2013 6th Annual Low Carb Cruise Report

We are back but way too soon.  Time flew by!  

As usual there were so many cruise guests that I never got to speak with and get to know.

 

There was a wedding,

... and ziplining in Honduras,

 

…and cave tubing in Belize,

… and meetings on the ship,

… and food,

… and fun.

AND... I've seen the question asked around the web, "Where was Robb Wolf?"  (Most are meant as jabs at Jimmy Moore, but we do not care.)

A few days before we sailed Robb Wolf contacted us and said that his mother was in the hospital with pneumonia and in a semi-conscious state.  He had to back out at the last minute to take care of her.  Family is more important - always!

Join the Low Carb Cruise Facebook page for more information or on twitter @lowcarbcruise,

2014 plans are in the works!  Hope you can join us!

DUMPING DAIRY: Are you really unwilling to at least try it?

I had an interesting “posting” duel with someone on Facebook recently.  It is not the first time I have run into this issue.  It started with the suggestion of dropping dairy from the diet.  There are quite a few of us out there who have stalled, dropped the dairy, and started losing again.  It was not an easy thing to do at all but the results were worth it.

Here is sort of how it went --

Problem:  (violins in the background)  I am stuck.  I am stalled.  I cannot lose.  Nothing works.  Waaaa.

Suggested solution: Try dropping dairy.

Problem:  I love dairy.  That cannot be it.  I have already given up too much.

Suggested solution:  Just try it as an experiment and find substitutes.  See if the weight starts dropping again.

Problem:  Well, that is easy for young people, but I am over 50 with way too much weight to lose. Time is running out.

Suggested solution:  I also am well over 50 and had almost 100 pounds to lose.  This really did work for me when I stalled out, but YMMV (Your Mileage May Vary)

Problem:  I do not like experimenting with my food like that. 

Suggested solution:  Look at the word “experiment” as just a temporary thing as opposed to the word “failure” which can derail us.  Try to have faith to persevere.

Problem:  I am an atheist and I do not have faith.  I also have no friends or family.

Suggested solution:  ….. speechless …..

You won.

I will always wonder why people ask questions but refuse to hear the answers.

And of course, I also wonder about all the other issues this poor person is dealing with.

CRUISE PREP & HOMEMADE MAYO

Hey hey!  It is about that time!  Getting ready to sail on the Magic.

Suitcases are out and half packed!

Made a trip to Galveston just for fun.  The weather was great.  Got a little sunshine Vitamin D.

So about the diet and ketones.  I am still loving Low Carb/High Fat.  I do not measure my blood ketones every day, just a couple of times a week.  I fluctuate between 0.6 and 1.5 on the meter.

I had gained a few pounds over the last several weeks, but have now dropped those pounds.  It is very true that the closer you get to your goal the easier it is to maintain it.  Easier, but still a slippery slope if not dealt with promptly.

 So I am still looking at the elusive "last 10", HOWEVER I have prepped all of my meals for the next two weeks and have added the walk of torture - the treadmill.  AND just as I feared, one day I was distracted and stepped wrong and yes ... did the quick step dance, allbeit not quite as graceful as this couple.  But I was able to recover before I received a treadmill rash. hahahaha

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THEN I did this:

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AND came up with this:

However it took me 3 different tries with other recipes.  Thanks to my friend JoAnn Paxson for sending me this link!  It was so quick and easy.  I used a combination of olive oil and mct oil.  The flavor is amazing and it does not contain all of the bad stuff that regular shelf mayo has in it, especially soy!

Life is very good and I can hardly wait to see all of my dear low carb friends!

Blood Ketones – Follow Up

Sometimes it can take weeks or months to become "keto adapted" (see previous post about this), so just for the record I have been semi-eating this way for a couple of months BEFORE I started actually measuring my blood ketones.  I have also measured my blood glucose and it stays between 80-95.  IF you want to try this I recommend reading the posts from Jimmy Moore's blog on his N=1 experience (see previous post about this).  There is a process that your body must go through to make adjustments to becoming a fat burning machine (keto adapted) - a "well oiled" machine.

WEEK ONE GRAPH

Typical Ratio - 1,200 - 1,300 calories per day based on my height/weight/BMI

 Breakdown – 80-85% fat / 15-18% Protein / 5% or less carbohydrates

(charted with myfitnesspal.com app)

MY TYPICAL WEEK DAY

I wake up between 4:30-5:00am and make a cup of coffee.  To the coffee I add 2 rounded teaspoons of erythritol, 1 ounce of MCT oil, and ¼ cup of coconut coffee creamer.  Most of the time I add a tablespoon of Kerrygold unsalted butter, but sometimes I do not.

