Shake it up

Today was weigh-in day. It's been a full week and a day since I began the new Metabolic Diet plan.

I am sticking to the eating plan, which as I mentioned is not so much as a plan, but a list of foods that you need to stick to, many of which you are able to eat unlimited quantities of. I eat 5 times a day with 3 meals incorporating carbohydrates, 5 bites for me but you may be different and might be able to have more than me. It all depends on what kind of "burner" you are. There are three types of burners: Sugar, Mixed and Fat. I fall into the Mixed burner category however I was very close to being a sugar burner so when I do my eating plan, on my carbohydrates or other foods that might cause variants, like fruits, I stick to the lower end of what I am allowed and I am only eating the fruits allowed on the sugar burner list and have not added the sweeter fruits allowed on mixed burner lists (just personal preference).

I have lost 1.4lbs in a week.

I work out daily with walks and some higher intensity stationary bike stuff three times a week if possible and three times a week I do the weight routine laid out in the book.

Today I would like to also talk about shakes. Shakes are not all created equal, and it took me a while to find two that I feel are good choices. As you know, I am also trying to prep for a Blue Zone Challenge which will be one full month of totally vegan diet while also still remaining true to the Metabolic Diet plan. Choosing a protein powder that was vegan was very important to me. I am lactose intolerant but also have issues with whey. I also wanted one that was made in Canada if at all possible and I wanted one that was unflavored and had no sugar, low sodium (less than 200mg), and had high protein and potassium. This was a difficult task. But I found one that fits all the criteria and then I also found that the shake powder I once used, Epicure Power Up (Chocolate) was not too bad. It does have a bit of organic Coconut sugar and stevia, but it was only 3g and the potassium was notably higher (1150mg) than the other shake powder that I found (10mg) which I thought might be good. The Canadian made protein powder is IronVegan which contains no sugar, no flavor, low sodium and fits all the other requirements except high potassium.

Although I could not find a protein powder that was absolutely perfect on all levels, I feel these two are really great together. If I am having a sweeter craving I will go for "Power Up" and daily I will go for "IronVegan" or I can mix the two different powders together daily to get the best of both worlds.

Today was the first day of trying IronVegan so we shall see how I do with it, and I will report back on that soon. I added a handful of mixed frozen berries, cinnamon and organic cocoa powder. I mixed 1 scoop of the powder with 1 cup of spring water and 1 cup of unsweetened (30cal) almond milk. And that is my breakfast today. It was yummy but I would say a bit chalky. I don't mind that but if you do, just know this. I bought it from Well.ca and I will buy it again. 9 out of 10 from me.

The Epicure "Power Up" which is chocolate and the best of the three they offer in terms of the nutritional facts can be purchased at EPICURE

I just want to touch on one other thing in this post today; on this Metabolic Diet you get one Reward Meal a week. This is kind of exciting and also really scary to me. Scary because I have not lost 5lbs in a week but 1.4lbs. That does not give a lot of leeway for you to gain anything back. BUT I have decided to follow the plan and so I WILL in fact be having a reward meal this weekend. One meal that can be anything you want, as much as you want, and the foods do NOT need to be on the list of foods you can have. e.g. I could have a plate full of pancakes with syrup and whip cream if I wanted to (which I do not. I don't enjoy pancakes), or I could have fried chicken with mashed potatoes and butter with cornbread and veggies (that's more my speed, minus the breading on the chicken) or I could have raisin toast with honey and eggs benedict and home fries (now we're talkin').

Even though this meal is something I have been looking forward to from the day I started this plan, seven days ago, I really wanted to skip it when I saw the numbers on the scale telling me that I am finally into the 50s on my scale (just barely) 159.5lbs... I have left the 60s behind. HOWEVER, a big meal feels like it will nudge me up into that range again and I have been here for so long that I just want to celebrate the fact that FINALLY, I have moved into the 50s.

But here's the thing...

When you change your eating plan to something more restrictive, (and let's not forget that I am NEVER hungry and can eat 5 times a day and many of the foods I am consuming I can eat as much of them as I want until I feel full) your body, after so many days of eating this low calorie diet, begins to feel there is famine about to come and therefore begins to turn all that you eat into fat storage. SO... in knowing the science, I can NOT skip this delicious, yummy, fat and carbohydrate laden meal. I know that I will make a different choice than I might have had before, but I also know that some of that ONE meal will be things that I love and that do not land on those foods within the list of things I can eat daily.

I am going to try my very best to enjoy every bite and trust in science. I'll let you know what I end up having on Sunday. My reward meal will be on Saturday (tomorrow) and it's going to be breakfast as that is my very favorite meal. PLUS, I feel that when you indulge on breakfast, opposed to other meals in the day, you have more time to burn off what you ate. Over the years of reading and trying so many plans and diets, one thing that seems to be consistent across the board is that your biggest meal should be breakfast, for this reason, and get smaller in size as the day goes on with dinner being the smallest.

Now my goal is to find a few Reward Meal breakfasts that I would like to have when it comes time to fully begin the Blue Zone Challenge! VEGAN recipies that are indulgent in calories and delicious in flavor.