I’ve been dieting in one form or another for about 6 months. After Nathan was born I started tracking what I ate (though trying not to cut my calories too much for fear of decreasing my milk supply!) and gradually got more serious until I ended up eating only a target number of calories per day and going to the gym an average of 3-5 times per week. I had quite a few setbacks along the way (after my appendectomy I was put on a “low-residue diet,” which basically meant, “you can’t eat anything with fiber – just white bread and plain bagels”. It was the anti-Weight Watcher plan!) but since I put on 50 pounds when I was pregnant and then gave birth to a teeny tiny baby, I’ve been carrying around a lot of extra weight for quite a while now.
Despite my best efforts, though, my weight loss has been EXTREMELY slow. In all fairness, my body seems to be the type that does NOT want to let go of any stored weight while breastfeeding, and my thyroid levels started going INSANE a few months ago, so I’ve got quite a few other issues going on at the same time that I’m trying desperately to fit into non-maternity clothes. But that doesn’t make the process any less frustrating and discouraging. I’m not even shooting for “thin” at this point – I’d just like to be able to wear my old “fat pants” again. Is that really so much to ask? 
About a month ago, I started reading Tim Ferriss’ book The 4-Hour Body and was inspired to give his version of the Slow Carb diet a try. It’s pretty hard core (especially for someone who LOVES bread and sugary foods!) but I decided to try it for 2 weeks and see how it went.
The 2 weeks are up, and here’s my update – it works! On average, I’ve been consuming slightly more calories than I had been previously, but in 2 weeks I lost 1.6 pounds. I know that doesn’t sound like much, but I’d been totally plateaued at the same weight for WEEKS (it didn’t matter if I was going to the gym 5 days a week or none at all, and I cut my calories back a few times, but all that happened was that I got hungrier and crankier) so that tiny loss got me over the hump that had me so discouraged I was about to quit dieting altogether and have a massive binge-breakdown. Also, during those 2 weeks J and I had our big “my birthday/his birthday/anniversary celebration weekend away without the baby” so I had THREE cheat days instead of one during the first week. So again, it was a small overall loss, but it was a LOSS (and in the face of overwhelming odds!) and that was what mattered!
It’s not an easy diet for me to follow, though. I had to make some modifications for breakfast because after two days of scrambled eggs with black beans and salsa, I started gagging Having a total cheat day once a week is AMAZING (I went on the most epic Halloween candy eating binge this weekend! It was everything I’d dreamed it could be when I realized that since we only had one trick-or-treater come to our house on Halloween, that meant I could be the one to eat all the candy we bought at Costco! Who DOESN’T dream of doing that??) but the rest of the week is ROUGH. Here’s how a typical week for me goes:
Monday – I’m good, I’m strong, I can do this!
Tuesday – I miss bread. Oh well, more veggies!
Wednesday – Grrrr, I am really sick of beans.
Thursday – Oh my gosh, I cannot do this any more, I MUST EAT CANDY!
Friday – I cannot possibly live another day! THIS IS EVIL TORTURE PUT ME OUT OF MY MISERY NOW!
Saturday – (I go crazy wild and out of my way to eat everything I’ve been missing). *Angels sing*
Sunday – *sigh* My tummy kind of hurts, but I already can’t wait till Saturday again
I’ve decided to keep on following the diet as much as I can for another week and then see how I feel about it. It’s nice to not be hungry all the time . . . but I sure do miss bread . . . so it probably won’t be a diet I follow long term, but I think it might help me get back on track, motivated, and feeling good about myself again!
In the meantime, here are some tips and tricks I’ve learned these first 2 weeks that have helped immensely!
- Have food on hand – Terrible things happen when, oh, say, for example, you run out of lettuce and your only food options are green beans and black beans. That is NOT a meal I want to eat repeatedly! (I think I ended up eating brownies most of the day, which WAS a meal I enjoy repeatedly, but definitely wasn’t part of the plan).
- Cook in bulk – This goes along with having food on hand. If you’re going to cook some beans, cook a MASSIVE amount of beans. If you are running low on chicken, cook up a MASSIVE thing of it the next day so that it’ll be ready when you need it. DON’T RUN OUT OF “SAFE” FOODS! Just keep cooking in mass quantities, and you should be safe.
- Try different beans/lentils – I previously thought all beans were created equal, but it turns out that they all have slightly different flavors and textures. Black beans are mushier than red beans, which are smaller than pinto beans (though similar in firmness). Lentils have been interesting as they LOOK like some kind of split pea but taste like a bean, and can be put in soups with quite favorable results. So even though your food options are kind of limited, explore within the boundaries permitted, and you might find a kind of bean that DOESN’T make you think of scrambled eggs and feel like throwing up
- Don’t get hungry – Bad things happen when you get too hungry! (e.g., you eat all the brownies that were just sitting on the counter!) Eat when you first start to feel hungry, because if you put it off until you’re STARVING, you’ll be much more likely to crack.
- Find substitutes for cravings – I need something sweet during the day, I just can’t help it! I’ve found that decaf coffee (or normal coffee, if you don’t have addiction issues with caffeine, like I do!) can be a good dessert substitute while still remaining true to the rules. I use chocolate flavored coffee, 1/2 tablespoon of cream, a dash of cinnamon, and 1/2 tablespoon of sugar-free caramel Torani. It’s not the same as the coffee or dessert I’d like to make, but it’s enough of a treat to calm my craving and get me through to my next cheat day (when I LIBERALLY pour in the flavored creamer and as much sugar as I want!)
Has anybody else tried the Slow Carb diet? Any tips, tricks, or recipes you can share to help me out? 
