Protein Sparing Modified Fast, what is it?

"The Protein-Sparing Modified Fast (PSMF) is designed for rapid weight loss and incorporates medical, nutritional, and behavioral components. The goal of this diet is to reach an appropriate body weight as determined by your physician and dietitian.
Carbohydrate, protein, and fat are the nutrients in food that provide energy for proper functioning, maintenance, and repair of the body. In addition to these three nutrients, the human body requires water, vitamins, and minerals for good health.
While on the PSMF program, only lean meat, seafood, poultry, and a limited amount of low-carbohydrate vegetables should be eaten. Carbohydrates and additional forms of fat are not allowed on this program. The high protein intake is to prevent the body from using its own protein stores in muscles, tissues, and cells for energy. Thus the program is a "modified" fast.
Carbohydrates are usually the body's primary source of energy. Since a very limited amount of carbohydrates are consumed, fat becomes the primary fuel source for the body. This rapid breakdown of fat produces ketones that spill into the urine, called ketosis. Ketones in the urine are desirable. While in ketosis, most people lose their appetite, which is a benefit of this program. A large amount of the water in your body is stored with carbohydrates. Since carbohydrate intake is severely limited and storage is severely depleted, dehydration is a health concern. To compensate, adequate quantities of fluid, sodium, and prescription potassium are required each day. Eating foods that are not appropriate can stop ketosis, which not only means less weight reduction, but it can cause dangerous shifts in the body's fluid and electrolytes."

PSMF Diet Program

PSMF w/PCOS Day Eleven -- Oh the irony...

Irony...
     So I think it's pretty ironic that I manage to survive all the Easter baskets and Easter dinner, especially considering the only thing I had available to me for lunch was raw cucumber, I made it through all that without cheating, then I weigh myself the next day I was up. Ok only like two-tenths of a pound, but still...how ridiculous!

Going Simple...
     So I have decided that the easiest and probably best thing for me while I'm struggling is to keep it very simple. So today (and yesterday alike) I had chicken for breakfast (I know...yuck), chicken and broccoli for lunch, and...you guessed it, chicken and broccoli for dinner. I drank tons of water as usual and I think I had one twenty ounce Diet Mountain Dew (so I didn't go over my aspartame restrictions.

Chaos...
     My life in a nutshell: Babies (1 & 3), husband, endless laundry, painful feet due to "toy on the floor" syndrome, Grad school, two weeks until a month in London with the in-laws, one week until my husband starts a new job in a new city, two days until I have to go apartment hunting AGAIN, four days until my son's first birthday party, 14 hours until I have to present to my class, and approximately 5 minutes until I completely lose my mind... I miss wine.

Staying strong...
     I can proudly say though that I have not swayed once, even though I want to go crazy, I have stuck to my guns! REALLY hope I can keep it up... and I really hope I am given reason to keep it up as well. I'm ok suffering through an extreme diet, but ONLY if I see the results. Wish me luck...

PSMF w/PCOS Day Nine -- Road trip

Woke up late...
     So my husband and I had plans to leave the house at 8am to drive to Columbus and look for apartments.  I, of course, woke up at 7:45am.  Ask me the last time the kids even slept that late?! Luckily for me, my grandparents love to watch the kids so they were there at 7:50am and I was able to take a shower and get ready at record speed. Not that we had a specific schedule or anything, I think we were both just looking forward to a whole day to ourselves in the quiet of the car to talk or just enjoy some silence! Anyway... out of the house around 8:30am and off to Columbus, about a 2 hour drive (less if I'm driving!).

No snacks...
     Unfortunately for my husband, due to my PSMF, there were no stops for breakfast or lunch, and no snacks for the car. Just water and diet coke. (God bless diet coke). Wasn't too bad though...except for the fact that I had to choke down 4 oz of plain chicken for breakfast (no time for anything else). That was actually pretty gross!

Nine hours...
     Nine hours of driving around looking for apartments. We saw everything from gorgeous $1400 apartments (that are about $500 above what I'm willing to spend...trying to save for a house here!) to shit-hole $700 apartments that smelled like feet. Oh, incidentally, the one that smelled like feet...The man that was showing it to us said, "Yeah, these are pretty spacey. Four guys from OSU lived in here last!" Hahaha..not a selling point for me! Regardless, we had a fairly enjoyable day together and got home in time to have dinner (missed lunch..oops).

Starving...
     So by the time I got home I was starving so I went straight to the fridge to heat up my chicken and broccoli. I didn't have enough to make up for missing lunch...didn't think that would be a good idea, but I did add about an ounce of protein to dinner and have a serving and a half of veggies.
     Oh, and did I mention that as a wonderfully devoted wife I brought leftover pizza home for my husband from my parents' house...do I hear a soft violin in the background? ;o)

Ketones...
     Really, I feel like I should be able to see a little more than this crappy small reading. Will be talking to my dietitian about this for sure at our next appt.

