2024 Resolution — How Things Are Going (Month Three!)

We are now one quarter of the way through 2024. Three months down, and nine more to go. So how did I do on my New Year’s resolution during the months of March?

To refresh your memory, my 2024 New Year’s resolution was to go the whole year without eating sugar. I explained exactly what I mean by that here. Initially, I decided to give myself 12 cheat days (one per month) for the whole year. Then I reduced that to 6 cheat days (one every 60 days or so). But so far, I haven’t used any cheat days at all. I’ve now gone three months without sugar. That is pretty monumental for me!

The longer I go, the more determined I feel to go the entire year without using any of those cheat days. We’ll see if I’m still feeling that determined when my birthday rolls around towards the end of June. My absolute favorite dessert is H.E.B. white sheet cake with buttercream icing, and I always use my birthday as an excuse to eat way more than my share of cake. So we’ll see if I’m still so determined to pass that up in about three months.

But so far, I’ve been feeling very strong in my determination, and the effort has paid off! I’m down a total of 24 pounds since January 1st!!

I came very close, but the pants were still a little too tight in the butt for me to feel comfortable in them. But I did make progress. When I bought the pants, they were so tight that I had trouble buttoning and zipping them. I could do it, but it felt like they might cut me in half if I tried to sit down in them. 😀 So I went from that to being able to easily and comfortably button and zip them, but they just felt (and looked) a little too tight in the hips and butt for my comfort. So I’m getting there! I just didn’t make my goal of wearing it by Easter.

The easiest weight loss diet for me has always been low carb/keto. If I want to lose weight, that’s always my go to. This time around, I’ve been concentrating heavily on my protein intake, making sure that I get at least 100 grams of protein a day, and trying to work my way up to 125 grams. That is NOT easy at all. And then once I add some fat to that protein (by either eating naturally fatty protein like ribeye, or by adding some additional fat to a recipe), I stay full and satiated. I just simply do not get hungry throughout the day, and because I’m not only full but satiated, I’m not constantly thinking about eating, or being tempted to rummage through the fridge for a snack.

Protein plus fat is the key for me. I know that there are so many people out there who are just like I was — addicted to sugar and carbs, constantly thinking about food, constantly wanting to snack, always picking up snacks in the checkout line at any store you go to. I wish that I could yell it from the rooftops. EAT PROTEIN AND FAT!!!

And since people have asked me personally what I’m doing to lose the weight, and what I think works the best, I’m going to be honest. Eating protein from animals and eating fat from animals is key, in my personal experience and opinion. And if you can get your protein and fat from free range chickens, grass fed/finished beef, wild caught salmon, etc., even better. But honestly, if you can’t afford that, I wouldn’t let that hold you back.

That is your magic pill. And yes, there are other fats that are healthy — olive oil, avocado oil, coconut oil, etc. But it is imperative that we rid our diets of the processed seed oils (canola, “vegetable” oil, etc.). Those are killing us. Throw them out and never look back. And then turn on that grill and make yourself a big, thick, juicy steak with zero guilt whatsoever. Cut out the sugar, processed carbs, and seed oils, eat the protein and fat, and it only takes about a week (and probably less) before you’ll start to realize that you’re way less obsessed with the sugary treats and processed stuff. *Stepping off soapbox.* 😀

Your body uses two sources of fuel for energy — glucose and ketones. Your body gets glucose very easily from carbohydrates, while it produces ketones from fat. The goal of the keto diet in general is to eliminate enough carbs so that your body isn’t constantly burning glucose (which is always its first choice of fuel because it’s easier and generally very readily available), and to force it to burn fat as ketones for fuel. And of course, the fat that you want your body to use is the stored fat on the body, which results in weight loss.

So the idea behind the Protein Sparing Modified Fast is to drastically reduce not only the carbs in our diet, but also the fat that we’re eating to force the body to burn stored fat even faster. And on this modified fast, we’re supposed to do that while also keeping protein high in order to preserve muscle mass during this modified fast, and while also keeping calories under 800 per day. This is only a short-term diet. Unlike a regular keto diet, which can be a long-term lifestyle, this Protein Sparing Modified Fast is a short-term diet to get over weight loss plateaus, or to jump start rapid weight loss, etc.

