Thursday, January 29, 2009

Weight dropping again

11st 7.5lbs

Only 2 and 3/4lbs to go and I will be back to my pre holiday weight. Am finding it easier than I expected to get back into my routine again. I have decided not to make the yoghurt cheese for the next few months as I like it so much and it is quite concentrated and I eat too much at one time. So I will stick to plain yoghurt with my fruit until I get under the 11 stone.

My other books arrived. I have the GO diet which is nearer to this eating plan I have worked out for myself than the South Beach diet. But the go diet recommends no milk but 8os of yoghurt a day. I will stick with what I am doing as that is working for me.

I went into see my friends at school yesterday. I wore my new outfit from Woolworths (SA) brown cargo pants, white brown and yellow T shirt and yellow over blouse and got lots of compliments about how well I was looking. My red sunburn has now faded to a tan so it looks better and my nose is not peeling yet.

Making plans for next week. I am 57 on Tuesday so will see if we can book to take the family out for a meal. Also want to do Lusaka and get my hair and face done.

Crops are looking good and we got 22mls rain yesterday afternoon so perfect for the crops.

Will be under the 11st 7lbs by my birthday and will then take it from there. Should only take me just over a week to get back to my pre holiday week. Really feel I have found an eating plan I can stick to for the rest of my life.

Tuesday, January 27, 2009

Back From Cape Town

11 8 3/4lbs

I have decided not to change the profile figure but will just post the weight in the posting box until I get back down to the 11 4 3/4lbs I was before I went on holiday.

We were away 2 weeks and we had a fabulous time. The first 4 days were spent in Joburg and the next 10 days in Cape Town. We ate at restaurants every day so I am amazed that I only put on 4 lbs. In a pre diet holiday I would have put 10lbs at least on over a holiday like that so I am feeling very pleased with myself.

I checked on my previous progress and it took me 10 days to get from 11 8 3/4 to 11 4 and 3/4lbs so I will see if I can do the same again.

It was great to go into normal clothes shops and buy blouses and trousers and tops and they fitted.

Most places we ate would do chicken or fish and salad. The only time I had a bit of bread was on the airplanes where I would leave half the roll and eat the top half with the filling.

We did lots of walking along the beach at Strand in False Bay and also walked up Cape Point and also went swimming in the sea so got lots of exercise.

I bought some new lamp shades for the house which I hope my husband will put up today.

I shopped yesterday for chickens and fish and lots of vegetables and my daughter has also been looking after the new veggie garden. I bought some new seeds in SA for the veggie garden so will get those planted. Am looking forward to getting back to my steamed veggies and potatoes as I have missed those while away.

Sorting out the washing and unpacking today. Is my birthday a week today so hope to move at least 3lbs by then so could be nearer the 11st 5lbs which is under the 160 lbs again.

Should have some more books waiting at the couriers. Other daughter was diagnosed with a polycystic ovary by Dr and I know this low carb diet can sort that out so lending her the books. She must have my insulin problem.

Saturday, January 10, 2009

Cappuccino

Not posting a weight this morning and is was up this morning after a day in Lusaka yesterday.

We forgot the flask of coffee on the dining room table so stopped at the Fig Tree and got 2 coffees to go. The chap asked if I wanted cappuccinos and I said yes. We enjoyed them so much we stopped on the way back and got another couple for the journey home! Probably full fat milk and think it had cocoa and sugar on the top. Husband had sweetener in his.

I had a bowl of all bran and museli before we left and then eat a couple of hard boiled eggs on the way. We are getting through a lot more eggs these days. Eggs have had a lot of bad press in the past about heart problems but I think it has now been proved that eggs do not raise the bad cholesterol, it is the sugar and starch that do that. So we have gone back to having eggs again. I even had one fried in butter the other day for breakfast. That would have been unthinkable 6 months ago.

I took my vitamins to have with lunch. Will have to put some in a little container to take to SA. I dont want to fill up the suitcase with the big pots of vitamins. We went to O hagens again and I had chicken breast and husband had bream and chips. We also ordered a greek salad and I even put some dressing on it. On my old diets I would eat the bread and leave the dressing. Now it is the other way around.

I bought a new glucose tester that I can buy test strips for in Zambia so that is useful. I also bought some strips to test for ketones. Tested this morning but was negative, ( too much milk in the cappuccinos!) and will test again tomorrow. Good tip was to cut those strips in half. I bought a 100 and so spent last night cutting them thiner so now have 200 test strips!

