Less Beef, More Tuna and Eggs

Hi,

I am finally seeing some weight loss progress. I actually made two changes. The first being the 16-hour fast per day and the second, about a week and a half later, was to begin to eat a couple of lighter meals during the 8-hour feed time. That Sumo Wrestler's Diet really stuck in my mind. I realized if my weight loss has stalled, then, I'm eating too much. Plain. Simple.

For a long time a thought has been sitting at the back of my mind that I did not want to really investigate. I've been wondering if all the beef and pork that I have been eating is the reason I stalled. I went back and looked at my journal over the time period in January that I was losing weight and I noticed that at that time I ate eggs and tuna for the majority of my protein. It does appear that when I started including more beef, my weight loss stalled. I had not wanted to admit that to myself because I thought beef was a good protein source that I did not have to worry about. Perhaps it is because I did not feel I could afford the grass fed variety, and was using standard beef.

So in this last week I, again, went to eggs and tuna for my protein, with a little pork, and left off the beef and in about three days I noticed a lot of water coming off of me. Don't get ahead of me... the water was coming off but my weight had not changed on the scale. I know. I was baffled, too. Then after that the scale made a five pound drop in one day. Then a three pound drop the next day. I've now gone up a pound, but I give that over to normal every day fluctuations. I am planning on doing more of the eggs and tuna again to see if I make progress on the scale, again. I'll have beef no more than once a day and since I'll be consuming less of it, maybe I can get the grass fed beef to improve that area, too. The pork does not seem to be a problem, but I'm a little tired of pork for now.

It has occurred to me that I probably could do more chicken, but, ya know, I'm just not a real fan of chicken. I don't hate it, but if I buy it, it sits in my freezer for months before I eat it. I choose everything and anything else before choosing that. I should probably make some chicken soup. That is my favorite way to have chicken.

The daily 16-hour fasting has been going well. There are times when I have to remind myself that the feeling of hunger means my body is actually using the fat stores for energy. This seemed to happen a little more after I cut down on the beef, which may be the reason I did not want to stop eating it. It is very satisfying and for a very long time.

If you've been reading my blog at all you must know that I adjust things on the fly.  I have a plan, but if things happen in life, I adjust to make it work as I go. This has a good side and a bad side. The good side, is that if I notice something is not working, I can quickly adjust to make it work. The bad side, is that if I happen to let things get over into craving ville, life can get pretty wacky and my weight loss will probably stall.

I know what foods to avoid ninety percent of the time. That means that for about ten percent I can allow in a few starchy carbs. Now that I am doing the fasting I've discovered that I can have an occasional higher carb meal without as much worry.

There is still the option of doing one or two 24-hour fasts during a week instead of doing a 16-hour fast every day. I've not tried that, yet. I did not want to have way too many variables to factor in. If I make too many changes then I can't tell which one worked or didn't work.

The fasting really does not seem to be that hard to do. I have the time periods written down in my journal and I look forward to breaking the fast, but it is not like starvation when you don't know when you will be eating again. Thank God, I know when my next meal is. That alone, makes it much less stressful than those who are in situations where they don't know where their next mouthful is coming from.

If you've read "Eat Stop Eat" ( http://eatstopeat.com/ ) you know that there are some myths out there about dieting, metabolism, starvation mode, fasting, and other things that are just not proven by the science. ESE is a must read for anyone who struggles with their weight and wants to know the science behind fasting.

There is also very good information about the actual experience of fasting at "Intermittent Fasting, Ch. 6" ( http://www.precisionnutrition.com/intermittent-fasting/chapter-6 ). This one introduces other forms of fasting that ESE does not cover. This one is a free downloadable PDF, too.

I'm still on the journey and happy about the recent weight losses. Hope all is well with you.

Be back soon,

Marcia