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Book warning. This does not tell the whole story. Weight was as high as 160 earlier this week, leaping up from 152 almost overnight. But I tried not to let it get to me. Just looked at the scale and said Really? Really? Because I knew I had not eaten 35,000 calories the days before.
Not sure what I ate, though the weather is getting much hotter and more humid here, which tends to encourage fluid retention for me at least. Have been good on keeping my carbs low, 32 carbs on the highest day,(after the weight spike)and in ketosis all week. Been watching to ensure that I am getting enough salt, vitamins, minerals, protein and a variety of fat types.
So, from the Keto sticks, which I finally broke down and bought, I know I am burning fat, every day. And that it takes a surprisingly small number of carbs in a day to bounce me from the higher levels to slight ketones :(
And even though the calorie count is actually lower than maintenance for my weight (I'm not restricting calories, just keeping a watchful eye on them) I am not hungry. So my body is getting the energy it needs from the fat stores - which I still have plenty of. That, and my clothes are fitting looser again, especially today.
I noticed with regret that on the "higher" carb days, when I tried eating a little more carbs, especially at one time, I actually felt hungry, in the correct time frame after eating for the starches to be broken down and cause an insulin spike. That is really depressing to me, because it suggests to me I might be stuck keeping that low a level permanently, which is a little lower than I like - there are some great for you vegis out there like sweet potatoes(with nuthin but maybe a little butter and some salt - how could anyone _add_ sweetener to something already that sweet ugh) that I love, but which apparently, my body no longer can handle properly!
For now, I will tell myself that _maybe_ when I get down to a lower weight I will tolerate them better, still in small amounts, though never in the quantities I could as a youngster, but I know that one of the main reasons I gained back what I lost on low carb before was drifting back into eating like a person with a "normal" metabolism. It did not matter whether I tried to keep the calories low "for weight loss" or tried eating at what the books say you need to maintain whatever weight I was at it was the same result. Misery. For me and my family.
If the carbs were at a "normal" ADA approved type level, I was starving all the time. And emotional. I have learned that I can feel when carbs, especially something like sugar, from whatever source, hits my system. My level head turns to a bad mood, and a negative, hopeless, defeated attitude.
Low carb totally improves my mood and ability to deal with crisis. And really reduces the ongoing stress I should be feeling given our current circumstances. (Out of work for 2 months, struggling to find something that will meet family income requirements. Thank God for the chickens, and their eggs.)
It is a strange feeling though. We prepped, and so have plenty of (carb based) food in the house that the rest of the family can eat, and is perfectly happy with. And the food that you get from commodities (food pantries)and such is almost universally carb based. Which, to me, though I very much used to like, is useless to me now because it makes me feel sick and scared when I eat it.
It makes sense, though, why I feel bad when I eat what for me it turns out is excessive carbs at one time. If you spike the insulin your body is trying desperately to put that excess blood sugar either to work, which it cannot do fast enough when you are not exercising hard at that moment, or stash it into fat cells so it is not bouncing around causing damage.
So whatever level it is that _your_ body (over?) reacts, that is the point at which _you_ will put on the fat, regardless of total calories. And as it is doing that, stuffing every bit of blood sugar it can into storage, you are plunging into hypoglycemia - getting hungry, irrational, emotional, unreasonable and irritable. H-ANGRY (Hungry+Angry)
But I suppose learning to live at a lower carb level, again, is not that bad, because I really do enjoy what I can eat, and I love not feeling starving hungry all the time. The fact that I have fat reserves to burn gives great freedom from hunger.
And here I am, faced with returning to call centers/office type work to pay the family bills. And on the tours of the facilities of these stress laden environments, what do I see? Rows and rows, in every lunch area, of brightly lit carb vending machines. Tables of cakes and other comfort foods laid out by generous coworkers, who I know, are earnestly urging their coworkers to please, just try it. Which I know, once back in such a place, if I eat, in a few hours, I will be shaky again, starving, and scrounging change to return to. So they will simply have to be wall and table decorations to me, unless, please God, I can get into a healthier circumstance.
Like I said a book. Back to applications, cover letters, resume tweaking and seeing if we can pick up a pair of small goats to deal with the overgrowing yard (the last mower died. And last night the weed eater broke - snapped the bolt - and threw its head - thank God it was only the flexible cord head, not the steel blade head. It dug a hole before it stopped spinning where it stopped, but had it been a blade, and shot the other way, could have taken an ankle off.)
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68.9 kg
Lost so far: 18.6 kg.
Still to go: 10.0 kg.
Diet followed: Reasonably Well.
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steady weight
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