CHECK THIS OUT!!

I originally wasn't planning to update photos other than once a month, so I wouldn't get discouraged, or I don't know. I don't like posing & letting my fat hang out in my underwear I guess. But after this week, I decided to just see what all the hype was.. I mean, according to the tape measure, I lost another 4.75 total inches this week! That's a LOT!!! I also lost another 2 pounds. I thought maybe my measuring tape got broken somehow.

My total losses after the 2nd week are 6.6 pounds and 8 inches! Here's the side angle photo for proof... I couldn't believe it. I look pregnant in the 2-week ago photo!

More to come because this diet is A) actually not boring like Tim says it is and B) very simple and cheap - both of which are comforting right now in times of financial hardship.

WAAAAH-BAAAAM! I feel so encouraged after seeing the 2-week photos. I cannot believe how fat I was allowing myself to get. I'm finally under 150. Never again (unless I'm carrying an actual bun in my oven, not just rolls on my back!)

Should I remind you that I lost 6.6 pounds and 8 inches off my body without exercising?? Not because I hate exercise (I actually love it AND the science behind it - tee hee) - but because I wanted to just see what this slow-carb diet would actually do. It gets too confusing when I'm also exercising. Simplify.

This next week, I will be exercising every day. 75 swing squats to start my day, a cold effing 5 minute shower (I timed myself this morning - it's brutal; not gonna lie). Slow-carb diet and my triathlon training. I must have been taking a speed shower before.

Looking forward to what the next 2 weeks will bring.

Thanks for reading and thank you for being as excited as I was!

What can you do in two weeks?

Week 2 Ends Tomorrow!

Just a reminder to stay tuned to Saturday's blog, where I will post an update to my weight & measurements. It will mark the end of the 2nd week. This week has been a little rough, but I managed to figure out a way to tastefully add more legumes to my diet, and my digestive tract seems to have fully recovered from Monday's fiasco.

Things I plan to include next week:

• drink a glass of ice cold water before breakfast
• 75 kettlebell swing squats before breakfast (I only have a 10 lb kettlebell)
  
• 5 minutes minimum in cold shower every morning (I haven't been timing, and I'm sure I'm overestimating the time I spend under the rush of cold water).
  
• commence my low-volume indoor triathlon training (too cold/snowy/icy outside - hard to swim in a frozen lake).

Continuing with:

• slow-carb diet every meal
• one day of DGW (dieters gone wild) each week
• daily cold shower
• weekly weigh-in/measurements

Results will follow.
This week I ate cottage cheese at a few meals, as Tim Ferriss did mention that the insulin response to cottage cheese is lower than it is to milk, and his mother consumed it with great results. Some meals just needed a little oomph, especially this week with the Monday trots I had.

I need to drink more water. Therefore, the ice water in the morning will serve as a double whammy. Ice to lower internal temperature, water to hydrate. I love multitasking.

Thanks for reading. More tomorrow.

Mid-week Update..

I haven't been in touch much this week but I assure you, I've been staying true to my word and the slow-carb diet.

I'm having my doubts this week. I started Monday not feeling all that great, and by the time my shift was ending at work, I didn't think I'd make the drive home. Turns out that beans must be soaked and cooked thoroughly - otherwise, the result is nothing less than depleting.

I stayed in bed most of Tuesday and I really needed that. It was hard to eat but I knew I needed to eat. I must admit that I went off plan by eating sugar-free jello. I would not have normally put aspartame into my body but for some reason, after being as sick as I was on Monday night, I needed something jello-like. Not sure where the craving came from but the jello did the trick and I'm back on my feet.

I'm having a hard time incorporating beans at every meal. If you have a good (and by good I mean tasty) bean recipe, please share. Post to my blog would be delightful but if you want to you can also FB me or email me at katy.triathlete@gmail.com.

Every meal I eat is supposed to include something from the recommended 'protein' list (egg whites, whole eggs, chicken, grass-fed beef, etc), one thing from the legumes list (lentils, kidney beans, black beans, pinto beans, etc), and as much veggies as my heart desires. Today for lunch I had a chicken salad - grilled chicken salad, I mean. Bed of baby spinach, grilled chicken, tomatoes (they're a fruit, I know - they're allowed), cucumbers and garbanzo beans and kidney beans mixed with Newman's Own balsamic vinaigrette. Tasty. Perhaps I'll have to stick to that and the chili (done right). I need ideas for breakfasts as I have grown entirely done with eggs. Forcing them down never seems to help.

I just don't think I'm going to see weight loss this week. Why? Dunno.. the jello, maybe? Maybe I didn't eat enough? Maybe because I didn't make it to the gym like I had planned to? My body was so hot last week but this week I have been freezing on a daily basis. My cold showers used to kick my internal thermostat on, but now they have been leaving me cold. I'm worried that's a sign that my metabolism has slowed.

Or maybe I just need some encouragement. Only time will tell. I will be happy if I lose 2 pounds and I will be happy if I lose at least one total inch this week. It just wasn't a great week. To start the week off as sick as I was on Monday wasn't a great way to start the week. And by the way, by sick I mean whatever went in the mouth came out the backside in record time. Not fun. I'm not whining over a cold.

