How I Lost Over 10 Pounds in a Week

Wow, talk about a salacious headline, right? Ha ha.

OK, so I cheated a little bit. My doctor did instruct me to NOT get on the scale at all in the eight weeks we're conducting the little No-Starch Experiment, and I thought that was a good idea. This morning, curiosity got the best of me, and I wanted to check what my gut was telling me (figuratively and literally) against the truth: Truth is, I've lost over ten pounds this past week, just by cutting out the obvious white starches and sugars, plus various meats.

I've mentioned it already, and it still remains true — it's really not been all that difficult, surprising enough. Sure, it is always hard to make major changes in your life (I think this qualifies), but I gotta say that there's not a whole lot that I am really missing. I eat the food I can eat, the stuff that is good for my body, and I am happy to do that for myself.

That is the key: I know that I am doing something good for myself in a very big way, so it makes it that much easier to comply with.

One thing that I still have not done is start walking seriously again. Doc wants me to walk three miles a day. I decided from the beginning that I am going to work up to that. No sense in killing myself here. But with all the stuff I had going on in my life this week, I was tired and worn out enough and felt that all the running around I was doing somewhat qualified for decent physical activity. Yesterday, I met a friend out for dinner (more on that in a minute), and parking was awful. I ended up walking a couple short city blocks there and back to my car, but it was more than I have been doing! I took it at a fairly fast pace and was pleased with what I could do so far. Today, I am going to get out there and test my mettle for sure. It's a nice, cool, drizzy day — perfect walking weather in my book. My plan is to take is slow and leisure and see if I can do one of my old, longer routes from back when I was C25King it up.

So last night, I had dinner out. I chose a place where I knew I could get a good seafood dish, and I had no problem eating within my new parameters at all. A lovely Ahi tuna with a sesame crust, plus some grilled asparagus and ginger and wasabi on the side. Perfect. Normally, the meal comes with mashed potatoes, but I just asked for my plate minus potatoes plus extra asparagus. The side salad I had with a balsamic vinaigrette was simple, but satisfying, sans croutons.

Oh, and did I mention that I withstood take-out pizza that C. got one night? On which the crust looked incredible? Didn't have any. I kind of wanted some, sure, but not really. I'm trying to see that stuff as... just not in my body's best interest, basically. Not bad food, per se, just not good for me at this particular time. These mind tricks seem to be working, and not so much tricks as a bit of common sense. x + y = z, yeah?

This has been an absolutely wonderful week, honestly. I am so thankful to my doctor, whose kindness and wisdom and willingness to take an active part in my personal health makes all the difference. I wish that this happened years ago, but I guess the reality is, I'm not sure that I'd have been truly ready for it. Now, at 40, I'm ready to welcome so many good things into my life.