Doomed Beginning

I have been planning to start this new experiment on Monday. I got all excited about it, and had a shopping list so I would be prepared. I was all set to go to the supermarket, but first thing in the morning, what do we find? The fridge wasn't working. That put a damper on my plans. I can't very well go and buy all this fresh stuff and I can't cook extra food to store and use over two or three days without the fridge. So currently, I'm still debating whether I will start this challenge on Monday or not. Probably not if the fridge isn't working, because as I have mentioned before, planning is a key to make this successful. I simply don't have time to go shopping for fresh things every day, and then cook every day. So just hoping fridge thing will be sorted soon, and perhaps I won't have to delay my plans. Being forced to change my plans because of circumstances I can't control stresses out the control freak in me to no extent.

Preparation

Yesterday, when I went to the supermarket, I almost got carried away and wanted to start this new diet straight away. I resisted the impulse, and I'm glad I did. I am using this time wisely to do research, read about people who have followed this, plus get some recipes and meal plan. 

Preparation and organisation will be critical to the success, I think. Because the last thing you want when you are trying to stick to a particular diet is to come home and find there is nothing suitable left in the house (in which case my first impulse to decide which take away to call). 

Another thing is due to lack of time, I don't want to waste time trying to decide what I can make. So I want a meal plan. That should make things easier. I've got the basics - I will finalise it after a trip to the supermarket based on what I can find as I would really rather not make a special trip to some whole-food place, which would mean going quite a bit of distance away. 

But I must admit, I'm really getting into the spirit of this. There is a lot of interesting stuff I can make, and seeing as I am going to repeat certain meals per week, it will be more a question of narrowing down options. So far, so good. 

And the icing on the cake (perhaps, I should forget about cakes) is that I've a week off from work next week, so it's perfect time to start this, and try cooking new things, and most importantly, get used to eating a proper breakfast. 

Four Hour Body - The Plan

On Sunday, I read Tim Ferris' book "4 Hour Body." I didn't read the whole book, because for once I followed instruction. Ferris says that read the chapters relevant to you - I did read few extra things, but I got his point. If I'd tried to read all the sections, it would be information overload, and frankly, I find diet stuff complicated enough as it is.

Now, usually I am totally against diets because I strive for "lifestyle change" since that is more sustainable. Diets are not. Also, I love food, so I don't particularly want to starve myself. So until now, my goal (not always successful) has been to become more active, eat everything in moderation. It's not a bad goal - but it's difficult when you hate exercise, and don't find time for it because other things feel more important. Note, I didn't say "don't have time" because I firmly believe that we have time for anything we really want to do. For me, there are other things I really want to do, so I give them priority.

So why am I interested in this diet? Because I think with a few tweaks, it could actually be a lifestyle change, and not a diet. If you follow Ferris' formula to the letter, it is supposed to be a slow-carb diet for 6 days, with 1 cheat day to eat anything you want. But for those 6 days, no white stuff or anything that could be white (rice, pasta, potatoes, bread). This is the hardest thing for me, since I eat pasta several times per week, and rice at other times, or bread. This is my favourite food group.

Also no dairy, except for cottage cheese in moderation and little bit of cream in the coffee. For me, this isn't a huge deal. I drink a lot of coffee, so I might end up with more cream allowance, but other than that, no big deal.

There are other rules, but these are the ones that have the strongest impact on me.

Oh and breakfast. You are supposed to eat breakfast ideally within 30 minutes of waking up, at latest within 1 hour. Generally, I don't eat breakfast, and if I do, it's toast or cereal. None of that in this diet. So that's going to be toughie for me - not only because I can't imagine eating lentils or salad in the morning, but also because I leave for work at 7:10, and don't particularly want to cook in the morning, so I am going to have find quick, easy means to accomplish this.

Another tricky thing is that I'm vegetarian. This diet can be done even for vegetarians, but like anything, it's harder with restrictions. So I'm looking for things I can eat, especially protein. Easiest thing is to eat eggs - but for years, I've detested eggs, so I'm going to give them another try, and see if I like them. Because they seem much better breakfast option than beans or lentils.

Ferris claims that you can lose up to 20lbs in 30 days. From Internet records, it seems to be more successful for men. Some women have lost weight, but overall, I haven't seen as many records for females. Also, we all have different bodies etc. so you can't expect exact same results. If I lose 10 lbs in 30 days, I'll be okay with that, though of course more is better. In fact, if I lose 20lbs then that will actually take me very close to my "perfect" weight.

So what I've decided to do is follow Ferris' rule to the letter for 30 days, with minimal exercise. I will see if it works for me. If it does, then my intention after 30 days is to try and maintain that weight by increased exercise, and little leeway on diet, so for example, eating small amounts of bread or pasta etc. But initially, if this can give me a quicker weight loss then it will motivate me more to maintain it. Because let's face it, we are a society of instant gratification.

I don't expect this to be easy, but because I'm looking at this as 30 day challenge, it seems much more achievable and much less daunting. Goal setting in small, steady steps works much better, I have found. So I'm going to take this week to buy necessary things, figure out what I can eat and make sure to have a meal plan ready, maybe even do some advance cooking so I won't lapse, and then from next Monday, 29th of August, this challenge officially begins.