Fat Loss...for Idiots

After my success with the S.T.R.I.P. program over the holidays, I settled onto a big fat weight plateau. "Plateau" is a generous term since I have actually been hovering near the top of a 5-pound range for most of January and February. I fell into a post-holiday funk in January, then there was a water main break at the gym, causing the Kidz Klub to be closed for repairs for the last 7 weeks, leaving me to either go to the gym early in the morning (which I'm not good at, especially in the winter) or go to another gym location which requires 2 days advance reservation for a time slot in the Kidz Klub (yeahright!) And there were three birthdays, and Valentines' Day... Needless, to say, I've been struggling. What I needed was a shock to the system to help me get my motivation and discipline back. So I tried a new diet.

Actually, Ed and I both tried it. He never did reach his original weight loss goal last spring when we started Weight Watchers together, so he had a few pounds to lose. The diet we tried goes by several names: Fat Loss 4 Idiots (FL4I), Weight Loss 4 Idiots, the 11-Day Diet, the 9-in-11 Diet, and the Idiot-Proof Diet. I know, super gimmicky. Totally. I don't deny it. It's the kind of diet you see advertised on the sidebar of Facebook, or on the right side of a Google search page. It's not a high-class operation and I'm not defending it. Just telling it like it is.

The Diet
Here it is in a nutshell. You pay $39 to get an online username and password, which allows you to access a pdf diet handbook and the "Diet Generator." The handbook explains the philosophy behind the diet - and trust me, they're writing to the lowest common denominator here. The approach is one of "calorie shifting", or strategically manipulating the kinds of calories (protein vs. carbohydrate) rather than the number of calories you consume at each meal (rather than each day.) It includes instructions on how to manipulate your foods plus some other weight loss rules, like exercise, drinking lots of water, etc. There are a few things in there I don't agree with, but overall it seems on point.

The Diet Generator is an online tool for creating a specific menu meal plan that arranges the foods you eat in a strategic way. You choose the foods you like from their lists of protein and carbohydrate foods. The proteins are deli meats, fishes, some dairy, eggs, some nuts, and chicken. The carbohydrates are mostly fruits and vegetables, plus oatmeal and maybe a few other things, but no pasta or rice or anything. Mostly healthy stuff. Then it takes the foods you chose and creates an 11-day menu plan for you, 4 meals a day. You can eat each day's meals in any order, but at least 2 1/2 hours apart. At each meal, you can eat as much of those foods as you need to become satisfied but must stop before you are full. And you can drink as much as you want of anything under 10 calories (water, diet soda, we drank a lot of sugar-free TANG.) You follow the plan for 11 days, take 3 days off to eat whatever you want (to make an even 2 weeks), then start all over again.

The Claim
I'm paraphrasing straight from their website here - this is what they claim, not me. Every time you eat something there are two kinds of hormones released into your bloodstream - fat burning hormones and fat storage hormones - and these hormones are controlled by what foods you eat. Your body always attempts to burn the exact calories you eat, but it takes several days for the metabolism to sense a change or shift in calories, so if you shift your calories around in a special way, you beat the system and trick your body into burning extra fat tissue, resulting in super fast weight loss.
Bottom line claim: Lose (up to) 9 pounds in 11 days.

The 11 Days
Naturally, I was intrigued. I read the handbook - not much new useful stuff in there for an old dieting veteran like me. I did the Diet Generator and got my 11 day plan. It looked pretty strict, a little bland, and some strange combinations of foods. But it was all real food, no pills or shakes, and, weight loss or no, it looked like just the thing that could help me reign in my habits and get disciplined again. I was motivated to stick to it as an experiment, to see just how well it lived up to the claim.

Besides the first weeks home with my newborns, a horrific internship at Denver Children's Hospital, and every day of my mission, these were some of the hardest 11 days of my life, especially the first few days when the sugar cravings were really strong. It required a whole new level of constant, vigilant discipline I'm not accustomed to. Day 1 was President's Day, the day we went to Mount Vernon, so at least Ed and I could go through the day together. Day 1 meals were:
#1 Hard boiled eggs, broiled flounder
#2 Turkey slices, shrimp, green beans
#3 Chicken, peanuts
#4 Roast beef slices, broiled halibut, frozen yogurt

Day 2 was even tougher - 3 meals of all fruit (from the list) and one deli sandwich. After that it was easier to fall into the patterns of having meals like lowfat milk & ham slices, or scrambled eggs & mixed vegetables, but I still had to think about it very carefully to stay on track. I think Day 8 was the very hardest - 4 meals of vegetables only, and corn and potatoes were not on the list.

