Down 10 pounds, Day 14 - Cheat snacks, not cheat DAYS

Results are still coming in!

So I have been researching a lot --- still -- everyday. haha And my conclusions are still shifting about the accuracy of this diet.

On My fitness Pal I am logging EVERYTHING and when I exercise, my daily goal of "700 calories" shifts up to "700 calories + 200 calories of exercise = you can eat 900 calories"

So I am eating more like 900, sometimes 1000 depending on my exercise expenditures.

Some of my motivation for weight loss is that I can do something physically demanding (breakdancing) at the end of this journey. There was a study posted in a VLCD forum on MFP about how loss of lean muscle WILL NOT happen unless your body is already under 10% body fat. However, there will be a slowed metabolism (starvation mode) that slows results if you eat under 1k cals a day, which I am.

One poster on a rather lengthy and heated discussion about 800 cal diet questioned why anorexics can still lose weight on a low calorie diet. If starvation mode does exist then they should not be losing weight. My apple day is evidence of the oppositional stance.

If you really do eat nothing for a day, or very very little (like 5-6 apples), then you will lose water, muscle, everything. I don't know if could be considered a plateau breaker. I did have some energy to move around quite a bit in the afternoon but when I realized I wasn't getting a steak for dinner I suddenly found myself lethargic

Another article stated that no matter what diet you choose (low carb, low fat, etc.) has no bearing on weight loss. Only caloric deficits create a loss. On ASAP I average 700 cals - 200 for my rare breastfeeding session which probably is more like 50 calories but I am overestimating, so that's 500 down. With a TDEE of 2361calories that means I am burning away 1800 of mommy excess fat or YES 1/2 day! So where is the magic in that??? ASAP isn't burning my fat, I AM.

That being said I took this as evidence to snack on some 100 calorie popcorn and portioned out oreos... *sulk* I still stayed under my 700 cal (900 cal) goal on MFP! And in the morning... I found I had finally lost that pound I was teetering on the day before.


So that TDEE is already factoring my exercise which MFP does also, so I have to reconfigure my eating habits now. 2361 - 1k cals = 1.3 k or about about 1/3# a day lost, which is what I am having now (after my 3 days post-plateau).

So if I have a caloric deficit of 1k cals a day I will lose a pound in about 3 days, thats about 2.5 a week or 10# a month. That would mean by Hoopcamp I will be 12.5 smaller, or 148.5 by then. And for halloween I'd be 139! And then thanksgiving I'd be 129! Then I can go back up to 1800 cals.

I know a part of the reason why the diet is as strict and healthy as it is is because it flushes out the toxins in your fat. This has to happen because part of the reason we store fat is to store the toxins. If I kept eating 900 cals of oreos I would lose but my toxic build would eventually hinder my results. Not to mention the bloating would make my inches go up.

So now I am at 155 and I feel great! I do still have a belly that I want smaller though. So I will stick with it since I might as well see! I deserve it! I think I'll retrain my mind to take it one week at a time. So now I am finished with week 2 and its on to the last and final week. Then... it will be week 4, the last and final week, hahaha. I will give myself little cheats because if I don't reward myself sooner than once in a month in a half then I will go insane. I need weekly or biweekly cheats, a bag of 100 cal popcorn, a skinny 120 cal latte. If my results halt for days at a time I will know why. I will keep my sodium levels lower since I think my big plateau before was that I was eating about 3 oz of beef jerky a day! I needed a big water flush. I do need to be drinking more water.

Wow this post is all over the place! In conclusion, yes - I will stick with 700 cal diet, yes - I will be AVOIDING oil, sugar, milk, breads - no, I will not be sticking to the strict ASAP diet as I will allow myself 2 bad snacks a week. This is a lifestyle I can stick with for a longer period than 6 weeks then introduce the milk, breads but not oils. Then introduce oils after I reach my goal of 140! I'm guessing just in time for turkey and gravy, mmm'm.

Plateau Breaker, Day 10 Apple Day

"1. The Steak Day
In this method, dieters are required to drink a lot of liquid as much as they can throughout the day. They can drink coffee, water, or tea anytime they want. However, they are not allowed to eat anything until dinner. For dinner, they are only allowed to eat a big steak together with an apple and a tomato.

2. The Apple Day
This effective plateau breaker was developed by Dr Simeons, the same man who discovered that HCG can be used for weight loss. In this technique, dieters are required to eat six apples only for one day. Aside from that, they also need to lower their liquid consumption to 32 ounces. This method should only be used as a plateau breaker and not recommended to be done regularly.

3. Apple Cider Vinegar
Apple cider vinegar or commonly known as ACV is very effective in breaking weight loss plateaus. HCG dieters need to add 2 tablespoons of ACV into their daily diet to experience its benefits. For those who cannot stand the taste of ACV, it is highly recommended for them to take ACV capsules instead.

