PSMF! Anyone?

[janamonkey]

I am late for work (shame on me!) here is a quick update and I'll be back later:

1 144.2
2 142.2
3 141.6 FM and work out
4 141.6

Jean- I would say it is geared towards everyone in that it has different provisions for the very lean, people with average body fat, and people with more body fat than average.

[amiga74]

Originally Posted by Jean@125

Is kimkins really that similar to psmf?

i agree with Jana. i don't think its similar. first of all, Lyle calls it a "crash diet." Second, he outlines specific requirements for protein, which from my very basic understanding of kimkins, works out to being significantly higher. there are no limits on vegetables (except for starchy ones like beets, corn, carrots)
Furthermore, the plan incorporates weekly free meals and/or refeeds depending on one's category (determined by one's bodyfat). Also, Lyle calls for folks getting essential fatty acids (omegas) and other minerals.
Finally, he calls for limits to the diet. For people with lower body fat, the diet lasts just 10 days. For category 2 folks, its 2-6 weeks then, a diet break, if not the end. For category 3, it can be longer term, but he is a strong advocate of diet breaks. He also suggests psmf can be a springboard to more moderate diets.
just my 2 cents

ps: no, you don't have to be a bodybuilder. Lyle is an advocate of exercise, but in particular he warns of the detrimental affects of too much cardio, esp. for women. Anyone doing psmf is advised to cut the volume of their activity significantly

[Fivekidmom]

Originally Posted by ddailey320

Randi~ I think many of us can sympathize with the dreaded weight gain from pregnancies...my youngest is turning 2 the June. I think that's why I have really been head strong this time! Summer is always a motivator in itself! Have you read up on PSMF (many of us have read Lyle McDonald's Rapid Fat Weight Loss Book) just so you know what you are getting into?? It may not be easy at first , but is certainly do-able and worth doing if you are commited to it

Thanks! No I am not even familiar with this book...so I need to check things out. I am trying to pull myself together here in the next few days so I can do what I am supposed to do and buy the right food, etc. I'm so glad I have found you all!

[ddailey320]

My menu Today
1) 1 C Hood Calorie Countdown FF Milk, 1 scoop protein powder
2) 2 egg whites, 3 slice lean turkey bacon
3) 2 oz turkey, 1 slice FF cheese, 1/3C cottage cheese W/1/3scoop PP & 2oz stawberries
4) Burger King Grilled Chicken-lettuce, tomato (no bun or mayo), diet coke
Totals: 589 calories 9f/17c/103p

Sorry to keep posting my boring menus..it just makes it easier for me to keep track throughout the day and if I need to refer back to something!

Tonight after my last daycare friend goes home (I run a family child care) me and my kiddos are on the road and off to my mom's house for a 3 day visit!!! So excited~ I miss living in Rhode Island (now living in Massachusetts) That would explain the burger king chicken thrown in the mix of my menu. Rather plan out now where we are going to stop and know exactly what is the best choice to have! I've already packed some of my necessities~ protein powder and shakes, vitamins/supplements, oh and lots of those Bumble Bee packages of Chicken-LOVE THOSE!! So convient to take somewhere since you don't need to heat them up. Thinking I may also pack my Magic Bullet for making my shakes and cottage cheese protein fruit concuction~ hate when either takes gritty!

Jana~ isn't it so nice when there is no gain after a free meal!! I am planning a free meal Friday or Saturday and not sure I even want to look at a scale the next day Could be pleasantly surprised though!

Randi~ let us know if there is anything about the program that you are unsure of. Best to do it the "right" way if you are going to make the leap in to do it!

[Lioness0455]

Tonight for my free meal I'm making a small pot of lima bean and ham soup. I'm going to make a nice lettuce salad to go along with it, real homemade Thousand Island Dressing, and I plan to have a large slice of homemade apple-raisin bread I made a few days ago.