Of course, we cheated a little. Ed more than me, let's just be clear about that. One day I ate two chocolate chips and a goldfish. After that it became good enough for me to just stick my face in the chocolate chip bag and inhale a couple of times each day. One day - I think it was Day 9 or 10 and the end was just so close - I made cookies for the upcoming talent show and of course had to taste a few. But I would guess the cheating was just a few hundred calories for the whole 11 days so that's not too bad. Ed, on the other hand, had half a bagel at work here, a cookie or two there. One day he had a business day trip with business meals in New York, so of course that day was off for him. We mostly stuck to it, but we're really glad it's over.

The girls, however, are probably a little disappointed I'm back to cooking dinners instead of making them mac & cheese, quesadillas, spaghetti and pancakes like they'd had for the last 11 days.

The Results
I had two goals going into this diet: 1) to regain some discipline and motivation for continued weight loss efforts, and 2) to lose enough weight to get past my plateau.

On the first goal I achieved 100% success. Getting off of sugar for just a week and a half helped a ton, and the severe strictness of the diet actually made the Core plan sound like a gorging food free-for-all. Brown rice? Wow, delicious! An apple whenever I want one - how fabulous! Chicken and green salad in the same meal - thank you! Day 12 felt like I'd been let out of prison when I got to have a bowl of shredded wheat with banana for breakfast - didn't even need Splenda.

Success was found on goal 2 as well. According to the weigh-in on the morning of Day 12, I lost 7.5 lbs and Ed lost 5.5 lbs. I don't think it was all fat loss necessarily but something obviously worked like it was supposed to. Here's a graph 'cause everybody likes a graph:

The Verdict

I told my trainer at the gym about the diet and she said it sounded like bull and I would probably lose weight on any diet with restrictions because caloric intake would drop. Maybe. But I was eating nuts and cheese quite a bit, and those are hefty hitters. I don't know. But I did lose weight, and I did get remotivated. I've also become interested in learning more about weight loss research, and how the mysterious "metabolism" works in particular. I'm even going to the gym early in the morning and may even get up the guts to try a class.

So would I recommend the diet? Depends on your goals. I don't think you can count on losing 9 lbs in 11 days, but you can probably lose 5 or more if you stick to it closely. I don't think it's sustainable as a lifestyle, but it's a quick little thing based on real food, not pills or supplements.

It was a really long 11 days. A friend asked if it was all worth it. For me, yes it was worth it but I'm not going to be doing it back-to-back. When you have a lot of weight to lose it's hard to stick to it, so mixing things up once in awhile is needed. But I like to cook, I like Slim-Fast shakes, and I like to eat out. Variety's the name of my game.

Now...just WAIT until you hear what I did for a reward!

Core: Warm Black Bean and Corn Salad

I've been in a bit of a funk lately - a fog the last few days. Feeling behind, unorganized, can't think clearly. Just keeping head above water. That also means lots of blog posts stuck in the conceptual stage, not getting thought out or written properly. So in the meantime at least I can post recipes I promised.

Here's one of my favorite salads - fast, easy, flavorful, and most importantly to me in the winter - warm! It's really tough swallowing cold green salad when the temperature's below freezing. So serve this up with anything - rice, fish, chicken, or eat it plain. Pictured here with Trader Joe's flax seed chips though sadly they're not Core. Everything in the salad is, though, except the olive oil. I decrease it to about 1 T.
Warm Black Bean and Corn Salad

2 T olive oil
1 medium red onion, chopped
2 large garlic cloves, chopped
½ to 1 tsp crushed red pepper flakes (medium heat to extra spicy)
1 tsp ground cumin
Salt and freshly ground pepper
1 red bell pepper, cored, seeded and chopped
1 (10 oz.) box frozen corn kernels, defrosted (or kernels cut from about 4 ears fresh corn)
½ cup chicken stock or broth
1 (15 oz.) can black beans, rinsed and drained
Juice of 1 lime
2 to 3 T fresh cilantro leaves, chopped
6 cups baby spinach

1. Preheat a medium skillet over medium heat with 2 T olive oil. Add the onion, garlic, red pepper flakes, cumin, salt and pepper. Cook, stirring occasionally, for 3 minutes.

