I've been trying for 5 years to loose my twin weight. I've tried several different things in that time all with various degrees of success. No matter what I've tried I have not been able to lose the last 20 to 30 pounds. I have tried doing it myself with just watching what I eat. I have tried Weight Watchers multiple times. I have tried Alli. I have tried exercising. I have tried ignoring it and doing nothing.
Finally after no success with any of the above mentioned plans I decided to try something different. I decided to try Slow Carb. It is the eating plan from the book The Four Hour Body.
Now, if you go look up the book on Amazon you are going to immediately think that it sounds crazy, wacky even. And you are going to think the guy who wrote it must be certifiable. I thought exactly the same thing. The book kept showing up in the top 100 list on Amazon. I kept reading the description and thinking, I just want to read this to see what it could possibly say, it sounds crazy - it's got to be an entertaining read. Finally I broke down and bought it. After reading about half of the book I still stand by my original thoughts that the guy who wrote it is crazy and there is a lot in the book that seems way out there to me. But I kept coming back to the diet - even though on initial reading I thought it was crazy too.
Finally, since nothing else was working I decided I had nothing to lose and decided to try the Slow Carb diet for a day. After a day, I decided to try it for a week. At the end of week one I had lost five pounds. At that point I decided to try for a complete month. After two months, I've lost 16 pounds. The most success I've had since having the twins five years ago. I want to lose at least that much more and then who knows.
So what is the Slow Carb diet? It is really very simple. Six days out of the week you eat only protein, legumes and veggies. Since everyone asks, that really does mean no fruit, no starches like potatoes, and no dairy. It also means very little artificial sweetener. On day seven you eat anything you want. Yes, I eat beans three times a day. Yes, even for breakfast. Yes, I only have at most one Diet Coke a day and many weeks none. On my cheat day, Michael calls it my Jubilee Day, I truly eat whatever I want. So far that consists of mostly pizza, cheese and chips.
After two months, I've found that I have a different relationship with food. I'm not constantly trying to figure out what sounds good or thinking about the next thing I want to eat. I'm not trying to figure out how many points I've eaten or how many I have left. Food is no longer interesting to me, except on Jubilee Day. This has stopped a lot of snacking or eating out of boredom or when stressed, etc.
I've also found that six days out of seven I eat much healthier than I ever have. I now go out of my way to have veggies! Those of you who know me know just how amazing that is for me. Food is no longer about what sounds/tastes good but is now simple about what is available that is on my eating plan. My parents just visited for two weeks and my Mom commented more than once about how crazy it was to see what was on my plate.
The down side is that I don't really enjoy cooking anymore as it is now much less interesting. This is a bummer for me as I love to cook but have no desire to now that food is just about not being hungry. My family is missing all of the fresh baked bread and getting tired of chili.
Is this a magic combination of food? Nope. Do I think everyone should eat this way? Nope. Do I think it is better than any other plan out there? Nope. At the end of the day, it is just another way to limit the calories you eat each day. And right now, it is the way that is actually working for me.
I have no idea how long I will continue to eat this way but for now I love the results, and by that I mean all of them, not just the weight loss.
Jenn
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