Low Carb Vegetarian

This summer, I stopped eating meat. As it turns out, my body finds meat difficult to digest. Since I stopped consuming it, I haven't had any issues with my gastroparesis. Score!

After the last few bloodtests for the Rheumatologist have come back with a higher-than-expected CRP, my dr. hypothesized that my CRP was elevated due to my Insulin Resistance, not my Rheumatoid Arthritis. So... back to low carb eating.

Now, the last time I went on a low carb diet, it was wildly successful from the weight loss front, but that's also what triggered my gastroparesis and I spent months throwing up a lot of the food I ate because I simply couldn't digest it. The solution was to eat more simple carbs; not an insulin-friendly plan. But my gastroparesis seemed to be under control with the vegetarian diet, so I thought I'd give it a try.

Of course, I was pondering all of this shortly before the start of Lent, so it seemed a fitting time to try a 6 week experiment. I weighed myself on the day after Ash Wednesday, which happened to fall on Valentine's Day this year:

March 15 - 163.6

Ooof.

I've never seen a number that high on my scale.

Leif helped me figure out what sorts of things I needed to be eating. In general, I find myself eating some variation of the following things daily:

• 2 eggs (scrambled, fried, hard boiled, whatever)
• Whey protein shake (often with a peanut butter powder added)
• Vegetables
• Low sugar fruits
• Cheese

I do my very best to make sure I eat at least 1000 calories a day (I'm 5 feet tall, remember), and to eat an adequate amount of protein, while trying to make sure my carbs come from fruits and vegetables. 

We've got 2 weeks left of Lent, and it's been about 4.5 weeks since my experiment began. I'm drinking more water, eating a better quality (and more moderate quantities) of food, and find myself eating things I never thought I'd like, such as roasted asparagus. And today when I weighed myself, the scale said:

April 18 - 149.6

That's 14 lbs down in a little over 4 weeks. My goal was to lose that amount by April 1. I'm shocked at the progress. It has slowed down a little bit over the last week, but even so I've lost 2 pounds this week. 

It looks like I need a new goal!