Week 13 in the books and the scale says.....188.6. This is up .2 lbs. from last weeks surprising 188.4. I am actually pleased that I stayed within 1/2 lb. of last week's weight, maintaining the bulk of last weeks 4.4 lbs. weight drop.

This past week was a typical week, sticking to my 'diet' of animal proteins, vegetables, cheese and nuts. I did have my wine and beer rations, and I again had a Five Guys burger with bun.

I am getting into a good workout routine again, exercising 6 days a week, chest centered one day, back/shoulder centered one day, and a run the 3rd day, rinse and repeat. Typically 45 minutes to one hour on the lifting days. The workouts are less intense than when I was prepping for the GoRuck, but still pretty good for an old guy.

On Friday my son completed basic training (now called white phase of OSUT), and we got to talk with him for the 1st time in 3 months. It was great to hear from him, and to know that he is doing well. He may get block Christmas leave, which would be awesome, even though I would abandon my diet to eat and drink with him for that ten days (worse case I gain a few pounds).

Well, on to week 14. I am counting on a good week, and if I stay below 190 I may officially start to re-introduce limited carbs into my diet and see what that does.

Week 14 in the books and scale says......188.2. .4 lbs. down from last week, and I think I can now confidently claim that I am under 190.

It feels good to be under 190. Most of my middle body fat is gone or greatly reduced, I can fit into all my clothes easily (with some pants being too big now), and I look pretty good for a 56 year old in jeans and a well fitted t-shirt:-). Mission accomplished?....Ha, would it not be great if you could just lose weight till you get were you want to be and then abandon all discipline....but of course we all know that would magically transport me back to the starting blocks in 12-18 months.

But I do aspire to reintroduce some carbs back into my diet, the trick being to do so in a measured and disciplined way so that I can assess the impact on my weight and adjust if needed. I am renaming my efforts from this point forward as GLC+50. I will continue to consume mostly low carb foods, but I will allow myself a max of 50 carbs of non-LC foods (350 total for the week) guilt free. For example, on Monday it was kinda chilly, so I made myself a Raman noodle and chicken soup. Raman noodle are around 50 g carbs. Yesterday, I had to take the DW for an outpatient procedure, so I did not get my normal breakfast so for the 1st time in a long time I did McDonalds drive through for an egg McMuffin and coffee (29 carbs). I may not use my 50 allowance every day (It is hard to start eating foods you have avoided for months), and I will allow myself the ability to bank some carb allowance for a splurge, as long as I do not go over the 350 per week. If this works, in a month I may rename my efforts GLC+75.

So, in summary, for last week I used my carb allowance on an egg mcmuffin (29 carbs) and a bowl of Raman noodle soup with chicken (50 carbs).

I have refined my workouts, although I will admit that often I am bailing before completing the whole thing. Here is what I am doing (mostly, or aspiring to do):

Day 1 - 3 sets of 15-burpees, 8 chin-ups, 100 meter farmers walk w/shrugs
3 sets of pull ups
3 sets of lat dumbbell pulls
3 sets of dumbbell shoulder presses
75 leg raisers
Day 2 - 4 sets of bench press
3 sets of dumbbell press
3 sets of dumbbell pullovers with press set at the end
3 sets of dips
3 sets of deadlifts
1 set of knee raisers
Day 3 - Cardio, usually a run (2-4 miles)
Rinse and repeat with the 7th day off.

I also plan to try to do planks and pushups in the morning as I work, but I need to work on my motivation:-)

Well off I go into week 15, and week 1 of GLC+50. Wish me luck and I will report my efforts again on Wednesday (I am sure some folks do actually read my posts, but I really write them for myself to keep me accountable:-))

thanks an interesting take on it Sniggle. looking forward to your reporting. As I understand it the Atkins program has a carb reintroduction phase.