2. To the cooked onions, add the bell pepper and corn kernels and cook for 1 minute. Add the chicken stock and continue to cook for another 2 minutes. Add the black beans and cook until the beans are just heated through. Remove the skillet from the heat and add the lime juice, cilantro and spinach. Toss to wilt the spinach and then taste to adjust the seasoning.

Core Dinners

A couple of people have asked me what the heck I eat for dinner on the Core plan. Remember, the Weight Watchers Core plan allows you to eat mostly unlimited amounts of pretty limited foods: whole grains (think brown rice & Shredded Wheat), fresh or frozen (un-added-to) fruits and vegetables, lean protein (lean cuts of beef and pork, chicken, turkey, seafood), and fat-free unsweetened dairy (plain yogurt & skim milk.) Those are the basics. Anything you eat in addition to Core foods must be counted in WW Points and you get 35 points a week (which doesn't go far if you want to have goodies!) WW has just come out with a new program, Momentum, which sounds like a combination of Flex Points and Core, but I don't care - since I wasn't going to the meetings anyway I'm just sticking to what I know.

So the above can make you stop and wonder what to make for dinner night after night, especially if you tend, like me, to use cheese in a lot of dishes, and carbs like bread and pasta to round out the meal. In fact, bread and pasta is my kids' dream meal, so there has been a lot of crying at the table and going to bed hungry since I started serving Core dinners. Sometimes I feel sorry for them and make a separate pot of mac n' cheese.

I've got a couple of go-to dinners we eat frequently, but I love to try new recipes at least a few times a week. So I usually browse the Cooking Light recipe database for dishes that are mostly Core, or my Weight Watchers cookbooks. Even my regular cookbooks have hidden gems - a lot of dishes are Core or mostly Core without even trying. While preparing to write this post I also found several online forums where people shared Core recipes. For example:

Weight Watchin' Wiki
Health Discovery Core Recipes
Links to Core Recipes
Beth's Core Recipe Box

Lots to choose from! Usually dinner here consists of a main and two sides. My most basic formula is:

Meat + Vegetable + Fruit

I'll get to actual recipes in a future post, but here are the things I make regularly, that don't require a recipe.

Meat/Protein:

• Roasted whole chicken with rosemary stems and smashed garlic cloves under the skin; lots of salt & pepper or grill seasoning all over; lemon and/or onion in cavity
• Roasted or broiled fish fillets like salmon, talapia, trout, etc. drizzled with olive oil and some yummy seasoning blend and lemons to squeeze
• Grilled (or grill panned) sirloin steak
• Ham steaks (yummy with fresh pineapple, raw or grilled)
• Veggie burgers with no bun or just half bun (count the bun Points)
• Hamburgers (93% lean ground beef or ground turkey, egg, worcestershire, seasonings; count Points for breadcrumbs and/or Parmesan cheese) with no bun or just half bun
• Pork roast or chops rubbed all over with garlic and rosemary

Vegetable:

• Steamed fresh or frozen vegetables: asparagus, broccoli, corn, peas, carrots, etc.
• Roasted vegetables (cut into same-sized pieces, toss with olive oil, salt, pepper, any seasonings, maybe a little balsalmic vinegar; roast at about 400 until tender, varies by veggie) - yukon gold or baby potatoes, broccoli, sweet potatoes, peppers, onion, fennel, or any combination
• Baked potatoes (Core rule: you can have brown rice OR potato OR whole wheat pasta one time a day so plan ahead)
• Green raw salad - lettuce, cucumber, peppers, carrots, etc. with no or fat-free dressing (I like salad seasonings from Penzey's)
• Spinach salad - spinach, hard-boiled egg, red onion, crumbled bacon (count Points)
• Other salads (recipes to come): Roasted red pepper & arugula salad, Grilled potato salad (so good!), Edamame salad, Warm black bean and corn salad

