Perfect Life Project

Going Low Carb Revisited

Back in February I posted about beginning a low-carb diet to quickly shed some weight and get back to my racing shape. Unfortunately that effort was unsuccessful due to several lifestyle interruptions and what in retrospect was a poorly designed program. In fact, I returned from my Malaysian holiday the heaviest weight of my life. It was time to take serious action.

Almost 4 weeks ago I began another low-carb diet, this time properly designed by a dietitian friend. Out went all the bread, pasta, rice, biscuits, and most simple sugars. All I could eat were 3 pieces of fruit per day, as much undressed salad or steamed vegetables, 100grams of lean protein and some dietary bars, or shakes. I did keep coffee and the occasional beer and wine on my list, because life is too short to miss out on some things.

The first few days were hellish. My body screamed at me and I almost gave up within 3 days. Then it started to get easier. By the end of week one a small weight loss was evident and I was feeling pretty good. I was encouraged to see out week two as thats when the results start to really show. Sure enough, I had shed a few kilos by then.

Australians working harder, sleeping, relaxing less

A new study of Australian lifestyle habits has revealed that we are working longer, sleeping less and getting less exercise. This is something I have been aware of for some time and used to be guilty of. In the last few years I have made a determined effort to combat this trend with a more balanced and rewarding approach that I have termed my Perfect Life Project. Below is a report from the Sydney Morning Herald detailing the latest lifestyle figures. In italics I have included my PLP figures to demonstrate how life can be successfully lived by the average person without following this alarming trend.

Going Low-Carb

I have decided to pursue a low-carb diet for the next month. There are a few reasons for this and in this post I will outline the reasons, approach and benefits.

I have always been an very active person, competing in several sports and lots of outdoor activities. A year ago I returned to the gym for the first time in almost 20 years. As I am approaching 40 I felt it was important to begin building or preserving the muscle mass that begins to deteriorate as we age. More muscle actually increases your metabolism and can result in burning fat. But mainly I wanted to get stronger and combat the aging process as much as possible. Combining resistance work in the gym with my aerobic cycling pursuits should do the trick.