Month 1, Day 6

Today has been a long day. I worked 1st in housekeeping and it's exhausting. Like I've said the last couple days, I don't feel hungry. Unfortunately because of that I'm not eating as much as I should, which isn't a lot to begin with. Tomorrow I think I'm going to get some approved protein shakes for breakfast since I HATE getting up early. Especially when I have to go in to work. So, I skipped breakfast again today, and ate my lunch at work. I would've had an early dinner when I got home at 4:30 but I took a hot bath and took an unplanned 45 minute nap in the tub. My meals today were very plain and not creative whatsoever. I'm tired. I work tomorrow morning at 5:30am and still have 2 ounces of protein I need to eat and one serving of vegetables. I'm just not hungry enough to eat anything else and I'm already ready to go to sleep (after Dirty Dancing is over.)

Other than not eating enough and being tired from work and my crazy schedule, I feel amazing. I was telling a coworker today it's amazing how much better I feel eating an average of 600-800 calories than I did eating "normal". There's no food coma, there's no "Oh my gosh, I ate WAY too much and can't move." I have energy and I feel great. That definitely is another perk that makes it easier to continue. I'm getting bored with the foods I pre-cooked for this week. Tomorrow I'll do some more meal prep and make some different things and give myself a bigger variety. I've had enough baked chicken and turkey sausage... Okay, food break down and then I'm done!

Breakfast: skipped
Lunch: 4.8 ounces of baked chicken, 1/2 cup french style green beans
Dinner: 4.7 ounces of sliced turkey, 1 ounces low fat mozzarella cheese
Snack 1: I'm going to make some turkey bacon real quick to get my protein in
Snack 2: sugar free jello before bed

Thanks again guys for sticking with me and keeping me going! It means a lot that so many of are still reading my posts and it really does help me IMMENSELY. 💜

Month 1, Day 5

This entry is going to be a little shorter, I hope. I'm typing it on my phone and it's just not as fun.

Today was a great day. I resisted temptation all night last night, even though they had chocolate chip marble bundt cake and that's like my favorite dessert the kitchen makes. I didn't give in! When I got home this morning I made breakfast and went to bed. I slept about 3 hours and then spent the evening with Bethany and Tracy in Erie. It was a lovely day. My stomach grumbled a little but overall I haven't felt very hungry (which is good.) I didn't eat lunch before going out so I had dinner around 6:30 and then a snack around 9 consisting of just the protein I was lacking from the day. I completely forgot to test my ketones today, but that's alright. I was worried I would want to stress eat today because I worked 3rd last night and work 1st in the morning and it's a very hard transition on me, even though I do it all the time. I'm usually grumpy, irritable and just plain unpleasant. Getting out and about really worked wonders. I know I'm barely eating anything but I really do feel amazing. Once in a while I'll feel a little dizzy or nauseated but it goes away quickly, especially if I take a big drink of water. I went back to Golden Dawn today and stocked up on those Zero everything Powerade's. It really helps my cravings having something sweet-tasting that I can indulge in at any time, guilt free. Alright, with that being said, here's my meal breakdown for the day:

Breakfast: 3 ounces turkey breakfast sausage, scrambled with 1 egg white, grape tomatoes, spinach, and Italian seasonings, topped with and sprinkle of mozzarella cheese. (It was PHENOMENAL.) (See photo)

Lunch: skipped

Dinner: 6 ounces of Italian turkey sausage, 1/2 cup french style green beans tossed in a splash of extra virgin olive oil, garlic, salt and pepper.

Snack 1: my remaining Italian turkey sausage (from what I pre-cooked), weighing 2 ounces

Snack 2: sugar free jello

I had 64 ounces of powerade, 48 ounces of water, and 24 ounces of tea. I am definitely NEVER lacking in fluids. I'm that type of person who always has to have something to drink, which thank goodness, because this fast can cause bad dehydration. Okay guys, I'm off to dream world 💤💤

Month 1, Day 4

Today has been one of the hardest days so far. Not because of cravings or anything, I'm doing great with managing those. I actually haven't really been that hungry today. I had class at 1 so I slept in pretty late and skipped breakfast. I ate my lunch around 2 when I got home. Tonight is my first 3rd shift since I started and I know I'm going to be hungry in the middle of the night so I saved my breakfast protein for my "lunch" break at work. I've just really felt off today. I feel a little nauseous and dizzy. I slept for about 3 hours before I got up and made dinner. It didn't help. I still feel woozy, but I'll make it through the night. I haven't had enough water today, so that could be a big part of it. I am in ketosis though! So that's good. Yesterday's test strip read "moderate" levels of ketones in my urine and this morning's was darker than moderate, closer to "large" amounts. The weight loss really is rapid... Like I said yesterday, I can't help but check my weight daily, even though I'm not recording it, and according to this morning's weight check I'm down 7.2 pounds already!! It really makes it easier to keep going when I'm seeing the results right away. I do realize that at some point that will slow down. I can't lose that much in 4 days forever. But even losing 7 pounds in a month is exciting to me! (the average during ketosis is 8-12 pounds a month). I really can't wait to get on the scale at the doctors office at my month checkup and see what it says.

