THE CLEANSE: Well I made it! 2 weeks without any sugar, flour or dairy. I have to say that it wasn't as bad as it sounds. I found lots of things that I could eat and instead of snacking on stuff that had a lot of processed sugar in it, I snacked on fresh fruit. That being said I have to admit I AM SO GLAD TO GET TO EAT WITHOUT RESTRICTIONS AGAIN!!! I think the things I missed the most believe it or not were peanut butter and cereal. Breakfast was by the far the hardest adjustment. I can't stomach oatmeal and so eggs are getting really old right about now! And it will be really nice to eat my turkey sandwiches with bread again. :)
THE RESULTS: Despite the restrictions I am glad that I did it. I really saw results. I lost about 5 lbs and even better, I lost 2 inches off my waist, in just a handful of days. Plus, I lost 3% of my body fat. I learned one very important thing over these last two weeks ... want to lose the belly fat ... cut out the sugar!! It's as simple as that. Your body stores all the excess sugar that you eat in your belly.
CONTINUING ON: This isn't a diet that you want to keep up for a long period of time because if you do, your body will go into starvation mode and start to store fat and you will end up packing on the weight. I am not a nutrition expert but I have learned some very good things from this that I will continue doing.
First: I will really watch how much sugar I eat. There is so much extra sugar in so many things we eat, no wonder we as a nation struggle with weight. I am not going to cut out all sugar and I will still eat dessert (yeah ice cream!) in moderation when I want to, the key is not to have a lot of extra sugar in all the other things that you eat throughout the day.
Second: Cut the dairy. There is so much sugar in dairy and so by cutting a lot of that out really makes a difference. No more gallon of milk a day for me. :)
Third: I am also going to try to try to pay attention to how many calories I take in and do a zigzag sort of eating structure. HERE is a really good website that you can check out. It has you input your age, weight, height and amount of weekly exercise and it will tell you how many calories you can eat in a day to maintain your current weight, for fat loss and for extreme fat loss. I am not a calorie counter and do not plan to become one but it does give you an idea of how many calories is a fair amount for you at any given meal. There is also an option that will show you a 7 day calorie cycle (zig-zag) which as they state "*Calorie cycling provides same amount of calories per week, but 'tricks' your body by constantly changing daily calories. This helps to prevent or break plateaus." I always have a problem with plateaus and I think that is because when I am trying to eat right I eat about the same amount of calories each day and my body just comes to expect that. My plan is to look at my week and plan which 2 days that week I can really lower my calories and do this same diet on those 2 days. I will also pick 2 days that week that will be my splurge days where I can up my calories. The rest of the days I will just try to just eat well like I have been. If you really think about it, this is pretty much how we normally eat anyway. We eat too much on the weekend and then spend the first few days of the week trying to make up for it. So with a little structure and planning this can be used to our advantage.
EXTRA BENEFITS: This has been good not only for me but for our whole family. Dave is enjoying all the fresh fruits around the house and the healthier meals. We have been eating much more fresh fruits and veges and fish and cut back a lot on the red meat. We also got bikes last weekend and most nights after dinner we take the boys on a bike ride which has been really nice. And it's been good for the kids too. Brandon (our carnivore) loves salmon and so it's nice to see him eating something other then steak or pork. Eric really pays attention to what I say is healthy and now will only eat wheat bread with his sandwiches because it's more healthy. And just today he was sitting eating yogurt and he asked me "How many calories does this have in it?" Maybe through this I can help my kids grow up as healthy eaters. :)
CONTINUING ON: This isn't a diet that you want to keep up for a long period of time because if you do, your body will go into starvation mode and start to store fat and you will end up packing on the weight. I am not a nutrition expert but I have learned some very good things from this that I will continue doing.
First: I will really watch how much sugar I eat. There is so much extra sugar in so many things we eat, no wonder we as a nation struggle with weight. I am not going to cut out all sugar and I will still eat dessert (yeah ice cream!) in moderation when I want to, the key is not to have a lot of extra sugar in all the other things that you eat throughout the day.
Second: Cut the dairy. There is so much sugar in dairy and so by cutting a lot of that out really makes a difference. No more gallon of milk a day for me. :)
Third: I am also going to try to try to pay attention to how many calories I take in and do a zigzag sort of eating structure. HERE is a really good website that you can check out. It has you input your age, weight, height and amount of weekly exercise and it will tell you how many calories you can eat in a day to maintain your current weight, for fat loss and for extreme fat loss. I am not a calorie counter and do not plan to become one but it does give you an idea of how many calories is a fair amount for you at any given meal. There is also an option that will show you a 7 day calorie cycle (zig-zag) which as they state "*Calorie cycling provides same amount of calories per week, but 'tricks' your body by constantly changing daily calories. This helps to prevent or break plateaus." I always have a problem with plateaus and I think that is because when I am trying to eat right I eat about the same amount of calories each day and my body just comes to expect that. My plan is to look at my week and plan which 2 days that week I can really lower my calories and do this same diet on those 2 days. I will also pick 2 days that week that will be my splurge days where I can up my calories. The rest of the days I will just try to just eat well like I have been. If you really think about it, this is pretty much how we normally eat anyway. We eat too much on the weekend and then spend the first few days of the week trying to make up for it. So with a little structure and planning this can be used to our advantage.
EXTRA BENEFITS: This has been good not only for me but for our whole family. Dave is enjoying all the fresh fruits around the house and the healthier meals. We have been eating much more fresh fruits and veges and fish and cut back a lot on the red meat. We also got bikes last weekend and most nights after dinner we take the boys on a bike ride which has been really nice. And it's been good for the kids too. Brandon (our carnivore) loves salmon and so it's nice to see him eating something other then steak or pork. Eric really pays attention to what I say is healthy and now will only eat wheat bread with his sandwiches because it's more healthy. And just today he was sitting eating yogurt and he asked me "How many calories does this have in it?" Maybe through this I can help my kids grow up as healthy eaters. :)
Great job! And what a great time for fresh fruits and veggies!
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