Geesh, someone actually dug this thing up.
Well I ran into a lot of issues, mainly time things with staying on a regular exercise program. That mainly consisted of just getting up in the morning and walking and then working outside as much as I could to stay active after getting home.
I had lost about 25lbs and then it just stayed there. But I was not as disciplined with my eating as I should have been either as much as I tried. Being on the Atkins diet a couple years ago changed my eating habits drastically which was good as long as I stayed on that diet regime. Not on it, it was hard to control my food intake and as much as I tried to eat good things like lots of vegetables and stuff like that, but the junk food was hurting bad from the cravings.
Oddly enough, I lost weight while at the Branson meet and reached my lowest weight during that time.
So in order to retrain my eating habits Im now focusing less on the exercise because of the time constraints and paying much more attention to my calorie intake. I have cut myself down to 2000 calories or less per day, usually around 1600 - 1700. But Im eating really nutrient dense foods like veggies among other things. Some dont care for it, but I love tofu. You dont want to eat it raw cause it is terribly bland, but you can marinade it, or if you cook it with something it takes on the flavor of what you cook it with.
I havent ate anything cooked in oil in a while now.
Ive noticed that I have WAY more energy with the low calorie eating that I did prior to doing so. Ive noticed now also that when I do get up and do anything it doesnt take much for me to start sweating which tells me my metabolism is in a bit higher gear. Im drinking more water too and that could be helping with that also.
Before starting this I gained back about half of what I lost and that ticked me off so I decided to change things up a bit. Several years ago I did a great deal of research into the low calorie diet and was just in awe of all the benefits from it, but I never really followed through with it. I wish I had now. I physically feel better. I wake up and Im not wore out in the morning even though Im not getting much more sleep than before. In the afternoons I would just simply CRASH. Thats not happening anymore.
Ive been preparing my lunches and food for work in advance. The food Ive been fixing is largely vegetables with just a few other things in there like marinated tofu to keep the flavor buds excited. Most of my meals are in the 350 - 400 calorie range and I eat two of those at work with a yogurt or two in between and then I may splurge a bit for dinner but usually not more the 600 - 700 calories.
My fear in doing this was that I would feel completely run down but its very much the opposite. You have to taylor the calorie intake to your individual life though. Im in an office all day working with computers and such so 2000 calories or less works for me but someone that is more active would obviously need more.
I'll know more soon about how all of this is working when it comes time to check my progress. There have been studies that have shown that low calorie diets have a huge impact on aging and longevity. I just wish I had got off my butt and started this sooner. The physical effects are astounding, very impressive.
So there you have it. Im still a work in progress. I hated to show up at Branson as overweight as I am but hopefully I'll be a bit more trim next time around. I have a huge love for vegetables (as odd as that may be) and that fits perfectly in with a low calorie diet. I take a multi-vitamin just in case Im missing something from the food intake. I'll a little lean meat like turkey or some poultry here and there like eggs to make sure I dont go B12 deficient (for those that may not know, you cant get b12 in veggies. Well at least not any that are commonly available).
So stay tuned, hopefully there will be more soon.
