Eringiffin's Journal, 08 June 2012

I just can't believe my eyes. I actually lost 2.8 lbs. yesterday. I must have been thinking thin in my dreams last night. But actually, I have this new theory that 800 calories is just too low for me even with the ketosis. Going to test that theory a bit. If I can keep things under control this weekend, Monday's weigh in is going to be a real shocker! My little dog seems to have perked up, too. I am hoping she is over the hump and on the mend. 

800 calories is way to low. If your body adjusts to that you will have to eat an extremely low calorie intake to maintain. Most people tend to lose more muscle on a very low calorie diet and the metabolism slows as it thinks its starving. When I first started my recommended RDI was 2400 calories. I thought I wouldn't lose any weight at that level so dropped it to 1700 and did good for a while. The weight loss started to level off for a while and I went up to 1900 calories and started losing again at a good rate. Right now I'm experimenting with eating my full 2000 RDI and things have stalled but I'm going to slowly find the right level. 

FOL - Your journal the other day was what inspired me to experiment. I have been taking my doctor's word for everything up until now. I think it's time for me to be a little more proactive about finding what works for me. His plan has to be generalized to work for many types of people but I am with me all day every day and there is no reason why I can't bend the rules a bit if it means I will have more consistent weight loss. It just means that I will have to be even more careful about journalling everything I eat to make sure I have the data to make informed judgement calls. 

I'm surprised that a doctor would recommend this low a diet. They, of all people, should know the potential problems. Hope you find what works for you.  

From what I understand, you can trick the body into burning fat instead of muscle with eating a really low carb diet. This is the second doctor I have seen since the first one recommended HCG injections and after hearing some horror stories and the doctor's laundry list of liability release forms, I rejected that idea. I've already seen one of the risks with this diet... if you go off of it too fast, you can really pack on the lbs. But the doctor has a transition plan once I get close to my goal weight that should mitigate that. I do sometimes wonder who to and who not to listen to because everyone claims to be an expert on diet and weight loss. I think I get more persecution for being obese than for my religion or my gender.  

That is so true and I probable came across a bit preachy. That's most likely because I have tried those low cal diets and they didn't work for me, in fact screwed me up even more. But everyone is different. One thing I liked about my doctor is when he told me I had to lose a lot of weight he never mentioned weight loss surgery, HCG, or anything else extreme. He did offer to set me up with a nutritionist and some support groups.