Week 2 - The medium isn't always the message

Time on the Dr. Poon Metabolic Diet:  2 weeks
Total weight lost this week:  3 pounds
Total weight lost to date:  10 pounds

Hey everyone!  It's cold, it's miserable, but at least I'm losing weight!  I think that's going to be my new thing.  (insert bad thing here)...but at least I'm losing weight!

Week 2 was more challenging for me than the first.  The loss slowed down and I actually had indigestion on a few days.  That was pretty disheartening, until I realized that I'm not dieting - I'm changing my whole life.  I'm sure there will be some more growing pains but to be honest, I'm glad the weight loss is slowing down a bit.  If it continued at the pace it did last week I would have been worried about the sustainability of this plan. 

I'm finding that my biggest challenges are pre-planning meals and actually taking time out of my day to eat.  I've never been a big eater and I can easily go all day without realizing I'm hungry until I end up with a big headache and a bad attitude.  This plan requires me to actually think about food, which is something I don't always do. 

I went out to a party on Saturday night, which was my first big challenge.  I ended up with a plate of meat and salad - I felt like the poster child for Atkins.  The way I look at it, I can't control what the meat is cooked with so I just had to roll with the punches.  I just scraped as much of the sauce off the meat as I could. 

Today I had my first appointment at the doctor's office since I started the plan.  Dr. Barsoum wasn't there, so I had my appointment with Dr. Pat Poon himself.  This was the first time we met.  And here's where the title of this week's blog becomes relevant.

Let me just say first off:  I think Dr. Poon has developed a great way to help people who are struggling with weight and its associated complications.  I give him all due respect for that.  I also know that everyone is different and some peple must love his approach with his patients.  But honestly, HONESTLY...I don't like his bedside manner.  I found him to be abrupt, quite dismissive and far, far too defensive of his plan. 

When I go to my other doctors, I expect (and usually get) a frank, open conversation about my issues and struggles, lightly seasoned with some empathy and understanding.  What I got today was an "all or nothing" approach with someone who refuses to accept even the slightest insinuation that his plan is not automatically God's gift to perfect health. 

Case in point - I told him about the indigestion, and his immediate, snippy answer was "not because of my plan".  I then mentioned that I had vomited once last week and again, "not because of my plan".  I haven't thrown up in the past 7 years until last week, so the lowest common denominator here was the plan. With that being said, there was a chance that I was doing something wrong so I wanted to discuss it with him.  But he was completely unwilling to even listen to any critique of "his plan" that I just let it go. 

I then mentioned that I was going away on vacation next week and he said that I'll switch over to Phase 3 for that period of time.  I asked him to explain it to me and he said, "Did you buy my book?  It's in there".  Are you kidding?!?  But I just decided to choose my battles and I left, fuming with anger.

After meeting the goal of 10 pounds of loss (4 pounds water, 6 pounds fat) over the past two weeks, my appointment with Dr. Poon left me upset and resentful.  I refuse to have another appointment with him as I think his beside manner will be counterproductive to my success.  Once again though, this is not a commentary on the plan itself.  It works - I know it works because it's working for me - and you don't have to love the man to love the message. 

Please don't let this discourage any of you.  If you are thinking of giving this plan a try, do it.  If your body responds to it, it will change your life.  I am committed to this for the long haul because I've seen the results.  But here's my pearl for the week:

Pearl #1:  If you don't like any doctor that you saw for an appointment, don't book another appointment with that doctor.  Everybody's different and there are enough doctors in the office for you to find a personality that works for you.  Remember - your OHIP is paying for your plan and you have the right to be comfortable and supported by your physicians...all of them.

That's it for now.  My chicken stir-fry is still sitting on my tummy so I'm going to watch some Seinfeld and hopefully laugh it into digestion.  As always, I love your comments and can't wait for more of them.  See you next week!

Week 1 - Liftoff!

