Last week I started The Fast Metabolism Diet, a 28 day metabolism reset that I plan I doing until the day we leave for Coachella (for a total of 40 days). In my first week I battled caffeine withdrawal then had tons of energy and ended up losing a total of 7 lbs. Heading into Week 2, I faced attending a bridal shower on the diet, grogginess from the DST time change and generally being surrounded by food and alcohol that I started to resent not being able to have.
Day 8 - Saturday Phase 1
Excited to start the day, if only because Phase 1 means another delicious Fat-Burning Mango Smoothie. I hopped out of bed right after my alarm went off, then made my smoothie and ate it with rice crackers and a side of Netflix. Then I started trying to prepare for the day - I was headed to my friend Anjali's bridal shower a couple of hours north in LA and had to somehow stick to the plan amidst all the sangria and yummy food. I packed two apples for snacks and a turkey sandwich on sprouted grain bread to eat in the car right before the shower. The book has a recipe for an open-faced sandwich which I followed all the way until the open-faced part: I put a second slice on there and packed it up for the trip. Then I got the slow cooker ready and put in my dinner, Italian Chicken and Wild Rice.
Breakfast, lunch and dinner, all prepared before 10am. Not bad.
The shower was great.. there was tons of fresh fruit and since I was in Phase 1, by the time my second snack time rolled around I was in heaven. I felt dumb telling everyone I wasn't eating more or drinking because I was on a cleanse, but they're all pretty cool ass chicks so nobody thought it was as weird as I did. After a long drive home, I was so relieved to walk into a warm, good-smelling (and tasting!) dinner waiting for me in the slow cooker. Ian was over and both him and Ryan had some as well --- everyone enjoyed this one.
Sari shopping for Anjali and Pre's wedding!
Day 9 - Sunday Phase 1
I'm finding that on the mornings when I get to have the mango smoothie for breakfast, it's super easy to get out of bed. It's also Daylight Savings Time so even though I'm up at my normal time, it feels like I slept in, which is kind of nice. Today is a lowkey, spring cleaning day, so Ryan and I spend the morning doing yardwork. That counts as cardio right?
I heated up some frozen Chicken and Barley Soup for lunch and then in the afternoon we went to the bar to meet up with Bonney and Lou, who were in town for the weekend, and the rest of our friends. For the first time, I really wished I could just enjoy a beer or two with everybody but I stuck to pounding water with Bonney (who's expecting in June!). After they left, I went to the grocery store (because what else do I do these days ??) and got some Phase 2 foods for work tomorrow. When I got back, a few friends were over, eating pizza and drinking with Ryan and then I REALLY wished I could just say F it and join in. I ate my leftover Italian Chicken as fast as possible to suppress the calling of pizza and went to bed early. The good news? I'm only missing out on 4 more Sunday Fundays.
Day 10 - Monday Phase 2
Ugh. The full force of DST hits me this morning and I hit the snooze button a hundred times. I'm also not super eager to prep my turkey bacon and celery breakfast, but I do it anyway, then grill up two chicken breasts - one for my salad today, one for my salad tomorrow. I pack up my jerky, prepare my salad and hit the road. I'm dragging and cranky all morning. I haven't seen any new weight loss since Friday, I'm mad I couldn't have fun with my friends last night and I'm all kinds of stressed out about everything. Plus, it's a Phase 2 day, which is essentially Spartan food. Blech. Meeting my friend Raina for lunch helps a lot - we vent about our various diet plateaus and all the things that are on my mind. She always has the best advice (which is why you should read her blog).
In the afternoon, I get my first real headache since the caffeine withdrawal passed last week. All I can think about is sleep. But it's light outside when I get home for the first time since I started my new job and that is something to celebrate. Ryan and I take a short walk, I make some Cinnamon Mustard Chicken and Lemon Garlic Asparagus for dinner, we finished House of Cards Season 2 and head to bed somewhat early.
Day 11 - Tuesday Phase 2
More snooze button pushing. This time change is really messing with me, which makes me rethink my plan to give up caffeine forever. I got 8 hours of sound sleep last night and I'm still tired. Saying bye to caffeine may be a pipe dream. Thinking I should just say bye to aspartame instead - no more Red Bulls and Diet Cokes. Turkey bacon and celery again since I'm running late, though I had every intention to try a different Phase 2 breakfast this morning. No time to prepare my salad, so I pack all of the ingredients instead. A quick look around the kitchen has me desperately wishing we had a dishwasher, since that would make this diet INFINITELY easier. Jerky for both snacks at work today. Then, because it was Tuesday, I made lettuce tacos for dinner. Romaine lettuce is a surprisingly awesome taco shell.
