Meals yesterday were a cheeseburger bowl at noon and some leftover hamloaf for dinner. I added even more fat than usual to the cheeseburger bowl. It was very good and more filling than usual. I really didn't hungry again until late, when I had a little of the leftover hamloaf. I'm wondering now if I was truly hungry last night. I didn't get hungry until I smelled the dinner that K was cooking so it was probably triggered by an ancillary insulin response.
I had something interesting happen to me last night. The boys get a small bowl of ice cream twice a week. I was a huge ice cream hound before going ZC so this has been one of the things I have missed a little. I was scooping out some Tillamook Mudslide, which was my favorite, and got a glob of it on my finger as I was digging out the last of it. I absent-mindedly licked it off and found that it absolutely tasted terrible! It was very chemically tasting to me and left a horrid aftertaste. Not so tempting anymore.
I mentioned before that I had checked my blood pressure at Wal-Mart and it was down quite a bit. Well, yesterday I was at the doctor's office and they checked it. It was 110/77 ! That is very low for me.
I was on a weight loss thread on a board that I frequent (not a weight loss forum, though). Someone mentioned that they were doing "no carb". I mentioned to him how I have been doing and the good things happening with eating zero carb. The silence was resounding. I felt like the crazy person in the room.
However, that thread is definitely following the typical diet. People start out gung-ho and go low calorie while exerciing like madmen. They will drop a bunch of weight right off the bat (a lot of that water because by dropping calories, they automatically drop carbs). After a while, the weight loss slows or stops and the cravings start, because the insulin levels are still too high and the cells are internally starving. Injuries start showing up because of over-training. People start to fall off because they can't withstand the call of their starving cells.
The ones that grit it out find the weight loss slow or even starting to reverse since excess insulin will still store fat, despite being in a calorie inbalance. Because the cells aren't getting enough fuel, the bodies' metabolism slows, which makes it even harder to lose weight. With the slower metabolism, it is even harder to get up for exercise. It's a viscious cycle.
Here's a nice blog post that explains the siren call of starving cells:
Calorie Count Menu Laws
Here is another blog post about semi-starvation diets (any diet that cuts calories to create a negative calorie balance is a semi-starvation diet).
Semi-Starvation Diets
One guy who has fallen off the dieting a couple of times sniffed that "eating just meat isn't very healthy".
Well, let's see: I have found a diet that leaves me with no cravings, removes fat and adds muscle without working out all that much or counting anything, dropped my blood pressure to normal and leaves me with way more energy than I have had in years. If that is unhealthy, I'll take my chances.
In fact, I posted this on the ZIOH board this morning in response to the question of "what has ZC done for you?"
I'm still fairly early in my ZC journey (48 days) but this is it, so far.
Down about 12 pounds (it was 15 pounds, but I seemed to have caught Carolina's mysterious 3 pound gain bug this week). More importantly, I dropped from a tight 36 inch waist jeans to wearing a khaki shorts with a size 32 waist. They run big but I can button some old 32 inch Levis 501's from the old days. They are tight but I can button them. Not that long ago I couldn't get them over my butt.
I seem to be putting on a fair amount of muscle, despite not working out very much.
I have a lot more energy. I have done the bare minimum around the house with various projects the last few years because I have been just too tired. I think I have gotten more done over the last month than I had the last couple of years. I still get pretty tired after working around the house/yard, so I have a ways to go.
I went to the doctor's office yesterday to have a weird mole removed for biopsy. They checked my blood pressure and it was 110/77. For the last 10 years probably, it has been in the 140/85 range.
The middle aged men here may understand this, but I can pee a lot harder. It appears that my prostate gland has shrunk a lot. It would get really bad if I ate a lot of carbs.
I used to have a constant problem with tooth pain. It always seemed like I had one molar or another that would bother me for some reason that the dentist couldn't find. I haven't had any of that in four or five weeks.
I was having a chronic issue with both of my elbows. I had bad tennis and golfer's elbow on both arms for over a year and it would not clear, no matter what I did. They still twinge on my now and then but they are a lot better.
I wish I could say that it was helping my hair but I have actually been thinning more since I started ZC. I may have to look into MJH's Zero Hair program soon.
In general, my hay fever is better, though, with the pine pollen flying right now, it isn't so great. Better than normal, though.
My sleep isn't better but I have always sucked at sleeping.
My digestive system works correctly for the first time in my entire life.
Good stuff and looking forward to it getting better as I go.
Speaking of workouts, I have been doing a Tiger Moves and push-ups routine two times a week for the last four weeks. I do one set of Tiger Moves at high intensity, a joint warm-up routine, several sets of push-ups (I have been doing them against a counter that is about 2.5 feet high because I needed to strengthen my elbows before doing them on the ground), about 20 Hindu squats, 20 Good Mornings and one set of planks for as long as I can go (a little over a minute so far). I was able to do 105 push-ups (in sets of 30, 25, 25, 25) yesterday and felt good (not sore today). I should be able to go to the ground now since my elbows aren't bothering me.
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