Today is my eighth month ZC anniversary. I started April 11th of this year (the day before Easter). I have had a couple of slips over that time but consider them learning experiences.
Even though it is becoming more and more natural, I am still amazed that I am this far along. I was never able to stick with low carb for very long. I still have foods I think fondly of but all of the cravings are gone. I am still working on eliminating the "one taste won't hurt" thinking but Thanksgiving made a pretty strong impression on me so I feel pretty good about where I am now.
At dinner last night, it came out that I was eating only meat. The people I was with all knew me at my heaviest and saw me go through my various struggles losing the weight then, so they are used to my weirdness with various ways of eating. They asked a few questions but accepted it with out much fuss. They were actually more surprised that I haven't had any Diet Pepsi in over three months as they knew I drank it constantly before.
While explaining the various benefits I have seen since starting eating this way, it just reinforced to me that this isn't just about weight loss. My blood pressure has gone from around 150/90 to 110/63. I have effortlessly dropped 30 pounds, without exercise or counting calories or carbs. My elbows, which had bothered me for over a year before ZC, are fine now. A biggie is that my stomach no longer constantly hurts (a life long problem for me). There are a host of other small things - clearer skin, better nails, better sleep. I was telling K last night that it been easier than expected to keep eating this way because I feel so much better. Sure, ice cream and cookies taste great but they aren't worth the inevitable upset stomach.
I won't lie - the flat stomach and smaller clothes are a big motivator, too. It still amazes me to get out a shirt to put on and think there is no way I fit into that and then have it fit fine, or even a little loose.
I weighed this morning and am officially into the 160's! I was 169.6 this morning. That makes it exactly 30 pounds lost in the last eight months. Not super quick weight loss, but it is still lower than I ever thought possible. The funny thing is that I still feel a little bloated from the last couple of days, so my actually weight may be a little lower.
Dairy is now back out of my diet. I do feel a little better when I have it in small quantities but the sinus issues and the constant sore throat from drainage is too annoying. I am going to try to up my fat a little and maybe add some sardines occasionally to see if that replaces the dairy.
The other thing I am trying to do is to get back to being better about waiting for hunger. I was doing well before vacation and was really leaning out. I got out of the habit over vacation as I wasn't always free to eat only to hunger, being at someone's house and more on their schedule. Then when I got home, I ate more often to get over the cravings caused by eating off plan on Thanksgiving. Eating smaller amounts only at real physical hunger is definitely the key for me.
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