I think the "beauty" of Lyle's Plan is that it takes away a lot of that low-carb black and white thinking (carbs are evil) we've all been drowning in. Because Ketosis is JUST another way of helping ourselves to eat LESS. It isn't magic, other than it helps to curb our appetites. So there really shouldn't even be "any" off-limit foods. Just off-limits for TODAY.

You definitely want to make a free meal something you enjoy. Something that gives you pleasure. Something that will make the rest of the week more tolerable for YOU. And that certainly differs for each one of us. I think it's also wise to sit down and face our limitations, since it really isn't a free-for-all, and therefore use the foods we pick for that free meal to our best advantage. Depending upon our own individual sensitivity and/or intolerance to carbs, as well as our trigger foods.

I also feel it should be looked upon like a "maintenance" meal. Now...I'm certainly NOT craving Lima Bean soup, but our income is very sporatic since my husband is in construction, and gets paid only if and when there's work. So sometimes I have to look at it a bit differently than when we had a steady income. But I LOVE bread. So that's why I'm adding that to the soup.

Is KK like PSMF? Hardly. And I certainly didn't mean to "imply" that, if that's what I did. After coming off of KK and returning to Atkins, only to find it still didn't work for me, I went on a quest to discover why. Why did Atkins fail to work, when KK worked so well? Why were folks getting sick on KK and doing really crazy things like dropping their calories down to 300 a day "just because" K told them to? Why were folks freaking out about hair loss, when I was losing tons of hair on Atkins BEFORE I even started doing KK?

People (at least, low carb folks) have this really big knee-jerk reaction to low fat diets for some reason. In fact, they will argue FOR the Atkins Fat Fast being healthy at practically 0 grams of protein a day before they will ever even "consider" that lowering fat intake might be a better choice for someone. Low fat just scares them to death. So much so, that they believe everyone else should be doing high fat with them. Maybe it's a need to validate what they're doing kindda thing, I don't know.

But here's the irony, at least in my own life. Our family doctor, as well as the BEST surgeon in our area, both believe in a low calorie, low fat, low carb diet for weight loss. So all of the screaming to go tell my doctor exactly what I'm doing get very far. Since I'm only 5ft tall, my 1000 calorie diet didn't raise any eyebrows. In fact, all of my life, every single doctor I've ever went to has either tried to put me on a crash diet, (the first one put me on a quart of cottage cheese and a lb of veggies a day), or has recommended living on chicken breast, salads, and fruit (my asthma/diabetes specialist). Something like 800 calories or less.

So what we are doing really isn't looked down on by the medical profession. Just the low carb community.

In addition to what everyone else has said about the RFL diet, it's my understanding that what Lyle basically did was take the necessary nutrients we need daily down to their lowest possible level that will keep us safe from our bodies canibalizing ourselves. KK didn't do that. KK was basically a starvation diet if you do it as written.

The RFL diet isn't a low carb diet per se. It's a low fat, low calorie diet. And it's low carb (the greater majority of the time) BY DEFAULT. Protein to keep ourselves from losing lbm, fish oil to get in our essential fatty acids, and veggies because not only will they help to keep us "regular", but they are so low in calories that a good portion of them won't affect rapid fat loss.

Refeeds is where I've really fallen down in the past. Not that I did any lasting damage, but for me, they were basically a free-for-all, waaaay too high in fat, which is not what they are supposed to be.

I'm thinking though, that that might have happened because I needed soooo badly to take a break. And because most of us are just USED to eating lots of fat with our carbs. I can now see that a true diet break for a minimum of at least 2 weeks every 6 to 12 weeks can certainly take care of the body's craving for fats. Plus you can utilize that craving during a free meal. You don't have to do that during a refeed.

The other problem I had was that we usually go to a friend's house for dinner on Sunday after church. When I was doing Atkins, she used to cook a lot of meat and veggies/salads, but she doesn't do that anymore. Now it's pasta or potatoes, or casseroles, or what have you. So I decided to try to do a refeed on that day.

