My Latest - And Last - Weight Loss Goal.

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I've repeated it often: if I don't lose another ounce of weight, I'm thrilled with my results since starting the ketogenic diet. I've lost 90.1 pounds since that first day, which was the day I viewed the so-called 'white coat video' of Dr. Eric Westman explaining his No Starch No Sugar protocol for addressing obesity and Type 2 Diabetes. Those twenty or so minutes rocked my world. I was set off down a path of research, reading, viewing and asking questions about how food just might be the answer to my problems rather than the cause of them.

Like many people, I've been setting weight loss goals virtually every day of the last 33 years. Every Monday was my next best chance to regain control of my life. Or try to do so. For most of those Mondays, things tended to go in the opposite direction from what I planned.

That all changed with the ketogenic (low carb/high fat) diet. My weight loss hasn't been in a straight line, but it has been consistent. My blood sugar has gone from borderline diabetic to this morning's reading of 50. I average 76. My energy level is better than in my thirties. My brain came back after seeming to have been on strike for a few years. All this is to say, Mondays are now my friend, not my nemesis.

And I've decided to set one last weight loss goal. It is beyond aspirational. It is the weight version of my brass ring. I want to lose 14.3 pounds from where I started yesterday. I'd like to achieve this by 1/8/2017. That's three years to the day since the White Coat Video. It seems fitting.

I've set the last weight loss goal. Never thought I'd be here. For more information on the ketogenic diet and links to products used in this video, see below.

I’ve been fortunate to have exposure to leading researchers, physicians and journalists regarding the ketogenic diet, also known as LCHF (low carb/high fat). We are all responsible for our own choices, including what we put in our mouths. I welcome questions, comments and even civil criticism. I’m still learning. So, if you have something to add, go for it. Thanks!  - Casey

Results From My Day of Fasting

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As noted in this post from yesterday, I decided to do a fasting day. Well, fasting as I see it. Not a full on Gandhi, not a political protest fast. Just not eating food for a day. I did have coffee with heavy cream, Coke Zero (I know, I know. I should give up that stuff, too) and wine. I wanted to lose not only the couple or three pounds I had put on from a lovely, relaxing time at the beach when I simply ate more food than I needed, I wanted to lose the mental feeling of heaviness. I've gotten so used to going around with the wonderful sensation of taking up less space on this earth, having shed 85 pounds on the ketogenic diet, I wanted to get in front of going back to a place that had dogged me for decades - actually feeling weighed down. And not just because added mass caused a greater effect of gravity's force on me. I didn't want to return to that perception of being being pulled down inside my own head. I've gotten greedy for the sense of weightlessness I've enjoyed. To turn a phrase on its head. I wanted that Unbelievable Being of Lightness. (Apologies to Milan Kundera)

My Day of Fasting (except for the bug)

So I didn't eat yesterday, other than a swipe of deviled egg filling and a bug that flew in my mouth while I worked in the yard. I noticed that around 10:30AM I felt like eating but it absolutely was from habit. Not from hunger. That's when I went to work in the garden.

At about 1:35PM my I heard rumblies in my tumblie. In the old days I would have patted myself on the back for having gone without food long enough to allow my stomach to growl - I had gone for years at one point without having felt that sensation - but remembered that Dr. Eric Westman, one of the world experts on the ketogenic diet, advises that such sounds aren't hunger but rather a result of circadian rhythms. "It's been a while since you ate. You're off schedule. Here's your friendly reminder". I decided to time it and see how long this 'hunger signal' lasted. It was 18 minutes. Lordy. All those times I ate at the first sign of the elusive tummy growl, proud of my self-discipline (not) when all I had to do was wait a quarter of an hour and it would have passed. Oh well. That was then. This is now.

I went about my afternoon and before I knew it, 4PM was here. And in my past experience of fasting, which I've done a few times, once I get to late afternoon I'm golden. I got an invite to have wine on my dear friend, MG's, patio and that was my day. (Go ahead and say it: no one has it better than I. I'm aware).

I awoke this morning down 3.3 pounds. All good. But that wasn't really the point of this exercise. I wanted to feel lighter. Not just be lighter. And that was achieved. I slept really well - maybe a coincidence but I've been waking every 90 minutes or so for a while - and I simply feel today more like my NEW old self. The self to whom I've become accustomed over the last couple of years. The self I want to keep.

And for me, wanting to keep myself is a greater achievement than any number on the scale.

Now, shall i eat today or not? I don't know. In the end, the point is that food is no longer the boss of me. I've made food my bitch.

So there.

What's The Hardest Part of the Ketogenic Diet?

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What's The Hardest Part of the Ketogenic Diet?

It would be expected that giving up our favorite carbolicious foods would be the greatest challenge when adopting the ketogenic, low carb/high fat (LCHF) diet. It makes sense. Who wants to give up pizza? Not me, I can tell you. Not that I'd go back to where I was just to eat a deep dish pie. But pizza was a huge trigger food for me.

Now, the food itself isn't what I need to control. At least, not the type food. But eating in general is my bigger struggle. Only eating when hungry. Seems simple. But like almost everything concerning humans' relationship with food - it's complicated...

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Aw, nuts! (Allowed or Not on Keto?)

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Aw, nuts! (Allowed or Not on Keto?)

There are foods that have been recommended as healthy, beneficial and generally good for us. And while many are on the generally approved list of foods to eat on the ketogenic, low carb/high fat (LCHF) diet, many are not. To people who have read a bit about what to avoid when keeping carbohydrates very low, many of the foods not on the approved list will be of no surprise: grains, even so-called 'healthy whole grains, milk (although heavy cream is allowed), potatoes, etc., But a couple of food groups that aren't on the allowed list raise the eyebrows of some. No fruit? And what about nuts? Aren't those foods super good for you?

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Beyond Weight Loss: Other Benefits of the Ketogenic Diet

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Beyond Weight Loss: Other Benefits of the Ketogenic Diet

My reason for starting down the ketogenic, low carb/high fat diet had less to do with losing weight than wanting to avoid being put on insulin or other medication for what was surely going to be a diagnosis of Type 2 diabetes. I've written previously about that here. I had been very overweight for about 30 years. I was reconciled to be so forever. After all, we've been advised that 'it's almost impossible to lose weight after about age fifty' and 'diets don't work' and '95% of people who lose weight regain it, plus more', etc., You know what I'm talking about. If you want to know what the drip, drip, drip of daily defeat feels like, live inside the head of fat woman.

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