Back at it again

2014 was challenging for me.  Most of all, I fell off the wagon (there, I said it) on doing the right things that kept me on track. And as a result, I gained a lot of weight back.

I can't say I was eating that poorly.  But I wonder if I am in denial?

I wasn't eating a ton of sweets (hardly any), junk food, binging on carbs, no fast food really (maybe Chic Fila but that was mostly nuggets or salads), barely any bread.

If I look back, I know my downfalls were not tracking my food, not weighing and measuring, depression?

So, starting today, I'm back at it.  I have to do this.  I'm sick and tired of being sick and tired and gaining weight.   I know what to do, I just have to do it.

And I'll journal here as I go to track progress, history, etc.

So starting today, I have done and am doing the following:

• Weighed and measured.  Will do this weekly again (Sunday) and track it.
• Cleaning out the pantry from questionable foods
• Starting a strict low carb diet again, for 2 weeks, close to Induction levels
• Tracking my food online
• Making my food weekly and eating it
• Starting exercising

I did it before, I can do it again, I know what to do.

Determined.

Update:  Today, I accomplished the following:

• Weighed, measured and entered in on My Fitness Pal
• Track all that I ate on my Fitness Pal
• Did not cheat
• Cooked all at home, including food prep for the week
• Did a mile on the treadmill (first real exercise in perhaps 2 or more weeks)
• Properly under-ate but I did get up late.  I did stick to 20 net carbs today
• Renewed my determination to stick to this this week

Low carb and athletic performance

Robb Wolf talks about low carb and athletic performance today:

My Thoughts on Low Carb and Paleo, Part Deux

This article really hits home for me as last year (around March/April) when I attempted to "up my exercise" to lose more weight, specifically by doing more demanding weight lifting, I started to feel awful.   My hypothyroid symptoms returned, including dry skin, cold hands and feet, senstitivity to cold, thinning hair, fatigue, problems sleeping, brain fog and more.

My theory has been that I pushed the limit of low carb, that my body was demanding more carbs, and when I upped my carbs, I did feel better.  I didn't lose any more weight, but my thyroid symptoms and fatigue improved.  It took several weeks however.

Yes, I did see my doctor and have my thyroid checked but the "standard" thyroid tests weren't too unusual, not enough to match how awful I was feeling.

Which led me to believe it was how I was eating.  Especially because I was still doing weight lifting and felt like I had more muscle mass.

What Robb Wolf talks about is something I have been investigating, which is that too low of carb where you are very physically active is not good long term.  The theory is that "high output glycolytic" requires more carbs and I personally have found this to be true.

When I tried to cut back again in September, 2012, to try and lose more weight, my fatigue and thyroid symptoms returned, so I added back carbs again.  Again, it took me several weeks to start feeling better.

I don't believe this is as simple as needing more carbs, but eating more did help me feel better.  Unfortunately, it has not helped the weight loss either.  I think it's more complex than this.   I think alot goes into this, including body fat%, homrones such as thyroid, adrenals, and female ones, how long I was overweight and messed up my metabolism, and more.

I'm still figuring this out, but when even the low-carb and paleo advocates recognize that ketosis isn't the 100% answer for everyone, it backs up what I have been personally finding to be true.