Well, first off, it was next to impossible to keep within any 5 hour limit, though I did manage to get everything in within 6 hours the last time I tried it. But let me tell ya, that was pure murder, because after we got home, I was having to cram in so many carbs, within a 2 hour period, in order to reach my 200 carb target by 8pm, that my stomach was in major pain. And I told my husband I was NOT going to ever do that again. It was a total nightmare. Even though I was trying to do it with 60g carb bagels.

What I've decided now is to use that day as a free meal, even though I might not always be able to personally pick the foods I would particularly like to eat that day. Then either take another free meal on Wednesday/Thursday or a refeed, depending upon my needs for that week. That way I can stick to protocol, and still get in some things I'm personally yearning for.

EC stack: Since I have asthma, I've taken this LOTS. Just not recently. So now I'm wondering if "not" taking it when we had to start showing I.D. and all of that, (I don't drive, except for the mile to work and back, and it seems that the pharmacy is always closed whenever both me and my husband are at Walmart) contributed to my large weight gain a couple of years ago.

From what I've read of Lyle's writings, it raises the metabolism about 5% which helps to off-set the typical 10% drop from dieting itself. ANY diet. So it's more important (and NOT totally necessary) after a couple of weeks, when the metabolism begins to slow down to compensate for the lower calorie intake.

This morning I weighed in at 174.6 so I'm down 1.6 pounds today. Yesterday's calories were really low though, since my protein sources came from protein powder, chicken breast, and elk. Since I don't really know my body fat percentage, I'm erroring on the side of caution and doing a minimum of 120 grams of protein per day.

Day 1: 180.4
Day 2: 177
Day 3: 176.2
Day 4: 174.6

[Windycitygal38]

Hi Everyone.
I bought Lyles' book awhile back. I am doing a PSMF myself-a modified Stillman diet. I eat veggies/meat/eggs and cottage cheese. I never go under 1200 calories. I do work out so I don't think its good to eat too little

Just wondering, some of you know quite a bit. Do you all bother with the keto sticks? I never tried them and don't know if I should try those.

Thanks
Good luck to you all.

[janamonkey]

windy- I never use the sticks. I don't know if I'm in ketosis but I do know I'm losing weight. It doesn't matter to me really.

[ddailey320]

I do use keto stix, but I think its more a psychological thing for me. LOL Just a little boost in the morning when I see it turns pretty, dark (hopefully) shades of pink and purple. However, you can still be burning fat even if you are not spilling ketones, so the sticks are not the end all and be all!

BTW~ If you do decide to get them, save yourself some money and cut them lengthwise in half! Maybe I'm just a cheapo, but that's what I always do

[Windycitygal38]

Hi -thanks guys. I think I won't buy those-it sounds like something else I might become obsessive about!

Do you guys know how much it takes-like suppose someone had a bite of cake-would this knock them out of ketosis?? And for how long??

Thanks again in advance!

[Fifi]

Happy Friday, All! Nice to see some more new faces - welcome!

Windy - I am new to this diet, but I have no plans for the stix either. I just use the scale to guide me.

Lioness - how was your free meal? The soups sounds very good.

Ddailey - I think it is great that you post your menu daily - gives me some ideas for different foods.

Jana, Amiga, Fivekid, and anyone I've missed:

After my FM on Wed night, I was up .6. Today I am down pound. Today I added some fiber powder to my eggs and the cottage cheese I brought for lunch. I hope that will be sufficient.

[Lioness0455]

Ketostix register how many Ketones are spilling over, how many your body is throwing away, they don't register if you are in Ketosis or not. Initially, they are a boost, because when you're new to low carb, or have not done low carb for awhile, the body tends to make excess ketones until it learns just how many you need.

There's a lot of mistaken ideas about them. You can certainly be "in" Ketosis and not register anything on the stix. That's where I'm at now, because I've been doing low carb for so long. The body will eventually adapt to the point where it isn't over-producing ketones any more, just making what you need for energy purposes and to fuel the brain. At which point the stix become useless. And yeah, they are definitely something you can become obsessed about.

