Week one of low carb/high protein eating! I've gotta say it was easier than I had planned. In fact, the fact that I had planned is likely what made it easy.
I know from my past experiences that if I don't take the time to plan and prep that I am destined to make bad choices (lazy wins usually).
Last week I ate 80% on plan. I had a couple of blips primarily because of me, but also social situations which I still have a hard time dealing with.
Here's the deal though - I know that if I go 100% low carb then the weight will drop off. The reality is this, life is life for me. My world revolves around food. Always have. I want the type of life where I can have something carby and still succeed. I'm being cautious most of the time, but open to the fact that I will make bad choices - sometimes on purpose.
Does that make sense?
I want this to be a change for life. Do I know that I will fall off at some point? Maybe. I don't want to, but I might. I am being honest with myself and trying to spin the positive over the negative (not my strong suit). For example, last week I had a small bag of chips. I didn't just toss in the towel. I recognized I purposely ate it and I was ok with that. I moved on to the next meal.
My process is to spend Saturday planning the week's meals and snacks. I use a template I created to put what my plan is for each day. I have it add up total carbs, fiber and protein. As I add things, I can see how it adjusts my carb count and decide if I can "afford" to have that meal or snack. It feels like a game of jenga some times, but it's also interesting. The things that have carbs in it is astounding. Last week I selected a meal that had a banana in it. Did you knows a 6 in banana has 22 carbs? That's like 1/3rd of what I'm allowed for the day. Sheesh
Once I do my grocery shopping, I then wash veggies, cut lettuce, prep any meat that needs to be cooked during the week, put my snacks together for the week, etc. The fridge is then a well prepped tool that will mean I most likely WON'T make a bad decision.
Here's what I've learned this week about reducing carbs:
1. Fatigue. Lord the fatigue. My brain is trying to process what the hell is happening because I don't have as much glucose in my system and it causes fatigue (there's a chance the fatigue could be low in magnesium too). There were days I'd get home and just want to nap.
2. Carbs are everywhere. My carb total is really net carbs (meaning carbs minus fiber). As I mentioned about the banana - 22g of carbs, and only 1 g fiber. Not overly helpful, but still.
3. High protein blocks you up. Yep. No matter how much water you drink or fiberish items you eat, constipation is real. I'll be asking the doctor about taking extra fiber.
4. Down 5.5 lbs. In one week I'm down 5.5 lbs. I'm sure it's water weight. The first week is always pretty high for me. My goal is between 1 and 1.5 lbs a week.
I also started the personal trainer up again this week. It had been a month and he did not pity me at all. Which I guess is why I am paying him. I didn't get to the gym any other night - the fatigue was so great I just couldn't. I hurt like the dickens on Friday after the work out on Thursday. Ugh. I did get to the gym on Saturday and did the high interval training on the elliptical and then some of the resistance the trainer had showed me. It felt good.
So here we are. A week in. I'm feeling motivated and for the first time in a very long time, I didn't sabotage myself on the weekend. I've eaten pretty well this weekend. I had dinner with friends last night and actually planned on eating carbs. It was my "free" meal. I didn't feel guilty at all and I didn't go all out. Kept it relatively low cal.
I can't wait to see how this next week shakes out. The plan is set and I can't see any reason why I can't succeed this week. One meal at a time.
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