Unlike last week, I'm not going to talk in quite as much detail for this week. I've found that, much like I have trouble tracking calories, I have an equally hard amount of time tracking the food I'm eating for more than a week or so at a time. It's some mental disconnect that tells me (possibly due to my upbringing) that tracking what I eat is the path to madness. My mother insisted that actually tracking calories was one of the things that really hurt her when she was trying to lose weight, and I'm careful to try and learn from her mistakes. She also said one should never go on a weird diet since going off is extra-bad, which is why if I decide to stick with this I won't be going "off" the diet, and will be turning it into a general lifestyle, or possibly modifying it a little.
Starting Weight: 323 lbs
Final Weight: 319.5 lbs
Net Change: 3.5 lbs
That makes for a total change of roughly 10 lbs in 2 weeks (since when I started I couldn't measure on the Wii Fit with its barrier of 330 lbs). The more accurate account from recordable results is 7.5 lbs in 11 days, or 0.6818 lbs per day.
One thing I'm wondering with this diet is if it's not the diet so much as the difficulty in procuring high caloric food. If I want to eat a sandwich, I'm cutting out 200 calories from the bread alone in eating said sandwich. Protein seems to be more filling than carbs, which means I don't suspect I'm eating as many calories altogether. That makes it difficult to discern if the calories in-calories out mentality is what's working or if it's legitimately something to do with the lack of carbohydrates in my diet.
Finally, I got my blood report back this week. Here are the results:
Blood Glucose - Fasting: 79 (Normal 56-99)
Kidney Functions
Urea Nitrogen: 11 (Normal 7-25)
Creatinine: 0.88 (Normal 0.80-1.30)
EGFR: 117 (Normal >59)
All general chemicals within normal ranges
Cholesterol
Cholesterol Total in Serum: 187 (Normal 125-200)
HDL Cholesterol: 39 (Normal >=40) Abnormal Result
LDL: 212 (Optimal <100, Near Optimal 0-129)
Cholesterol/HDL Ratio: 4.8 (Normal <=5.0)
Triglycerides: 136 (Normal <150)
Liver
Bilirubin Total: 0.4 (Normal 0.2-1.2)
Bilirubin, Direct: 0.1 (Normal 0.0-0.2)
Alkaline Phosphatase: 52 (Normal 40-115)
GGT: 33 (Normal 3-70)
LD, Serum: 212 (Normal 100-220)
AST: 21 (Normal 10-40)
ALT: 33 (Normal 9-60)
Iron: 86 (Normal 45-225)
Blood Count Looks Fine
Thyroid
T-3 Uptake: 32 (Normal 22-35)
T-4 Total: 6.6 (Normal 4.5-12.0)
Free Thyroxine Index: 2.11 (Normal 1.4-3.8)
TSH, 3rd Generation: 4.49 (Normal 0.40-4.50)
So all in all I'm pretty darn healthy, blood wise. My HDL is a little low for what the doctor would like, but my overall cholesterol is somewhat low (in the normal range though) so the ratio between good and bad isn't all that worrisome. My kidney function is something else I'm interested in looking at as this diet progresses, as a high protein diet may not be nice on my kidneys. My kidneys are in good shape, though, so I'm pretty sure they can handle it.
The Thyroid result was interesting, too. It's normal like everything else (save HDL), but just barely. The TSH was 0.01 away from being abnormal, with higher results suggesting lower thyroid function (and thus a slower metabolism). I'm not really all that surprised about that result. I'm normal, but just barely.
So anyways, the diet still seems to be working, but I'm not really sure how sustainable it will be. I'm not craving carbs anymore, but I'm missing the raw convenience of them. I miss being able to grab a burrito and just run with it, and I frankly don't know if I'll be able to sustain a diet where I can't do that once the school semester starts in the fall. It's certainly showing it to be somewhat effective, and it will be interesting to see where I am with this diet in another two weeks.
One thing I'm starting to consider is, when this is over, switching to a lifestyle plan where carbs are okay for meals, but I avoid them in snacks or when fixing something just for myself. That means if I go out with friends I'm not limited in choices, but I'm still lowering my overall carb intake and also keeping me from overconsuming in-between meals. It's not something I'm going to try until after the summer's over, but it's worth considering.
This was quite the interesting read because you're so scientific and I really like it. Good job on losing weight. What you said about protein is so true. Protein makes you FEEL more full than carbs. I totally know what you mean about carbs being convenient. Something you may want to look into is using healthier carbs like fruit to snack on in between meals. It may also help to drink a glass of water before all your meals, and to keep drinking it throughout the day (even when you aren't thirsty) because that will help curb your appetite, and being hydrated is super healthy. Carbs are O.K.... just want to intake more of the HEALTHY carbs like fruits and veggies than the greasy easy carbs. Are you working out regularly? You could also look into getting some protein supplements. I usually have a protein shake in the morning with skim milk and it helps me eat smaller portions and leaner food for breakfast. It seems to work pretty well as far as appetite goes. Good luck my friend, I look forward to seeing your progress!
ReplyDeleteThanks for the advice, Elijah! Actually I've been taking protein supplements while on this diet if only for the appetite suppressing component it has. Fruit is something I haven't eliminated from my diet; what I've mostly been doing is avoiding grains like breads and pastas.
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