Weight loss Wednesday: NSNG Week 5

Weight Loss Wednesday Report

A full month of my “No sugar, no grains” (#NSNG) has passed and I've been logging my  food diary  everyday. The Paleo recipes has been a great add to my food plan and I'm discovering new ways to prepare tasty and nutritious food every day.

If you want to find out a bit more about the #NSNG way of eating, I can recommend some books, podcasts and Facebook groups to help you get into this world. If you want to read the books, try these: ”Fat Chance: Beating the Odds Against Sugar, Processed Food, Obesity, and Disease” by Robert H. Lustig, “Why We Get Fat: And What to Do About It” and Good Calories, Bad Calories: Fats, Carbs, and the Controversial Science of Diet and Health by Gary Taubes. I can bet they will change the way you look at food after reading them.

Give them a go. They won't disappoint you.

If you are interested in the podcasts, try "Vinnie Tortorich: America's Angriest Trainer", "Fat burning man" and "Living La Vida Low Carb" or you can try the Facebook group "Vinnie Tortorich's No Sugar No Grains"

This is my week report:

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How far along? 4 weeks finished, bmidways on the 5th

Weight up or down? I have lost 5.6Kg and I went down a pant size.

Total weight loss: 5.6Kg

Clothes: down one size. I was able to buy the Pearl Jam concert t-shirt in "S" last Friday! Hurray!    

Sleep: Sleep patterns has been a bit erratic this last week due to all the travelling and night outs but all in all at least 6-7  solid hours each night.

Skin: radiant and clear. No spots or break outs... Scar from surgery is healing well.

Exercise:

Cardio:  mainly walks. While in Spain we walk up the mountain each morning (8:30am) and in London we walk basically everywhere.

Walks: Every day this week with an average of 8 to 10 km per day.

General circuit training: None this week. Best workout this week was jumping up and down during over 3 hours at Pearl Jam's concert in Milton Keynes... will do it everyday if I could!

Walking up the mountain in Alhaurin El Grande

Walking everywhere while in London

3 hours of jumping up and down at Pearl Jam's concert.
The best workout ever!

Food

Food plan: No Sugars, No Grains. No milk. Only dairy I had this week is cheese. Not giving up on cheese.

Food journal: logged my food journal every day in MyFitnesspal.com.

Food cravings:  fruits. I saw those beautiful watermelons at the supermarket and couldn't resist.

Any sin? Wine, as usual and a pint of cider at the concert.

Breakfast: spinach and camembert cheese omelette and some bacon

Lunch: aubergines gratin and tuna and apple salad

Pork sirloin with apples, saute mushrooms with garlic, salad and wine.
A hobbit dinner...

Happy or moody most of the time?  Most of the days happy but a bit stressed out this week. Spanish summer was hitting hard and a lot of planning to attend a wedding next week has been keeping me a bit on the edge.

Best moment this week: In Spain... Bilbo's new swimming pool... In London, Pearl Jam's concert at Milton Keynes.

Pearl Jam last concert in the european tour at Milton Keynes

 

Worst moment this week: hormone treatment has begun....

Miss anything?  I miss my mum this week...

Looking forward to: a cousin's wedding next week!

Baci per tutti!

Leti~

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Okey. I has been a full month since I have started my #NSNG journey and I can report that so far it has been the best choice I've ever made towards health improvement and checking my food log I've come to realise that apart from the bread and pasta, what I'm eating now is very similar to what I ate when I was a little girl.

If something resonates to your brain as a logical thing, then you have to try it in order to either confirm the fact or refute it. In my case, the postulate that fats are bad for your health and sugar and grains are good it's something I grew up with because it was taught to us in school, the doctors always preached the same thing and you ended up believing it because everyone else did so. But coming from a country with an extraordinary yet not very famous cuisine where meat is ubiquitous and a meal is not a meal unless it has meat in it, I grew up on a healthy and nutritious diet, even though we had sugar and grains in it, they weren't the majority of the diet and we had our fair share of healthy fats and proteins every day.

The benefits I've been experiencing since following the #NSNG regime (it is not a diet, it's a way of life... or so they like to say) are fantastic and there in plain view.

On the physical side:

- I have lost 5.6kg in a month without hunger and discomfort. The biggest weight loss happened when I took away milk from my diet and replaced it with almond milk or coconut milk. I didn't replace all dairy, only pasteurized milk, I still eat cheese, butter and single and double cream.

- I have more energy and I feel satiated longer after a meal.

- My vegetable intake has been greatly increased. I even have vegetables with breakfast now!

- My migraines has stopped, not a single migraine during these 30 days.

