Once you cross the age of 30, the old metabolism slows down and things just aren't the same. Where I used to be able to eat without thinking twice, I now notice a difference of up to 5 lbs within an hour of eating pizza. No exaggeration.
There are some contributing factors:
I am less active and my hormones are different. My life is more relaxed now that I'm not chasing babies. I can sit and read to my heart's content. I can blog and drink coffee. I can drive and meet friends. Sitting is the new smoking, and just as deadly.
Foods have changed. The increase in GMOs is unbelievable. The wheat we eat today is NOT the wheat our forefathers ate. Unnatural ingredients such as corn syrup and soybean oil are now in the majority of foods you buy off the shelf.
My body has changed. I don't process foods as well as I used to. My body reacts to foods with an inflammation response that I never recognized as a teen. Bread makes me bloat. It makes me tired. I'm therefore more sedentary, crave more bread, and thus bloat even more.
Reading Good Calories, Bad Calories completely opened my eyes to our strange modern approach to food. Paleo eating turned my metabolism and eating habits around. After a month of paleo, I was back to normal. I ate about HALF the amount of food I used to eat. I felt 5000 lbs lighter and 5000 years younger. A vacation and serious financial downturn left me eating cheap pasta and rice dishes. After 6 months on this terrible (yet familiar) diet, my metabolism began to slow down and I returned to my previous unhealthy self. That it took 6 months of baaaaad eating for even one pound to creep back on was very impressive to me. When it did come back on, it was slow and subtle and I didn't think much of it. I figured that I knew what worked and would soon buckle down and lose it all with paleo again. But I never could find the willpower to do it.
With the trip to Paris coming up, I knew I needed to dig deep and force myself to do better. I don't want to pose for a hundred pictures that I'll just be self-conscious about later. I kept trying to eat right, but I just kept failing. I just couldn't seem to start my engine and buckle down. Finally, I read The Virgin Diet and it reminded me of all of the food facts I already knew, it explained why Paleo worked so well for me, and it explained why Paleo doesn't work for everyone but what to do about it.
I also read The Princess Plan, which took agreed with the facts shared in the Virgin Diet, and shared many other great tips, such as when & how to work out, how to dress to flatter your body type, and more.
I also started watching little YouTube clips of the T-tapp workouts. I haven't worked out more than 5 minutes per day, but it is five more minutes than I was doing before. I've ordered the full 15-minute workout and hope to share about it soon.
And the results? After 1 week of putting it into practice, I have lost 5 lbs and have lost 2 inches in my waist.
I created this page which shares the basics of foods and activities to focus on. That's really the beauty of it: you focus on what is good, not on what you can't have.
*If you have to eat out, I highly recommend a Chipotle or Qdoba. You can grab a salad bowl, topped with yummy meat, beans if you allow them, yummy salsas, and dairy-free guacamole.
*If you have to have something sweet, I highly recommend Chocolate Covered Katie. She shares many recipes that are completely compatible with Virgin, Princess, or Paleo eating.
There are some contributing factors:
I am less active and my hormones are different. My life is more relaxed now that I'm not chasing babies. I can sit and read to my heart's content. I can blog and drink coffee. I can drive and meet friends. Sitting is the new smoking, and just as deadly.
Foods have changed. The increase in GMOs is unbelievable. The wheat we eat today is NOT the wheat our forefathers ate. Unnatural ingredients such as corn syrup and soybean oil are now in the majority of foods you buy off the shelf.
My body has changed. I don't process foods as well as I used to. My body reacts to foods with an inflammation response that I never recognized as a teen. Bread makes me bloat. It makes me tired. I'm therefore more sedentary, crave more bread, and thus bloat even more.
Reading Good Calories, Bad Calories completely opened my eyes to our strange modern approach to food. Paleo eating turned my metabolism and eating habits around. After a month of paleo, I was back to normal. I ate about HALF the amount of food I used to eat. I felt 5000 lbs lighter and 5000 years younger. A vacation and serious financial downturn left me eating cheap pasta and rice dishes. After 6 months on this terrible (yet familiar) diet, my metabolism began to slow down and I returned to my previous unhealthy self. That it took 6 months of baaaaad eating for even one pound to creep back on was very impressive to me. When it did come back on, it was slow and subtle and I didn't think much of it. I figured that I knew what worked and would soon buckle down and lose it all with paleo again. But I never could find the willpower to do it.
With the trip to Paris coming up, I knew I needed to dig deep and force myself to do better. I don't want to pose for a hundred pictures that I'll just be self-conscious about later. I kept trying to eat right, but I just kept failing. I just couldn't seem to start my engine and buckle down. Finally, I read The Virgin Diet and it reminded me of all of the food facts I already knew, it explained why Paleo worked so well for me, and it explained why Paleo doesn't work for everyone but what to do about it.
I also read The Princess Plan, which took agreed with the facts shared in the Virgin Diet, and shared many other great tips, such as when & how to work out, how to dress to flatter your body type, and more.
I also started watching little YouTube clips of the T-tapp workouts. I haven't worked out more than 5 minutes per day, but it is five more minutes than I was doing before. I've ordered the full 15-minute workout and hope to share about it soon.
And the results? After 1 week of putting it into practice, I have lost 5 lbs and have lost 2 inches in my waist.
I created this page which shares the basics of foods and activities to focus on. That's really the beauty of it: you focus on what is good, not on what you can't have.
*If you have to eat out, I highly recommend a Chipotle or Qdoba. You can grab a salad bowl, topped with yummy meat, beans if you allow them, yummy salsas, and dairy-free guacamole.
*If you have to have something sweet, I highly recommend Chocolate Covered Katie. She shares many recipes that are completely compatible with Virgin, Princess, or Paleo eating.
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