A Day on the Ezekiel Diet in Diary & Photos + Potassium Issues

by EzekielDiet.com
Posted on Oct 06, 2018

Weight loss always relaxes out about 10 lbs once you go into maintenance mode. So never go out and buy a whole new wardrobe of clothes at your rock bottom lowest weight and while still in weight loss mode. If you do, then add an inch at least. Keep it loose.

I like to keep the extra relax weight in  maintenance mode between 5 and 10 pounds extra.  During the week I’m semi-dieting and keeping the weight relax down to the extra 5 lbs.  Then after dining out on healthier option meals once or twice I can spike back up to an extra 10 lb relax. I spend the next week undoing the dining out damage back down to 5 lbs relax weight. Another week on the diet will reverse the 5 lbs back down to my lowest weight without dining out.

But over the last year I’ve gained an extra 15 lbs on top of the 10 lb relax. It’s time to get back to basics.

Here’s what I learned

Keep in mind I lost the 100 lbs in mid 2010, so I’ve done this 20 lb up and down several times. This time I want to document why I believe this happens and adjust again.

Although I’ve kept my maintenance calories in-check at or below 2,500 calories I’ve learned I have to exercise regularly to maintain weight. It wasn’t necessary to lose weight. But it is to maintain weight. Or, if I don’t exercise I should stay in diet mode and limit calories to 1,500.

Factors that contributed to this extra weight includes:

– grazing all day on healthy food keeping insulin spiked,
– not consuming enough potassium in maintenance mode to balance sodium,
– too much skinny pie (esp skinny cheesecake instead of sweet potato or pumpkin),
– I added organic sweet potato and root bagged chips with avocado dip,
– not enough daily fruits and vegetables reduced potassium benefits of dieting, imbalance,
– eating out too often (even healthy) and occasional real sugar desserts without regular exercise, part of potassium deficiency,
– extra salt in maintenance mode adds water weight, part of potassium deficiency,
– not enough time in sauna weekly, needed because of potassium deficiency,
– eating after 6 pm,
– not walking or hiking daily, weights were not enough,
– not enough time in the sun daily.

Here’s a 1,500 calorie day on the Ezekiel Diet when I’m ready to drop extra weight.

I use a regular Note Pad document minimized on my laptop until I want to add to it.  It really helps me to document calories consumed. Some say don’t count calories. But it helps me stay on track and I need the exercise of regularly estimating calories so I can easily do it in my head. I can read a menu and get a good estimate of the calories.

I’m also tracking potassium this day to get an idea what I’m consuming while dieting. RDA is 4,700 mg and most Americans are deficient. Potassium helps offset and balance sodium in the diet. Here’s the potassium issue; you need to consume 4,700 mg of potassium for every 1,500 mg of sodium. That’s not much sodium; 1,500 mg of sodium is only .75 teaspoon.  Processed packaged food is full of sodium.  If you consume 4,000+ mg of sodium in a normal day; theoretically you need 12,000 to 16,000 mg of potassium to offset that sodium. And you can’t use supplements because they don’t sell potassium supplements large enough to get that much potassium. Look at where the potassium is below.

I was surprised to learn that an avocado has almost 1,000 mg of potassium compared to only about 400-500 mg in a banana.

This exercise is also good because you learn where the potassium is on the menu at a restaurant. And most restaurant food will be high in sodium. Look for sweet potatoes, tomatoes, avocados, spinach, mixed greens, squash, zucchini, or extra mushrooms as sides and toppings. Add a side salad to every meal. The bigger the better.

This is another key point I’m adding to this system of eating. However there are medical caveats, see: https://www.ezekieldiet.com/electrolyte-imbalance-conditionsconcerns-too-much-or-too-little-potassium/

This day ended up with 6 servings of fruit instead of 3, although 2 of those 6 were small mandarin oranges. Without the diary that’s not as easily seen. I’m using the oranges and the grapefruit in the first 3 days to help jump-start weight loss.

Potassium Observations

My potassium is very close to the 4,700 mg RDA at 4,356 mg. Without the coffee (4 – 16 oz large cups – 1 reg, 3 decaf)  I would be almost 920 mg of potassium lower. That 4 cups of coffee at zero calories would be the equivalent to 2 bananas in potassium and an extra 200 calories, or an extra avocado at 300 calories.  That must be why coffee is a diuretic. The extra potassium helps reduce the sodium bloat.

Notice what happens to your potassium intake if you don’t drink coffee and  leave off the fruit and vegetables.  It has to be a promoter of fluid weight gain, especially when the average person takes in up to 10,000 mg of sodium a day.

What About Potassium Supplements?

I should address this.  I personally don’t use potassium supplements.  I inherited a sensitivity to sodium from my mother who was on a diuretic and potassium prescription half of her life.  I started taking a few 100 mg potassium supplements (the equivalent to a banana maybe) to help with my potassium sodium imbalance. My physician learns I’m taking potassium supplements and freaks out, “you can’t do that,” he said, “it can cause a dangerous heart rhythm if you get too much potassium.”  That was bad advice that cost me many more fat years not addressing the potassium imbalance. He should have said: look you can’t take enough potassium supplements to balance the sodium you’re probably taking in.  It’s 3 to 1, you need 3 times the potassium to sodium in your diet. Do this instead, limit sodium to less than 2,000 mg a day and eat 7 to 10 servings of fresh organic fruits and vegetables a day.  Schedule another appointment in 60 days and lets see how you look then.

Potassium is in most meat, fruit, vegetables and bread so it’s difficult to use a supplement if you have no idea how much potassium you’re getting in your normal diet.  I’ve heard most people are deficient.  In my case I have to think about balancing potassium because of all the sodium in everything, especially when dining out because I have a sensitivity to sodium without enough corresponding potassium.

Most potassium supplements come in small 100 mg aspirin sized pills.  You would have to eat half a bottle (47) of potassium supplements to get the 4,700 mg RDA.  I’m not advocating using potassium supplements. But I’m really not interested in adding another 10 pills to my supplement regimen to help supplement some of the deficiency.

I’d rather add a 950 mg potassium avocado, or a couple 500 mg zucchini or squash than take 10 potassium tablets.  Maybe a couple 500 mg potassium large bananas.  But this is impossible if you’re consuming out-of-control sodium.

See:  Electrolyte Imbalance: Conditions / Concerns – Too Much or Too Little Potassium

Here’s a 1,400 mg Potassium Meal

This is just about the amount of food per meal you would have to eat to get close to your daily potassium recommended amount.  This is about 1,400 mg.  I suspect that the day you stop eating like this is the day you start adding weight.

The lunch above is easily 3 vegetable servings with the entree mushrooms.  I see organic white mushrooms as free calories to double the size of most entrees.  Uses less meat for only 20 calories a cup.  But they’re packed with nutrients, vitamin D and potassium. They’re little flavor sponges too when used in a stir fry to borrow a trick from Asian food bars.

This normal looking meal is low in potassium:

This is a LOT of food for just 467 calories.

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