Fruit:

• Any fresh fruit or combination to make fruit salad: apple slices, clementines/oranges, berries, bananas, peaches, pineapple, grapes, kiwi, etc. (you can also add 1/2 pouch of sugar-free pudding powder, like lemon or vanilla flavor to a fruit salad; it mixes with the fruit juices and makes a thick sauce for a slightly fancier salad)
• Sugar-free Jello, with or without added fruit (there's usually less crying on Jello nights)
• Unsweetened applesauce (good with pork roast/chops)

Other sides, depending on the dinner and the day (must follow the rule of only one per day):

• Brown rice
• Whole wheat noodles/pasta
• Whole wheat couscous

Sample Week of Dinners:

Sunday
Whole wheat spaghetti, jarred or homemade marinara with extra veggies added (mushrooms, peppers, onions), frozen corn, roasted broccoli

Monday
Grilled steak, roasted potatoes, green salad

Tuesday
Roasted chicken, roasted pepper & arugula salad (recipe in future post - I promise!), SF Jello salad (SF raspberry Jello with fresh or frozen blueberries & sliced bananas added when partially set)

Wednesday
Chicken & vegetable stir-fry (using leftover chicken from yesterday), brown rice, orange slices

Thursday
Broiled salmon, whole wheat couscous with shredded zucchini & carrots, sliced strawberries "sugared" with Splenda

Friday
Chili (Bush's Chili Magic chili starter plus canned diced tomatoes, cooked lean ground beef or turkey, and lots of chopped bell peppers and onions), baked potatoes, fat-free sour cream, cucumber/tomato/red onion salad

Saturday
Fried ham steaks, fresh pineapple, brown rice with chives/salt/pepper

A few other ideas:

• Taco salad - Grill or pan cook chicken breasts marinated in southwest seasoning; serve with lettuce, tomatoes, corn, black beans, red onion, olives, scallions, salsa, fat-free sour cream
• Chili verde (one of my very favorites) over brown rice
• Vegetable frittata - Saute zucchini, onions, broccoli or whatever you like until tender. I like to use leftover roasted potatoes (olive oil, grill seasoning), chopped small, and leftover ham or chicken if I've got it. Whisk 3 or 4 eggs with some seasonings and pour over vegetables. Cook on medium heat, covered, until set, or bake at 350 degrees until set (about 5 to 15 minutes.)
  

So yeah, there's no lasagna, cheesey garlic bread, or cornbread with honey butter, but it's do-able. That's what I keep telling myself week after week. But I get easily bored, so I use at least some of my 35 weekly Points for an ingredient here or there that isn't Core. I've got a couple great recipes, and I'm always trying more, so stay tuned.

S.T.R.I.P.ping for Money

I will try not to tell the whole lifelong tale of my struggle with weight, and body image, and all that depressing stuff, but one chapter runs into another and it's hard to know where to start.

Last spring I reached an all-time weight high, including pregnancies, and when my biggest clothes ever started to squeeze, and my knees ache, and a dear friend asked me in the nicest way, essentially, "What has happened to you?", and I saw a scary infomercial about belly fat, I got the motivation to try, yet again, to lose weight. Ed wanted to, too, so we hopped on the Weight Watchers Core plan together. The first few days were tough, but it got easier, and when I started to see 2, 3 even 5 pounds a week come off it became just a matter of life, and I was on cloud nine with the success. I lost 17 lbs in 12 weeks, and then we went on vacation and moved to VA and spent the summer trying to get organized and settle into our new life, so there was plenty of upheaval, which is death to the best diet intentions. I only managed to squeeze off another 3 pounds.

In August I joined a gym, and in September I never went. In October I had a physical and my cholesterol was high. Even though I was down one size, and my knees only creaked instead of ached, I knew I was not even close to where I wanted to be, and I had to get back on the horse, especially before the holidays. So I went back to the gym, and that first time back I had some kind of breakthrough. I finally felt those endorphins everyone talks about - my energy shot up, my mood was through the roof; I felt like a million bucks, just from exercising. I was hooked.

