Day 13

I had a hangover today, i lay in bed till 10am. I had a huge breakfast today which consisted of 4 slices of bread, eggs and coffee. Not really a good idea for someone who's trying to lose weight but damn, alcohol is the devil!

My cousin came to pick me up and we visited relatives all over town. Got back home and had my second meal for the day. Only managed to have a litre of water. I have to go to bed early today because i didn't get enough sleep last night.

Day 12

When i woke up, i had trouble walking. My legs were hurting so bad because of the walk that i had yesterday. However, that did not stop of from walking again today. I walked for 30 minutes and pain in my legs, especially hips, was so excruciating but i did it anyway.

Day 11

I decide to do a little exercise in the form walking today so left the house in the morning and went. Initially, i had planned to walk for an hour but i took a wrong turn somewhere and ended up getting lost along the way. I ended up walking for an hour and 51 minutes. I was so exhausted and when i finally got home, i climbed onto my bed and just law there for the next hour.

Day 10

I feel like superwoman right now. For the second day in a row i've managed to have only one meal (yay!) and my litre of water. For me, being able to do that is major. You now how it is when you have an addiction and you can see that you're making progress, it brings with it a sense of achievement and for a while there you feel invincible.

Day 9

When i woke up in the morning i was like what the hell, let me just get on the scale and find out how much i weigh, which i did and was surprised to discover that i had not gained anything at all after the bad food choices that i've made for the past three,days.

Today i managed to have one "meal" and 1.3l of water. Meal is in quotes because i didn't have proper food, just slices of pizza. i do feel good about myself because i've, at least,been able to keep my food intake minimal.

I'm excited about this one thing here: i've been invited by Ngoda Business Info to attend their magazine launch in the capital, Harare, on the 5th of April 2012. i feel like now i do have another reason to go on this water fast that i have been blabbering about and yet have not been able to do. I have a week to shed off extra weight. I MUST look good, i definitely do not want to see "humps" through my dress, it just ain't a pretty sight! So here goes...

Day 8

So today was supposed to be my weigh-in day but i didn't do it. I basically didn't want to know anything that the scale had to tell me. I've been on a binge for the past 3 days, today included so i know the numbers are not in my favour and i'm just not ready to face the truth right now because i know that it will just demotivate and that's the last thing i want at the moment.
I travelled out of town to see my sister who's in boarding school today so i made sure that i ate before leaving home because i didn't want to have to buy food on my way. I had a cup of coffee with four slices of bread then when i got there, i had a coke. I came back really late and by that time, i was already very hungry. All i wanted to do was eat so when i got back into town, i ordered some junk food for myself. It was french fries, deep fried chicken, coleslaw salad and a coke. I felt full when i was halfway through but i couldn't stop eating because i hate "wasting", considering food is so expensive here!

21:33 it is and i'm ready to in to bed now, feeling bloated as ever!

Ketosis For Weight Loss

As explained in this post,, if the body can switch from being a carb-
burning machine to a fat-
burning one, the person loses weight. We store our fat, sometimes in undesirable places, such as our hips, buttocks, tops of thighs and our tummy. Carbohydrates cannot be stored like fat can. If our body is in carb-burning
mode, we eat when carb (carbohydrate) levels go
down, in order to get our
energy. To achieve ketosis,
the body must be on a high
fat/protein and low carbohydrate diet. According to some organizations and experts, such as Dr. Atkins, with proper monitoring (urine dip stick, for example), levels of ketosis can be kept
within safe limits and the dieter can reach his/her ideal bodyweight without
suffering unbearable hunger.

There are certain risks on
sustaining a prolonged high
protein, low carbohydrate
diet. If keytone levels are not monitored properly, there may be a strain on the kidneys, there is a higher risk of developing kidney stones because more calcium is excreted through urine, and there is a higher risk of osteoporosis. Some experts say there is also a higher risk of having unhealthily high cholesterol levels. However, several studies, such as this one have revealed that not only does a low-fat/high protein diet reduce cholesterol levels, but it also brings down blood pressure in individuals with hypertension.

