The Journey begins with me page 13

[athomeontherange]

Arg... Why am I struggling getting my calories UP and my protein UP.. I know things will be better when I am done with the antibiotic and steroid.. they say a steroid makes you hungry.. I find the opposite. Not hungry most of the time but my brain is spinning like a top and I am running, running, doing, doing, organizing, cleaning out... in other words.. manic.

yesterday's food: just frickin sad sad sad

B: so not hungry.. 4 slices of thick bacon and 2 cups of coffee with 1/2 and 1/2
L: IF'd (I decided to clean.. not hungry)
D: So the other night we made hamburgers with 93% lean burger.. tasted like sawdust. SO DRY! So.. for dinner we crumbled them in the food processor as well as 2 onions and a package of fresh mushrooms. Sauteed the mushrooms and onions in 2 sticks of butter, added the beef, some cream and a little parm cheese for some primal beef stroganoff knockoff. Its pretty good.. very calorie and fat laden though. Then I had an orange.

Cal for the day 989
fat 78g
protein 46.4g
carbs 27g

I got an email back from Matt that suggests I stick to the HIGHER calorie count for a few days or so 1750 (YIKES!!) However, I might make it today.. had a treat today :O

[fpsjosh01]

Arg... Why am I struggling getting my calories UP and my protein UP.. I know things will be better when I am done with the antibiotic and steroid.. they say a steroid makes you hungry.. I find the opposite. Not hungry most of the time but my brain is spinning like a top and I am running, running, doing, doing, organizing, cleaning out... in other words.. manic.

yesterday's food: just frickin sad sad sad

B: so not hungry.. 4 slices of thick bacon and 2 cups of coffee with 1/2 and 1/2
L: IF'd (I decided to clean.. not hungry)
D: So the other night we made hamburgers with 93% lean burger.. tasted like sawdust. SO DRY! So.. for dinner we crumbled them in the food processor as well as 2 onions and a package of fresh mushrooms. Sauteed the mushrooms and onions in 2 sticks of butter, added the beef, some cream and a little parm cheese for some primal beef stroganoff knockoff. Its pretty good.. very calorie and fat laden though. Then I had an orange.

Cal for the day 989
fat 78g
protein 46.4g
carbs 27g

I got an email back from Matt that suggests I stick to the HIGHER calorie count for a few days or so 1750 (YIKES!!) However, I might make it today.. had a treat today :O

Hello, *jumps into your journal*

First thing I learned here is not to be sad about the food you ate. Your body took what it could and made the best of it, and so should you :-).

If you don't mind me suggesting stuff, you should really just stick with what your body tells you.

27g of sugar would never be enough for me. Ever.

I feel tired ALL day if I don't eat a sweet potato or so.

Even if you're trying to lose weight, I personally eat around 2500 calories, or until I'm full.

I lift heavy things 3 times a week, and run maybe once a week.

You should also practice letting your liver take over for a while doing IF. 14 hours should be enough. Then slowly start refeeding yourself.

Also, if you're running, don't be afraid of fruit, seriously. Eating 105g of carbs will not make you gain weight. It also depends on your leptin resistance.

Of course, if you don't want this comment to appear in your blog, I can remove it ^_^.

Good luck!

[athomeontherange]

Hello, *jumps into your journal*

First thing I learned here is not to be sad about the food you ate. Your body took what it could and made the best of it, and so should you :-).

If you don't mind me suggesting stuff, you should really just stick with what your body tells you.

27g of sugar would never be enough for me. Ever.

I feel tired ALL day if I don't eat a sweet potato or so.

Even if you're trying to lose weight, I personally eat around 2500 calories, or until I'm full.

I lift heavy things 3 times a week, and run maybe once a week.

You should also practice letting your liver take over for a while doing IF. 14 hours should be enough. Then slowly start refeeding yourself.

Also, if you're running, don't be afraid of fruit, seriously. Eating 105g of carbs will not make you gain weight. It also depends on your leptin resistance.

Of course, if you don't want this comment to appear in your blog, I can remove it ^_^.

Good luck!

