Holy Schnikies I’ve been busy!
On day 25 I decided to change things up a little bit. Since the beginning, one of my greatest concerns was not eating enough food. I was picking up the vibe from long-time zero carbers; however, that such a thing wasn’t necessary. So I thought I’d give it a few days not intentionally trying to eat as much as possible. I also cut salt out completely for 3 days as well as ate absolute zero carbs for 3 days (until dinner tonight).
Well, it’s hard to provide much reliable feedback, as I’ve spent 15 hours per day in front of my computer for three straight days. No diet could leave one feeling good after such a thing. In fact, I feel quite drained, run down, and toxic.
But cutting back food intake seemed to provide some relief. My skin got a little softer. Signs of inflammation decreased, and of course, the weight came falling off like crazy. I weighed in at 171.5 today ? down from 177 four weeks ago. I’m swimmin? in all my pants ? in fact, the most recent pair I’ve purchased I can barely keep on without a belt.
For the past 3 days I’ve eaten closer to 2,500 calories per day, which, for me, is nothing. In fact, six months ago I kept careful watch of my caloric intake for a week and discovered it to average over 4,000 calories per day!
This evening I was legitimately hungry for food for the first time in a long time. I had some ceviche-style fish (that had been touched by lime juice ?eeeewwww!), and could hardly get it down fast enough.
Okay, I’m tired, not just of being awake, but of staring at a computer screen. Here’s my menu for the past 3 days? What variety!
Breakfast, lunch, and dinner ? Slow-roasted bone-in ribeye, unseasoned, rare, sliced with all fat (ate 6 pounds in 8 meals total, or 12 ounces per meal on average).
Dinner tonight was the only deviation ? 3 ounces lime-treated fish, 1 cup heavy whipping cream, 3 ounces sharp cheddar
Christmas Day is the unplanned 30th day. Stay tuned for the grand conclusion. Maybe I’ll leave Santa some pemmican cookies.
Heya Matt! So what do you mean by “toxic” feeling? Also, what temperature do you slow roast your bone-in ribeye at and for how long?
Did eliminating the sodium help or hinder?
Thanks for answerin the questions!! You are doing great!
What kind of weight do you suspect that you lost? I can’t imagine you had much adipose tissue to lose, but when you mention “waist” it makes me wonder. So what do you think we’re talking about here? Adipose tissue, lean tissue, water weight?
There is supposed to be a trick that bodybuilders use to quickly gauge their bodyfat levels. If memory serves, it involves using a tape measure to take both flexed and unflexed measurements of the upper arm. Since you can’t flex fat, a fatter person would have a closer ratio between the two measurements (i.e., not as much difference when flexed). A leaner person would have had a larger measurement between the two.
Obviously it is little help throwing this at you on Day 28, but such a thing might be a quick and dirty way for you to keep tabs on your body fat during your experiments.
Pooti,
By toxic I mean ill-feeling. When I spend too much time sitting in front of a computer I emanate this disgusting foul body odor and feel dizzy and achy. Good stuff! Work real hard at being healthy and then blow it all in front of the computer! Perfect! Didn’t notice anything from taking salt out for just a few days. Probably good at enhancing my tasting ability.
Ben,
I think I’ve predominantly lost fat, although the reduction in waist size could be due in part to reduced swelling of the intestines like Monastyrsky talks about when cutting out fiber.
I may have lost some mucsle, but very little I feel. I gauge this by noticing increases in muscle definition. This is a good indicator because I’ve been down to 160 with far less muscle definition than I have now at 172, something I did by hiking 40 hours a week and eating a “normal” diet.
I’ve looked so different, so many times, at exactly 170 pounds — from emaciated with more body fat to muscular and somewhat ‘ripped.’ I’m more pleased with my body composition now, by eating this diet with little exercise than I did when eating “mostly plants” and exercising like a mad man. Without a doubt.