PSMF w/PCOS Day Five -- Beware of the Fat Lady

More tests...
     So I was a little more than annoyed as I pushed through morning rush hour traffic to Cleveland to get another round of blood drawn, fluids collected, and an EKG. But, I get it, I had to do it. Not a great start to the day though especially since it was raining and since I couldn't find a parking space I had to pay $12 for valet parking (SLOW valet parking). Got it done though and managed to make it home without hurting anyway, even though I was starving because I had to be fasting for my tests. Wait...I thought I already was fasting??

Screaming babies, cleaning toilets, and still hungry...
     I had a fairly cooped up day due to the rain and all the work I need to get done. Unfortunately this only exaggerated my irritated mood and growing hunger for wine and chocolate. If I was cleaning, the babies were screaming. If I was playing with the babies they were making enormous messes and being quite grumpy due to the lack of attention earlier and the EXTREME lack of sleep we all got last night. It was definitely a no-win situation today.
     And, I don't know if it was because I didn't get breakfast, or because of my general grumpiness, but I really had to stand firm today and constantly remind myself not to eat anything that wasn't on the diet list. I actually think it may have had something to do with the phone call from my endocrinologist yesterday. She was insisting I stop the diet for two days until she gives me the go ahead, and I think the devil on my shoulder, better known as Ben & Jerry, was nagging at the back of my mind saying: "It's not technically cheating because she doesn't want me doing it anyway..."
     Happy to say I did not slip up. Too grumpy to be proud right now, maybe I will be in the morning.

Boring food...
     So today consisted of no breakfast, two eggs, the last tiny bit of cooked chicken in the fridge, cottage cheese, and broccoli for lunch (5 oz of protein and one serving of vegetables). Dinner was more chicken and more broccoli (6 oz of protein and one serving of vegetables).

Ketones, where are you?
     Ketones still came up as small today...hoping they'll pick up a little. Still waiting for their benefits of lack of hunger, etc.

**Oh, and I changed my font to KRANKY....seemed appropriate. :o)

PSMF w/PCOS Day Two -- Protein, data, more protein, graphing, more protein, menus...

Miscalculations...
So today didn't go too badly.

Breakfast:
Two eggs
Two pieces of turkey bacon
Water

Lunch:
1/2 c. of cottage cheese
Serving of broccoli
Two pieces of turkey bacon
Water  & more water

Dinner:
6oz. of chicken
Serving of broccoli
1/4 c. of cottage cheese
Water

Snack: Jello....mmmm.....
     I'll admit, not the ideal breakdown. I miscalculated how much protein I had at breakfast (I thought I had four, but realized at dinner it was only three), and I only had three at lunch as well b/c I was rushing. So I had to fit in 7oz. of protein at dinner.

Menu it up...
     I decided after working all this out in the evening, and remembering that I am also supposed to limit the cottage cheese to 1/2 c. a day and actually had 3/4 c. today, that I need to create my own menu for the next week. I have been sticking to everything in the book, but when I am planning off of a couple different menus mistakes can be made.
     So that is my goal for tomorrow, type out one or two variations of a menu that will be easy to pull from without thinking. All my breakfast options will be 4oz. of protein, lunch the same, but also with a serving of veggies, and dinner will be 5oz. of protein with a serving of veggies.

Data & Graphing...
     I also took a little time today and created a couple different graphs. One graph will show my weight loss total by week. This one I will print out and put on the fridge so I have a little extra motivation. The other graph I have labeled on my computer as PRIVATE! because it will show my current weight each week and I am mortified at the thought of anyone else seeing it, especially and including my husband.

Winding down...
     So now it's the end of a long day filled with meeting the Easter Bunny and seeing Sesame Street Live in Cleveland ---surprisingly enjoyable!  I've had my jello and so I think I should officially call it a night and hope for a good day tomorrow...and definitely hope to see some Ketones!

Day One Continued...

     After a lengthy trip to the grocery store (took so long trying to make sure nothing would interfere with the diet) and stocking up on some essentials for my undertaking of the PSMF, I have now eaten: scrambled eggs w/2% cheese and two pieces of turkey bacon.
     Although my first day didn't exactly go swimmingly in terms of what I ate, I still feel pretty good about it. I have all the necessary foods to get exactly what I should eat, when I should eat it from this point onward. And I didn't eat anything I shouldn't today...just didn't eat enough of what I was supposed to!
     I gave the chem strips a try just for the fun of it. Plus I thought it would be nice to know for comparison purposes. Definitely no ketones being released in this body. Good to know...that hopefully means that when I see that I am testing positive it means results should follow shortly after...
     Looking forward to the end of this weekend and the being of Ketosis when this is all supposed to be much easier...boost of energy, loss of appetite, etc.

**On a side note: Found a really great water enhancer that does not include aspartame (which is limited on this diet) and is zero calorie. It's called Mi0. Would suggest giving it a try if you are looking for a way to get more fluids.