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| Photo Courtesy of tabelehealth.com |
Like many of you, I decided to lose a few pounds this year. After the binging of the holidays I thought it was a good time to try and lose the last few pounds that never shed after finally being diagnosed with autoimmune disease and Hashimoto's. But more on that another time.
Since I already eat pretty clean, I decided to count my calories to see what I could do better. I lost a few pounds the first week, then stayed the same for the next THREE WEEKS. Seriously, talk about a plateau! It was so frustrating, I decided to up my workout routine to include a lot more cardio to see if I could break through it. STILL no change on the scale, but I did start to notice a more lean physique.
Frustrated, I did a ton of research and decided to try Carb Cycling. Google it and you'll learn that it's what bodybuilders do to lose those last few pounds before a competition. It helps lose fat without compromising muscle, which is good for me because I workout so much. I'm not trying to get down to 5% bodyfat or anything, I just wanted to get out of this plateau and so far it's working!
The idea is that you alter the ration of carb and protein daily so your body never thinks it's being deprived of anything. I kind of took from a lot of different websites and generated my own 10 day schedule which I've shared below. Each number is the meal, so I was eating 4 meals a day, you can eat the meals of the day in any order. Proteins are all lean meats like poultry and fish, nuts and eggs. Carbs are just fruits and vegetables. You eat as much as you need to feel full, then no snacking in between. When I want a snack at night, I have some grapefruit with stevia (yum) but that's it. I'm on Day 3 now and have lost 1.5 pounds already, and I was stuck at the same weight for 3 weeks prior with just calorie counting.
On days that I have a particularly strenuous workout, I have been replacing one meal with a protein shake. My shakes consist of 1 cup almond milk, a handful of frozen strawberries, and a heaping scoop of vanilla protein powder. As I move through, I'll replace one meal with a protein shake on days that I had a hard workout, and will try to replace the "protein and carb" meal when possible.
While it's working, some of the drawbacks are that I don't snack at all in between so when I'm hungry, I'm hungry. I'm not drinking any wine which is a bummer. It's pretty regimented and can be challenging on a day like today where it's all protein. What do you have for dinner? A piece of chicken? Carb only day seems easier to me, fruit for breakfast, salad for lunch, and a bowl of spaghetti squash with sauteed veggies for dinner.
I'll comment on this post after the 10 days are up and let you know how I do!
---------------
UPDATE: So I lost 5 lbs in 10 days. I took a few days off before doing it again and gained 2 back, so keeping that in mind, I'm still happy that I broke through the plateau. I plan to do this diet for 1 more week before I really start my Broad Street Run training and have to eat a lot more.
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Day 1
1. Protein
and Carb
2. Protein
Only
3. Protein and Carb
4. Protein
and Carb
Day 2
1. Carb Only
2. Protein
and Carb
3. Carb Only
4. Carb Only
Day 3
1. Protein
Only
2. Protein
Only
3. Protein
Only
4. Protein
Only
Day 4
1. Protein
Only
1. Protein
and Carb
2. Protein
Only
3. Protein
Only
Day 5
1. Protein
Only
2. Carb
Only
3. Protein
Only
4. Protein
Only
Day 6
1. Protein
and Carb
2. Carb
Only
3. Protein
Only
4. Protein
and Carb
Day 7
1. Protein
Only
2. Protein
Only
3. Protein
and Carb
4. Protein
Only
Day 8
1. Carb
Only
2. Carb
Only
3. Carb
Only
4. Carb
Only
Day 9
1. Carb
Only
2. Carb
Only
3. Carb
Only
4. Protein
Only
Day 10
1. Carb
Only
2. Protein
Only
3. Protein
Only
4. Carb
Only
Enjoy the Healthy Life Everyone
~Sue
Enjoy the Healthy Life Everyone
~Sue
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