Even before the banana bread catastrophe of Thursday afternoon it wasn't going so well (okay, true confession: it was THREE slices of banana bread. Not my most shining moment. Let me repeat: deprivation = binge later on. Case in point why I don't like to deprive myself of tasty treats I love in moderation). I had stuck to the plan, but a sneak at the scale Thursday morning again left me frustrated by a static number. So the banana bread binge definitely wasn't the cause of what I'm sure will be a disappointing weigh-in tomorrow morning.
After that, my weekend has been full of tiny cheats, and, really, I'm okay with them all. I'm very much "over" this diet because it's not working the way I hoped. Let me confess my FMD food sins before I continue. Friday night brought about dinner at Panera Bread, my carbohydrate heaven. I behaved, however, and got a salad with couscous, shrimp, and other yummy, acceptable items. Only mistake: there was feta on the salad and I didn't realize until I received it. But, I did manage to resist the yummy side of baguette, a feat even I don't know how I pulled off. Last night consisted of eating ONE buffalo wing at the bar and being talked into an adult beverage by my boyfriend, who's just as frustrated with the no alcohol rule for me as I am. Stubborn, girly me chose an Angry Orchard Cider, which, upon label inspection, turned out to be gluten free! No wheat! I can't even cheat right when I want to! Today also consisted of a cheat: Chipotle for lunch. Now, it could have been worse. I ordered a salad with chicken, black beans, salsa, and guacamole (healthy fats for phase 3) but also got brown rice...an acceptable grain on FMD, just not in Phase 3 or at lunch. But again, I mean, really, it could have been so much worse. All in all, I tell you these sins because, in my own personal health and wellness scheme, I made smart decisions about my eating this weekend. But according to Fast Metabolism Diet, I totally, royally, EFFED up. That's where my negative thoughts about this diet comes into play.
I was told that if I followed these guidelines, I'd lose weight like a champ and reset my entire body system. Okay, week one made me believe and hang on. But week 2 and the first half of week 3 made me lose my faith. I'm not saying this diet isn't worth trying (my ability to pop out of bed at 530am without the aid of caffeine still amazes me!), but for me, I'm coming down off my soapbox about it. I know when I step on the scale tomorrow morning, it will not have moved or will have gone up a little...and I've come to peace with that. I lost the 5 inches from my waist that I had put on since reaching goal weight on Weight Watchers in September. I'm back to my body I was so proud of achieving and I feel great. This diet really refocused me and my eating habits that have been slipping since Thanksgiving.
I'm not giving up a week early though. I plan to see this through until at least Saturday afternoon. I promised Jeff we could go out and have a rip roaring good time this weekend (it's been way too long) and I plan to see that through. Personally, I know what kind of food decisions I need to make to keep my body healthy. I will finish out this final week on FMD and probably revisit the diet one week per month just to keep myself on track. But I've decided that I really love my body, myself, and food. And I want to keep myself happy. I want to be able to socialize at the bar with friends and a drink or two. I want to eat the damn brownie if I want to and then go to the gym and sweat it off. I'm fine with that; I just need to keep it in check and be more balanced.
All in all, I think this diet has been good for me. As I said, I'll finish out the week through about Saturday afternoon. But after that, I'm back to making decisions for myself on what to eat when, living my personal 80-20 healthy-splurge rule, and enjoying good food and good company when the time calls for it.