Time on the Dr. Poon Metabolic Diet:  5 days
Weight lost to date:  7 pounds

What up, y'all?  I hope everyone had a wonderful holiday season and a great New Year.  I definitely did - I ate my Christmas dinner like I was on death row.  I deprived myself of absolutely nothing.  Let me tell you, stuffing and pumpkin pie never - I repeat, NEVER - tasted so good.  It's because I knew it would be my last time tasting them for a long, long time.  Kinda like kissing a guy you're breaking up with for the last time.   I remember all of my "last kisses", and I certainly remember that meal.

I promised that I would infuse these blogs with tips that work for me, and I'm making good on that promise.  You'll see my little pearls of wisdom throughout. They might work for you - they are definitely working for me.

Right after the New Year I picked up a really nasty flu and ended up on antibiotics for 10 days.  The doctor and I agreed that it wouldn't be the right time to start the plan while I was so sick so my official start date was Saturday, January 15, 2011. 

Pearl #1:  If you are just starting this plan (or something like it), I highly recommend starting it on a weekend (preferably a Saturday).  If you're a Monday-Friday office person like me, it will get to be too much if you have to start something like this while focussing on work.  I took my time on the weekend making and planning meals, which was really helpful. I also found Saturday and Sunday to be enough to get my body pretty much used to the new stuff.

I'm not going to lie - Saturday was rough.  My body rebelled (probably wanted to know where Mr. McDonald and His Highness the Burger King went) and I got a whopping headache in the afternoon.  I was also wicked tired all weekend.  I was warned about the fatigue and headaches and was told to just make sure I took a daily multivitamin, ate adequate protein, drank adequate water and got enough rest.  Good, good advice.  Ergo...

Pearl #2:  Especially during the first few days, take your daily multivitamin, eat as much protein as you need to not be hungry, drink plenty of water and don't ignore your body if you just want to chill.  Think of it like a detox - your body needs time to adjust.   

To be honest, I really didn't miss the complex carbs after the weekend (which was only three days ago, I might add).  I still don't miss them.  I found that the key was to just completely take them out of my equation.  They don't even factor into my nutritional decision-making anymore.  My husband is not doing this diet (damn him and his normal bodily functions) and he's got Triscuits and rice and cookies and stuff all over the house.  Once I made the conscious decision not to factor those things into your diet anymore, my mind cancelled them. 

Pearl #3:  Do not negotiate with yourself on food.  High-carb stuff is not good for you, and that's that.  Don't make deals like "just one cracker" or "just a 1/4 cup of chocolate milk" or whatever.  You have to let it go.  If you can't, this isn't the diet for you and I would suggest Weight Watchers or something, where just about everything is allowed.  Trust me, ride it out - it won't take long for your body to level out.

Now for the good news.  Guys, I dropped 7 pounds in 5 days!  That's wild!  Now, I know that rate of weight loss is not healthy long-term, and I know that it will slow down as I stay on the plan, and I know that it's mostly water weight, but I dropped 7 pounds in 5 days!  It is so encouraging to step on the scale every day and see movement.  Even if it's only a loss of 0.2 pounds, it makes a difference. 

Pearl #4:  Weigh yourself at the same time every day naked.  I weigh myself first thing in the morning after I go the bathroom (hey, that stuff weighs something too!). It gives me a good benchmark and keeps the other variables to a minimum.  And who wants to be penalized for the weight of their jeans or the change in their pocket or the food they just ate or whatever?  Keep it as real as possible.

The hardest thing is going to be staying creative during Phase 1.  After all, a breakfast of liquid egg product with one slice of flexseed bread and a tablespoon of cream cheese along with a coffee (cream and Splenda) is only going to be exciting for so long.  I'm loving my stirfrys and my plethora of grilled meat but if anyone has any quick and easy Phase 1 recipe ideas, please pass them along in a comment.  I'll do the same.

See you in a bit - good luck to everyone!