Decided that I'd bring in the new year by giving the "ABC" (Ana Boot Camp) a shot. I've heard so much about it and all my searching shows that it's pretty successful. I've seen weight loss from 30lbs (13kg) to 60lbs (27kg). These two links are some pretty detailed logs of people who have done it before: http://blogs.myspace.com/thinspire.me and http://www.whyeat.net/forum/showthread.php?t=2416
The rules are pretty simple. Just follow the pattern below. You can have as many zero calorie (water, diet sodas, etc.) additions as you want and you can have less than the suggested calories but never more. I'd like it to be noted that I drink water every single day, but I'm not going to list it here. Water is an essential part of this process.
1: 500 calories
- Fail Soup (35 calories,) 1/4 small avocado (65 calories,) Diet Mountain Dew Code Red (0 calories,) Sugar Free Jello Chocolate Vanilla Swirl Pudding (45 calories,) Sugar Free Fudgesicle (40 calories,) 2 cups steamed broccoli (90 calories,) 1 serving Bunch-a-Crunch (90 calories,) 1 serving Fuze Peach Mango (90 calories.)
- 445 total, 126.4lbs (57.3kg)
2: 500 calories
- Sugar Free Strawberry Jello (10 calories,) 1 cup steamed broccoli (40 calories,) 1/2 chicken breast (70 calories,) 1 drumstick (80 calories,) 1 cup Fruit Punch Powerade (50 calories,) Sugar Free Fudgesicle (40 calories,) 1 serving miso soup with tofu (100 calories,)Diet Mountain Dew Code Red (0 calories,) 1 serving peach pineapple
juice (100 calories.)
- 490 total, 124.6lbs (56.5kg)
** I got sick between days 2 and 3. I started taking DayQuil + Tylenol Severe Sinus Nighttime + Generic Painkillers, so I attribute my condition and the medication to the sudden weight gain. I hope once the sickness passes I'll stop retaining so much water weight. I'll post another disclaimer when I stop taking cold medicines so I can see if that really affects my weight or not.
3: 300 calories
- 3 tablespoons trail mix (190 calories,) 5 Kancho candies (60 calories,) 3oz lean roast beef (45 calories.)
- 295 total, 127.0lbs. (57.6kg)
4: 400 calories
- 5 Kancho candies (60 calories.)
- 60 total, 128.0lbs. (58.1kg)
** I did research and found out that some cold medications can have up to ~60 calories per dosage. That means I could have been having almost 500 extra calories per day. I stopped taking cold medication here, even though I still felt sick.
5: 100 calories
- 2 tablespoons honey (60 calories) in 2 cups diet green tea (0 calories.)
- 60 total, 126.4lbs. (57.3kg)
6: 200 calories
- 1 Diet Mountain Dew Code Red (0 calories,) 1 teaspoon refried beans (42 calories) with 1 teaspoon salsa (15 calories,) 2 tablespoons honey (60 calories) with 2 cups diet green tea (0 calories,) 1 sugar free fudgesicle (40 calories.)
- 147 calories, 126.0lbs. (57.2kg)
7: 300 calories
- 1 skinny steamer (70 calories,) 2 cups diet green tea (0 calories,) 1 serving fail soup (80 calories,) 1 tablespoon ketchup (15 calories) with 1 small serving beef (50 calories.)
- 215 calories, 125.4lbs. (56.9kg)
8: 400 calories
- 2 cups diet green tea (0 calories) with 2 teaspoons sugar (10 calories,) 1 serving tortilla chips with nacho cheese dip (330 calories.)
- 340 calories, 124.0 lbs. (56.2 kg)
9: 500 calories
- 1 cup diet green tea (0 calories) with 1 tablespoon honey (30 calories,) 1 no sugar added yellow cling peaches fruit cup (25 calories,) 1 cup steamed white rice (150 calories) with 1/2 cup chicken curry (250 calories,) 1 chocolate and vanilla swirl Jello pudding cup (45 calories.)
- 500 calories, 123.8lbs. (56.1kg)
** I'm starting to feel totally recovered from the cold. I would also like to note that normally it takes me two or three days to get over these types of symptoms (common cold: runny nose, sort throat, sinus problems, etc.). This is the first time I've been sick since my eating habits have changed and it has taken me about four times as long to recover. ]:
10: fast
- 1 Diet Mountain Dew (0 calories,) 1 cup diet green tea (0 calories.)
- 0 calories, 123.6lbs. (56.1kg)
11: 150 calories
- 1 cup diet green tea (0 calories) with 1 tablespoon honey (30 calories,) 1 Doritos nacho cheese snack pack (100 calories.)
