7 Pound Drop ⬇️ Low Carb Food Diary

Hey! ? It’s been awhile since I’ve shared a daily low carb food diary, but I thought that would be a fun way to reconnect and open a discussion about our spring & summer goals. ?

I’ve been quiet lately but things are going really well. ?

I look forward to sharing all the good news with you! I’m still not 100% or “well” – maybe 50% most days ? but I’ve experienced such a GREAT leap in my recovery and I’m doing SO much better just in the last couple of months, and especially these last two weeks. ?

That’s been really encouraging! I’m still pacing myself, resting plenty, doing cold therapy and eating healthy, I’m still doing my easy “bed yoga” and also able to walk farther and more often lately, I finally got my appetite back … all good things! ?❣️ This too shall pass, they say… patience and grace + gratitude have helped me through all those hard days. ? 29 months worth (so far). ?

It came up in my Facebook memories this week that I’ve been eating low carb for 12 years now!

I remember sharing that post. I started out eating low carb using the Atkins method just to lose weight. And it worked. ? But in the beginning I truly did NOT think I’d be able to stick to it – or that it would “stick” and ultimately become a lifestyle that allowed me SO much more FUN and freedom!

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12 years! And I stuck with it. ? ? How long have you been eating low carb?

I was two weeks into it before I said anything to ANYONE because, well… fear of failure. I haven’t always been the best at sticking to goals, or making major lifestyle changes. But low carb has just been EASY – easy to start, easy to stick to, and easy to maintain long term.

I especially like that eating very low carb puts you in nutritional ketosis, which is a natural appetite suppressant (that helps!) and found my cravings just disappeared – or changed. I had never liked spinach before (EVER), now I love it. ?‍♀️ Go figure!

My Recent 7 Pound Drop ⬇️

For over a year now I’ve been struggling to lose ANY weight at all. Prior to getting sick in late 2020, I was easily maintaining my ideal weight and in the best shape & health of my life.

About a year into my illness, all kinds of strange things happened – including sudden weight gain out of nowhere. I literally gained over 20 pounds in a single month: January 2022.

I was hardly eating then! I also lost my ability to sweat and had constant joint pain, so there was a lot of inflammation and fluid retention going on, but my overall metabolic health was just wrecked from being sick.

For the last year or so, whether I ate or not, my weight was just STUCK and fluctuated between the same 3 pounds up and down – no matter what. I was struggling to get 800-1200 calories most days. At one point last Fall I ate “junk food” and pushed 2000+ calories for a few weeks, and didn’t even gain weight. Bizarre. I was just stuck. ?‍♀️

Then a couple months ago, around mid February, I went through some kind of major shift. My symptoms improved, I crashed less often, my relapses were less severe, my mobility improved, pain levels decreased, I was up and around more with MUCH better mental clarity, etc – and the weight just started melting off of me! ?

I’d been saying that to myself this whole past year, that the weight would come right back off when I got well, given I was eating light – and way less than usual. And of course eating healthy, low carb, anti-inflammatory, etc.

It felt like my body was just in complete distress and holding on for dear life! ?

For most of the last year or so, I’ve really struggled with my appetite. I made it a point to try to eat a solid healthy meal at least once every 24 hours, but it was a push to get at least 800 calories a day.

Lately I’ve been consistently eating around 1200 calories a day (sometimes more!), with proper hunger signals returning, and enjoying my food again! That was the first sign for me that things were really turning around. ?

I had a weird reaction to eggs that whole time too. They made me feel nauseous, lethargic and just all around awful. Even the smell or sight of eggs was enough to shut me down. But that was the first thing I wanted when I started feeling better!

My main meal lately is a simple breakfast scramble. ?

I saute 2 medium onions at a time so those are prepared and on hand for dinners. Then I scramble 3 eggs in half a tbsp of butter and add 2 ounces of chopped ham, sauteed onions and a palmetto pimento cheese – plus a dash of salt & pepper.

That “homestyle pimento cheese” is SO good in scrambled eggs!

This is the one I get: Pawley’s Island Palmetto Cheese. If you can find it in your stores, their chicken salad and caramelized onion dip are both amazing too. ?

I usually have a protein bar around mid morning, or at least half of one most days, so I’m not really “fasting” – or not intentionally at least. I also have my collagen coffee first thing in the morning, which has really helped with the hair loss & gut health issues.

I like those Almond Butter Brownie bars because they don’t cause me digestive issues, and they actually hold me over like a true meal replacement. I get those from Perfect Keto, they’re 30% off on this page when you get 3+ so that’s what I do since I’m using them daily still.

I also started adding in an electrolyte drink most days, which was recommended for energy and dysautonomia symptoms. I don’t really know why or how, but it really does seem to help! Plus they’re refreshing and delicious. ?

For the last few weeks I’ve been adding that SuperReds Keto Antioxidant powder to my electrolyte drink. Mostly because I love the blueberry flavor burst ? (!!) but it also has tons of good nutrients, which is great since I’m still not eating much – or much variety.

