Temptation and Weight Loss

My favorite personal finance blog, Get Rich Slowly, had a great post yesterday about temptation.  It proposes that humans only have a limited amount of self-discipline, and that this self-discipline will always run out!  When I read this post yesterday morning, I thought it didn't apply to me.  I thought "but I am good at breaking bad habits and starting good ones!"  Last night, however, was a pretty good example of getting weak in the face of temptation!

After my daughter's strings concert, my loved ones went out for onion rings and hot fudge sundaes.  Now I love both those things very much, and not eating either was outrageously difficult.  To make matters worse, I hadn't eaten regularly yesterday and neglected my own supper before the concert.  I ate exactly 1/2 of 1 small onion ring, and it was glorious, then reigned myself in on the forbidden foods.  What I did instead was over-eat on low-carb foods, to the point where I was overfull.  Now I don't think this is the right decision, but perhaps it was a better decision than eating a hot fudge sundae and onion rings.

Overall though, I felt my ability to resist temptation had failed me a bit, but not entirely.  I would love to be a person who can effortless reject harm-causing pleasure-bringing foods and habits, but I think I am a person who has to work very hard at it.  I don't know if "moderation" ever works for me, either.  I seem to be an abstinence kind of person, which is why I think I am having some success with Dukan. It makes me sad to think about hot fudge sundaes.  I miss them.  However, I think when I see some tangible results from the weight loss (like new clothes!), I won't miss hot fudge sundaes nearly as much.

The Dukan Diet and Rabbit Starvation

I dropped almost another pound this morning!  My weight is now 164.4, which feels excellent. I have no idea how this is happening, and I know it probably won't continue at this rapid pace, but it is fun to see results.   Today is a P/V day, so I plan to do a lot of healthy eating.

RABBIT STARVATION 

If you do a little research on the Dukan Diet, you might run into the idea that anyone on the diet is at risk for the phenomenon called Rabbit Starvation:

a form of acute malnutrition caused by excess consumption of any lean meat coupled with a lack of other sources of nutrients . . . Symptoms include diarrhea, headache, fatigue, low blood pressure and heart rate, and a vague discomfort and hunger.

Particularly worrying is that there have been some deaths in the past linked to low carb diets, and these almost always have some relationship to low carb diets which also severely restrict dietary fats.  The most famous example of this is the liquid protein deaths in the 70s.

The risk of rabbit starvation is the reason why it is important to either eat the daily oat bran and/or make sure to add some dietary fat to your intake of food.  This is why in my version of the diet I am making allowances for fats within my diet.   I am also taking my protein and vegetable days seriously.  While weight loss is important, rapid weight loss isn't a reason to jeopardize one's health.

The other reason I am adding dietary fat to my regime is that dietary fat is simply just good for you.  Omega 3 fatty acids in tuna and egg yolks, as well as the fat in olive oil and the small amount of fats in nuts keep the body (and mind) running efficiently.  Protein is good to a certain degree -- and certainly upping one's protein intake can help keep the muscles strong during weight loss -- but fat is great, even if it is calorie dense and should be used with some degree of restraint.   Besides, a little fat totally increases the quality of my culinary experience -- it makes the other limitations seem more acceptable, ultimately, to feel nourished by my food.  

Shirataki Noodles and the Dukan Diet

I was so happy this morning to wake up and see the scale at 165!  I love that number, and it is a lot closer to a healthy BMI (159) than where I started out altogether -- 172 (3 pounds of that was lost on Atkins induction).  I also started doing some kettlebell routines, but think I need to purchase a lighter one, as well.

SHIRATAKI NOODLES

Yesterday was a P/V day, so I made a chicken breast, leek, and shirataki noodle dish.  The sauce was made from soy sauce, lemon, ginger, garlic, 1 teaspoon of tahini and 1 teaspoon of cream.  I'm sure the cream/ tahini could be omitted for those who are faithfully low fat and the dish would be almost as delicious. I sprinkled the whole thing with sea vegetable and sesame seeds. 

The shirataki noodles -- made mostly from tofu, with some yam starch -- are very low calorie, low fat, and low carb.  When you open the package there is what is called a "natural aroma."  This means they smell like fish, but after cooking them for a few minutes in the microwave and drying them off, the fish smell disappears entirely.

I'm pretty sure that shirataki noodles will become at least a weekly part of my diet.  Because I was afraid the fish smell would stay around, the dish I made was Asian inspired, but I think they could hold up to Italian inspired treatments as well.   According to a web search, shirataki noodles are an allowed part of the Dukan Diet.  They are expensive -- or far more so than regular pasta -- but they do fulfill that feeling of "need" for a starchy-textured side.

VEGETARIAN DUKAN DISHES

I bought a square non-stick pan because I'd been reading Madhur Jeffrey's World Vegetarian and was inspired to try some of the Japanese square egg dishes.  That book has a surprising number of Dukan friendly or adaptable recipes in it, particularly if you are on the American version of the diet which allows for a great deal of soy foods.   My boyfriend and I decided this diet is making me a better cook.  I think I prosper under restrictions -- or at least my creativity does.  In particular, I like looking for protein-dense vegetarian recipes like the square omelettes.  She also discusses in depth Japanese egg custards, which I've never eaten, but which sound ideal.