- 130 calories, 123.6lbs. (56.1kg)
** Curse that day ten fast. I never do well with them - it seems like small breaks from food just make my metabolism and digestive system grind to a halt. In my experience, it's best to plan on giving up food for at least three days or just not bother with it at all. One day won't give me the results I want and it screws me up for the next few days. tl;dr: I prefer restriction over fasting.
12: 200 calories
- 1/2 serving Monster energy drink (50 calories,) 1 cup diet green tea (0 calories,) 1 Diet Mountain Dew (0 calories.)
- 50 calories.
13: 400 calories
- 1 serving diet green tea (0 calories,) 1 diet Mountain Dew (0 calories.)
- 0 calories, 124.0lbs. (56.2kg)
14: 350 calories
- 3 servings diet green tea (0 calories) with 3 tablespoons honey (90 calories.)
- 90 calories, 123.4lbs. (56.0kg)
15: 250 calories
- 2 cups white rice (300 calories) with 1 cup chicken curry (500 calories,) 1 Fanta orange soda (160 calories,) 1 scoop green tea icecream (50 calories) with whipped cream (45 calories) and a cherry (10 calories.)
- 1,065 calories, 126.4lbs. (57.3kg)
** The 15th day was my grandpa's birthday. I planned on eating a ton this day and that's why I restricted as best as I could the past few days. I paid the price. ): Normally I try to up my intake if I know there's a day where I'll be eating a lot so I can get my metabolism back in shape. This time I tried doing the opposite and it didn't turn out so well.
16: 200 calories
- 1 cup brown rice (75 calories) with 1/4 cup chicken curry (125 calories.)
- 200 calories, 126.2lbs (57.3kg)
17: fast
- Just water this day.
- 0 calories.
** I decided to fast from day 17 to day 20, making it a four day 0 calorie fast. I am sick and tired of the 120s. I fought hard to hit that goal and I'm not going to sit around watching it come and go. I won't weigh myself until the end of day 20. I want to see how much progress I will make. [: UPDATE: For the record, I lost 3lbs (1.4kg) in 3 days.
18: 200 calories
- 2 cups 0 calorie diet green tea (0 calories.)
- 0 calories.
19: 100 calories
- Just water so far.
- 0 calories.
20: fast
- Just water on this day.
- 0 calories, 123.2 lbs. (55.9 kg)
21: 300 calories
- 1 serving mango gummy candy (180 calories,) 2 cups diet green tea with 2 tablespoons honey (60 calories,) 2 cups white miso soup with tofu (60 calories.)
- 300 calories, 123.6lbs (56.0kg)
22: 250 calories
- 1 small serving lean beef sukiyaki (250 calories,) 1 cup diet green tea.
- 250 calories, 123.6lbs. (56.0kg)
23: 200 calories
- 1/2 california roll (200 calories,) 2 cups diet green tea, 1 Diet Mountain Dew Code Red (o calories.)
- 200 calories, 124.0lbs. (56.2kg)
24: 150 calories
- 1 snack pack bag of Doritos (100 calories,) 2 Diet Mountain Dews (o calories), 2 cups diet green tea (o calories,) 1 sparkling Peach water (0 calories.)
- 100 calories, 124.2lbs. (56.3kg)
** I'm starting to get really discouraged. Everyone tells me that the thinner you are the harder it is to lose. It seems like whenever I eat, even if it's the smallest amount, I go back up a ton. I'm just hovering around 125lbs (56.7kg). I'm thinking about doing another three day fast. I managed to go down a few pounds and stay that way so it might work again.
25: 100 calories
- 2 small dill pickles (10 calories,) 1 Campbell's chicken noodle soup at hand with no sodium (80 calories.)
-90 calories, 125.2lbs (56.8kg)
26: 50 calories
- Just water so far.
- 0 calories, 124.0lbs, (56.2kg)
27: 100 calories
- 1 small dill pickle (5 calories.)
- 5 calories, 123.4lbs (56.0kg)
28: 200 calories
- 1 small serving onion soup (50 calories,) 1 small serving sukiyaki (150 calories.)
- 200 calories, 123.2lbs (55.9kg)
29: 200 calories
- 2 tablespoons A1 steak sauce (30 calories.)
- 30 calories, 123.0lbs (55.9kg)
30: 300 calories
- 1 cup steamed brown rice (200 calories) with 2 tablespoons soy sauce (20 calories) and 1 cup steamed asparagus (25 calories.)
- 245 calories, 123.2lbs (55.9kg)
**I'm going to be without a scale for about a week and a half. I'll start adding in the weight as soon as that's remedied. Being without a scale is making me worry so I'll probably try to fast as much as possible. :/
31: 800 calories
- 1 ham and American cheese Lunchable (370 calories), 1 Vault energy soda (180 calories,) 1 snack pack size Doritos (100 calories.)
- 650 calories
32: fast
- Just water this day.
