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Beginning weight 300 pounds for far too long.
I started juicing Sept. 10, 2017, and lost 20 pounds by October 22. For the first 4 weeks starting September I tried to stay at about 500 calories per day, juicing only, and then supplementing with 1 vega protein shake for carbs in the morning and some sugar (7g), and a muscle milk zero carb shake at night when I got hungry, and organic blue/green Hawaiian spirulina (cellular repair and source of astaxanthin). I also drank lots of decaf hot tea (black, and green), with a pinch of Himalayan salt, tried chicken broth at one point, but didn't give up my coffee and cream, just limited it to once a day.
My body initially was cleansing out which meant going to the bathroom a lot. It even hurt to eat real food once in a while since I was purely juicing. The difficulty in the process was dealing with the low sugar situation and feeling heady all the time, drank lots of additional water all day. I even monitored my blood glucose/sugar levels before, during, and after each juicing; Especially while performing some exercises such as rowing a couple of times, and mostly walking as a low impact activity which is where I get most of my daily physical exercise from (as not in the gym now).
I had to start drinking vitamin C at some point when feeling hungry to stave off the hunger pangs at the routine hunger times, but the juice mostly sustained me and I juiced as many times in the day as I could in order to feel full with the juice nutrients.
I also listened to what my body wanted in terms of vegetables, and I juiced very little fruit because it meant too much sugar to the system, although it did help to add the occasional apple and or orange to lighten the hard taste (at some point I stopped noticing the taste as I got accustomed to the flavor, and started just shooting juice down the hatch).
I started with using mostly all organics: cucumber (diuretic), celery (bp control, anti-cancerous), lime (low sugar, and slows absorption of sugar), a few carrots (source of beta-carotene for eyesight), lettuce (source of plant enzymes), then mainly moved to a variation of italian parsley, cilantro, celery, ginger, red/purple cabbage (source of 36 anthocyanins), and red beets (high in alpha lipoic acid, and nitrates, to lower bp and build new red blood cells), even juiced some jicama at some point.
The greens could or do cause a cleanse of heavy metals in the body, so I recommend understanding that greens could cause chelation and a possible unsafe toxic situation in some cases (i.e. mercury fillings).
Using vitamins (B complex, B12, C [ascorbic acid type powder in water 5000mg-10,000mg as per tolerance limits], D, E, Co-Q10, Megared krill, flax seed oil softgel, wheat germ oil softgel, and probiotics) in conjunction with juicing also helped me cleanse, rid my body of it's toxins, and restore digestive health to my gut microbiome.
After about 3 weeks to a month of that regimen I started buying and juicing multi-colored and green kales (cutting the stems off), swiss chard and bok choy a few times, broccoli stems (hard taste though), and red peppers. Eventually added a lemon to liver cleanse and then some cranberries, raspberries/blueberries (flavanoids), and cranberries (proanthocyanidins) to switch it up.
From October 22nd to November 7th, reaching 270 (a loss of 30 pounds), I started to stall and plateau with the weight loss, since most of the initial loss comes from water weight, but also the intestinal track cleansing itself of food waste, I decided to go Keto and also try low carb/high fat (mostly ground turkey, recipes with no carbs, eggs, fat bombs, and so forth).
I also incurred beginning intermittent fasting 3 times a week when I could manage, starting slow at first, and then working my way to an 18/6 cycle. 18 hours fasting, and then eating within a 6 hour period, and by stopping eating at 4pm-6pm everyday as a last meal, I could make it to the next morning at about 10am or 12noon. At least I think that is how it is supposed to go, but it was my first time doing keto or intermittent fasting.
I heard on a documentary that fasting is especially effective and used in cancer treatment because it allows the cells to repair and protect themselves. Now I don't have cancer but I figured what the hell, I'll try anything that works.
The keto and or low carb hurt, in a few ways, I was consuming between 500 to 1100, to 2000 calories a day approximately. I had several muscle pains which felt like I went to the gym and did the ultimate set of legs routine, which felt like the pain in my quads was never going to go away.
The upside of making it 18 hours of not eating was really starting to feel reset, and better somehow, not bogged down with my body having to constantly break down and digest intake. My body started to feel great again instead of crappy all the time. Energy levels were a challenge, and feeling heady to make it to a last hour before breaking s fast, but having a planned juice, or food ready prepared makes it easier to fast through the last hour instead of having to power through the low energy anticipation of juicing/eating again.
