For the next 12 years following my Cabbage Soup Diet fiasco, I would go back on and off various diets. I braved the 800 Calorie Diet, Diet Supplements with Ephedra in it (that was a very stupid move on my part), 1200 Calorie Diet, and the “My boyfriend is a jerk diet”. Each time I would lose a little bit of weight but as always with any unrealistic way to lose weight, I gained it back and then some. By the time I got pregnant with my daughter I was 193 lbs. I gained 28 lbs during pregnancy and with a blink of any eye lost 20 of those two weeks after giving birth. That put me at 201.5 lbs (the heaviest I have ever been). After losing those 20 lbs I was left with 8 lbs to put me back at my pre pregnancy weight, which was not anything I was proud of or comfortable with. Of course I thought I would lose those last 8 lbs with no problem, I mean I just lost 20 super quickly, why not 8 more?!? Six weeks later reality slapped me in the face when I hadn’t lost any of those last 8 and I was looking in the mirror at the wonderful “pancake” I talked about in my first blog. I decided to start eating Low Carb. Goodbye bread, rice, desserts, fruit and the oh so delicious and household fav, pizza! Surprisingly I did this for 16 months!!!! After the first few weeks it just got easier and easier. I also started incorporating exercise into my life. I would try and go to the gym or for a walk 3 to 4 days a week. By October 2010 I had lost 38lbs and got my weight down to 163 lbs!!!! You can imagine how excited and over the moon I was to be that number, a number I hadn’t seen since I was 19 years old!
Now the real truth about eating low carb, yes you lose weight but there are quite a bit of side effects that come with eating no more than 20 carbs a day. First being bad breath. It’s like a constant stale taste in your mouth. Umm, gross! Second, and a favorite topic among my toddler, poop, or lack there of. Constipation can occur and I’ll spare you the details but trust me when I say, it’s not fun! It makes sense! Even though you are eating lots of veggies you have just cut out all the wondrous fiber of fruits and whole grains. Third, the binge factor. Anytime a person deprives themselves of a food, particularly carbs, your body just wants them even more. When I did allow myself cheat times during those 16 months I would totally binge! The binging would put back on a pound or two but after being back on low carb for a few days I was back to my weight pre binge. The last month I was doing low carb I travelled a lot and was under a bit of stress. Of course, what do you know, Nov 1st rolled around and I had gained 8 lbs back. All due to not following the low carb plan. Now don’t get me wrong, sometimes following the Atkins or South Beach Plan really does work for people, if you allow it to become your lifestyle. Eventually on those plans you incorporate more carbs but overall you are living a high meat, veggies and egg diet. I still believe that too many carbs are not good but I also believe that not having a diet rich in fruits and whole grains is not healthy either. Even though I did it for over a year, I came to realize that I couldn’t live that lifestyle forever. I was super grateful to have lost 30 lbs on low carb but I was ready for a change, something real. That’s when I discovered the wonderful world of Weight Watchers, (which I’ll talk about in my next blog). Two weeks ago I took a very hesitant break from WW and decided to join my husband in eating low carb again for 2 weeks only, for various reasons. As fun as it was to eat all the bacon and deviled eggs I wanted I have to admit, I don’t know how in the world I ate like this for 16 months. Back came the bad breath, the pooping issues, and what do you know, I totally binged on Ben and Jerry’s Chubby Hubby Ice Cream Saturday night.
Here is a recipe I make frequently for dinner. It’s low in Weight Watchers Points Plus values, low carb and and super easy to make, courtesy of Hungry Girl ( www.hungry-girl.com ):
Ranch-O-Bacon Chicken
Ingredients:
4 (5 oz) raw, boneless, skinless, lean chicken breast
1 pkt. Ranch dressing powder
1 package precooked real crumbled bacon
Black Pepper
Directions:
1. Preheat the oven to 375
2. Spray a baking pan with nonstick cooking spray. Set aside. Pound out the chicken breast until it is the thickness of a cutlet. Season each side with black pepper. Place the chicken in the baking pan.
3. Evenly season each chicken cutlet with ½ tsp of the ranch powder.
4. Evenly sprinkle each chicken cutlet with 1 TBS crumbled bacon. Use a spatula or back of a spoon to gently press down and help the bacon adhere to the chicken.
5. Bake in the oven until chicken is fully cooked, about 20-25 minutes.
6. Serve with your favorite steamed veggie.
Makes 4 Servings:
Nutrition Facts per serving:
Calories: 186
Total Fat: 3g
Sodium: 429mg
Carbohydrates: 1g
Fiber: 0g
Sugars: 0.5g
Protein: 35g
Weight Watchers Points Plus Value: 4
No comments:
Post a Comment