pay attention! oh, and how do you feel about dieting?

i've never been into diets. i've tried so many, and every time i've been miserable, given up, gained it all back plus more. just like everyone else. but i feel like i'd go into something expecting to see results too quickly without doing any work. and as i am now motivated and determined to lose weight and be healthy, the things i've been doing over the past few weeks have been working out pretty well.

a few weeks ago, this older russian lady, lyuda who works for my parents had told me about this diet that she had done several times that worked for her. basically you eat very small portions at approximately 70-100 grams/2-3.5 ounces of food per meal, every two hours. you can only drink water or tea, and a cup of coffee in the morning, you can drink up to 15 minutes before you eat and wait at least 30 minutes to drink after each meal when you're thirsty. it's EXTREMELY strict. i wish i had more info about the origin, but there were a lot of things that appealed to me about it so i thought i would give it a try. but because this diet was high in protein i decided to add some meat and dairies back into my diet. i was still eating fish, so i added some chicken back in, as well as eggs, some cheeses and yogurts and cultured milks for the calcium and probiotics.

here is an example of one day during this diet.

8am - a cup of coffee*
10am - lifeway's lowfat farmer's cheese*
12pm - hard boiled egg
2pm - 3 1/2 ounces of tuna
4pm - cucumber with a little bit of fresh squeezed lemon juice and sea salt**
6pm - mozzerella stick
8pm - green apple*
10pm - 1 cup lifeway's organic lowfat plain kefir (cultured milk)*

*everyday musts
**can be replaced with a small tomato, carrots, lettuces or cabbages

also, the last thing you eat should be about 2 hours before you go to bed.

you eat this way for two weeks, and on the third you still eat small portions of mostly proteins but you can start combining your proteins with fruits and vegetables. i mean technically you can eat whatever you want, but the portions need to be small in order to maintain the weight you lose.

i finished the two weeks without cheating at all, and the third week of eating small portions. with doing about 30-45 minutes of aerobic exercise 4-5 times a week, i've lost 11 pounds so far.

after doing some more research, i found out that this is a bit more strict than the lindora diet. which i have started today (because i have a lot more i want to lose, and i do better when i have something structured to follow). from what i've been reading, eating small portions frequently speed up your metabolism. at the same time, when you eat more protein than carbs you start burning fat instead of sugar for your energy.

it's been a really interesting experience though. there are so many things i never paid attention to! like how MUCH i was eating. even though i would hardly eat all day, i would binge when i got home. also, how much i snack when i'm PREPARING my food. and i'd never take my time. how much can you really enjoy what you eat when you shove it into your face and it's gone in two seconds? i've learned how to really eat slowly. seriously, i think my proudest moment was taking half an hour to eat a hard boiled egg. but it's so much more satisfying and keeps you satisfied until the next meal.