The Carb Crusades
My Battle With Weightloss and Dieting
I am over weight. I have been overweight most of my life. I am almost entirely sure this comes from my love for food and my hatred to physical activity. Ever since I was a kid I have always enjoyed eating. At dinner time with my family eating and exchanging stories about or days, out to lunch or dinner with friends eating and discussing our lives, alone in my apartment watching Silicon Valley with my dog. Its very relaxing and comforting. Over time this lead to me being 19, 5'11, and around 235 lbs.
Keto
A Few years ago I discovered Keto. If you do not know, Keto it is essentially a high fat / protein diet almost entirely devoid of carbohydrates. When you eat like this your body stops relying on the conversion of carb's to glucose for energy and begins to use proteins and fats to sustain itself. I began following a strict regiment of carb free eating and the results were amazing. Within the first few weeks I was down almost a dozen pounds. Most of the initial weight loss is your body dumping a lot of excess fluids, but some is from actual fat stores being used for energy. The best thing was that it was all happening without any exercise, this diet works purely on eating the correct ratios of fat, protein, and carbs. All in all, after about eight months of dieting, I had gone from being ~235 to ~180 and I felt great. I had more energy, I was more interested in being social, my overall mood had become more positive because I wasn't self conscious about my body.
Maintenance
While keto is an excellent way to lost weight, if you do not stick to the diet you will quickly fall back into back eating habits and regain all of the weight... Which is exactly what happened to me. I stayed around 180 lbs for a couple months and slowly began eating more and more carbs. First I switched back to drinking beer when out with friends, this was probably my biggest mistake. I started eating fast food more frequently, cheese burgers, subs, Chinese takeout, basically anything that was filled with carbs. The weight started to come back, slowly, but it was coming back. 5 lbs, 10 lbs, 30 lbs, before I knew it I was back up to 230-240 lbs. This was very demoralizing. I was upset that I had let myself fall back into the same situation I had just spent nearly a year trying to dig myself out of. I think the biggest factor in my having fallen off the wagon was the weight loss itself. It was all so easy compared to everything I had tried before. I was no longer staring at my chubby body in the mirror every day and I forgot what it felt like to be uncomfortable in public. I would say I was mildly depressed by my situation which only made my fight against my weight more difficult.
Solution
In my personal battle with weight loss, I think my biggest motivation is staying aware of my progress and holding my self accountable and not forgetting how far I have come. As of a few months ago I began eating in a ketogenic fashion and I am off to a good start. I have been hitting my macros, staying away from carbs, and only slipping up one or two times when eating out. This is all great but I do not want to go through it all again and end up falling back into the same situation where I forget my progress and fall back into my bad habit's. My solution is to create the CarbCrusades. Aside from being someone who is battling weight loss I am also a software engineer. I have been developing a platform that will allow people to track their progress as they begin a weight loss journey of their own. Users will be able to enter their weight (I track mine each day) and their food intake and see this data tracked in graphs and charts. Ultimately I would like to give users the tools to associate the data from consumption with their weight loss so that they can identify certain patterns that work best for them. Maybe the days they ate their breakfast early at 6:00am and their lunch at noon resulted in the most weight loss. Using these tools they will not only be able to optimize their weight loss but they will also have a history to look at and remind them selves of how far they have come.
Carb Crusades
Currently the website is displaying a graph of my own progress while I build out the features. If you would like to see the progress or bookmark the site to use once it goes live, you can find it at www.carbcrusades.com. It will be a free service to anyone who wishes to use it. Hopefully someone will find it useful on their weight loss journey, as it is a tough road and every little bit of encouragement helps.
Super post
As I am a fitness competitor and bodybuilder, I have a lot of knowledge about various diets and what not. I applaud you for all of your hard work and success, I only worry that these types of diets are not sustainable long term. Have you thought about the idea of moderation and not restricting? For example, you mentioned that you track macros which is AWESOME! Could you fit a few carb loaded snacks in your daily intake that fulfill your macros and any cravings? I think it will eliminate those slip ups and will help you feel better grounded all around.
Thanks for the reply! During my different foray's into dieting I have tried to do something similar to what you are suggesting where I would try to have some carbs during a meal or two a week and still stick mostly to my diet. My issue is, as you have pointed out, moderation. When eating meals that are loaded with carbs, I never feel satisfied. I would eat and an hour later I would be hungry again. There would be no end to snacking and I would end up overeating. Due to the nature of my life style I do not require a large amount of calories, which when eating carbs I would end up well over 2500-3000 calories in a day. When eating mostly proteins and fats, I am able to eat and feel full/satisfied without exceeding an acceptable amount of calories. I am aware that a lot health risks are associated with eating fats and protein and I make visits to the doctor to make sure that there aren't any red flags in my health.
Ultimately my goal is that the project is not restricted to people following the same diet that I am, but rather a tool that could be used with any kind of diet in which someone wanted to track progress and gain insight into how their body is reacting.
Have you tried eating carbs that are lower on the G.I.? Those types of carbs are more likely to keep you full and satisfied - such as beans which also have a lot of protein! As long as you're choosing healthy fats, i.e: avocado, coconut oil, etc. nothing to worry about! I eat a high fat, high protein low carb diet. Protein is also crucial for building lean muscle and aids in fat loss as well - so keep your protein high.
As long as you're healthy and feel that your diet is sustainable, props to you!! :) Keep at it!
Hi 8). I came across your STEEMIT today because I too am doing a healthy / weight loss journey and I cruse the fitness, healthy tags 8). I voted up and followed. I always need motivation. Nice to meet ya.
I'm doing keto for now until I hit my goal. Then I plan to reintroduce carbs.
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