Recipe for Coconut Coffee Creamer:

1 can of organic, unsweetened coconut milk, shaken

1 large egg

1 tsp vanilla (or other flavoring)
1 tsp cinnamon

Place all in the blender and beat until frothy.  

I pour all of this in a shaker container (made for smoothies, 

with the wire ball) and store in my fridge.

I enjoy my quiet morning sipping my coffee.  Sometimes I walk on the treadmill, but most of the time I just catch up on the news of the day.  While I am getting ready for work I take my thyroid meds, my multi-vitamin, and extra vitamin D and have my first glass of water for the day.

Then I pack my lunch which is usually about a cup size portion of protein.  It could be egg or tuna salad, sometimes homemade chili, or any leftover from other meals.  I make a second cup of coffee to take to work with me (using the same ingredients as listed above).

I always get hungry around 10:30am – it is a mental habit.  I have done this for YEARS and blame it on Weight Watchers and the thinking of always needing a mid-morning snack.  NOW I just have my second cup of coffee around this time.   Now this is when the fun begins because I usually forget to eat lunch until 1:00-2:00pm, which is totally fine.  I will also have another bottle of water.

I might have a snack around 4pm.  For snacks I have either pork rinds or Alouette cheese blocks.  I am very careful with dairy because I seem to be a little intolerant of it since I have gotten older.  It was a very sad day of realization. Sigh.

Then I LOVE the evenings when I can enjoy my very favorite meal of the day – breakfast for supper.

Depending on how I feel and what I have on hand it is usually around 2-3 eggs and 2-3 strips of bacon.  I fry the bacon until crispy.  I pour off about ¾ of the bacon drippings into my bacon drippings jar. Hahaha.  I add a tablespoon of butter in the pan, break my eggs into that… and away we go!  Then sometimes I have a steak or pork chop, depending on my mood.

Before bed I take two Carlson Cod Oil Capsules, magnesium, and potassium tabs.  Last night before bed I was craving something – perhaps to relieve the stress from a hard day at the office – so I had a heaping teaspoon of cream cheese.  It hit the spot.

The ONLY exception to this routine is the weekend.  On the weekend I usually eat a little more variety probably because I have more time to cook.  I might add a salad with olive oil, or roasted asparagus or cauliflower.  I MIGHT add these if I feel like it.

Did you know that your body can totally survive without carbohydrates?  Yes it can.  Did you know that your body can create carboydrates from protein? Yes it can – gluconeogenesis.  Did you know that your body CANNOT create the fat and protein and that it NEEDS to survive?  Yep, it must be from what you eat.  Sort of make you wonder about vegetarians, doesn’t it?

Anyway, I keep it simple, boring, and predictable.  This is for weight loss after all and not entertainment.  Food is fuel and I am trying to reach my goal.  Don’t get me wrong.  I LOVE this way of eating, but realistically in order to lose weight I have to keep it very simple.  Otherwise I get off course very quickly.

RESULTS – 1 week of high fat and ketone testing = 2.8 pounds lost

Energy is up.

Cravings are down.

Attitude is up.

Weight is down.

Testing Blood Ketones

There has been a trend lately  - Fat Fasts & Blood Ketones.  Being a trendy gal, I am following this protocol because I still have that stubborn "Last 10" to wrestle to the ground. (and perhaps an extra 5 lbs lingering in the wings.. HAHAHA... the wings!  Get it? (the dreaded bat wings) sigh... anway...

1.  Here is the book that started Low Carbers looking at Blood Ketones - The Art and Science of Low Carbohydrate Performance by  Jeff Volek and Stephen Phinney.

2.  Dr. Robert Atkins, the originator of the Fat Fast would certainly endorse my good friends at CarbSmart - Dana Carpender, Amy Dungan, and Andrew Dimino - Here is the $4.99 book -- LINK TO BOOK  Has a LOT of good information about the Fat Fast and measuring Blood Ketones.  The recipes are fantastic!

3.  My dear friend Jimmy Moore, always blunt and always honest - he has shown us the way.  Here is a link to JIMMY'S BLOG  Having started this phase of my diet it is very understandable why Jimmy was hesitant to post his food logs.  It is very strange to most people to eat a diet of 85-90% fat - butter, coconut oil, mct oil, avocados, etc.  I'm just thankful he made the public aware of this adjustment to our low carb lifestyle.

Recently I strenuously dieted for 2 weeks and dropped 4 pounds of what I had gained over Christmas.  Yay me!  THEN for Valentines I baked 2 dozen sugar-free, low carb cookies and ate 1 dozen.  Gained all 4 back in ONE day (and NOT  temporary gain.  It stayed for 4 days, until I started the Fat Fast).

