Excuses, excuses

I recently had the opportunity to read Tim Ferriss's The Four Hour Body.  His book is worth a look - quite an interesting viewpoint.  The diet he promotes is low carb, but he encourages beans or lentils - a lot of them. 

What interested me, though, was the excuses I read:

"This is obviously written for a bachelor/young man who eats out twice a day."
"I can't follow this because I'm a woman and this was written for a man."
"I can't do this because I'm a mother with young children at home and I'd have to prepare two meals."
"I can't....
"I can't....

See the pattern?

Honestly, darn near any weight loss program you choose to follow will work over time.  Watch your calories, up your protein (ladies especially), eat lots of vegetables, easy on the fruit, no processed foods.

If you want something, you will find a way.  If not, you will find an excuse.

Running and Meal Planning

I have managed to end the week on a high note, having consistently run every morning (interval sprints, 6 rounds).  If you know me, you know that I am not a runner - it's just not something I care for, probably because I always end up sounding like I'm about to have a heart attack at any moment.

I've also gone back to planning my meals better now that my round is over.  See, with kids at home, I find it challenging to come up with healthy meals that are really conducive to weight loss.  I just think that cooking good, homemade meals (as opposed to processed foods) is just better for you than junk foods.

So last week I sat down and came up with a menu for over a week.  I created "planned over" meals (for example, planning a beef soup using the broth from a pot roast I made the previous day), and ended up with delicious meals for almost two weeks.

I really think that putting thought and planning - including planning dessert - into mealtimes will get you a lot further than doing things at the spur of the moment.  We were having too many evenings where I would just grab a pizza because I could not face planning, shopping, cooking..... and then I'd have "just a slice" and there went my diet for the day.

Plan ahead - you'll eat better, feel better, and save money too!  It makes it so much easier to stick to the protocol!

Weekends....

Weekends are hard for me when I'm dieting.  See, I'm single.  So I date a little.  Which means....restaurants. 

I very seldom eat at restaurants in any case... I like my own cooking.  But, it's so hard to resist all those extras when someone else is cooking!  However, I stuck to grilled chicken breast, salads with dressing on the side, vegetables, and steaks. 

This weekend, I am up about a pound and a half.  Not too bad, really, and I'm satisfied that I can get right back on track and start releasing again. 

Stats: 165.8, down 4.2 overall.

So far, so good!

Today was the first day of the very low calorie diet after 2 days of loading.  There is an evil, evil cupcake sitting on my kitchen counter absolutely calling me to eat it.  However, I am holding strong, reminding myself why I'm doing this, and eating an apple dusted with cinnamon.  Yum!  I'm looking forward to weighing myself tomorrow to see what the first day brings!

I did gain 2 pounds during loading.  However, that is perfectly normal on the HCG diet.  I'm a little hungry today, but then again I only ate 1 meal instead of the 2 I am allowed - I wasn't hungry at dinnertime!  Lunch was a chicken breast grilled on my George Foreman grill.  I bought it because it's too cold to use the outdoor grill.  And romaine lettuce, an apple, and the croutons from a Caesar Salad kit.  It's a very filling lunch, and then at dinnertime I just wasn't hungry. 

A cheat that I use to get some dressing taste (no dressings allowed except for balsamic vinegar), is to put the dressing in a cup on the side, dip my fork into it, then spear the lettuce.  I get just a hint of dressing as opposed to a salad swimming in it, still get the taste, and don't stall my diet. 

The absolute wonderful thing about this program is that it works, it works very quickly, and that I am able to easily keep the weight off once it's gone.  Even the "approved" weight loss protocols don't do that.  When I work out and eat well, I can only maintain.  HCG is the only thing that has worked for me for weight loss.

I'm still nursing that sore shoulder - the pain isn't as bad, but my arm still goes to sleep at inopportune times, like when my kids are leaning against me and want affection.  It's irritating as can be. 

Changing tactics

Well, it seems that I have to be very careful about exercise.  I have injured my shoulder trying to do heavy workouts requiring a lot of focus early in the morning (when I'm honestly not yet awake).  I have decided to stick to interval training in the evenings for now.  I'm also watching what I eat very carefully.  The weight is coming off more slowly, but it is coming off, and that is what counts!

Tips?  Guess what, there's an app for almost anything you want to do!

The top thing I've found for weight loss is water.  Lots and lots of water.  Temperature doesn't seem to matter.  I found a "Drinking Water" app for my android phone that allows me to keep track of how much water I'm drinking. 

I'm also using "Lose It" for tracking food and exercise.  I don't know how accurate it is, but it does help keep track of approximate values, so I'm not scarfing down everything in sight and wondering why I don't lose weight!

Going Low Carb

"All normal people love meat. If I went to a barbeque and there was no meat, I would say 'Yo Goober! Where's the meat?'. I'm trying to impress people here... You don't win friends with salad.” ~ Homer Simpson


OK, maybe Homer was taking it a little too far.  Salad is great - but the fact remains that most Americans don't eat nearly as much protein as they need.  (Or fat, either, but that's another post.)  American women are the worst of the lot!  A few strips of grilled chicken on a salad is not enough protein for a 130 pound woman.  And salad is not very filling.


I have decided to go rogue on the HCG.  For one thing, I've been gaining weight, and that is not acceptable to me.  Remember, for my height and frame, I should weigh about 135.  I'm at 170 - I've gained back 20 pounds.  Yes, it was emotional eating.  Yes, I kept the weight off for over a year.  I'm not knocking HCG.  But I'm also looking at other options.  Low carb seems to be the way to go.

