Prior to starting this challenge, I was already eating relatively low carbohydrates (around 50-100g/day*) to prevent Type 2 Diabetes (for a time my blood glucose readings were in the prediabetes range).

These past several months I noticed I haven’t been as mindful with my carb intake and started to feel heavy and lethargic again despite not gaining weight. My morning fasting glucose levels were also not at the optimal level–I am not prediabetic again (thankfully!), but close.

For this challenge, my rules are simple:

1. Eat <50g of carbs (tracked with Cronometer); and
2. Eat mostly real/whole foods

My goal is to reacquire healthy eating habits and get better at estimating carbs once I stop tracking.

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Here’s a summary of my first week:

Date	Calories Burned	Calories Eaten	Carbs	Net Carbs
NOVEMBER 1	1929	1289	54.5	48.7
NOVEMBER 2	1823	1155	49.3	44.2
NOVEMBER 3	1941	1429	67.4	57.4
NOVEMBER 4	1939	1271	56.2	51.3
NOVEMBER 5	1787	1316	56.9	46.6
NOVEMBER 6	1838	1334	40.8	37.2
NOVEMBER 7	1817	1453	127.2	118.2

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I averaged 65g of Carbs / 58 Net Carbs (carbs less insoluble fiber). I think I still did well despite not keeping my carbs below 50g. I refuse to stress myself out and develop neurotic behavior because of this.

I didn’t limit my calorie intake. I only tried to limit carbohydrates and practiced intuitive eating (i.e., I eat when I’m hungry and stop eating when I’m full). That said, there were times when tracking helped keep my overeating problem in check. Sometimes, I’m unable to listen to my satiety cues and I keep eating until I no longer see food in the house.

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I keep my meals simple–it’s always a serving of meat and vegetables (instead of rice). I don’t find myself needing to snack as much. I don’t feel hunger for several hours since I started eating this way, but when I psychologically feel the munchies, I snack on pumpkin seeds, almonds, chicken skin, or I drink mint tea (Tesco’s peppermint tea is REALLY good).

I wish I weighed myself at the start of the challenge. While losing weight is not one of my goals, I’m curious to see the effect by the end of the month.

Here’s my weight in pounds on November 8 (taken before breakfast — 118.6 lbs at 5’0″).

I’ll post an update next week.

* If I were to follow the Philippine Dietary Reference Intake (PDRI), I should be gunning for around 250g of carbs, which is A LOT. That’s 1000 calories of a total of 1800.

By the way, if you’re on Instagram and interested in these stuff, I’m also documenting my fitness efforts at @raetriesfitness.