The difference in my approach is that I can use my 50 grams of carbs on 1 cup of cookie dough ice cream if I chose. The trick may be stopping at 1 actual cup of cookie dough ice cream. I, however, do plan to test this theory this 7 days and just hope that I don't wake up on the couch with ice cream stains on my front and an empty ice cream container on the floor next to me

Week 1 of GLC + 50 (Week 15 of this effort) in the books, and the scale says......188.4. Up .2 lbs from last week, which in my book is a win, as my 'goal' at this point is to maintain below 190

So what did the 1st week of GLC (General Low Carb) + 50 look like? Through the course of the 7 days, I consumed extra carbs on 6 days, to include 2 bags of microwave popcorn (50 carbs each), 1 Five Guys burger with bun (29 carbs), 2 ramen soup packet with meat for lunch (50 carbs each) and 1 cup of rice with dinner (45 carbs). In the end, I left around 80 grams of carbs on the table.

With a budget of 50 carbs a day (350 carbs a week total), deciding what to spend them on is challenging. What foods are 'carb worthy'? I ate the popcorn because I had it left over in the pantry, and although I enjoyed the 2 bags I consumed, I do not plan to buy anymore. It just wasn't worth spending my 50 carbs on. The ramen soup, on the other hand, is well worth the 50 carbs, made with whatever leftover animal protein is in the fridge (adding chicken is my favorite). It is a good lunch on a cold day, filling and tasty (I also add onion and red pepper flakes. I used to add Kirin, but that would put it over the carb limit). Five Guys burger with bun at 29 extra carbs is the bargain of a century in my mind. The cup of cooked rice with a nice stir-fried squid dish, well worth the 45 grams of carbs.

I am not sure what I will spend my extra carbs on this week, but if I were to guess the 'purchases' again will include a cup of rice at a meal, 1 or 2 ramen packets, and a Five Guys burger w/bun. It could include a cup of pasta, or maybe even a cup of cookie dough ice cream. The possibilities are infinite (although the carb allowance is not:-).

I did not work out as consistently this week as I planned, as I took a few days off to hunt. I did run through my new workout routine, and it was really good. Adding in the dumbbell pull overs did toast my triceps, but after hitting them again on Monday I think I am past the soreness. I do not know if this is true for everyone my age, but I can feel the affect of even taking a few days off...not necessarily soreness, but just the feeling that the strength has taken a baby step backwards. Maybe it is in my head...

Well, off into week 16 I go, and off to the kitchen I go to make myself an egg, sausage and bacon breakfast.

good report.

Question: can you carry over your 80 carbs left on the table into the next week?

Nope. The way I am playing it, it is use it or lose it for the 7-day period.

I guess if I wanted to I could splurge on the 7th day of each week to zero my carb allowance for that week, but I don't mind leaving some on the table if it works out that way.

>>>> <<<<

Sniggle - valuable information here to be shared. I'm convinced that controlling carbs while doing regular workouts is a positive symbiotic. I'm not saying that workouts help lose weight, I am saying that activity complementing a healthy way of eating results in maintaining lean mass (critical as we get older) and results in very beneficial healthy mitochondria and cardiovascular system. While I'm lower carb than you are at this time, this is very informative. Many different ways to construct a protocol to achieve health, and you're effectively managing one of them.

It may be a bit too early to state that I am effectively managing an approach, but I do believe I am on a path that will allow make that claim without reservation in a few months

The 1st week of this has been really interesting, because my perception of how I would feel/act when allowed to expand my diet has been different than the reality of it. I had thoughts that I would use my carbs on junk and really enjoy it, but when I did (2 bags of popcorn last week), I was pretty let down by the experience, as I found it shallow and superficial (weird to use terms typically reserved for 1 night stands). I found it much more fulfilling when the extra carbs were used to compliment one of the 3 main meals.

I have found that setting a 50 gram carb limit for 'other' foods works really well for me. I do well when I have clearly defined parameters/goals, and getting information on carbs in various foods is easy in this day and age. And when I have the carbs, such as the cup of cooked rice, I can still feel in control and on plan, avoiding the carb creep which has derailed me in the past.

