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justj215
Sat, Mar-05-16, 12:37
Hello everyone, first post on here.

I've been at this for 47 days and have lost about 17 lbs. I was unable to work out at all up until a week ago due to an ankle injury, so all the weight lost was 100% from the diet. I was 222.8 lbs when I started and I'm down to 205.5. I have been having really good success with this diet so I thought I would post some things that have worked for me. Full disclosure, I haven't read any of the books, and I've cheated on the diet twice, both times after the initial 30 days, once on my birthday and once on my wife's birthday. Each time I cheated it cost me about a week of progress, would gain water weight but then it would fall off and I would level out again after about 5-6 days. My cheats were pretty dramatic, like two full bowls of pasta and wine.

Anyway thought I would post some things that have worked for me on here for anyone just starting out.

1.) Go super strict for the first 30 days. Zero carbs, no booze.
2.) The first 12 days for me were awful (I remember day 6 being particularly awful), I was tired, crabby, very low energy then something just flipped on day 13 and I had a ton of energy and felt great. But it's a grind to get through the initial days, you just have to tough it out, it's worth it.
3.) Buy a smart scale that links to your cell phone and track your progress. I bought this scale on Amazon called Yunmai. It's awesome, it has a tracking app of it's own and it also links to your health app on iPhone to tracks your daily progress. To me it's very motivating to see your weight going down every day and it keeps you on track. I weigh myself every morning.
4.) Every day for breakfast I have 2 hard boiled eggs, no yolk. They are low cal zero carb and it fills me up until lunch.
5.) I'm lucky that the building I work in has two buffet options for lunch where there is a rotating menu options of fish and meat.
6.) Dinner varies but it's 100% meat. I switch up between, fish, pork, steak, shellfish, sausages (check the label, sneaky carbs in some), chicken.
7.) Snacks - I've love lox so I keep that around and if I'm getting hungry I'll just eat a slice of lox. Also I eat cottage cheese, only after the first 30 days, because I haven't found any that don't have at least 2g sugar per serving. Also sausages and meat sticks from some of the butcher type shops.
8.) Cheating - not worth it, both times the satisfaction I got wasn't worth the wasted week.
9.) Drinking - I love wine, really miss wine still. As I mentioned the first 30 days I didn't drink anything at all. Now I'll have bourbon on the rocks after a long day, don't like it as much as wine but it's growing on me.
10.) Missing Pizza - Like wine, I also miss Pizza. What I have found is that Chicken Parm (no breading) will tie me over. Also I've taken Italian sausages out of the casing, spread it out, put sauce and cheese over it and baked it and that also satisfies my cravings for pizza.

I hope that this is helpful to some people starting out. Hang in there, it's worth it. People will see a difference and make comments around 10-15 lbs. Your clothes will fit better and you'll feel better all around.

JEY100
Sun, Mar-06-16, 06:04
:wave: Welcome justJ,
Thanks for sharing what you are doing. Cheats are so not worth it ;)
Even through you are through the induction phase, you still need enough salt to avoid the effects of some low electrolytes. More on this good Salt thread.http://forum.lowcarber.org/showthread.php?t=445775
There are about 30 pizza recipes, Deep Dish Pizza Quiche is a favorite!
http://forum.lowcarber.org/showthread.php?t=215473

Hope to see you around the forums,
All the best,

PilotGal
Sun, Mar-06-16, 06:54
welcome to the forum.
should you stick around, start a journal so people can follow your progress.
it always helps to stay the course with support.

leemack
Sun, Mar-06-16, 07:05
Hi Justj215!

Why no yolks on the boiled eggs?

justj215
Sun, Mar-06-16, 08:31
I don't eat the yolks because I'm trying to save on cholesterol. I have slightly elevated cholesterol levels and my doctor told me to try cutting out the yolks last time I was in there.

Kristine
Sun, Mar-06-16, 09:20
Welcome, J. Congrats on your success so far. :thup:

The idea that cutting dietary cholesterol will result in lower blood cholesterol levels is a myth and some doctors keep perpetuating it. ;) Cutting the carbs and junk food is the best way to get them in line. They often stay high while you're losing body fat, but once you're stable in maintenance for a while, you should have them checked again. Your doc will probably be impressed... and you can stop tossing those beautiful egg yolks. They're delicious and they're where all the nutrition is!

