Iโm over the hump with the keto flu, thankfully! It usually only lasts a good day or so for me.
I did wake up 1 pound heavier today. I find my scales always fluctuate like that after my initial weight loss. So my 3.6 pound loss for this weekโฆ is now 2.6 pounds. Oddly, I FEEL thinner this morning! This whole weight loss thing is funny like that. You just have to roll with it. Or only weigh once a week. ๐
Iโve exercised 3 out of 4 days since the low carb challenge started, which feels GREAT. And Iโm definitely feeling it!
Yesterday was a long day. I fell asleep super early Wednesday (around 5pm) so I was up at 11pm Wednesday night, then slept again 5am-9am. I worked most of the night then most of the day, except for a nice long walk in the evening, then I was in bed early last night (10pm) โ so Iโm back on schedule. ๐
Given it was such a long day yesterday, I had five meals instead of threeโฆ
Challenge Details | Day One | Day Two | Day Three
Day 4: Thursdayโs Low Carb Meals
Breakfast was around midnight on Wednesday night / Thursday morning. I had my usual โlow carb cerealโ which is: 3/4 cup pecans, 1/4 cup Daisy brand cottage cheese & 4 small frozen/diced strawberries. (6 net carbs, 88% healthy fats)
For my next meal I finished the leftovers from OโCharleyโs, which was: Cedar Plank Salmon with loaded broccoli and baby green beans. I only ate about half of it when I went out, so I brought the rest home. (1/2 the meal: 5 net carbs)
That was a delicious meal. Both times. ๐
Next I snacked on low carb roll-ups made with turkey & colby jack cheese.
My easy low carb lunch (below) may not seem like much food, but itโs 584 calories and 87% fat so theyโre very filling low carb foods. Those are zero carb Oscar Mayer Smokies, 1/4 cup pecans halves, .71 oz colby jack cheese. Only 1 net carb totalโฆ
Trying to keep my net carbs below 20 for the day, even with such a long day / weird schedule, I decided to get a plain Low Carb Thickburger from Hardeeโs. When you order it plain (or with just cheese & mayo and/or mustard) itโs zero carb.
Unfortunately they made it โregularโ โ complete with ketchup, onion, tomato and every other carb they usually put on it. ๐ I couldnโt be bothered to go back. I just cleaned it off good and ate it. ๐
After that meal I went for a nice long walk with Slim (my great dane), then I wound down for the evening and watched a movie โ and I was in bed by 10pm.
My MyFitnessPal Diary for Thursday:
Hereโs how & what I track, and how I get Net Carbs in MyFitnessPal.
Calories: 2274
Net Carbs: 19
Total Carbs: 35
Protein: 107 Grams
Macro Ratios: 78% Fat, 19% Protein
Exercise: 2.25 mile brisk walk
FitBit Steps: 7,165
Water: 72 ounces
Starting Weight: 154.6
Current Weight: 152 pounds
Weight Loss (so far): 2.6 pounds
Hereโs a picture of Slim and I out on our walk yesterday. We like to walk the historic downtown area. Heโs a real head turner lol, and a good conversation starter, which is nice. It makes our walks a little more social. ๐
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Iโm feeling GREAT with this challenge so far. Even though the scales are being fickle today (lol) I do FEEL leaner. And my muscles have that happy feeling of being โin useโ which feels great too!
I challenged myself to get more steps on my Fitbit yesterday than I had the other 3 days this week, which forced me to take my walk a little further than usual. Itโs nice to have a strong motivation to lose weight and get in shape. ๐
How did you do on Day Four?
Leave a comment below, and letโs do this together!!
Best,
Lynn Terry,
aka @LowCarbTraveler
p.s. You can subscribe by email below to get my Daily Food Diaries throughout the Low Carb Challenge sent straight to your inbox. That way youโll never miss great (easy!) low carb meal ideas. ๐
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If I canโt do the add on to my fitness pal to calculate net carbs, can you basically just subtract the fiber from the carbs to get the net carbs?
Hi Laura,
Yes, total carbs minus fiber = net carbs. But what problem are you having with the MyFitnessPal Net Carbs hack? Here are the instructions again if you need them: http://www.travelinglowcarb.com/4448/myfitnesspal-hack/
Enjoying the challenge Lynn. After a few days of trial and error, I finally got it right yesterday and consumed only 20 g carbs. Iโve been exercising like crazy trying to get into shape. Thanks so much
Awesome, Maribeth! Glad to hear youโre on a good roll now. ๐ The exercise feels GREAT, doesnโt it?! ๐
Iโm logging my food on fitness pal. Iโm trying to stay around 15 net carbs but struggling to hit 70% healthy fats. I started the challenge at 134.5. This morning I weighed 130.5.
Great progress, JS!
Itโs important to get plenty of healthy fats, for both energy and weight loss. Some ideas: pecans, walnuts, avocado, eggs & sausage, egg salad or fried avocado as a side dish, chicken thighs instead of breasts, salmon instead of tilapia or whitefish, tuna salad, etc.