As far as lean body mass and muscle, I do not think it can be over-emphasized how important it is. I am going to be interested in seeing if adding some carbs has any impact on energy or workout performance. I am not sure how I can gauge it, although bench press performance may be the most predictable exercise I do. My bench press was never great (280 1RM in youth, this spring 1RM 245), and it has fallen off since late last spring as the workouts with my son gave way to him working out with the recruiter. I am working to build it back up (which is trickier without a spotter), so I will pay a little more attention to it.

I think most can agree to this bottom line, which I am trying to imbed in my life: Low carb is good, vigorous exercise is good, vigorous exercise on low carb is really good

Week 2 of GLC+50 (Week 16) in the books, and the scale says.....189.4. Up 1 lbs. from last week...not a great result, but not necessarily time to go on a 3 day fast either.

This past week I continued to eat around 50 grams of extra carbs a day, that included the following: Chickfila chicken biscuit, 1 cup pasta for dinner with a sauce, a rum breakfast roll after dinner, a piece of zucchini chocolate bread, a packet of Ramen noodles, and a cup of sautéed potatoes and onions. I figure I used most of my 350 grams that week.

As far as exercise I was spot on. I lifted 4 days and ran 2 days, and on my off day went horseback riding with the DW. My exercise went generally well, not better or worse than the previous week. I have been adjusting up the weight in a few exercises that are 'new' to this routine, but the bench press remains stubbornly static.

I am a bit troubled by the 1 lb. gain, especially since it follows a .2 lb. gain the previous week. In my mind 2 weeks does not make a trend, but a 3rd week definitely would. I plan to carry on with this experiment for week 3, with the only possible adjustment being a reduction in the beer and wine ration (now that the political season is somewhat over, it is needed less:-). If week 3 pushes me over 190, I will be forced to re-assess.

On to week 3, then.

I did something I am loathe to do, step on the scale more than once a week. I did this both because I was displeased with yesterday mornings results and because I wanted to see if yesterday evening's bodily function had an impact. So the scale said....187.6...and for you playing along at home that is 1.8 lbs. less than yesterday and my all-time low for this round. Now I know it is kinda cheating to take advantage of a class I download to see the scale move in the right direction, but I needed that boost.

Until next time.

Gotta do what you gotta do. No rules, just adjustments as you learn what works as a healthy lifestyle for you. Nothing wrong with checking measurements, as you already know the quixotic nature of scales and weight reporting and the many variables that can influence the results.

Week 3 of GLC+50 (Week 17) in the books, and the scale says.....187.4. A new low, down 2 lbs. from last weeks anomalous weigh-in, and down .2 lbs. from Thursday's sanity recheck. Too early to claim success, but it is looking like I might be able to allow some carbs back in while maintaining.

For this last week I spent my 50 carb a day allowance on the following: 1 Five Guys burger bun, 1 package of Ramen, Zucchini chocolate bread x 2, Apple bread. Yes, I did go a couple days without using my allowance, which just means that there was nothing deemed 'carb worthy' for those days. In sum, probably 230 grams of carbs from the dark side. I enjoy having something a little sweet after dinner, but not too sweet. If I consume in moderation, and it is not stacked on top of a mound of other carbs consumed throughout the day, I may have the ability to scratch that itch.

The workouts this week were pretty good, although I did not run last Wednesday because it was raining all day, and I also did not do dead lifts on Thursday as my back felt a bit tight (but in hindsight I think I just wimped out and used it as an excuse...the problem with lifting alone is that you can make excuses and there is no one to call you on them). I did start doing pushups and planks during the AM to supplement my workouts. The scheme I came up with is starting out doing 2 sets of 30 push ups and 1 minute plank daily, and next week upping it by 2 push ups and 10 seconds for the plank, and so on until I hit failure. It is pretty easy this week, but by the new year it will be challenging.

My left shoulder has felt a little funny this week, not sure why. It has not hampered my lifting and does not hurt/ache at night, so I will soldier one, but keep listening to it.

Well, Week 4 of GLC + 50 has already begun, and hoping to see stability or even a micro loss on the scale next Wednesday.

Keep exploring!