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!