What Is Ketosis

Ketosis is a condition in which levels of ketones (ketone bodies) in the blood are elevated. Ketones are formed when glycogen stores in the liver have run out. The ketones are used for energy. Ketones are small carbon fragments that are the fuel created by the breakdown of fat stores. Ketosis is potentially a serious condition if keytone levels go too high.

However, when the body is in ketosis the individual tends to feel less hungry, and will probably eat less than he/she might otherwise do. The body switches from being a carbohydrate-burning
organism into a fat-burning
one. The fat stores become a primary energy source, and the person loses weight. That is why low-carb diets have become popular, and effective, especially among obese people.

The modern human body in
most societies usually
metabolizes glucose from carbohydrates for energy purposes, rather than energy from fat. If there is not enough glucose (from
carbohydrates) in the
bloodstream the body draws on fat stores for fuel, causing the appearance of ketones in the blood. Ketones are produced by the liver from fatty acids.

We need proteins and fats for building and repairing tissue and cells - proteins and fats can also be sources of energy. If necessary, the body can get all its energy from fats and proteins.

Our brain can use glucose or ketones for energy; it cannot generally burn fat for energy.

When there are plenty of
carbohydrates in the body, it breaks them down into
glucose, which is then
converted into energy and
transported into the cells of our body.

Ketones consist of acetone,
acetoacetate or beta-
hydroxybutyrate. Very high
ketone levels can be toxic,
making the blood more acid, and may damage such organs as the kidneys and liver.

The human body tries to
lower acetone (a ketone)
levels by breathing it out,
causing a sweet and fruity
breath. We also reduce
keytone levels by expelling them through our urine.

Day 7

All i have to say is i ate like crazy today!

Day 6

I woke up with a bit of a hangover this morning. I tried to drink water but it just wouldn't go down. I then decide to have a cup of coffee which i had with biscuits. For supper i had fried chicken, french fries and a soft drink. Bad choice to make considering i'm trying to lose weight. Anyway. I'll make up for it..

Day 5

I didn't manage to update yesterday because i ended up going on a date last night and we got back home very late. I managed to have only one meal yesterday and a litre of water, which was a good thing.

The only thing, though, is that i ended up having a bit of alcohol which, i think, defeated the whole purpose. Staying away from food or alcohol may be hard because like i mentioned earlier, it's my date night every week on this particular day. I'll probably make this my cheat day.:)

Day 4

10:25 I'm still sitting in bed because i'm dreading to wake up and get busy because i know that i might not be able to resist the temptation. I've been having hunger pains for the past 15 minutes or so. I know that if i stay in bed for 10 more minutes, by the time i get up, they will be gone. I weighed myself earlier and i noticed that my weight hasn't changed at all. This is because i haven't done a total water fast as yet, been having a meal or two for the past 3 days. I intend to change that today, though.

12:41 Once again, i couldn't stay away from the coffee! I've just had my cup and i hate myself for it!

21:24 Am preparing to go to bed now. I had my second meal two hours ago and i don't feel so good right now. I'm bloated! I don't know why i just can't stick to my program. Why is it so difficult???

Day 3

Not too much to write about today. I had two meals today and less than 500ml of water.

I spent the whole day on the internet, downloading software because i recently formatted my laptop and lost most of my software. I also managed to update my blog by adding a sitemap. I'd been trying to do it for a while now but i just didn't know how to and today i came across a site that provides a free script that generates a sitemap for you. All you have to do is edit out their url and put yours.

I wanted to update my gallery page but for some reason, my blogger was refusing to upload images and i just don't know why that is. Hopefully next time i get on the internet, i'll be able to do that.

Time to go to bed now. I've just gone on my period so i've very bad stomach cramps that are killing me. Goodnight you all..:-)

Day 2

I had a very bad day today. Nothing happened, it's just that i had a bad dream last night and it's the only thing that was on my mind all day.

In the dream, my mom was shaving my hair then when she was halfway, she told me that she wanted to do something else so she left me to finish off, which i did effortlessly.