The next week I saw a sign up at the gym announcing a new program called S.T.R.I.P. (Spare Tire Removal in Progress.) I read closer. Participants pay $30 and $15 of it goes in "the pot." Your goal is to lose 5% of your current weight, and you have 10 weeks to do it. But not just any 10 weeks. The 10 weeks that cover Halloween, Thanksgiving, Christmas and New Year's! If you miss a week of weigh-in, your goal weight decreases by 1 lb. If you gain more than 2 lbs in a week you are out of the contest. Whoever reaches their goal at the end of 10 weeks splits the pot. I did some quick math. Five percent for most people is between 7 and 12 pounds, and I was in the middle somewhere. It could be done in 10 weeks but not with much wiggle room. Half of the participants would have to fail for me to break even on my $30, and I had no idea who I would be up against.

I decided to do it. This would be one lamo blog post if I hadn't. I was just getting back into an exercise routine but I needed some motivation to eat carefully again as well, and this was it. For the first half, I was on track, losing about 1 lb a week, and sailing through Halloween and Thanksgiving without too much derailment. Then it was December. And there were lots of really good cookies. Those chocolate marshmallow meltaways in particular lured me like a siren's song, and a couple of tough days turned into a couple of tough weeks. Then it was Christmas, and I ate the world, and didn't really stop until New Year's. And then there was only one week of S.T.R.I.P. left, and I was hovering between 1 and 2 lbs away from my goal weight, and not particularly motivated or confident I'd reach it.

But three things happened to help me turn it around. First, the week before Christmas I got an email from a trainer at the gym. My name had been drawn from the suggestion box to receive a free 1-hour training session. Personal training was one of those things I was interested in, and kept thinking I should do, and I always watched trainers and clients curiously out of the corner of my eye, but I just hadn't done anything about it. So I jumped on this and scheduled my session with Lindsey two days before Christmas. It was awesome. I showed her what I'd been doing, and she upped my whole ante. She took me off the circuit weight machines I'd been using (and was bored blind with), and gave me an extensive whole body strength training regimen using free weights, physio balls, body bars and bosu balls. It's a little embarrassing to do it all in front of everyone in the general exercise area, but I'm not the only one so I just try to focus on what I'm doing and "own the gym." Having a new routine has helped me with some of the motivation I've been lacking through the holidays.

Second, never underestimate the power of Ed. He has come a long way from our early married years, when he thought it was "helpful" to be my food police (uh-uh), to now. He knows how to help me: unlimited positive feedback and unconditional expressions of love are a good place to start, followed by things like "you look amazing," "look how far you've come" and "what can I do to help you?" I was having a hard time sticking to core healthy foods, so he committed to eat strictly core with me for the last two weeks. Having him experience the same stop-and-think process at meal and snack times helped enormously, and having someone to commiserate with, and eat carrots and plain hot air popcorn with, was the best. What a guy.

Finally, fast Sunday sealed the deal. On the first Sunday of every month members of our Church fast for two meals. We donate the money we would have spent on those meals, and more if possible, to the welfare program that helps people in need. In addition, fasting is a way to strengthen ourselves spiritually, to set aside temporal things (like food) and focus on prayer, worship, repentance, meditation, and so on. It also happens to be a perfect chance to seriously cut caloric intake for a day and reign in some bad habits.

Last Sunday marked the last week of S.T.R.I.P. We had from Sunday to Friday to do our final weigh-in. I just figured I'd weigh each day on the scale at the gym and whenever (if ever) I hit my goal, I'd go find a trainer to officially witness it. If it came down to the wire I was prepared for drastic measures (sauna, anyone?) Luckily no such action was needed. Monday morning I stepped on the scale and scooched that slider down, down, down until I was almost a pound under my goal weight. Grinning ear to ear, nearly bursting with pride, I grabbed a trainer to fill out my card.

I DID IT!!!

