I'm not the only one experimenting...experimentation is GOOD!

Above is a Facebook page I "liked" called "Eat to Keep Fit". She did a week long experiment and took before and after photos..the left is the "before" and the right is the "after" where her tummy is not as flat and she's a bit curvier and puffy..

Below are her comments on what she did and why:


Results are in for my experiment! The picture of me on the left (the before pic) was taken last Thursday, 11/1. I normally limit my bread/pasta/rice/potato/cereal intake to one serving per day, maximum BUT since the USDA/myplate recommendations are 4-6 servings per day, I decided to follow that to see what it would do to my body. The pic on the right (the after pic) is me today, Monday, 11/5. 

For the last four days, I ate four servings of the above mentioned foods (80% of which were whole wheat/brown) and I gained almost 6lbs. I started at 121lbs. and am now very close to 127lbs. I DID NOT eat any fast food, fried foods, desserts etc. I simply substituted things like whole wheat bread, brown rice, whole wheat pasta, cereal, and potatoes in for my typical veggies and proteins. For example, instead of having eggs, yogurt and fruit in the morning, I had eggs, fruit, and toast. Instead of having a salad at lunch, I had a whole wheat sandwich. Instead of having two servings of veggies and protein at dinner, I had one serving of veggies, whole wheat pasta, and a protein. If one wants to lose weight or tone up, we seriously recommend limiting bread/rice/pasta/potatoes/cereal to one serving per day, maximum. As you can see, these items will cause weight gain and bloating. *I meant to follow this experiment for a week but at this rate of weight gain, I won't be able to fit in a dress for a wedding this Friday so I had to stop.

 see what you are saying but I am positive that if I were to continue on with eating the myplate recommendations of at least four servings of grains/starch per day, I would not have just stopped gaining weight and returned back to the pic on the left. If I could have lasted one month with these new food habits, I think it's safe to say that I would have put on at least 15 pounds. I also think it's safe to say that based on my before/after pic, if one is trying to lose weight or tone up, those myplate recommendations of four servings of grains/starch per day will only impair weight loss/toning efforts.

he pic on the left is me, normally...the pic on the right was taken four days after eating four servings of grains per day as an experiment. I was still working out during the experiment. I went back to my old food habits today (with same workout habits) and should be back to the left pic by this weekend or next week

 Kara Cruz - Yes, I felt so sluggish and had much less energy; I usually don't mind working out but it was rough feeling so full and bloated. Laulieta Garrido Hovnanian - Yes, I kept my workouts the same....I work out around three days per week...this experiment only last four days (had to quit early since I was gaining too much) so I ended up working out twice in the four days. Kris Hernandez - My caloric intake was roughly the same as before. I didn't just add on four servings of grains to my regular food intake, I substitued more grains for less protein/veggies/dairy. For example, I usually eat egss, Greek yogurt and fruit in the morning but for this experiment, I would take away the Greek yogurt and have whole wheat toast instead

When I asked which fruits she limits she said:

We just limit the really sweet ones like watermelon, pineapple, mango etc and they eat 

 Grapefruit, apples, raspberries, blueberries, blackberries are our favorites but I'm sure could find more.

 Trying to answer all questions/comments here but let me know if I missed you...we do eat carbs but we go for low glycemic carbs (they don't turn to sugar as quickly) like veggies, nuts, low-fat dairy, quinoa, lentils, oatmeal, and low sugar fruits. Yes, I do have some more meat on me in the right picture and it still may look okay to many but my point with this experiment is that I gained almost six pounds in only four days by following recommendations by USDA/myplate. If I keep going, I will gain more and more weight - at this pace, I will be 20lbs heavier by next month. We believe that 4 servings of whole wheat bread/pasta/brown rice/cereal/potatoes per day is too much. We're not saying to eliminate it completely as we do eat around one serving per day of those items. The average person who works out 2-3 days per week (like me) does not need the excess carbs of several servings of whole wheat bread/rice/pastas/cereal/potatoes. You will get ample carbs which are lower in sugar from things like veggies/nuts/low sugar fruits/low-fat dairy. One other thing - we like to eat nutrients that are naturally occurring (like in veggies) - things like bread/cereal have fortified/added nutrients that can be found in a multivitamin.



What I find interesting about this is that all the foods she included were high glycemic foods. This throws a lot of light on high-glycemic fruits like bananas and dates. She is obviously fit so that wasn't the problem. She kept her work-outs the same, so that wasn't a factor...the only thing that changed was her diet.

Thoughts?