So I decided to try it for two weeks. And while I didn’t see a whole lot of rapid weight loss during that time, I did learn a whole lot about my own body that I think will help me in the long run. Initially, I was aiming for that goal of 135 grams of protein a day, while keeping my carbs really low (less than 20 grams per day) and also keeping my fat super low. Ridiculously low, I would say.

I had two problems with this diet at first. First, I was eating mostly chicken, which was very hard for me. I’m okay eating chicken if it’s smothered in a cream sauce, covered with cheese, etc. But to just eat plain chicken is very hard for me. But also, with virtually no fat in my diet, I was hungry all the time. I would literally be in the process of eating lunch — putting food into my mouth and swallowing it — and my stomach would be growling. I would finish my meal, and my stomach would be growling.

So what did that do? It made me thing about food even more. As soon as I’d finish a meal, I’d be thinking about what and when I could eat next. I’d find myself standing at the fridge and rummaging through to see if there was anything I could snack on. In other words, my food obsession came back, and I was hungry all day long. In addition to that, it wasn’t resulting in the rapid fat loss that I had expected, and on one day, I even gained weight. I mean, that’s just stupid! I was eating less than 800 calories, less than 20 grams of carbs, and probably no more than 15 grams of fat per day, and I gained weight.

I decided that I couldn’t stay that miserable for two weeks. On Wednesday night, I had prepared spaghetti and meatballs for our church group, and I just bought the frozen homestyle meatballs from HEB rather than making them from scratch. I decided to eat some of the meatballs (no sauce or noodles) even though they had quite a bit of fat in them, and the next morning, I had lost weight! WHAT?

I finally decided that the super low carb, low fat, low calorie PSMF I had been doing was just too low for my body. My body thought it was starving and went into “famine” mode to hold onto everything I was giving it. By giving it just a little more calories and a little more fat, it evidently took my body out of that “famine” mode so that it started burning some stored fat.

So from then on, I stuck with the PSMF, but instead of keeping the fat in my diet as low as humanly possible, I upped the fat so that I was in the 40-50 grams per day range, and that seemed to be exactly what my body liked. By giving it that much fat, it was just enough to keep my body from “famine” mode and forcing it to hold onto everything I fed it, and it was just enough to get my body burning stored fat.

All of that to say that not every body is the same. That whole experiment was very eye-opening for me because it helped me find that sweet spot with my fat intake where I can stay full and satiated all day long and I’m not constantly thinking about food and snacks, while also keeping my fat intake low enough (but not absurdly low) so that my body doesn’t think it’s starving and will actually burn stored fat. I know we all want that rapid weight loss right out of the gate, but sometimes it can take a couple of weeks of tweaking to see what works specifically for you. While the beginning part of that modified fast was very frustrating, I’m so glad I took the time to do it, to tweak it, and to learn more about the specific ranges that work for me.

I’m no longer doing that Protein Sparing Modified Fast. Eating less than 800 calories per day for any longer than two weeks is just not my thing. I like food way too much for that. 😀 But evidently, you can do this modified fast for up to six months. I personally can’t imagine doing that, but I know many people have had great success with it. You can learn more about Protein Sparing Modified Fasts here, or just Google “Protein Sparing Modified Fast.” There are loads of sources on the topic.

The app is called Ladder, and within the app there are several coaches with various workout tracts that you can follow. I bought the app specifically for a workout tract called Body and Bell with a coach named Lauren Kanski. I have followed her on Instagram for a while, and then finally decided to jump in and get the app.

I have thoroughly enjoyed it! As the name would suggest, Lauren’s workouts are based largely on kettlebell workouts, and I can literally feel myself getting stronger. The app allows you to track the weight you use for the exercises, and the reps you can do. So as you go along, you can see your progress. It’s also a great accountability because she provides six new workouts each week, and sends out regular messages to the “team” to keep us motivated. So if you’re looking for a good workout app, I highly recommend this one, and in particular, I recommend the Body and Bell tract with Coach Lauren.

Alright, I think that pretty much covers the update for March. It’s very fun and exciting for me that this whole thing started with my one goal — not eating sugar for a year. And now that one change has led to other changes that are resulting in real results. Twenty-four pounds down since January 1st, and real, tangible changes in strength and muscle stability. Things like that make a huge difference when I’ve been spending a great deal of time on top of scaffolding, and need to spend a few more days up there this week while I finish painting my studio walls and ceiling.