COME WITH ME ON A LOW CARB DIET
When I saw my friend John looking 20 years younger, I was shocked. Of course, I asked how he did it. But I scoffed at his "low carb diet" answer---until his love handles disappeared.
Then last week, I pulled on a pair of jeans I haven't worn all summer. Rather, I tried to put them on. They wouldn't go up over my hips. That's when I realized that the ice cream I've been eating all summer didn't go away when the carton was empty. I'm wearing Ben and Jerry's.
So, swallowing my pride, I asked John for advice.
Understand, this is my first real diet. Anytime I've ever been um, rounder, than I wanted, I just stepped up my exercise or lowered my food intake for a few months. But now, it's an emergency. The holiday season is coming. And there's an important party in November where I want to look good.
I'm not following a particular diet plan, but a concept. I figure that everyone's metabolism is different, so I will find out what works for me by doing it. A little web surfing gave me the basic principals of the low/no carb diet. And John is helping me with advice; a diet advisor friend is a good thing
I started by gorging on every piece of bread and candy in the house; just to get rid of it, you understand. Then, I stocked up on food so I won't have to even go in a grocery store for at least a week.
John warned me about cravings, saying they will be constant for the first four or five days. He added, "First of all, this diet is no good for you. It puts your body into ketosis, which means that it goes from burning carbohydrates for energy to burning fat. This diet is really only recommended for new diabetics to get their diabetes under control. But it's a good way to kick start things."
Like losing fat. It's fat I want to lose, which doesn't weigh as much as muscle, so I'm not concerned with losing weight---just inches. Like the extra ones around my hips.
My biggest temptation is fruit, a big no-no on the low/no carb diet. But John says that after the first week, you can lighten up on the no/carbs food thing a little. He eats all the few carbs he allows himself in the morning, and none at all after 5:00 p.m. But he does eat protein before he goes to bed, as one of the six small meals he eats throughout the day. For him, it's not a diet, but a life long eating pattern
He tells me his love handles are almost gone. For the first time in my life, I've got love handles from my chest to my knees, so hopefully this diet will work for me, too. But it's only the second day, and I'm feeling weak and irritable. John warned that would happen, but he said that by the fourth for fifth day, I will feel a new burst of energy as my body's conversion to using fat for energy is complete.
Stay tuned. I'll tell you if it works. If it works well, I'll even post a photo of me at the November party.