Well, the Zone diet is over and now I am starting the South Beach diet. I have to say I am disappointed in my progress and my discipline the last month. Last Friday I weighed in at 253. Then Saturday I went to my friends house and drank beer with him. Then I woke up Sunday feeling like crap, then I ate unhealthy food to soothe myself. I weighed in yesterday at 259. So, in the end a lost just a few pounds on the Zone, 2 lbs total. This is misleading though as I retained water since Friday. I have to figure out what is going on with me and social drinking, it seems to be destroying my diet even though I don't appear to be drinking that much when I do drink.
The South Beach diet looks very simple. It looks like just another low carb diet. There are 3 phases: 1) phase one where you eat no refined carbs the first two weeks 2) phase two where you add in some more carbs and 3) phase 3 the rest of your life. When you eat carbs later on in the diet you should be guided by the glycemic index just like in the zone. So, what is different in this versus the other low carb diets? It encourages good carbs versus bad carbs and good fat versus bad fat. This boils down to eating no trans fats and low amounts of saturated fats. It also includes monitoring carbs via the glycemic index. And, there is no scientific mumbo jumbo about eicosanoids and the like. I haven't read the book yet, I am debating whether I should get a second hand copy or not. Since there isn't much new science on this diet I may be able to focus on other subjects I have neglected thus far.
So, now it's back to plummeting blood sugar. I am not looking forward to not eating carbs again, but I know I will lose more quickly here the first 2 weeks.
I had egg beaters with salsa for breakfast. Turkey meat and low fat cheese sticks for lunch. Turkey taco meat, tomatoes, and onions for dinner. I have to say I am hungry and grumpy now. I also had only water all day long. And I had no sugar alcohols at all.
Transforming biochemistry knowledge into weight loss:
This page was begun as an experiment. An experiment I was conducting on myself. An experiment to test which conditions would allow me to loose weight. Now that I have been at it for a while I realize this page serves as more. It serves as a means for me to research. It is a way for me to pick health topics of interest, research them from a biochemistry stand point, and then share them with the world. Sharing them with you gives me an official feeling and keeps me motivated. However, as described below, I am still experimenting on myself.
How did this happen? I don't know exactly although I am almost sure it boils down to diet and exercise. I hope to find the answers as I explore my journey through weight loss on this blog. I was not always fat. Therefore, I know that I can be unfat again.
I am a biochemist. I should have known better. Of all people, I should have known how to avoid this predicament I am in now. I now wish to harness my scientific knowledge to experiment on myself as well as explore the chemical basis for weight loss methods.
Methods:
I will try new diets. I will experiment on myself. The diets will be chosen from among the most popular in our society. I will chronicle the results and my general experience in my blog here. I will also explore the biochemical basis for these diets as well as evaluate their effectiveness and truthfulness. I will also exercise as regularly as possible, 3-5 times per week, to avoid biasing the results. I will try to keep everything constant in my life except the diet. My method is not perfect. I don't necessarily want to lose raw pounds, but rather gain an understanding of what methods work best for me to permanently regain my health.
Hypothesis:
1. No diet will be clearly better than the others. Conversely, each diet will offer some truth, some piece of knowledge or methodology that I can take away with me to help myself. I think that in the end, I will be able to formulate my own diet based on a synthesis of all the things I have learned from all of these diets.
2. I have been on diets before, lost weight, and then regained it. I wasn't born fat. Given that, I think that my main problem will be shown to be psychological. I think that I may have compulsive eating problems- compulsive eating problems associated with very unhealthy foods.
3. I will lose quite a bit of weight. My blog will help keep my motivation levels high.
4. There will be a lack of clear scientific basis to many of the diets.
