Weekend Update

Friday and Saturday were new challenges on my low-carb diet.  Friday I went to Burley to watch Jeff race in the Spudman triathlon.  He did well, finishing 9th in his age group.  He completed the Olympic distance, a total of 32 miles, in about the same time I finished the Salem sprint triathlon, which is roughly half as far.

Anyway, it was a challenge food-wise because again I was eating out.  For dinner Friday we went to a place and I had the salad bar -- not too difficult.  Breakfast on Saturday was whatever we brought because we camped in the park next to the Snake River.  I brought some granola bars, which was cheating because granola is a grain and not allowed on this diet in the first two weeks.  But it was that or starve.  I also had some vegetable chips to munch on.  They are almost as good as potato chips, but without the salt and potatoes.  These are things like beets, sliced squash, green beans and carrots that have been dried and toasted.  As a treat for dinner I grilled a couple of filet mignon with corn (also a little bit of a cheat, since corn isn't allowed), cucumbers and onions and tomatoes.  Lunch today was a green salad with turkey and cheese.  Tonight we're having Dutch oven chicken, mashed potatoes (which I won't eat), squash and salad.

All in all, things are not going too badly at this point.  I've lost 3 lbs since Tuesday but the more important factor is what this is doing to my blood chemistry, which I won't know until my physical on August 17.  The point of this diet is primarily to lower total cholesterol, triglycerides and blood sugar.  Weight loss is secondary but the only way of keep score is on the scales for now.

Eating out and Parties

Yesterday was a big day for my low/no carb diet. Lunch was with a group I belong to at their weekly luncheon. The menu was only three items. I decided the chicken linguini with Alfredo sauce was not a good choice. I don't remember the third choice, but I went with the schnitzel. It's a breaded piece of pork with vegetables and mashed potatoes. I ignored the bread basket and left all the potatoes on my plate. Then to dinner, which was a picnic for our son and his wife who are leaving for medical school next week. Hamburger with no bun, no potato or pasta salad, no dessert (pies, cobbler, cookies, cake). I did have a few potato chips, which are always my downfall, but far fewer than I normally would eat.


So far the diet is tolerable. I wouldn't say it's not hard at all, because it is. I just finished my lunch and am still hungry. But I found a couple of low carb recipes for Southwestern chicken and homemade refried beans. You can see them here:

http://lowcarbdiets.about.com/od/maindishes/r/greenchilechick.htm

and here:

http://lowcarbdiets.about.com/od/lowcarbsidedishes/r/refriedbeans.htm

The only changes I made were to the beans. Fry the bacon then crumble it into the beans. It's too much trouble to cut it into small pieces first. And mash the beans with a potato masher or fork before putting them in the pan. I fried them in a little bacon grease. They were delicious and very filling.

Low Carb Diets

Yesterday I started a low-carb diet.  I've done this before without much success, but I figured that since I'm still stuck at the same weight I've been at for the last three years, since I don't like how I look or feel, since my annual physical is coming up in mid-August and I know I'll be told "loose weight, cut down on carbs," and since, finally, I don't want more medications (had some problems a few years back and the dosage had to be lowered) I would try again.

Yesterday wasn't too bad.  I don't think I packed enough food for the day, though.  At lunch I worked out with weights and took a brisk 20 minute walk to keep the HR up.  By the time evening came and I was making hamburger patties, sauteed veggies (onions, mushrooms and green peppers in olive oil and a little butter) and steamed cauliflower, I could tell I was low on blood sugar.  My attitude sucked, to put it bluntly.  After dinner Nancy and I went to the rec center and rode the stationary bikes for 30 minutes.  I felt pretty good.  Ate a piece of cheese about 9:30.

This morning was horrible.  I felt light-headed right after breakfast (a two-egg omelette with ham, cheese and mushrooms and 6 oz of vegetable juice).  I was definitely hypoglycemic.  About 11:00 I started to feel better and did another fast walk of about 35 minutes on lunch break.  By the end I had definitely bonked -- run out of glycogen.  But after eating lunch (leftovers from last night plus some cucumbers and onions) I felt better all afternoon.

It isn't until you actually cut out carbs that you realize how much of our diet is made up of them:  Bread, potatoes, pasta, cereal, rice, just to name a few of the main ones.  Then add all the fruits that have too much sugar to qualify as low carb (oranges, tangerines, plums, cherries) and even carrots and suddenly the food universe has shrunk.  On the South Beach diet, the one I'm starting with, for the first two weeks carbs are severely restricted.  None of the usual carbs, no fruit of any kind, no carrots.  Is this fun or what?