Was 11 4 and 3/4lbs before I left yesterday morning so hope to be back at that weight tomorrow morning.

Thursday, January 08, 2009

A Calorie is not a Calorie

158.75lbs

I have increased my calorie intake by at least 100 cals a day. All the increase is fat and oil.

Yesterday I fried my bream in olive oil. I had yoghurt cheese with my fruit and that is made from whole fat milk. I had half an ounce of cheese grated in my soup.

According to the dietery rules as I understand them, that should slow down my weight loss. What has happened is that my weight loss has increased. Usually I lose 1.75kg in a week. This week I have achieved that weight loss in 3 days. I will keep monitoring it and see if it is sustainable. I did start the symptoms of a migraine last night. I have not had a migraine for 6 months but I got the jagged sight distortion yesterday evening while reading my book so took a paracetamol and it did not develop into a full blown migraine. One of my triggers for migraine was fat and oil. Maybe it was the cheese for supper. I might be better to have an egg instead. The calories will be about the same but the fat content not. Will experiment and see how I handle the change.

Still working on the accounts. Have to do a credit note for some of the wheat and hopefully that will bring the Vat into balance.

Sent an email to my mother and sister on their cruise in the Caribbean this morning. Hope they are having good weather.

Daughter said she picked up the flight tickets for us yesterday so will get those this evening.

Suitcase is open on the floor got as far as throwing in a map book of joburg and a swimming costume.

Off to do the accounts.

Wednesday, January 07, 2009

Increased weight loss

159.5lbs

For more years that I can remember I have been frightened of eating too much fat. I never have anything fried. When I was eating bread I would never have butter or marge on it and would just have jam ( I know now that would hit my blood stream so fast and cause an insulin spike and then cravings from low blood sugar) I never cooked for myself with oil and would try and resist avocadoa etc.

In the last week or so having reread these low grain diet books they are saying what you must not do is a low fat and low carb diet. So I have been trying to gradually increase my consumption of mainly butter and olive oil. I am not having a lot. Maybe 100 cals worth without changing anythingelse on my daily intake.

I have started hanging my yoghurt again and making that nice thick white cheese. I have been having that on top of fruit for my pudding with cinnamon and sweetner. I also did some left over chicken yesterday and put olive oil in the pan and a little curry powder and some of the yoghurt cheese and then added the chicken. I ate that with ratatouille ( with little olive oil), steamed potatoes, butternut, courgette and cabbage.

I have been very worried that I would get into a stall because of the extra fat but in fact the opposite is true. I am losing weight faster! I am now under the 160lb mark for the first time in years. Only got 7 and a half pounds to go and will make my first goal and then will reset my target and get under the 140lbs.

With this way of eating I feel anything is possible.

I am up early again to work on the accounts and work out the Vat payment. My brain works better first thing in the morning. Power has gone off so working with emergency light and laptop battery power.

Reading the Diet Delusion. It is quite frightning that for years the Drs recommended heart patients should eat less fat and eggs and diabetics should eat more complex carboydrates with very little evidence that such a diet would improve and increase their lifespan. In fact all they were telling them to do was eat more sugar. It turns out that sugar is the main culprit for a host of degenerative diseases, diabeties, heart problems, strokes, cancer ( did you know cancer cells live on glucose? I did not. Also sugar includes what was supposed to be good for us. Complex carbohydrates. Which is just a fancy name for a long chain of sugar molecules. A slice of white bread hits your pancreas and blood stream faster than a tablespoon of sugar. Books say if you must eat it have it with butter or dip it in olive oil to slow the digestion. That is the opposite of everything I thought I knew about dieting.

This is turning my knowledge of nutrition on its head. I know nothing.

Going to do my 10 mins of exercise biking and will then try and figure out the Vat figures for the last quarter.

Tuesday, January 06, 2009

Ketosis

160.25lbs

This must be ketosis. I will get some sticks in Lusaka to test. I have not changed my carbs at all. Still eating the same. The only changes I have made are that I am eating slightly more oil and fat. Olive oil and butter and also taking my vits and minerals with my lunch instead of before breakfast.

