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I cut short my walking due to heat for the doggies and intending to mow the lawn as the rest of my exercise. I got part of the lawn finished, but a thunderstorm developed overhead. I didn't want to end up being the person who lost all that weight to live longer, only to die after being hit by lightning while mowing the lawn! LOL!
My Labor Day Blitz has ended and I'd say I've learned a few things for myself. All in all, in the 6 weeks I adjusted my WOE (7/22 was the beginning date), I lost 11 pounds in those 6 weeks. Not bad at all, considering where I am relative to my goal weight and also considering I had more than 1 or 2 excursions into PeanutButterLand. There were also some dinners out and at others' homes.
What the Blitz was all about was seeing what it would take to actually get me moving downward again. For the most part of my journey prior to the Blitz, my carbs were in the 30-35 NC range and total calories around 1300-1400. After this winter, however, that just wasn't doing it. I was maintaining fairly well, but in a higher weight range than I'd like. Months went by and still no movement, although, to be fair, I battled PB a lot too.
The Blitz was based on a posting I saw on a low-carb website that advocated dropping carbs to the lowest level possible. Although it was intended to be a short-term "get you back in ketosis" kind of regimen, at least one proponent said she stayed on it for most of her weight loss journey, losing 4-7 pounds per week.....over MONTHS!
Let me tell you, there's NO WAY I would have lost 4-7 pounds per week, although I did lose 6.6 pounds the first week (that's over half of my total loss over the 6 weeks). And, I found that I really wanted more than just protein and fat in my diet, so I did have some carbs. Nonetheless, it was substantially less than I had been having. I also shifted my focus to total carbs, pretty much ignoring net. And due to that drop in carbs, I also found my total calories dropped to less than 1100, on average. I do not believe this plan would work just by dropping calories....for me, anyway.
If I can stay away from the PB while on this program, I show a very nice daily drop in the scale that probably comes out to 1.5-2 pounds per week. I find that I've had to pay more attention to my fat levels in my foods. If I go too low, I'm really hungry and that PB begins to beckon. Right now, I feel my fat level needs to run at least 60% of total calories and I try to achieve that coming out of each meal, as well. And, I'm doing just a bit of experimenting seeing how much fat I can add and still lose weight.
I would still very much like to get myself back into the 140's, so I'm going to pursue this lower-carb adjustment for another month and re-assess. I've added back a few more carbs (some veggies here and there and sunflower kernels). I'm hoping they will help with the boredom on such a restricted WOE and that the sunflower kernels will help with the munchies, and also the fat levels. And let's not forget the fiber!
Anyway, what this little experiment of mine is showing me, is that if I can drop the carbs, attempting to go relatively close to nearly-all protein and fat, I CAN drop some weight. Knowing this may help me get back into my Maintenance range if I should ever be so foolish again as to venture out of it!
140's here I come!!! (Still haven't decided on a name for this month's battle.)
View Diet Calendar, 03 September 2013:
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1158 kcal
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Fat: 84.70g | Prot: 74.47g | Carbs: 22.65g.
Breakfast: Jones Dairy Farm Cherrywood Smoked Sliced Bacon. Lunch: Beef, cut like stir fry, Shady Brook Farms Original Lean Breakfast Turkey Sausage (links), Egg, Cooked Mushrooms (Fat Not Added in Cooking), Publix chia seeds (bulk), Spectrum Organic Virgin Coconut Oil. Dinner: Bland Farms Vidalia Sweet Onion, Heinz One Carb Reduced Sugar Tomato Ketchup, Ground Beef (85% Lean / 15% Fat). Snacks/Other: Ann's House of Nuts Roasted Salted Sunflower Kernels. more...
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1780 kcal
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Exercise:
Yard Work (gardening) - 15 minutes, Walking (exercise) - 3.5/mph - 17 minutes, Resting - 15 hours and 28 minutes, Sleeping - 8 hours. more...
