Answered: Yes, The Slow Carb Diet actually works…for me.

Answered: Yes, The Slow Carb Diet actually works…for me. Or, How I lost 28 pounds using the Slow Carb Diet.

This photo is of me on the board walk in New Jersey back in college. I used it as my “motivation photo.” My goals were to weigh 175 pounds because then (I told myself) I would feel comfortable enough with my body to wear swimming jammers (like bike shorts but for swimming).

Start date:
Aug. 20th, 2016 – 203 pounds

The date my scale told me I weighted 175:
Jan. 4th, 2017 – 175 pounds

The important thing to understand is, this ain’t a diet, it’s the way I eat food from now on. The trick is, if I want something during the week, I write it down and tell myself I can have it, just not right now. I’ve heard it said that adults make a plan and follow it, children do what feels good. So, being an adult, I exercise some self control.

What I eat:

Any oil is okay. Butter is okay in moderation.
Any meat is great (put the more you avoid processed meats (sausage, hotdogs, bacon, the faster the weight loss).
Any and all veggies (I get really cheap frozen veggie mixes from my local grocery store).
Salted mixed nuts in moderation. Avoid fruits.
A serving of hummus is okay, or a serving of guacamole.
No corn (yes tortilla chips and popcorn count, no potatoes, no rice.
Beans are okay in moderation, I prefer black beans because I like their flavor with a little Cilantro on top of em.

1. Edit your eating routines.

I eat 1/4 cup of Cashews instead of a bowl of popcorn.
I drink a couple glasses of super dry red wine instead of a couple of beers. When you’re hungry, eat something, just not the crap you usually eat.

2. I hate lunch. I hate having to stop to think about it.

I don’t have to think about it anymore.
Meat + Half bag of frozen veggies every day.
Eating out: You can get a salad (with oil and vinegar dressing on the side) with grilled (not fried) chicken on it absolutely everywhere…even waffle house.

3. Don’t eat bland food.

Olive oil or butter or bacon grease, and an all herbs and spices and seasonings.

4. Breakfast within the first hour of waking up.

I eat 3 fried eggs every morning. It’s awesome.

5. Drink, drink, drink…water, or tea, or coffee.

Not soda, not juice, not milk, not beer, not mixed drinks. Not milkshakes.
Don’t put any sugar or creamer in the tea and coffee. I sometimes put a little cinnamon or nutmeg or pumpkin spice in my coffee every so often.

6. If you feel hungry it’s your fault. Eat something.

I slice up a bell pepper and dip it in hummus or eat a serving of Cashews.

Here’s the key to making this while new way of eating work. It’ called carb day.

I’m no cheat.

Therefore, I do not have a “cheat” day. I have a carb day. The more I adhere to the guidelines of the Slow carb diet, the more I can fully enjoy my carb day. What is carb day? To me, it’s like Christmas once a week!

I can enjoy all the things I love in whatever quantity I can stand! Nothing is barred, for one day. Then, it’s back to my routine. Say what you will, 28 pounds of fat loss doesn’t lie. It’s worked for me. The more closely you adhere to the diet, the better it will work for you.

On Aug. 29th, 2016 I researched and quietly started my Slow Carb diet.

Folks were noticing I had lost weight. So I posted this to my Fbook page on November. 17th, 2016:

This is why.

This exact picture is why I decided to lose weight. I didn’t mind being fat but I really hated looking fat. I was on a fantastic anniversary vacation with my wife and when we got back I was disgusted by every photo of myself. I started swimming 6 years ago because I didn’t want my sons to equate the word dad with the word fat. But here I was, swimming a little over three miles a week for years, and still fat, 203 pounds of him. I wanted my sons to see me get up, work out, read the Bible, pray, and hello…not look like a potato wearing a t-shirt. Why? I may be too direct for some folks precious ears to handle but even they agree that I lead by example. So I wanted to do a little more leading for my sons.

So I voted NO.

No to struggling to trim my toenails. No to stress eating and having zero control around donuts, pizza, and home brew. No to always feeling fat in every garment I put on my body. No to looking like a sausage with a beard and glasses. I voted NO. Now, I’ll always be short. I’ll always look a little dorky and I’ll always be a weirdo. But at least I won’t be a fat weirdo.

So I started budgeting my food.

I started telling myself NO, so that one day a week I could fully tell myself YES. This morning I weighed 177 pounds. I haven’t seen 177 since high school. I’m two pounds away from my goal and then I’m going to start building my muscles. I decided. I voted. I’m leading my sons by example, because THAT’s what’s important to me.

Weight loss goal: ACHIEVED!

Last year I started the Slow-Carb Diet weighing 203.

This morning the scale said I weigh 175! That was my weight on my drivers license…in high school! 😀

Benefits:

I don’t look fat anymore!
I can clip my toenails with ease!
I can wear a shirt from the Gap without looking (and feeling) like a ziplock bag full of vanilla pudding!

The next goal is to maybe hit 170! I’m also wanting to build my muscles back up. I can’t wait to see what I’ll feel like/be able to do in 12 short months 🙂