Carving out my own thread - Posting odd experiences

[spirilis]

Morning weigh-in: 238.6

Not bad considering I had like 3 desserts last night ... LOL (did a nice long hike afterward though)

[spirilis]

Morning weigh-in: 239.4

[spirilis]

Morning weigh-in: 240.0

I think the strenuous hiking I did this weekend is showing up as muscle mass gain here. Seems that despite doing a lot of exercise (and not eating a lot the past day or 2) my weight's trying to rise; probably anabolic muscle mass. Should be good in the long run. Got vacation next week and we're taking our bicycles, maybe I'll be able to trim down some then.

[ChristineCQ]

I find the same is true for me. In the days following hard exercise, I am always up on the scale.

[spirilis]

Yeah, t'is a fact of life. Now I kinda wish I'd done a body fat measurement before I started... then again I guess it's not too late. I have some tools for that too (the body fat pincher thingamabob and a tape).

[ChristineCQ]

Definitely not too late! I'd add that to my data tracking if I were you.

[spirilis]

Morning weigh-in: 240.2

[spirilis]

Lol, let's revise that as 239.2. Just took an hour or so!

[spirilis]

Fully ketotic this morning, nice sweet breath! Lol

The OMM makes a fantastic breakfast BTW. Had a cocoa+stevia OMM with 2 eggs in it (makes it more moist too, like chocolate cake) for breakfast and it hit the spot. Also tossed in some almond flour for good measure.
Had a bicycle ride too!

[spirilis]

Morning weigh-in: 238.8

[spirilis]

Morning weigh-in: 238.8

[spirilis]

Going to the beach for a whole week! Won't be reporting in unless I find internet access (and a scale, which I probably won't). Weather's supposed to be literally PERFECT every day we're there! Not a drop of rain in sight.

[ChristineCQ]

Have a wonderful time! Enjoy your "quiet"!!!

[spirilis]

Wow finally found wifi at this place, turns out they have somewhat workable wifi in the indoor pool area lol... Been eating low carb-"ish" this week (I eat the bun on a hamburger, otherwise low-carb) except for the daily ice cream treat ... past few days I've followed those treats with a strenuous bicycle ride. My new bicycle needs tuning so I'm gonna have to bring it by the shop when I get back home. No scale here and frankly I don't wanna know!!!

[ChristineCQ]

Originally Posted by spirilis

Wow finally found wifi at this place, turns out they have somewhat workable wifi in the indoor pool area lol... Been eating low carb-"ish" this week (I eat the bun on a hamburger, otherwise low-carb) except for the daily ice cream treat ... past few days I've followed those treats with a strenuous bicycle ride. My new bicycle needs tuning so I'm gonna have to bring it by the shop when I get back home. No scale here and frankly I don't wanna know!!!

I was just thinking about you and your vacation this morning, wondering how things were going!! A few indulgences shouldn't hurt; enjoy yourself!

[spirilis]

woohoo, back from vacation! I am starting a 2-week round of induction today. Only deviation from that was blueberries & cream this morning, but no matter 'cause I got ketone breath already.

[spirilis]

mmm, after spending $91 at the butcher shop and $20 here and there at other grocery stores, we got a fairly well-stocked fridge ready for low carbin'. Got an XL roasting chicken on the charcoal smoker/grill right now and I cut up some of the sausage I got from the butcher shop and cooked up 3 small segments for a snack, it was very very good. Butcher shop meat is always the best!

[spirilis]

Morning weigh-in: 240.6

Woohoo, that's my weight coming off vacation. Induction started yesterday; this morning I'm cooking up some Kunzler bacon with 3 small segments of Sage sausage from the butcher yesterday...

[spirilis]

Morning weigh-in: 240.0

[spirilis]

Morning weigh-in: 238.0

[ChristineCQ]

Nice drop!

