What's your ZC plan?

(Jodi) #1

I’ve decided to jump back into ZC full time. I’ve kind of been all over the place this summer food wise, and I just need to pick a plan and stick to it.

My version is meat/eggs, fats, any unsweetened water, coffee, a bit of cream, mayo, and occasionally some hard cheese.

I’m not gonna track ANYTHING.
I’m just gonna eat when I’m hungry until I’m not.
I’m not gonna worry about fasting or eating windows.
I’m going to keep taking my supplements and eating lots of salt with my food.
I’m not going to worry about exercise, just keep moving as much as I can (what I do now). I have a daily step contest with my parents…keeps all of us moving lol. I’ll continue to hang out at the pool a few times a week doing “river walking” with my son & some friends. Just getting outside and off the couch as much as possible. :blush:

So who is doing ZC currently, and what’s your plan? :grin:

(What The Fast?!) #2

Hey girl! I’m on day 9 of ZC, basically same as you - meat, eggs, 1T cream 1-2x in coffee a day, avoiding cheese for now but will eat if we’re at a restaurant or something. I’m taking mag and salt, but less so than when regular keto. I’m looking forward to following along!

Oh - but I’m tracking everything (though I find it a big guess because most of my deals are cts of grassfed beef from a farm and I have no idea what % is fat.

(roxanna) #3

Hi, I’ve been doing ZC since January, sometimes strict, sometimes not. I even did almost a month of beef only with 1 coffee a day (It took 26 days but I got bored with just beef and stopped on day 26). Right now I eat 2x a day but will eat more if hungry. I find I love to eat a lot at night, so prefer to not eat as much during the day. I have one decaf coffee a day with cream and/or ghee. Generally aim for 2lbs of meat a day, but right now I’m eating eggs and cheese so that complicates thing. I am not tracking. I love the not tracking with ZC! I do usually note what I’ve eaten, but may stop doing that because really it doesn’t matter :slight_smile:

I work out usually 5 days a week (boot camp type classes in the morning), but sometimes 4, and I walk every day. At least an hour on days I don’t work out and a half hour to an hour on days I do.

I do take supplements because I am incredibly fearful of the horrifying leg cramps I’ve gotten in the past. I’d love to try to wean off them someday but anytime I’ve tried I get fluttering in the legs and start getting worried.

(Teresa Driver) #4

I’m in week 3 of ZC, not tracking anything, and I’m doing 16:8 IF 5 days a week to try to lower my fasting insulin level.

I’m eating meat, cheese, eggs, mayo, butter, heavy cream, coffee, iced tea and seltzer water.

I am not eating more than a cup of food at a time or drinking anything too fast in an effort to keep from stretching my stomach because I read somewhere on here that stomach pressure increases insulin response.

I started doing pushups and squats yesterday to build strength before I start lifting weights (so now I need the carb content of Advil). This is also to try to lower fasting insulin.

I take a fistful of supplements twice a day, along with a couple of prescriptions, but none of them is specifically related to keto except for the Ceylon cinnamon (just started and hoping it will increase my insulin sensitivity).

I swear I am not obsessive-compulsive, even though this list looks like it.

(Anna) #5

What is ZC?

(Anderson Herzogenrath Da Costa) #6

zero carb

(Chris) #7

Hi!

My plan right now is fasting 3-5 days in the week, then feasting usually Thursday or Friday through Saturday.

Foods consist of meat, butter, eggs, cheese and heavy whipping cream, though I haven’t had any cheese in a few weeks.

Supplementation: D3 when feasting, electrolytes only when fasting, coffee for extra energy when I need a boost

I had kind of a crappy time on my last day of this weeks fast, so I am debating internally whether to change up to shorter fasts.

Edit: I regard fish as meat, so that’s on the list too.

#8

I can’t say I have a plan but I’ve been ZC since April, eating meat, fish, eggs. I was eating Kerrygold but it was making me mucousy and giving me zits. Same thing with ghee. So no dairy for me. I’m doing coconut oil which isn’t exactly ZC but I’m okay with that. I switch up my IF all the time. Sometimes 16:8, sometimes 23:1. Currently on my third three-day extended fast, hoping to make it past the 72-hour point. I drink keto-aide when fasting and dissolve pink salt rocks on my tongue every couple hours. I take Natural Calm (magnesium) every night, fasting or not. I usually eat my last meal of the day before 3pm because I sleep better that way. On feasting days I try to keep my calories up to increase my metabolism for when I fast.

(Jodi) #9

Your posts/questions lately regarding ZC is really what sparked my decision…so thanks!:grin:

The best I’ve ever felt was the first time I did ZC, so I’m kind of just going to do it that way again, except with the salt & supplements. Back then I even drank diet pop & had the occasional handful of nuts or seeds, although I’m not going to do that this time.

