So I am a week in…
Allow me a moment to recap. A week ago, yesterday, I made the public decision via this forum to change my diet. As I am not a proponent of fad diets, I wasn’t going to subscribe to any rigid formula designed for the sole purpose of selling books. What I did instead was scour the interwebs for nuggets of information to build a plan structured more to my needs. One thing that benefits me greatly is that two years ago (read previous posts in this blog), I went through a major weight loss and learned a lot about what foods by body processes well and what foods it doesn’t.
The plan I decided upon is a rethink of the new paleo idea, which focuses on all-natural uncooked foods, with a focus on a large amount of meat, and gluten-free. I altered that by flipping the meat/vegetable ratio and I do actually cook my meat, but nearly all my vegetables (with the exception of corn) are raw. 
In addition, I have nearly eliminated dairy from my diet. So in the last week I put this to the test. I am not going to bore you with the details of each meal, but to put this simply, I believe I have done pretty well. Along with the food choices, I have also decided to restrict myself to 1500 calories per day for the time being to kickstart the weight-loss aspect of this choice. This is 1500 calories, PERIOD…not net 1500, which is what I have done in the past, with almost no success.
Over the course of the first week, I have altered some of the plan. For example, I put some shredded cheese in a salad (Effin YUM). I also have had some products with gluten in them, but very few. I have eaten absolutely no bread or products derived from bread. For the most part everything is all-natural. I have NOT gone organic, mind you. That is far too expensive for my current financial situation, but perhaps I will soon.
OK, so how do I gauge my success after the first week+1? First, let me note that this diet decision was derived from a horrible scale reading the evening of Sunday, June 3rd. Following a day of garbage food and limited activity, I weighed in at 219.8. I understand that was not a realistic measurement as it was not at my normal weigh-in time (I weigh-in immediately in the morning), however the glaring realization that I could cross into the 220’s was palpable. This morning, following eight days of continued exercise and eating right and successfully maintaining my diet, I weighed-in at 210. That is a legitimate eight pounds lost in eight days, a pace that MANY dietitians and doctors would declare unhealthy.
There is no doubt that a pound a day is a dangerous pace of weight-loss. I realize that. I do not intend to continue that pace, but it is, historically, a successful way to kick start the process of transformation. I will gauge my pace by a few different factors, but primarily by state-of-mind. I am waking each day feeling rejuvenated. After just one week, I no longer feel the need to nap mid-day. Five days into the diet, I successfully completed a 62 mile bike ride, and did not feel the regular crash the next day. My legs hurt, but that was due to muscle fatigue, not nutritional lacking. Best yest, I feel lighter, because I am.
The secret to success when it comes to weight-loss is the follow through. You cannot be discouraged by the slow nature of shedding pounds, however, you ALSO cannot be overly elated by rapid loss, as you could very easily plateau quickly.
I shall not pretend to know what tomorrow will bring, but I am enjoying this process and will make every effort to follow through with it.
Ride Hard, Ride Long
Zero Octane 