I don't remember how I came across this
website, I suspect it was on Facebook but it intrigued me. I had packed on an extra 5 pounds this past winter, was feeling really blah & oh, had this little
cancer diagnosis I was still processing. I needed something to kick start my metabolism & originally planned to start the Sunday after the
Quarter Horse. I decided to pull it in a few weeks for a couple of reasons. One was I already dialing the intensity down thanks to my lumpectomy & two, I wanted to be off the sugar & carbs prior to starting radiation.
I started the
two week test on Sunday March 5th. The test seemed really straight forward. The
Yes food list was short. Lots of veggies, high quality meats & full fat dairy. I estimated the hardest thing for me was going to be giving up the sugar in my coffee & all the fruits for two weeks. I knew I could reintroduce fruits after two weeks but the daily sugar is gone forever.
I was already pretty good with Sunday meal prep so that didn't change too much. I added a lot more meat to my meals - bacon, beef, pork, chicken. Before I started the test I created a two week meal plan & grocery list. This helped significantly with the food prep & meals especially during the week when time is short.
Breakfast consisted of some kind of egg dish. I started fancy with
frittatas &
souffles but after a few days ended up eating an omelette every day. Initially it was really hard for me to eat so much food shortly after waking up. Before the test I was drinking a green smoothie loaded with fruit on the way to work. I figured out if I brought the omelette to work & ate it when I arrived it was much easier. My daily omelette consisted of 2 eggs, a splash of heavy cream, spinach, sautéed onions, peppers, bacon & cheese. I drank coffee with heavy cream but no sugar.
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| Omelete |
Lunch was either a cabbage or spinach salad. I would add carrots, sweet peppers, feta and/or blue cheese, toasted almond slivers & some form of meat - bacon/chicken/tuna. The salad dressing was homemade - olive oil, balsamic, salt & pepper.
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| Cabbage Salad |
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| Spinach Salad |
Dinner was various meat - pork, chicken, fish, beef & veggies. My favorite was an
alfredo recipe that I altered to use 'yes' foods. I used heavy cream in place of the half & half & creme fraiche instead of the cream cheese. I used my
spiralizer for the zuchinni noodles. I think I could eat this every day - it's that good.
For snacks I ate almonds, macadamia or pistachio nuts and string cheese. I didn't keep track of calories at all. I just ate to my hunger level. The first few days I was really missing fruits. I felt sluggish for the better part of the first week. Day 5 & 6 I had a wicked headache. By the second week I was not craving any foods & had high energy levels. My legs still felt dead which was really noticeable climbing the 2 flights of stairs at work.
I took before measurements & weight and re-took them at week 1 & 2. In two weeks I lost 6.2 pounds & just over 7 inches.
Here are the notes I took right after the 2 week test ended:
Pros:
| - No cravings. Not stress eating or feeling peckish. This was a huge problem for me. |
| - Sleeping better, not waking up groggy. Another problem area. |
| - Garmin says I am getting over 1 hour more of deep sleep every night |
| - If I wake up in middle of night I fall back asleep right away. Prior to test I would toss & turn most of the night. |
| - Lost 6.2 pounds --> haven't been below 140 in at least 2 years. |
| - Lost a total of 7.25 inches across belly, hips & thighs |
Cons:
| - Legs are dead on long runs. Even when changing intervals to 4 min walk / 1 min run. Legs really feel dead around 6 miles. Although, this test is supposed to occur in the off-season so long runs/races won't yield good results. |
| - Yesterday's 10 miler was a 4.8 of 5 effort. Even though I only ran 20% of the time. |
| - Weird taste in mouth. Ketones? Not sure what that this but read in the Q&A this may be the cause. This does make me brush my teeth more frequently so my dentist will be pleased. |
Other Items of Note:
| - If you are not used to food prep this will be a LOT of work. Also, our grocery bill went up but for me, my eating out bill went to virtually zero. |
| - Withdrawals will be dependent on how you are eating before the test. I ate veggies every day & limited my bread intake so it wasn't awful. I did have some nasty headaches on days 5&6 & I really missed fruit. I was also eating at least 5 servings of fruit everyday. |
The past few weeks has been spent re-introducing 1 food serving per day. The order goes like this:
| 1 | Legumes |
| 2 | Low-glycemic fruits (berries, grapefruit, prunes) |
| 3 | Medium-glycemic fruits (apple, orange, pear, strawberries) |
| 4 | Gluten-free grains (whole oats, brown rice) |
| 5 | Grains with gluten, if not intolerant |
| 6 | 1 teaspoon of organic honey with coffee or tea (excluding agave, or any other kind of sugary substance) |
So far, fruits are OK but beans & sprouted bread is not. A few hours after eating them my belly will feel bloated & I confirm this by my waist measurement. Both cases my belly measurement was 2 inches greater. Most days I notice a 1/4 to 1/2 inch difference between AM & PM measurements. For the first week I was taking my belly measurement every morning & evening to see how the daily food affected me. Now I am not so religious. I am only measuring if I think something had a negative affect. I can see how some folks could get obsessive over this. That certainly wasn't my intent.
I am back drinking my green smoothie most mornings with modifications. Now my smoothie contains coconut cream or milk, spinach, carrots, a scoop of almond butter & 1 serving of fruit - either banana, blueberries or strawberries.
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| Green Smoothie Before |
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| Green Smoothie After |
My current favorite post test recipe is
banana muffins. Coconut flour is my new best friend. These are surprisingly good. The recipe makes a dozen & can be frozen. These have been my mid afternoon snack.
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| Coconut Banana Muffins |
I also made slow cooked steel cut oatmeal. I used to make this
recipe all the time. The only modification I made was omit the brown sugar.
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| Slow Cooked Steel Cut Oatmeal |
It's been 5 weeks now since I started the test. I am down a net 5 pounds & my measurements are down 11.25 inches. Note that I actually gained back a pound but continued to lose inches over the following 3 weeks when compared to the post 2 week measurements. Personally, I really liked the test. My husband on the other hand has not. He isn't a fan of eating salads everyday. He also had terrible sugar/carb withdrawals, much worse than I had. Now that he is re-introducing foods he is more aware of how foods affect him. I think we are both glad we did the test but we certainly had vastly different experiences.
Fitness wise, I still have the intensity dialed down due the cancer treatment. I am planning to do the
MAF 180 test next since I already backed down my running to walking. The timing for me to do these tests have been good. This is something I have wanted to do for a long time but never had the proper motivation. That is one good thing about this cancer diagnosis! I am not sure I would have been motivated to do the 2 week test otherwise.
Happy, healthy eating everyone...
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