I haven't really been doing the Weight Watchers thing for most of the summer now. I've been to 1 meeting since I finished work back at the end of November, and I haven't really been tracking my points much either. So I've pretty much wasted 2 months, and put on about 5 kg (11lbs) or so.
So I've decided it's time to shake things up a little bit, so here's what I'm going to do.
First, I'm going to my meeting this Saturday, and get my number. And then I'm going to take some measurements and take some pictures, and that's all going to be my new "before" profile. Then I'm going to try a little experiment. It's based on an intensive weight-loss plan created by a guy named Tim Ferriss. Now Tim talks a lot of shit about a lot of things (he was named the "Greatest Self-Promoter of All Time" by Wired), but he's also a smart guy and the things he's suggesting are pretty much in line with what I've learned about weight-loss, health and nutrition over the last few years, so I'm going to give it a try.
He calls it a Slow-Carb Diet, and the rules are pretty simple.
1. No "white" carbs. No bread, rice, cereal, pasta, potatoes, pasta, tortillas, etc. This is similar to Weight Watchers' recommendation to eat fewer white carbs, then to another level. Also, no substituting brown versions. No wholegrain bread or pasta. No brown rice. No sweet potatoes.
2. Protein - eggs, beef, fish, pork, chicken, lentils, beans, veggies of all kinds especially spinach. This is what I get to eat instead of all the quick-burning carbs. Again, apart from maybe the eggs, this is all the stuff that Weight Watchers is encouraging me to eat anyway. So the goal here is basically to eat roughly the same number of calories per day as I'd be doing on WW (about 2000 for me), but to change the fat/protein/carb ratio significantly. And it's all Real Food, so that works for me, too.
3. No liquid calories. No soft drink, no fruit juice, no beer, no tea or coffee (unless its unsweetened, and I ain't going there). Apparently a glass or two of red wine per day is okay, but at this point, my plan is to just go with water. Maybe a diet soft drink if I get hard up for something different, but I don't really like them, so I don't know if it would really be worth it.
4. No fruit. This is the one thing that goes against the prevailing notion of a "balanced diet", but the reasoning for avoiding fructose makes sense, so I'm cool with it. I don't think it's going to be a problem in terms of vitamins and such if I'm eating plenty of vegetables.
5. Take one day off per week. On the seventh day, I get to eat whatever the hell I want. This may also seem counterintuitive at first, but it actually makes sense for several reasons. One, it keeps your body from adjusting to the new routine. Two, if the "cheating" is built into the diet, then it's not really cheating, right? It's planned, it's controlled, and it provides an incentive to follow the plan for the other 6 days. This isn't that different to Weight Watchers giving you the 49 extra points to use during the week.
And that's pretty much it. There are other recommendations, and other things to do to accomplish other goals (it's all in his book, The 4-Hour Body, if anybody's interested), but this is the basic plan for losing weight. Some of the other things include drinking lots of water (which I'm already doing, except when I don't; like today), and eating a relatively high-protein breakfast within an hour of waking up, which I generally don't do. My thing is usually to drink a cup or two of coffee after waking up, and then eventually getting around to breakfast, except when I don't. But since I won't be having the coffee, I'll see if putting FOOD into my body will get me up and moving around in the morning.
So my basic plan is this. Get up and eat breakfast. I'm thinking eggs (fried or scrambled) and bacon. Or an omelet. Or scrambled eggs and some lentils, onion and spinach. Around 400-500 calories with a good balance of protein, fat, and slow carbs to give me a kick in the ass and to keep me happy until lunch time.
Then I'll get in some exercise. Walking, cross-trainer, maybe some Wii Fit (last time I tried it, the disk wouldn't load -- looked scratched), weights, etc. Somewhere between a half an hour and an hour.
For lunch, I'll go with some meat, some beans, and some veggies. I'm thinking maybe some stir-fries, something sorta Tex-Mex with salsa and guacamole (but no cheese or sour cream), or whatever. The plan is to go with the flavors I enjoy, while trying to balance the need for variety so I won't get bored, with the ease of throwing together quick, simple meals so that it doesn't become too much of a hassle. Roughly 700-800 calories worth.
Another half hour to an hour of exercise between lunch and dinner.
Dinners will basically be the same ideas as lunches, just changing things up a little bit so that I don't get bored, and so that I'm getting a decent enough variety of veggies. And since I'll be cooking for one (at this point, I'm assuming that I'll be doing one meal for the boys, a different meal for me, although there may end up being some overlap), and in the spirit of keeping it as simple and as easy as possible, I'll be including canned and frozen veggies in addition to fresh.
And another half hour to an hour of exercise after dinner.
Rinse and repeat for six days, then go to meeting on Saturday, get my new number, do the measurements, take more pics, and see what's happened. Then eat a cheeseburger and drink some ice cold beer, plus whatever else I want before I start all over again on Sunday morning.
I'd like to do it for four weeks, but I think I'll start with just focusing on getting through a week. If I make it, I'll think about whether or not I want to try for another week, and just keep at it that way.
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