Monday

152.8 today. Up from Friday. Up from Saturday and yesterday, as a matter of fact. I'm going to stay the course for this week, see what happens, and make changes if need be next week. I think it's inflammation - lots of aches and pains from gardening over the weekend, starting on Saturday. We did not go to the gym yesterday, but spent over an hour and a half killing weeds (at least, I hope that's the outcome) and pulling stuff out of the ground and deadheading roses and what-not.

I made buckwheat pancakes for Lee yesterday - buckwheat is gluten-free and has shown up on various Paleo websites as an "okay" item. I had 2 pancakes, which were pretty tasty, but very carby - breakfast brought me to 46 grams of carbs, I think. Gardening immediately after probably used up the glucose, but those will be a once a year treat, we agreed. Anyway, with that start to the day, I was over 50 grams by the end of the day.  Here's the log:

• tea with cream
• 2 buckwheat pancakes with raspberries
• 3 tbsp butter
• a very small amount of syrup (almost not needed, with the raspberries)
• 3 pieces of Kerrygold Dubliner cheese
• about a half-cup of macadamias
• Cobb-salad (chicken, bacon, avocado, blue cheese) with blue cheese dressing
• 1 salted dark-chocolate almond

A short list, but somehow the non-breakfast part of the day added another 24 grams of carbs. The whole day broke down as:

• 182 g fats (75%)
• 68 g carbs (12%)
• 71 g protein (13%)

Back to normal eating today. Eggs and bacon for breakfast, probably burgers for dinner. I have (exactly 12) macadamia nuts with me, but plan not to eat them unless I get annoyingly hungry.

Friday

I fasted, sort of, yesterday morning - tea with cream only, and some macadamias in case I got hungry later. Which I did - but up to dinner, that's all I had eaten. Got home, had a piece of cheese and went for a walk, followed by a big-ass salad with meat, cheese, and blue cheese dressing. Also raspberries and cream and some cashews. It ended up being 75% fat, 9% carbs, and 67% protein. I was in Small ketosis tending toward moderate at bedtime. Still constipated, though, so 152.6 isn't all that surprising. 

Today is a typical Friday, so far - scrambled eggs and mega-bacon, with tea and cream. I will probably snack a lot. Walks are planned for the weekend, as is a gym trip, probably on Sunday, which will no doubt add inflammatory weight to the first part of next week. That said, I am stronger and feel a lot better these days than I did during the early part of this year, so the gym trips are definitely a good thing.

Ran across a website yesterday that suggested that I'm underweight for my height (5'11") and frame size (small). It seemed to think I should be between 161 and 170-something. Thank you, no. I wouldn't fit into any of my clothes in that range, unless I really started doing a lot of muscle-building. And while I'm doing some, obviously, or I wouldn't be stronger, I don't think I'll end up in the <20% bodyfat range at over 160 pounds any time soon.

Thursday

Still - going with a new term here - costive. And feeling it, so I took an extra Magnesium today. I hope it helps; I'm a bit uncomfortable. 152.8 today. Kept my ratios yesterday again, saw Small ketosis at bedtime (and the night before was actually Moderate). Sleep okay, hot flashes a bit increased in frequency and annoyance - they're getting itchy. Still, no way as disruptive as they had been in the past, so I'll survive.

I put my weight into my spreadsheet today and noticed that, while I was up this week from Sunday (and Monday), the spike for the week was still lower than any previous spike, so the trends are all in my favor. And it's a pattern, for sure.

I skipped breakfast this morning because of the intestinal issues. I have macadamias with me should I manage a hunger at all today. We are hoping for a walk and salad dinner, but the weather has not been cooperating - it's been a rainy summer. Supposedly drying up today - we shall see.

Wednesday

I think it's constipation. Whatever the reason, after a day of eating at my effective ratios, where ketosis was at Small and pushing hard on Moderate last night, I'm at 153.4 this morning. Annoying, but, I think, temporary.