It's my understanding, according to Lyle, that anything less than 100g of carb consistently, will put you in Ketosis. From what I've read elsewhere, the brain needs something like 120g glucose (carbs) per day, so less than that causes the brain to revert to ketones to make up for it's needs.

My free meal went well, (I'm up a bit as expected since it was a pretty carby meal), except that I forgot to take my fish oil pills and got really, really hungry after a couple of hours. I usually take them all at once, with dinner, so I won't be hungry in the evening when I don't have as much to do to distract me, and it seems to be making my skin softer to do it that way. I'm glad I finally remembered, took them, and within 30 minutes, the hunger left. Maybe it was just my bod reminding me that it wanted them lol.

I started Lyle's beginner exercise plan yesterday afternoon. It was very difficult for me. But then, with my health issues, I haven't done anything even remotely like that in years. I was able to do 15 reps of abdomen crunches, as well as the one where you lift your butt off of the ground, plus arm curls with 8lb dumbbells that my husband just bought me for my birthday last week. 4 reps of lifting the dumbbells out to the side (both at the same time). And 6 reps of everything else, except I can't figure out HOW to do that chair one, where you sit off of the edge of it, maybe my arms just aren't strong enough for that yet.

The only muscles hurting me this morning are the front of my thighs. With my balance problems, they haven't been stretched in a VERY LONG time; I did have to use a TV tray to help me balance when I went down on one knee though, so I can really see what he's talking about when he warns you to start slowly with less reps and work your way up. Don't wanna hurt so badly that you give up and quit.

Day 1: 180.4
Day 2: 177
Day 3: 176.2
Day 4: 174.6 FM
Day 5: 175.2

[janamonkey]

Lioness! You are such an inspiration. I am young and healthy and that is pretty much what happened when I started exercising - pain, soreness. I started out using soup cans and one lb dumb bells.

Today's update
1 144.2
2 142.2
3 141.6 FM and work out
4 141.6
5 141.4

[CatieTN]

Hi ladies~I have been reading this thread! I am so glad to find you all!

Last week I joined a mediweightloss clinic and the PSMF type diet is pretty much what they have me doing. I joined the clinic because I need to be accountable on a weekly basis and I also wanted to have physician supervision.

I've done KK before also and did have some side effects, so I'm trying to do it smart this time. The clinic gives me injections and also supplements and I"ve been feeling great. I put away my scale and I'm only going to weigh once a week. That was so hard for me, I am a huge scale watcher! They also will take my BF% every week, which will be great.

Well~I'm starting out at 202 and I'm aiming at 160! So nice to meet you all! See you around!

[Lioness0455]

INTERESTING TIDBIT:

I typed in "PSMF blogs" into Googles' search bar and this thread came up on page 1!!!

[ddailey320]

Hi all!! Just a quick hi and hello. Just enough time to post my menu, although it's ever so slightly more interesting today since it is a "free meal" day!

1) 1 C Hood CC MIlk, 1 scoop PP
2) 1/2 C egg beaters, 1T FF cream cheese, 1 splenda-nuked YUMMM
3) FREE MEAL- Boar's Head Roast Beef on bagel w/ lettuce tomato and Provolone. 1/2 C cole slaw, 1 cup Watermelon Sherbert w/ small scoop M&Ms
4) 2 Egg whites, 3 Turkey bacon, 2 cups lettuce, 1 oz. Tomato and Cucumber, 1 oz feta cheese

Totals: (as best as I could figure!) 1176 Cals 28F/116C/105P

I am hoping the scales will be forgiving tomorrow!! Actually, I don't think it was all that overboard. Calories are nearly doubled than usual, but not a rediculous number!

Have a great day all!!

[Fifi]

Afternoon update on me - had a caprese salad and a bowl of cottage cheese for lunch. Pretty good. Salad was so big, I have half left for din-din. AND, drum roll, this morning I was looking at 153, this afternoon 152! I know I am being obssessive about the scale, but it keeps me motivated!

