Low-Carb basic menu

This is the basic menu structure i plan to adhere to Monday-Friday:

Breakfast options: 
-eggs, any style (hardboiled, fried/scrambled in butter, omelet with spinach and cheese, etc), OR
-low-carb protein shake
-coffee with heavy whipping cream, coconut oil, and splenda

Lunch options:
-6-8 ounces meat (roast chicken, steak, ground meat or fish), 1-2 cups of green veggies sauteed or roasted in butter or olive oil (zucchini, spinach, squash, broccoli, cauliflower), OR
-vegetable salad (lettuce, onion, broccoli, cauliflower, celery, a few tomatoes) with added meat (chicken or salmon) and fatty stuff (dressing, cheddar cheese, bacon, chopped eggs)<-----[looking forward to this the most], OR
-tuna or egg salad made with mayo and served on a bed of greens
-bunless burger with a side salad

Dinner options:
-same as lunch

Snack/dessert options:
-hardboiled eggs
-cut up raw veggies (celery, cucumbers, peppers) with ranch
-tuna/egg salad
-sugar free jello
-sugar free hot chocolate

I plan to look up 1-2 recipes from Low Carb Friends to try each week, to keep things fresh and exciting. One thing I'm NOT into is all the low-carb processed foods and "substitute" foods. I want to try and stick to non-processed foods as often as possible, without the crutch of using franken-foods all the time to try and fool my tastebuds.

Carb Cycling vs. Low-Carb

Day 2 of my Information Binge...i've been combing the internet for any and all info I can find to help me succeed with a lowcarb WOE, and this is an interesting tidbit i found:


Carb cycling is generally thought of as strictly a weight loss tactic, but can also be used for muscle building or to promote maintenance of lean muscle mass during a fat loss phase.  For the purposes of rapid fat loss, it’s effective (and I’d go so far as to say essential) for the exact same reasons the cheat day is so clutch:

1) High carb days boost slipping leptin, thyroid and other hormone levels that have fallen due to consecutive lower carb days.  This hormonal bump is KEY to keeping metabolism high during a weight loss diet.

2) By cycling days of lower and higher carbs, we can manipulate insulin levels and maximize muscle building and muscle sparing (preventing lean muscle breakdown) effects according to your overall body transformation goals.

3) Because higher carb days follow several days of lower carb intake, most of the added carbs consumed will be put to good use by refilling glycogen stores in liver and muscle, rather than being stored as fat.

4) Carb cycling offers a huge psychological upside as well.  Besides all the internal benefits, you get to look forward to days where it’s not only okay to eat more carbohydrate-rich food, but it’s required by the diet plan.  This scheduled ‘break’ from lower carb dieting can be a game changer when it comes to staying on track the rest of the week.

Source: http://www.topfatlosstrainer.com/2010/07/08/carb-cycling-for-fat-loss-cheat-day-fast-day/

 There are multiple websites and sources that clam that carb-cycling is much more effective for fat loss and muscle maintenance than straight low-carb. This is very intriguing! I can definitely see myself doing the 20 grams or less thing Monday-Friday, knowing that i can relax and consume plenty of carbohydrates on Saturday. Psychologically, this is a PHENOMENAL discovery for me, and I will definitely be giving this a try! *happy dance*

September 7 - 30 DAY SHRED

Officially 30 days until the wedding, and i must shrink shrink shrink!

From here on out, 2x daily workouts, 2 OEP per day, tons of water, no carbs for lunch and dinner, with lots of protein shakes and daily multivitamins.

Starting weight: 257

Workout 1: 2.5 miles elliptical (lunchtime)
Workout 2: Firm it Up! (1 hr)

My Diet Plan

Basic Premises:
-low/moderate carbohydrates
-high protein
-low calorie
-lots of water!


I'll be using Muscle Milk as a meal replacement for breakfast and snacks, and have a healthy low-calorie lunch and dinner. My average day will look something like this:

7:00 am: protein shake
9:00 am: protein shake, coffee
11:00 am: protein shake
2:00 pm: lunch (300 calories)
3:30 pm: protein shake
5:30pm: protein shake
7:30pm: dinner (300-400 calories)

Each protein shake is about 100-150 calories. Overall, I'm trying to keep my calorie intake between 1200-1600. I think variation will keep me from plateauing.

This is a variation of the Impatient Dieter's plan here. I've used it before and got phenomenal results! The only problem was that i had not planned for maintenance, and I immediately went back to bad habits and stopped working out. I'm determined to get the weight off and KEEP it off!