Day 1

Today, Thursday, December 19, 2024, is the first day of My Zero Carb Life.

Let's backtrack...

Nov 1, 2021: Day 1 postpartum. I was determined to lose all my pregnancy weight, and I did. Over the next year, I started lifting weights and cutting carbs. I went from an average of 155 lb to 135 lb. 

Jan 1, 2022: My weight usually hovered around 130-140lb, and I wanted to start getting toned. I decided to adopt a modified DASH diet with low-fat and low-carb because I had high cholesterol. I also aimed to walk 14K steps a day, and often did.

Jan 1, 2023: I continued much of what I had done in 2022. My weight ranged from 130-135. I also started intermittent fasting, anywhere from 24-36 hours, usually once a month.

Jan 1, 2024: I found a personal trainer and started serious resistance training in April. I also adopted a keto diet in the summer (high fat, moderate protein) and transitioned into carnivore in the fall (zero carb). I continued 16:8 and up to 72 hours of IF. I thrived on this. My energy and mood were transformed, as well as my skin and GI health, and any aches and pains were relieved (I noticed that whenever I binged, all these things would get recur or get worse).

The biggest pitfalls I have discovered have been:

1. Binge eating. I'm not sure what triggers this exactly. When I feel happy, I don't have this urge. When I am upset, I also don't have this urge. It might be from boredom and being at home too much (also the cause of any MPs). It also occurs during PMS. 

2. Laziness with exercising: I love to walk when the weather is nice. When it's not, I feel depressed and reluctant to leave the house. I also feel quite lazy when it comes to my PT and resistance training.

3. Meal prepping: I am usually pretty good about planning ahead for my meals, especially since my diet is now pretty simple (eggs, butter, beef, chicken, braunschweiger, salmon, and sardines). I usually have these stocked and ready to go. 

4. Food fatigue: I definitely get tired of the above 7 foods, and have the recipes I need to spice them up a little, but I get lazy.

5. Water: not drinking enough water is something that happens a lot. I have big water bottles, but if I'm not home or haven't filled them, I won't drink enough. This is exacerbated if I've had coffee that day. 

6. Sleep: It's ok but can improve. I sleep best when I've had a full and busy day.

My goals for the rest of my life:

1. Continue carnivore. As much as it's great to be in ketosis, it's not sustainable (or so they say). I think it's good to be in ketosis once a week. In any case, I have no desire to consume carbs again (must fight mental cravings, since physical carb cravings are solved pretty easily by eating fat). In addition, counting calories isn't important if insulin is minimized, which it is with a 0 carb diet.

2. Continue intermittent fasting. I want to do a 48 to 72 hour fast at least once week, preferably Wed through Fri so I also get the benefit of the spiritual aspect, which I have been completely lacking over the past several years.

3. Ensure adequate hydration and sleep. Minimize any source of stress. Be SMART in relationships - lot of growth to be made here. 

4. Continue exercising. If PT isnt working out, or helping me be consistent, maybe it's time to try something new. I would love to be lifting weights 3 times a week, and walking 15K steps every day. I have a problem pushing myself to do this.

Today, I am fasting (clean fast, just water with electrolytes and black coffee). I binged the last few days and needed to reset. I feel pretty good today, besides the usual MPs, which were the only real source of stress. I am also getting over a cold.

I broke my fast after 28 hours and had beef for a late dinner. Ate during a 2 hour window and planning to restart for another 24-60 hours.

Tomorrow, my plan is to continue my fast. I am going to work, but that will be ok since I won't be around as much food. One of my problems is my energy level after work is usually pretty low, so hopefully fasting and coffee will help mitigate this.

I am praying for God to bless me, bless the next year, give me wisdom for my health and my MPs and all the other facets of my life (family, kids, work, mental health, spirituality, etc).