I've noticed that cookies and chips will pack on pounds rapidly, but ice cream (high protein and fat) does not.  When I did low-carb for a few days, I saw a 5 pound weight loss in just a few days.  When on HCG, I would lose weight faster if I skipped the apple and the Melba toast and ate a ribeye steak (more fat) instead of lean meat. 

So I'm going to begin following a very low carb diet for a couple of weeks.  I'm interested to see how I react to it.  I'm loading up on saturated fats - bacon drippings to cook my eggs in, butter (real butter, not margarine!), whole milk, a tablespoon of coconut oil in my protein shakes, and meat with lots of fat on it. 

Yum.

I will keep everyone posted on my progress!

Low Carb

We never repent of having eaten too little. ~Thomas Jefferson, 1825

I've been doing a lot of research lately - partly as a guinea pig - and have come to find that low carb is the way to go.

I've been stuffing myself with fried (yes, fried!) chicken, steak, protein shakes, water, protein bars....and losing weight.  Slowly, so far, but the meat-and-salad diet is what has always worked for me.  (And that's the HCG diet in a nutshell!)

As soon as I have a roll or a biscuit, though, the weight comes back on. 

I am never hungry.  (But really - how much meat can a person really eat?)  Sometimes I want to munch, and then I get an apple or a protein bar, but I am never hungry. 

When You Fail To Plan, You Plan to Fail

Right now, I feel like I've got workouts handled.  Mat Gover over at EXL Fitness keeps me on the straight and narrow regarding my workouts (and starting next month, I plan to add Cardio Camp to Boot Camp to fire up my metabolism even more).

However, exercise is only part of the weight loss equation.  The other part is the part I struggle with.

Nutrition.

I like to eat.  And like most people, I like to eat things that end to pack on pounds.  Sweet and salty refined carbs. 

I tend to *forget* to eat.  The problem with that is two fold - one, your body begins to think you're starving and your metabolism slows to conserve fuel, and two, when you do remember to eat, you eat a lot more than you would if you'd eaten regular small meals.

So you have to plan ahead.

I've been using protein shakes and protein bars to boost my protein intake and to make sure I'm consuming small meals at least every 3 hours.  I seldom remember to eat a full meal, but I make sure I have what I need to fix a supplemental meal frequently. 

I also plan my meals a week in advance.  SavingDinner.com has been a huge help there.  When I already know what I'm cooking for dinner, and I have all the ingredients on hand, it's a lot easier to cook at home, where I can control what's going into my food. 

So take the time.  Sit down for an hour a week, plan your evening meals with your family, plan your nutrition for the rest of the day, and you'll find that you feel like you're eating all the time, you're never hungry, and you're losing bodyfat.

Making Sense of the Grocery Store

Have you ever wandered aimlessly around the grocery store, reading labels and wondering what's really good for you?  What will help accellerate your weight loss?

Here's a trick.  Stay away from the aisles.  The fresh food you want is around the perimeter of the store.  Produce, meat, seafood, dairy.

My favorite grocery shopping tip is simply this:  If your great grandmother wouldn't recognize it as food, don't eat it.  It's probably had all the food processed out of it.

I eat lots of salads - and I grow my own veggies on the back patio when I can (I live in an apartment) or arrange with a friend to grow some in their garden.

Fresh fruit.  Apples, grapes, peaches, nectarines, melons.  I try to avoid the pre-cut relish trays and fruit bowls as I'm not sure of their freshness, but then again, my kids love them - and anything to help them eat more fruit and vegetables.

Meat, poultry, and seafood.  I always kind of cringe when I hear women talk about being vegetarians - ladies, we need the protein!  Get the highest quality you can afford.  Watch for chicken packs with lots of juices in the tray - they've probably been frozen and thawed.  I have had to look hard to find stores that keep their chicken truly fresh - here in Utah, good meats can be had at Sunflower or Harmon's.

Dairy.  Soy milk is a processed food - I avoid as much soy as I can (with occasional exceptions for tofu and tempe).  Milk should come from a critter - cow or goat, usually.  (I prefer raw milk, but often don't have money for it.)  Eggs should be as fresh as you can find them.  Cheeses and yogurt make wonderful snacks - just so long as it's not that silly yogurt that's had tons of sugar dumped into it along with edible fruit-like chunks.

I don't really fuss much about the "organic" label - it seems like that's just a way to push prices up on foods - and prices are rising too fast anyway.  My friends who own CSAs tell me that the organic label these days is meaningless.

Along the aisles?  I use stevia as a sweetener when I'm on protocol.  Plain oatmeal that I can sweeten to taste over pre-sweetened ones - you can get Quick Oats, which have been cut into smaller sections for faster cooking, and save a ton of money over pre-sweetened oatmeal.

Of course, food itself is loaded with emotion.  I have strong, strong feelings about food - and they start with "If I'm going to limit my calories, I'm going to make sure what I spend those calories on is the highest quality and has amazing taste."

So there you go!  Start in the produce section and work your way around the outside perimeter of the store.  Find foods that either came from the earth or had a mama, and avoid processed foods.

(H/T to EXL Fitness for the idea.  Mat Gover conducts a monthly grocery store tour.  I haven't gone yet.)