Day 1 (Water Fasting)

7:52am Just got out of bed, looking forward to this day. First day of a fast is usually easy so i know i'm gonna be fine. It's up to me to make it happen. If i fail to make it through today i'll have noone else to blame but myself, but i definitely do not want to go that route. My weight this morning at this very moment is 95.4kg (damn! How did i get here?). Here goes... woohoo:)

1:23pm I feel so hungry right now and i've just decided to have a cup of coffee and two slices of bread. It's not going to do a lot of harm (well i know that at least thinking that way is going to make me feel better).

10:15pm It's time to go to bed. I didn't have as much water as i should have today, i probably had just a litre. It went good, probably because i had coffee and bread in the afternoon. I promise myself that tomorrow i'm gonna try to totally abstain from food. Goodnight journal..

My Pre-existing Conditions

1) Sometimes i feel pain right at the heart area. I haven't gone to get checked by the doctor as yet because i'm fearing the worst. I'm just not ready to hear any news that might make me sad and stress me out.

I'm A Failure!

Right after weighing myself what do i do? Go straight to the kitchen to prepare myself an oversized meal. I cooked scrambled eggs, which i ate with 4 slices of bread and Fanta. How do i feel right now? Bloated and angry at myself for allowing myself to be won over by my eating demons/desires.

I feel like i'm a total failure right now! I just can't stop kicking myself in the butt!

Damn!

These are my statistics as of today:

Weight = 95kg
Bust = 105cm
Waist = 104cm
Hips = 124cm
Arms = 34cm
Thighs = 79cm
BMI = 36.6

I still haven't started my fast, i keep pushing it back for some reason. And it's so horrifying to find out that i've gained 1,2kg since my last weigh-in. I'm crashed!

I guess i just don't have the right mentality at the moment. I guess i need time to prepare myself mentally before i can undertake this journey. If only i can overcome my addiction to food i know i'll be just fine!

Starting Over!

So because of a lot of staff that's been happening in my life of late, i put my fast on hold for the past 2-3 weeks and i think i've gained a pound or two since then because i noticed just this morning while getting ready for church that my clothes have become a bit tighter now!

I'm a fighter, though, and i'm not going to let that deter me. So i'm determined to start again tomorrow and this time all my heart is into it! I'm in the process of recording my debut album and soon i'll be making videos so i've got to look awesome (you know how T.V. makes everything look big!).

I haven't weighed myself in a while now and i'm so dreading the scale right now but then there's no other way around it so tomorrow i weigh myself and update my statistics (agrrh!).

Tomorrow the journey begins (for the second time lol) and i pray that this time, i actually get to the finishing line!

What Is Metabolism

Metabolism is the amount of energy (calories) your body burns to maintain itself. Whether you are eating, drinking, sleeping, cleaning etc... your body is constantly burning calories to keep you going.


Metabolism is affected by your body composition. By body composition, I mean the amount of muscle you have versus the amount of fat. Muscle uses more calories to maintain itself than fat. People who are more muscular (and have a lower percentage of body fat) are said to have a higher metabolism than others that are less muscular. For example, let's say you have two people who are the exact same height and weight. One exercises on a regular basis with weights, in addition to aerobic exercise, and has a low percentage of body fat. The other never exercises and has a higher percentage of body fat. The first person who exercises will have a higher metabolism than the second person. What this basically means is that person #1's body will use more calories to sustain itself than person #2.

How To Increase Metabolism




Begin to exercise and stop dieting. If you've never exercised before, make sure you see a doctor before beginning a new exercise program (your problems with metabolism may be the result of a medical condition rather than your diet or lack of exercise).


You can increase your muscle mass by doing some type of resistance work (i.e. lifting weights, using exertubes, rubberbands, dynabands, hand weights etc...). You can also decrease your level of body fat by doing some type of aerobic exercise at least 3 days a week for longer than 20 minutes. By aerobic exercise, I mean an activity (such as walking, jogging, step aerobics, hi/low aerobics, biking, swimming etc...) that will increase your heartrate into the target zone and keep it there for the duration of the exercise session. You also need to eat! - Do not diet, just watch the types of foods you eat. Try to eat a diet that is lower in fat (check the labels on the foods that you buy).

Water-fasting is also one good way to increase your metabolism so go on, try it...:-)