You can read how I got into this weight loss challenge, why I chose to continue the challenge and now how I’m ending it. I really thought I was going to lose 10 pounds if I gave myself another month. My brain was playing tricks on me and my motivation had really dissipated. I allowed myself to slack for a week but then the dizzy spells reared their ugly heads again. I immediately started feeling like crap and that was all I needed to get back on the wagon.
I’ve never given up without a fight – I am a very strong-willed person. Just ask my husband. I usually get what I want and if I hit a road block, I’ll keep fighting my way through. This was no different. I just didn’t know what to do because what I was doing all the previous month was not good enough.
Those pesky weigh-loss banners – Have you ever clicked on any of those weight-loss ad banners online? One of them actually caught my attention once. The lady said she lost 100 pounds and still ate what she wanted, as long as it didn’t contain certain ingredients such as high-fructose corn syrup, artificial sweeteners and processed/packaged foods. The problem was, what she WANTED to eat was not the same as what I wanted to eat. What these people don’t tell you is that you have to detox your body of those ingredients before you can say, “I eat whatever I want.” No matter what you deprive your body of, your body will go through withdraw and that’s why so many diets fail. Diet is a four-letter word. Diet is not what people need to lose weight, they need a lifestyle change.
The 3-Day Diet – I accidentally stumbled upon an article by Prior Aphter titled 10 Pounds Lighter in 3 Days: The 3-Day Diet Revealed. I thought, what the heck? I like everything on the food list and was out of ideas so I was willing to try anything. I immediately lost seven pounds. I didn’t follow the diet exactly because the article states you are to follow the diet for three days then take a break for three days. I didn’t take any of those breaks for three weeks. Once Thanksgiving came, I allowed myself to eat whatever I wanted. I loaded up my plate as I normally would have done…. well, “loaded” is a poor choice word. I really didn’t eat that much. I left half the food on my plate and I was so miserably full, I didn’t eat the rest of the day (we ate at noon). I realized that I had not only shrunk my stomach considerably, but I had detoxed my body of anything bad. So when I ate the traditional Thanksgiving meal, it made me sick because I was no longer used to the excess fat, grease, and heavy carbs. I realized that my old habits had to die hard.
Re-training my brain – Portion control has always been my downfall. Being on this diet has taught my body how little food I need to survive, not need for pleasure. What I really needed to do was to train my brain to not load up my plate like I have done all my life. Cravings had also disappeared. I had to teach my brain that my body doesn’t need sugar, cookies, etc. I just THINK I need them. I’m still working on this part.
Listen to your body – Was this diet the best way to go about losing weight? Probably not. Many days I felt like I was starving myself. In fact, I found that there is no such thing as the “3-Day Diet/Cleveland Clinic Diet”. Cleveland Clinic does not even support this diet. What was happening is that about every five days, I would crave anything and everything. So on those days, I went ahead and ate what I was craving, as long as I kept it under control. That was my body’s way of saying, “Hey! I’m starved! Feed me or I’m going to start storing all your fat!”
MISSION COMPLETE! Well, almost. I lost nine pounds and I can fit into my “skinny jeans.” I’ve shrunk my stomach and trained my brain that I don’t need as much food as I think I do. My sponsors came through on their support and I’m so very excited to tithe my earnings to my church. I’m not going to give up here. I just hope I touched someone out there with my story and that someday I’ll make it past my original goal. Thanks to all my sponsors and my loyal readers for your support. I didn’t want to let my readers down and I couldn’t have done this without all of you, my sponsors and God.
Source:
http://voices.yahoo.com/10-pounds-lighter-3-days-3-day-diet-revealed-92943.html?cat=5
http://my.clevelandclinic.org/heart/prevention/askdietician/clevelandclinicdiet.aspx