GM Diet - In Summary

When I set out to attempt the GM Diet I was hoping to accomplish a couple of things. I wanted to prove to myself that I had the willpower and determination to make it through a diet like this. But mostly, I really wanted to find out if this is legit. Can you really lose 10-17 lbs in one week through this strict, semingly-crazy diet?

But, as life often does, I see a whole other list of accomplishments from the other side of this challenge.
1.) I learned to be "without." I want to word this very carefully, because I am not comparing myself to those who live in hunger and poverty every day. I did not go hungry at all throughout this diet. But I did go without. I went without sugar. I went without alcohol. I went without cheese. I went without bread. I found myself craving things that I didn't even realize that I liked, and eating large amounts of things that I never thought I could stomach. This was a bizarre and challenging experience and brings me to number 2.
2.) I learned to eat for nourishment. I don't normally plan my meals. I eat what I feel like eating when I am hungry. In a way, this is good because it is following my body's natural cues of hunger. But it is bad because my body often tells me that it wants things like pizza or pancakes when it could really just use some raw broccoli. During this diet, I planned out breakfast, lunch, dinner, and 1-2 snacks throughout the day. On Day 1, when I was hungry, I ate melon. And let me tell you, I certainly didn't eat more of it than my body needed. I'm not saying that I should only eat foods that I hate in order to be in tune with my body's natural cues. But it was a pretty awesome experience to spend a week almost exclusively eating for nourishment. It can really show you the dependency you have on food and help separate the physical from the emotional and psychological. At times, I definitely felt like an angry, deprived member of District 12, but that mindset really just helped me realize how over-the-top our American lifestyles can be (Remember the potion that Capital members drink in order to empty their stomachs for more food, while those in the districts are starving? Is it really that different?).
3.) I learned to go back to the basics. This applies to cooking and to eating. I couldn't use most of the ingredients that I normally rely on for quick-fixes and quick-flavor. I used little salt, no cheese, fat, pre-maid meals or marinades. Let's just say it was big change from my usual cooking style. I'm hoping to bring some of these methods into my regular routine though.
4.) I learned to take time to cook. As I mentioned above, I am a fan of fast fixes. I usually come home from work, work out and shower before I even decide what I'm going to have for dinner. That puts me fixing a quick meal around 8:30pm. And I certainly don't wake up early enough to do any sort of cooking in the morning. I mean, that's just crazy talk! But the GM Diet forced me to change these habits, if only for a week. I had to get up early enough to at least cook a baked potato, hamburger, or rice. And I often had to make all or part of my next lunch and/or dinner ahead of time, either the night before or that morning. It showed me that it's really not that hard.
5.) I learned to LOVE water. At the start of the week, I read that I was supposed to drink between 10 and 12 glasses of water PER DAY. This seemed impossible. Now, I am two days off of the diet and I can't get enough water. Seriously. Yesterday I tried to only drink 8 glasses. Couldn't do it. And this is coming from someone who probably had 3.5 glasses of water prior to the diet. And that was only because I was working out. Even if this is the only thing that sticks after the GM Diet, I'll be happy.

So, you're probably thinking, "well, she obviously didn't lose any weight," since I've gone off on this tangent about issues far removed from fast weight loss plans. But actually, I did lose weight. I lost between 5 and 12 lbs. I used two different scales, so I'm not sure which number is exactly accurate, or if it's somewhere in the middle. I suppose that this means that, at least for me, the GM diet is at least partially legit. If I am crazy enough to try this again in a couple months, I guess I'll buy a scale so I can document weight changes after each of the seven days. Until then, my five-to-twelve-pounds-lighter self will focus on the positive things that I have gained from this experience.