Thanks for the feedback! My goal is to aim for 50 g of carbs but this crummy antibiotic and steroid are gumming things up. There are times I IF a meal but the only time I IF long periods of time is if I eat an early dinner 4:30-5pm ish and then breakfast at @6am. Thats about 13 hours but not sure if it counts if I am sleeping from 8p-5a. I would say yesterday I did about a 14 hour IF though.. I was just not hungry.

[fpsjosh01]

Thanks for the feedback! My goal is to aim for 50 g of carbs but this crummy antibiotic and steroid are gumming things up. There are times I IF a meal but the only time I IF long periods of time is if I eat an early dinner 4:30-5pm ish and then breakfast at @6am. Thats about 13 hours but not sure if it counts if I am sleeping from 8p-5a. I would say yesterday I did about a 14 hour IF though.. I was just not hungry.

Remember your blood sugar needs to be maintained while you sleep. Thank your liver for that one.

So yes, it counts. It also helps to conserve the energy you put in your body. Don't think of your body as a glass that needs to stay empty, rather a partially filled one that might have a few issues overflowing.

Operate at 95% full and you wont have any problems.

I've lost a good slow 30lbs while lifting heavier. I didnt even measure any of my macros in the past few weeks.

I hope this helps...

[demuralist]

Karin, how much longer do you have on the antibiotic?

I would ease up on yourself till you are done with it. Then follow what Matt said, he knows what he is talking about, he has done extensive research. I think AFTER the antibiotic, you should stick to one thing for a period of time long enough to see if it will work for you. But you gotta get yourself well before you can try to lose weight, or exercise, or anything besides get well!!!!

[athomeontherange]

I took my last steroid this morning and I have 5 more days of antibiotic. Another good piece of news is that we are in a frost warning until Thurs. so MAYBE that will help too.. although he cold does my asthma no favors. I am working on the getting well... trust me!

yesterday food:

B: Protein shake with an orange and coconut milk(this was good!)
L: Primal Beef Strogonaff
D: Sonic- enough said. I need a better plan or a "plan" when my daughter has 5pm doc appts. I leave school 3:30ish, drive to the sitter to get her 3:50ish, then to the city for the appointment 4:30-4:45ish. It is literally grab and go..UGH! She has a couple of appt per month on average.

Forget the nutrition stats for yesterday.. cant bear to look..and..moving on...

today's projection is much more sunny!!

B: protein shake with coconut milk and an orange (yum)
L: primal beef stroganaff and 2 hard boiled eggs
D: making salmon patties with some ancho-mayo and green beans

However, after plugging in what I intend to eat, I am still short on calories by @ 200, short on protein by @ 70g, a little over on fat by 30g but almost on the money for carbs.

[demuralist]

Add an avocado on the side of your salmon. That takes your calories up. Maybe use leaner sources of beef? I don't use the eggs anymore since I think it takes too many to get to any real protein. I do like greek yogurt, and although I am generally opposed to 'fat free' or "low fat" in the case of yogurt it does not usually add any ingredients (compare the ingredient lists) but adds quite a bit of protein.

I had a Wendy's double bacon burger tonight-no bun, yummy really- although obviously not grass-fed or whatever, it was available and filling.

You might want to try some homemade beef jerky-it is so yummy, and is best made with lower fat beef, no chemicals, nice amount of protein.

And while the ancho mayo sounds yummy, it is sort of gratuitous fat.

just a few thoughts.

p.s. actually this post seemed contradictory, getting rid of may while adding avocado, but for me, since I am trying to lose weight I am trying to make sure that what I eat is nutrient dense. The mayo, while yummy does not have much to add to your nutrition profile, but the avocado adds a lot.

so the big question is if the menu makes you feel well nourished, if so then no need to stress over the minute details, Matt I am sure would advocate a bit of flexibility. You could always send him a days menu and ask for input.

[athomeontherange]

Well the Christmas crafting has begun.. I enjoy it so much AND its something I can not do while eating! Hooray!

