Almost Full Circle

My most successful diet back in the day was Atkins.  I stayed on it for about 2 years and was the tiniest I’ve ever been in my adult life.  I actually saw 120-something on the scale.

Eventually my love of bread and potatoes got the best of me and I went back to my old ways (and weight).  I found success again with a more inclusive (but calorically restricted) diet and SparkPeople.com.  Then I had the baby so here I am again with a substantial amount of weight to lose.  This time I am using the Precision Nutrition Lean Eating coaching program.

The first PN habit was easy.  I swig some fish oil every day no problem.  Our new habit – not so easy.  The new habit is to restrict dense carbs (whole grains, brown rice, pasta, potato etc) to post-workout meals only.  Not quite Atkins, but this habit definitely requires a shift in my normal routine.  I exercise first thing in the morning so that means no starchy carbs with lunch or dinner.  I can eat fruit anytime (just not a whole ton of it), but I should be focusing more on leafy greens and other veggies.

So far, so good!  I’ve been having big salads with chicken for lunch.  I purchased and sauteed some Swiss Chard in olive oil with red pepper flakes and garlic (yum!).  I traded my normal pre-workout whole wheat bagel half for a slice of Ezekial bread (which actually doesn’t taste too bad).

At this point, I haven’t felt the dip in energy that I remember when I dropped carbs cold turkey with Atkins.  I think this more moderate approach might work out better for me.  Or so I thought until I made this recipe last night.  The chicken was excellent.  I didn’t have some items on hand so I subbed some Rotel for the fresh tomato, frozen chopped green peppers and 2% mexican cheese instead of full-fat cheese.  I paired it with some green beans.  The Mister’s reaction?  “This is good but we really need some rice to go with this!”  Hmm…I was thinking more along the lines of mashed potatoes.

I can do this and I will be better and healthier because of it.