I went a week once before without my meds. Last summer, we went to Canada and I left them at home for a week. Contrary to popular belief, you cannot get any meds you want in Canada easily or cheaply. So I went a whole week without meds, and by the end, I was a wreck. I was weepy, irritable, anxious, and having major brain zaps (withdrawal symptoms). Let me tell you how thrilled I am that I'm on medication that causes brain zaps when you go off of it. Awesome.
Anyway, I've been feeling pretty good emotionally on this diet (my last week funk was different than the way I experience depression, though in retrospect, probably related), which is I guess why I was able to forget my meds for a week. That has been remedied.
Lost a pound today. Steady decline continues. The size 16 jeans I could barely fit into when I started this at 229 fit perfectly last week, and this morning, my husband R said, "those jeans are falling off of you, babe." I don't know about THAT, but I think another 10 pounds will definitely be another size.
| Day | Date | Weight | Daily Change | Total Loss |
| Day 1 | 11/1/2010 | 229.6 | n/a | n/a |
| Day 2 | 11/2/2010 | 225.6 | -4.0 | -4 |
| Day 3 | 11/3/2010 | 221.6 | -4.0 | -8 |
| Day 4 | 11/4/2010 | 218.6 | -3.0 | -11 |
| Day 5 | 11/5/2010 | 218.6 | 0.0 | -11 |
| Day 6 | 11/6/2010 | 216.4 | -2.2 | -13.2 |
| Day 7 | 11/7/2010 | 215.8 | -0.6 | -13.8 |
| Week 1 summary: down 13.8 # | ||||
| Day 8 | 11/8/2010 | 214.8 | -1.0 | -14.8 |
| Day 9 | 11/9/2010 | 215.4 | 0.6 | -14.2 |
| Day 10 | 11/10/2010 | 213.8 | -1.6 | -15.8 |
| Day 11 | 11/11/2010 | 213.6 | -0.2 | -16 |
| Day 12 | 11/12/2010 | 215 | 1.4 | 14.6 |
| Day 13 | 11/13/2010 | 213 | -2.0 | -16.6 |
| Day 14 | 11/14/2010 | 212.2 | -0.8 | -17.4 |
| Week 2 summary: down 3.6 # this week; 17.4 # total | ||||
| Day 15 | 11/15/2010 | 212.4 | 0.2 | -17.2 |
| Day 16 | 11/16/2010 | 210 | -2.4 | -19.6 |
| Day 17 | 11/17/2010 | 210.2 | 0.2 | 19.4 |
| Day 18 | 11/18/2010 | 209.4 | 0.8 | 20.2 |
| Day 19 | 11/19/2010 | 208.6 | 0.8 | 21 |
| Day 20 | 11/20/2010 | 208 | 0.8 | 21.8 |
| Day 21 | 11/21/2010 | 207.6 | -0.4 | -22 |
| Week 3 summary: down 4.8# this week; 22 total | ||||
| Day 22 | 11/22/2010 | 206.6 | -1.0 | -23 |
Anyway, back to being hungry. I haven't been hungry at all for the last 2 weeks, but suddenly I am. And so I've been fantasizing about maintenance, when I can add in a few more food items. Sounds like the first three weeks of maintenance are pretty strict, a lot like the VLCD (very low-calorie diet) part, but more and with oils. My selection of proteins, fruits and vegetables will be wider, but still no starches or grains or sugar. Things like nuts and cheese are "caution" items, and if I'm reading it right, you get more leeway with the caution items if you are totally shunning starches and sugars.
Then the second three weeks of maintenance, if you're doing okay, you get to add in even more foods. The idea is to eat as many calories as you can without gaining weight so that you create a new set point for your body that has a high calorie requirement. If I set at this weight now, it will mean that if I ever eat more than 500 calories, I'll gain. So at the end of 40 days, you do 6 weeks of maintenance and try to reset your weight while eating 1500-2000 calories. I will admit I am not totally clear on why I won't gain 5 pounds the first day of maintenance, but we'll see.
So I've been dreaming of delicious, nutritious food; not candy bars and donuts, but yummy, healthy food. It is keeping me sane to think about what I will eat on my first day of maintenance, in my fourth week of maintenance, and on my next "gorge" days IF I decide to do a second round of this.
This is my first day of maintenance meal:
Breakfast: coffee with whole milk, scrambled eggs (in olive oil) with cheese and tomatoes, blueberries
Lunch: Chef's salad with ham, turkey, chicken, salami, tiny bit of shredded cheese, all kinds of mixed vegetables, edamame, small amount of sunflower seeds, and a small amount of no-sugar ranch dressing
Snack: apple with peanut butter
Dinner: stir fried chicken and soy sauce with mushrooms, broccoli, and snow peas
Dessert: skim milk and berry smoothie
Y'all, seriously, this seems so ridiculously delicious and decadent that my mouth is watering. If I can keep my body thinking that a day eating like THAT is absurdly indulgent, I will never be fat again. But then, that's the trick, right?
I only have to make it three more weeks! This diet honestly hasn't been that hard. If anything it's boring, but not hard. But man will I be ready for some real food.
hey doll
ReplyDeletejust wanted to pipe in to remind you that you won't gain 5lbs the first day of maintenance because it is impossible to 'reset' your metabolism to 500 calories a day. yes, your calories burned per day will most likely be significantly reduced from the near starvation diet, but there is no way it can be that low. it sounds like the P3 is designed to signal to your body 'hola, not really starving here, just kidding about that' while eating basically the same number of calories that you are probably burning--i.e. less than usual, but def. more than 500.
also, just wanted to follow up on your post before about thai food jealousy (i've been out of town). anyway, basically just totally ditto to what holly said. everybody wants to eat drunken noodle when it's in their face, THAT is a normal response/relationship/whatever to food. you are not trying to cure yourself of eating altogether, you know. this reminds me of a line in bridget jones diary (started to paraphrase, but then just looked up):
"have reached point where believe nutritional ideal is to eat nothing at all, and that the only reason people eat is because they are so greedy they cannot stop themselves from breaking out and ruining their diets"
This is more evidence for the psychological benefits of the diet, if you could go so long without meds and still be pretty darn good.
ReplyDeleteI liked Kristoise's comment.