1 month results of low carb/high protein diet.

I started this new lifestyle exactly 1 month ago. I eliminated practically all the Carbs from my diet. It wasn't easy, but oh so worth it.

Here is the lowdown......................I gave up bread of any kind (not even whole wheat) No pasta, No starchy vegetables, like potatoes and corn. No processed, frozen foods (like Lean Cuisines, Smart ones, etc...), no refined sugars (the only sugars I was consuming were from fruits) I also slowly gave up breakfast cereals and oatmeal. It has been 4 days since I've had any cereal in the morning and my body is already getting used to the change. I have way more energy than before (and believe me when I say I already had a ton to begin with)
Cereal was the hardest thing to give up. I loved, loved, loved my Fiber Plus Berry Yogurt cereal. That was so yummy and I thought I was doing my body good by eating it in the morning. I mean, it's full of Fiber and it was one of the most expensive, healthy cereals out there right now. It should be good for me, right? Wrong! Wrong! Wrong!
Not only does one serving contain over 35 grams of carbs, it is also high in calories so I never felt a satisfying full after one cup of it. Plus it has a ton of added sugar. Also no bueno.
I always noticed how hungry I got after 2 hours of eating cereal or oatmeal. Why is that? Because of CARBS.
What do carbs do again? To keep it simple, they raise your insulin levels (give you that sugar high) then you crash, then you want more and more of them in a short amount of time. To make it worse, if you are not very active, the majority of those carbs quickly get stored as fat. Diabetes anyone?

So, in one month I ate over 100 grams of protein, worked out every day, only rested twice in those 30 days (I know, I'm fucking crazy!) I only lost one pound but I gained more muscle. Which is what I wanted.
My muscle definition is much more noticeable, I feel like a different person. I am so proud of all the hard work I am putting into my body, I just feel like sharing my experiences with everyone who is willing to give it a listen :)

Thank you everyone for you words of encouragement. That seriously keeps me going!

Finally! Abs of steel :)

Today is going to be a lazy, hazy day.

Let's see.......My last recovery day (rest day from exercise) was January 30th and I knew the day would come when I needed to give my body a break. The thing is, my body feels good!
I know all about the risk of over training your body when you go for a long period of time with no rest, but the super elite athletes who train over 3 hours a day are more prone to it. I am not quite there yet.

My period came early this month though. 2 weeks early to be exact :/
Today is the first day and I can feel the insane cravings for carbs to kick in (I want some damn cereal!) But no, I wont give in. My mom even came over this morning to pick up Lily and had a huge bag of Mexican sweet bread with her. I told her to take it with her. She should know better. I need to be in control. My environment needs to be carefully controlled. I always tell Andrew he needs to hide any junk he brings into the house (He LOVES chips) He needs to hide it, if not, I will be tempted to pour soap over it and throw it in the trash.
I've done it before. Many, many times.

So, I am off from work today, Lily is at her Grammys AND I have decided to give my body a day off from exercise. I think I'll spend it reading and watching I Love Lucy reruns. Maybe I'll kick it with the twin later on :D

My favorite thing to watch on boring days.

The itch to workout will come around 3pm. I hope I can fight it............................

The Aftermath of a binge day.

I will never give up my alcohol ;)

I was a bad girl on Saturday night. I drank way too much and had a cheeseburger
and fries at 3am. My poor body was a disaster.

Our night started out at a bar in Upland. I believe I had 3 margaritas there. Then before I knew it, we were on our way to Downtown Fullerton. Slidebar! Me and Gina looked so cute ;)
I had 4 more mixed drinks (or 5) Either way, I still had a pretty good buzz going on. It was a fuuuuuuuuuuuun night. On our way home (still buzzing it pretty good) We stopped by Del Taco and pigged the eff out! The cheeseburger tasted pretty salty. That's all I remember. Fell asleep around 3:30am. Woke up at 8am. And just for the fun of it, I stepped on the scale.

I Gained 4 lbs.

