So, I've officially made it through week 2 of my 4 week fat loss carb cycling/intermittent fasting plan - and no one got hurt! (ha - during the fasting part particularly!). Let me go ahead and preface this with a disclaimer by saying I'm not posting this eating plan anywhere, I'm under the direction of a trainer and my workouts and lifestyle are carefully planned around trying this to jump start my metabolism and in conjunction with my personal workout plan. Plus, I don't know how effective it is. That said, carry on.
It's been a good experience overall, and I definitely felt the "inferno" last Monday during my first Monday following a fast day - I was like a baby needing to be fed every few hours! I ate when I was hungry...which was multiple times during the day. The crazy hunger subsided by mid-week but I literally ate every morsel of food I brought with me on my work trip.
I've been weighing every day - not obsessively, more out of curiosity. So far I've noticed a decent loss during the week, a gain after cheat day (duh) and then a good loss after fast day. It's almost like the 2 steps forward, 3 back, then 5 forward if that makes sense. Unfortunately I've not actually been home on a Tuesday to weigh due to starting a new job and being in a different state the last 2 weeks on Mondays. But I can tell by how I feel and how my clothes fit throughout that I'm on the right track here.
Interesting observation - so Saturday is cheat day - you're supposed to eat whatever you want essentially - pile on the calories and fat - the theory on the next day, fast day, is that your body will kick into serious fat burning mode, being confused by the heavy eating followed by a fast. It's a 24 hour fast, so I do still eat dinner on fast day (and let me tell you it was the best chicken salad and green beans I've EVER had lol).
Well yesterday I ate a few things that qualify as pure crap food in my normal way of eating (fast food for lunch - wha???) and not only did I not really enjoy the "freedom" I felt like crap and had trouble sleeping, then woke up looking hungover, seriously. I planned my meals carefully, as I am always afraid of the "eat what you want" mentality turning into a binge. Being a food addict, this will forever be a concern of mine. I do well within parameters...not so well when I'm given the ticket for a free for all.
So I decided next Saturday will be a bit cleaner. Instead of pizza at the Italian place (it's award winning by the way - but I was seriously underwhelmed) I'm going to make my own - I tend to really like my own ingredients and I see exactly what I put on it - and I use FLAVOR! Seems restaurants these days are afraid to spice things up, if I'm eating pizza, give me the garlic!
I like the way I cook - I like the way my food tastes and I crave my own cooking much more than eating out, which is something I NEVER thought I would say. I was always the girl who was up for eating out pretty much anytime, even when my lunch sat in the fridge at work!
I couldn't even finish my dessert last night, it was some awful cookies, several flavors of ice cream. I had to throw most of it away as I just felt so sick already.
My my, how times have changed. For the better.
My new self has some better ideas about Saturday and it will include ALOT of fruit as that is something I really have been missing during the week.
But truly, I'm pretty impressed with myself to be eating exactly according to plan for two weeks during a time when I've been on 8 airplanes, hotels and the like. But hey, I've done a Whole 60, a Whole 45 and a Whole 37. If I can do that, I'm pretty sure I can do anything.
Fast day has been interesting. I'm hungry, but not overly so. I drink a ton of water and also my black coffee. Even when absolutely exhausted, I found I cannot nap on fast day, unfortunately. Yes, this is totally a first world problem - and has actually made me realize how awful it must be to live with hunger daily and my heart is moved. 24 hours is an inconvenience, and honestly, psychologically has been pretty good for me. You think alot when you are trying not to think about food. :)
My training has been going well also. I did suffer a bit of a setback with my left shoulder about a month or so ago. Suddenly, during a TGU (Turkish GetUp) with a 30lb weight, I felt weakness in my left shoulder. A TGU is a tough move with a kettlebell, where you are in a faceup position lying on the floor and you bring the weight straight above you with one arm, then raise yourself up to a standing position with the weight in the air the entire time. It's hard! But I had been using that weight for awhile. I realized quickly this was going to go south and carefully got the 30lbs back to the ground without damaging anything (my toes included). The next day my shoulder just ached. The pain I was feeling was localized to the top of my shoulder and all of my research was pointing to my rotator cuff which would be devastating. My friend is a PT and she worked on it a bit for me then suggested massage therapy. It was a few weeks before I could get in to see someone but once I did, we realized during the treatment that I actually had done something to my trapezius (which I called a trapezoid for at least a day before realizing it - HA!) and that was causing the pain to radiate upward to my shoulder and down my arm. I've since had 2 massages and I am SO happy to report I'm probably 75-80% better. In the meantime, I've adjusted my training a bit - I realize the biggest issue is weight overhead. Therefore, instead of TGUs I'm just doing the Kettlebell swings and squats with the bell (still using the 30lb). I'm also exploring some other moves. Additionally, with my T25 workouts, I'm in the Beta phase but trading out Upper Focus for Lower Focus when that one pops up. I'm allowing RipT Circuit as the overhead work is pretty minimal and I think it is good to keep some activity going up there.
Here's a picture of me and my friend Rebecca, whom I met in Raleigh in person for the first time this past week! She was such a help and support to me when I began this lifestyle last year and we are both admins on a huge Paleo group on Facebook so we've gotten to know each other better this year. I'm sporting my new favorite tank top. "I AM WHOLE 30." Yeah, I earned that.
 |
| In one of my favorite stores - any guesses??? |
We had a great time having dinner then shopping.
Will post an update for you in a week or so on how things are going. In the meantime, be well!
~Clara
No comments:
Post a Comment