The Diet Plan

I’m on day three of the diet (started October 31st) and I’m still trying to nail down exactly what I’m going to do. My previous plan didn’t work, obviously, so I want to alter it a bit and hope for better results this time around. I hate doing things that are doomed to fail, so my goal is to at least lose some weight in the next year.

Based on my research of my PCOS, I know that I need to limit the amount of carbs I’m eating because of the way my body reacts to those types of foods. I know I can’t do the full-out low-carb diet and eliminate carbs completely from my life. Fruits and vegetables contain a lot of carbs and I have no plan to stop eating these nutritious foods. But I’m putting a ban on all “white food” (white bread/flour, white pasta, white potatoes, etc.) and replacing those foods with their healthier counterparts (whole grain bread, whole wheat pasta, sweet potatoes, etc.).

Here’s my basic plan so far:

• Keep daily caloric intake around 1400 to 1600 calories per day. 
• Calorie breakdown goal: 40% carbs, 40% protein and 20% fat. 
• Make healthy choices on all food. 
• Drink my water. No less than 64oz. per day. 
• Exercise. 
• Be accountable to myself and Mike, my “coach.” 
• Free days: No exercise on Friday. No calorie counting on Sunday. 
• Track my own progress. (food & exercise journal) 
• Check in with BEEP once a month to make sure the paperwork is being done. 

I’ll tweak it a bit as I go along, I'm sure. I’ll flesh it out a bit more in the next couple days and present it to Bob the Trainer (yes, that’s how I’m going to refer to him all the time) to see if he approves or has suggestions. Based on our initial conversation on Tuesday I think I’m in line with what he thinks will work for me, so I doubt there will be any surprises.

I’m using www.fitday.com to keep track of my calories and exercise. I’m not totally convinced this is the best site for me, but I’m going to give it a shot before I try something else. In the past I’ve used www.nutridiary.com and have liked it – I might go back. We’ll see.

I’ve developed a printed form that I’m using to write down daily achievements. Basically a place where I can record my weight, calories (and the percentage breakdown), exercise type, time and calories burned. Rather than having a ton of printed reports from a website food journal, this seems more streamlined. I’ve got one page for each week and put all 52 copies into a 3-ring notebook so I can write the info for each day. If you’d like a copy of it, just holler and I can send it.

2.5 days down…. 362.5 days to go. Wait, 2007 isn’t a leap year, is it!? LOL!

~Pam