So I ordered the meter.  I chose the Precision Max - Amazon Link to Meter

AND I ordered the pricey Blood Ketone Test Strips - Link to Amazon - Blood Ketone Test Strips

I searched high and low for the best prices on Blood Ketone strips (NOT the same as Blood Glucose strips).  They can run anywhere from $2 to $5 PER STRIP.

I bought one box of 10.  I figured that at least gives me 10 days to monitor my eating and see what tweaks might be needed.  For example, following Jimmy Moore's lead when he discovered that he was eating TOO much protein (not optimal for being "keto adapted").  

I have NEVER professed to being a perfect "low carber".  I have my moments just like regular folks with food addictions.  However, I am closer than I have EVER been to reaching my goal.  EVER!  So, the day before I tested my blood ketones I had a Girl Scout cookie - yep, just one - but sugar none the less.  (In case you didn't know it, I am a SEVERE sugar addict - even so far as having my own bakery for 3 years.)

I test in the mornings when I first get up, before I have my Bulletproof Coffee.

Day 1 - 0.1

Day 2 - 0.3

Day 3 - 0.6

(According to the book, optimal levels are 1.0 to 3.0 - expecting 1.0 in a day or two)

Ooooooooo.... this is exciting.  Even better than the stupid scale! hahaha  AND yes, 3 pounds gone in 3 days.  

So WHY do this?

High Blood Ketones (caused from a "High Fat / Moderate Protein / VERY low carb" diet) can put you in a state of being "keto adapted".  I am not scientific in thought, and always prefer the "Cliff Notes"! lol.  ONE thing I DO know about being "keto adapted" is that a person is NOT hungry, NOT craving, AND losing weight.  :D  There ya go - the Cliff Notes, or "Ketones for Dummies".

Update for the Curious Seekers

Hi -- guess what?!?!?  I survived! lol

I can adapt and adjust and redefine my life at any given moment.  Yay!  I am proud to say that there is very little that can get me down.  I credit my creative side to being able to recreate the atmosphere around me.

Diet?  Been hard lately because of facing the "Final 10"!  sigh... up down up down up down.

Life?  Wonderful.  There had been enough activities to keep it interesting and fun.

Food?  Always an adventure.

FAT BREAD - the best low carb bread recipe ever!  Link here -  FAT BREAD RECIPE

Friends?  I love my friends.  As time goes by I find out who my TRUE friends really are.

BEFORE

AFTER.....the best is yet to come.

Family?  Good.  I especially love my sweet sisters.

Yep... these are my sisters.  They  are wonderful and joined me on several cruises!

Yep... just keeps getting better.

Too bad some people never realize what they have until it is gone.

Defying Negative Projections

Recently I have had several encounters with people projecting untrue ideas or beliefs on to me. The words "negative projections" kept running through my head. At first I was like "absolutely rubbish", then I decided to examine the words a little closer to make sure I got the meaning and to see if there was any validity. Only one sentence applied, but the rest of the points were assumptions, judgments, and PROJECTIONS.

Here are a couple of thoughts found on the internet about that:

We project our own perceived shortcomings onto others. We say to others what we should be saying to ourselves. When we judge others we are judging ourselves. If you constantly beat yourself up with negative thoughts, you will either beat up on the people around you - verbally, emotionally, or physically - or you will beat up on yourself by destroying some area of your own life.

and

When we make negative projections, we rarely recognize the seeds of those qualities in ourselves. Painful or incompatible qualities get projected onto another person, and that person ends up becoming the target of our wrath.

But by ALL means, listen to what is being spoken OVER you by others. Accept and change what is true - and wipe out the "false"! Do not accept every judgement that comes your way. Be who YOU are at ever stage of this journey.

Another thing about those negative projections -- They are not you. ;)

I was accused of being unhappy -- I'm actually very happy which is part of what a healthy, creative mind will do for you. lol I think the person who accused me of that has an issue with happiness.

I was accused of being afraid to be alone -- How can I explain that being alone is totally ok. Being lonely is not. I love to spend my alone time doing absolutely nothing, but also love my time with my friends. It is all in balance. Afraid? Absolutely not. JUST because I enjoy being social does NOT mean that I am afraid of being alone.

I was accused of being afraid of growing old -- HAHAHA.. Sorry.. that really does make me laugh. Growing old is inevitable. However, feeling old is not. Resistant to feeling old? - guilty as charged! Afraid to grow old? No, that is an accepted fact of life.

You have to FIND ... WHAT ... WORKS ... FOR ... YOU ... And then DO IT! Never give up.

Here are some better ones: