Slow Carb

Whirlwind traveling means I'm not a very good blogger doesn't it? Where to begin? Well Vegas was incredible - hubby and I had an amazing time together and we really went all out. We did not even come close to winning any money, sadly quite the opposite, but we just had so much fun together. We stayed at the new Palazzo hotel, which is connected to the Venetian if you guys know Vegas. It just opened in December and since we went mid-week, we were able to get a pretty darn good rate. The pool and the spa there still aren't open, but we were able to walk over to the Venetian's facilities and use them, which was really nice.

I didn't do great with food, but I didn't do terribly either. I ended up eating lunch a couple of days at the Canyon Ranch Spa Cafe, both times after good workouts, and the food was amazing. It was so nice to see a menu with all healthy options and know the nutrition facts were right there in front of me. I loved it. The food was ridiculously overpriced as it usually is in hotels like this, but I was so happy to be able to sit and enjoy some yummy organic iced tea and eat a whole wheat BBQ chicken wrap and cucumber salad and know everything I was putting in my mouth was fresh, nutritious and all around good for me.

Now all of that may or may not have been negated by the giant fudge cake thingy we had to celebrate my husband's 30th b-day, but it doesn't matter because it was perfect and fun and really it's all good. After about four hours of sleep on Friday night, we returned home on Saturday morning, where I immediately started doing laundry and preparing for the party our best friend's were having for yet another celebration. I did manage to sneak in a nap before picking up the chocolate chip cookie cake (what can I say, the man has the food preferences of a six-year-old) and heading to the party. We had such a great time with our friends, playing Rock Band and generally lamenting this new "grown-up" phase that is going to be our 30's (although I've still got two years before I get there).

I had Sunday at home to prep for my newest project - a modified "slow-carb" diet for the next couple of weeks - more on that in a few. Then Monday my girlfriend and I headed to the mountains for two days of snowboarding (she's a teacher on spring break). I got home last night and played trivia at the local pub, but I'm proud to say that I've been sticking to my plan and I think I'm going to have a very sucessful week. I am looking forward to a couple of days at home though - this running around has me exhausted!

So what is this slow carb diet? Tim Ferriss has had a post up about how to lose 20 lbs of fat in 30 days for some time now, and I've looked at it I don't know how many times, but it just seemed pretty daunting to do something that extreme. But I decided to bite the bullet and go for it, albeit with some modifications. Frankly this is more of a core/South Beach/Body For Life thing than what Tim outlines, but I don't expect to lose 20 lbs in 30 days either - I know myself and I know what's realistic for me.

The bottom line is that I'm trying to avoid sugar, white flour and anything else that is going to spike my blood sugar and I'm trying to mix protein and a slow carb, like beans, with veggies in all of my meals. I had a great day doing it on Sunday, and then Monday and Tuesday were difficult because I was on the mountain most of the day, but I did my best and I'm down about 2.5 lbs since Sunday (which means I lost that Miami weight, gained some back, and lost most of it again). I know most of that is probably just water weight and bloat from my trip to Vegas, but I'm confident I'm going to see some good movement on the scale in the next couple of weeks, which is sadly more than I can say for most of this year. No more of this up and down crap!

On that note, I'm off for a run, even though I'm super sore from snowboarding. Just trying to get the muscles loose I guess and then it's coffee with one of my dearest friend's from high school who is in town for a few days. I can't wait! Hope everyone is having a great week so far! I hope to catch up on your blogs tonight!