Look Good Naked! More energy. More confidence (beauty is seen in confidence and kindness).
Your greatest quality is your confidence and kindness. The more you have, the more beautiful you appear to yourself and to others. BE-YOU-TIFUL you are!.
The most beautiful people in the world show up as who they truly are. So BE YOURSELF and you'll be BE-YOU-TIFUL.
I putting a lot of focus in a ketogenic diet right now because I see that after years of half-ass efforts to lose my belly weight, the key is in carb management.
I look at carbs like I look at expensive habits. I don't need them.
Beginning my day with Ketogenic coffee allows me to breeze through my 'peak cycle' without a disruption spawned by usual morning hunger. I also find it gives me increased mental clarity at the 'peak' time of my day (5am-8am).
I am using the test strips to know when my body goes into Ketosis.
One of my yoga instructors (who is also a nutritionist) recommended the use of Fat Bombs to help stick to a keto diet when you are having sugar cravings.
For myself, and probably many others - the source of the unwanted weight (typically in the form of a beer belly and love handles) comes down to one thing carbs. It's the main culprit to the extra weight. While I was able to drop my belly weight quickly by cutting out the carbs (max of 20g carb/day).
However it's not just the carbs. It's the processed food. The reason why cutting the carbs out results in weight loss is because by doing so, you cut out all processed foods. When you start to look at the labels, you find that processed foods contains a lot of carbs.
There is a debate about how safe a ketogenic diet actually is for you. If you read The End of Dieting, you will hear a case against a high protein/low carb diet.
What really makes the difference in those who are thin and those who are fat comes down to 4 ingredients: Sugar, flour, milk, and oil. He proclaims the solution is simple: Stuck with natural whole foods an avoid processed foods entirely - especially sweets and oils!
Fill your diet with Fat Busting foods:
Eggs
Bacon
Cobb Salad
Steak
Chicken
Steamed Veggies
Broccoli
Cauliflower
Lettuce
Celery
Avocados
Cucumbers
Tomatoes
String Cheese
Salami
Jicama
Pumpkin
Squash
Artichokes
Green beans
Onions
Mushrooms
Snow peas
Zucchini
Shellfish
Fish
Hamburger
Pork
Hot links
Boars Head Lunch Meat
Sausages
Hot Dogs
Low carb yogurt (look for 4g carbs)
Jello w/heavy cream
Oceanspray diet cranberry juice (2g carbs) Snacks:
Beef Jerkey
String cheese wrapped in Salami
Deviled Eggs Food you might think are OK but are high in carbs: Potatoes, Carrots & Corn. No milk, but you can have up to 4 oz of cheese and 2 tbs of cream, and 2 tbs of mayo. Up to 6 olives/day, 1/2 an avocado, 2 pickles/day, No beer, fruit juice, fruit, sugar, honey, pasta, grains, maple syrup, flavored yogurt, carrots, peas, beans, or chips. Dressings: Avoid the light dressings. Avoid dressings with sugar. Unsure, look at the label!
What's missing is anything with sugar. They advise avoiding Jello if you can, but it's what you can have as a last resort. It's ok to use sugar substitutes: splenda, nutrisweet, and sweet-n-low. Sugar free gum in moderation. Check the label! When you try to avoid sugar, you discover it's everywhere. You can watch tons of videos on YouTube that explain why sugar is so bad for us:
https://youtu.be/Z5aYq0ASSHU We are addicted to it! Mental prep: As you pull sugar out of your diet, your
Sugar is addictive and stimulates the same pleasure centers of the brain as cocaine or heroin. Just like those drugs, getting off sugar leads to withdrawal and cravings, requiring an actual detox process to wean off. It’s not uncommon to find yourself feeling like a mess a day or so into a sugar detox. Because that feel-good dopamine level dropped, prepare for some unwanted side effects! That depression or blah mood is amplified because compared to the dopamine spikes you are used to, you are back to a more normal state. At first, this feels off, but what was off was the amount of time you were in the dopamine zone due to sugar. Anxiety and even the shakes can be a side effect. The initial fatigue you feel will be replaced by more sustained energy and fewer crashes. You need to be careful when you do give yourself sugar, like an addict, you may find yourself going right back into the cycle. There's sugar, alcohol, caffeine cycle I am well aware of. It starts when I binge on any of the three. For years, Alcohol was the culprit. To have a good time, I'd decide I was going to get a heavy buzz. After 3-4 drinks, I get myself into sleep deprivation because I'd wake up in the middle of the night when the stimulate effects kick in. Then since I was tired, I'd drink more coffee than usual. Then, because I'm sleep deprived, my body needs sugar to sustain itself. No joke, no sleep = more sugar. Read more about the ill effects of sugar here. That sweet tooth of yours just might be killing you slowly.
Week 1 in the hardest - As of today, I'm on day 5 and I feel as if my hunger is decreasing. As are my sweet cravings. My personal issue with food is that I would often use it as a distraction. Carbs are easy to graze on. But there was perhaps more going on. Carbs are in all the cheap foods we eat. Pretzels, carrots, popcorn. We think we are eating mindlessly, but are we actually fueling our dopamine addiction?
Alcohol
Initially none. But you can begin to add it back into your diet. Wine is about 4g per 5 oz. So if you are like me, that's my go to for part of my 20g/day. In fact, I think that a glass of wine at the end of the day is becoming a critical part of my mental health! Eventually, cravings start to subside. You get into Ketosis and fat burning begins. Sugar is hidden in: Potatoes, pasta, bread, fruit, and rice. If those are staples in your diet, then it may explain your extra weight. Avoid any sauces with sugar as the main ingredient. If the condiment tastes sweet, it's probably got sugar as it's main ingredient (i.e. BBQ Sauce). Any slip up and ketosis stops. It takes 2-3 days to get into ketosis again. The reward of this diet is more sustained energy (fewer swings) and appetite control. Exercise is good for you, but you won't drop the weight until you change your diet. Salads are key. YOU need to be sure you are getting 2 cups of salas and one cup of veggies everyday. To avoid carbs, simply fill your diet with carb-free foods. Here's a good list I found. A typical day on a lowcarb diet: Breakfast: Eggs & Bacon. Coffee. Lunch: Salad with Grilled Chicken. Tea. Dinner: Steak with Broccoli. Glass of wine. Snacks: Salami and cheese
Tips
Get rid of all the carbs in your cupboards.
Bring extra willpower for social situations (I tell myself the restraint is only temporary, while the benefits are long-term): Focus on the negative long-term consequences instead of the momentary high from dessert.
Stop eating when full. No need to clear your plate. Just pack it away for later.