Two Weeks

It has been two weeks since we started this crazy diet.  I feel like I am adapted pretty well.  We seem to be getting used to preparing real food on a daily basis.  For example, my wife just prepared a great dinner of taco salad with avocado dip.  It was delicious.  While cleaning up, I put a dozen eggs on to boil while I prepared a salad for my lunch tomorrow.  As I finished peeling the eggs, I put a batch of Trader Joe's Ruby Red Chai for us.  I finished peeling the eggs about the time it was finished steeping and poured it over an inch of coconut milk and added a pack of Sweet Leaf Stevia.  The tea is spicy and delicious and has almost zero carbs.

My workouts have been going pretty well.  Yesterday was a tough 3.5 mile run, but I was able to get it done.  Today I warmed up for 5 minutes and did a series of calisthenic exercises.  Wall-balls with side plank super-sets followed by walking lunges with torso-twists.  I finished off the day with a couple of sets of pull-ups and stretching.  I could do 18 pull-ups without stopping in college and I want to get back there again.  I felt like I had energy to spare today.  So, at worst, I have noticed no difference in energy by switching to a low-carb diet.  So much for needing carbs for energy.

Enough with the boring stuff... here are the stats.  Right now, I sit at a loss of ten pounds in the two weeks since I have started.  I feel lighter and I swear my belly is flatter than before.  Most of all, I feel better.

I have backed off on my protein intake slightly.  I think I ate a little more fat to feel satisfied.  Based on my body weight and activity level, I have estimated that I need about 90g per day.  I was eating about 120g.  The danger is that if your body can't use up the protein you eat, it gets converted to glycogen by your liver.  (For my fellow geeks out there, the process is called gluconeogenesis.)  This additional glycogen causes an insulin response and can throw you out of nutritional ketosis.  So, today, instead of putting grilled chicken on my salad, I put one and a half boiled eggs for a total of 10g of protein.  That opened me up to have a good amount of protein for dinner tonight.  To make sure I was satisfied at lunch, I added an extra splash of olive oil to my salad.  Nonetheless, a dozen almonds with some coconut oil later than afternoon ensured I wasn't starving when I arrived at home.

You might be wondering what all of this fat is doing to me.  Well, I will get into that a little more tomorrow.  Just to set you mind at ease, since you all care for me so much, I am keeping a close watch on my lipid panels to make sure I don't kill myself while I am going through the process of making myself feel better and look better.

More to come...