- Even though I have reduced my workout time and sessions due to busy schedule, my weight loss hasn't been affected.

- No acne or chin breakouts anymore. Skin is not oily anymore.

- Hair is looking good and lustrous.

- Almost no sugar cravings and when I do give in is with berries and plums.

At Pearl Jam's concert in Milton Keynes (July 11th, 2014)
Happy because I was looking forward to this concert and
because I now fit back into a "S" t-shirt! 

On the psychological side:

- Lots of energy that translates in productivity and feelings of accomplishment.

- Not so moody anymore. Apart from some PMS symptoms that have actually decreased since I started #NSNG, mood swings are been rare which makes me a more tolerant person, which is great for the people around me... :)

- No comfort eating. No comfort drinking. Now I eat because I need to and I drink because I enjoy it, not because I need it at the end of the day.

- More confident dressing up now, not feeling the need to cover up all the time.

- More conscious about what I eat. I find myself checking the labels of everything and making smarter choices regarding food and drinks. Before I thought that because something was expensive it was usually better, and it turned out not to be so.

- More educated, because I needed to find out the truth about this thing that is making me feel better than I did in years which took me to read a lot of books on health, hormones and nutrition.

Happy with my raw coconut water in Covent Garden #NSNG

So, the 30 days are over but now it is not a challenge anymore and it is becoming a way of life. I like it and it does good to my body and mind, even my DH is beginning his challenge into the #NSNG after seeing the results and he is liking it as well.. and my little brother has started taking away sugar from his diet (he is keeping the grains in for the time being) and also seeing the benefits of saying no to added sugars.

I'll keep you posted on this.

Baci per tutti!

Leti~

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Weight loss Wednesday: NSNG Week 4

Weight Loss Wednesday Report

Now I'm beginning Week 4 of my “No sugar, no grains” (#NSNG) month and I've been logging my  food diary  everyday. It is getting easier with the cravings (not many really) but it’s getting a bit more complicated not to get bored with all the meat and cheese, so this week I began submerging myself into the “Paleo Recipes World” and my, oh, my, it is a big world.

I’m not following a paleo diet, paleo admits sweeteners, honey, agave and maple syrup whether #NSNG doesn't, and #NSNG let you have milk and cheese and paleo doesn´t. I think that when I finish my #NSNG I will naturally go towards paleo but I think I will try to stick to the No-Sugar as much as I can.

I've been reading a LOT about the NSNG concept and I cannot recommend you enough to read these two books ”Fat Chance: Beating the Odds Against Sugar, Processed Food, Obesity, and Disease” by Robert H. Lustig, and “Why We Get Fat: And What to Do About It” by Gary Taubes. I can bet they will change the way you look at food after reading them.

Give them a go. They won't disappoint you.

This is my week report:

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How far along? 3 weeks, beginning the 4th

Weight up or down? I was 3kg down with the previous regime, kilos I got back during my surgery rest. Weighted myself this morning and since beginning the #NSNG (22 days ago) I have lost 3.5Kg and I went down a pant size.

Total weight loss: 3.5Kg

BMI: 25.7

Clothes: down one size in pants.    

Sleep: I’ve downloaded the “Sleep as Android” app that tracks and monitors your sleep patterns. Been using it for 5 days but I still don’t really get all the date it provides. So far I get that whenever I sleep around 10:30 pm– 11:30 pm it seems I sleep way better than if I sleep later, even if I get the same hours of sleep…

Skin: radiant and clear. No spots or break outs..

 Exercise:

Cardio:  My friend and I began walking up the mountain again but due to the summer heat we changed our walks to 8 am – 8:30 am every day.

Walks: Three times this week with an average of 8km per day.

General circuit training: only 1 time this week so far. Tomorrow I begin week 2 of P90X.

Happy faces after an 8km walk

 Food

Food plan: No Sugars, No Grains. I began diminishing my dairy intake as well and got some delicious Coconut Milk and Almond Milk to help. Only dairy I had this week is cheddar cheese. Not giving up on cheese.

Food journal: logged my food journal every day in MyFitnesspal.com.

Food cravings:  bread. Any sort of bread. My brother has been eating sandwiches next to me and the bread was what I miss the most this week

Any sin? Wine, as usual.

Top right: coffee and coconut milk with banana and cinnamon pancakes.
Top left: Tuna salad and aubergine and zucchini gratin
Bottom right: Bacon, egg and tomato breakfast
Bottom right: octopus with ratatouille and cauliflower mash 

Happy or moody most of the time?  Happy. I've been back to sunny Spain this week and the Summer heat is hitting us intensely.