By the 2nd week of keto, rather it was week 8 to 9 since starting juicing, I started a refeed cycle of carbs to offset the low carbs in my body. I felt low before doing the refeed, and as if using all my effort to walk, go up/down stairs, stand/sit, lift a grocery bag to my shoulder even.
However, I wasn't hungry anymore, or having the cycle of food/carb/sugar cravings and I stopped bottoming out, and feeling crappy from eating carbs or sugar when I did. My glucose levels adjusted on their own and started becoming less sensitive to inputs, but also they regulated on their own without the food addictions driving the hunger cycles (which the mental agony of hunger and biological driven need/addiction to eat is the most difficult addiction cycle to break in my opinion).
Back to talking about after the 2 months of juicing and starting keto, and the intermittent fasting, my body's needs were easier filled with the juicing alone, and then I felt I could eat when I wanted to, being in charge of when I wanted to, without the hunger driving me to eat. Also, my body needed less juice per juicing as my internal digestion and processing of inputs became more efficient, and could require less to maintain it's neccersary intake requirements.
I noticed though having to eat more as food was reintroduced to the juicing and keto though. The other factor is that there have been a lot of fluctuation in weight up and down 3-5 pounds when expecting to lose, which I've never minded because I know that my history shows that omce I fluctuate the weight loss resumes when I start fasting again, and also sleeping about 8 hours. Proper sleep helps to control the hunger and manage the energy levels since my body is working hard to convert stored fat to energy.
It has been a slow steady process but going back to what works after stalls, I would say that along with what I needed, the vitamin C to manage the cortisol/stress, ginger to stimulate weight loss, and red cabbage is what I've craved most, proper sleep is still one of the most significant and important factors for me.
Not getting adequate or restful sleep stalls the process, but I feel like I have done what is necessary and that my body is preprogrammed to lose the weight, and when I do sleep enough and for long hours per night I noticed significant changes in my body and eventually see the excess weight shed.
Another benefit of this process of becoming healthy again is that my mind has become clearer, and aside of the keto/low carb body pain from adjusting, I do not have the crappy feeling in my body from not putting the right stuff in It, and also do not have any carb withdrawal feelings or headaches as experienced in the beginning of a carb elimination period.
I've also had to adjust to working towards having a better attitude and a healthier outlook in life, and towards my healthy changes and newer original self. I have finally given myself permission to pursue the type of body I want to exist in, and also feel ok with the new changes. Despite having such a long affair with food and eating my age prohibits me from really going all out without having reasonable limits.
I want to thank the fatsecret community because I've read your journals often, and derived inspiration (especially with those who have had a much rougher journey and further starting point to where they are), abd when the path has gotten tough and I need to keep going to reach my goals.
I didn't want to blog before but because I feel like reading others' freqient updates, it's helped me, and that in doing so I have a record of this journey and also that I might inspire others along the way, and to stay on their path whatever it is. So thank you all and good journey back to self!
Diet Calendar Entries for 21 November 2017:
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2059 kcal
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Fat: 117.57g | Prot: 95.76g | Carb: 130.87g.
Breakfast: Cream (Half & Half), Now Foods Organic Spirulina Powder, Dagoba Organic Chocolate Cacao Powder, Nature Made Flaxseed Oil. Lunch: Baklava, Kraft Macaroni & Cheese 2%, Chicken Drumstick. Dinner: Ocean Spray Craisins Dried Cranberries, Kirkland Signature Mixed Nuts, Pig in A Blanket (Frankfurter or Hot Dog Wrapped in Dough), Lettuce Salad with Assorted Vegetables, Cream (Half & Half), Vodka, Hillshire Farm Beef Lit'l Smokies. Snacks/Other: General Mills Chex Mix Traditional (Pouch), Optimum Nutrition Gold Standard 100% Casein - Chocolate Supreme. more...
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4001 kcal
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Activities & Exercise:
Sleeping - 7 hours, Walking (slow) - 2/mph - 1 hour, Driving - 1 hour and 6 minutes, Cooking - 1 hour, Housework - 1 hour, Resting - 2 hours and 54 minutes, Sitting - 10 hours. more...
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