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!