this is life in austin & aspen » low carb diet

The Worst Run of My Life

Lyssa — Mon, 11 Feb 2008 19:18:00 +0000

I attempted a 12-miler on Saturday morning and thought I was going to pass out on the side of the road, as my stomach was ripped out of my body by three fists grabbing and twisting it until it snapped. Or because I ate a big egg-white omlette with ground beef and turkey bacon and then went on a run, and apparently not eating carbs before running is indeed a bad choice.

You might remember that my nutritionist said that the body will start burning fat instead of carbs, so I should be fine running the half marathon on this low-carb diet. This is a lie. I never want to feel like I did on Saturday ever again. I am not running the half marathon this Sunday. Coincidentally, my boyfriend, who I was running the half marathon with-ish (he was running the full), hurt his achilles tendon and isn’t running either.

I dug a little into the research about burning fat instead of carbs, and apparently it DOES work. It just take two weeks for your body to truly convert. Two weeks?! She knew my marathon was in two weeks, why on earth would she prescribe this?!

I am learning more and more how to eat on the diet, so that’s going better, but I am frustrated by the length of time it takes the body to adjust. Truth is, I’d rather be playing sand volleyball than running 13 miles, so I don’t really mind not running the half marathon, but it’s just the insensitivity to my plans that’s bothering me.

Moral of the story: Low-carb is doable, and doable while exercising, IF you give your body time to adjust. I’m not as grouchy this week, so that’s good too. The body is amazing, and can adjust, but must be given time!

The Food Monster

Lyssa — Thu, 07 Feb 2008 17:25:00 +0000

I just had a conversation with a friend who has known me since high school:
C: “Low carb?! How much weight do you want to lose?!”
me: “I don’t, I have to go on this diet for medical reasons.”
C: “Oh, that makes more sense… because I always thought you were happy with your weight!”

What she says is true, I am happy with my weight. BUT who doesn’t want to look like Gisele (ugh, she drinks wine and has an artsy website) or Alessandra (her page is just annoying)? Especially because I run and lift weights and play sports and eat healthily, I think I should be thinner, have less belly fat, and the abs I work so hard on should SHOW.

At the same time, I’m of the school that you flaunt what you’ve got, and you have to confident in your skin, and you have to love yourself no matter what. Apparently this has worked for me, since some of my closest friends think I am happy with my weight.

The fruits-n-veggies of The Cleanse were fun for me. I learned new ways to cook. But the lean meat, fish, chicken, and eggs of The Low-Carb Diet are not fun. I don’t like meat that much. So if I’m going through this much suffering, I better lose some serious weight! (I found out that on The Cleanse I lost 6 pounds in three weeks. South Beach, a similar diet, promises 8-13 pounds in two weeks.) And it better lower my fasting blood sugar. Because this is not a lifestyle, this is a damn diet, and I’m so against those.

2008 has shaped up to be a year of things I never thought I’d do: go on a cleanse, run a half marathon (why bother running that far?!), eat only free-range meat and chicken, and now go on a DIET. I’m a damn crunchy granola hippie. What else is next?

Low Carb Diet?!

Lyssa — Mon, 04 Feb 2008 23:27:00 +0000

So I finished The Cleanse and was very happy. I learned a lot about how to eat healthily and avoid sugar, and not even crave it. So that was awesome. Part of the reason I did all that was in an effort to combat my high fasting blood sugar. It’s not diabetes, but they don’t know what it is, and The Cleanse didn’t appear to help.

So my acupuncturist (again, I’ve turned into such a hippie) is telling me to go on a low-carb diet. Which sounds okay, except when you start looking at the carb content of things. I’m allowed 72 grams of carbs a day.

Bag of frozen broccoli and cauliflower: 20g carbs
Ezekiel 4:9 English Muffin: 36g
Sweet potato: 27g
Clif Lemon Vanilla Cashew Nectar Bar: 27g
1 cup cubed eggplant: 5g
Peanut butter: 7g
*you have to trust me on the unlinked ones, the evidence is in my trashcan

What in the world am I going to eat? Yes, I know, beef, chicken, fish, and eggs … but how much beef, chicken, fish, and eggs can one girl eat, especially if she only eats free-range?!

I’m less enthused about this than I was The Cleanse. Although beer is relatively low in carbs. But do I want to waste 6 or so of my precious 72 carbs on beer? I have to go buy that damn South Beach Diet book, and eat like Atkins … or something like that. Gag me. I don’t even like butter. Or rich sauces. I want pasta! (Sprouted grain) bread! Tortillas!

This better help my damn fasting blood sugar.