Best moment this week: Getting back to Málaga and having the most lovely welcome home from Bilbo.

Bilbo running...

Worst moment this week: Having to go to Málaga for some legal paperwork and having to go through the bureaucracy machine on a Summer day.

It's been hot... hot... hot...

Miss anything?  My hubby and some bread.

Looking forward to: Pearl Jam concert next week.

Until next Wednesday!

Baci per tutti!

Leti~

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No Sugar? No Grains?

Back in April I was doing fine with my weight loss challenge... or so I thought. I've lost about 3 kilos on the diet and exercise but even though I was training as if I was about to compete in a marathon, the kilos (or pounds) wouldn't go away as one would expect. I got comments such as "You are gaining muscle, that's why you don't see much change in the scales" and the, oh, so typical, "Maybe you have heavy bones"... heavy bones???????

In May I also got a surgical procedure to remove a couple of lumps, so doctor said I should stop my walks and training for at least 10 days to 15 days in order for the stiches not to come loose... so I stayed away from my daily training and walks but continued with the same diet.

Nice close-up of one of the "stitches"

During the pause period, some of the weight lost came back... of course, even though I was eating healthy and according to the plan (you can check my weekly reports here and on Instagram)... After the two weeks pause I began to exercise again and got back to where I have left it but again the weight wouldn't go away with the same combination of diet + exercise, which got me thinking and as I had a doctor appointment in the beginnings of June I've decided to ask my doctor, and oh, my, was this enlightening!

I consider myself a smart, well-read, well-fed person. I'm very active, especially now that I left the "office life" to try and improve my life. I have always had a interest on health and nutrition even though sometimes what I eat does not always reflect what I know is best for me, I do know the difference between good and bad food. 

Most diets out there focus on cutting calories and the simple math of ‘calorie in, calorie out’ instead of changing the kinds of foods you eat and getting people to really exercise. That is, focusing less on calories, more food quality, and activity. 

After telling the doctor about my predicament, he suggested to try something new, he suggested me to go "No sugar, No grains" for a month (#NSNG). He said that this could help me balance my hormones and help not only with the weight loss but also with some allergies I had recently, so I went home and begin my investigation into the "NSNG" eating style.

I read a lot and came across a book called "Fitness Confidential" written by Vinnie Tortorich, trainer for the stars in Hollywood, that got me to listen to his podcasts and reading more books written by the nutritionists trainers and doctors that Vinnie interviews in his shows. His approach is to simply say, “don't eat foods with sugar or that are made from grains.”

http://vinnietortorich.com/fitness-confidential/

I've also read about the Whole30 program which estates that certain food groups (like sugar, grains, dairy and legumes) could be having a negative impact on your health and fitness without you even realizing it and challenges you to go a full 30 days stripping them from your diet. The main claim they do that caught my attention strongly is their talk about the hormonal disbalance caused by what we eat, so after listening to Vinnie and reading about Whole30 I decided to go for it and try it myself.

I didn't go for the Whole30 approach, I still have a glass or two of wine on the weekends and some dairy in my meals, thought it is full fat and if possible grass fed but I have cut out all sugar and grains for three weeks now and went into what is called a "ketogenic" type of diet.

And I'm loving it.

Yes, it is incredibly difficult to adhere to a NSNG diet, especially if you are the only one in the house doing it but once you get on track, the improvements you'll feel and see in your body and mind are incredible. After a week I could feel a significant difference in how I felt mentally and physically. I wasn't bloated anymore and after the first three days craving sugar (yeap, like a drug addict) I was just fine.

On the physical side I'm not bloated anymore, I feel lighter, my muscle tone has improved and my exercise endurance as well. My allergies are all gone (nope, I'm not having my usual cetirizin pill a day and I'm just fine), my skin is looking great, no more chin acne but a healthy radiant glow according to my DH. And I've lost weight... oh, yeah... I haven't check the scales yet (I'm not supposed to until the 30 days are over) but my clothes are fitting loose and well again and I have a lot of energy all day long.

On the mental side I don't feel sluggish, the surplus of energy is doing wonders to my productivity and also for my mood.

Just after a workout

And with a bit of production...

So far all is going well. After the 30 days are over I'll get a blood check up to make sure everything is good and if it is (which I'm pretty sure it is anyways) I can see this becoming a habit not an exception. I don't say I will never eat a muffin again in my life, of course I will, but sure as hell I will be cutting out any unnecessary processed sugars and grains whenever I can. By all means, visit Vinnie Tortorich web page and/or listen to his podcasts...

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