Post GM diet

Yahoo! My GM Diet program was a success. I lost 5 lbs and feel great (The husband is glad too!). But it wasn’t easy at all for me. On Day 3 (fruits & vegetables), I was really tempted a few times to eat something spicy and heavy. Especially when all my colleagues were feasting on delicious Mexican food. But I dutifully checked my temptation.

Day 4(Milk+ Bananas) was good. It almost felt like normal food. Day 5(Meat+Tomatoes) was a bit difficult. But I had subway sandwich to save myself (It was said that Hamburger’s OK).

Day 6 was the worst. Though the program mentioned that one can have unlimited amount of meat along with vegetables, it was painful for me to consume them without any rice or roti. I haven’t eaten much on that day and on the morning of Day 7, I almost fainted with hunger and weakness.

Day 7 was supposed to be a feast day with brown rice, veggies and juice and of course I very much relished it.

At last it was over!!!!

However, I would like to confess that I tweaked the diet plan a bit and cheated once (Veggie sub on Day 7). Also I feel that I’ve taken much less than the program recommended. For ex, I couldn’t eat all of the 6 raw tomatoes prescribed for Day 5. But I never took any harmful foods (snacks, sweets etc). So, I’m not sure whether I’ve successfully detoxified my body. Anyway, weight loss is just what matters more to me right now.

But I don’t think, prudently enough, that this does the magic and I can live happily ever after. I’m sure that I’ll gain back those 5 pounds if I continued my previous eating habits. Hard to accept it, but the truth is that at the least I’ve to be watchful if I want to maintain my new profile. (I know, I’m being dramatic; Losing just 5 pounds wouldn’t alter the profile much. Excuse me!)

Well, I guess maintenance can be done fairly easily compared to the strenuous program I just underwent. It’s my experience that I can allow myself occasional treats if I just follow my diet rules, which I mentioned in one of my earlier posts.

My 2 cents on the GM Diet

• It certainly is not so easy as it sounds to be
• For Indians, who mostly eat the veggies and meat only along with rice/roti, it’s really difficult to be deprived of them, if only for 6 days. Of course it’s the tongue which complains, not the stomach.
• I don’t think one can carry out the normal level of activity while on this program, at least not I. I deliberately chose the week to be without many obligations and much stress. I knew I wouldn’t have the energy to carry out my regular work load and tensions. I took lots of rest and generally didn’t involve in much brainy work.

GM diet – Day 2

Day 1 was successful. I ate fruits and only fruits all day long. The amazing thing is it wasn’t that bad. And what’s more, I felt very light and fresh this morning. My confidence actually boosted up and I thought – it might not be as difficult as I thought it to be. Anyways, I’m all geared up for Day 2 – the vegetable day. I think today will be easier because potato makes one full and carrots taste so good.

I’m not much of a fruit or veggie person. I never eat them well. (I know, I’m a bad girl!) My husband is amused by my predicament at eating fruits and vegetables all day long. This would teach me a lesson. . His opinion is that if I have had healthy food habits from the beginning, I wouldn’t have to worry about my weight/health as I do right now. What can I say except agreeing with him!

So, this morning as I experienced the lightness of my body (not literally, because I don’t think I lost much weight just in one day ), I couldn’t help recollecting the contrast feeling of heaviness these past few months. I’m glad I took up this program.

Note: This post is not intended to be an April Fool prank! Please don’t make the mistake of assuming it to be so.

Dieting woes

Losing weight is perhaps a constant entry in most people’s new year resolutions or goal list. So it is for me too for the past couple of years. While healthy diet coupled with workout or vice versa is the obvious mantra, being a lazy and ill-disciplined person, I felt that starving myself, I mean dieting, is better than working out.

And it actually worked for me last year. I cut down the extra pounds, and watched my diet for a few months. I was happy but suddenly in June or so, I distinctly felt that I was getting  tired too soon and had that tired look on my face almost all the time. I felt like I was drained out of all my energy and it became an effort to involve myself in anything.

So, I blamed all this on my dieting and resolved to eat well and gain back my strength. This was easy I let myself loose on all the forbidden foods and started to help myself with generous portions of anything that might be on the menu at that time. Without having me to say anything, you can guess that in almost no time I gained 4 extra pounds and felt livelier. This went for a few more months without regret. But as days passed and I realized that some of the pieces of clothing in my wardrobe weren’t fitting me comfortably anymore, I started to worry. But I guess not so much because I didn’t actually do anything about it, at least for sometime.

But one day I “decided” that I should shed my extra pounds. I thought to myself – “If I could do it once, I could do it again and more easily.” How wrong I was! I became aware of the stupidity of my belief in the most painful way. I lost count of how many times since then I have started my “dieting” only to break it during the next meal or at the most the meal after. Frustrating as it was, I was amazed by how much addicted I was to food. Hmm…

I know what works for me, what I should eat, what I can easily avoid and all that stuff. But statistics show ( ) that just knowing things never make a least bit of difference.

I read somewhere and strongly believe that naturally skinny people stay as the way they are because “they eat only when they are hungry.” How simple it seems! But most of us (mostly women) eat not only when we are hungry but also when we are upset, stressed out among other myriad of emotional reasons. Also there is one more factor, – love for the food. I observed that many times I eat something, almost all the time fatty snacks, not because I’m hungry, but just to satisfy my taste buds.

I have my own dieting guidelines, which did wonders for me in the past:

• Eat only when you’re hungry
• Avoid snacks – muffins, pizzas, chocolates, cakes, fried items etc
• Grab a fruit whenever you get a craving for a forbidden food
• Reduce the intake of rice
• Do not overstuff yourself – Never eat to your stomach’s full
• Take lots of fluids
• Most important – do not skip breakfast; the heavier it is, the better.

Coming back to my present situation – So, I finally got fed up with my repeated failures at losing weight. I figured out that my weak determination can be made strong by taking up a new and difficult challenge. And I chose the GM diet. For those, who haven’t heard about it – It’s a 7 day diet program developed for General motors employees. It is designed to detoxify the body and for weight reduction. See the details here:

http://www.gmdietworks.com

The first time I heard about it, I perceived it as extremely challenging. And now, as I decided to follow it, I have the same feeling. I still wonder, how can anyone eat only vegetables the whole day?? Hmm.. It’s very unfortunate that I can’t seem to boost up my confidence. Nevertheless, I’ll try. I made sure that I told my friends, family and colleagues about my decision, precisely because I hate to look like a failure before them and I would try my best not to. I’d rather lose weight than face.

Well, today is my first day. Day 1 – Fruits. I had an apple, quarter of a melon and 4 glasses of water till now (12.30pm). I think I’m doing good so far. Of course, “in front is crocodiles festival”. Folks, wish me luck to win this battle against myself.