HUNGER

This morning I confirmed something.  The best way for me to predict that I will lose weight in the morning is that at night I go to bed hungry.  If I am hungry during the day that is a sign of disaster -- I will overeat out of panic!  But if I am hungry in the evening, and I fight it, I will see a loss on the scale.  Knowing this makes the hunger easier to endure, and what I do is drink a lot of herbal tea and stay distracted.  It is also a good idea for me to stay out of the kitchen, too.  I wish there were a way for me to lose weight without ever having to experience hunger, but even these low carb plans -- with the improved hunger suppressing powers -- don't do it for me.  High fat, low carb doesn't suppress my appetite entirely, and low fat, low carb certainly doesn't.  I think it is just a fact that in order to drop the pounds, I have to feel a little hungry.  The good thing that comes from this is some mental discipline, knowing I can get through it and meet my goals despite the discomfort.

 

First Week Report

In the first week of the Dukan Diet I went from 169 to 166.6, which is a loss of 2.4 pounds.  I was hungry some times, tired a lot, and weaker than usual.  My skin looked pretty great, however, and overall my moods were okay -- not as cranky as on some other diet regimes.   My stomach and face seem less puffy, which is the first thing to happen to me on a diet.  I discovered just how much I love vegetables, and also how much I am resistant to doing things "by the book."

I am at least content to know I am not one of those people who loses a ton of weight when starting a low carb diet.  Slow weight loss is okay.  It's better for the skin, for sure, because it gives it time to adapt, and probably better for overall health.  This week I'll be happy if I lose one pound and get down to somewhere like 165, which is a great number to see on the scale.   I've figured out for the most part my goals are to eat around 1500 calories, keep my carbs under 40 grams, and honor the pure protein/ protein and vegetable phases of the Dukan diet (with a little more fat than is called for in the way of more Omega 3 egg yolks, flax seed, olive oil, and some nuts or nut butter).   I am undecided about daily intake of oat bran. Could it be that what I am really doing is some strange hybrid of a Paleo diet with Dukan?  So confusing!

I found a great deal on a fifteen pound kettleball yesterday, so I am thinking I am not going to renew my expired gym membership and spend the summer doing home workouts if at all possible.  I might add some classes to this for fun, but I really love the idea of having the kind of routine a person can do in the backyard, or upon waking, that is regular, intensive, and efficient.

I'm on a two week break before summer school starts and trying to stay as far away from my normal responsibilities as possible, even to the extent of not being on facebook, twitter, or email.  I find this "relaxation" generates a lot of anxiety in me.  I am simply no good at it, even if my version of relaxation means working constantly toward personal goals.  I think it is a good thing I am on a diet right now, or I'd be eating through all this anxiety at a fast pace! 

Dukan Cruise Day 6 & 7

I'm going to start reporting my weight on my Dukan Diet Journal weekly rather than daily so that I don't get caught up worrying about slight fluctuations.  Tomorrow will be the first big weigh-in to see if I've managed to lose and keep off some weight in the first week of the Dukan diet.  

I'm also going to be using FitDay rather than Calorie Count as my food journal.  This way I can share all my diet, activity, and mood information without having to retype it here.   Here's a link to my account.

Yesterday was an entirely boring day of eating that consisted mostly of tuna, eggs and egg whites.  I keep thinking I would make some gorgeous souffle but didn't, though I am proud I managed to make it through hosting a sleepover for my daughter without eating a cupcake or donut hole.  It was a Pure Protein day, but I felt sick at the sight of meat, and I was too busy to do much shopping or cooking. 

Today I swore I'd make up for yesterday's dreadfully boring and tasteless eating by some good cooking, so I made delicious tandoori chicken and curried cauliflower, also ate a delightful salad for lunch.  I still can't seem to get over my 1/2 ounce of unsweetened chocolate a day habit, and I seem also to always want to eat exactly two kalmata olives no matter what. I added oat bran and flax seed to my melted chocolate, but I don't know if that really made it okay.  I took advantage of the vegetable day to do some exercise, so I trained upper body, walked, and did my stretching.  I really feel pretty great, though still a little intellectually absent.

It is hard not to wish that every day were a vegetable and protein day, but I am trying to stay optimistic for tomorrow.  I bought some noodles made entirely out of tofu, started marinating some chicken breasts, and have hard-boiled eggs ready.  I am also going to allow myself to have small amounts of miso for soup or even tempeh if I want them on protein days.  This will help me overcome the times when I feel sick at the sight of meat.

It's so hard to tell if a weight-loss regime is working, especially after just one week.  I hope it is.  It makes sense that it would, and both my calorie and carbs are low enough each day that I should be losing some weight eventually.  I think weight loss is going to be a little slow for me because I don't have that much to lose, and also I had relatively healthy habits before the diet.  I'm just keeping my eyes on the big picture!