4. The Fiber Solution
This method is not only effective in breaking weight loss plateaus it also works in treating constipation that normally accompanies the HCG diet. The fiber solution technique requires dieters to take a fiber supplement, such as pure pysllium powder, and drink plenty of liquid throughout the day.

5. Light Physical Activities
Doing simple exercises at a moderate level can help increase the body's metabolism. When the metabolism rate increases, the body becomes more adept at burning stubborn fat. Physical activities such as walking 30 minutes daily, dancing, swimming, or cycling are already sufficient to break the HCG diet plateau."

 Source: http://www.rapidhcg.com/HCG-Diet-Plateau.html

-------------------------------------------
I found this article very helpful at giving more options of small things I can do to keep losing. I don't want to be in a plateau anymore!! I weakened on Saturday because of a discouraging 2 day plateau and indulged in some food at a party (I stuck to 1200 cals). Its no surprise I remained plateaued for the next 3 days as my body decided to run on what I gave it instead of digesting the abnormal fat on my body.

I bought a digital scale and it shows me as being 5 pounds heavier than the analog scale, haha... so not sure which to believe. I'd LIKE to believe the analog but I'll go to my mom's scale for a third opinion. Also the scale I bought gave me 5 different numbers everytime I went on the scale. So that's not promising regarding an accurate measurement.

Plateau Breaking Day @ 160lb., 5 down, day 6

So after a nice 5 pound loss I stepped on the scale today and saw the same numbers. Time to cut through it!

I was feeling very tired last night before bed and I think I had too much beef jerky over the course of the day because in the morning I was all dry mouthy, yuck! Dehydration is still possible when drinking loads of water I guess. It is the coffee that was working against me!

I went for a rather vigorous walk while holding 25 pound Willow in a front baby carrier yesterday morning and I wasn't hungry at all then it hit me like a wave of sleepiness at 3pm.

After the drops before 3pm I had a rush of energy and I had been very productive: clearing out my closet, organizing drawers, etc. Not eating gives you a lot of free time and I was on my feet all day doing things when usually I would have tried to relax and find something to watch on the Roku. Something to slow down.

Those B vitamins certainly do their thing! I was on the go but after I had lunch I realized I needed to eat more. I wasn't hungry, but I was feeling the effects of fatigue: blurred vision, slurred and disorganized speech (I was trying to talk to my mom and found myself using the wrong words over and over like a drunk person).

So when it was time for bed I knew I couldn't wait another 12 hours before food and I had a remaining 300 cals to eat after my walk to keep in line with my 700 cal diet (I earned around 200cals from walking), so I had ... a "bad" thing (non ASAP approved that is,). haha... split pea soup with bacon. I had 3/4 of the can and it helped me sleep and this morning I wasn't hungry until now, almost 1pm!

I know that the soup probably is what made me plateau since it was undoubtedly in my stomach still after I awoke, but I still feel like I wanted to make sure I maintain my 1lb/day average so today I am doing a modified plateau breaker day.


Right now I am eating an apple (I only have 3 left so I will have to modify the 6 apple/steak breaker). I guess it will be 4 clementines, 3 apples!  (the clementines are reallly small so I will have 4). I hope to come back tomorrow with a successful loss!

Day 2, round 2! Eating less FOREVER

So I have been in the kitchen canning some asparagus for later-date snacks and found myself getting quite hungry. I recognize this feeling from before, it is my tummy pulling, crunching, AND SHRINKING! HIP HIP HOOOORAY!

The hardest part of starting any low calorie diet is turning off that switch that says eat eat eat. I seriously turn off that switch in my body and find that meal time is a chore, not a relished part of my day that I overindulge.

My remedy to stop the pangs? BTT of course! I put a scoop in 3 cups of water with some plant derived minerals and I'm 1 cup down and feeling fine.

I was typing it up on an ASAP review and stated something that is reverberating with me now. I was saying that ASAP is only a 3 week program with 3 weeks maintenance or 6 weeks with 3 weeks maintenance, but it really is much longer than that. You have to be committed to surviving off less calories. My body will be maintaining its weight on around 1600 cals, so I cannot "eat whatever I want, whenever I want" after the diet is over. It is a life change. I will have to exercise about an hour everyday to eat how I was eating before.


Currently my body is supposedly consuming 1900 calories a day plus the breast feeding is another 500 cals so 2400. That's about how much I was eating and I was gaining, so I know that the breastfeeding (1-2 a day for 10 minutes) is not going to be draining me of 500 cals. Probably around 100, 200 during teething periods (more nursing).

So if I do the math hrmmm, eating 800 cals a day would leave me around -1000, or over a 7 day period, 7k cals and that's about 2 lb. in a week. Now this is far less than the results I get on this product! I will look into the process of ketosis more because I am super-intrigued by it!