Okay, I'll get to the boring part:

Lunch: 3.7 ounces baked chicken, 1/2 cup french style green beans
Dinner: 3.3 ounces Italian turkey sausage, salad with spinach, 1/2 cup tomatoes, sprinkle of mozzarella cheese, salt and pepper, and reduced fat Italian dressing.

For my lunch break I have to eat 5.5 ounces of protein to make up what I'm lacking, so I'll take some more turkey sausage maybe a small piece of chicken. And of course my celery and hot sauce. I also saved my sugar free jello for work, Normally at work on 3rd shift all I do is eat. There's always so much food and temptation, so I want to make sure I have enough that I can eat to keep me on track and away from the dark side. It's killing me that I can't eat fruit. I love fruit so much, and I just bought Glenn a bunch of fresh fruit. It was torture. I could smell it in the back seat driving home from the store. I needed something to fit in there that I can substitute for fruit, something fruity and sweet, so I found some Powerade that has 0 sugar, 0 calories, 0 fat, and less than 1 gram of carbs. They were only 79 cents at Golden Dawn so I felt it was meant to be. They aren't bad. It's no fresh bananas and strawberries, but it'll do. Well, I think I'm done with this for the day. I have to get in the shower and get ready for work. Wish me luck! This is truly going to be a test of my will. 💙

Month 1, Day 3

Hello all,

I don't really have a lot to say today. I'll start with what I ate:

Breakfast: 3oz turkey sausage, one egg white

Lunch: celery and hot sauce, 3oz baked chicken

Dinner: 1 cup green beans, 3oz chicken, 2oz turkey bacon

Snack: sugar free jello

I've been so tired all day. So tired, in fact, that I took an unplanned 4 hour nap and STILL want to just go to sleep. I'm not sure if it's simply because I'm just not eating what I'm used to or because I started my period on Tuesday and that ALWAYS makes me so tired. I'm sure it's a combination of the two. I'm just pooped. Along with being exhausted, I've been hungry all day, even if I've just eaten. I'm just hungry. But I don't really expect anything different considering I'm eating like 800 calories a day, if that. 

On a positive note, my cravings haven't been as bad today as they have been the past 2. I did test my urine for ketones today and it read "moderate", so I guess I'm already in ketosis!! This is AWESOME. I really wasn't expecting it to happen so fast. This means that my hunger should dissipate and the weight should start falling off. I did go and buy a scale before I started so I could weigh myself weekly instead of relying on the monthly checkups with my doctors. It was a good decision and a bad one haha. I'm the kind of person who, if there's a scale in front of me, I'm going to weigh myself constantly. I've controlled myself enough that I'm only weighing myself once a day, however, I'm not recording my daily weights. I will only be keeping track of my weekly weights. With that being said, if I DID record today's weight, I'd already be down 4.6 pounds. I'm excited because that's so much for 3 days, but I know that it's not extremely accurate because weight fluctuates so much and I haven't been weighing myself under the same conditions (different times of the day, before, after and sometimes during meals lol). Tuesday will be here soon, though, and I'll have an actual weight update for you all :) I'm super pumped. I think that I'm going to do very well on this. Usually for me the first week of something is the most difficult and this seems to be very easy. But I guess how hard can it be when you can hardly eat anything? 

Alright guys, my brain is fried from statistics homework and my stomach is grumbling like no other, so to avoid temptation I'm going to chug some water and hit the sack. 

Month 1, Day 2

Hello everyone! First off, I REALLY want to thank all of you for reading this. I was most definitely not expecting to get as many views as I have so far. I'm sure they'll drop down as the days go on, but I'm still super thankful!

Today was a great day. I won't lie, I'm hungry. Even right after I eat, I still feel hungry. But today it was easier to deal with than yesterday. I worked today there are so many opportunities where I work to cheat and eat HORRIBLY, BUT I DIDN'T! I'm very proud of myself.

My dietitian told me I would likely feeling fatigued and dizzy the first few days and I'm very happy to say that I do not. I have had so much energy today and overall feel really well. I do have a headache that's stuck around for over half the day, but I expect that with how little I'm eating and especially since I feel hungry. I discovered that celery and buffalo wing sauce (2 things I can have unlimited amounts of) are a wonderful combination, so I'll probably have a little snack when I've finished this post, and then my sugar free jello before bed, of course.