The book the Diet Delusion arrived yesterday so am wading my way through it. Lots of factual information as to how the western world arrived at the conclusion that fat and oils are bad for you and that cereals and carbs are good for you. In my case the opposite is true.

I am on a good carb, good fat and medium protein diet and it suits me fine. We are off to Cape Town next week and I hope to be under the 160lbs before we go.

We will be staying with my sister in law and I am sure I will cope fine. Lots of chicken and vegetables and fish. I will have to make a plan for what to eat on the planes. It is just too easy to accept what you are given and think you have to eat it. Fairy cakes disguised as muffins and sandwiches. Will take some tinned fish or low cal soup and ask for some hot water to mix it.

Going with my daughter as far as Joburg with the toddler for checkups. She will fly home on the Thursday and we will fly on to Cape Town for 10 days. Will take my netbook with me so hope to get on the internet while I am there.

Should be 160lbs tomorrow and then under that by thursday.

Monday, January 05, 2009

Two and Threequarter Lbs off this week

160.5lbs

Happily surprised at that loss as I have been eating more than usual. I am still reading the finer details in the new books. Most of them say it is a mistake to cut down on the fat with this low grain diet. I have just not been eating fat for years as I thought it made me fat. So this week I have had a bit of grated cheese in my soup and also eggs with butter for breakfast at the weekend. Will go back to just bran flakes and museli for the rest of the week. I also changed my vitamins to lunchtime, I think it is better to have the vitamins with food so that they can be utilized properly. Especially the essential fatty acids.

For the past 2 mornings I have done 2km on the exercise bike when getting up before eating anything. I just drink a glass of tepid water. The books say the body has to learn to use its fat stores, for years mine has just been laying down fat and never had to call on any of it. By exercising before eating the body has to use up the stores. I am also trying to do this interval cycling, where I go fast for a bit and then slow for a bit as that has been shown to use up more fat stores.

I put the new fuse in the tumble dryer yesterday so that is now working again. My husband also fixed the light in the kitchen so I am not cooking in the dark any more. I am trying to find my other black suitcase as we will need 2 suitcases to go to the Cape next week. Think one of my daughters may have it.

If I am careful in SA I should be able to get down to 70kg or 154lbs by the end of the month. That is also near my birthday so that would be a wonderful present to myself to be in the 10stone range.

To have lost 60lbs I would need to weigh 152lbs which is also my first goal. Wonder if I could do that by my birthday. That is 8.5lbs away. I feel so confident that even if I dont make the weight by the day I will get there shortly afterwards. It is no longer a mystery to me why my weight kept going up and up and now I understand that I know I can get it down and this time it will stay down for ever. I really dont miss the sweets and bread at all now.

Some of the books say you will forget about your weight and the lbs will continue to go as you are feeling so good. While I agree about the good bit I am still weighing myself twice a day at least. Once in the morning and again after supper. The after supper figure is usually 3.75 or 4lbs higher than the morning figure so I can sometimes work out from that what will be my weight the next morning. If the evening weight is higher than the evening before I know I have a problem and can try and work out why that is. The protein, fat and veg do not store water the way starch and sugar do so my water levels stay pretty constant which means I dont get bloated.

I am becoming the person I always wanted to be.

Saturday, January 03, 2009

Ordered More Books

160.75lbs

Had another mini whoosh today. Lost a pound between yesterday am and this morning. The day before the weight had remained the same. I took my EPO and omegas and multi vit with my lunch yesterday rather than before breakfast. Maybe that made the difference.
Yesterday lunch was such a big plateful I wondered if I would have put on weight this morning.

I had roast chicken (still taking off the skin that is a hard habit to break as I have been doing it for years), four pieces steamed potato, cabbage, butternut. Then I made a ratatouille with a local mushroom ( only one as they are big) peppers tomato onion and garlic. My plate was full. I finished off with a small mango and apple chopped with yoghurt cinnamon and sweetner. Felt really full and not like I had just had a diet meal at all. Got through the afternoon without any snack and then had soup as usual in the evening. Another pound to lose and I will be under the 160lbs, have already made my goal of weighing less than my husband.

I have ordered the GO diet. It is quite expensive but reading through the books that seems to be the diet as close to the one I am on so will be good to read more about it. I do not begrudge spending money on information better than spending it on sweets and bread! At last someone is telling me it is not me that is the problem but it is the low fat/high carb diet I have been trying to follow for the past 40 years. Now I have a diet that works with my system, which caters for the way I like to eat, with which I can see results and which makes me happy I want to read as much as I can about it.