Day 19, weight rebounded to 13 lost

I had a good feeling that 150 was too good to be true and I was right! Yesterday the scale read 154 and I was totally bummed that my fast day didn't produce a 5 pound loss, but really it wasn't for me to lose 5 pounds, just to break my plateau. So it was still a success! Today the scale was around 153.5... so still losing!

I went shopping very hungry yesterday and ended up buying tons of sweet things. Its strange- I had a desire to buy it, but I am so strong about this diet that I was able not to even think about eating any of it. It was some sort of hypnosis! I had a chef salad from the deli with no cheese or dressing. Just lettuce, diced ham, and a bit of chicken. Then I bought more stevia drops for my black coffee at lunch: English Toffee.

A bit got on my ring finger and my finger was slightly sweet ALL DAY. I know - gross - she's licking her fingers... but anytime I wanted something sweet all I had to do was lick my finger. It was magical.

Day 17, Down 15 pounds... what?!

So between yesterday and today I lost 5 pounds. I... am sort of at a loss of words. I think I may have been looking at "150" as if it were "155".. whoops!

So no plateau? That's great news! Furthermore I can say I have reached the number I wanted to reach in 21 days and I still have 4 days to spare. I am sort of thinking some of this is water weight and I will gain it back. But hopefully not. I am going to drink my 80 ounces of water and Beyond Tangy Tangerine today and hopefully the scale won't magically read 155 again tomorrow.

My plateau breaker of a steak and an apple may have worked then.

I had 4.5 ounces though, and my apple turned into  an apple AND an orange. Because I knew if I didn't have just a little more of something before bed I would be weak in the morning.

My breakfast was wonderful, two egg whites and about an ounce of diced steak with spinach was yummy yummy. Filled me up good even though it was served on a tiny saucer.

For lunch I'll have some Wedding soup, I saw it on an asap website: EFENTERPRISES

I think I'll make it like this:

cook the lean ground beef, drain the fat.
boil water and add beef stock concentrate
add spinach, add 3 oz. beef, EAT!
Probably an orange on the side too.

Honestly I'm not sure if that is how its made but it looks like it from the picture and that sounds good even if its not wedding soup.
 
Then for dinner I'll have a nice salad with chicken and pear.

Measured myself today, 24" off my whole body. I am starting to feel like I was prepregnancy!

900 cals a day or 2500?

I have been very careful to read about claims of how ASAP only works because it is extremely calorie restricted. Yes, it is. I am averaging 900 cals a day, but I also  know I do not have any hunger pains for that extra 1100 cals. And if my calculations are correct, shouldn't I then only be losing 3500 cals (a pound) every 3 days? Not every day! And these claims do not account for the 1400-1600 cals of fat that I'm burning everyday that are released into my bloodstream. That's why I am heavily avoiding any fatty foods (avocados, high fat meats) - I am already getting PLENTY of it.

Well I've been losing about a pound a day on this diet, with little hunger.

I saw Cloud Atlas tonight (IMAX experience - great!) And after, my mother, sister-in-law, and I went to a burger joint. I actually felt fulfilled with my chicken salad sin dressing and tiny bowl of chili sin cheese. I am so happy with how ASAP has guided me into making the right food choices.

It COULD be the dumbofeather. I do not deny that. That does not make me ignorant if the product works. If I had a chance to do it again, I would, even knowing what I know now. You buy an $80 bottle of "magic potion"... but the ingredients DO fend off your appetite and according to my above math, it may also be assisting in the weight loss 3x faster than it would be normally.

It says it only blasts away abnormal fat and not muscle. Well I got news for you: any weight loss is great! haha. When you are losing fat you also lose lean muscle because your body doesn't need a 120 pound lean frame to carry around 140 pounds, it only needs a 90-100 pound lean frame.

The location of the fat I'm losing seems to be my legs mostly, which honestly, were fine to begin with!! My belly button measurement has only gone down a 1/2" but then its my most "problem area" being postnatal 8 months. I was hoping it would be the first thing to magically waste away. No luck there, I'm hopeful still though.

I am on Day 8 and down 8 pounds - 32 sticks of butter! Where the heck was I carrying it all?!

I survived Halloween without candy

This has been my first Hallween ever without eating a single candy. Wow was it hard. I looked into my daughters candy bucket, amazed at the colors and smells. I admit I did smell her Kit Kat bar and allowed my mind to do the rest about pretending I was eating it. I think it helped to fend off the cravings. Success!!

My Mom is in the habit of these large "family suppers" every Thursday night, though. Essentially it is a Holiday dinner every Thursday night. Last week I was on Day 2 of the ASAP regimen which allowed for "eating whatever you can't have" during Days 3-21. But I still remained vigilant about my plate and only had a little roast beef and potatoes.

