Well, tomorrow is the big day!
I have posted the results of my weight and measurements to the right of my posts. I really hated the idea of going public with those numbers, but I said I would, so there they are...
The first thing I did today was get into my car and drove to Starbucks for my daily vice: a toffee nut mocha coffee. I usually buy the grande, but knowing that I would not be having one for a while I went for the venti size. I know that foregoing this daily habit is going to be the hardest part of this month. I also know that I am spending a ton of money and indulging in a lot of fat and calories by consuming these on a daily basis. I have decided that I will buy myself something nice with the money I save at the end of the month. I just haven't yet decided what that will be.
As I have explained before, this is a slow carb, low fat diet. The idea is to pretty much eat the same foods every day for six days and then have a "free day" on the seventh day. The theory is that the free day prevents the body from becoming adjusted to the diet (also known as a plateau) and creates a spike in calories that keeps the body guessing (and therefore burning calories instead of conserving them as with most reduced calorie diets). I am a little skeptical of the free day since it suggests that you eat any and as much as you want of the foods you want. I will probably have day seven be a modification of that suggestion as I do not want to undo six days of discipline and patience!
I spent some time last night trying to find some recipes for this diet because I can tell already I will quickly become bored if I don't find some variety. The basic food elements are meat (lean beef, chicken, fish) vegetables (mostly green -- no carrots, potatoes or corn) and legumes. The legumes are to add more calories to the diet since the chosen vegetables are very low in calories and there are no carbs (ie: rice, pasta, bread) to add calories or bulk. I can imagine this will grow boring very quickly without some recipes to liven things up a bit.
Going to the store shortly to purchase my supplies for the diet. I am also going to look for an indoor grill as I sense a lot of grilled chicken in my future! I am also formulating my exercise plan. To start, I plan to do 20 minutes each day of work on the treadmill and use some hand weights to increase strength and tone my arms. Not much for a start but considering that I do nothing for exercise right now, it will be an improvement.
Anywy, I am off to the store for tomorrow is the beginning and I need my supplies. I am excited and nervous since I have never been able to stick to a plan like this before, especially for a month. But that is why I started this blog--in hopes of establishing some sort of accountability and sort making me stick to it.
I hope it works!
Good for you on embarking on this endeavour! I think it's a great first step!
ReplyDeleteI really want to stress to you the importance of not getting hung up on the "numbers" of this journey though. Weight loss is tricky. You can gain muscle as you lose fat, making your loss seem less significant, but muscle takes up 1/3 of the sheer space, and burns more calories while at rest, boosting your metabolism.
I'm also not sure your "20 pounds in 30 days" is realistic, given that most experts say to aim for 1-2 pounds a week, unless you're morbidly obese, but I think your diet is on the right track.
Best of luck to you. I'll be checking in periodically.
Cass
http://pathtowellness2010.blogspot.com/
Thank you so much for your post and words of encouragement!
ReplyDeleteI couldn't agree with you more about the "numbers". I should probably stress (and likely will in an upcoming post) that my goal is not trying to lose 20 lbs as much as I am trying to discipline myself and see if I can stick to a program for 30 days. I am actually sort of testing this particular diet to see how it works out!
I will be sure to stop by your blog and check it out!