Have you been thinking about losing weight? Do you feel like you have tried everything out there … losing a bit at first, but then you go off the diet only to gain it all back? Or are you tired of trying the latest fad diets, putting out a lot of money only to find that it doesn’t work? If you said yes to any of these things, then I would love for you to join us on our Low Carb journey this summer.
As of June 1st, myself and a small group of courageous women are stepping up and taking the Feminine Collective Low Carb Challenge. We will be following the low carb plan entitled: Fat to Skinny by author Doug Varrieur. The team will be blogging and journaling about their new healthy lifestyle, their highs and lows, and most importantly how they feel as they lose the weight. Low carb is all about hidden sugar in foods. The plan limits your carb intake to keep the sugars out of your food and out of your system, thus allowing your body to work more efficiently and lose the weight.
Are you ready to join us and see the difference in you? To join the Low Carb Summer Challenge send an email toabyteoflife@femininecollective.com telling us a little bit about yourself. You must able to join our Facebook group, willing to journal weekly and be ready to change your life. We aren’t competing in the challenge against each other, rather we are working together to experience true change as a group, and we would love to have you along for the ride with us.
Why do it with me? I have been there, done that … tried every diet known to man and nothing worked. Oh sure, it worked for a little bit. Maybe I lost some at first, but then I always gained it back, making me feel like a bigger loser. I was at my wits’ end five years ago when I came across Fat to Skinny, and it changed my life.
I have always fought my weight, putting it on and taking if off. It hit a high point 12 years ago, I was in a bad accident and unable to walk. I was already overweight, but add in the pain from the accident and the sedentary life style, and I gained a lot of weight really quickly. I tried everything: Atkins, Jenny Craig, Weight Watchers and nothing worked with me. I could lose a little, but I couldn’t stay on the diet. Then a little over five years ago, I came across a book on Amazon that just screamed to me. It was called Fat to Skinny, and it was a new look at the low carb lifestyle. I thought what the hell, ordered the book and had no idea that one little action would change my life.
18 months later I was a new woman. With more than a 100 pounds lost, I had found a plan that actually worked and made sense. I wasn’t hungry; I could eat when I wanted and didn’t feel like I was being punished with sub-par meals and sent to bed hungry. I found out quickly that it wasn’t a diet but a lifestyle. Something you have to do daily and live by, much like a vegetarian lives by their food choices. This low carb lifestyle was amazing, and it was time for me to start sharing it with my friends.
How does it work you ask? There are a few hard and fast rules that you have to live by in this plan. It’s much like traditional low-carb plans such as Atkins, but different in the way that it is more focused on finding the hidden sugar and eating fresh, rather than follow someone else’s meal plan.
Below are a few secrets to following the plan:
Rule Number 1: You are allowed 20 carbs a day, you can use those 20 carbs on anything you feel like eating, but there is one catch. No one item can have more the 2 grams of sugar per serving.
Rule Number 2: This is not a diet, it’s a lifestyle. You can’t “kind of” do this program. If you do, you won’t lose anything. You have to do it every day and stay at 20 carbs or under to be successful.
Rule Number 3: Eat because you’re hungry … not because it’s the time of day you normally eat. This is a huge, and one most people have trouble with. We are so trained to eat at certain times of day, whether we’re hungry or not. On Fat to Skinny we learn to listen to our bodies, let it decide when the right time to eat really is, and not because the clock says noon.
Rule Number 4: Weigh in as needed, no more. The scale is your enemy … there … I said it. I really dislike the scale, but it’s a necessary evil. Just remember, you are more than the number on the scale. Weigh in weekly, but no more than that. You don’t want the scale to rule your mood each day. If you follow the program, you will lose.
Rule Number 5: Diet drinks are okay, but you need water too. Some people can drink diet sodas while low carbing, and it doesn’t bother their weight loss, others can’t. So use them at your own discretion. You need to drink water, all through the day. Eight glasses at least, and it really helps to drink a glass before meals to help fill you up.
Rule Number 6: Sugar-Free candy and foods are great but stay away from them for the first ten days. Your body needs to get the sugar out, and eating sugar-free foods in the first ten days can hinder that process.
Rule Number 7: Don’t give in to the crave. You are going to have times when you feel hungry, this again is when you listen to your body. Are you really hungry or is your body craving something? If you’re hungry, grab a low carb snack, if it’s just a craving … realize that and let it go. Those cravings will end once you get through the first ten days of sugar detox.
Rule Number 8: Empty your cupboards of sugary foods. It is impossible to low carb when your house is full of sugary, carby foods – especially the first ten days. To be successful, throw it all out. Restock your house with foods you can eat, and there are TONS of them. Hit the grocery store, read all the labels, buy new things, fill up your pantry and fridge with all the fun things you can eat. It’s much harder to mess up when it’s not around!
Rule Number 9: The half rule. After you get through the first 30 days start fixing yourself two plates for dinner, splitting your meal in half. Eat the first half and wait 15 minutes. If you are still hungry, eat the other plate of food … if not then pass on it. As you continue in this lifestyle, you’ll find you’re not as hungry as you used to be and don’t need as much food to fill you up.
Rule Number 10: Never be hungry. You are not to starve yourself. We are counting carbs, not calories. If you’re hungry then eat. Keep snacks in your purse, keep lunch meat roll ups in your fridge. You need to be eating, there is no time that you should ever feel hungry. This is a lifestyle, not a diet … so don’t think of it as one. You don’t need to feel hungry or left out of meals again.
So are you ready to take the plunge? Change your life? There’s still time. Pop me a message. You’ll have a great team of awesome peeps supporting you as you go. Plus, you’ll get to blog weekly and let the world know how you’re doing. You can be anonymous with your updates or share as much about you as you like.
The choice is up to you to join us, get healthy and change your tomorrow … today.
Week 2 – Getting Started
Week 3 – Favorite Things
Week 4 – Screwing Up
Week 5 – I Want Candy
Week 6 – Taking Care of You
Week 7 – You Can Do It!
Week 8 – Wine, Beer, Tequila? Definitely!
Week 9 – Carb Creep
Week 10 – Hollywood Eats Low Carb. You Can Too!
Week 11 – Wow! You Did it!
Photo Credit: kohlmann.sascha via Compfight cc
