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The Slow Carb Diet has been working for me!
My Reason for Using the Diet
I’ve been fat my entire life… almost.
Throughout school, Middle, and High School, I was fat. I liked sports when I was younger but it never stuck. I just gave them all up as I got older.
During my senior year of High School I took a weight lifting class that changed my life. I discovered that I liked the gym. And became a gym rat for the next couple of years.
That was the first time I lost weight. That catapulted me into wanting to be a police officer (coolest job in the world) and to do that I become a United States Marine.
But Marines are in shape. I had to lose a bunch more weight to be excepted in the Corps. My diet at the time, stop eating, and run with a trash bag on.
It worked. I lost another 20 pounds and was excepted into Boot Camp.
During Boot Camp, I was forced to eat what there was, and there was no seconds. I lost another 30 pounds in three months.
Then I started putting it all back on. Slowly. Only a couple pounds per year. In 2003 I was a Marine in the invasion of Iraq. There was no food to eat for a long time, and I lost weight again.
I got back to the “real world” and was hailed a hero. And friends take their hero fiends out to nice dinners and BBQ. I ate a ton and put on all the weight I’d lost plus more.
Then over the last ten years, I’ve been putting on a couple of pounds per month until I hit 355 pounds. I didn’t know what to do.
Then I heard this 75 Hard Challenge from Andy Frisella at the MFCEO Project and wanted to try it.
I was motived to try something new.
Something Different!
Something that might actually work!
Part of the challenge is to be on a perfect diet for 75 days. I’d read about the slow carb diet years ago in Tim Farris’s Book, The 4-Hour Body, and decided to try it.
The Slow Carb Diet
The Slow Carb Diet is a simple program that doesn’t count calories, measure dishes, or weigh food. Simple. Simple I could do.
All of it was great for me because I was traveling a lot for work at the time and needed something I could do on the road, eating out with clients and coworkers, and something that I didn’t have to explain in detail to anyone.
The Slow Carb Diet has 5 simple rules to follow:
Rule 1 – Avoid “White” Carbs
Anything that is colored white and is a carbohydrate is out. This includes all bread, grains, processed carbs, sugar, and white potatoes. Anything that has flour or sugar is out along with white rice.
Anything that spikes your blood glucose levels is out. And this is the real secret behind the diet.
The easiest way to look at this is anything white in color is probably out. Cauliflower is probably the exception (I don’t like it, but it makes a nice rice substitute for any dish that would have rice as the base).
Rule 2 – Eat the Same Meals Every Day
Pick your default means and just eat those. This isn’t a grand quiescence you will eat to enjoy. Save that for time with special people in your life and for your cheat day.
Pick a couple of meals for breakfast, lunch, and dinner and just repeat over and over again.
You aren’t eating to enjoy these meals. You are eating to fuel your body, mind, and soul. Don’t fuel the growth of your gut.
Rule 3 – Don’t Drink Calories
Nothing… period… almost.
Drink water. Clear, pure, good. It’s what your body craves and wants. Your body will actually filter all that other crap you drink to get to the water to fuel your life.
A diet soda per day doesn’t seem to affect your weight loss, but, if you can do without it, do without it.
Red wine is supposed to be okay too. I don’t really drink so this wasn’t an issue for me. And part of the 75 Hard Challenge is no alcohol. So I haven’t tested alcohol or no alcohol.
Drinking calories is one of the most calorie dense thing we do.
Orange Juice Vs and Orange (from Healthline.com)
| 8 oz Glass Orange Juice | 1 Orange | |
| Calories | 112 | 60 |
| Total Fat | 0.5g | 0.1g |
| Cholesterol | 0 | 0 |
| Sodium | 0 | 0 |
| Carbs (SUGER) | 27g | 11.8g |
| Fiber | 0.5g | 2.4g |
| Protein | 2g | 0.9g |
So stop drinking your calories! Learn to drink water.
Rule 4 – No Fruit
Fruit does the same thing as white carbs and spikes your blood glucose levels. Plus fruit is dense in calories and good stuff.
I know fruit is suppose to be part of a “balanced” diet. But how’s that working for you? How’s that working for Americans?
Obesity isn’t a national health problem yet, but it probably should be, and will be soon if you don’t do something about it!
Start by not eating fruit!
Rule 5 – Take One Day Off per Week
This is my cheat day! And I love it. I eat all the crap you aren’t supposed to eat during the week.
I eat donuts, pasta, bread, fruit, and ice cream. I also love pizza, so I have some of that too.
Messing with your body and its caloric intake is part of the diet, so It’s okay to have a day off. It will help with your journey.
My Slow Carb Diet
I’ve been going on and off the diet for almost a year now. When I’m on it, it works great!
My routine:
Breakfast is a protein shake and a diet Monster energy drink. I do some reading and writing in the morning then head off to a workout.
After the workout, I pound 32 ounces of water and if I’m really hungry eat a scoop of peanut butter.
Lunch is another 32 ounces of water and a bowl or can of chili. I like with beans for the extra energy to finish the day (I know it’s not really chili when it has beans in it). My wife will make me a large pot once a week and put it into individual jars I microwave to eat. I do add a little cheese and love to cut up fresh red onions to put on top.
Snack is another 32 ounces of water and an assorted cheese/meat plate I make for myself every day. Normally two slices of cheese, six slices of salami, and three slices of pepperoni.
Dinner is whatever my wife is making that fits into the diet. Sometimes I just don’t eat the rice or bread with the dish she made. When she makes burritos, I have a bowl instead of a wrap.
It isn’t really that hard to stick to.
Then I take my day off and have donuts for breakfast, pizza for lunch, and pasta for dinner with ice cream or a candy bar as a snack.
My Success and Failure
When I stick to the diet I am successful. Losing about two pounds a week. I’m currently at 320.1 as of yesterday (tomorrow is my weigh in day).
I got down to 317 at one point working on the 75 Hard Challenge and then went back to 345 over the holidays, travel, crappy work schedule, and not working out.
I just finished another 75 Hard Challenge last month and that’s how I got back down to this weight. I took a week and a half off and now am back on the diet.
Conclusion
When I’m on the diet I lose weight. When I’m off the diet I gain weight.
It’s pretty simple. You are either getting better or worse. There is no stasis in your health and your life.
I can stay on the diet because of the simple rules.
No matter where you are, or what your lifestyle is, you can adopt this simple diet and lose weight.
Learn from me. And learn the easy way.
I tried a dozen diets and all of them were a complete failure. Nothing worked.
I’m still a gym rat and still putting on weight, unless I’m on this diet.
My real problem: I’m addicted to food.
Somewhere I developed an unhealthy relationship with food and have fed that relationship for years and now it’s an addiction.
To help my out, I have a body type that likes to put on weight. All that comes together and makes me obese. Unless I do something about it, I’m going to die of a heart attack, diabetes, high blood pressure, or some other lifestyle-related disease.
I’m just not ready to go out like that. I’ve been obese and I’ve been in great shape. Being in great shape is the way to be.
I’m going to get back to that.
What about you? Can you do this simple diet?
If you knew this would save your life, and make your life better would you do it?
Well then, get to it!
Make your life better. Make the people around you better. And together we can make the world a better place.
Now get to work!
Ben Branam