I haven't spoken about my latest diet, the slow carb diet, for quite awhile. (
You can read the last update here.) And I have to be honest... it's because so far it hasn't been going as well as I wanted it to.
Over the past 5 weeks, I've only dropped 5 pounds. And although that puts me at 25 pounds lost total in the past 3 months (which is something I've never dreamed possible or sustainable), I've found myself extremely frustrated with my recent lack of success.
So, I put to work the brain power of my world - my husband - and had him read
The Four Hour Body to see what I was missing. What was I doing wrong? It took C a total of 15 minutes to read through the diet guidelines before he started laughing at me. Apparently, I was doing everything all wrong.
The big focus of the slow carb diet is protein. I immediately started focusing on meat. Meat, meat, meat. I've been on some vegetarian-variation for so long, that once I found myself not only able but encouraged to increase my protein, I immediately ran away with meat. It was glorious. Fajitas, burgers, and brisket flew through our weekly meals at a rate that would probably put Ron Swanson's diet to shame.
But, as C was quick to point out after reading the book's guidelines, I should be focusing instead on legumes. Beans, beans, beans. Not meat, meat, meat. So I re-grouped, and focused on eating beans on Wednesday. I lost 3 pounds from Wednesday to Saturday by this simple switch of focus. And now, after my free-day Saturday, I'm more ready than ever to tackle this last 25 pounds that I've set as my goal to lose.
How wonderful it is to have a support system built into my life. Someone to come along side me, and help me re-focus. Help me clarify my plans. And to help me realize that my failure is not in fact a failure, but a misunderstanding that's easily correctible.
Before I jumped back in, I wanted to give you a glimpse into my failures. I fell into a state of contentment, which was quickly followed by a state of frustration. How easy frustration sets in!! And how easy I find myself willing to give up on something that I've dedicated an inordinate amount of time to.
How true this revelation of mine applies to so many aspects of my life! A support system is so important to accomplishing even the smallest of goals. I encourage you, in whatever you're current goals are, to make sure you have a support system. Even if it's just one person. It's so important to have someone to share frustrations and short comings with. Someone who won't judge you, but who will walk along side you holding your hand!
I was reminded that failure is always an option. It's always around the next corned if you allow yourself to fall into its trap. Everyone fails. And I know now more than ever that failure is OK. Sometimes it's just the kick in the butt you need to go ahead even stronger.
My weight loss goals are so much more than looking better or being healthier. Its a way of learning how to depend on others. How to stay honest. How to stay vulnerable. And I thank you for reading about my failures and success and being encouraging on both ends.
To stay even more focused, I wanted to make a list of small-term goals for this week...
- Eat beans. Every meal.
- Work out. I didn't do any exercising last week. This week, my goal is exercise 5 days.*
- Drink water. I want to keep up my 8 glasses a day. It makes me feel better.
- Avoid the peanut butter. It's seriously like crack, and isn't the type of protein I should be focusing on.
So here's to a great week! I hope to be able to come back and report great news to you next week. I'm feeling great, and I'm motivate like never before.
What goals are you pursuing? How are you tracking both your success and failures? I'd love to get some tips!
{Happy Monday!}
*I've been following Jillian Michael's 30 Day Shred DVD & highly recommend it!
PS - If you like to follow my entire weight loss journey,
go here.
