Well, as some of you know, I decided to bite the bullet (or
lay off the peanut butter cups, whichever you prefer) and hire a nutritionist,
which has led me to the metabolic typing diet.
For those of you who don’t know what that is, I encourage you to visit
this website- http://www.metabolictyping.com/
and learn more about it.
For those of you already struggling with the sacrifices of
this diet (or are just trying to figure out whether it’s right for you), I hope
to offer some insight. I’m currently in week two as a fast oxidizer, which
means that I am a heavy-duty protein type who loves her fats. And cue the top questions:
- What about the pastas??!?!?! I said the same thing. And not just about the pastas. I said that about fruits, vegetables, sweets, and every other delicious carb I could think of because you guessed it- I should not be eating a lot of them. Ugh. Which I’m sure leads to your next question.
- OMG YOU CAN’T EAT FRUITS AND VEGETABLES?!?! AREN’T YOU GOING TO DIE?! (Yes, I have gotten that reaction…several times). No, I’m not going to die and I can eat fruits and vegetables, just a very limited number of them (fruit- apples, bananas, pears, and coconut only) and a very small amount. And again, not everyone is a fast oxidizer or protein type. Many people are carb types or other types. My diet is not yours.
- But, aren’t you going to get a heart attack from eating all of that fat?! Well, yes, if I decide to only eat fast food burgers for the rest of my life. However, based upon a very thorough recent study, saturated fats do NOT cause heart disease. Trans fats do. Also, I’d imagine it depends on where you get your saturated fats from. After all, saturated fats can be found in coconut, avocado, etc.
So what have been
the biggest struggles so far?? Well, obviously, sticking to the proper foods to
eat. I should explain that once you find out what type you are (you answer a
lengthy questionnaire), you get a food chart that tells you all of the things
that your type can and cannot eat, which in theory makes it easy for you to
sort through what to get at the store.
However, it’s not so easy in practice when you are craving everything
deliciously salty and carbo-licious. The
good thing about my type is I get to eat fatty meat (bring on the bacon!!!) to
my heart’s content. The bad thing is I don’t like the meat sweats.
Getting serious now, here are the biggest struggles of this
diet so far:
- Going out and eating. I like to go out with friends every once in a while and I hate being that overly picky person who “just can’t eat anything off the menu because it’s soooo unhealthy”. No matter how true that is, it’s difficult to stick with the diet and eat within my constrictions (which for me also includes being gluten, dairy, and sugar free).
- Explaining the diet to others. I’ve come to realize that as a society we refuse to admit that our diet is killing us. I can’t tell you how many people I’ve explained this diet to who drink aspartame laden drinks and eat those nasty frozen dinners and claim “oh yea, I’m healthy. By the way, I have thyroid issues and I’m overweight and my joints hurt and I’m taking every medication under the sun for it”. People- YOUR BODY IS TELLING YOU SOMETHING. GET WITH THE PROGRAM. Stop feeding yourself crap and you won’t feel like crap.
- The cravings!! When they say that sugar is as addictive as a drug, I believe it. It has been more than difficult to kick the habit completely. I had cut down on my sugar intake a few months ago and thought I could handle this, but I have been massively proven wrong. Thus, I tend to breakdown every once in a while (OK, almost every day…) and have some gluten-free chocolate chip cookies by Lucy’s (kids, don’t try this at home…but if you do, just know they are delicious).
- The cost. Of course, healthy food is expensive as all get out, but if you live in the central PA area, I can tell you that if you go to BJ’s you can get organic meats at a very good price. They aren’t grass fed, but they are hormone and anti-biotic free and if you’re looking to lessen the impact on your wallet, it’s the way to go. I try and get some grass-fed meats in there too (maybe one or two steaks from Wegmans or Giant) just so I can be extra good on some days.
- Finally, the cooking. I feel this will probably be a benefit after I get used to it, but as a person who doesn’t normally cook, I find this very troublesome. I did try this weekend, though, to dedicate a day to cooking a bunch of food and freezing it as meals for this week. So far, so good.
OK, so if there are that many cumbersome cons why even try
it?! Well, I will tell you that even
after a week and half I have had some great results.
- First and foremost, my hair doesn’t fall out nearly as much. Remember how that was a problem in my past posts? I thought sulfate-free items would help…and they did, but it didn’t stop it. The change in my diet has cut the amount that falls out in half. Incredible.
- Secondly, my scalp stopped burning every time I touch it. Also incredible.
- Thirdly, I don’t bloat and have a “food baby” or if I do, it’s only in its first trimester. I have suffered from this for YEARS. Ever since my tweens I developed a food baby after every meal, which continually got worse over the years to the point that I can’t wear some of the things that I want to wear. Abdominal exercises didn’t work. Eating less didn’t work. Drinking more water didn’t work. This works.
- Finally, detoxing. I have been detoxing from who knows what, which can never be a bad thing, right?!
So yes, while the diet is so much of a change from before, I
think it’s going to be well worth it in the long run to maintain a healthy
body. Thus, if you are thinking about
trying this out, I encourage you to give it a whirl. You don’t need to be
perfect at it right away. I know I’m sure not, but the results will be well
worth the trouble and as time goes maybe you’ll realize that you don’t really
mind life without all of that junk anyway.
(Oh, and bonus-did I mention that I lost three pounds?!)
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