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 Comments
Thanks for explaining the experiment. I too like to see a high fat percentage. If I get 60% I'm happy. Carbs vary, but likewise like them to be less than 20% Rest I guess is protein. I find it very difficult to balance all this out so I go with fat first and make sure I get enough of that. You did well with your weight loss. Guess you are going to try to keep this up for a while? I hope I can maintain this way of living, and that it becomes the norm. But it is difficult sometimes when the 'hungries' get to you. You can only eat so much cheese. Now PB - mmmm right off the spoon. I can do endless of that but I realize I am not eating the best PB - the one I use is loaded with sugar so I gotta find an organic PB - doubt it will taste as good as I think it's the sugar fix I like :) anyway, good job on getting half the lawn done and on getting 11 lb off you. 140's, wow, I'll never see that again :)
03 Sep 13 by member: sarahsmum
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Issy, I do believe that a short-term drop in carbs to as-close-to-zero as possible will end up being my fallback WOE if I should find myself above my Maintenance range. But it's really boring....I'm constantly looking for something ELSE to eat besides meat! One is not supposed to even have cheese! But, I've had to adjust that a bit recently, because I'm desperate for more variety! That's why I had to think long and hard about extending this for another month versus just maintaining. I love cheese, but on this regimen, it's not allowed. But I AM adding some back! I'll still forego it on my eggs and also not have cheese sticks. If I can just stay away from the PB, the pounds should drop and I can get off this restricted menu and go back to a maintenance one. The more PB I have, the longer this takes, so I hope to pound that into my brain the next time PB is calling out. Man, I love PB too, right off the spoon. I could live on it alone, unfortunately. LOL!
03 Sep 13 by member: Sandy701
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I appreciate your explanation (especially since I've been absent and missed the beginning of your Blitz). Most of all I am thrilled that it was successful and am sure the 40's will be very doable! I can't wait to hear the title for your next Program.
03 Sep 13 by member: BuffyBear
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Wow Sandy...you have done awesome..so proud of you..I can see you making it to the 140's..your one determined gal...Good luck...:O)
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Buffy, I had hoped to be at goal again by this time, but it is what it is. At least I've proven to myself what it takes to get on the downward slope again....proven that I'm really not stuck at all....just had to make some adjustments and stick to them....which I did "most" of the time - LOL! As far as the Blitz was concerned, I guess you could say it's like Induction, but even more strict!!!!
03 Sep 13 by member: Sandy701
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Thanks Bren. Mostly, I'm just more than ready to be done with this whole losing phase. I just want to hang out in a nice decade, like the 140's. Every time I hear that country song, "Done" or something like that, I feel like the station is playing my theme song. I just want to be DONE!
03 Sep 13 by member: Sandy701
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Sandy, I am glad you consider the blitz a success, I can tell you learned something about yourself. I do hear you, but, I do wonder...are we ever really done? So, if we were done...what would we do differently to stay done? For myself, this WOE has to be something I am comfortable living with for the rest of my life, or I won't do it & stay with it. I like best the days I feel very lucky to be able to eat the way I am, dislike the days when PBL (peanut butter land) calls my name. Like last night, I spied in my pantry a brand new bag of Sami chips that was ripped on top, but above the zip seal, so I thought I would just seal the bag. Well, not sure what happened, but once that bag got in my hands, I opened it up...Then ate the whole thing except for just a few chips somebody else managed to sneak away from me. To deal with days like that, there has to be "good" days to offset or I will hate my scale!!!
04 Sep 13 by member: gg-girl
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Yes sweetie, THAT low of a carb, almost meat only, is very boring, and I too would be looking for 'something', anything. And no cheese? Wow, that would be unbearable, because cheese is my go to, like PB is yours. Does your PB have added fillers, because PB in and of itself, should be okay to have, it's protein, isn't it? And look on the bright side, you can do anything for a month, right? You just need to be prepared for when you come off this, so that the weight doesn't jump right back on. It's not easy, it's such a balancing act. I don't think we will ever be 'done', we will always be wary - lol. At least that means we will always be on here and in our community, I do love FS and my circle of friends. I would be lost without you all.
05 Sep 13 by member: sarahsmum
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Sandy701's Weight History
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