Diet Plans

Read This Before Trying a Low Carb Diet: A Helpful Read

February 28, 2019 By Lisa Leave a Comment

When it comes to dieting, I’ve pretty much done it all…low carb, no carb, keto, Weight Watchers, Atkins, Paleo, Whole 30…and a host of others. While there have been things I’ve loved about each, I find myself drawn back to a low carb diet or if I’m super specific, a keto diet. While I think almost everyone can benefit from keto or a low carb diet, it can be daunting at first. Read this for some easy tips and tricks and to decide if this is the right plan for you.

A low carb diet can help you lose weight and enjoy other potential health benefits. Many studies suggest that cutting back on carbs may contribute to stabilizing your blood sugar and reducing your risk for diabetes and certain heart conditions.

However, there can be pitfalls. For example, your body needs time to adapt to your new diet, and you may miss some of your favorite foods.

If you’re thinking about consuming fewer carbs, read this. You’ll learn whether a low carb diet can keep you healthy and satisfied.

Losing Weight on a Low Carb Diet

It’s possible to slim down by avoiding carbs, but it’s not guaranteed. Success depends on knowing how to make smart choices.

Try these strategies to help a low carb diet work for you:

Think long term. There is some evidence that low carb diets produce more weight loss within the first 6 months compared to low fat diets, but the difference declines over time. If you don’t need to reduce quickly, you may prefer a less restrictive diet.
Understand ketosis. That initial weight loss is based on ketosis, where your body responds to the lack of carbs by burning its own fat for fuel. As you eat more protein and fat, your appetite is reduced too.
Stay regular. A less pleasant side effect of ketosis is constipation. Rely on natural remedies like exercise and water rather than laxatives.
Drink water. Speaking of water, a low carb diet can be dehydrating. You may need to drink at least 2 quarts of water a day to keep your body running smoothly.
Freshen up. How’s your breath? Metabolic changes may leave your mouth with a stale odor, giving you an additional reason to drink more water.
Control portions. While many low carb foods are healthy, some of them are high in calories. That includes nuts, seeds, full fat dairy products, and meat. Ensure that you stay within sensible limits.
Take supplements. Any restrictive diet where you cut out many foods can create nutritional deficiencies. Your doctor may recommend supplements for folic acid and other vitamins and minerals.
Be flexible. Strict diets can also tempt you to cheat. If you’re having trouble sticking to a low carb diet, you may get the results you want with less discomfort by taking a more lenient approach.

Safety Considerations for a Low Carb Diet

Most experts agree that more research is needed to understand the long-term effects of low carb eating. While there are many different ways to interpret a low carb diet, some plans advocate getting as little as 10-20% of your total calories from carbohydrates compared to current US government guidelines that recommend 45 to 65%.

Follow these tips for safety while on a low carb diet:

1. 1. See your doctor. Your doctor can help you decide if a low carb diet is appropriate for you. Discuss your fitness goals and your options for reaching them.
  2. Protect your kidneys. High protein diets can place extra strain on the kidneys if you’re not careful.
  3. Increase your fiber. Eating too much meat and too little fiber can cause bloating and more serious gastrointestinal symptoms.
  4. Leave room for low carb vegetables and fruits like mushrooms, spinach, and berries.

Make it sustainable.

Overall, choose a healthy diet you can maintain for life. Daily habits produce greater results than following each new trend.

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Project 36 Update: 37 Days Left

June 7, 2013 By Lisa Leave a Comment

When I kicked off Project 36, I had no doubt in my mind that I would and could accomplish everything on my list. I knew some of the items on my list would be a stretch, but I needed a good challenge. I had no idea that our life was going to drastically change this year and that my time, my efforts, and most of my energy would be spent on the 2 new additions to our family. It seems like everything has fallen to the wayside since we added the twins to our family and now that life is moving along at a less chaotic pace (and also now that we’re only 37 days away from my 37^th birthday), I thought I’d check in to see how I’m doing with Project 36.