Stay tuned for Saturday! We shall see what happens!

Thanks for reading & don't forget to try your cold shower.

DGW-1

Dieters Gone Wild. It's what Tim Ferriss refers to the planned "binge" day as. The DGW is intended to cause a caloric spike, which prevents a regression in your metabolic rate. It also serves as a way to stay on track during the week because any little (or big) cravings you have for something sweet or something raunchy (depending on who you are) can wait till the DGW day.

I woke up in the morning looking forward to pancakes. Then, halfway through my plate, I couldn't take another bite. My sweetened coffee with half & half gave me a headache. My quick nap turned into 3 hours and when the guilt from a lazy day off started to wear at me, I put my ass in gear.

Lots of laundry.. and I decided to plan for dinner. I drove to the Chichester Country Store for yogurt (Stonyfield is the best and I wanted the probiotics). The smell of the homemade donuts got the best of me, and being my first DGW day, I decided to go for it. I was sick within 5 minutes of consuming most of the 2nd donut. But I had to press forward.

For dinner, I made a single serving pizza for myself and for my mom. Broccoli and tomatoes on top, nothing out of the ordinary - just a regular, somewhat healthy homemade pizza. It was OK. For dessert, vegan whacky cake from the Depression era. Normally I can eat the whole pan. Last night I had to force myself to stomach 2 large cupcakes.

I was glad when the night was over. But before I went to bed, I did force myself to put down that yogurt. Otherwise it would have gone to waste.

The other intention of the DGW day is to remind you that the food on the slow-carb diet is really not all that bad - in fact, my body agrees with it quite a lot.

Eating lunch right now - chili made from scratch. This batch is not as good as last week's but it's not bad either. Tonight I start my triathlon training. Glad to be moving again and looking for another loss this Saturday.

Still enjoying my cold showers...

I'm a LOSER!!!

Woke up a bit late this morning but my friend was patiently waiting for me. The third friend was a no-show. Hmm..

This morning I weighed in at 4.6 pounds lighter than last Saturday. That's 4.6 pounds LOST in ONE week!

My total inches decreased by 3.25 inches! Again, the measurements cover hip, waist, right and left arm, and right and left leg.

Tomorrow is my 'off' day, meaning I am not just allowed to, but supposed to eat whatever and however much I want. I am very much looking forward to compiling my list. I'm not really having any cravings, and the diet is not nearly as boring as Tim says it is (either that or my life is really absorbing the simplicity).

That's all folks! Picture will come at the end of February. I'm really looking forward to updating the photo so I feel less like a moof.

Also, I want to point out that I didn't exercise this week. This weight loss and inches lost were solely from diet alone. I'm starting my triathlon training on Monday. We'll see what kind of changes next week shows!

Till then - take a cold shower!

On Cold Therapy

I've been taking cold showers every day this week (except one day, which I spent 2.5 hours of shoveling out my neighbor's car in 15 degree temps).

This morning I did not take a cold shower for personal reasons and I have been sweating my ass off at work all morning.

Here's what I'm thinking:

The point of cold therapy is to cool your body temperature so that your body has to produce heat (and therefore use energy, boosting your metabolism). I have been cooling my body temperature every morning for the last 5 days, except this morning. Since my body has become naturally very efficient at creating body heat, my hot shower this morning actually caused my temp to kick into overdrive.

I'm thinking that when you're warm because you're dressed in a thousand layers, you're actually allowing your metabolism to slow down. It's an interesting theory and I suggest, if you're struggling to stay warm this winter, to experiment with a little cold therapy. Don't give up when you get out of your first cold shower feeling cold (duh). It takes a day or two to kick in. I drive to work without a jacket. I clean off my car without a jacket. It was 10 degrees this morning when I started my car in a t-shirt. It felt like 30 to me. Granted, I wasn't out there long, but I think there's something to this. In fact, I know there is.

Try some cold therapy and get back to me.

Give yourself permission to succeed.

Let me guess: you've tried every diet under the sun and you're still fat, eh?

You're talking to the wrong person.

The one thing you haven't done yet is given yourself permission to succeed. Truth is, no one will succeed if you are looking for ways to fail. No one will succeed if success isn't what you're after.

I owe you an update (if anyone is actually reading this).

Slow-carb diet is going very smoothly. I had to add black beans to my egg white concoction for breakfast because I was getting to hungry. I think I need to now start adding salsa to the breakfast for flavor, but other than that it holds me over and it's 'not bad'. I hate that term. And yes, I know hate is a strong word. It's my blog. Get over it.

Even my cold showers are something I look forward to. I don't stay in long - just long enough till I'm actually cold, not just shocked. At first, it's a shock, then I get used to it for a split second, then my body starts to shiver. When I get out I feel more awake than I do after the world's best cup of coffee. So I like it.

Stay tuned this Saturday for an update on my total inches & weight. Like I said, come hell or high water, there will be a change for the positive (which means a negative difference, otherwise I will have gained).

On tonight's menu: chicken stir fry with broccoli, carrots, peppers, onions.
On deck: stuffed green peppers with quinoa and bison -YUMMMMMM.

Thanks for reading. :)