Final Thoughts and Summary
As I mentioned before I didn't weigh myself every day during the 2 week transition period so I can't produce the pretty graphs like I did in my earlier post. Instead, this post will focus on my thoughts about doing the velocity diet a second time.
First the summary...
Over the transition period I gained about 2-3 lbs. I lost about 9lbs in the six weeks of the diet. However, I did gain another 2 lbs after the transition period. That was disappointing. Fortunately I've gone back to losing those couple of pounds. I'm hopeful that more weight will come off with a good healthy diet and training.
Ok here are some thoughts...
1. Don't search for "healthy" products but look for specific things.
What is a healthy diet is very difficult to define and this really depends on what you mean by healthy. If you focus on fat loss then carbs and calories are important. If you care about healthy skin, healthy hair etc then other things like vitamins are important. Some people care more about cancer and think organic food will help against cancer. That may be true but organic sugar will still get you fat! A lot of it will also depend on your metablism. If you are happy and have a healthy body and can eat a loaf of bread every day then do you really need to do the v-diet?
2.Get some friends.
Team mates make a huge difference! Having people who encourage you and think this is normal and see it as a positive thing helps a lot. Doing it by yourself is much harder, especially when you have to explain to someone new.
3. Expect a decrease in the gym but keep trying hard.
According to one of the authors, just because you have less energy in the gym doesn't mean that you are losing muscle. I don't understand how it works but I noticed that my bench press didn't increase at all and then went back to increasing after I finished the diet.
4. Is a 2nd time really necessary?
Part of me can't help but think, if I were a little more patient I probably would have lost those 9lbs with enough time and effort just by doing excercise and a low carb diet. The most important lesson from the first time is that you start to crave healthy food. That doesn't really work the second time. In fact I craved unhealthy food even more. However, it did help me tweak things so I've completely given up things like tomato ketchup, which are full of sugar and doing it a second time does help me get to my goals.
5. Use a diet log after the v-diet.
After the v-diet I just wanted to eat everything and a lot of it. I found this website a great way to keep track of the carbs and calories I was eating.
6. Don't drink alcohol- not even a glass of wine...
I justified drinking one evening during the transition week and I hugely regret it. If you have one drink then it is too easy to have another and everything goes wrong after that. It really isn't worth it.
7. HSM Recipe Websites- naughty but useful
The t-nation website has many healthy solid meal recipes. Warning- looking at this website feels a bit like food porn during the diet. There are other good websites too though. One of my favourites is called Your Lighter Side. Generally, searching for paleo diet recipes is helpful but they may contain things like honey which must be avoided. Personally, I preferred eating simple healthy meals during the diet. Things like meat with some vegetables with just salt and pepper other spices is amazingly delicious whilst on the diet.
6. Don't drink alcohol- not even a glass of wine...
I justified drinking one evening during the transition week and I hugely regret it. If you have one drink then it is too easy to have another and everything goes wrong after that. It really isn't worth it.
7. HSM Recipe Websites- naughty but useful
The t-nation website has many healthy solid meal recipes. Warning- looking at this website feels a bit like food porn during the diet. There are other good websites too though. One of my favourites is called Your Lighter Side. Generally, searching for paleo diet recipes is helpful but they may contain things like honey which must be avoided. Personally, I preferred eating simple healthy meals during the diet. Things like meat with some vegetables with just salt and pepper other spices is amazingly delicious whilst on the diet.
8. Stay busy at lunchtime
Sitting by yourself at lunchtime whilst your friends go out for lunch can be boring and dull. I liked doing my NEPA and having a coffee at that time. I then had my lunch shake later on, which helped a lot.
9. V-burn challenge
Try to do the v-burn challenge at the same time about the same day during the week. I noticed that if I did when I first woke up I was slower than when I did it in the evenings. Ideally you want to compare your times when you have the same energy.
10. Write a blog/diary.
Writing this blog has helped me concentrate my thoughts. I've enjoyed it too and I hope you have too.