Here's my rundown for the day:

Breakfast: 2 strips of turkey bacon, one egg white (Side note: the hardest part of this change is getting up early enough before work to make breakfast!)

Lunch: was baked chicken, broccoli, and celery.

Dinner: WAS AMAZING! I thought I had turkey burger and was going to make burgers for dinner, using lettuce as a bun, but I realized I bought turkey breakfast sausage instead of turkey burger. So I improvised a little. I made Glenn normal beef burgers with a bun and fries, and for my grand dinner, I had ground turkey sausage on a leaf of lettuce with buffalo sauce, spinach, a sprinkle of mozzarella cheese and grape tomatoes. I seasoned the sausage with some chili powder and it was PHENOMENAL. And as a bonus, I have plenty of turkey sausage left over for breakfast to break the monotony of turkey bacon every day.

I had a total of 12 ounces of protein today and roughly 10 grams of carbs, 10 less than I'm allowed. Tomorrow evening I will test my urine for the first time to see if I'm in ketosis. I likely won't be being that it'll only be Day 3, but she said it could be 3 days to 2 weeks.

Another pat-myself-on-the-back moment - I have had 116 ounces of water today and 24 ounces of unsweetened iced tea. I normally drink a lot of water but today I have been crazy thirsty. Plus I never really measured my water intake before. I'm not sure if I mentioned this before, but I'm supposed to drink more than the average recommended amount of 64 oz of water. But I've always gone by the "take your weight, divide by 2 and that't how many ounces you should drink daily" tip, so no biggy.

Okay friends, I'm out of things to talk about and I'm pretty sure you're tired of reading anyway, so goodnight! I'm going to pack my lunch for tomorrow and relax until bed. I'm so exhausted. 💜

Month 1, day 1

So far today has been fine. I know it's only day 1 and tomorrow will probably be harder.. I started my day with 2 slices of turkey bacon and 2 egg whites, plus a handful of supplements. It's roughly 5 ounces of protein, I believe. It's hard to measure without a food scale. (Mine will be here tomorrow, thanks Amazon.) I realize that number means nothing to anyone reading this because I haven't actually told you guys what I can eat and how this works! So here it is:

• 12-1/2 ounces of lean protein, daily, divided between 3 meals and 3 snacks
• NO MORE than 20 grams of net carbohydrates 
• 2 servings of LOW carbohydrate vegetables (typically half cup)
• Reduced fat dressings/condiments in EXTREME moderation, given that they follow the label requirements
• unlimited celery, lettuce (any type), mustard, hot sauce, and vinegar
• 1-2 tablespoons of approved oils/fats per meal, excluding snacks. (it's a very short list)
• One sugar free jello per day (The silver lining!)
• Small amounts of low fat cheeses

I was given a decent sized guidebook with any and all information I could need. And to give you an idea of just how much I have to cut carbs, the average healthy person eating a balanced diet eats roughly 200 grams of carbohydrates. I am allowed no more than 20... 1/10 of my favorite food group.. :(

It will be okay though! Once my body goes into ketosis, which could take 3 days to 2 weeks after beginning, I shouldn't feel hungry. My appetite should go away, as well as the fatigue that comes with the first days of the fast. 

As I'm typing this my stomach is grumbling at me. It's been about half an hour since my breakfast so I really shouldn't be hungry. But of course my mind knows what's happening and is going to try to trick me into eating what it wants. I won't give in, brain! 

If this post seems broken up, it's because I'm updated throughout the day instead of all at once and will publish it once the day is done 😊

My lunch today consisted of 3 ounces of lemon pepper chicken and garlic seasoned green beans. I don't have a lot here for my snacks, yet (need to go grocery shopping) so I omitted my snacks today.

Dinner was 4 ounces of baked chicken with house seasonings, green beans, and a romaine and spinach salad with grape tomatoes and mozzarella cheese, topped with reduced fat Italian dressing. It was good. It filled me up and stayed with me for a while. I took a nice hour long walk after dinner and am really looking forward to my jello!

I'd rate today an overall success. I didn't even cave when Bethany and Glenn had chocolate chip mini muffins or when Glenn had coffenut M&M's and danishes.

Here's to 6 more months of successful days!

Post-dietician appointment

Just a short update:

I had my appointment today to go over all the rules and limitations for the PSMF diet and get my handy dandy book.

HOPEFULLY tomorrow will be my official start date. I cannot start until I get my potassium prescription and unfortunately my endo's regular receptionist wasn't in today, so I have to call in the morning. They should be able to call it right in for me.

On top of that, for those curious, I have to take 5 other supplements daily: calcium, magnesium, fiber, multivitamin, and sodium.

Tomorrow I will start my day as Day 1 and if for some reason I can't get my potassium tomorrow, I'll just make sure I'm eating a full days worth of nutrients and calories.

It's truly going to be an adjustment...