Check out my dinner today! Yum. I actually overdid the beef a bit (I like it pinker and juicier), and I settled for dijon mustard with horseradish instead of straight horseradish, which is my fave with beef. But you know what...I valiantly made it through the meal!!
So my second official week on the Protein Sparing Fast is over. (Just to clarify, Protein Sparing refers to saving the muscles in your body, not reducing or limiting your protein intake.)
In addition to the almost immediate eight pound drop, I have lost another three pounds this week! My "skinny" jeans are fitting again, which is very comforting after my bounce upwards into scaryland.
My basic thought right now is "if it ain't broke, don't fix it". I am contemplating just sticking with this until I hit goal, which, if this loss continues, shouldn't be very long at all! arc for one says he's using this as his weight loss phase, kind of like Atkins Induction expect he's staying on it until he reaches his goal weight, and then switching to Meat&Eggs just to get chewing more than once a day, and then upping his carb levels a bit for maintenance.
Right now I know I have some "off" days coming up, although I find it funny that I'm now categorizing what are actually very low carb days as "off" plan. That means I'll probably be on the protein fast for much of the week, and just low carbing it on weekends when we have events or other social eating to do.
I would like to add to my list of advantages to this plan that I am really, really enjoying my meals. I know this is because I'm experiencing more genuine hunger than usual, and food always tastes better when you're hungry.
I've also felt like I've had more energy for workouts than I generally do on very low carb (to me, VLC means less than 10g a day, without subtracting fiber and no sugar alcohols). I don't know if this is just because I'm definitely getting my protein count in for the day, because I'm getting daily salads, or because I'm definitely getting enough fluids in.
On the boredom front, I did switch up shake flavors. I got the same brand, Ultimate Nutrition Bioactive Whey Protein Whey Sensation 81, but this time in Iced Vanilla Cream. Why they didn't just call it Vanilla Ice Cream, I have no idea, but it does taste like cold, melted vanilla ice cream. To a carnivore, anyway!
My biggest fear remains that I'm just kidding myself about being fine with this and soon Famine Brain will rear its ugly head and I'll break out of all this strictness like a wild woman. I mean, we've all been there, on weird cabbage soup diets or subsisting on lettuce and insisting we're "sooo full" and "feeling great" just to see the scale budge down another lb or two.
However, I honestly don't feel like that. Even though, objectively, it's a decently strict plan, I don't feel like I'm hemmed in with strictness. Martha Beck talks about "white-knuckling it" in The Four Day Win, a perfect phrase to describe that holding-on-at-all-costs feeling you have when forcing your body to stick to a plan. I have learned from past experience to keep a careful eye on the mental side of dieting, to look out for overly restrictive or unhealthy food behaviors. The beauty of this "fast" is that you're getting the benefits of a fast without starving yourself: you're getting a steady stream of almost pure protein delivered to your body throughout the day, and an amazingly delicious meal at night. Or, if you like, eat in the middle of the day and arrange your shakes accordingly. I can therefore happily report healthy, relaxed, pink knuckles and a generally chilled out feeling about the whole plan.
, a perfect phrase to describe that holding-on-at-all-costs feeling you have when forcing your body to stick to a plan. I have learned from past experience to keep a careful eye on the mental side of dieting, to look out for overly restrictive or unhealthy food behaviors. The beauty of this "fast" is that you're getting the benefits of a fast without starving yourself: you're getting a steady stream of almost pure protein delivered to your body throughout the day, and an amazingly delicious meal at night. Or, if you like, eat in the middle of the day and arrange your shakes accordingly. I can therefore happily report healthy, relaxed, pink knuckles and a generally chilled out feeling about the whole plan.At the risk of sounding like a broken record, I'm going to give this another week! I'm guessing my losses will slow as I'm circling closer and closer to goal, but I was surprised to lose this much this week.
Onwards and downwards!
I've been following your blog for a couple weeks now and I want to thank you for sharing. Your relationship to carbs is very similar to mine. I too have the last several to lose and have had them for a couple years, no matter how low in carbs I go. I have been inspired and just purchased my protein powder to get started. Thanks again.
Posted by: Scott | May 31, 2007 at 10:09 PM
Good luck losing those last few pounds!! I definitely need to be stricter with my carb-intake, it adds up so fast. Love your blog, too!
Posted by: MrsB | June 03, 2007 at 02:14 PM
Love your blog! I just ordered protein powder. I did mx what I have with coffee and find it is good that way so at least I don't have to throw this one away.This way works good for me. I don't get hungry, I just eat to be eating. Once I start eating I don't stop so waiting until evening seems to be the trick. I am not getting on the scales until the end of the month. I want to be surprised! Good Luck with the last few lbs.
Posted by: Tess | June 09, 2007 at 04:13 AM