Lumen Experiment, Post #2

January 27, 2024 ShirleyjdietzLeave a comment

I should learn never to say that I will do more writing tomorrow when I know writing is not my first priority.

I have been using Lumen for a little over a week now, learning as I go. It is also learning me, which is interesting. It is 95% ready to give me my first flex score, which will give me an idea how adept my body is at switching fuels when needed.

It took two days on a low carbohydrate plan to get my system to switch to burning fats. When I was pretty consistently using fat as the major fuel, I was awarded a carb boost day to see how easily I would switch back. The goal is to move back and forth easily, as needed, which is why it’s called a flex score.

One aim each day is to wake up in a fat burning mode after a night time fast, in which any carbs eaten for dinner are used up. The carbs are always going to get used first because they are the body’s preferred fuel. Preferred because they are the easiest fuel available, but not the cleanest burning.

The Lumen device showed me that I succeeded in being in fat burning mode every day, even after the boost day when I had more carbohydrates.

This is the graph I see when I check in each morning.

1, 2, and 3 are fat burning modes. 4 and 5 are predominantly carb.

How do I feel about the program thus far? There are some revelations that it is showing me. The first one, and one I kind of expected, is that I was a bit addicted to carbs. I always want more bread, cereal, and sweet fruit and berries. It’s not exactly a craving, because I do forget about it during the day, and am not exactly hungry. But I do miss the taste and textures of these foods.

Another problem I’m having is how to get all the protein the plan suggests. I can’t seem to meet the requirement without going over the limit on fat, carbs or both. There just aren’t too many proteins that don’t come combined with other macro nutrients.

On the plus side, logging what I eat is much easier than it was with Noom. Any thing I buy with a barcode is read easily – the app takes a picture of the barcode and records all the nutrients for me. I only have to put in the amount I eat. If the app doesn’t recognize the food by name, I can log the food by putting in the macro nutrients (protein, carbohydrate or fat) myself.

Using the device is not hard, as I can still inhale for 4 seconds, hold my breath for 10 seconds, and exhale for 10 seconds. It’s a sleek, small, and somewhat expensive, piece of technology. I’m trying to be very careful with it but did drop it once (eek!). It sits on the charging station most of the time and has a little bag to shield it when I take it somewhere with me. It’s kind of fun to see it work. Results show up on the app within seconds.

I don’t think I’ve lost much weight yet, but I don’t weigh in very often either. As I said, I’m not feeling hungry very often, and if I do, I can have a lot of vegetables that don’t count in the carb column. So the plan is very vegetable friendly because it allows complex carbs. I’m kind of sad about desserts, and the occasional soda which are discouraged because they DON’T HAVE NUTRITIONAL VALUE. I knew that.

So we shall see what another week brings in the weight loss category. I’ll post results here but I’m not saying I’ll do it tomorrow, because I’m smarter now. (Maybe my mind is getting better, since better focus is one of the promised results of the Lumen program.)

Suddenly Winter

November 15, 2021 Shirleyjdietz4 Comments

It happened at night when I hadn’t paid attention to the forecast. I woke up in the morning and there were 4 inches of snow on the ground. I had already been forcing myself outside for a couple weeks, in temperatures close to freezing and my suspicion (of winter) and reluctance (to accept it) were coming on strong. The snow clinched it.

Good morning! Yeah, it really looks this dark and this snowy.

Since the snow I’ve developed some new diet and exercise parameters.

Diet first, I did the Noom thing already last spring and summer so I’ve got the psychological part well in mind. Lots of psych tricks, no “all or nothing” thinking, no real guilt about satisfying my cravings. In other words I’m going to welcome a few extra pounds of insulation. It’s cold out there. Dessert after supper every night will be the new benchmark. I’m going to weigh myself daily to make sure I’m not gaining too fast. I believe in moderation.

As for exercise, I’m going to change my daily step count goal from 10,000 to … basically whatever I get. I do enjoy a challenge though, so I might have a week or two during the winter when I see if I can keep it under 1,500 a day. Do you know how hard that is? It’s hard, but I can do hard things.