- 0 calories
33: 250 calories
- 1 Wild Cherry Diet Soda (0 calories.)
- 0 calories
34: 350 calories
- 1 Weight Watchers Beef Chow Fun meal (320 calories,) 1 diet green tea (0 calories) with 2 tablespoons honey (30 calories.)
- 350 calories
35: 450 calories
- 2 Taco Bell supreme tacos (440 calories) and a small portion of Mountain Dew (10 calories.)
- 450 calories
36: fast
- Just water today.
- 0 calories
37: 500 calories
- 1 no sugar added yellow cling peaches fruit cup (25 calories,) 1 small BBQ pork bao (160 calories,) 1 serving fail soup (100 calories,) 1/2 A&W Cream Soda (90 calories,) 1 YooHoo (100 calories.)
- 475 calories
38: 450 calories
- 2 servings low sodium fat free chicken noodle soup (200 calories,) 1 serving fail soup (100 calories,) 1 YooHoo (100 calories,) 1/2 serving beef jerky.
- 450 calories
39: 400 calories
- 2 servings pear Gerber baby food (60 calories,) 1 chicken noodle soup at hand (80 calories.)
- 140 calories
40: 350 calories
- 1 chicken noodle soup at hand (80 calories,) 1 serving Dill Pickle Pringles (150 calories,) 1 no sugar added yellow cling peaches fruit cup (25 calories,) 3/4 serving beef jerky (75 calories.)
- 330 calories
41: 300 calories
- small portion of trail mix (132 calories.)
- 132 calories
42: 250 calories
- leftover small portion of trail mix (132 calories,) 1 sugar free caramelette candy (30 calories.)
- 162 calories
43: 200 calories
- Banana Gerber baby food (80 calories,) 1 chicken noodle soup at hand (80 calories.)
- 160 calories
44: 200 calories
- Peach Gerber baby food (60 calories,) 1 chicken noodle soup at hand (80 calories.)
- 140 calories
45: 250 calories
- 1 cup of steamed spinach (50 calories) with a splash of vinegar (10 calories,) 1 cup steamed broccoli with imitation cheese sauce (90 calories,) 1 lemon flavored lemon iced tea (60 calories.)
- 210 calories
** Having no scale is really starting to bother me. I've been super strict with my eating habits because I'm so scared to gain. I want to see what my weight is for these last few days so I can see what my overall progress looks like. I'll bust into a store tomorrow and use a scale there if I have to. :/
46: 200 calories
- Peach Gerber baby food (60 calories,) 1 chicken noodle soup at hand (80 calories.)
- 140 calories
47: 300 calories
- Peach Gerber baby food (60 calories,) 1 serving lightly salted pretzels (120 calories,) 1 chicken noodle soup at hand (80 calories.)
- 260 calories
** I have this new pattern going on. After I wake up I get my exercise out of the way, usually just 30 minutes of some type of cardio (running, swim, whatever - but mostly riding a bike since it's easiest.) When I go to work in the afternoon I try to eat something small during my break so my co-workers don't suspect anything. They think the baby foods are "fruit cups" or "pudding" and never hassle me about it. They're decent sized portions, taste pretty damn good, and have low calories. If I'm dying for something when I get off work I'll munch on pretzels or have some other small snack in front of my roommates and talk about how much I ate at work. I have night school now and I'm there for six hours. We get a half our "lunch break" and I use that to eat some soup or maybe half a sandwich. Basically I try to eat a little something in front of each group: co-workers, roommates, and classmates. [: The only thing that happened so far was a classmate asking me if I was sick because I ate soup all the time haha. I just told her that I really liked soup and the soup-at-hands are convenient.
48: 200 calories
- Banana Gerber baby food (80 calories.)
- 80 calories
49: 150 calories
- Pineapple fruit cup (60 calories,) 1 cup steamed broccoli (45 calories.)
- 105 calories
50: fast
- Just water this day.
- 0 calories
Now that it's done it's time to deliver some pretty bad news: ABC didn't do much for me. In the beginning it was really seeming to work, but beyond that all it would help me do was maintain the weight I'm at. I'm a bit over 5'7'' (172cm) and hovering around 120lbs (54.5kg.) At this point it's getting really hard to lose anything. Even if I eat a small amount (500 calories a day) I just stay where I'm at. People who started this at a higher weight were very successful. This is a good plan to follow if you need that extra boost or are just getting started.
Maybe my only solution at this point is to supplement my low-calorie intake with periods of fasting? Or drastically cut down my calorie intake (less than 300 a day)? Maybe I should stop eating low-calorie high-portion foods (like spinach and cucumbers) and move on to small-portion high-calorie foods (like sweets and meats)? Should I start limiting my intake based on the weight of food I consume in a day instead of by calories? :/
Once I come up with a plan I can experiment with I'll let the world know with a new post.