Yesterday was an eggs/bacon/macadamia nuts morning with stuffed peppers for dinner, and a bit of cheese and cashews to round things out. I don't feel like making a list. My stomach feels a bit stuffed up, if that's possible.

All that said, I did some measurements last night for a dress purchase, and found that my waist and hips have both gone down at least an inch recently. My lean mass is up a bit. I credit our walk-to-the-gym trips. And I am feeling stronger - not a huge amount, but a little. I'm wearing pants that were getting somewhat annoyingly short (due to being pushed up by larger hips) over the winter - they are the correct length again. So good things are happening, no matter what the scale is saying.

Tuesday

I sometimes wonder if it wouldn't be a better idea to make our gym trip during the week, rather than on Sundays, because the recovery inflammation always is discouraging on Tuesday/Wednesday. And the pattern is so constant. 152.2 this morning. Probably up again tomorrow, then down on Thursday and Friday and over the weekend, so that I'm down on Monday again. I am a bit stiff this morning, and a bit more sore than yesterday in the places affected by weightlifting.

Here's yesterday:

• tea with cream
• the usual supplements
• scrambled eggs
• 2 pieces of bacon
• 14ish macadamia nuts
• a giant salad with turkey, bacon, and cheese, blue cheese dressing
• one small onion ring
• 1 salted dark chocolate almond

That was it. It worked out to:

• 113 g fat (73%)
• 21 g carbs (6%)
• 70 g protein (20%)

Which is a nice balance, I think.

We walked to dinner, at Rib City, and walked back. While there, we saw another customer who had nearly achieved a spherical body shape. Stopped us eating dinner pretty abruptly, although I knew that what I was eating, at least (bar the onion ring) was not going to set me down his path. Poor guy - could hardly reach the food on the table from where he had to sit. 

The walk got me to my goal on FuelPoints for the day, so that's 3 days in a row. Ketosis at a solid "small" at bedtime, and I slept well - didn't wake up at all until after 4. That said, I would like to douse the melatonin dosage. I may try going back to the 5 mg time-release ones and see if I can get them to work effectively. Wonder if anyone has ever figured out what the body itself secretes as the world gets dark - naturally, I mean, unstimulated by electricity.

Similar breakfast and snack/lunch today, and stuffed peppers for dinner. Which I will watch, since they're carbier than I would have expected.

Monday

I saw 150.4 yesterday. Then I walked to the gym, lifted, and walked home. And today I'm at 151.2. Nice to know it's inflammation.

Not much else to report. Ate reasonably well yesterday, hit my FuelPoints goal both weekend days, no ketosis at bedtime for some reason. Slept well - that's always key. I'm glad to see that our 2 weeks of house guests didn't crater progress. And that's about it.

Friday

And it appears that things are getting back on track.  I got a full night's sleep last night - exhaustion is a powerful force - and am down to 152.4 this morning. My fingers are still a bit swollen, but everything else seems to be better.

Here's yesterday:

• tea with cream
  
• scrambled eggs
  
• 3 links turkey sausage
  
• 7 strawberries
  
• fat-fast broccoli soup
  
• lamb burger (1/3 pound)
  
• a few tomato slices
  
• a few potato chips
  
• 2 pieces of cheese
  
• a handful of raspberries (they're inundating us at the moment)
  
• 3 salted dark-chocolate almonds
  
• another tea with cream
  

That worked out to:

• 135 g fat (71%)
  
• 40.7 g carbs (10%)
  
• 81.3 g protein (19%)
  

We even got a walk in last night - just a short one, but getting back into the routine is key. I'm planning on driving to the golf course with Lee tomorrow and walking home, to get a good solid walk in. 

In order to get sleep last night, I took the "big" (10 mg) melatonin; I need to get some smaller dose ones that are not time-release, because the time-release ones wake me up - or don't sustain sleep past about midnight on the first blast. They're weird.

Hot flashes continue, a little heavier than in the past weeks, but not to the point of being a real problem - yet. I've learned not to expect things to stay the same with this crap.