Saturday, April 26, 2014

Slow Carb Diet Week 1 Results

Hey guys! So I am just finishing up my first week on the Slow Carb Diet, in fact, it is cheat day today and I am eating chocolate chip cookies as we speak hahah. So I will start first with important stuff, the results:

waist: 26 3/4 in. (-1/4 in.)
hips: 35 in. (-1/2 in.)
thigh: 21 7/8 in. (-1/8 in.)
weight: 129.1 lbs (-4.3 lbs)
bf: 22.1% (-1%)
water weight: 57.8%

So, the weight was definitely the biggest loss, but I take this with a grain of salt as I don't think weight is of much importance (plus like I said in my last post, my scale is probably not the best, but I will use the same one throughout for reference). Otherwise, I lost a tiny bit of inches here and which I am glad to see! I was already on a bit of a variation of a low carb diet before I started this so I didn't expect big number in my first week, also it is more body composition I am after not necessarily weight loss. Overall, I am happy the number are moving in the right direction and I am excited to see if I see if my progress accelerates a little after adjusting to this way of eating.

As far as the ease of the diet goes, it really is not bad! Like I said, I was already on a variation of a lower carb diet, but I definitely consumed carbs and junk food on a more regular basis (in conjunction with working out). I have to say I like this way of eating so much better. I was really surprised at how satisfied I felt. I am pretty much always hungry and with this style of eating I didn't feel the need to constantly snack in between meals which I was really surprised about! I have been eating about 4 meals a day and I usually take advantage of the glass or two of wine which has been a nice treat.  I have a pretty wicked sweet tooth, but surprisingly the wine and a little bit of almond butter before bed seem to take care of it no problem. Overall, I definitely think I could eat this way on a regular basis for awhile and I am excited to see what the next week has to bring! As always, if you have any thoughts or want to share your experiences I would love to hear them! Thanks for reading!



Sunday, April 20, 2014

Day 1 of the Slow Carb Diet

Hey Guys!  I'm starting this blog to track my progress and hold myself accountable as I experiment with the Slow Carb Diet.  A little background about me : I've never really had a weight problem per se - I was always pretty average and fluctuated a little bit up and down throughout the years, but I was about as far from fitness oriented as you can get through out most of my life.  In high school the day I dreaded the most was having to run the mile every year, I was almost always dead last ha ha.  I also ate whatever I wanted, and it was not pretty.  I remember seeing a picture of me on the beach years ago, and thinking wow I can't believe I look like that!  Like I said, it wasn't necessarily the weight itself, but my body composition in general was just sort of blah.

So for the past several years I have experimented with many forms of exercise, and I now feel comfortable saying that it will be a regular part of my life, but the nutrition portion is always what I have struggled with.   I have tried man different eating styles - "clean," macros, carb backloading, etc. yet I still don't feel like I have found the "one."  I just want something flexible, where the food tastes good, I feel good, and my body looks good, is that too much to ask?  So that leads me to the Slow Carb Diet (I don't like the word diet either but for the sake of reference...).  

After reading about the SCD in 4 Hour Body by Tim Ferriss (you can checkout the website for info: http://fourhourbody.com/) I thought this was something I think I could do comfortably.  I really liked the approach he took in the book - lower carb but still some from the form of legumes and such, balanced with veggies and protein.  Plus a cheat day of course haha!  I had been experimenting with carb backloading, but I felt it wasn't really getting me the results that I wanted, and honestly I felt like the SCD would require a little bit less tweaking to get me there.  

So here are my current stats:

waist: 27 in.
hips: 35.5 in.
thighs: 22 in.
weight: 133.4 lbs
bf: 23.1%
water weight: 56.1%

So I am recording my weight for the sake of measurement, but to me the measurements and bf% are what I am really looking to see results on.  I believe nothing beats the good ol mirror test so I will post progress pictures as I go along as well.  I am using a scale that tracks bf and ww, but I'm sure it is not 100% accurate, but I will use the same scale throughout to make it consistent.

So I am really excited to start this experiment, I want to try and update on at least a weekly basis, and if you stumble across this post and have any suggestions/experiences/etc you want to share I would love to hear them!