All the tracking just makes me think about food more and I’m tired of all that. I was much more relaxed about it all then, and I just enjoyed the food when I was hungry. I don’t like to cook, so ZC is right up my alley lol. I’m okay with the weight loss taking some time to get going, I just want to feel better and quit obsessing about it all.:grin: That will probably take a little time too​:joy:

(Jodi) #10

I use avocado oil for mayo, but I don’t sweat that either. I’d use coconut oil if it seemed appropriate too.
I have some coarse sea salt on the way, I think it will be easier than fine salt on my tongue. I think that was a huge needed piece of the puzzle my first time on ZC, glad I’ve learned about it here. It has made a really big difference for me already.
I also like to have my last meal of the day earlier…usually around 4, I don’t sleep well on a full stomach.

(What The Fast?!) #11

When you lose weight, I’ll take all the credit! :joy:

Yes! Totally!! I still need my protein question answered, but that’s the only thing I really need the answer to. I don’t even know if tracking is worth it on ZC because of what I mentioned earlier - unless you’re eating ground beef that’s labeled with a % of fat, it’s really hard to know how much protein and fat you’re getting. Satiety it is then!

(James storie) #12

I’ve been ZC for about a month, not very strict though. I’m going to tighten up with any meat (but mostly beef), eggs, cream, cheese, coffee, butter, and mayo. I make my mayo with avocado oil too, but I don’t sweat that! I think I’m going to try and stick to 2 meals a day. It seems that ZC OMAD makes me pretty ravenous. I end up uncomfortably full! I’m not tracking anything, that’s what attracted me the most to ZC. I’m close to maintenance, so I don’t expect to loose weight quickly, I just like eating this way! Oh, I forgot to mention BACON!

(James storie) #13

Oh, and as far as exercise goes, I’m a truck driver, so I’ll get what I can when I can. I love to hike and bike, but I don’t get the chance very often. I think I’m going to start using a jump rope for my primary cardio.

(Adam Hagen) #14

I’m still trying to cut some fat so I’m weighing and tracking everything. Weight training with a bodybuilding style hypertrophy program 2-3x per week (every 3 days, 2 days rest between workouts) plus walks in 1-2 hour bouts as I can fit them in.

My diet consists of 1 day per week as a “free” day where I do not track calories but remain ZC, sometimes eating up to ~3500 cals. The rest of the week consists of sub 2000 cals, minimum of 200g protein, the rest from fat, ~100g. This consists of 2oz HWC in my coffee each morning, 12oz chicken broth with hot sauce and salt, 8-12 146 degree sous vide eggs with chili flake, salt and garlic powder, 16oz-20oz chicken breast.

I’ve been pretty consistently losing ~5# per month on this plan. Protein at 200g seems to satisfy me more than at 100g with the rest fat. Also eating leaner cuts is allowing me to eat more volume of food helping with satiety as well it seems.

(Chris) #15

@jamestorie I travel a TON for work though in a car. One thing I try to take with me is the idea that the world is my gym. If I can find something, anywhere, to do pullups on, you bet I’m jumping up there!

(Teresa Driver) #16

And in the interest of reality, there is a gram of carbs in each egg, so I’m not truly zero carb just very very limited in intake. And my sugars are better without vegetable matter, but the first week I was ready to cut a bitch for some arugula.

(Chris) #17

Zero carb is a misnomer, it should be called zero plant if it was to be a true name. The carb in an egg, therefore, doesn’t matter.

(Stephanie Hanson) #18

I’ve come to the conclusion that I want to stop obsessing about eating/tracking/fasting etc. It just creates more stress and a diet mentality for me.

#19

Sounds like what you’re doing is working for you. 5# a month is great.

(Jodi) #20

.[quote=“Stephanie, post:18, topic:16120, full:true”]
I’ve come to the conclusion that I want to stop obsessing about eating/tracking/fasting etc. It just creates more stress and a diet mentality for me.
[/quote]

This is what I’ve found also.
ZC just is the simplest for me, and I know eventually all the pieces will fall into place.
Lately I’ve felt like a magpie…oh! The best one is here…no, over here, no wait, this one! Lol I love keto, there are just to many variables for me, and I haven’t been able to kick any cravings.

This was my experience when I tried it. And it didn’t help my cravings…

I just find it so interesting how individualized everyone’s plan is. It is a pretty simple concept but done so differently by each person. I did try just meat & water for 30 days like @amber suggests, but I didn’t make it the full 30. I’d really like to do it eventually, just not really ready to give up my coffee with cream quite yet tho.:blush:

I’d also like to do more fasting sometime in the future, for the autophagy primarily, but I really want to get comfortable with ZC before I explore that again.