No-Carb/Low-Carb Meals That I Actually Like

I'm going to keep a running list here. Add yours in the comments!

1. Tuna salad with cucumber slices as "scoops".
2. Taco-less Taco salad - lettuce with taco seasoned beef, chopped tomatoes, sour cream (or sub shredded cheese).
3. Bunless hamburger - Hamburger (or bison or turkey or chicken etc.) patty plus all the non-carb fixins' (tomato, cheese, mayo, avocado, pickles, onion, etc.)
4. Guacamole or hummus with cut up peppers, cucumber, or carrots to dip.
5. Raw pumpkin or sunflower seeds. Delicious and snackerish.
6. http://www.marksdailyapple.com/buttery-catfish-in-a-creamy-shallot-sauce/
7. http://www.hivehealthmedia.com/paleoprimal-recipe-coconut-almond-chicken/

Crickets

So apparently this blogging thing doesn't just happen on its own while I'm elsewhere. Huh.

I am currently in a Second Cup, and not worried about burglars because I am homeless(ish) for the next two weeks. Try robbing me now, burglars.

I'm not really homeless, but I am living out of a suitcase/my dear friend's spare bedroom. And I'm almost unemployed. My (voluntary) last day is two Thursdays from now (oh HAI stress!).

I have two weeks where my life is basically upside down and Tom is not even in the province. So obviously, time to lose ten pounds. I have weddings to attend! My food lately has been horrific and workouts minimal. It sucks; I feel shitty and my weight is back up to 151 which makes me cry. Yes, I know I'm not supposed to watch the scale, but I also feel bad, so I know it isn't just about the number.

Two weeks for a primal/low carb diet and hopefully some real exercise. I say hopefully because I am totally displaced. I don't have a bike, but I do have an exercise room down the hall, so hopefully I'll get on that. I think if this shock to the system can get me back down to 145, I'll be happy.

Wish me luck!

Apparently I'm An Indoor Cat

So running outside? Nothing like running inside.

Granted, this was only my second run outside this season, and my first attempt at the course for the triathlon. Also, I'm back on the no-carb because I'm a sadist it's the only way I seem to lose weight.

Reasons Why Running Outside Currently Sucks

1. I feel very, very slow.

2. My stride seems to go straight to hell. Shuffle run, anyone?

3. There are CARS.

4. There are PEOPLE in those cars. And they are looking at me shuffle run my big bum around.

5. I can't zone out the way I can when I'm running around an indoor track (sort of like a greyhound if a greyhound took a lot of sedatives).

6. The tri route starts 2.5km from my house. If I walk there and back, that's another hour added on to my workout.

7. I can't calculate my distances as accurately as I can inside. I like my numbers, even if they don't like me.

Reasons Why Running Outside Doesn't Suck

1. Fresh air! Sunshine!

2. I have to use different muscles since the terrain and elevation changes.

I think it's going to take some getting used to, this running outside business. I can only hope it kicks in before the race next month.

Day Six and Seven: The Final Results!

So after a brutal six days, Tom and I kyboshed the total no-carb diet. My urine turned orange on Saturday (how's that morning coffee tasting?), which Dr. Google informed me is a sign of ketones, an indicator of anemia, liver disease, and/or diabetes. Now, obviously one day of this does not mean I have any of those conditions; what it does mean is that my body was in distress. Ketones are formed when the liver glycogen stores are depleted (Wikipedia). I knew that part of the no-carb process was to deplete that store in order to force your body to draw energy from fats and proteins instead of carbohydrates (which are a "cheap" form of energy). But there is something that doesn't feel right about forcing my body into that kind of distress.

The symptoms we experienced during this diet were:

1. Bitchiness

Let's just say it was a good thing Tom was away for work most of the week.

2. Stomach pain/severe nausea

It was bad. To be fair, I think a lot of this came from suddenly eating a ton of cheese (I usually never do) and eating high sodium, high fat meats like turkey/chicken pepperoni snausages or whatever they are.

3. Fogginess/confusion/utter stupidity

We would forget words. There were several times I didn't feel safe to drive. It was almost like being buzzed all the time without it being any fun.

4. Weakness and general sucking for workouts

I added 15% to my swim time, and a whopping 20 minutes to my bike time (BRUTAL). I felt awful during my workouts and my times really suffered.

5. Losing weight very quickly

My starting weight was 153.2 pounds. The lowest I weighed during the six days was on the fifth day at 144.5 pounds. That's an 8.7 pound loss in five days (!). While the numbers are fun to look at, I can't believe that this is a healthy way for me to shed pounds. And the way I felt was honestly not worth it. I was sleeping 9-10 hours a night and still needing an hour nap each day. I woke up dreading the day because of what I would have to eat; everything I could eat made me nauseated. Opening the fridge would actually make me choke back bile (and not just because I haven't cleaned the fridge in a while).

There are some positives to take away from this experiment.

1. I do consume a lot of easily removed carbs.

Although delicious, I don't NEED to have sugar in my coffee every day. A meal doesn't HAVE to have a bread component to be complete. Eating three yogurts and two pieces of fruit a day is probably excessive.

2. Eating more veggies is easy if I pay attention to it.

One meal I really enjoyed on this diet was tuna salad (with mayo) that I ate using cucumber slices as "scoops". It was like dipping tortilla chips (same crunch) and I didn't need bread to eat my tuna (although I do love me some tuna sammich).

