It's Not a Diet, It's a Lifestyle: The Confessions of an Addict

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If you have been following my blog at all, you know that I have been struggling with my weight since I had my last child four years ago. Whatever used to work no longer worked. I increased how many times I worked out, how long I worked out each time, I ate less and less calories, I increased my protein, and I would tip the scales back and forth a few pounds, never really budging from that range. 

Then I had a talk with a friend who also was having a hard time losing weight. She basically said she needed to restart her metabolism, as it had been in "starvation mode" for far too long, never burning any fat. Her words of frustrations about her weight could have been my own. So I went home and researched "restarting your metabolism", finding that apparently it's not uncommon for most Americans. We have totally screwed up our bodies making them crave starchy, sugary foods. We kid ourselves thinking that eating a big ole bowl of fruit for a meal is healthy, when in actuality, that fruit has so much sugar in it. I realized after three days of constant research, I had sabotaged my diet. I make a LOT of bread; I eat a LOT of sugary fruit; I LOVE potatoes. Oh me. All this time I was thinking it was my thyroid or something, when really it was just my menu. 

I realized I had become an addict. 
I have never smoked, a rarely drink, and Facebook has really been my recent addiction, until I realized that I was seriously addicted to SUGAR. After reading research after research, I was finding how certain sugars were actually never satsifying my body, and only making me crave more and more food. So I would go through these bouts of cutting back how much I was eating, only to never be satisfied. Then I would gain 5 pounds, and then start the cycle all over again. It was so very, very frustrating, ending with me crying a LOT and even, a few desperate times, contemplating  my diet plan in high school: anorexia. 

So I decided I needed a change. 

A healthy change

As I raise my daughter, I want to set an example of healthy living, of working your body to make it strong, and of using your brain to be the best you can be. 

I started posting pictures on Facebook of things I was trying, and I started getting a lot of emails {many encouraging, some, sadly, not so much}. A friend told me she was in the same position as I {see? so many of us have messed things up} and she wanted to know what I was doing. This is what I sent her:

1. I started researching "Restarting Your Metabolism", and found this site: 

http://www.julianbakery.com/julian-bakery-helps-restart-your-metabolism-in-8-easy-steps/. This gave me 

an idea of how much water I needed to drink per day {which was a TON at first, but my bladder handles it 

so much better now, and I find I'm actually craving water all day}. This site also helped me get started. 

Research showed that the first week of a low carb diet is usually 20-40 carbs a day. I was completely 

blowing that out of the water before. Fruit have a TON of carbs.

2. I found this site today {http://lowcarbdiets.about.com/od/lowcarb101/a/firstweek.htm }. I wish I had 

read it last week. It explained my "carb withdrawal" and why I was insanely craving cake.

3. I roughly followed this menu plan this past week, and will be strictly following it this coming week: 

http://www.free-healthy-diet-plans.com/free-diet-meal-plans.html#

4. I found this site yesterday and signed up for the emails with recipes. Good site: http://yourlighterside.com/

So basically increase the meat in your diet and cut as many starch carbs from your diet as much as possible. 

No breads, pastas, starchy veggies such as carrots and most definitely potatoes of any form. If you eat fruit, 

keep it to berries, and keep your portions SMALL. Cheeses are all okay except processed cheeses like the 

kind you unwrap and put on sandwiches {especially velveeta}. Do this for a week or two and then 

slllooowly add carbs back into your diet, but keeping the breads, pastas, and starch veggies at a minimum.

For you long-time low carb-ers out there, I would love to hear your input on these things. I am finding more and more that I really am just going to have to change. I remember Oprah saying one time that she was "just always going to have to be dieter", and although I don't want to "diet", I do want to change my habits. I want to see results, and I want to feel full and happy and confident with myself once again. 

So as I go through this learning stage, I will begin posting REVIEW of low carb recipes, how they taste, how easy it was to make, and how full it made me feel. 

If you have any great sites you follow that have great low carb recipes, please share the link below in the comment section. 

Thank you so much, everyone. Happy Eating.