When it comes to any diet the first week is usually the hardest.
Low carb is especially hard in my opinion because the first week is when you detox from sugar. Also known as the “low carb flu”.
Headaches, the sweats, the shakes, and brain-fog from hell. I imagine that it is a lot like detoxing from a drug – that speaks volumes about how addictive sugar can be.
This is usually the hardest part of getting into and staying in this diet. Usually by the time the “flu” hits me I start my tiny cheats just to stave off the side effects of the detox. A tiny bite of something sugary so I can get the headache to stay at bay. Sucking on a mint just to get the bad taste out of my mouth.
Never realizing that I am actually prolonging the whole thing.
Today is day four and I’ve not yet have that many problems. In my experience I am usually deep into the “flu” stage by day three and ready to quit by day five.
Last night I hit a patch of sweats when I was cooking but I also just started my period so it could have been hormones.
It really surprises me because I am being super strict this time around. No processed foods, no artificial sweeteners, all meat/veggies/cream and cheese and I’m watching the portions on all of that.
I’ve already lost two pounds which is great considering it’s that time of the month for me so I know it’s working.
The thing that I may be doing that could make a difference is I am using essential oils for the first time in my life and I really think they are making a major impact on my emotional and mental well being. And I totally don’t care if it is a placebo effect or not, I feel good! Why would I scoff at that??
Either way, I am not complaining that the low carb flu hasn’t hit me like a ton of bricks. I am puzzled, but grateful.
The other great thing that happened pretty much instantly, was all my gas/stomach problems I’ve been having for MONTHS went away.
It’s been pretty consistent recently, and for no apparent reason that my body was producing an abundance of gas. It was resulting in feeling constantly bloated and “full” with uncomfortable stomach pains and burning. I didn’t understand quite why because I wasn’t eating a lot of the typical things that give me gas. I even went a day with only eating plain buttered pasta and still had it. I can only guess that I have developed a sensitivity to gluten.
At any rate, it has been so nice to feel normal again!
And the food! Now that I have time to cook and do this diet properly I am eating like a queen. This morning I had a large slice of Quiche Lorraine with a pork rind crust that was so delicious and decadent. Same goes for the meat and cheese casserole I made a couple of nights ago. Super tasty and it felt like I was being bad!!
Tomorrow is weigh in and there will be no cheat day.  Normally I weigh in and then have my “cheat day” that turns into a cheat weekend.  Tomorrow I will have allow myself a handful of nuts(not allowed on induction) but no cheats per say.
Feeling good!!!

So my weekend to myself is winding down already.  It’s been a lot of fun and I have stuck to my diet!

Friday night after work, I drove about an hour to get to my hotel, but before getting to the hotel I had one stop to make:

In N Out Burger is a rare treat for me since the I don’t live near one.  There is one in Salinas but that is kind of a haul to get a burger.  Since this was just a block from my hotel I knew what I was getting for dinner.   A Double Double Protein Style -plain with just cheese is only 3 carbs so I got two and a diet coke.

I ate one before I even left the parking lot because I was STARVING and then checked into my hotel.

The room was pretty cool.  Has a flat screen TV, fridge and microwave.  It fit all of my needs.  I unpacked and settled in.  The television had Direct TV so I was overwhelmed with the amount of movie channels that were offered and spend a great deal of time vegging out to the tube.  I facebooked, wrote a little and did a bit of crochet before eating the second burger and dozing off to the tv.

This morning I woke up and got into my bathing suit.  I hit the hot tub and relaxed for a while before taking a shockingly cold dip in the pool and then back to the room for a quick shower.  Once I was dressed I headed over to Black Bear Diner across the street and got some take out.  I got a Hobo’s Omelet with a side of bacon.

I ate about half.  I was going to have lunch with a friend that was traveling up to see me so I didn’t want to fill up but I was starving.  Oh and I ate all the bacon because, well…BACON!

My friend arrived a little bit later and we headed over to Chevy’s for lunch.  The service was really slow but good.  Our server explained that someone had failed to show up for work today and he was the only one there.  I really appreciated his honesty and felt really bad for him.  The speediness of the service didn’t matter to me today.  I’m not sweating the small stuff this weekend.  It turned out to be a good thing since I hadn’t seen my friend Koly in FOREVER so it gave us a lot of time to sit and talk at length.

We both got the mixed Fajitas.  I didn’t substitute anything I just pulled off the rice and beans when it came and the rest was “legal”.  Tons of meat and veggies and sour cream and guacamole.  It was a little slice of heaven.

After lunch we discovered that Koly’s car wouldn’t start.  It was actually her dad’s truck and the key was kind of warped.  She came to the conclusion that it was just not recognizing the key because she could put it over to the start side and pull the key right out.  She called her boyfriend to go get her dad’s spare key while we walked back to my hotel, less than a block away.  We then took my car to the outlet malls since we had planned on shopping anyway and now had about an hour to kill until her boyfriend got there.

I had never been to the outlet mall and having been now, I can say I think they are a bit overrated.  Not enough parking and they are outside.  In the Gilroy heat.  I didn’t like having to go round and round and round to find a parking space.  However, I DID find a really cute outfit at the Dress Barn out there complete with matching earrings and bracelets.

We tried the other half of the outlet malls but we couldn’t find parking.  I had allotted myself enough carbs to grab a sugar free Starbucks (two pumps sugar free cinnamon dolce and heavy cream) but with out parking I couldn’t get it.  Oh well.  Maybe in the morning before I leave.

By the time we got frustrated with the parking her boyfriend was almost there so we headed over there instead.  Koly was spot on with her diagnosis of the car and it fired right up with a different key.  With her car back in shape we took a second shopping detour and headed to Ross where I got a serious bargain on some Sketchers. 

Back at the hotel I Skyped with my husband and my dogs and now I’m relaxing. 

I was going to take a nap but I think I’d rather get to bed early and wake up for a hot tub in the morning before I leave.  Over all I think it was a successful weekend away that was just as good as if I had cheated on my diet.  Maybe even better because I never had that overly full “i’m going to puke” feeling.