Diet Update

Finally I'm done with the attack phase of the plan.  I'm 1.2 lbs under what I was expected to lose in the six days I was on this part of the diet.  I've lost 3.8 pounds in six days which isn't too bad considering I had to modify this all protein phase to meet my needs.

I have hypoglycemia and hypokalemia.  Too much protein caused me to have a flare in my IBS which brought on my attack of hypokalemia.  Hypokalemia is when the body loses potassium too quickly.  I ended up with the typical warning signs of charlie horses in the legs followed by the palpitations.  Since I take a daily supplement of potassium I had to up my dosage until the IBS decided to stop flaring.  I was diagnosed years ago with hypokalemia.

As for the hypoglycemia, of which I was also diagnosed years ago with, I had to modify the diet when I started with the headaches and dizzy spells from lack of sufficient carbohydrates.  Needless to say this did have an impact on the weight I was hoping to lose so I ended up losing just under what I was supposed to which was 5 pounds being the goal for the 6 days.  While eating too many carbohydrates can also trigger the hypoglycemia, not eating enough of them will also trigger an episode.

I decided to supplement the daily intake of protein by substituting one lean protein meal with an Atkins bar.  Atkins diet is very similar to the Dukan Diet in that it is primarily a protein diet.  The supplement bar I chose contained enough carbohydrates to tied me over between meals as I ate one for the afternoon tea portion of the Dukan Diet.

I've actually been able to eat out on this modified diet to several different places over the weekend and continue to lose weight, including being able to eat at an all you can eat buffet.  I think the trick to eating at the all you can eat buffet was just making the correct food choices, those being mostly protein of course.

Perhaps I will be able to stay on this diet of my making.  It is mine now that I instituted several changes.  Exercise is a must.  I have to walk for 20-30 minutes each day and yesterday walking about the gun show for over two hours I really got in my exercise quota for the day.

Weekend Plans

Well I'm going to do the near impossible and try to make some plans for this weekend.  We'll just see if they get to come to fruition or not when Monday rolls around.

Planning for the weekends isn't an easy fete when you are married to a military guy or gal.  It does mean that often your well planned ideas get put on the back burner.  But we aren't allowed to crab about it, especially to the chain of command.  They are just doing their job after all and we realized when we took this position as Military Spouse what we were for the most part getting ourselves into. 

If all goes well my spouse and I might get the chance to do a little shopping.  I'm saying little because I don't know for sure if they are going to get paid in April.  I think that they will as the last threatened shut down came and went and they still got paid.  I checked his LES and it seems as though he is still going to be paid, but its still best to err on the conservative side and be frugal for a while.  I do need to get J some coffee.  For him its a necessity so I'll be stopping by our commissary for that black gold beverage.

As for my other plans, well that depends on his schedule.  As of late his schedule has been rather erratic.   He has had no less than one staff duty and three guard duty shifts.  More are to come and I was just informed last night that the schedule has changed again.  The new schedule wasn't up yesterday to confirm his new duty roster but it will be soon or else they'll be getting called in to work with the changes in the schedules as they arise.

I'm just glad that the weekend is here.  It means that I get a bit more time with my spouse.  We are on a roll.  Its been a good week for us even though I turned out to be not pregnant.  I'm waiting for my return phone call to schedule my next ultrasound to get the next IUI.  The never ending chain of life must keep going and I want to do my part to keep our DNA in the chain.  But that isn't what this weekend is about.  This weekend is about bonding, finding time to do activities together and finding time to relax in our own pursuits.

Third load of laundry is now in the washer and I'm looking forward to a break from the housework for two days.  I'm going to put my feet up when I get the chance.  This new diet I started has really messed up my digestive system.  I have hypoglycemia and going without carbs isn't so good for me.  I don't like the dizzy spells, headaches, nausea and so on.  I've had to add back carbs into my diet.  Unfortunately its caused me to gain back 0.2 lbs of the 3 pounds I've lost.  Sure 0.2 lbs might not seem like a lot to you readers but to me its the happiness factor.  I like to see the numbers going down when I step on the scale not going up.

Well see how well this modified version of the Dukan Diet goes for me.  We'll see if I start losing some weight again or if I have to go back to day one and basically kill my digestive tract.  I wasn't meant to eat all this protein and its having the opposite effect that it said it would even without the bran.

I wish all of you a nice happy weekend.

The Dukan Diet

Yesterday while web browsing I came upon a diet that looked rather familiar and could possibly work with my lifestyle, The Dukan Diet.  I plan on purchasing a copy of the book as soon as it is available in April through Amazon.com.  It is rather like the Atkins diet of yesteryear but with the main difference being that it does allow for cheating, wine and the occasional dessert.  Okay so the first 5-10 days are all about giving up your bad habits but it does look reasonable.

For the past couple of years I've been told by doctors and dietitians that I need to eat more protein and dairy.  This particular diet would solve that dietary flaw on my part.  I weighed myself in this morning after checking out my True Weight and finding it to be a reasonable 163 pounds much as I figured it would be 160 pounds I was off.  Its rather nice to find that I'm allowed another 3 pounds on my body.  So with my goal in mind I have 6 days on the attack phase.  We'll see just how I do.

Oh by the way those that are worried that I shouldn't be doing a diet while possibly pregnant, you have no worries as I'm not pregnant yet again.  So I might as well try to eat healthier food options and lose some weight while trying this next coming cycle to get pregnant.

For those looking for a quick weight loss, you aren't going to find it on this diet.  You will lose a fair amount on the attack phase but you have three other phases to go through with the last being the one you need to stick to for life to keep off the weight.  This diet is for those that have the time to give to themselves a good healthy eating lifestyle.  If you love eating lean protein you'll love the first part of this diet.

I'm ashamed at my current weight.  I gained so much back when J re-deployed.  I just don't know how I let the weight go back on after all my hard work to get it off.  Bad eating habits do have a way of cropping back up like those insidious weeds in the lawn.

I will post how much I have lost or gained in this blog once a week so that my readers can see my progress, cheer me on or shame me into losing more if I dare gained a pound.  However, when I do get pregnant I will slow down the dieting plan and that means I might gain a bit back.  My plan when pregnant is to not gain weight and rather just eat healthy so that I will after giving birth lose the weight.  I'm too fat to be allowed to gain weight during pregnancy or so the doctors have told me.  They aren't always nice when they are being honest.  But I do like the fact that they are honest.

This Dukan Diet should help ween me off of my carb and sugar addiction.  I am a carb junkie.  It doesn't mean I can't have carbs on this diet as each day I have to have a minimum amount of oat bran or wheat bran.  Just this morning I made a wonderful oat bran and egg pancake.  It really was tasty.  I even woke J up to share a bite of it with him.  He had guard duty last night so I shouldn't have woken him up but this pancake was that good I just had to share.  I think he is going to like all this extra protein at each meal.  He is after all a Meatatarian.