1. Make my bed 36 days in a row.
2. Walk or walk/jog for at least 36 minutes, 36 days in a row.
3. Go on 36 dates with my hubby.
4. Make a realistic to-do list and accomplish it 36 days.
5. Do 36 fun things with my family.
6. Take 36 good pictures of my daughter Amina.
7. Take 36 good pictures of my daughter Khrystyna.
8. Take 36 good pictures of my husband Fred.
9. Get family photos taken before I’m no longer 36. 🙂
10. Do T-Tapp Basic Workout Plus 36 times.
11. Do T-Tapp Total Workout 36 times.
12. Do Jillian Michaels 30 Day Shred 36 times.
13. Try 36 new recipes.
14. Memorize 36 Bible Verses.
15. Make a 36 day menu plan.
16. Do 36 days of C25K. (This will allow me to repeat weeks if necessary).
17. Do 36 consecutive days of clean eating. (no gluten or sugar)
18. Complete a 5k in under 36 minutes.
19. Do 36 consecutive days of at least 36 minutes of exercise.
20. Lose 36 pounds.
21. Lose another 36 pounds.
22. Lose yet another 36 pounds.
23. Read 36 books. (At least 10 of these were Chautona Havig books. I seriously love her writing!)
24. Jog 36 miles in 1 week.
25. Do 36 Random Acts of Kindness.
26. Send 36 Snail Mail Cards.
27. Do 36 “man pushups” in a row.
28. Take 36 walks with friends.
29. Play piano for 36 minutes on 36 days.
30. Get rid of 36 pieces of clothing (and socks don’t count).
31. Do 36 craft projects.
32. Save an extra $3600.
33. Take at least 36 pictures of myself in various outfits as I lose weight.
34. Call, write, or visit with my grandma 36 times.
35. Watch 36 hours of TV or movies (I don’t watch TV and I rarely watch movies, but I thought this would be a good way to unwind).
36. Spend 36 minutes doing non-blog writing on 36 different days.

As I looked through the list, I was shocked to see that I’ve only completed 4 of the 36 items. I think that if I really go after it for the next 37 days, I can accomplish 21 more of these goals. While I had hoped for a 36 out of 36 (A+), it looks like I’ll end up with 25 out of 36 (69% D).

While this may not seem that impressive, I realized that if I accomplish these 25 things I will have done the following:

Made my bed 36 days in a row
Walked 1300 minutes in 36 days
Gone on 36 dates with my hubby
Had 36 fun experiences with my family
Taken 108 good pictures of people in my family plus taken 36 pictures of myself.
Had family photos taken (even though I’m not at my goal weight)
Completed T-Tapp Basic Workout Plus 36 times
Completed Jillian Michael’s 30 Day Shred 36 times
Completed 36 Days of C25K
Completed 36 consecutive days of exercising at least 36 minutes
Made a 36 day menu plan
Read over 50 books
Made 36 peoples day with snail mail
Downsized my closet by 36 pieces of clothing (easy to do when you lose that much weight)
Enjoyed 36 consecutive days of Body by Vi Shakes
Lost Over 60 Pounds

So here’s to the next 37 days! I’m going to be a busy girl, but I’m looking forward to being able to say that I accomplished these things!

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Project 36: My 36 Goals for the Year

July 24, 2012 By Lisa 2 Comments

I’m a dreamer or maybe I’m a visionary. I have lots of great ideas and big dreams, but without specific, tangible goals, nothing ever happens. I know that about myself. The years that I have set goals, posted them on the internet for the world to see, and placed them on my wall above my desk to daily remind me of what I’m striving for are the years that I’ve been successful in accomplishing things. When I haven’t set goals, or they haven’t been specific, I’ve found myself further away from my goals at the end of the year than at the beginning of the year.

This year has been an exception to that rule. I set some pretty specific goals for 2012 only to spend every week so far of this year with horrible, debilitating vertigo. I could barely make it through the day. I felt like I was going through life in a fog. Simple tasks took 3 times as long as they normally would. I wasn’t able to exercise at all and I gained a ton of weight. Needless to say, I’m so far away from so many of my goals that they’re not even relevant!

