So, I was supposed to have my first official weigh-in today but, unfortunately, I had a meeting that prevented me from making it to my doctor's office. So this is another unofficial update. I rescheduled for Saturday and I'll post an official weigh-in when I get home.
My Current Weight: 339 pounds
Change this Week: lost 2 pounds
Total Change: lost 30 pounds
My Current Pledges: $80.75 per pound
Number of Participants: at least 8...
For some reason, following my diet this week was just drastically more difficult than the three previous weeks, and had the smallest payoff. I'm thinking I might change things up for a month and try a different program then after the second month either switch back or stick with the new one (or maybe even try another new program)- you know what they say, variety is the spice of life.
I'm actually thinking of trying the Atkins diet... All my favorite foods are meat or cheese (or both- i <3 you, cheddarwurst) and the more I learn about the science behind our metabolism the more Atkins seems reasonable. I'd appreciate comments from people who have tried it, or have close friends or family who have.
My mom did the Atkins diet and when she cut out carbs completely she dropped a lot of weight, but as soon as she reintroduced even moderate carbs the weight came back. This is what I've heard from most everyone I know who's tried it. I think it's one of those things that nice in theory but isn't sustainable or even that healthy with you ending up eating lots of higher fat foods.. I think the key is moderation across the board - low carbs, but not NO carbs - and lots of veggies with lean meats, dairy and whole grains.
ReplyDeleteI'm proud of you, Nate!
Megan
Thanks Megan. You're suggestion is basically what I've been doing- except that the more I've learned about the glycemic index and how insulin affects metabolism the more I've been cutting out whole grains. I don't know- I have until tomorrow morning to decide...
ReplyDeleteWhole grains are still good - I wouldn't cut them out. I think what you've been doing, the "no sugar" route, eliminating sugars, white flours, etc is the best way to go. It's normal to have slower weeks of weight loss, especially once you hit this point (first couple of weeks are always big losses), so I wouldn't get too discouraged yet! At least your numbers continue to go down - that's the most important thing :) Are you doing any exercise along with the food adjustments?
ReplyDeleteMy dad has had good experiences with a low glycemic index diet. I don't know all the details, but its worked well for him.
ReplyDeleteI personally had a terrible experience with Atkins. I thought, what could possibly go wrong when you can eat meat and cheese? chicken wings as diet food? Sign me up!
The reality for me however was that the body does need some carbs. Man may not live by bread alone, but he sure needs some. I got to the point where I had uncontrollable cravings for bread and pasta, and was just getting crankier and crankier. Atkins for me lasted less than a month.
But it might work for you.
Hi Nate!
ReplyDeleteI'm super anti-Atkins, here's why. Tryptophan is a building bock of the neurotransmitter seratonin (makes you happy)... it is always blamed for making us sleepy, like in turkey.
But the reality is that cheese, milk, and bread are all higher in tryptophan than turkey is. Way, way higher. Cut out the building blocks for necessary to create neurotransmitters, cut out neurotransmitters. Decreasing seratonin can lead to increased risk of blue moods, or in extreme cases, to depression!
Also, the reason Atkins works is because your body believes it is dying. It starts to use your lean muscle as fuel, since it has no carbs. So you'll destroy your body's lean muscle stors, and end up keeping all your body fat.
Can you tell I teach this stuff? :)
PS-- I'm SUPER proud of you for doing all this. I think it is super cool. :)