Friday, January 20, 2012

Day 14 - I feel like I am eating sawdust

Weight: 158.2 lbs (pre-diet 166 lbs)

It's not that I'm not thrilled at how well this diet is working. I am. But my lack of interest of food is just plain strange. Yesterday, at lunchtime, I sat down to a mozzarella, tomato and basil salad, a combination I love. True, it's Belgioso mozzarella, it's a bit more plasticky than I would like, but still. It was bad. I had to force every bite down. I really did feel as if I was eating sawdust.

As you may have picked up by now, I have issues with breakfast and lunchtime. So it's not entirely surprising that I still don't enjoy those. But I'm having trouble with dinner too. We had baby back ribs the other night, which again, I would normally love. Instead, I ate what I had to, and then stopped. I then had an extra one, just because I felt I should, but eating it was not pleasurable at all. Sawdust again.

Sometimes when I'm driving, I imagine what it must have been like being a caveman: you ate what you had to to survive - a rabbit here, a leaf there - and no, just like most animals, it wasn't about taking great pleasure in your food. Maybe it's just psychological, but I'm beginning to feel a bit like that, this lean, alert, semi-starved creature.

I know this is not everyone's experience of this diet, but I think it may be the experience for those of us who were never particularly keen on meat, or rather were particularly keen on carbohydrates. I really could survive for months on pasta aglio and olio - i.e. some spaghetti with a bit of garlic and olive oil. I hate rich sauces on my pasta, and equally, on bread, just a tiny sliver of ham or salami was enough for me. I never ever ate a Subway sandwich because there's just too much stuff on it. So again, and I don't want to drone on here, but the very heart of my eating platform has just been ripped away, and I am still finding that really, really hard...But tomorrow, rather than moaning, I am going to do a list of pluses and minuses of this diet. I want to be a bit more systematic about my thoughts.

Food today
Breakfast: coffee (sorry, I just couldn't face it)
Lunch: Cauliflour fried with eggs
Dinner: Artichokes in egg and butter sauce, Moussaka, made with 25g of wholewheat flour for the topping...is that OK?

7 comments:

  1. Hi Sophie:

    Great to hear that the low-carb is removing your hunger. Of course this is exactly what we would expect, as Dr. Eric Westman says in his newest video: https://today.duke.edu/2012/01/science-and-practice-low-carb-diets#video.

    The flour isn't really a good idea, in fact it's a total violation of the diet, but of course you know that.

    But Poppa don't preach. . . so!

    I do find it deeply intriguing that even faced with an overwhelming amount of top-flight scientific information it's hard for you, an exceptionally well-educated person, to break free of the wheat. I guess this is why it's called an addiction! (LOL)

    Having lowered your insulin via low-carb, you're just not hungry as you utilize your own body fat - which is why you're losing so well. Once you add flour back into your diet, you will raise your insulin and reverse course. :(

    Stay strong and work on eating breakfast again tomorrow.

    Best wishes.

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  2. Wheat and flour are public enemy number one.

    Also, this doesn't just involve an addiction to carbs. It is also an addiction to convenient, effortless food.

    Now for something helpful: try cooking fish for breakfast. May seem strange at first, but neither the flavor nor texture are as overpowering as other "dinner for breakfast" items.

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  3. Whenever I'm in ketosis or approaching that threshold--which I assume you are, since you've been doing this for two weeks--I am just not hungry. Your body is burning fat for fuel, and efficiently, and just doesn't *need* food in the way it used to. It's a positive thing, one that will allow you to break free from eating out of emotion or habit.

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  4. Don't fret the breakfast thing, absolutely unnecessary guilt. Mark Sisson and Robb Wolf talk about skipping meals all the time. A clue here is "I ate what I had to" Huh? This is all about eat what you feel like, stop if you don't feel like it (within paleo parameters of course). I usually eat a smallish high protein meal about 3 hours after getting up, but that's me. This is also about listening to your body. We found cabbage a good substitute for pasta, just putting our own sauces on it. Its early, I am curious to see as you get farther into this, what things your appetite will respond to. Consider a broth day if you're feeling weird.

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  5. Hi Sophie!

    I am just about 9 days into my keto diet and feeling just the way you are. Other than the birth of my daughters it is turning out to be the single most amazing moment of my life.

    At 300 lbs food was not fuel for me.... it was like crack. I could not pass a taco bell or chicken joint without my mouth watering. I LOVED food..... the different flavors, textures and types. I do eat a solid breakfast, lunch, dinner and snacks........ but my world did not revolve around food this week. I did not spend my free time thinking about it....... not once did the thought of freshed baked bread, pasta, or chocolate tempt me for more than a nanosecond.

    I know that 9 days and 9 pounds does not make me much of an expert LOL.... but I feel in control for the first real time in my entire life. It is a freedom I have never known before and I love it.

    GO KETO!!!

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  6. Don't eat just because its lunch time or its dinner time. If you're forcing yourself to eat because "you should" it's going to be an agonizing experience. Eat when you're hungry - but your body is burning fat off of you so it won't be hungry nearly as often as you're used to.

    I still have to fight the "Ok, well I'm bored, I should eat something" urges, and its hard, but hopefully it will make it easier for you to deal. Don't eat if you aren't hungry or if it doesn't feel right.

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  7. Try reading the newest Atkins book: The New Atkins for a New You. They have a chapter on vegetarian options. I do believe it is harder to keep the carb count down if you are doing the vegetarian option, but if I remember right you are not trying to lose too much. Might be a good option sometimes if you want to get away from all the meat. I LOVE meat, so this is not a problem for me.

    Don't feel hooked into eating "breakfast foods" for breakfast. Eat whatever you feel like, even if that's a bowl of brocolli with cheese sauce. Also find a good shake recipe. This is sort of what I do (I've been doing it so long, I don't have a recipe anymore- you can withold the coffee, use liquid coffee/espresso, put in fruit, use unsweetned greek yogurt, throw in a few berries, nuts etc etc et):

    http://lowcarbdiets.about.com/od/desserts/r/breakfastshake.htm


    Instead of the flour for the mousakka topping (or other things), try coconut flour. I found it in the natural foods section of my neighborhood grocery store (in the US anyway). I made a cheese sauce with it (and no one in the family noticed), made gravy (did not taste like gravy with the coconut aftertaste, but was excellent) and am going to try to make a cream soup. I want to try moussaka this way as that is one thing that I've wanted to make, but haven't tried to re-work.

    Also, google "one minute muffin". This is a very common low carb recipe you can make with any combo of flax seed, almond flour, coconut flour etc and egg you want. People do it in the microwave for breakfast. I have baked a version as rasberry muffins that my family SCARFED up and did not even realize was low carb.

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