That reminds me, I shared a quick video chat while elevating my legs and enjoying my fruity electrolyte drink on the deck the other day!

I order the BodyArmor Lyte on Amazon, when I catch certain flavors on sale. ALL the flavors I’ve tried so far are great! ?

MyFitnessPal Low Carb Food Diary

I mentioned I’ve been doing even better the last couple of weeks, consistently improving (yay!), and getting my appetite back a bit too, so I’ve been having TWO meals most days lately – plus my morning bar.

That’s a BIG improvement. It really worried me when I was hardly eating. ?

Here’s my food diary for Thursday. I pretty much ate the same things all week, with the exception of a second meal some days, but I’ve been consistently close to 1200 calories, some days a little more even!

I don’t really count calories, by the way. It just concerned me that I wasn’t eating enough when I pushing it to get 800 calories a day.

I’ve been doing good at making the quick ham & egg scramble at least once a day. I can’t always cook though, or stand more than a few minutes, so I grabbed some Atkins frozen dinners to have on hand too. My favorite one is the Atkins Crustless Chicken Pot Pie for a quick and easy dinner that’s really satisfying.

I’ve been enjoying that meal on repeat this week! It reminds me of chicken soup with the broth in it, and just feels like comfort food. ? That’s especially nice when I’m not up for cooking.

That brought me to almost 1200 calories, with 76 grams of protein, and only 19 net carbs (33 total carbs). I felt pretty great yesterday! I was happy to get two full meals in, and I was able to work the first half of the day for several hours too which was nice. I crashed by the afternoon, but just being up and around, eating and working, that’s a huge improvement over a couple months ago! ?

Oh – and I’m back in ketosis, FINALLY!

That’s a whole topic in itself, how this illness kept my blood sugar elevated and knocked me flat out of ketosis. Even a 72 hour fast didn’t affect my numbers. Crazy, right? But whatever this shift was that started in mid February… brought my blood sugar down and ketones UP.

All good things, but I’ll write more on that in another note, because it’s pretty fascinating tracking all the data points through my recovery.

Feeling Better = Living Better ✅

I’ve been pretty much homebound since mid October (again) except for my New Years trip, and more recently a couple of short outings, so it’s been SO nice to get out some again lately.

I can’t drive or walk far, or do much, but I’m back on my feet! ?

Twice in the last week I’ve been able to get to the cascades above Burgess Falls (one of my favorite Tennessee waterfalls!) for cold therapy.

The river is FREEZING right now. It’s cold year round, but in April: ? lol.

I’m still having a lot of circulation issues, swelling in my left leg and knee, plus lymphatic issues. I use cold therapy for my neurological symptoms as well. Submerging my head in COLD water instantly clears up my cognitive impairment and speech issues, and stops my tremors.

Nature therapy is the best! ?

I point my feet upriver in the rapids for natural massage and compression to help with blood flow. And on good days, like this week ? I can use the resistance of the water to do light exercises to strengthen my core and legs. I lean back or lay back, engage my core, and slowly open and close my legs 5-10 times, or as many times as I can. (I don’t over-do it, I still have the short walk out, lol!)

My goal is to move as much as I can to support my bad knee, and keep fluid and blood from pooling in my lower legs. Plus working on core strength, even if it’s just “bed yoga” when I’m homebound, really helps with my balance.

You probably remember how much I love being outdoors, so in addition to making me FEEL better instantly, I get so much JOY being able to sit by the river again. That’s my happy place. ?

I hope today brings you something to smile about that totally LIGHTS you up!

✨️?✨️

I would love to hear how things are going with you, and what your goals are for this year. Mine is the same as usual, and very simple: to be the happiest healthiest version of myself – every single day.

That’s not going to look or be “perfect” every day. Some days it looks like JOY or FUN, some days it looks like REST or self-care. That’s totally okay. My goal is live each day in the best way possible, making good choices along the way (one hour at a time, one meal at a time, one decision at a time), looking for ways to be of service, and finding something to ENJOY – or at least smile about.

I have lots of ideas or theories about why I started feeling better and why I’m continuing to improve lately. I can’t say it was any one thing for sure, but tracking the data points has been interesting. Everything from heartrate to blood sugar to ketone levels, the 7 pound drop in weight too, plus obvious BIG improvements in my energy and ability, it’s all pretty fascinating how it lines up!

I’ll share more on that if you’re interested… my thoughts & experience at least. But I feel like I’ve turned a corner finally and am getting WELL. ?

I’d love to hear from you when you get a chance. I have a lot of catching up to do still, but I think it’s time we all come back together for some fun new challenges for the spring & summer months!

What do you think? ?

Best,
Lynn Terry
aka @LowCarbTraveler

p.s. thanks for hanging in there with me over these last couple of years. I don’t know what I would have done without you all! ? xo