In Hatitian Creole, they have a saying. M'ap boule; it means I am burning and it is a response to "how are you?" Fitting, hu? If you are doing well, you are burning. Turns out, burning is not just good, it's great!
I am getting older (don't tell anybody!) and my metabolism is slowing down... by quite a bit. It began a few years ago when I was really, really busy. I never had time to eat and I was sleepy a lot so I lived on Full Throttle Slushies from Sonic and Slimfast shakes. Yeah, I know. So at first, it was awesome! I had the energy I needed (and then some!) and lost about 15 pounds. I am 5 foot 3 so 15 pounds is pretty significant, pants falling off and all that good stuff. Problem was, I decided about 6 months later to eat. While I was starving, my body decided to stop burning. I packed that 15 back on in a jiffy and then some! My first inclination was to cut back the calories, but I knew that if I cut down to 700 calories this year, it would have to go down to 600 next year and so on until I was living on 200 calories a day to keep my weight down. No fun.
About a year ago, I decided to do it right and take it slow. So I ate healthy and worked out, just like they say. It worked, a little. I dropped back to a decent weight but was still soft around the edges and still tired. During my journey with veggies I have tried to cut out things like dairy and meats. It makes my tummy feel great but I am not seeing my body respond the way I want.
I think the problem is my fire is dying. I am not burning. It is like throwing wet logs on and wondering why your flames are not rising higher. I blame it on the protien/carb thing. Veggies have lots of vitamins and minerals and happy things in them. I love them and their fiber keeps my tummy happy. Viva Veggies! However, veggies are carbs. OK, no problem. But where are my protiens coming from? Well, all of my protien sources in a veggie diet come from things like nuts, soy, beans, etc. which are high in protien but guess what else? Yup, carbs and also fat. Check out the nurtitionals on your veggie things in the freezer and you'll see 15 protiens and 35 carbs and 15 fats. So every time I am downing those "protiens", I am adding 30 or 50 carbs in my diet plus 15-30 grams of fat (no, it's not all saturated but you can't be eating too much fat period!). Then I am still eating my greens and other veggies that have more carbs. I am basically carb and fat loading and not getting enough protien. Sounds like a recipe for weight gain, even if I am feeling great.
So, what's a girl to do??? I want to be in great shape, I mean like lean with cut up abs and arms and be able to run my 1/2 marathon in June and also feel great and be able to keep up with life.
My plan is this; and you can track my progress with me, I'm going to add back in some lean protiens (wild caught fish and organic chicken and turkey) while keeping my veggies up. That way, I'll have my awesome fiber and carbs from the good stuff and then I will be getting some great protiens to keep that fire hot while I keep fats down. Sound like a plan? Hey, this sounds a lot like moderation, hu?
The great part about being called "vegetarian" or "vegan" is you CAN'T eat a lot of crappy stuff and still use the label. If you eat lean, organic (not tortured and injected) meats along with the vegetables, you don't get a cool label. Well, maybe one, Smoking Hot. That works.
