I found days five, eleven and fourteen (with day fourteen as the worst) to be taxing on my commitment to this program. Those first two days were not bad, probably due to not ingesting enough good fats to satiate me. But day fourteen had several things working in concert: a restless night's sleep added to the lack of proteins and fats. I was craving liver and onions and revived after that and a good eight hours of sleep.
I find I'm eating so much less. Basically a snack upon waking, another at noonish, a late lunch of a regular-sized meal (one-fourth meat and three-fourths veggies, either cooked or raw as a salad) and a snack a couple hours before bedtime or later if I can't make it without it. Now work is a little hectic right now too, so I don't really have the time to cook much.
For instance, here's a few of the things I've been eating over the last couple weeks:
- Handful of almonds or pepitas or sunflower seeds
- Colored bell peppers (not the green ones; I find them too bitter when raw)
- Black olives
- Canned wild tuna stuffed in a tomato, drizzled with EVOO
- A lot of salads with EVOO and lemon juice that first week
- A lot of sauteed veggies the second week
- Grilled salmon and asparagus spears
- Grilled marinated shrimp and sauteed fajita veggies
- Bacon and blackened onions
- Beef liver and onions with mushrooms
- Black forest ham with an avocado
- Deli roast beef wrapped around a green onion
- Green tea mixed with mint herb tea
- Decaf coffee
- Lots of water
And my normal triggers are gone. No emotional eating, regardless of a particular thorn in my side today. No stress eating, meanwhile making two of my self-imposed (earlier) deadlines today, and three more projects awaiting me. No eating what I see, even with cupcakes in the house. That was a big test. I passed.
I've got energy (except for day fourteen). In fact I never had withdrawal symptoms. No headaches. No grouchiness (until today but that was from an outside source). So I'm pleased. Very happy.
Now I'm on the downside of the hill heading toward day twenty-eight. Looking toward the maintenance program. Since I'm going by just what info I can research online, I'm going to reintroduce foods per Atkins's rungs (see Wikipedia article). Also increasing each week's carb intake by five the first week, five the next, and so on until I cease to lose weight. Want to know this carb cap to apply to my lifestyle eating from here on out.
I don't even know what carb count I'm hitting daily now, but it's probably below twenty a day. I'm surprised my body's not in shock. Where are the breads? The pastas? The sweets? I am so proud of myself. Even halfway through, I've done something wonderful for my health.
Here's to greater health for all.
Denise Barker, author + blogger + copy
editor
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