Chris: I totally get the avocado thing and would have done that last night if my avocados were not hard as rocks!! Never fear.. these salmon patties were SO GOOD, I will have them later in the week when the avocados are softer. Oh and its the leaner beef that I found so dry tasting.. maybe it was my cooking method?

So my final stats for yesterday were 1647 cal 89.2g fat ( a little high), 43.9g carbs (ok), 133g protein (a little low but seems to maybe balance with fat). I felt fine.. NOT hungry at all.

Today's food:
B: protein shake with coconut milk and an orange
L: primal beef strog., green beans, hard boiled egg and 1 oz gouda
D: taco salad (seasoned beef, lettuce, tomato, onion etc.)

HOORAY TIME: I just could NOT wait until the 30th.. it seemed so far away so I thought, why not step on the scale.. just to see... And....... drum roll..... 297.5!! I an UNDER 300!!! WHOOP WHOOP!!!

[demuralist]

YAHOOOOOO!!! so excited for you. I know it is a biggie to see that first number drop from a 3 to a 2!

So if you are losing weight (and you are!!), and you don't feel hungry, I would not stress about the very fine details. Are you doing the net carbs as suggested in the SPEED book, or just counting them outright? either way 30 to 50 is about right isn't it, so your carbs look good.

For the leaner beef I have had to be very careful about how long I cook it, or I put it in the crock pot with liquid. For things like a flat iron or the one you make fajitas with (cannot remember the name of it) I marinate them and then quickly broil them under a very hot broiler-maybe 3 minutes a side. Then let them sit for 10 minutes so the juices have a chance to work their way back into the cells, then slice against the grain to keep them from being chewy. For the leaner ground beef that I am doing in a 'fry pan' I just make sure I only cook it until it is just barely done. I also tend to use a bit of dried minced onion in the seasoning I add to it because they soak up the fats and that way I don't have to drain it off and the onions add a nice juiciness to the dish.

you are doing great. You lost weight while on steroids! Now when you get off the antibiotics you will really kick butt. (I usually do some yogurt everyday that I am on an antibiotic to avoid a yeast infection-don't know if that is still recommended or not?)

[fpsjosh01]

Well the Christmas crafting has begun.. I enjoy it so much AND its something I can not do while eating! Hooray!

Chris: I totally get the avocado thing and would have done that last night if my avocados were not hard as rocks!! Never fear.. these salmon patties were SO GOOD, I will have them later in the week when the avocados are softer. Oh and its the leaner beef that I found so dry tasting.. maybe it was my cooking method?

So my final stats for yesterday were 1647 cal 89.2g fat ( a little high), 43.9g carbs (ok), 133g protein (a little low but seems to maybe balance with fat). I felt fine.. NOT hungry at all.

Also, avocados are awesome, they are very high in O6 and other fats, but not omega 3, so pound O3 supplements or eat some fish. That is just as important as avoiding grains and avoiding veggie oil. Seriously. Don't misunderestimate the power of a REALLY good omega-3 supplement. You can get nearly 500g of O3 PER EGG from a flaxseed fed chicken. DHA and EPA are the ones you need, and ALA doesn't convert well so don't worry about ALA.

Today's food:
B: protein shake with coconut milk and an orange
L: primal beef strog., green beans, hard boiled egg and 1 oz gouda
D: taco salad (seasoned beef, lettuce, tomato, onion etc.)

HOORAY TIME: I just could NOT wait until the 30th.. it seemed so far away so I thought, why not step on the scale.. just to see... And....... drum roll..... 297.5!! I an UNDER 300!!! WHOOP WHOOP!!!

I think the only bad part about this is you totally didn't fry the hard boiled egg instead in some form of butter/coconut oil.

You can almost get away with 50% of your calories in fat. I found it helps jumpstart weightloss like nobodies business.

Once you feel REALLY good, then you stop counting calories and listen STRAIGHT with your body.

Might I also suggest not using a protein shake, (unless it has vitamins?) You don't need to supplement a macro like protein unless you're doing weight training (you probably should be though...) The only macro supplement I take is coconut oil and I've stopped doing it because it helps me lose weight better.

I'm actually incredibly excited for you and can't wait to see the results you get. Keep us posted.