I weighed in today at 275. That shows me I have probably moved beyond the water loss and am losing real fat now. Tomorrow will be the one week mark. I am excited to see how I do.
I got the "Biggest Loser" Wii game for Christmas. I didn't expect much from it. I started it tonight, and it was amazing. Very challenging. I think if I keep up with the daily workout on that game I will lose quite a bit of weight. It gave me 30 minutes of a workout, mainly cardio and lower leg toning. My muscles were jelly half way through. It scares me I was so out of shape. Goes to show you what not taking care of yourself really does. On a day to day basis I don't see it very much because my life is so sedentary. Years of little to no exercise and a poor diet are the only 2 reasons for my weight gain, or anyone's for that matter.
The diet is going well. I am not hungry very often- one good point to this diet. You never have to control the amount of food you eat, just the types. I discovered Atkins bars. They taste great. I am not sure how good they are for me though. I think I have a carb/sugar addiction (one of the reasons I wanted to start Atkins as the first diet I do; detox the sugar addiction), so eating Atkins candy bars, while low carb, is kind of not addressing the problem. I am still craving sweets. It's like nicotine patches for quitting smoking. Often abstinence is the only way to go. I'll monitor myself and see how it goes before I decide to phase them out. They might prove to be important.
I am finding it hard to keep up with the blog. I've never had to make time for a journal before.
I also measured my ketosis again today. I was in the 15-40 range of mg/dL ketones in the urine. It is classified as moderate. Perhaps my ketosis is still ramping up. I was told I would go into ketosis in 3 days, but I never heard much of what happens after that. Apparently, for me, it slowly increases after the first 3 days.
Well, I promised biochemistry for this blog. Here are the questions I intend to answer in the coming days:
1. What biochemical pathways are down regulated with Atkins (concerning fat)?
2. What biochemical pathways are up regulated with Atkins (concerning fat)?
3. What role do calories play in the Atkins diet?
4. Does the body store fat more efficiently from blood sugar or from blood fat?
My main goal will be to see if the diet works, what can I take away from it for life realistically, and why.
Transforming biochemistry knowledge into weight loss:
This page was begun as an experiment. An experiment I was conducting on myself. An experiment to test which conditions would allow me to loose weight. Now that I have been at it for a while I realize this page serves as more. It serves as a means for me to research. It is a way for me to pick health topics of interest, research them from a biochemistry stand point, and then share them with the world. Sharing them with you gives me an official feeling and keeps me motivated. However, as described below, I am still experimenting on myself.
How did this happen? I don't know exactly although I am almost sure it boils down to diet and exercise. I hope to find the answers as I explore my journey through weight loss on this blog. I was not always fat. Therefore, I know that I can be unfat again.
I am a biochemist. I should have known better. Of all people, I should have known how to avoid this predicament I am in now. I now wish to harness my scientific knowledge to experiment on myself as well as explore the chemical basis for weight loss methods.
Methods:
I will try new diets. I will experiment on myself. The diets will be chosen from among the most popular in our society. I will chronicle the results and my general experience in my blog here. I will also explore the biochemical basis for these diets as well as evaluate their effectiveness and truthfulness. I will also exercise as regularly as possible, 3-5 times per week, to avoid biasing the results. I will try to keep everything constant in my life except the diet. My method is not perfect. I don't necessarily want to lose raw pounds, but rather gain an understanding of what methods work best for me to permanently regain my health.
Hypothesis:
1. No diet will be clearly better than the others. Conversely, each diet will offer some truth, some piece of knowledge or methodology that I can take away with me to help myself. I think that in the end, I will be able to formulate my own diet based on a synthesis of all the things I have learned from all of these diets.
2. I have been on diets before, lost weight, and then regained it. I wasn't born fat. Given that, I think that my main problem will be shown to be psychological. I think that I may have compulsive eating problems- compulsive eating problems associated with very unhealthy foods.
3. I will lose quite a bit of weight. My blog will help keep my motivation levels high.
4. There will be a lack of clear scientific basis to many of the diets.
No comments:
Post a Comment