I Lost 10 lbs in 1 Week: Cut The #Sugar add the #HealthyFats #WeightLoss

It feels like I've been away forever, yet it's only been a little over two months. At the end of October, I decided to take a break from social media, and writing, in order to focus concentrated effort on Bible studies. That subject is a whole different post! For now, I want to tell you about my weight loss journey, which saw 10 lbs fall off me in a week without me dieting.

I don't know about you, but I HATE diets. Yes, I know hate is a strong word, which would tell you how much I dislike the restricted plans other people come up with that always consists of the foods I either dislike or am allergic to.

So, here was my deal. Over this last year, I found myself slowly putting on weight. As an author, I spend far too many hours at my desk in front of my laptop, which translates to a very sedentary life. Up to mid last year, I walked three and a bit miles per day. Then I ended up starting my work day before my walk, and the walk got forgotten most days until I realised one day I'd actually stopped my daily walks in favour of writing. 

In December it hit me that I was starting to look like a proper Romance writer--no offense! Over the year I'd managed to creep up to UK size 14/16 US 10/12!! This is bad news for a 47-year-old, I can tell you. I used to put my weight on around my hips, now all of a sudden it's on my hips AND belly! I knew I had to do something about it, but I was so hooked on sugar I couldn't make diets stick. Last year, I went on the LCHF--Low Card High Fat--eating plan and dropped 22 lbs in no time, but I felt like I was going to die! I started getting leg cramps and feeling lightheaded ALL THE TIME! Even my right eye began to twitch almost nonstop. I lasted a month before I dropped the diet. Then, of course, my sugar addiction saw me putting that weight back on plus a bit more. 

So, back to December...By the end of the month, I knew I had to do something or accept that I was going to be a fat, middle-aged woman. I don't think so! I don't look my age, I don't see why my body should. But, still, I couldn't seem to get my brain on board with my body's desire to get healthy again. Then I happened to be flicking through the health documentary films on Netflix and Amazon prime on the fire stick and happened upon That Sugar Film with Australian filmmaker Damon Gameau. This film served as a HUGE wake-up call for me. I knew sugar was bad for my body, but I never stopped to consider how detrimental it would be to my health. I watched the film on December 31st and started my new way of eating on January 1st. 

As of today Jan, 11th I've lost 12 lbs, 3 inches off my waist, and 2.5 off my hips without even trying. In case you haven't noticed, these results are for the last eleven days.

How did I do it?

First I'll tell you my Don'ts:

• I don't have anything that contains added sugar. (You don't understand the enormity of this statement for me). I LOVED sugar and could not drink a cup of tea without heaping 2 teaspoons of sugar into it. I usually had a lot of tea per day--10 or more cups! So, you understand how serious I must be to give it all up, just like that, when no matter how hard I'd tried previously, I couldn't even seem to cut down on the number of cups of milky, sugary tea per day. Now I have herbal teas without any sweetenings, and I have no idea what the big deal was before...oh, yes, I do. I was sugar addicted!
• I've cut out all processed foods.
• Drink no pop or fruit juices.
• And consume nothing that has added sugar or sweeteners. (I will go into this in a later post).
• I've ditched all fake food.

What I do now:

• I eat only when I'm hungry.
• Stop when I'm satisfied and only eat real food.
• I continue to drink my 2lts of water per day.
• Drink herbal teas, coffee or tea without any form of sweetening.
• I add loads of fat to my foods.
• I eat nuts.
• Lots of fruit (and still entered ketosis within the first two days of cutting sugar!)
• I intermittent fast for 16hrs per day--counted from the last meal(dinner).
• I've stopped thinking of my meals in terms of Breakfast, Lunch, and Dinner, and now think in terms of my 1st meal, 2nd meal etc.
• I eat whatever I fancy as long as it's fresh, wholesome, and unprocessed. 
• I eat carbs: like rice, but not pasta since it's manmade. I don't know about you, but I've never seen a pasta tree or a pasta field. 
  
• My new rule of thumb is: if it can't be pulled, plucked, or picked, I'm not eating it. The only exception to this rule right now is grass-fed butter and double cream.
• I've always been a fan of the superfoods, so I continue to use them. 

Why is this time any different?

This is my own eating plan. I eat only when I'm hungry, I've cut out all sugar and processed foods. I eat whatever I want (I'll do a post about this), and I'm comfortable and happy with this. I'm not following what some so-called expert tells me I ought to eat. I eat what I want! By this I mean, I eat plenty of fruit as well as veg, even though some of these "experts" will try to tell us fruit is bad. I'm so looking forward to my post on fruit and fructose. 

With every other diet I've tried, something went wrong. On the T-Factor diet, my skin started to dry out so I ditched it. Weight Watchers made me develop an unhealthy relationship with food. Because of my sugar addiction, I used to weigh in at WW, then go to the donut shop right after my meeting and buy more donuts than I would ever eat, take them home and gorge on them. Then eat virtually nothing for the rest of the week so the WW scale didn't reveal my eating disorder at the next meeting. 

If I'm truthful, I'll admit that I really liked the LCHF (Low Carb High Fat) eating plan, but it made me too ill. I do believe we need plenty of healthy fat in our diet--the T-Factor taught me that. 

Looking back, most of the diets--except WW because they still encourage one's sugar addiction by substituting sugar for sweeteners--I had real success because the other diets made me cut the sugar. Sadly, they all had something that forced me to give them up. Dry skin on the T-Factor, and feeling too lightheaded to function on the LCHF.

Since I loved the LCHF, and I love fruit and rice. I've created my eating plan to give me high fat, fruit, meat, and healthy carbs. It has shocked me to discover that eating all of this still allows me to stay in ketosis. I haven't dropped out once.

And, finally, the reason I know this time I've nailed it is because I asked Yeshua for deliverance from sugar addiction! And He delivered me! Thank you, Abba Father! I love you!

Next time I'll talk about the benefits I've seen so far. And it's not just weight loss.