Olive Tapenade. I'm Not Joking.

I'm so excited! I just started a new diet! I know, I know...I just re-started Weight Watchers a few weeks ago, but you know that old saying about doing the same thing over and over and expecting different results? That's where I felt I was, and I was starting to embrace it. It was becoming a simple truth, the way of my life. The idea that I "really don't have to do anything different but I'm sure it will work this time!"  has finally lost it's appeal. I can fool myself a lot of the time...but not forever. I'm just not believing that story anymore (not seeing results for the umpteenth time is not believing!).

So, I wanted to do something CRAZY. Something that would require some planning, some work, some change, and even some dedication and commitment. Pretty scary, right? Who wants to work? Who likes change? Dedication and commitment sound kind of "effort-y".

Today I started Chris Powell's 7 Day Carb Cycle Solution. He says it's not a diet...it's a way of life! (That is one of the most annoying sayings and I know that I use it often, with every "diet", but the question here really is "which diet is going to fit into my life, thereby becoming, my way?). I should probably clarify here that when I say "diet" it just means "the way I eat". I can eat a 5,000 calorie a day diet of potato chips and pizza and it's still a "diet".  Not a very healthy one, but....you get the idea.

The premise of carb cycling (which has been around for 30 or more years and used by body builders), is that if you restrict your calories long term through dieting, your metabolism will eventually slow down to accommodate the lower caloric input until the body learns to "make do with what it's given" and there is no more weight loss. This explains the dreaded "plateau" and why many people who restrict calories don't see much weight loss and are baffled. For me, I've always seen some weight loss when I eat less. But since I can only stay on a diet for a week or two (really, just a week), I would have no idea if my metabolism slows down or not, I just know I go off the diet and gain whatever I've lost. I do this because, no matter how healthfully I like to eat, eventually I cheat. And then I feel bad about it. So I give up.

With the Carb Cycle Solution, it kind of feels like you go off the diet every other day! If you are a relatively healthy eater, it's not difficult to do the High Carb days. You must stick to whole grains, lean proteins, very little fat, and plenty of fruits and vegetables. On the Low Carb days, you have to say goodbye to carbs for 24 hours, but you get to eat healthy fats, even cheese and olives! I don't know which day is my favorite yet!!

Then the real treat comes on day 7. It's off! You can eat and drink whatever you want - pizza, cheese puffs, snack shack nachos, wine, ANYTHING. And you have not fallen off the wagon, you are not a loser. You must do this to convince your body that, while it may have thought it detected a calorie restricted diet, it most certainly did not. Ha!

After three consecutive weeks of the 7-day carb cycles, you do what's called a "Slingshot" week. You go all 7 days in a row 'High Carb'. This is to make extra sure that your body keeps it's metabolism high, and you do not always have calorie deficits (Low Carb days are naturally lower in calories), and I don't even know or care why else.

Today is day one and my first High Carb day. I've eaten so much I find it hard to believe that I have to eat again in an hour. That's right, you also must eat every three hours. This is where the planning and work comes in. I can't be in my kitchen all day every day. I have to work, haul the kid around, take care of the horse, etc. So I shopped for an entire week: 5 meals a day X 6 days (I will probably spend day 7 at the Snack Shack and Liquor Store). I spent just over $100, which I think is pretty darn good for 25 meals (enough for Rob and Jacob to have the dinners too!), I made two High Carb day's worth of taco fixings for lunches, and I'll make two low carb days worth of broccoli salad (with real bacon bits!). Breakfast I can make in the mornings (tomorrow is an egg white scramble with potato, onion, bell pepper, mushrooms and salsa). I forgot to mention that you must have a high carb breakfast every day, even on low carb days. *sigh* (that was a sigh of contentment).

The snacks are a little trickier. I can make the yummy shakes when I'm at home (the Pina Colada shake is my afternoon snack today - pineapple, banana, shredded coconut, vanilla whey protein powder and almond milk). I'm not sure how I'm going to do the roast beef and olive tapenade lettuce wraps for my Low Carb snack at work tomorrow though. Pre-make and roll them in the morning? Olive tapenade? I can hardly believe what I'm typing!

So who is the genius, the man behind the Solution? Here he is....my new hero! He just looks trustworthy, doesn't he?

What do you think? I think I like it so far.....!