I knew the number was going to be up. But I also knew it wasn't going to be due to weight gain (the only way I can actually gin 4 lbs of fat in one night, is if I eat over 10,000 calories) It was mostly water weight from the excessive drinking and high sodium, late night, high fat meal.
By the time I was at work, I was so bloated, I looked 6 months pregnant. Ugh. I also had the worst gas cramps in the world! I felt so guilty. Not because I cheated but because of the hell I was putting my body through. It has been so good to me so far. It housed a healthy baby for 9 months, was able to naturally give birth, and it is slowly transforming itself to my dream body. How can I treat it this way??

2 days later, I am happily at 124 again. Whew! It only took a lot of water drinking and sweating buckets to get rid of the water weight.

In conclusion, I have learned my lesson. Even though this was my first crazy, binge day in literally months, I will never do it again. But I am still having a few drinks here and there, Del Taco will just never follow right after.

Remember, food is never worth it....................................but drinks are!

Yes. There is life after carbohydrates.

My cereal section keeps getting smaller and smaller.

I had around 15 boxes of cereal just a couple of months ago. No joke. I seriously had that much damn cereal. Mind you, it was only the "healthy" ones. Like Kashi, Special K, Total, Fiber Plus, Fiber One, More Kashi, Bran....etc.

I work mornings almost every day (5am or 3am shifts) so I  usually don't have time to prepare a healthier, protein filled breakfast. So cereal with fat free milk and around 4 cups of coffee has been my on the go breakfast for a very long time. I thought it was a good choice. I was still losing weight with that morning, diet routine but then I discovered Primal Living.
Which basically means eliminating ALL processed carbs from your diet. So you would only get your carbs from your fruits and veggies. No grains whatsover. Nothing. Bye bye bread.
Ok, so I still haven't giving up my carbs all together. I am doing it slowly, gradually. Not cold turkey. I only eat my bowl of cereal in the morning and that's it. But after these boxes on top of my fridge are gone (I give it another month) I will no longer be a cereal buyer. Now, my snacks have been fruit, nuts, beef jerky, cottage cheese or celery with all natural peanut butter. My lunch options are usually a nice juicy piece of steak with a huge salad, or a huge chicken breast with steamed veggies. My dinner is always weird. Like today for example, I am having a 3 cheese omelet with extra lean turkey bacon. C,mon, who doesn't want to eat this way!
I know what you are thinking.........."That''s way too much protein!!! You are going to bulk up" Ha! Nope. It is very difficult for a female to achieve the bodybuilder body. It takes hours upon hours of heavy weightlifting a day, seven days a week (I mean over 100 lbs, not the wimpy 2 20lb dumbbells that I use) to get even close to that body. I must admit though, since going semi primal (2 weeks ago?) I have noticed my muscles are popping out just a little. No, I don't mean it in a nasty, manly sort of a way. My body looks more defined and toned now than ever before. (My back and abs are my favorite!)
Plus, I am more fuller. Eating carbs made me feel the complete opposite.
And remember what I keep saying about HOW your body burns fat. IT BURNS CARBS FIRST!!!.........................THEN FAT. So tell me, how many carbs do you really want in your body?

It really makes me wonder why I didn't eat this way a long time ago................It is changing my life.

Getting very close to the 50 lb mark.

Something just dawn on me today. I was on my lunch break and a co worker was asking me some questions about my weight loss. "I've lost 47 lbs since July" I heard myself say. "WOW!!! You have almost lost 50lbs!?? Damn girl!"

I kinda squinted my eyes and simply nodded. Holy shit. 3 more lbs and I am almost 50 lbs thinner. 50 pounds!!! I only wanted to lose 35 in the beginning....and here I am with almost 50lbs forever gone. I felt like shedding some tears in that breakroom today. Unless you have been in the same situation as me, no one will ever understand how hard this journey has been. I can safely say childbirth was a piece of cake compare to this. AND my labor was a bitch!

I have become obsessed since starting this. Obsessed with food, numbers, counting, exercise and making sure my body is exactly how I want it to be. There is no turning back now. My relationship with food has been forever altered. I would not have it any other way.