Notes on my Diet

Based on my personal experience, I want to list what had an impact - positive and negative - on my Diet:

• Tomatoes hold my weight loss during the Strict Diet
• Asparagus helped me to lose weight and the fibers in it to go regularly
• Apart from water,  ANY type of drink consumed in large quantities made me constipated and bloated (including herbal teas) – as well as taking me out of ketosis
• Cabbage, although delicious, made me extremely bloated, constipated and hold my weight loss
• 2 Apples a day hold on my weight loss – do not eat more than one a day when possible
• Eating dinner late at night take me out of ketosis
• Fish is extremely good protein to lose weight
• Chicken made me gain weight and gassy (as well as turkey)
• Berries/Cantaloupe is the best fruit to lose weight during the Strict Diet – I'd suggest instead of any other fruit
• Goldfish crackers are better bread substitute than anything else
• Broccoli are heavy during the strict Diet – ideally the quantity of it should be very limited
• Yogurt is a perfect protein serving when on Strict Diet
• Not sleeping enough take you out of ketosis

Going back to the Strict Diet?

Being on a strict Diet is realistically never an easy thing to do. Ups and downs are part of the game – a mandatory learning curve, almost impossible to avoid. This is my experience so far, I'm learning what I want for my health, my body, for myself to feel comfortable with how I look (that not necessarily is the same as the one perceived by others).

My Dr. Bernstein Diet has been inspiring to me, very helpful; I learned beyond my expectations, also about myself and my weaknesses.

The reality is that when you approach this type of Diet, it's really hard to succeed the very first time. You try, you lose weight and you feel fantastic. But then you crave food, you want to be rewarded for such privation…and you gain back – if not all, some. It's here that you realize that you have to try again, that this is part of the learning process on how to make your everyday diet better, healthier and how to stick with it.

I found myself gaining weight only having 2/3 tbsp of peanut butter with my celery, I noticed on how my body complaints every time I eat processed food. I'm thirsty all day long and I learnt how to drink big amount of water in less than 60 seconds!

But me too, with all my love for sweets and chocolate, I'm going back to the strict diet. Sometimes I think that I'll be paying like $100 per Kg that I want to lose, is it worth it? Why I can't do it myself?

The answer is only one for me: no I can't, I might be able to maintain what I have, struggling on what I eat but I'm not able to lose 5 Kg by myself.

My experience so far is positive at the end. My love for cooking is hyperbolically increased and I'm craving organic fruits and vegetables every day. I don't even consider the idea to go back on eating junk food, and if I do – seriously – my stomach hurts like I'm dying!

My biggest challenge so far then it was, not the junk food, but the portion control; being in maintenance with this unlimited-vegetables pattern really did not work for me, switching between the different week of Maintenance program it's just a stupid thing. This is the only negative part I can tell about the Dr. Bernstein Diet plan; they should re-visit Maintenance – unless it's a marketing idea to have customers coming back for the strict diet!

I'm still going to the gym, like 3 times a week, I'm wondering if I will be able to still do it when I'll be back on the strict Diet, but I really hope so. Building muscles and exercising is a boost for the mood and the scale. Everything requires time, my job, my age surely doesn't help my weight loss program; but hey what can I do?!

I recently signup on one of those Organic Delivery Programs that some company/farmers do here and there, it's really nice and the taste of the fruits and vegetables is amazing; but the weekly family basket lasts only 2 days for me…and I'm single. This is because – at the end- the whole I eat are vegetables and fruit, with small amount of proteins to compliments my vegetables. I don't have any processed food in my apartment; in the freezer I only have my fish and some frozen vegetables, in the fridge tons of vegetables and some whole wheat/grain bread. I don't even remember what I used to store in my fridge when I was eating junk food? Maybe a frozen pizza? Maybe real eggs instead of my egg whites cartons.

But I do have my weaknesses now and then; I believe that a life without chocolate is not life at all. So sometime I buy the dark chocolate chips and I add them to my Plain 0% Greek Yogurt – it's super delicious – but again what's not delicious with chocolate in it?