13 October 2010

Is it Ideal?

As many of you know I struggle with my weight, and since it's a requirement for my job to stay in shape, I'm always looking for what's going to work best.

For awhile I was strong into South Beach, but I have found that it's tough to stay on Phase I when I'm running. Two weeks of no bread or fruit does not a happy girl make - especially when I'm also burning calories. The extra burn of calories does help the weight loss, but I'm so crabby and unhappy it's not really worth it.

The latest craze at my workplace is the Ideal Protein diet. It's incredible the results my friends have had with it, but I really question some of it's sanity. For one - their Phase I is until you get 95 or 95% of your goal weight loss (that can be quite a long time). For two - you can't have milk or cheese...no dairy. Instead you take a supplement, which concerns me because while supplements are good, they also aren't fully effective. And what's wrong with milk? For three - it's a bunch of pre-packaged bars and shakes for some of your meals. Where's the real food?

I don't get it, but I'm a little jealous of the results my friends are getting. I'm just not sure I'm strong enough to stay that focused. And, as one of my friends is finding, what happens once you meet your goal? Then it's all on you to maintain because there is no maintaining program.

I don't know. I need to exercise more, but I need a plan to do it. Running is great but it's not burning what I need. And eating better would be a good thing...maybe it's time to go back on the Beach, even temporarily.

1 comment:

KJ said...

Any time I go off wheat, dairy and sugar I drop weight like crazy - I can eat anything else at all, but lose those three things...according to a couple of different chiropractors and nutritionists I've seen, most people are allergic to dairy and wheat, probably because those two things are in EVERYTHING in a normal American diet... worth a shot. I think real food is better than shakes and bars, though. That kind of creeps me out. ;)