lil Piece of Hart: Wedding Wednesday- The Diet

This Wedding Wednesday I decided to follow up the wedding website post with my insight into the wedding diet. The diet to end all diets- for some people! For me, I knew I had packed on extra pounds that needed to come off before I felt comfortable shopping for a wedding dress. I knew I had to lose 40 lbs to be happy on my wedding day. Which seemed like a daunting task at the time because I had no idea where to start. I was a perfectly good weight growing up but had always been trying fads diets. My mom always used to tell me as a 123 lb high schooler that one day I was going to kick myself for thinking I was fat then... to which my 17 year old self rolled her eyes. Well now that I'm 29 I'm finding my mom has been right more than I ever thought she would be ha! Same goes where she said one day I would wear skinny jeans, thin belts, and huge rimmed sunglasses... I guess back in 1999 I didn't see how I could ever be caught dead in any of those things! - but thats for another days blog lol!

Back to me trying to decide how the heck I was going to lose 40 lbs when I could never manage to stick to any diet I tried and when I wouldn't eat to starve myself I would get very angry and that is never good. You know the Snickers commercials- "You're not YOU when you're hungry"- that was me, still is actually. Anyway, I got engaged in March 2013 and right before my birthday in June my sister said she was watching the Dr Oz show and a guy named Jorge Cruise was on promoting his book and his lifestyle of going low carb. Then my other sister (I have 2) bought his book and started reading it. In the back of the book is a food plan mapping out all of your meals and snacks for 4 weeks. After just 2 weeks my sister had lost almost 15 lbs. This was mind-blowing to me because she was telling me what she was eating and it was REAL food. Nothing from a box or a mix everything bought fresh at the grocery store and she was also full all day! The diet even included 2 glasses of red wine a day! Which at that point had me sold. I jumped in feet first and hoped for the best. I downloaded his book onto my Nook and vowed to start the diet after my June 15th birthday. It's never easy to do a diet/lifestyle change on your own so I mentioned it to my fiancé to see if I could get him to do it with me. He read the book also and claimed that it all made sense and that he was very interested to see how it would make us feel and if we really would experience the same results as other people mentioned in the book. Well we started on June 20, 2013 and by our wedding on September 6, 2014 I had lost 40 lbs and he had lost 63 lbs! Its incredible actually when I think about it. I would recommend anyone who wants to lose weight but doesn't know where to start to pick up Jorge's book and try this. I love the book because it explains the method and it gives you the tools to succeed. The menu was my favorite part. He even includes a shopping list!

Although, as with any diet if you're not going to stick to it, it's not going to work. Following this low carb lifestyle that Jorge maps out really shows you how and what to eat to be healthy for the long term. In the back of the book is a list of "free" foods. They have carbs but they are healthy carbs and when eaten in moderation they can be included in the diet after you finish his 4 week plan. Now I follow the food list in the back and modify and change my recipes so they are low carb. Almost every recipe I have I can make into a low carb version. While starting the first 4 weeks I must say the first few days were a lil difficult. As my body detoxed from sugar and starches I was very "blah" feeling and I had a terrible headache. But I was determined! I stuck to it and within 3 days I felt a lot better. Don't give up!! When I ate I was satisfied, not full to where I couldn't move. I was hooked on this new way of eating. I have so much energy now and I don't feel so weighed down. My jeans from high school all fit me again! I'm 29- theres nothing better than that! Luckily boot cut is still in style ha! If I have inspired you enough to try reading the book click HERE to buy it and change your life!!! I have a whole new outlook on how I cook and what to feed my family and friends- no one even knows I'm cooking low carb! The recipes I share on this blog are all low carb versions of classics I love or recipes that I bet you wouldn't even think were low carb! Just because you change the way you eat doesn't mean you need to sacrifice taste! Jorge Cruise changed my life and I feel like I need to spread the word to maybe help change someone else's through his books. He has written quite a few but I think The 100 is my favorite.