[spirilis]

BTW, I'm totalling adding another anecdote to the "stress is the real evil cause behind all of this" theory. I was not hungry for anything this morning after having some bacon & sausage, I even brought half my sausage to work and ate it just for the sheer hell of it ... and wasn't hungry until well after 12:30, when I usually eat just before 11:30, and I was so satisfied the rest of the day I couldn't imagine eating food. And I was very relaxed, without stress, rejuvenated from the vacation. My job is not terribly stressful it just gets boring and repetitive at times, but I think that kind of consistent routine is what stresses me out TBH. I prefer and enjoy newness, something new every day. I'm gonna have to consider more "micro-vacations" throughout the year to help with this I think.

[spirilis]

Morning weigh-in: 238.4

[spirilis]

Coming back from vacation I noticed how relaxed I was, and coming to work I have noticed that little things turn up my stress level--riding my motorcycle (the associated physical stress of wind, noise, etc), listening to issues from others at work, working on problems, etc.
But what really packs a whallop is coffee--I had 1 coffee this morning (w/ stevia & HWC), tasted great but man the "stress" feeling went up like 500%, and I got hungrier than usual, ate lunch around noon, then was hungry around 2-3PM and had another coffee w/ stevia & HWC. That ratcheted up the jittery "stress" feeling to a high extreme, and just before going home I noticed how ravenously hungry I was getting. Could feel it all the way home.

But what I also noticed, is how clear-headed I was on the way home. And I realized, I am in a semi-stressed state of mind all the time. It's like I have a basal level of stress that I maintain all week, and sometimes all weekend (especially if I just sit around and read websites/news/etc. there is some awfully stressful and depressing **** on the news). I never notice it and I never think of it as "stress" because I'm so used to it, but after a good vacation it goes away. For a very short period of time, that is.

I'm guessing this is my true demon, and I need to face it. This is the culprit and it's probably the culprit of all my problems; I grew up in a stressful household, with a dad who did the same kind of work I do now (and had frequent stress problems), didn't have too much trouble in college with stress but working in IT it's like you need to maintain a constant level of mental stress in order to survive.

[spirilis]

The good news is, my new job (started Dec 2010) is way less stressful than my old one. But I need to work on lowering my basal stress level, finding ways to bring that quasi-vacationed feeling back on a daily basis.

[spirilis]

From what I've read, Cortisol's physiological effects mostly include everything that causes us to get fat; Stimulates gluconeogenesis, incites insulin resistance (stunting the the GLUT4 receptor), results in you craving carbs/sugar. That should account for the ultra clearheadedness; elevated blood sugar means the brain is capable of working at its peak metabolic rate. It also wrecks weight loss and supposedly the lipoprotein lipase receptors in your abdominal adipocytes are sensitive to cortisol so it causes fat in your body to redistribute to the abdomen, in addition to stimulating fat release I think?? Sounds pretty nasty if you're just sitting around doing nothing, but sounds great if you're running from a lion.

Heavy exercise can also incite cortisol, which might explain why I got so lightheaded on my hike the other week; Cortisol means my body's living off of protein-derived glucose, including my muscles, and the liver's ability to perform gluconeogenesis is rate-limited by oxygen reaching the liver (which supposedly the liver doesn't get oxygen quite as well as your muscles) since your liver has to use fat to get the energy for gluconeogenesis and that cannot happen anaerobically. So stress is the root of my evils here.

[spirilis]

Hmm... maybe I should just permanently replace the coffee I drink at work with decaf black tea:
BBC NEWS | Health | Black tea 'soothes away stress'

[spirilis]

Music therapy's been working pretty well tonight so far! I don't listen to my music much at home b/c my wife and I don't really have much common taste... but she's off at a potluck with one of her gardening clubs tonight, so I have Rammstein playing over the speakers! Haven't heard this stuff in a while lol... it wasn't really my favorite but there is something oddly trance-inducing about listening to German industrial music with lyrics I can't understand at all

[spirilis]

Morning weigh-in: 240.0
----
edit: Revising this down to 238.8 ... lol

[ChristineCQ]

Stress.....definitely a culprit!