I’m thinking there might be a day now and then when it’s warm enough to bundle up and go cross country skiing outside. I have a goal for that sport too. There’s a particular hill that I attempted last year right after I got skis. This year, with the proper amount of instruction, I hope to ski down that hill and not fall over at the bottom. I missed the lesson and practice session last week. I don’t know how people make themselves leave their warm houses at 8:30 in the morning to go stand in a cold parking lot and do exercises. Besides, it was raining, wasn’t it? Somewhere?

Really though, what’s throwing me off my usual energy level and positive thinking habit is all this darkness. I’m used to going to bed when it’s dark but it’s so impractical to do that at 4:30 in the afternoon. I’m automatically tired looking at a dark sky. After a couple hours of pitch black, I tell myself it looks way too late to start cooking supper. But I have to do it anyway. The thought of dessert is the only thing that gets me through it.

All this is to say that I’m struggling, probably with the thought of winter more than winter itself. Thoughts are important, right Noom? And I live, thinking in my head, almost all the time. It’s going to be five long, dark months ahead. That’s what I’m thinking now, just sayin’…

Don’t Say Diet, Please

June 18, 2016June 18, 2016 Shirleyjdietz3 Comments

Yes, I caved. There are times when advertising actually works.

I should give deliberate thought and action to taking care of my body. Even though I figure God will leave me here as long as he sees fit, I have a choice about some things. Do I want to be old AND miserable, with conditions I could have avoided? Not really. But staying healthy is not as effortless as it seemed to be back a couple of decades ago.

Knowing I was about to have a couple of weeks with only myself to feed (well, except for my daughter’s cats, dog and horses) I decided it would be a good time to try out a new eating plan. I prefer to say eating plan, rather than diet. It sounds more necessary. So I picked an eating plan that sounded a lot like the way I already eat (ensuring success, or nearly so). Appropriately it was called “Beyond Diet”. When my skinny friends on Facebook recommend a plan, I listen. But mostly, it didn’t cost very much and it promised two weeks of not thinking of what to have for dinner. I’m in.

I went to the store to get food for week 1. I guess that part went pretty well, and I actually like hanging out in Publix as long as I have a jacket with me. They had almost everything on the rather extensive list, except halibut and unsalted pumpkin seeds. The food only cost $150 and I was thankful because it would have cost a lot more if I’d gotten everything organic like the list said.

My first big problem was getting it all in the refrigerator at my daughter’s house. Her fridg is full, but there is almost no food in it. She watches a lot of cooking shows and contests so she has weird stuff like coddled cream and Da Nuong and siracha sauce and different colored olives. No food. The bottom shelf has her veterinary vaccines and the cooler where she keeps specimens of stuff I don’t want to think about in connection with eating. I had to get rid of a few things to make room, sorry Jules.

The second big problem, as I forged ahead into day 1, was that I was getting behind in the schedule almost immediately. I had just finished cleaning up after breakfast and it was time for the snack, and then time for lunch. No kidding, there is something to eat every two hours all day. It’s kind of like being tied up in the kitchen and for a while I considered looking for a plan called “Beyond Eating” so I could get something else done. Good thing I know how to modify.

And the third thing, not really a problem but different for me, is that there is some kind of meat for protein almost every time I eat. Buffalo, turkey, chicken sausage, halibut – I almost never get these things. Did you know that meat is never sold in actual serving size quantities? I’m supposed to prepare 4 ounces of ground turkey but it’s only sold in 10 ounce packages. Who decides that 10 ounces is better than 8, or 12 and why? But I can modify.

This morning, day 2, I did great for breakfast but then I went outside and lost track of time until afternoon snack – oops. And I’ve been invited out for dinner but my “free day”, so called, isn’t until day 7. I can modify, good thing, huh?

Check in again in two weeks to see if I’ve experienced remarkable “Beyond Diet” results. Just sayin’, as usual…