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A Bumpy Ride on Atkins

It's been three and a half weeks since I first started Atkins induction. I had to stop for several days because of magnesium and potassium deficiencies (I unfortunately started the day before oral surgery, where I had a shot of epinephrine, which can also cause low potassium, and couldn't eat very much in the days following).

I lost a few pounds right away, then another few when I restarted. Then I gained it all back due to, ahem, female hormones. That's never happened to me before. I didn't change the way I was eating: no chocolate indulgences or anything saltier than what I'd been eating, and a keto-stick showed large ketones. But I'm back to losing about 0.6 pounds a day. I started at 130; this morning I was 127 and had moderate to large ketones.

My energy level is beyond what it was before I started. Sunday, for the first time in far too long, I took my dog for a long hike in the mountains, where she loves to swim in the creek. (She's doing her own version of Atkins: no more carrots or nuts, just meat, eggs, pork rinds and bones.) I felt great after yoga yesterday, even though our substitute instructor gave us a harder-than-usual workout. There was no need to stop at the wine bar for sustenance afterward.

My mouth feels like it's completely healed; the site my surgeon took the tissue from feels just like the other side and the graft site feels normal. As you might expect, there's zero plaque even though I've only flossed once since the surgery. Likewise, I haven't had a nosebleed since I started Atkins. This still might be partly from the unusual humidity (we had another downpour last night). We'll see if it continues.

My sense of well-being that Dr. Atkins said was so important is back. My only complaint is that I'm tired of eating so much meat--and I love meat. My only real-food respite is eggs since I can't eat cheese (as I've rediscovered--it gives me acne) and haven't been able to even look at a piece of fish. For variety, since vegetables are limited, I made some low-carb brownies with rice protein powder from the book 500 Low-Carb Recipes. I'm still eating Atkins bars and shared a delicious Lily chocolate bar with my mother. It's low carb (no added sugar), we both loved it, and it didn't spur me to eat more chocolate when it was gone. (Thanks for the tip, Tyrannocaster!)
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Comments

Anonymous said…
Lori, it seems like the Atkins thing is working well for you; if you are consistently losing 2/3 of a pound a day, that is a LOT of weight. My guess is that it won’t stay at that high loss level, but will even out, getting less and less as you get closer and closer to whatever your body decides is optimum. Unless you are only three feet tall, at 127 pounds it’s not like you have immense amounts to lose like some other people we see all the time. And I’m glad the Lily bar worked out, too; you can only hope when you recommend something that the other person has a similar experience with it, but you just never know. Especially with inulin involved. :-)

It’s also good that your dog is participating. You know, years ago we had a dog who developed kidney disease; it was diagnosed before it was terminal, of course, but it was worrisome because her energy level was down, her urination was up, and well...it’s a progressive condition. We did some looking around and we found a “renal diet” on the dogaware.com site that was raw meat and cooked vegetables, with some additions like eggs and their shells, etc. Anyway, since our dog had been eating commercial kibble, we thought it might be worth trying. We ran it by the vet, who seemed a little skeptical, but his assistant, who was more savvy about nutrition than he was looked it over and said it looked good to her, so why didn’t we try it? We did. I kid you not: the ten year old dog got three years younger (if you judge by appearance, adtivity level, and personality) in TWO DAYS. After thirty days we paid to have the bloodwork done again and it confirmed what we were seeing. I think that’s when I first started thinking seriously about all of this stuff, but I still didn’t know that I myself was being hit hard by problems with wheat. Oh, BTW, the dog lived another three years, and when she finally did die, it was not related to kidney issues.

Of course, when virtually the same thing happened to me two days after I dropped wheat from my diet it was mind blowing.

I have always thought that I would have a tough time with Aktins because I would miss my vegetables. I don’t eat starcy carbs, but without my three servings of vegetables at lunh and dinner I don’t think I could stick to it. I realize that is just the induction phase, which doesn’t last that long, but luckily, for me simply dropping all grains and starchy carbs (replacing them with vegetables) did the trick and I was able to lose weight. But I see how Atkins’ approach could pay off if you can get through the initial portion of it.
July 09, 2014
Lori Miller said…
My last dog, Sasha, had oral melanoma. On the advice of a holistic vet, I put him on grain-free dog food and some herbs and he lived a year. That was the only thing I did besides a few surgeries to remove lumps. Without chemo or radiation, my regular vet said he'd live probably three months--and she called him an amazing dog.

As for the weight, I just want to get back down to 120. I'm 5'-4", short-waisted, and tend to carry fat on my belly--when I gain a few pounds, it gives me a pot belly.
July 09, 2014
Anonymous said…
If you want to add some more variety to the meat in your diet you could try this: http://benboomed.wordpress.com/2014/07/09/socialites-liver-in-nut-sauce/

:-)
July 09, 2014
Lori Miller said…
Hmmm. I don't know about Mrs. Matthews' liver. She smokes and looks like she's on Miltown.

BTW, a couple of other comments have come through from you, but they're blank.
July 09, 2014
Anonymous said…
Yes, for some reason your blog often submits my comment before I'm done writing it - that happened this morning,

Mrs. Mathews is a clenchpoop. :-)

--Tyrannocaster (remembered to put that in this time)
July 09, 2014
Galina L. said…
If cooked veggies are not problematic for you, Lori, you may try to make vegetables/eggs combinations to add variety to your diet. Something like grated zucchini (add salt to it, wait till moisture appears and squise it out) mixed with eggs baked on a pan. I also suspect pulverized pork skins should be used more often as a thickener.
July 09, 2014
Lori Miller said…
Another good idea from our resident mom. I put on some frozen brussels sprouts I'd forgotten about. And I like mushroom omelets (I think that's what you're referring to with the cooked eggs). I've no idea where to get pulverized pork skins or how to use them, though. But pork rinds sprinkled on a salad makes it delicious.
July 09, 2014
Galina L. said…
Omelette has higher eggs/staff ratio, than the thing I suggested, and tastes as an omelette more. Probably some day I should actually measure ingredients and to give a complete account of details.
I put pig skins in a mini chopper to pulwerise it, I think it could be crashed in a zip lock using rolling pin or even by rolling a can over it.
July 09, 2014
Galina L. said…
It is unrelated to a diet, but I just want to remark that as we get older, especially females, it is better to remember about changing hormones as a possible reason for feeling less optimal. I feel like it is the time for me to recheck the dosage of my HRT, one of symptoms - the ankles swelling began again, long trip somehow triggered it or messed up body regulations. You are several years younger,
Lory, just keep hormones in mind.
July 09, 2014
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