When the "low"-ing gets tough...

So it's only day 3 of the Carb Nite Solution, and to be honest, it's not that bad. Today was the first day I noticed a little bit more fatigue than usual, but that could just be because my usual Wednesday morning spinning class felt like it was taking place in the Amazon. Girl was sweating today! And I'm pretty sure my carb stores are darn-near depleted. I'll bet the fun is just beginning.

Here's what I've noticed so far:

1). I'm less hungry in between meals now than when I eat carbs. My meals before usually looked like this: steel-cut oats baked with egg whites, fruit and nuts; chicken with veggies, beans and rice; plain, non-fat Greek yogurt with flax, nuts and fruit. Not too bad, I know. But in-between hunger would hit. I wouldn't pig out or anything crazy, but just thinking about eating and what I was going to eat would consume me. Now I know: protein, fat, vegetable. Makes life simpler and more filling.

2). I'm drinking (water) like a fish and peeing like a racehorse (God, I love cliches). With the ultra-low carb diet, my body needs more water. In the past I've found it hard to guzzle as much water as I should. I would usually get to the point where I get foggy-headed and super-tired for lack of water. Not anymore. It's an absolute necessity to be chugging water while on the Carb Nite Solution. Protein requires more water to be broken down by the body. And since I'm not eating as many fruits and vegetables as before, I'm missing out on the water that comes along with them.

3). I'm finding more ways to get creative with my food. When you don't carefully watch what you eat, it's pretty easy to satisfy every craving and not get bored with your diet. When you virtually eliminate a food group for a short period of time, it's not so easy to stay sated sometimes. One of the things I've been doing for the last few days is making wraps out of flax meal. I found these months ago when I went gluten-free and they're really coming in handy now. Sometimes you just want a vehicle for all that meat and cheese. Here's how you do it with zero carbs:

Flaxseed Wrap
From Wheat Belly by Dr. William Davis (a great read by the way!)

Ingredients
3 tablespoons flax meal
1/4 teaspoon baking powder
1/4 teaspoon onion powder
1/4 teaspoon paprika (I use smoked for a little extra flavor)
pinch of salt
1 tablespoon coconut oil, melted, plus more for greasing pan
1 tablespoon water
1 large egg


Directions
Mix together dry ingredients in a small bowl. Stir in 1 tablespoon melted coconut oil. Beat in the egg and water until blended. Grease a microwave-safe pie pan with coconut oil. Pour in batter and spread evenly. Microwave on high 2-3 minutes until cooked (if your microwave doesn't have a turntable, make sure you turn the pan halfway through). Let cool about 5 minutes. Lift up the edge of the wrap with a spatula. Store in the fridge for several days.

This recipe took me several attempts to master. I've found you really need to use the coconut oil and not olive oil. Once you've managed to get it right, you can use the wraps for anything- -I enjoy a nice buffalo chicken quesadilla in mine!

**What is your favorite "fake-out" recipe? How do you satisfy a certain craving without destroying your diet**

Return to the Blogosphere & my Carb Nite Solution

 So it's been a while since I've written, nearly 3 months actually. In that time I've continued with my heavy lifting in the gym, hitting new personal bests on all of the big lifts--the squat, deadlift and bench press. My weight has maintained, but I have shed 5 inches total off my body. And I've been experimenting with some different diet techniques, which is really why I wanted to get back to writing.

Yesterday was my first day on the Carb Nite Solution. I found out about this diet after doing some reading on a Web site called Dangerously Hardcore, which is maintained by a guy named John Kiefer, who usually just goes by Kiefer, a physicist and accomplished bodybuilder (labels that only scratch the surface of what this guy has done and continues to do).

About 2 weeks ago I start utilizing a way of eating Kiefer calls Carb Back-Loading, or CBL for short. In a nutshell, when you are on the CBL plan, you eat very low carbs during the day, 30 grams or less. Kiefer recommends working out in the late afternoon on this plan, generally after 3 or 4 p.m., but you can modify if you are an a.m. lifter, such as myself. After your late afternoon workout, or 6 p.m. for a.m. lifters, you start stuffing your face with carbs. And you can be as healthy or as junky with the carbs as you like. There's a method to the madness and I highly recommend checking Kiefer's site if you're interested.

What CBL is supposed to do is allow you to maintain your muscle mass while adding strength and size if that's your goal. You can also burn fat if that's your goal. Sounds like a ridiculously amazing plan, I know. Check out Julia Ladewski's blog post about it if you're having doubts. I enjoyed the 2 weeks of bountiful carbs at night, but I felt the time was right to buckle down and get ready for the summer. CBL is supposed to be a more gradual fat loss as opposed to the Carb Nite Solution.

On the Carb Nite Solution you stick to 30 grams of carbs or less per day for 9 days. Your diet basically consists of protein and fat, which a sprinkling of carbs and lots of fiber. On the 10th day you start off eating as you had the previous 9 days, but by late afternoon you begin a carb feast. Kiefer basically recommends eating anything and everything you can get your hands on during that 10th afternoon and evening (with the exception of fruit juice, which he gets into in the book). You return to ultra-low carb eating the next day and repeat a Carb Nite every week.

The science behind Carb Nite really interested me. It's not about counting calories or really about counting carbs, though yes, you do have to count carbs. Carb Nite is about creating hormonal changes in your body in order to burn fat rather than lose muscle, which Kiefer explains happens on most traditional diets. I've worked hard for the muscle I have and the preservation of said muscle is vital to me.

And Kiefer is pretty straight-forward in the book. He tells you flat-out that the Carb Nite Solution is strictly a diet, not a lifestyle, and that you shouldn't stay on the plan for more than 6 months at a time. Most "diets" nowadays claim to be lifestyle changes, but in reality who wants to go on forever not eating french fries? Kiefer also tells you when you go off of Carb Nite, you will most likely gain back a few pounds. Not to worry, you can continue to maintain with his transition plan.

So, I've laid out some of the basics, but the book provides so much more background on diets in general and the entire framework for the Carb Nite Solution. I'm going to give it at least a month and see what happens. There's been some stubborn baby weight hanging around my midsection and as hard as I work my legs, I can't seem to make any aesthetic progress (Is that vain of me?). I would like to wear shorts and a 2-piece bathing suit this summer.

And that leaves me with this... probably the most difficult thing about sharing a diet and fitness journey online with people: the before pictures. Go ahead and look. Hopefully they will be drastically different 2 weeks from now!

Classic front shot, in a $10 Target bathing suit!

Rear view, bye-bye back fat!

And the side... looking pretty solid. 

**What sort of eating plan are you following right now? What's the hardest thing about sticking to it?**