The First Day!

Hi there!
Welcome to the wonderful world of protein. Through this process I will describe the trials and tribulations of, NOT going on a diet, but changing my whole perspective of my life style. I will be cutting out carbs and refined sugars from my life and pledging my allegiance to fat and protein.

I always found it funny when talking about physical health that people say 'you are what you eat, so eat natural, because at the end of the day we are natural. So eat natural.' or whatever. But when you think about it not all things natural are necessarily good for us. Apples for example are perceived as a healthy snack but in reality they are full of sugar. And before you say, 'but it's healthy sugar.' I'm sorry but it's time to take off that sweet blindfold, sugar is sugar is sugar is sugar. It doesn't matter where the sugar comes from, it's all sugar. So not only will I not be allowed, sorry, no more restrictive words here, not only will I choose to cut out bread, chocolate bars, and all typical fattening foods, but the secret sneak attackers like apples, potatoes, and my favourite, squash, and my second favourite, honey glazed ham, and my third favourite- this is going to be tough.
Also, when you think about your body through the natural scope, it is actually made of fat and protein. Basically your body is made up of muscle, fat, and water. So if we follow the old saying, we should be eating protein, fat, and water.

Now I did a little fib, today isn't actually my first day. I decided to start this a week or two ago. My starting weight was, oh geez, 230 pounds. However, as of today I have lost 4 pounds! Here are my goals,

October 15- 230
November 6- 215
November 20- 210
December 4- 205
December18- 200 
​
Basically it is five pounds every two weeks, which I think is perfectly doable. (Also I gave myself so much time because if you're like me and you have tried changing habits before, there are bound to be a slip up or two..or three.)
And don't worry, if you think I just woke up one day with the epiphany that sugar is bad and therefore I am crazy I can assure you I did not.
I am actually receiving help from a counsellor, her name is Laurie Ponsford Hill and she is the  clinical director of The Counselling House. She fully understands how this diet change works as she herself was overweight and lost it by saying goodbye to carbs and prioritizing protein. And I will include to her Emotionally Focused Eating program below.   

Writing everything down is crucial. I keep a log of what I eat and drink so that if I lose weight I know why and, in turn, if I gain weight I know why. I also keep room for a section I call 'How I Feel'. This is so when I feel distraught over my lack of weight loss I have an outlet for it instead of turning to food, and if I feel ecstatic about my weight loss I have a good memory to look back on and keep me motivated. This weight loss journal will teach you how to be accountable for your actions.

Another thing I want to cover is taking something carb-laden and converting it to fit the protein requirements (which is zero to no carb). I tried this also, using coconut flour to try and make pizza, using flax seed to make bread, all these tasted how they sound; disgusting. And on top of all this, as I said before, these ingredients were natural but they were no help in my weight loss journey. In fact,  they really are just as bad as real bread.
Now saying this, of course you can make successful conversions, for example, my best accomplishment at this is making no carb mozzarella sticks. They are tasty, stringy, beautiful no carb wonders. No bread crumbs! Hurrah!  

Now I know what you are thinking, 'wait, if something is zero carb, like chicken, then does that mean I can go buy a roast chicken and eat the entire thing and still lose weight?'
YES! (as long as there are no hidden carbs.) When you fist start this, you will feel cheated, angry, and left out. Those are really important feelings to pay attention to. A significant part of the emotionally focused eating program is not only dealing with food intake but the emotions that go along with it. They go hand in hand to overeating and as such both need to be worked through. So the first hurtle is the food. 
​So that is why it is really important for you to take the emotionally focused eating program if you feel you are an emotional eater. 
The Counselling House
http://www.thecounsellinghouse.ca/weight-loss-program-in-london-woodstock/