I have really made it a habit to log my food everyday and first thing in the morning. Doing this helps to keep me accountable for what I eat and also doubles as my โdaily menuโ which keeps the guesswork out of what Iโm eating that day. Iโm not gonna lie though, when I started first logging my food I was 100% irritated and annoyed by it. Lol. Ughโฆ.let me type in every single ingredient for everything Iโve ate. Umm yeahโฆIโm good. But I ducked it up and realized that it really does help seeing what youโve ate for the day.
Yesterday I had a total of 10 net carbs and drank close to 80oz of water
B: fried eggs and bacon, BPC
L: leftover chicken cordon bleu (again!!), and 2 stalks of Celery with ranch
D: 2 Oscar Meyer smokies smoked sausages, mustard, 1 baby dill pickle (my LO stole my 2nd pickle)
S: (at my sons baseball game) 1.5oz blue diamond almonds, atkins peanut butter granola bar
Thatโs so smart, Justine. ๐
I agree itโs harder in the beginning when you start tracking, but then your usual foods are in your own list โ and you can add your own recipes & meals that you have a lot too โ so it just gets faster and easier. ๐
After being sick, a touch of the stomach bug, for the last two days and wanting nothing but bananas, I thought Iโd try a 3 day egg fast. Eggs are easy on the stomach, so I thought that might help too. I had 3 scrambled this morning and have 2 hard boiled set for lunch.
Has anyone ever done an egg fast? How do you do it and does it work for you?
Thanks,
Libby
Iโve never done one, Elizabeth โ but I stink at anything that โfeels like a dietโ and easily get tired of eggs. ๐ I hope it helps you feel better!
I did an egg fast a couple weeks ago for 4 1/2 days. The basics are that you eat the following only for the duration of the egg fast:
at least 6 eggs per day, more if youโre hungry
1 TBS of fat for each each you eat (olive oil, mayo, coconut oil, butter, bacon grease, etc.)
up to 6 oz of cheese with no more than 1 oz at a time
I was stalled and had started to gain a little, the egg fast helped to get me back into fat burning mode. I lost 6.5 lbs and regained 2, but i wasnโt able to transition properly because my fast ended with a dinner at the in-laws, my sonโs bday and Easter sunday, followed by a camping trip.
I used the following website as my guide โ plus there are some yummy recipes that help you get past only having 1 or 2 ways to eat eggsโฆ
http://www.ibreatheimhungry.com/2014/07/egg-fast-diet-menu-plan-low-carb-keto.html
Yesterday was great! I drank BP style coffee (I donโt buy the upgraded coffee, but I do use organic coffee beans) all day and broke my fast around 3:30, making my total fasting time about 18.5 hours. Then I kept my carbs low for the rest of my meals and stopped eating about 9:00 (we eat late when we train Jiu Jitsu, because we donโt get home til about 8:30). I trained jiu jitsu for 2 1/2 hours last night and felt awesome!!! This morning, Iโm finally seeing the scale moving down again! Iโm down 2 lbs from yesterday!!! Iโm 4 lbs from GW!!!
3 BP coffees (espresso, irish gold grassfed butter, coconut oil, vanilla extract, stevia, xylitol, heavy whipping cream)
L: 2 eggs, 1/2 an avocado, small handful of pecans (didnโt have a measuring cup at work), 1 colby jack cheese stick
D: 2/3 carne asada burrito with guacamole, no tortilla, no cheese
net carbs: 6 protein: 36 fat: 132
Great to hear, Jennifer! Smart, and great way to keep yourself on track. ๐
I find when doing this diet with eating all the fat and protein that I am not very hungry especially on the weekends when I am running around. Is it important to try to eat a lot of food and get all the carbs, fats and proteins in each day? Also do you find it important to try to eat something first thing in the morning to get your metabolism going? Thank you
Hi Laura,
Great questions! No, I am not much of a breakfast eater so I usually have a meal or a snack mid morning โ hours after I get up. I just start my day with coffee.
Donโt eat for the numbers. The low carb diet is a natural appetite suppressant, so youโll naturally be less hungry, and have less cravings. Itโs fine to get less than 20 net carbs (thatโs just the max) โ but you still want your fat/protein ratios to be on target: get at least 70% of your calories in healthy fats.
Hi! Did well!!!
Stayed under 15 carbs no late night snacking or bad foods!! Iโm looking forward to see how well Iโll do this weekend. So far so good!
Very happy to apart of this challenge. Itโs inspiring and helping me big time!!!
Iโm really glad to hear that, Yolanda. ๐ Kudos for staying strong!!
Something I noticed today, since Day 2, I have not had the joint pain that has become such part of my life. Has anyone else noticed that. Knowing that there is surely a correlation between the two, it made it so much easier to make better choices when I came home from work with a wicked case of the munchies. string cheese and pecans later, I feel more in control! Have a great weekend all!
Hi Dayna,
Yes! Carbs promote inflammation in the body, so most people who have chronic pain experience GREAT relief on a low carb diet. ๐ It helps with arthritis, fibromyalgia, etc.
I used to be in chronic pain. Since going low carb Iโm back on a water ski (first time in 23 years!) and back to adventurous hikes. Itโs SO nice to have an active lifestyle again!!