Thursday, January 27, 2011

Induction Self-Challenge

A couple of weeks have gone by since my last post, and in that time I’ve been s-l-o-w-l-e-y reading Gary Taubes’ Why We Get Fat And What To Do About It.  Last night I got to the depressing part.  Gary said, in chapter entitled, “Moderation or Renounce Them Entirely?  Part I”:
“…if you’re not actively losing fat and yet want to be leaner still, the only viable option (short of surgery or the prospect that the pharmaceutical industry will come through with a safe and effective anti-obesity pill) is to eat still fewer carbohydrates, identify and avoid other foods that might stimulate significant insulin secretion – diet sodas, dairy products (cream, for instance), coffee and nuts, among others – and have more patience.”  (emphasis mine)

Gary’s point in this chapter and Part II which followed, as I understood it, is that if you’ve done so much damage to your metabolism as a result of years of abusing your body with sugar and flour, AND you have other hormonal influences at work in your body (not that a 44-year old woman would, ahem!) that it may not be possible to get the hot bod that you might be striving for.  However, in my case, I know I have not given it the old college-try!

Have I been “low-carbing it?”  Yes.  My carb load is about 40-80 net carbs per day which is significantly lower than those that eat a standard American diet (SAD).   And my weight has been steady.  Clearly, this would be a pretty good maintenance level for me.  However, I don’t want to maintain!  I want (need) to lose a good 20 pounds if not 30 to be anywhere close to where I want to be and that’s not going to happen if I don’t apply what I know – apply what I believe.

So, my challenge to self, in an effort to kick-start this process, is to go full-on Induction for the month of February (which is thankfully a short month).   In all honesty, I have not done induction.  I started with about a 30-40 carb level and this was the impetus for my 20 pound loss.  But I have months of evidence that it’s not going to get moving until I take it lower.   Goodbye Flat Out wraps.  Goodbye roasted sweet potatoes.  Goodbye diet Coke.  That one’s going to hurt!

So, I may be doing the ole’ Jimmy Moore plan of eggs and beef for a few weeks but if that’s the way it has to be, so be it.  Let’s see what happens!!

3 comments:

  1. Ughhh, I forgt to mention, so sad on the diet soda mention.

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  2. I can't wait to see how it goes! I'll be checking for updates often. If you can lose the last 20 just in February, wouldn't that be amazing!!!

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  3. Amy, 20 pounds would be awesome but I'll take ANYTHING at this point! And yeah, the diet Coke will be tough! It may be something that I can have in the long run, but short-term I think I need to tighten up the plan. We'll see!!

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