This time, a BIG HONKING TURKEY DINNER!

I skipped lunch in preparation for spacing out my calories.
What was on my plate? One large slice of white meat (less fat? seemed dry so I assumed it was), 1/4 cup green beans, 3 Tbs. of mashed potatoes, 1/4 cup fruit salad (only fruit), 1/2 cup GF stuffing, about 3 Tbs. of cornstarch gravy.

I am very proud of myself!

This morning on the scale I weighed in at 158.5 (Day 7 and 6.5 pounds lost)!


Hooray for progress!

Day 6, down 5 pounds - gluten free menu for ASAP

I try to imagine that at this point I've taken 10 STICKS OF BUTTER off my entire body. My energy level has been skyrocketing lately. I am living with my parents right now to save money for a house and downstairs is "theirs" and upstairs is "mine"... well I cleaned both of those in one day because I have so much energy!

It reminds me of when I used to fast after my monthly cycle (tmi?) I would go on a fast for a week maybe everyother month because I wanted to regulate myself back to making good food choices. For some reason not eating was my only way to keep my cravings in check. Its strange but not eating is easier than this diet. I think it would be easier to just not eat than to crave food and constantly tell yourself, no... you can't have that, you  have to have this. Everytime I make the right choice, though, I feel very empowered to keep going. That is why I've made it this far.

I'm not sure if I love or hate meal time at this point. I love that the food gives me energy, but I don't feel all that much satisfaction from eating bitter greens! I think I will stop buying them after I lick off that package of mix baby greens. Sorry dandylion, I don't like you.

So how am I with hunger? I'm not craving food physically, but I am psychologically. And due to my stringent menu I'm actually eating foods I thought I didn't like: tomatoes. Their flavor bursted into something very enjoyable yesterday for lunch. I had no idea it could taste so great.

Here is my routine thus far. As you can see I have mostly avoided the starches except for every other day because I noticed I was too tired going without bread and without breakfast:

(Day 1 of 2)
Breakfast: 1 protein, 1 veg, coffee/tea
Lunch: 1 protein, 1 veg, 1 fruit
Dinner: 2 veg (salad, no meat)
Dessert: 1 fruit

(Day 2 of 2)
Breakfast:  coffee/tea
Lunch: 1 protein, 1 veg, 1 GF bread (under 200 cals)
Dinner: 1 protein, 2 veg (salad, with meat)
Dessert: 1 fruit

Here are some sample menus for the past couple of days for me:

(Day 1 of 2)
Breakfast: 1 protein, 1 veg, coffee/tea: 2 eggs with half a bell pepper, no butter but add season-all salt, pepper, and use smart balance with omega-3 non-stick spray (do not have eggs be too crispy, burnt food is cancerous!) French Vanilla Coffee with vanilla creme stevia sweet drops made of LEAF EXTRACT (not crystalline packets, those are not goooood, if you can drink regular coffee try to drink that instead of flavored, I just can't stomach the regular coffee! Wish I could!)

Lunch: 1 protein, 1 veg, 1 fruit: (FROM BURGER KING): grilled chicken sandwich "low carb", no mayo, no pickles, ADD mustard, (comes in a plastic container with tomatoes, lettuce) Its a good size breast so will fill you up for awhile, but needs something else so I also had a granny smith apple (less sugar and I LOVE sour).

Dinner: 2 veg (salad, no meat): Spinach, mix greens, radish slices (2 whole radishes), baby carrots (6), sundried tomatoes (6 julienne cut), zuchinni (1/4), lemon juice and apple cider vinegar as dressing and salt/pepper to taste.

Dessert: 1 fruit : naval orange


(Day 2 of 2)
Breakfast:  coffee/tea: french vanilla Coffee with vanilla creme stevia sweet drop

Lunch: 1/2 protein, 1 veg, 1 GF bread (under 200 cals): 1.5 oz. ground turkey with Himalayan pink salt and black pepper (*I cook a whole pound at once and keep some leftover in the fridge for adding to salad or for breakfast scramble in place of an egg), 1 GF pizza crust by Udi's (very thin crust, 190 cals for half CUT IT IN HALF AND ONLY  USE HALF A CRUST!) I cooked it all once and could NOT leave that second half alone. So only cook half and you'll be okay. Top crust with tomato paste, spinach, mushrooms, ground turkey, cook at 375 for 7-10  minutes.

Dinner: 1/2 protein, 2 veg (salad, with meat): 1.5 oz ground turkey OR chicken slices, Spinach, mix greens, radish slices (2 whole radishes), baby carrots (6), sundried tomatoes (6 julienne cut), zuchinni (1/4), lemon juice and apple cider vinegar as dressing and salt/pepper to taste.

Dessert: 1 fruit: handful of strawberries.