A Discussion on Lifestyle: One Meal a Day, HCLFV, Paleo

featured image credit: Insta @healthymood_sf

A bit of history…

I started being aware of my weight in 3rd grade. I remember during a physical at school, my nutritionist or gym teacher (I can’t remember who she was), said: “wow you are skinnier than most of the other kids here!” Then she jotted down my weight and moved on to the next student. My memory isn’t as strong as I’d like so it’s interesting to note that I still remember this. At the time, I remember feeling proud and happy about the comment. (I was also really happy to be on the shorter side too of my class, but that’s another topic best suited for the psychological effects of environment section…)

Later, I filled out to an average, albeit, not particularly healthy weight in junior high school. This weight was average for my neighborhood’s standards, predominantly minority – African American, East Asian and Latino, but once I entered college and was surrounded by 90% White American peers, I became semi-consumed with losing the weight. Hence started my decade-long dance with dieting. I slimmed down considerably but after college and a few years of long working hours and longer happy hours I put on a lot of weight.

145 lbs (2015)

115 lbs – 120 lbs (2010, during college)

Recently, since 2016, I’ve begun looking at my weight and the general state of my mind holistically. For example, what is the best way to eat to affect my mood, brain fogginess, my energy levels, my organ performance and life expectancy positively? I started caring more about those areas than physical appearance.

Towards the end of 2016 is when I really started educating myself about what it takes to be a high performer from a physical standpoint while tackling the mental and the physical together.

I thought I’d share nutrition lifestyles that I’ve  found to be helpful and that I am currently borrowing from in my regime today.

Onwards!

About three months ago I watched this video by “What I’ve Learned” and was blown away.

This video snowballed into me learning about the science behind eating once per day, various cultures that practice this (including Japan) as well as Dr. Berg and his style of eating which is basically Paleo-ish. He focuses on nutrient-dense foods and minimal carb intake.

{To learn more, please visit the links they do a better job of quickly explaining their philosophies than I could.}

Since then I’ve seen improvements in my weight.

Pictures here:

124 lbs – 126 lbs (2016- 2017)

130 lbs – 133 lbs (2016)

Left is most recent at 124/126 lbs (56.2455/57.1526 kg). Right is around 130/133 lbs (58.967/60.3278 kg)  I definitely still have work to do. It concerns me that my body fat percentage is so high and I’d like to shave off the extra unnecessary fat on my lower body.

To go back to the Once a Day Diet,  something to note is that you’re not restricting calories. Instead, you eat all of them in a 3-4 hour sitting (maybe less, maybe more, your choice). The point is to limit your body to only spend energy digesting food for a portion of the day, instead of the entirety. Once a Day diet is NOT to restrict calories, but contain your daily caloric intake to one meal.

For example, if you are a 5’3 girl, late twenties and weighing 130 lbs; to drop weight you may have to eat around 1200 calories a day. To do that and follow this style of eating, you could eat the sample meal below.

A sample meal could be:

Steak with blue cheese crumbles, a huge green salad, steamed veggies, cauliflower mash with pesto and cheese and strawberries and Greek yogurt parfait for desert. [I’m seriously having this next week….this sounds so good lol]

I’ve since tweaked my diet to smaller main meals with rare snacking. Lots of protein and fat-rich breakfasts, tiny lunches with tons of greens and smallish dinners with tons of greens, all eaten before 6 pm if I can swing it. I usually finish by 7 pm though. I prioritize breakfast now because I really think it helps improve my mood. I think that’s the key honestly.  Everyone always says it but I’ll join the choir.

Please eat in a way that serves you. YOUR moods, YOUR hunger signals, YOUR waistline.

For example, I really don’t think my body was made to eat the HCLF way…. Honestly, I really enjoy carbs and would love to join the movement BUT I have a serious inkling that I would gain a lot of weight eating that way… I really do think its best suited for a super high metabolism and active lifestyle person and right now I think that’s the polar opposite of me. I  have a pretty low metabolism and hypothyroidism.

I mentioned it briefly but here’s a quick overview.

Another style of eating that’s pretty trendy right now and has some merit is the High Carb, Low Fat Vegan lifestyle.

As I said, I think this lifestyle works best if you have a somewhat stable metabolism and no preexisting medical conditions that make it hard for you to lose weight.

Perhaps somatotypes like the Ectomorph and Mesomorph could do well on this style of eating! GuageGirlTraining did a great video on this if you’re curious!

Give any of these diets a try and see how your body responds. Honestly, nutrition and exercise are necessary.

You won’t be able to compete if you don’t get this sorted first.

Let’s start working.