I concur with the pizza quiche, though I never did make it again due to laziness. :lol: I like to whip up a quick pizza casserole - combine meats, sauteed veggies and sauce in a casserole dish, top with cheese and bake or microwave. I like baking/broiling for brown cheese.

Best o' luck.

JEY100
Sun, Mar-06-16, 09:52
Your doctor is behind in the science, even the US government in the new dietary guidelines declared "cholesterol no longer a nutrient of concern"...and they aren't known for being the most up to speed either :lol:
If you have a chance to catch Dr Mark Hyman's new PBS special, Eat Fat, Get Thin, during this current fundraiser, it should be good. Also a free video here: http://www.eatfatgetthin.com/?a_aid=56c397d9670bc

And an excellent summary by Dr Zoe Harcombe: http://forum.lowcarber.org/showthread.php?t=466506 in the Cholesterol and Heart Disease forum here.

jjcounts
Sun, Mar-06-16, 09:59
Congrats on your progress! This is my first post here, but I've been living a low carb lifestyle off and on for decades. It's great to see people embracing it and enjoying such rapid results.

glimmergai
Sun, Mar-06-16, 10:08
Congratulations and you are SO RIGHT about the cheats. Last night my family went to an Irish Festival and I enjoyed a Guiness Stout- OK, actually i enjoyed four, but over a four hour period of time which in the old days would not have phased me. By 9:00 last night, I already had the hangover! YUCK. Today I feel like I went to a raging kegger. Well, guess what is off my dance card for a while. That was enough of a slap on the wrist for me not to do again!

justj215
Sun, Mar-06-16, 10:28
Thanks everyone!

This is very interesting stuff re: cholesterol. I read that linked post and I'm going to ask my doctor about coronary calcium score.

I read some stuff on calcium being the culprit of clogged arteries before and started taking K2 vitamin suppliment. Anyone else hear of K2? Link to what I read:

http://www.lifeextension.com/magazine/2008/3/protecting-bone-and-arterial-health-with-vitamin-k2/Page-01

JEY100
Mon, Mar-07-16, 04:57
Yes, I have heard of K2, some of the Paleo bloggers get all excited about it too, but when they delve into the various MK forms, and then you need to calculate the right balance with Vit D and others, my eyes start to cross. I figure I eat way more eggs than the average older woman, and some organ and dairy, plus more green veg than strict low carbers, so assuming I am getting enough K with food. ;)

MickiSue
Mon, Mar-07-16, 10:06
BTW: if your doctor is worried because your TOTAL cholesterol is between 200 and 250, she's really, really behind on reading the research.

TC below 200 is associated with higher rates of heart attack than TC between 200 and 250.

The most important measure of lipids is the triglyceride to HDL ratio. 2:1 is bad, and higher is worse. A lot of us, after a fairly long time on low carb and HIGH animal fats, are nearly reversed on that. Mine is 1.2:2.

You don't need to take any of our word for it, though. There is a lot of information out there to nullify what your doctor had to say.

justj215
Tue, Mar-08-16, 11:01
I just pulled up my last Lipid Risk Panel test (this was pre diet):

Cholesterol = 245
Triglyceride = 117
HDL = 54
LDL = 168
Non-HDL Cholesterol =191

GreekRibs
Tue, Mar-08-16, 11:30
Hi JustJ215 ! Thank you for sharing your initial success and lessons learned post. Congratulations on your weight loss. I'm glad you pushed yourself through those first tough days and came out the other side. YAY for low carb high fat not causing cholesterol - that makes me happy. My sister has been the healthiest eater on the planet all her life and her doctor told her she has high cholesterol. NOT. I don't even get mine tested anymore hee hee.
Keep up the great work!

MickiSue
Tue, Mar-08-16, 16:00
So, your TC was fine. Your Trig/HDL was off, but eating more animal fats and even fewer carbs will improve it.

Calcium isn't the issue on its own. It's calcium when there is inflammation in the blood vessels. And it's all kinds of carbs, especially grains, that create the inflammation.