Like everyone else on Dietbet, I have got a story. Two years ago, I got my weight down to 163. I really wanted to get below that 160 mark but I was at that wall. I decided that I felt okay and I would just quit worrying about the number on the scale and focus more on my fitness. I am a regular gym rat and I recently fell in love with the sport of rowing. Quite simply, I am an active and healthy 54 year old woman.
Well, losing focus on the weight seems to have brought me back to the 170’s on the scale. My clothes were snug again. So I did what I did before. Cut calories and …. Oh wait….before I started getting more active. So cutting calories and moving more wasn’t going to be the formula. I am already maximizing my workout time. I saw that my first month into the January Transformation bet. So what is it going to take?
It all starts with nutrition. But what? I admit that I have a sweet tooth, but I felt like I had that under control. I like wine. I open a bottle on Friday night and it generally lasts the weekend. Dining out? Once a week date night dinner doesn’t sound terrible, does it? Clearly my body is accustomed to my habits and I need to shake stuff up.
I had read a book called Natural Born Heroes, by Christopher McDougall. In that book he discussed something called the Maffetone Method. This method of endurance training focuses on heart rate and nutrition. One step in the method is the Carbohydrate Intolerance 2 Week Test. http://philmaffetone.com/2-week-test/
To be clear the 2 week test is just that a 2 week test to see how the body responds to the elimination of carbohydrates. He even provides some recipes. I started the test on 3/13 and I made it 10 days. Because I had failed to account for going to my mother’s house for Easter, I didn’t complete the full 14 day cycle. But the 10 days were revealing.
I started and weighed in at 171.4, day 3 I was 169.4, and by day 10 166. I go home to my mom’s and I eat the Easter meal there. I stayed with mostly veggies and meats but there was some fruit. I had a slice of cake. Nothing too overboard. The hotel where we stayed offered a breakfast. I had fruit and granola with coffee. And lunch with my mom was left overs. When I got home and weighed I was up to 173 pounds and back to 171 24 hours later. I lost 2 inches on my waist by day 10 and I have 1 inch of that back today.
You can’t live eating like the 2 week plan forever. I know some people claim you can, but I have also read of people coming off paleo type plans due to other health consequences like reproductive health and issues with B12 deficiency.
If I had done the 2 week test properly, I would keep eating the no carb foods and gradually reintroduce whole grains, dairy, legumes, and fruit to see what hurts my plan most. I don’t care to repeat the plan because I am starting to train for a June race and I can’t afford the low energy. My next experiment will be with Carb Cycling. I have done a variant of that before. Clearly eliminating carbs had an impact on my weight and waist. Now I need to find something that I can actually live and train with. I will let you know how the Carb Cycling goes in May.