Day 1 - 158
Day 2 - 156
Day 3 - 154
Day 4 - 154
Day 5 - 153 AM, now 152 hee hee

Jana: You are going to get me where I want to be!

And, welcome Catie!

And, to everyone else!

[3Diva]

Hey, all I had to do was leave and stop talking to myself and here comes everybody! Cool!

Basement emergency over for the most part. Now I have an obnoxious sinus infection, but I'm still doing my thing.

After today's weigh/measure in, I decided to refeed. I did a 5 hour window (1 o clock lunch, 3 o clock snack, 5 o clock dinner) I think I really need a hair more protein, but I'm not going to sweat it. I almost hit 2000 calories, but I did keep under the 50gF for the refeed window. Ay yi yi, it was really stressful to make myself eat that stuff.

It was also so weird, because I could eat all this carby food, and it didn't make me ravenously hungry, but it also didn't make me particularly full, considering that I've been eating so little... WEIRD.

Next post stats...

[3Diva]

Measurements: 3wk ago 2wk ago 1wk ago NOW
(170.8) (166) (163.8) (163.4)

Neck x 13.625 13.75 13.935
Band Size 37.125 36.5 36.5 36.5
(under arms)
Bust 40.75 40.5 40.5 39.5
(highest crest)
Ribcage 34 33.625 32.875 33.375
(under bust)

NW 35.25 34.625 33.75 33.875
BB 39.825 40 38.5 39.625
Hips 43 42.625 41.75 41.75

UpperArm
(cut in delt/bicep)
13.5 14 13.5 13.5
Thigh (R) 24.75 24.5 24.25 24.25
(high)
Thigh (R) x 17.625 17.375 17.325
(just above knee)
Calf x 14.125 14 14.25

I am majorly PMS, so I know that's throwing things off, but no scale budge plus measurements up means it was time to try the refeed.

Let's hope next week gets rid of Aunt Flo and the refeed bloat and gets going again!

BTW, you all are doing great! I need to take some time and re-read posts and get to know everyone.

Wish me luck on my "basement clearance yard sale" tomorrow...

[Jean@125]

Can someone tell me the basics of doing a pmsf w/o purchasing a book.
If it is best to purchase a book Lyle's or another I will but if it can be done with just a basic diet plan I'd rather just do it on my own. Thanks Jeanie

[janamonkey]

Today's update
1 144.2
2 142.2
3 141.6 FM and work out
4 141.6
5 141.4
6 139.8 RF
7 141.8

Oops I forgot to update yesterday! Well I hit a new low yesterday and then did a refeed and am up in water weight. That's okay with me though, I know its water and thats it.

Jeanie- I think you should def. read Lyle's book. It is a very good read and explains everything very well

[Jean@125]

Thanks. Do you think the e book is sufficient or should I go for the hard copy.
I already have an exercise plan so I am not worried about that book. Jeanie

[3Diva]

Originally Posted by Jean@125

Thanks. Do you think the e book is sufficient or should I go for the hard copy.
I already have an exercise plan so I am not worried about that book. Jeanie

Hi Jean@125. The ebook is fine. It includes the exercise ebook anyway and the online calculator. In fact, I ordered both and still haven't received my hard copy. I may find out if I can cancel it at this point!

[Jean@125]

Thanks. Can you remember about how long it takes to download the e book?
How long have you been waiting for the hard copy? Jeanie

[CatieTN]

Hi all, thanks for updating. Seeing you all post keeps me motivated as well. Hope everyone had a great weekend.

We worked ALOT around the yard so I was pretty exhausted both nights. Eating was on plan all weekend. I am really glad I was able to stay on target this first week. My first weigh in is Tuesday afternoon.

I have alot of travel for work this week, I will need to plan ahead. I'll sure be missing my favorite restaurants, Chili's and Cracker Barrell lol!