Day 5

For the record, I'm holding steady at -4 pounds. Those other 10 that I gained before December 31 may take a little more effort. I might have to start exercising and stuff.

However, I feel awesome. A few years ago I started taking antidepressants. I had a very understanding professor who let me postpone handing in a final paper because she had dealt with something similar. One day I was talking with her and I described the moment when the meds started working as "coming out of a fog." I honestly remember that very moment when suddenly I connected with the world around me. I was halfway through law school and wished more than anything else I could redo the first year and a half without being in a daze. Suddenly the things the teachers were saying made sense and I started participating in class without being specifically called on. I had the energy to be more assertive and even restarted an organization that had gone defunct. I got my first honest-to-goodness A that semester. In Tax Law. Yes, I realize that makes me a freak.

And that's how I feel today. Like I'm coming out of a fog. I got through the initial cravings of the first few days and now I feel physically great and mentally alert.

Yesterday I went to a (really boring) continuing legal education class. They provided a breakfast of many pastries. Before I went, I ate some mushroom and feta bake for breakfast, had a sugar-free hot chocolate at the class because it was FREEZING in there, and brought almonds as a snack. The lunch they served was baked macaroni and cheese, salad, and sandwiches and wraps. I loaded up my plate with salad, and pulled apart a couple of sandwiches to eat the meat inside.

And I did not come close to falling asleep at all. Usually at these things I am struggling hard to stay awake. Yesterday, I was alert through the whole thing. I still feel that way. No carb crashing at all.

The best part is how I feel like my brain is firing on all cylinders. I've felt kind of cloudy for the last few weeks and have seen it reflected in my job performance and my memory. For the past couple of days, I have been on the ball! I've felt totally in control of the cases I'm handling and can recall details on the fly that I know would have been just out of my mental grasp a week or so ago.

The ironic thing is, I was just listening to a Fitness Rocks podcast this morning that talked about a study on brain function in people who are on a low-carb versus a low-fat diet. They found a decrease in certain memory capacities for the people on the low-carb diet. I would argue that I have experienced the opposite and that I have felt similarly when I cut carbs in the past. Granted, I haven't cut my carbs down to below 20g like the people in the study, but the last couple of days have been around 30g, which isn't a huge difference.

I do think that everyone has to find a food plan that works for them, and for me that seems to be lower-carb, higher-protein.

Also, I got my new swimsuit and it's super cute (you know, as much as a Speedo can be) and I'm going to swim on Tuesday (because I have an appointment at 7 AM on Monday and I am not going to the Y at 5 AM).