Day 12 - Wednesday Phase 3
Decided to weigh in again today and found out I lost another pound and half. It's not much but it's something. I start to stress about the minor ways in which I'm not following the diet... I usually eat breakfast within an hour of waking up, not a half hour. Sometimes my meals are more like 4 hours apart instead of 3. And I'm not doing the exercises. I'm going to fix these things but if this continues, I may have to do Phase 2 for 3 days next week.
Much like last week, I'm unprepared for Phase 3 again. I have enough raspberries for my Berry Oatmeal Smoothie this morning, but I'll need more for tomorrow. And I have prepackaged almond snack packs (thanks Trader Joe's!) and celery and almond butter for snacks, but no lunches and only enough for one dinner tonight (Coconut Curry Chicken I am so excited for you!). This means another grocery store visit for me. Yay. To get through lunch though, I go to a place in Carlsbad where you can make your own salads and order a salad with red onions, tomatoes, chicken, quinoa, cucumbers and kalamata olives.
Around mid-afternoon, a mild headache and a wave of fatigue hits me like no other. A lot of feelings and emotions have been coming up for me this week and I wonder if its the diet or the new job or a post-Sayulita come down or a combination of everything. I'm completely zapped of energy suddenly and yet at the same time I feel restless and frustrated about a lot of things, bored, and generally depressed that I can't take part in the foods I love, that I can't go out to eat with friends, or enjoy a glass of wine after dinner. One thing that I know about myself is that I have a high need for inclusion and this diet makes me feel like an outsider, which is not great. Maybe this is why I always prefer workout weight loss methods, for the camaraderie? At least then I feel like part of the fitness community. And I know there are nutrition communities but that is a bunch of people suffering together, not enjoying endorphins together...
All of a sudden, I can't think of a single reason that giving up Red Bull and alcohol is a good idea.
Day 13 - Thursday Phase 3
Confession: I don't think I've ever cooked an egg. I mean, I vaguely remember hard boiling them a couple of times when I was a teenager but I can't be positive that one of my parents didn't do it for me. So this morning, I wake up determined to fry an egg for the Egg and Toast with Tomato and Red Onion recipe in the book. Surprisingly I didn't mess it up and it was delicious. Even though I'm not typically a fan, eggs always do make it feel like real breakfast.
I packed up the leftover Coconut Curry Chicken for lunch and some celery and almond butter for one of my snacks. I plan to have raw almonds for the other. It's a pretty stressful day at work and and my kneejerk reaction is to say F it and grab the bag of SunChips in my desk so that I can eat my feelings. This continues after work with nonstop red wine cravings. Instead, to ignore it all, the work day included, I just eat the rest of my Coconut Curry Chicken leftovers for dinner and go to bed early.
Day 14 - Friday Phase 3
Two weeks!! Despite being bummed out about this diet for the past two days, I woke up with renewed energy when I realized that I am essentially halfway through Haylie's diet (though since I'm doing 40 days, I'm not quite there yet). Today I had another fried egg on sprouted grain toast and then headed to work with only almond butter and celery packed up for my snacks --- I'm so out of food that today will have to be another stop at the salad place day.
As I eat my first snack, I realize that I've been a lot more relaxed about following the diet in the last few days. Not relaxed as in not following it, but relaxed as in, I've got it down and I'm not so stressed about all the packing and planning. I kind of know what I need to eat and when and what I have in stock for that. Plus I like that I know I can buy lunch out sometimes, knowing what needs to be inside it. Like today, I get the same salad with grilled chicken, kale, quinoa, red onions, kalamata olives, tomatoes and cucumbers.
On the way home, I finally catch up with my cousin who inspired me to do this diet in the first place and it was really great listening to his experiences and hearing his perspective on everything, especially our identical feelings on the exclusion that our lack of drinking created. It's also good to know that he's continuing the diet to a degree still, even though he finished his 28 days (and then some).
I head to Sprout's on the way home and buy enough to enjoy a final meal for Week 2, Chicken and Quinoa Risotto!
FMD Week 2 Weight Loss: 3 lbs
