Week 16, 17, 18 & 19: One, Two, Skip A Few...

Quadruple Whammies! When I hit a rut, I really hit hard!

Week 16 was the week after the Halloween party. Didn't have company after Wednesday, and back to work that week. Good company still equals bad eating, though, for both Susan and myself. I laced my Power Foods with junk food and party leftovers and fast food.

Week 17 led up to my wedding, with a household shower and no hope of eating intelligently. Susan came back to be all Maid of Honor-y. :) The wedding went well, by the way. Only a few fat-tuck issues with the pictures. I'm a wife now, which is a weird feeling!

Week 18 was the week after my wedding, during which I subsisted solely on cheeseball and leftover red velvet wedding cake.

Week 19 is Thanksgiving week, during which I know I will eat heavily on three different days, with leftovers. I still want to try some of the Power Foods replacement meals for Thanksgiving. But poor Brandon wants "real" food. And he'll "waste away" on what I eat. :)

My weigh in will not happen until the end of Week 20. I know it's bad. I just can't do it this week.

So what's the plan? All joking aside... Well, first I briefly considered bulimia. Then I realized how hard of a time I have setting up routines, how much I hate to waste things, and how much I hate throwing up. Then I considered liposuction, zip-zap, all done. Then I realized I am essentially poor and that lipo is not a viable option at this time.

So I decided the following instead:

I'll give myself until Week 20 to eat bad-for-me stuff. That's next Monday. I will try to sneak in a few healthful meals between now and then, and try to lean toward the good for me stuff. Then on Monday morning, I'll weigh in. And probably cry. I'll dive into the Weight Watchers Power Foods Simply Filling program again. It'll be all damage control until Christmas, when I'll pare down my holiday food intake even more, perhaps not even breaking the program this time. Then it's more damage control until the New Year.

At that time, I'll take my progress (or lack thereof) to the doctor and get a full cholesterol and bloodwork profile made. We'll discuss what I'm trying and what's working or not, and see what he can do for me in the way of support or maybe even meds, short of stapling my stomach. It'll be interesting to see where this goes...

And then, depending on the outcome and suggestions that arise from that, I'm going to do something drastic. I'll do a fast of some type. Perhaps that nasty juice fast I tried. Depends on my activity level at the time. I'll do it for a week, two weeks, a month... However long it takes to get my body ready to process fat, and how long it takes me to get over the silly cravings of addiction. Don't worry, I said "drastic", not "stupid." I'll not do anything that would hurt me more than help.

See you at the end of Week 20!

Cuddles,

Tamara

I'M BACK: Atkins Fat Fast

School's out for me, so no more convenience and fast food! I drank sooo much Pepsi! But I've finally found a diet drink that is sweetened with Splenda and has zero caffeine, so I think I'll cope. Stats have hovered around the same. Weight is still 284, which is better than my high point of 300 before I started this blog! So now I'm refocused: Finish Novel, Finish Comic Book, Finish Health Overhaul!

I've decided to break a few habits this week. I'm on day 2 of the caffeine headache. And I've jumpstarted Atkins Induction as of this moment. I'm one meal into the Atkins Fat Fast, which helps people dive into ketosis headlong and makes the most limited Atkins Induction meal look delicious. Here's how it works:

1. Break meals into 5 200-calorie meals for no more than a week (recommended 3-5 days). 1000 calories a day is very low, but the food choices keep you full.

2. Meals consist of high-fat, low or no carb things like 1 oz. macadamias, 2 oz cream cheese, and even heavy cream, tuna salad and sour cream. Weird, I know, but look up details online. Someone else is much more excited about the science behind it, I guarantee. I know the basics, but more importantly, it works!

3. Forces body into high-activity ketosis. You're still eating, but your body says "Oh, no! Starving!" so it mobilizes fat for energy. In a real starvation scenario, your metabolism bottoms out after a day or so to use as little fat fuel as possible so you increase your chance of survival. Since you're still eating, your body's metabolism is confused into staying high to keep the fat moving since you're not giving it carbs to burn.

4. Appetite suppression. Hunger subsides during ketosis because your body is protecting you from the discomfort of hunger. After all, you're "starving"! The Fat Fast is different from Induction because of the restricted, smaller amounts of high fat foods one eats. Simply put, fat satiates. We can tolerate less food because there is more fat in the smaller amount. In Induction, protein is counted on for satiation, with a bit of fat thrown in.

Luckily, most people only stay in Induction for two weeks, and only use Fat Fast for under a week to start the diet or to break a plateau. The diet starts to look pretty normal after these two stages, especially as far as variety goes. Ketosis still plays a key role, but weight loss is knocked down to 2 or 3 pounds a week-- a normal, acceptable amount.

Truth be told, I'm bored with being fat! This is where I would insert all the reasons to lose weight I've given before. But boredom is miraculous! It's how I dive headlong into most ventures, actually. And once I dive in, the activity is never far from my mind. So here I am again, even though I never really left. And here I hope to stay!