Well I Guess I'll Talk More About The Diet...

As I told you in a previous post - I've started a new diet. I was debating as to whether or not I'd share the details of said diet with you here on the blog. I didn't want this to become a "Diet Blog". But with the success I've experienced on this diet in just a week - and the numerous requests I've gotten from you lovely readers and Tweeters - I've decided to share with you my progress and a little bit more about the diet I am on every now and then. 
I started this diet last Wednesday. In 9 days I've dropped 13.7 pounds! Now - before you get all excited about that - I have a lot of weight to lose. And prior to starting this diet I was eating HORRIBLY. We're talking apple fritters, (I told you they'd end up being trouble), huge Bear Claws stuffed with cinnamon sugar and butter, deep fried anything and well... just pretty much anything I wanted. I've been on so many diets in the past I had gotten to the point where I was resigned to my fate: I was going to be fat for the rest of my life. With every new diet came temporary weight loss - then regain and then some. I was also going to be single and childless - because no one (at least no one I'd actually WANT to date) wanted to date me. I've never been willing to compromise my standards - and dating is probably the biggest one I won't compromise on. I don't feel the need to be in a relationship to make me "whole". I like the person I am quite a lot. Anyway - to read more about my life as a fat person, you can read this post. I'll move on here...
The Diet:Inspired by a blogging buddy and her recent adventures in dieting, I decided to look into a diet she'd mentioned. It's called the 4 Hour Diet - or the slow carb diet. There wasn't much on the interwebs about it so I purchased the book from Amazon and got to reading. It also contains some information on "becoming super human" and "having the best sex of your life" - or something of that nature. Neither of which interest me at the moment. I am not having sex with anyone nor do I care to be super human. Regardless... I bought the book and set a date to start the diet.
What Do You Have To Do?Well - instead of trying to relay all the information to you from the book - I'll give you The Belle's Condensed Version (not to be confused with the Reader's Digest Condensed version). I have tweaked a few things in the diet to suit me - so I can't exactly say I've followed it 100%. But here's the main things I'm doing.

• NO WHITE CARBS: For six days a week I am restricted to eating nothing but low carb veggies, organic, grass fed meat and beans. (I've discovered that I actually enjoy lentils quite a bit...) You have to stay away from most dairy products, hormone filled meats and anything processed or starchy. Beans contain carbs - but they are processed slowly and therefore provide energy for you and help you feel fuller longer.

• NO FRUIT: This may be a hard pill for some people to swallow. Fruit is good for us right? Sure - but it's also full of sugar and spikes up our insulin levels - which screws up our weight loss. 

• A typical day for me looks something like this: Breakfast: egg whites, spinach, black beans and a little (cilantro free) organic salsa. Lunch may be a "taco salad" with only refried beans, chicken, lettuce and a small dab of sour cream. Dinner may be grass-fed steak, organically grown asparagus and organically grown lentils and onions (which - come to find out - is DELICIOUS!!!) I can eat as much of these foods at meals as I want. I am finding now however, that my appetite is starting to suppress and the addition of beans to every meal has helped me to stay full. My first few days on this diet caused... how shall I put this... a lot of gastrointestinal distress... But I'm happy to say that is no longer an issue. But if it does become an issue - Beano Meltaways are my friends. I'm also allowed 2 glasses of red wine per day - which makes me happy... :)
• I have one cheat day per week. This is what drew me to the 4 Hour Diet in the first place: A cheat day. You can eat however much of anything you want. ANYTHING! Nothing is off limits on this day! For my first cheat day, I had 2 of those large cinnamon sugar and butter filled bear claws - one for breakfast and one for lunch - orange juice and spaghetti with meatballs and cheese sticks for dinner. I felt HORRIBLE all day! I actually welcomed my breakfast of stinky egg whites, spinach and black beans with a touch of salsa the next morning! However, the cheat day is necessary to spike your insulin levels once a week so that the weight loss starts all over again when you start the diet back the next day. It sort of tricks your body into losing weight, I guess you could say.
• I take supplements. Lots of supplements. The book recommends what is referred to as the PAGG Stack. This consists of Policosanol, alpha liopic acid, garlic tablets, Green Tea Extract & Vitamin B Complex. I take those daily. In addition - I take a high quality daily multi-vitamin, a high grade fish oil supplement and a pro-biotic to aid in digestion (this is what has helped with the gastrointestinal distress I mentioned above.) I also take Organic, Extra-Virgin Unrefined Coconut Oil tablets 3 times daily as well. This is in addition to the coconut oil I incorporate into my daily diet anyway - just to make sure I'm getting enough. 
• I don't exercise. At this point, I'm not able to. I'm dealing with some heel spurs that limit my mobility greatly. I do intend to incorporate this into my daily routine once the heel spurs start feeling better - which should happen now that the weight is melting off. 

So that's the gist of what I'm doing right now that has gotten off 13.7 pounds in 9 days. It's likely that this rate of weight loss will not continue. That's ok. It's a huge motivator for me right now though, so I hope it at least continues at a steady pace. This diet may or may not work for you - I think everybody is different and we all have to search and find what works best for us. Some people can't stand the thought of giving up fruit. I'm not a huge fan of fruit anyway... Some people freak out at the thought of giving up milk and other dairy products... Milk upsets my stomach anyway so it's not that big of a deal for me either. I can have a little organic butter with my food. So that helps. 

It's hard to sit there with my lentils, my steak and my asparagus and watch family and friends devour baked potatoes dripping in butter, pizza covered in pepperoni and cheese, cake, cookies, pretzels with nacho cheese, french fries, burritos, etc... Each time I have to I get angry... and then I just keep eating. I make a mental note to have that on my "cheat day" and then I finish my dinner. By the time I step away from the table I'm feeling better and satisfied. I had to realize that just because I had to be on a diet, I couldn't expect everyone else to eat what I eat too. No one is going to do this for me and it's no one's fault but my own if I give in to temptation. 

So... what to you think peeps? I'd love to hear your thoughts on this diet. 

Now Let's Get Into Some Weekend Hopping!!!