Friday 15 April 2011

The Skinny on Skinny Jeans

This is a vanity post so I can tell you all how awesome I feel today, and how we've been managing our food to get to this state of awesomeness.

I have lost 15 lbs so far and my body fat has gone down about 8%. My husband has lost about 20 lbs. Today I am wearing a pair of skinny jeans to work that I haven't worn in a long time. I need a belt to keep them up and I don't have a huge muffin top showing. Win!!

For the longest time, I thought my metabolism was broken. I have always trained hard and often and eaten whole foods. After reading the BTD book and sticking with the diet for a couple of months, I have come to the conclusion that my metabolism works just fine - it was my eating habits that were broken, since I was eating in a way that would benefit type O's instead of the more omnivorous ABs.

The blood type diet isn't marketed as a weight loss program, but losing weight is a pleasant benefit of the diet. In the book, Dr D'Adamo says (this is abridged, you understand) that when you body is not busy fighting toxins, it can better utilize the food you take in and not store the leftovers in your fat cells. I try to incorporate as many beneficials as I can, but if you stick with all beneficials, you will be malnourished. In my meal plan, if it isn't forbidden, it's allowed.

As far as I'm concerned, any diet that has you eating more veggies, less processed food and less meat, which this one does, will work out in your favour. The BTD just offers more refinement. I also agree with the structure of the suggested meal plans: eat smaller meals and more of them to keep your metabolism and blood sugar steady. I was eating three squares a day plus snacks, which was working against me because I was just taking in too much. It wasn't until I went through the regimented Extreme Fat Loss Diet and forced to eat more often that I ended up eating less at each meal because I just wasn't as hungry any more.

How to do this? Regimentally. You need to force yourself off 3 squares a day by eating less at each meal. Eat slowly, don't eat until you're full - go to about 80% full, and then stop. It will be difficult at first, and you'll be hungry, but after about a week, you'll be fine. Drinking water or herbal tea will help fill the void.

Because I train in the morning, my weekday meal plans look something like this:

7am - breakfast (omelette, or 1 serving of Prograde Lean, or some oatmeal)
10am - mid-morning meal (piece of fruit with cheese or yogurt, or berry flax protein shake)
12:30 - lunch (leftovers from dinner the night before, or salmon sashimi with miso soup)
3:30 - midafternoon feeding (I have the most trouble with this one because I often forget to eat, even though I pack my snacks. Tomatoes/cucumbers/carrotts with some cheese)
6pm - dinner


I go for a walk in the evening and drink water, so I'm not hungry and I don't eat anything.

Once a week I go balls to the wall and have a cheat day. No limits, no holds barred, no guilt. You need a cheat day if you're on a restricted diet. There are two reasons for this:

1) it's psychologically rewarding and will ensure you continue your good habits
2) it will keep your body from thinking it's starving and increase your lepitin levels, which are your fat-burning hormones

A few people have asked me to write a post about the BTD and weight loss. It's a sensitive topic for me and not an easy one to write about, but since I'm successfully wearing skinny jeans today and feeling awesome, I decided to go for it. It felt good to get my thoughts down and I hope you enjoyed reading this post!

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