i can't bear eating all this FOOD!

The scale is down 3/4 pound again, and i even allowed myself half a cup of cooked white rice with my beef tenderloin last night.

But my discomfort level has risen:  between the lack of salt and the high meat intake (about 50% higher than it was a month ago), my stomach is not at all happy, even with daily use of betaine-HCl.  Today is a day for readjusting the formula.  (I just took a 1/4 t. of sea salt, washed down with water, as a good beginning.)

I was VERY comfortable on the IF technique of coconut milk in my coffee for breakfast, and only two real meals per day.  The only trouble with that was, i wasn't losing any weight, despite consuming fewer calories than i am now.  (So THERE, CICO people!)  When one of Donaldson's patients reported in without having lost any weight on one occasion, it turned out that he had begun skipping breakfast in hopes of reducing faster....

Yesterday, i DID feel improvement in my bad knee, and the other felt pretty much normal again.  I did my half-hour of walking on the treadmill upstairs instead of around the neighborhood, because i suspected the cold was affecting my knee badly.  Treadmills aren't perfect walking-machines, though -- posture and muscle use don't mimic REAL walking (see Dr. Wong...).  Today i'm going to walk outside at a warmer hour, or use the stationary bicycle; i customarily use it for my Tabata sprints, as it's MUCH kinder to the knee.

...I just resolved to name my knees -- "my once-injured knee" is so unwieldy -- so it'll be Ralph (the "bad" one) and Louie.  ;-)  I'm so original!

Volume of meat is going down!  Instead of 8 ounces, it's going to be 6, and i'm going to put salt on it.  Truly, it hasn't been my taste buds that missed the salt, it's been my stomach-acid missing the chlorine!  In all the agonizing over sodium in the last few decades, "experts" predictably overlooked the other important ingredient of table salt.  Without a good source of chlorine, less stomach-acid is produced -- and contrary to what "everybody knows," an awful lot of indigestion is due to LOW acid, not high.  As a hypothyroid, i'm already inclined to have low stomach acid (which is why i keep the betaine supplement on hand), and i've been exacerbating it.  That stops now.

On the positive front, allergic symptoms are reduced on my lower-toxin diet.  I was surprised to see, under the strict PPC regimen, that i still showed a little cheek-flushing in the evenings -- something that i hitherto blamed on wine.  The most likely suspects were nightshades (which i took it very easy with), eggs (eaten in moderation), and nuts (mostly consumed in the form of coconut milk).  Last night i took stock, and found the flushing significantly reduced. 

Well, today is going to be a low-intake day, just to reset my system.  I WILL stick to the approved food list in "Strong Medicine" though!  Considering that i lost approximately 3 pounds in three days, there's no doubt that Dr. Donaldson was onto something, even though the medicine seems to be a little TOO strong for ME.


p.s.  Despite the dire warnings of reduced thyroid function on a VLC diet, i've noticed no such reaction -- and believe me, i know what it feels like.  I hypothesize that:  1) sufficient protein ingestion raises insulin levels enough to allow the receptors to work just fine, and;  2) being well-adapted in ketosis with plenty of glucose made by the liver from protein AND fat (as confirmed with my glucometer) provides all the glucose necessary for T4 conversion.  Dare i suggest that the trials where thyroid function was impaired took place in particularly-established glucose burners...?