A Low-Carb Success Story in Progress

I've lost 40 pounds since May of last year on a low-carb diet. I don't want to post dramatic before and after photos of myself where I look sad and sloppy in the "before" photo and upbeat and put-together in the "after" photo, because I don't consider my current body an "after" yet and because 40 pounds in seven months isn't some amazing feat. But I did want to talk about how I'm doing it, both for anyone who might read this and for myself in the future.

1) I've found recipes I love and don't mind making often. When I would low-carb in the past, I was living in a tiny New York City studio with zero counter space, no oven, and no freezer. The things I cooked for myself were usually compromises–whatever I could make on a stovetop with as few ingredients as possible–and that's if I even cooked for myself at all. Once I moved into a larger apartment, I began to find easy recipes that really worked for me, things I truly loved eating and that made me feel like I was lucky to be on a low-carb diet, if you want to call it a diet at all. I plan to talk about those recipes in separate posts, but my low-carb Pinterest board is a great place to start if you want to get some ideas.

2) I don't deny myself the things I crave. Right now, I'm at the end of a two-week period in which I've told myself I'm not going to have any cheat meals at all. I've lost about eight pounds in those two weeks. The other night before bed, I tried to think to myself what I might want for a carby cheat meal once the two weeks are up, and I genuinely couldn't think of anything I was craving. I wondered why, when the mere thought of pizza or ice cream has set my heart a-flutter in the past, and I realized it's because I've been eating everything I want to. I've made skillet pizzas when I've wanted pizza, I've made buffalo chicken dip when I've wanted buffalo chicken fingers, I've made so much ice cream in my ice cream maker. Seriously, that thing has changed my life. Ice cream is one of my biggest cravings and probably my favourite food. I can do without a lot of things, but I can't do without ice cream. So now I keep a quart of the homemade, low-carb variety around at all times and find that a small scoop satisfies me like I never would've believed. When I go out to eat now, I usually don't even care about dessert, because I know my favourite thing's already waiting for me at home.

3) I rarely eat more than one carby meal in a day. I've found that I can at least maintain my weight if I stick to eating empty carbs only once per day. So if I know I'm going to want to go on a late-night cookie binge while I'm visiting my family for Christmas, I try to eat low-carb throughout the day. I was in Ohio for a week for Christmas this year and had a couple of days where I had to eat multiple carby meals in one day because other people were feeding me, and I still managed to only gain one pound because I was eating low-carb as often as possible. The idea that I could eat one carby meal every day if I wanted to once I get down to a weight I'm comfortable with is so comforting to me.

4) I go to the gym, sporadically. Even though I know I'll feel relaxed and proud of myself once I get back to the apartment, I dread going to the gym, so it takes a bit of motivation to get me there. Some weeks, I'll go three times and use the elliptical or walk on the treadmill for 30 or 45 minutes. Other weeks, I won't go at all. I don't guilt myself for not going, but I do feel pretty awesome when I do. Walking up stairs later and noticing that it's easier feels like a real reward.

5) I weigh myself. I know there are a lot of reasons not to weigh yourself when you're dieting. I'll admit that it's a real downer for me when I expect I've lost weight and find that the scale tells me I weigh the same thing I did three days ago. But it's also a great way for me to make sure I'm on the right track with the things I'm eating. During this two-week period of eating no cheat meals, I'd lost two pounds when I weighed myself one day, but when I weighed myself three days later, I was the same weight. I'd had low-carb peanut butter fudge made with no-sugar-added peanut butter, and I'd had a cup of coffee with half & half because I was out of heavy cream, and those were the only new things I'd introduced into my diet, so I figured it had to be one of those. I made sure not to drink any half & half the next day and had lost another half-pound when I weighed myself again. Had I not been weighing myself, I wouldn't have known that I could be doing something to mess up my weightloss. Eventually, losing weight won't be the point, and I won't need to keep a close eye on the scale. But for right now, when I'm trying so hard to get back to a weight I'm comfortable with, it's dumb to sabotage what's giving me motivation with something like half & half.

6) I've realized that low-carbing is actually pretty awesome. I know it's not for everyone, and I don't fault anyone for wanting to go a more traditional route like a low-calorie diet. But when I'm eating a scoop of the dreamiest ice cream made with heavy cream, or when I'm chowing down on a cheese and meat plate at a restaurant, or when I'm eating Brussels sprouts with extra bacon and extra sausage, I'm so happy that I've found a diet that lets me eat the richest, most satisfying foods.

Obviously I could've lost more weight by now had I done things differently. Had I not eaten so much ice cream, not eaten as many cheat meals when I was out with friends, gone to the gym more often, I would've lost more than the five pounds per month I averaged. On the other hand, I'm not sure I would've been so happy, and I'm not sure I would've been able to stick to it so easily.

How's low-carbing going for you?

Why We Get Fat

Tracey and I got a couple of comments here yesterday for the first time in a long time, and it made me realize that hey, people still care about low-carbing and that hey, we haven't written here for nearly a year. Crazy!

You'll be happy to know that we're still at least semi-low-carb. I say semi, because we both still absolutely believe that this is the right way to eat, but we still have all of these great feelings attached to foods we know aren't good for us. And don't hate us, but we don't exactly want to do anything about it just yet.

We've both been eating low-carb breakfasts and lunches and then whatever we want for dinner, which is keeping our weights steady but not allowing us to lose anything. For us, just maintaining is a pretty big deal. Tracey has been keeping up with low-carb blogs and podcasts all along, but I have to admit that I stopped paying attention and stopped caring for a while. Here's something I wrote back in July, when I was coming around to low-carb again:

I picked up Gary Taubes's Why We Get Fat: And What to Do About It knowing what it'd say, "We get fat because we eat grain and sugar." I thought it'd give me some motivation to stop listening to everyone around me who continues to tell me that all I have to do is eat "right"–meaning low-calorie–and go to the gym. What I didn't expect is that it would give me brand new insight not just about why we get fat but why I specifically get fat.

I believe Taubes when he says that people are just wired differently and that I'm just one of those people who can't eat carbs without consequence. After all, lots of people have terrible reactions to dairy or gluten. Lots of people get angry when they drink alcohol. I'm just a person who can't handle my sugar very well. It almost seems more manageable when I see it in those terms; I can do it, but I have to do it a little differently than all of those low-calorie/gym people.

When I see my my co-workers eating chicken fingers and pizza for lunch, I have to remember that they're not trying to lose weight. When I see my friends with the crazy metabolisms scarfing down cupcakes, I have to remember that diabetes and double chins aren't even on their radars. I have to remember that celebrities, people whose job it is to look good, eat low-carb.

I have to remember that it's not just for weightloss, it's for overall health. I have to remember that it's not the end of the world if I feel like I need to eat something carby as long as it's a one-meal break or a one-day break and not a one-month break or a one-year break. I HAVE TO REMEMBER TO STICK WITH THIS.

Let's do this.