I am overdue for an update on this subject. So that’s just what this is: an update to my slow-carb diet challenge. I can tell you, the experiment/challenge has led to some interesting observations and some disappointing disappointments [was that literarily legal?]. I should point out, the challenge was not actually to lose weight or get in shape, but to stick to the diet and document my progress. For the most part, this challenge has been a success. I mean, I stuck to the diet as much as a high-carb junkie could be expected to (we’re talking generalities here, you and me - this is the hypothetical high-carb junkie that is not necessarily me - still, I wouldn’t give myself anything higher than a grade of C), and my documentation of caloric intake and daily weigh-ins have earned for me a grade of at least a B+.

It has been forty-three days since I started this diet, according to my handy spreadsheet, and, just looking at the numbers, my weight is about the same as when I started. So is the caloric intake per day. In the middle of each column (the daily weight column and the caloric intake per day column) there is a distinctive dip in the numbers. If they were put to a graph, they would take the utilitarian form of a bowl (I’m thinking shallow, rustic wooden bowl, but whatever).

The reason for this is hard to say. Might have something to do with the lunar eclipse that happened recently, but more than likely it was a subtle laxation of rigorous adherence to the diet (for more information, see the humorous aside about the hypothetical high-carb junkie). Is this a bad thing? No, I don’t think so. It is normal to fall into a daily pattern, a habit of practical living. Sometimes the wife comes home with two (!) boxes of Girl Scout cookies, for instance. Things happen.

And there is another point to be made: I really wasn’t trying to lose weight on the diet - honestly - it would have been nice, but I was not limiting my calories, and I purposely tried to only eat when I was hungry (this non-American ideal was a little hard to keep up the entire time for me, I must admit, especially after the challenge-feeling wore off). And one final excuse - er, point - is that I was pretty much sans exercise the entire time.

This lack of exercise leads me to a question: why do I keep typing “excercise”? I mean, seriously, it doesn’t even look correct. I catch the mistake every time with help from my spell-checking browser, but still . . . come on! Sorry, just wanted to share my frustration.

The positive side of things: it is not a hard diet to follow, and I think with a little bit of mental-foo in place, focusing myself on a set goal, I could see this working very well for losing weight, for instance - extremely well for a healthy lifestyle in the long run. I gave blood recently and was disappointed to find that they were temporarily not running the normal cholesterol check that I enjoyed getting (talk about ironic twist, what with this cholesterol-lowering diet I’m on and all) - so I can’t speak to that side of things. Not that I needed lower cholesterol - I must eat a lot of oats or something, but it’s always low, low.

Finally, I wanted to mention that I made the connection only recently between this slow-carb diet and the healthy eating recommendations of Dr Andrew Weil - this is basically what he recommends, if you follow him at all. He would probably have you cut out the red meat, but a lot of what he recommends also comes with the caveat of fitting your food choices to your own lifestyle and habits, realizing that we can’t all eat perfectly every time, he seems to be fairly forgiving in his approach to eating. Awesome. That’s all I have.

Next step: adding exCercise to the mix (come on, Springtime!) and adhering to a weight loss program (not only counting calories, but limiting them as well). I’ll let you know how that goes. And you simply must leave a comment if you’ve made it this far! Thanks.

photo: targophoto.com

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