Thankfully, last week I was able to see a specialist in Massachusetts about my vertigo and for the first time this year, I’m feeling pretty normal! Woohoo! This also happened to all coincide with my 36th birthday.

So in honor of my 36th birthday and my desire to reach some amazing goals this year, I’m launching Project 36…my own personal set of goals for the 36th year of my life!

Since I do best when I share my goals, I’m sharing them all with you! I even created a notebook this morning with all of my goals and forms to track my progress.

If you have suggestions as to how I can reach my goals, I’d love to hear them!

1. Make my bed 36 days in a row. Completed 9/12/2012 Woohoo! I’ve turned this into a habit!
2. Walk or walk/jog for at least 36 minutes, 36 days in a row.
3. Go on 36 dates with my hubby.
4. Make a realistic to-do list and accomplish it 36 days.
5. Do 36 fun things with my family.
6. Take 36 good pictures of my daughter Amina.
7. Take 36 good pictures of my daughter Khrystyna.
8. Take 36 good pictures of my husband Fred.
9. Get family photos taken before I’m no longer 36. 🙂
10. Do T-Tapp Basic Workout Plus 36 times. Completed 10/29 Need to start doing this regularly again.
11. Do T-Tapp Total Workout 36 times.
12. Do Jillian Michaels 30 Day Shred 36 times.
13. Try 36 new recipes.
14. Memorize 36 Bible Verses.
15. Make a 36 day menu plan.
16. Do 36 days of C25K. (This will allow me to repeat weeks if necessary).
17. Do 36 consecutive days of clean eating. (no gluten or sugar)
18. Complete a 5k in under 36 minutes.
19. Do 36 consecutive days of at least 36 minutes of exercise.
20. Lose 36 pounds.
21. Lose another 36 pounds.
22. Lose yet another 36 pounds.
23. Read 36 books.
24. Jog 36 miles in 1 week.
25. Do 36 Random Acts of Kindness.
26. Send 36 Snail Mail Cards.
27. Do 36 “man pushups” in a row.
28. Take 36 walks with friends.
29. Play piano for 36 minutes on 36 days.
30. Get rid of 36 pieces of clothing (and socks don’t count).
31. Do 36 craft projects.
32. Save an extra $3600.
33. Take at least 36 pictures of myself in various outfits as I lose weight.
34. Call, write, or visit with my grandma 36 times.
35. Watch 36 hours of TV or movies (I don’t watch TV and I rarely watch movies, but I thought this would be a good way to unwind).
36. Spend 36 minutes doing non-blog writing on 36 different days.

This post may contain affiliate links. Please see my Disclosure Policy for more information.

South Beach Diet: 6 Months for only $39

May 10, 2012 By Lisa Leave a Comment

If you need help losing weight, this deal might be right up your alley! Right now you can get a 6 month online subscription to South Beach Diet for only $39 (reg. $130).

This three-step process can help you lose weight—and keep it off. The South Beach Diet Plan will help you get the physique you’ve always wanted. You’ll enjoy effective, long-term weight loss without giving up the foods you love.

During Phase 1, you’ll learn to curb cravings and kick-start weight loss. In Phase 2, you’ll reach steady, long-term weight loss until reaching your target. Phase 3 will help you adopt a year-round lifestyle that will maintain your new, healthy weight.

No more fad diets or pills—just healthy, nutritious, and delicious meals.

Click here to check it out!

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Body By Vi 90 Day Challenge {Day 17}

April 18, 2012 By Lisa 2 Comments

I am so thrilled to tell you that I’m 17 days into my Body by Vi 90 Day Challenge and I have lost 14 pounds. I can’t even tell you how thrilled I am. I still have a long way to go, but I love what Body by Vi is doing for me!

If you’ve been hesitant to start losing weight with Body by Vi I encourage you to watch this video.

Amazing, isn’t it? Are you ready to get started?

Take the 90 Day Challenge with me!

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