3. Planning meals makes a huge difference.

If you're just grabbing food, you make poor choices. A little planning ahead can mean you eat with purpose instead of mindlessly. On that same note, it is VERY easy to mindless eat carbs. It's as if your body doesn't have an off switch to tell you that's enough. When you are eating protein or fat foods, your body  has a trigger finger on that off switch, and it'll let you know when enough's enough.

For the next week (at least), we're still eliminating refined carbs (sorry Shreddies, I still love you!) and milk. We've added back in fruit and potatoes in limited amounts. Hopefully that will help us find a bit more balance.

Day Five: I Feel Shitty, Oh So Shitty

Yesterday was a very bad day. I feel awful all the time; my stomach constantly hurts and the very thought of food makes me retch. My workouts have slowed considerably (15% slower than I've ever been in the pool for yesterday's swim) and are torturous to get through. Instead of feeling strong, it's like my body has given up. My muscles won't respond enough to even get me to the point of feeling out of breath.

I didn't end up eating dinner last night because I just couldn't look at food. So I had a glass of wine instead (on what planet is this a good plan?!) and went to bed at 9:30pm. I woke up at 7am and could have easily slept more. Tom passed out even earlier than I did.

According to the plan, after today everything is supposed to suddenly be sunshine and rainbows, so we'll see. The only reason I'm still doing it is because my weight has dropped, and even though I shouldn't care about that number, I'm curious to see how low it can go in two weeks.

FOOD FOR TODAY:

Breakfast - Egg white omelette with cinnamon

Snack – CURSE YOU CELERY AND CREAM CHEESE

Lunch – Tuna salad with cucumber slices

Snack – Turkey/chicken "pepperoni" sticks and cheddar cheese

Dinner – Ham and roasted acorn squash "mashed potatoes"

EXERCISE:

39km bike ride (recumbent) (hold me).

Day Four: Oh God, The Bacon

I am very, very sick of meat and cheese (except for old cheddar straight out of the fridge – I could never be sick of you). I find it mentally very difficult to accept a diet where I can't eat yogurt or fruit, but I can eat chicken wings with blue cheese dip. Sure, it sounds great, but really it just hurts my stomach. I have made the awesome discovery of Jello that has no sugar, no fat, and 5 calories per serving. What is in it then?! Colour me confused. But it tastes like cherry, so BACK OFF.

I can't even look at the leftover zucchini lasagna without feeling nauseated. The thought of eating my cream cheese and celery makes my stomach churn. Must continue quest to find non-cheese, non-fatty meat carb-free food. I did find chocolate that was 99% dark, with only ONE measly gram of sugar, but I'm resisting so far. If anyone knows some sort of carb-free chocolate substitute, I will love you forever and give you my celery and cream cheese. Do they make chocolate tofu?

FOOD FOR TODAY:

Breakfast - Egg white omelette with cinnamon

Snack – Celery and cream cheese

Lunch – Salad with cheddar cheese, grilled chicken, and bacon (mmmm) with Jello cup

Snack – Turkey/chicken "pepperoni" sticks

Dinner – Steak and roasted acorn squash "mashed potatoes"

EXERCISE:

1.5km swim (maybe one mile, if I'm not lazy)

Day Three: No Carbs Make E3 Something Something

Yesterday after posting, the day was filled with exhaustion. I could barely see straight; everything seemed to swim a little. I went and did my run, but it was slow and every step felt so heavy. Today, I hit a new low for confusion. I got to work and my stomach was killing me, burning. I couldn't figure it out until I realized I had made breakfast and left it at home, uneaten. Hoo boy. The upside here is that I got Tim Horton's ham breakfast sandwiches (HAMUARY!) and tossed the delicious English muffin they came on (SAD).

From everything I've read, this gets better by about day five. Here's hoping! I weighed myself this morning and I am down five pounds from Monday morning, a lot of which is water weight since I haven't rehydrated adequately since yesterday's run.

FOOD FOR TODAY:

Breakfast - Egg white omelette with cinnamon Tim Horton's Ham Breakfast Sandwich (2) sans English muffin

Snack – Celery and cream cheese

Lunch – Leftover Zucchini Lasagna

Snack – Cashews

Dinner – Chicken wings and carrots

EXERCISE:

Rest Day (Massage!)

Day 2: Mood – Stabby

So yesterday morning's excitement about being on a new program wore off by about 2pm. I ate far too much cheese because a) it's delicious and b) it's an approved non-carb snack. Tom and I spent the evening alternating between snapping at each other and laughing hysterically at things that weren't THAT funny. Luckily more laughter than snapping; I watched Tom wander aimlessly around the apartment for 15 minutes looking for his shorts, eventually resorting to looking in the linen closet and shouting "I can't think without carbs!". Awesome.

My stomach is angry and the sudden shift into dairy (which I normally avoid for the most part), so hopefully today I can look up some more no-carb options sans cheese. Tom and I are already planning a pancake breakfast for once this horrible experiment is done.

FOOD FOR TODAY:

Breakfast - Egg white omelette with cinnamon

Snack – Celery and cream cheese

Lunch – Leftover Zucchini Lasagna

Snack – Cashews

Dinner – Sashimi

EXERCISE:

10km run (indoors) (hopefully)