Monday, April 25, 2011

Diet? What Diet?


            My regular readers might recall that back in January I did the very foolish thing. I publicly announced that I was going on a diet. My doctor had informed me that I packed on an extra fifteen (or so) pounds—and that was before Christmas. Despite my feeling that New Year’s resolutions are just plain silly and knowing that January is the worst possible time to start a diet. I went on and on about how I was going to stick to the diet prescribed in the book The 400 Calorie Fix. I ordered the book and then pretty much forgot about it. I mean seriously January is cold and dark. It’s the perfect season for baking and eating, watching old movies, even writing in your journal—but weight loss? Not so much.
            Dieting simply wasn’t going to happen in the darkest days of winter--especially while I was directing a show. By the time late March arrived, I was living on pizza, cheeseburgers, Guinness and black coffee. Here’s the weird part. I didn’t gain any more weight. I chalk it up to adrenaline and dumb luck. It certainly is not the path to health and well-being. 
            But now my show is over, and so are my excuses. I’m proud to say that I’ve finally gotten around to not only reading The 400 Calorie Fix but also implementing it into my life. The book recommends eating four four hundred calorie meals a day and is loaded with information about what 400 calories can be. It offers choices at fast food and chain restaurants, frozen dinners, and easy to prepare meals. There is also a cookbook section with some great recipes but the book is primarily about learning to identify a 400-calorie meal. There are many photos in the book to help you “see through a 400 calorie lens” as they say.
            The book also has a 1200-calorie a day “quick start” plan, which they recommend for doing no more than two weeks. I tried for the first few days. While it did work (I shed the first few pounds quicker than I anticipated), I felt much less likely to cheat when I was eating the 1600 calories a day. Besides, experience tells me that losing weight that quickly means it’s going to come back as soon as you go back to “normal”.
            So far, the strategy is working well for me. Years ago I tried the old 5 small meals a day and never succeeded. The meals were either so small I felt unsatisfied or too large to eat five times a day. Four hundred calories on the other hand is can be quite filling—as long as you plan well. Obviously if you eat 400 calories worth of potato chips you’re going to be hungry (and probably malnourished) soon.
            The thing I like most about this plan is the flexibility. You don’t cut out any one kind of food like with low-carb and low-fat diets. Plus, how and when you eat those 400 calories is up to you. So for those evenings that I have the night off and I want to watch a movie with my husband I can save a “meal” for that time. I’ll spend my fourth 400-calorie meal on a glass of wine and some cheese and crackers. On days when I’m really active with my kids, I usually need a snack to pick me up in the afternoon instead.
            I even made it through my family’s Easter brunch without going calorie crazy. I filled up my plate with fruit and steamed asparagus, then took very small portions of the roasted red potatoes and ham that my sister made and the pancetta and spinach quiche my mother made. Okay… I had to go back for seconds on the quiche—it was SO good. I also went easy on the scones and other baked goodies. And I didn’t steal any jellybeans or chocolate from the kids (although the remains of the Easter egg hunt continue to haunt me).
            I’m very pleased with the results so far. I’ve lost around six pounds in just over a week. More importantly I don’t feel as if I’m depriving myself of anything. While I promise not to turn this into a diet blog, I will keep you updated. The 400 Calorie Fix seems like a common sense and realistic approach to weight loss.

5 comments:

  1. Sounds awesome. I might have to get that book as well. I'm at the 15lb point as well. Thanks for the info. I'm sure glad this is not a diet blog.

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  2. I am working on something resembling a "diet" myself..except that I hate diets so I refuse to call it that. I acutally posted about it yesterday.

    I wish you luck.

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  3. I just left a comment and not sure if I deleted it or signed in wrong.....so you may get a double post from me. Sorry!!

    All I was saying was I had never heard of this diet before, it does sound interesting. The biggest diet that I hear about lately is the hcg one, not too sure about that one,you cannot drink on it.

    Jennifer@VodkaCalling

    www.vodkacalling.com

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  4. Hey there! Found ya through Scary Mommy. I was drawn to your blog through this post. Mostly because I have recently lost over 30 lbs and trying to lose the last 10. I write all about it on my blog www.skinnymomskitchen.com. I look forward to following your journey. It is not an easy road but it can be done. You can do it!

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  5. Twelve weeks ago, I entered a 12 week weight loss challenge sponsored by my employer. Each participant paid $20.00 to enter. The top three losers won money. Although I didn't look like I needed to lose weight, I was definitely heavier than I should have been. My "overweightedness" was well hidden. At any rate, I made three major changes; cut out junk food, ate healthy foods, and did cardio exercise 4-6 times a week. I didn't go hungry, and ate until I was full. I didn't count calories either. I just watched 'what' I ate, not how much, and lots of exercise. At the end of 12 weeks, I had lost 26 pounds and won the challenge.

    Everyone asked me what my secret was, and that I must have starved myself and ate boring food. I kept telling everyone that there was no magic science to it. It was three simple things.....what I ate, what I didn't eat, and cardio exercise. My clothing fit much better, I had more energy, slept better, and haven't felt this good in years.

    I never counted calories. Instead, it was just eating the RIGHT things.

    ReplyDelete