For my first solo post, I thought I'd go into a bit more detail on where I began.
In our introduction I talked about not wanting to look at pictures of myself from my sisters wedding. In all reality, I wasn't a contestant on the Biggest Loser. I wasn't morbidly obese or so heavy that I couldn't perform daily tasks normally and in comparison to some who have made incredible weight transformations, I might not be the most motivational. BUT a problem we all share together is our change in self esteem when things like weight or appearance go south.
I think the moment it really hit me about my weight was when I no longer felt comfortable to go all day in my largest sized pants. I would squeeze into them, wear a bigger shirt, and by the end of the day my stomach would hurt so bad from the pressure, I would start to feel sick.
At the time, I was on my own so the food I was eating (and could afford) was the favorite of us all,
#1 Cheap
#2 Easy
#3 Completely processed
It's not a good combination. I found myself going to Old Navy and buying 2 pairs of cheap larger sized jeans because I refused to spend more money on my "fat pants".
But that was the kick in the "pants" (see what I did there? haha!) I needed to get myself back in gear.
Then came along a little book. Surprisingly, we found it at one of the local Dollar Stores. (I'm pretty sure there's about 20 of them within the city limits - crazy!) It was called...
The F-Factor Diet
This diet plan really changed my life and how I look at food. It's a pretty easy read and the author, Tanya Zuckerbrot, is able to explain nutrition and food in very simple terms. If I can get it, you can get it!
So what does the F in the title refer to?
In this diet/nutrition plan, the F stands for Fiber.
Fiber?? Isn't that what old people drink when they can't poop?
yes.
BUT we all need fiber in our diet! It's not just for the older generation. Every person is reccomended to get at least 30-35g of fiber in their diet per day. How much do we typically consume? About 10ish.
Basically, fiber acts as an absorber to a lot of the calories we eat such as sugar, fats, and carbs. It's like a sponge food that contains ZERO calories. It also helps you feel full longer!
When you up your fiber intake with fresh whole sources, we're not talking fiber powders or tablets here, you end up eating negative calories!
Now this doesn't mean you can still eat pizzas, french fries, hamburgers etc along with those fiber sources and start to shed pounds. You still have to adjust your eating habits along with the increased fiber intake. If you have a sensitivity to high fiber foods, you can always ask your doctor about slowly increasing over time.
The diet has 3 phases you go through that starts with limited carbs for 2 weeks - sort of like a detox, then adds more in while you lose weight a little slower, and once you hit your goal weight, it adds a lot more back in. It's NOT a Carb-free plan!
* If you guys want to check out more on the diet and what it involves food wise, click the link right below the picture to go to the book's webpage.*
The book contains pages in the back with journal samples to keep track of your carbohydrate vs fiber intake as well as an extensive recipe section. Let me just say, NONE of these recipes were bad! All of them had great flavor and are still in my weekly food rotation :)
Now, while I definitely recommend this type of diet plan over a lot of other choices out there, I do have some things I want to discuss that I didn't like about it.
#1 - It does not have a fitness or workout plan built in to it.
After I lost the weight, I realized I had lost a lot of muscle tone with it. That happens when you have drastic weight loss. Your body reserves the fat stores and burns the muscle you're not using. If I had known that going into it and made sure to do workouts, some adjustments would have been needed for carb intake.
#2 - Living in a farm area, some of the food was difficult to get.
This plan relies on a specific type of fiber crackers for snacking and parts of meals that I can't regularly get where I live. I'm not about to drive 45 mins out to get them or pay to ship crackers that cost $1 each.
We were able to find high fiber alternatives like tortillas and ate a LOT of veggies and almonds.
Those were my two biggest concerns as far as negatives on the plan. However, they're easily worked around if you know about them and plan ahead.
On this diet plan I lost 10 lbs the first two weeks during the detox period. I had to cut out a lot of carbs, all my soda, and sugar. I think the sugar was the hardest part. As a major sugar-holic, I went through tough withdrawals. Headaches, cravings, irritability, etc. It was no fun! But after a few months your tastes start to change. Don't get me wrong, I still LOVE me some candy and cupcakes! But I can only have a small amount now before I get sugared out. Which is a good thing!!
Over the next 6 months, I dropped another 25 lbs slowly and correctly. I felt so good! The food and recipes in the book are delicious and I started looking at what I was eating differently. I could see what my good choices were and what I should probably avoid when eating out.
I have to credit the F-Factor to my now healthier lifestyle. It just made sense. l have absolutely no desire to go back to the way I felt when I was eating badly and not exercising.
Again, here's the link to the book's website: The F-Factor Diet
Please remember that this is not a lose-weight-fast diet plan. You will never be successful long term on a fast weight loss diet. You do have to work to make the right choices. You do have to fight through those carb and sugar cravings. You do have to look at yourself in the mirror every day and say I want to change these bad habits.
I think the reason I was successful using this diet plan, is because it was simple to understand, I could comprehend how it was working to shed the weight, and each step was laid out for me what I needed to do. It was like a cheat sheet on an exam.
There will never be a diet better than good food and exercise. Other than focusing it's attention on specifically your fiber intake, this plan teaches you the importance of choosing the right foods. Just be sure to add in your own fitness to it if you plan to try it.
If anyone has anything to add or has questions on this particular diet plan, please let me know either in the comment section or you can ask me on twitter - Anniemcbeth :)
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