Twenty-four people originally joined the program. That's a pot of $360. They put a big chart up on the wall, with people's initials or chosen nickname, start weight, goal weight, and weekly weights for the 10 weeks, so we could all track our competition. Every week 1 or 2 people seemed to drop out - they just stopped weighing in or they missed so many weeks that their goal became unreachable. By last week it looked like somewhere between 4 and 7 people would reach their goal, which meant I was getting my $30 back and then some. Today I got the official "Congratulations" email from the fitness director - 6 people made it, so we get $60. Maybe it's not a lot to show for so much hard work, but it's $30 more than I had before, plus of course I'm down almost 10 lbs since October, which is the whole point.

I took $30 of my prize and put it back into S.T.R.I.P. again - the new session starts today. It seems like the weight is fighting back a bit - I have to fight tooth and nail for each pound these days, not like the way it melted off last spring. But I've got a few more milestones I'm reaching for, and a few more tricks up my sleeve. Ed and I have set up another little competition of our own as well. So wish me luck, and watch the sidebar. Disco Mom's not done yet.

"Diet" Food

So for the last couple of months Ed and I have been working to lose weight. We're basically doing the Weight Watchers Core Plan, which in a nutshell is that you can eat as much as you want of the most healthy foods - fruits & vegetables, whole grains, lean protein and fat-free dairy; anything outside of those parameters must be counted in WW Points and you get 35 points a week. It's a very simple, straightforward plan, and the more you stick to it, the more successful you are. We did awesome our last months in Brooklyn, but have slowed progress a bit through the move. A courtship with my new kitchen has helped in some ways, hurt in others, but we're still working to get - and stay - on track.

Of course snacking is often the great downfall of diets. Mid-afternoon and late night are my dangerous times so I'm always on the lookout for interesting, yummy, satisfying, low-point snacks. And any other foods that can offer a boost here or there - extra protein or fiber, for example. So I've found a few keepers and was going to put them on the Good Stuff this month but there are enough for their own post. Trader Joe is my best, best friend, and all of these come from him except the ice cream. In fact, it was a toss-up whether this would be a post about the delights of shopping at Trader Joe's - perhaps that is still to come - or about our weight loss efforts. Whichever angle, the point is the same - a couple of awesome diet-friendly finds.

Breyers Free Double Churn Ice Cream
(Shockingly creamy; comes in about 5 flavors)

Portion: 1/2 cup - 90 cal, 0g fat, 3g fiber, 3g protein, 1 POINT
(Where they're hiding 3g of fiber per 1/2 cup in this ice cream I cannot say, but I don't ask questions; I just enjoy them telling me what I want to hear. Apparently chocolate has 4g of fiber, but I haven't tried it yet.)

Dark Chocolate covered Edamame
(I can just hear Kat saying, "WHAT?!" Hey, it was worth a try and they're not bad. Quality chocolate; crunchy like chocolate covered peanuts but more protein and less fat)

Portion: 1/4 cup - 200 cal, 11g fat, 5g fiber, 7g protein, 4 POINTS

Fat Free Caramel Popcorn
(Crunchy, sweet, and psychologically satisfying)Portion: 3/4 cup - 110 cal, 0g fat, 1g fiber, 1g protein, 2 POINTS

Multigrain Spaghetti with Flax

Portion: 1/8 package - 190 cal, 1.5g fat, 6g fiber, 8g protein, 3 POINTS

Crunchy Green Beans

(I admit, I was wary, but willing to try something salty and crunchy that more closely resembles a vegetable than chips - they're actually not bad but the kids are not fooled.)

Portion: 3/4 cup - 130 cal, 4.5g fat, 4g fiber, 2g protein, 2 POINTS

High Fiber O's Cereal

(Somewhere between Honey Nut Cheerios and cardboard;
especially good with fruit like berries, bananas, fresh peaches.)Portion: 1 1/4 cups - 180 cal, 1g fat, 10g fiber, 7g protein, 3 POINTS

The only thing missing is my favorite multigrain tortilla chips; they were out of stock but I'll get some next time. I know many people don't have access to Trader Joe's, and my heart goes out to you. Some don't know what they're missing, or don't care, and it's probably better that way. But for those who feel the pain, well, I'm considering a giveway. Stay tuned.

In the meantime, let's hear from you -

1) What diet-friendly favorites keep you off the fat farm? -OR-

2) What are your favorite Trader Joe's products? It seems like they have all kinds of new stuff every time I go.