An experiment with lower carbs...

Seeing the whole lotta nothin' that was happening for me on the scale all week (despite staying at the low end of my calorie range and exercising my hardest ever with C25K), I was feeling open to a little change. I came across an article suggesting that having a large, high-carb and high-protein breakfast, followed by a medium-carb lunch and low-carb dinner is beneficial for weight loss. I've also read that for folks with low thyroid function, restricting carbs to under 50% can really aid weight loss. Sadly, as a vegetarian and someone who loooooooooooves carbs, I've never managed to get mine that low - 55-60% is about as low as I've managed regularly.

But yesterday, a lot of things went really well. I had my usual breakfast (oatmeal, flax, milk, fruit), a medium-carb lunch (lentil spinach soup and an orange), a low-carb mini-meal at 4pm (boca burger, broccoli, marinara sauce, parmesan - like all my pasta toppings without the pasta!), and a low-carb mini-dinner at 8pm (2-egg omelet with 2% cheddar and peppers/onions). For the first time in what feels like forever, my carbs were under 50% (48%, to be exact), and even though my carb-loving mindset was half-convinced that those 2 later "meals" weren't complete without some sort of carb (no whole wheat pasta with my sauce & veggies? no ww toast with my omelet?), I didn't feel any hungrier than I usually do in the evenings.

I also worked out REALLY hard (for me, anyway) - I did two levels of Jillian's 30Day Shred (1+2) for TNT plus a solid 30 minutes on the elliptical including high-intensity intervals going as fast as I could for 30 seconds, with 90 seconds recovery in between.

Amazingly, the scale finally budged this morning! In the right direction! From 163.7 (where I've been stuck for the last week or two) to 162.8 - almost a pound! Finally!! Now, I know that lower carbs can cause a decrease in water weight without a decrease in fat. And maybe the apparent loss was related to yesterday's workout. So, I'm not counting any chickens until next Wed's weigh-in for BLC (which, unfortunately, will also be right after Valentine's Day, where I am already planning to splurge with the boy. Doh!).

But the scale's progress has given me hope. And in the spirit of keeping things interesting, I'm going to do a "lower carb" experiment for the next week or two, trying to have at least 2 of my 4 mini-meals each day be low-carb, and keeping my overall carbs under 50%.

So, sparkbuddies - have you experimented with low(er)-carb living? Do you have any vegetarian-friendly suggestions for meals or protein powders that I should consider?



*Update: I stayed under 50% carbs for a second day in a row yesterday, and was rewarded on the scale again this morning. It said 162! Of course I'm skeptical - 2 pounds in 2 days?! - but hope springs eternal that at least some of it is real weight loss!