom half of the oven as well)?

Thanks!

It all depends on how you define ZC.
Zero Carb to me is just meat+water.
mo

Here's a good zero carb read....