09 January 2011

Happy New Year!


Happy New Year!!!

One of my resolutions is to blog more often. Like most resolutions people make, I’m not sure this is going to work out. It’s more like a wish at this point. Really, I’m just aiming for the first couple weeks. I have a chance it might be habit by then. Good luck to all of us!

One of the first things I’d like to talk about was a comment I had made during my speech about eating upwards of 5000 calories in a day. This has been bothering me.  A lot.

Right now my calorie range is around 2,500 to 2,800 calories; I’m guessing. The last time I put food into a food log was probably last summer. I’m really not interested in tracking my intake. To me, calories don’t matter. They never have. Counting calories did not work before so I don’t know why it would now. I don’t have the willpower to starve myself. I can’t function hungry. I am doing this for life, so I refuse to starve myself for life. Besides, is it really a life worth living without things like low-carb cheesecake and bacon?!?!?!

One of the things that I fantasized about when I started losing weight through low carb eating was that I would be THAT GIRL who eats whatever she wants and still stays thin. At least, I wanted to appear like I ate anything I wanted. With the rest of the world eating low fat/high carb, watching me eat I do look like I eat what I want. Most days I eat eggs, bacon, and sausage for breakfast. On Saturdays I have steak and eggs (with broccoli drenched in butter). On weekdays I drink coffee in the morning, as is standard for the people in my industry. Lunch and dinner vary but are high fat containing (and filling!). I like the looks people give me as I eat breakfast because I feel like they’re waiting for my arteries to explode in front of their eyes… or maybe my pants will burst open like a certain commercial. I keep eating that way, and I keep getting smaller. So the joke is on them!

In the beginning two weeks of eating I did track my food. I did not know what was low-carb and what wasn’t. I had an idea, but you need to be that specific when learning a new skill. Eating and cooking this way is a skill. Sometimes you have to go back to basics (like learning basic English in college). There were some days I was surprised that I ingested something that had more carbs than I wanted to eat. I had to learn how some foods were packaged and what slowed my weight loss down. I was shocked when a few of those days in the beginning I had ate 5000 calories. I swore the number was wrong or that I input more servings than I had consumed.

But it was right. I felt a little ashamed, and the next day vindicated. Derek had been worried about me eating low carb for health reasons. He was also concerned it wasn't going to work. (He is now one of my biggest supporter and really believes this works.) I was very overweight in the beginning. I am sure anytime you see someone stuffing their face like the world is going to end it can seem scary no matter their weight. It felt like I was on a see-food diet (see it and eat it). I felt like I was starving. Derek had never seen me eat so voraciously. Those days I ate that much, most of the calories were fat (1 g = 9 calories). The next day after eating so much, I lost usually around 3 lbs (for the day). One day I lost 7 lbs! That’s when the light bulb clicked in my head. That’s when I realized calories don’t matter.

I have read/heard that it’s not “you are what you eat.” It’s “you are what you do with what you eat.” I think that my body had been starving for proper nutrition for a long time. If insulin is circulating in your body heavily (you can tell it is if you have extra fat that is unwanted hanging around) then it’s hard for you to get the right nutrients to your body. You need to eat when you're hungry when you're low carb. There is a reason your body is telling you to eat, no matter what plan your on. It's not proper to ignore the call of food. When I ignored the angry-belly call, I didn't lose weight. When I tried to curb eating and set my fork down early, I didn't lose weight. It's when I ate until I was comfortably full that I lost the most weight. This remains true today. Eat at night before bed, wake up and eat, snack and then eat huge meals... I still ignore the standard rules of when to eat and when not to eat that conventional wisdom tells us.

My rules? If you are hungry eat. Eat lots of fat.

2 comments:

  1. I hear you! I put lots of heavy cream in my coffee at work (and I top it off w/whip cream...homemade when I can) and some folks are astonished!

    Recently, when the whole office went out to eat, I felt all eyes on me...checking to see what I would order: I ordered a LARGE chicken club salad w/avocados and bacon!!! MMMMMMMMM, topped it off with all the REGULAR ranch I wanted: YUMMO!

    "Eat when hungry, stop when full" = totally true. It's the only way to escape a "diet" mindset. Just wondering, have you ever heard of Jean Antonello? She wrote a book WAAAAAAAY back (when "intuition" eating wasn't huge), about "eating when you're hungry, stopping when full." That book is excellent (not in print anymore). I have a link on my blog-she gives a few free chapters. You're welcome to check her out.

    Anyhoo-here's to a great week!

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  2. That salad sounds yummy! One of my co-workers calls salads "sandwiches without the bread" instead of a salad. I think he feels it's more manly. I like it.

    I have never read/heard of that book. I'll have to check into it. I think the problem is more in our bodies and not in our heads when it comes to overeating. I find it extremely hard to overeat chicken, fish, or ribs. Although, I've tried with the ribs - omg they're so good!

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