It seems that 40 years ago the health industry came up with the idea that fat is bad and causes all the health problems. So then they tried to prove that and encouraged people to go on a low fat diet. The food industry jumped on board and started producing all sorts of low fat foods ( the fat being replaced by sugar and starch). The scene was then set for people like me who believe what the Drs say and that the only way to not become obese was to eat a low fat diet. Only the cranks said that it was the sugar and the starch that caused the obesity and they were a voice crying int the wilderness. But for people like me they were right. It is the sugar and starch. My body never moved into fat burning mode because it always had so much sugar and starch to process. Now I have cut right back on the sugar and starch I am giving my body time to sort out the fat and it is doing a great job.

I am looking forward to getting rid of the fat roll on my hips and getting my weight under 160lbs. My face legs and arms have slimmed down a lot faster than they usually do on a low fat diet. I am looking forward to seeing what shape my body is going to be when I am a normal weight. I do have bits of loose skin so will start doing more exercise but at my age I cannot expect to be that firm and trim after all the damage I have done to my body over the years with yo yo dieting. Just a nice slim 35,28,36 will suit me nicely and will be a real answer to prayer.

Friday, January 02, 2009

Single figure target

161.75lbs

Only have 9.75lbs to go to get to my first target. When I first set that target I was not sure if I would manage to get there. I expect it to take me another 5 weeks to make that weight. Then will work at it for another 2 months or so and see if I can get under the 140lb mark.

I am definitely going into ketosis at night now. Does not worry me but I have decided to change the time I eat my vitamins. I used to have them on waking with a glass of water. Now my body is burning fat so well I am concerned that if I take my vitamins first thing then my body will simply use them for fuel. I have therefore changed my routine and will just have a couple of glasses of warm water when I wake up with my coffee and keep the vitamins until lunch time. The books do say that vitamins are more effective if taken with food. I bought some back from UK so dont want to waste them.

Have worked out now that it is taking me 2 months to lose 14lbs. Not as fast as at the beginning but as I near my target weight I have to expect the loss to slow a bit. I just hope I dont get a stall at this point. But even if I do I will just carry on this new way of eating without the bread and white carbs and I will be sure that the weight will continue to go and I will not feel hungry.

I did not post yesterday as my weight was the same as the day before and I was baby sitting my 4 grandsons. One is 3 and the other 3 are between one and one and a half so it was a bit hectic till the nannies turned up.

I dont want to change the food intake too much as I feel in control and this is working well for me. However in some of the books and magazines I have recently got are some interesting recipes. In one there is a pizza with a base of mashed potatoes, in another you make blinis with mashed potatoes instead of flour. Another is a pancake batter made with soya flour.

I would like to try out a few of them and see how my system reacts to the change. I want to do some entertaining so am looking for different recipes I can use with guests while still adhering to low grain principles. I will copy out these recipes into a new book and keep them to try out later. Dont want to tear the magazines so will type them into the computer.

They even give recipes for bread with different types of flour but at present I still dont trust myself to start eating bread again. Will look for some of the ingredients. I should be able to buy soya flour so can try some savoury pancakes one day for lunch with a chicken and veg filling. I am using cornflour in gravies without any ill effects so can try making a cheese sauce with cornflour to go with the pancakes. If I did small ones it would make an interesting starter for a dinner party.

Got into some brown tailored trousers, I had not worn for about 10 years, the other day. Cant even remember where I bought those. One pair of black jeans are now fitting but other pair is still too tight. Think I will have to get under the 154lbs to get into those.

Got a chicken out for lunch today. Had stacks of power cuts so hope power is on to do roasting later. Other day had to boil my veg as power was off and I had to use the gas. Did not taste as good. I may see if I can buy a pan steamer to use if the power is off. Feel keeps more vitamins and is more healthy to steam rather than boil. I did keep liquid for a soup so not wasted.

Checked Husbands glucose level again this morning. For the past 10 days he has been having sweetener in his tea and coffee rather than sugar. Result this morning was 5.5 which is normal down from 6.6 ten days ago which was a prediabetic figure. Very pleased about that so have told him he has to continue with the sweetener for the rest of his life. Have added that to the shopping list as I will need to buy more.