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I am not a fad dieter. Never did yo-yo dieting. Never did diets. There was this one time in high school when I weighed all of barely 100 pounds when my Granny was on the Atkins diet to try to lose some weight and I tried it for a day and almost passed out. I’ve seen friends who torture themselves with these regimented diets all the time, and never stick with them, and never see the results they want. My thought was always to eat healthy whole foods, organic and not a lot of meat most of the time, everything in moderation, and all would be well.
I’m all about body honoring food choices and body kindness. Except five years after having a baby I was still carrying around the baby weight, plus an extra 10 pounds (the average holiday gain, gasp!). And my weight was approaching obesity levels for my short frame, I felt more out of shape than ever (as a former distance runner and dedicated yogi, this was tough), and doctors had been hinting that I needed to drop some pounds for my overall health for quite a few years.
So I was desperate to do something about my weight. I felt quite frankly miserable and disgusting in everything I put on, to the point where I hardly wanted to go anywhere…it was becoming depressing. I always think it was harder having gone from a size 0 to a 12, had I not always been so skinny and fit, maybe it would have been easier to accept my larger size…But I was also feeling a deep yearning to detox and recharge and restore after a very busy and stressful year of buying and renovating a historic mansion.
I had a friend who raved about BeBalanced. I kept it in the back of my mind, and when I was ready, I decided to give it a try.
I have done detoxes before, a handful of times of many years. I love the feeling of a good cleanse, especially right after the holidays. But when Dawn Cutillo, founder of BeBalanced suggested I start the program BEFORE the holidays, a light bulb went off. Her point was to lose 15-20 pounds DURING the holidays rather than GAIN 10 and have to start from an even heavier place in January. I bought it, hook, line, and sinker. Everyone thought I was crazy. “How can you detox during the holidays?” They asked. But the nutritionist I worked with allowed me a cheat day on Thanksgiving Day and Christmas, which would allow me to celebrate, but not over-indulge for months on end. Sounded good in theory. In reality, I felt like I had to be a hermit because my will power was zilch. But then, I surprised myself.
Week one: Hangry. Yet determined.
Cutting out sugar and carbs should come with an institutional stay, because it’s a serious addiction. I’ve done a lot of detoxes, and usually struggle with the alcohol portion the most, this mama likes some craft beer and wine with her dinner. But suddenly stopping all carbs, really sent me into rage mode. I could care less about having a drink when all I really wanted to do was dive head first into that huge bucket of animal crackers that have been sitting in the house for months and I normally never even notice. But my daughter opened the lid and the sweet smell wafted out, and suddenly I felt like a fiend. I pictured myself barreling her over to take them like a two year old and shove them all into my mouth like Cookie Monster. Then I got a grip. And drank some more water.
The BeBalanced program recommends drinking half of your body weight in ounces of water, so when I’m hangry, I just drink more…water.
The recommended diet of the program focuses a lot on protein, and I’m not a big meat eater, so that’s actually a welcomed change for my carnivorous husband. My vegetarian five year old is pretty grossed out. I’m just longing for the next meal…whatever it is… So far, I’ve been able to get creative with the few things I’m allowed to have. Baking eggs for protein in roasted Brussels sprouts, simmering tomatoes and adding eggs to those with lots of spices. I’ve figured out ways to make the two pieces of fruit each day more satisfying by baking them with cinnamon since cold fruit in the winter isn’t quite as nice, but warm baked apples with a cup of herbal tea are quite nice. BeBalanced also offers a bevvy of protein packed recipes.
By the end of the first week, I was down 2.5 pounds and finally feeling less hangry and less hungry all the time in general as my starving stomach shrank.
And then I found out from the nutritionist that I should have lost 5 or more pounds! My body apparently did not go into ketosis, but was in “starvation mode.” So I was in fact starving as I thought! She recommended adding a hardboiled egg in the morning for protein as some people need to help get my body into ketosis and burning fat faster.
Week 2: Reset
So by this point, I think everyone I know is on Keto or Whole 30, which seem like smorgasboards compared to what I can (or rather can’t) eat on the BeBalanced weight loss diet that lasts for 28 days (the longest 28 days of my life thus far). At least on Keto, they can have dairy and nuts. And Whole 30 seems like you can eat everything I would ever want to eat anyway—no processed foods or sugars basically (for 30 days). So I am back in “kill phase” this week as I reset myself by cheating not only on Thanksgiving Day but the day after as well. No willpower. Love food more than being skinny I guess.
So I’m hangry, PMSing and hating the world this week. And all I want is some damn peanut butter for some reason.
Desperately waiting for 2 ½ more weeks when I can have a little dairy and nuts again in “maintenance mode.”
The Holiday Craze:
I remember the first day I was able to have dairy again, adding some good local sharp cheddar to a frittata tasted soooooo good. I. Luuuuuuuvvvvv. Cheese.
And then the rest was a blur through New Year’s. I tried to stick to the plan most of the days, but we were also hosting a huge Christmas Eve family dinner (though I did have the smallest piece of lasagna in my life), Christmas Day brunch (strata which means Italian bread, a big no-no), then a humpday holiday party with neighbors while the kids were home from school which turned into drinking cosmos (no alcohol allowed) and finally, hosted a big New Year’s Eve eve brunch which was all in all not too unhealthy as a Middle Eastern menu, but the naan was definitely a no-no, and the champagne of course. New Year’s Day we had another party to go to and I gorged on ALL the cheese and beer. And yet, by the end of the craze, I can still say I was down 15 pounds instead of up the average gain of 10 pounds!
I met with my nutritionist Cheryl January 5th to get ready for the “lifestyle phase” which basically means resuming normal life, sticking to whole, clean foods (no processed foods, sugar, or carbs) 80 percent of the time, and allowing indulgences 20 percent of the time (most likely weekends). After the holiday crazy of indulgences, I realized how bad processed foods and alcohol made me feel. The first time I reintroduced sugar to my body, I thought my racing heart was going to explode out of my chest. I barely finished an entire dessert the whole holiday break. I’ve done several detoxes and never really noticed such a change when I back in the bad foods. I think the difference this time must have been the difference of balanced hormones. One thing I really noticed as well was that while on this diet, I had none of my normal IBS problems. A very welcomed change and motivator to keep the processed foods out of my body. I’ve adjusted to eating more protein and crave it now, which really does keep me fuller longer. And I find myself reaching for a piece of fruit for a snack more often. I’m also meditating (almost) every day (which was part of the de-stressing process of the program to help bring down imbalanced cortisol levels that cause us to hold onto fat) and feeling calm and focused (most of the time) from the mindfulness exercises. Of course, I know I’m #MoreThanASize, I’m a voice of encouragement for everyone to be the best version of themselves. And I’m excited for the jumpstart on my weight loss starting the New Year already down 15 pounds—and continuing to make 2018 great for my health and wellbeing!
To see the difference between natural hormone balancing and traditional hormone replacement therapy, plus all the different symptoms BeBalanced can help improve—from hot flashes, night sweats and insomnia to depression, anxiety, and adrenal fatique, and more—visit https://www.bebalancedcenters.com/what-we-do/natural-hormone-balancing/ and find a center near you.