This post has been translated from my French post with Google translation, feel free to let me know if there are some grammatical mistakes because I am human
Before starting my post, I wanted to wish you all a Happy New Year. But most importantly in times of COVID I wish you good health.
New year, new resolutions?
That being said, it is impossible to avoid talking about diet at the start of the year. If it is not about 'Dry January', don’t be surprised to see an article about different kinds of diets in order to help people lose weight gained during the holiday season. And before COVID, gyms took advantage of the month of January to attract as many customers as possible with special promotions.
No, I did not fall for the diet however I had some good reasons to start a diet and I will explain it to you later.
I have to tell you that dieting has never been my strong suit. Besides, I have never dieted in my life. It's not that I've never needed it, it's just that depriving myself of certain foods is like torture for me because I love to cook and eat great food.
So why go on a diet? For two reasons
1) Over the years, there have been a few small carelessness (What do you want! I'm human!) Consequence, kilos here and there which seemed difficult to get rid of.
And I'll be honest with you, I never weigh myself so I couldn't tell you how many kilos I put on. But in fact, it's a lie, I end up having my little idea of the extra pounds when my pants do not fit.
But I never worried about my weight because for me the main thing is to be healthy, and just because you have extra pounds doesn't mean you are not healthy? Or just because you're thin doesn't mean you're healthy.
2) Simply because of the damn Coronavirus !!! Before it came here, and like everyone else, I had several routines. One of my routines was to go to the gym after work, and up to 4 times a week.
Since my teenage years, I have always been very active physically and I have tried several sports: athletics, swimming, handball, basketball, volleyball, I even played rugby, and tried my luck with dance (it was my phase Flashdance for those who remember). Older, I tried kickboxing. And in January of last year, I even attended a Crossfit session and I admit i really enjoyed it. I was ready to sign up and then COVID hit us.
If I am so physically active therefore I don’t need to diet?
Yes, maybe if I was still in my 20s! But I don't need to explain to you that a woman's body changes after having babies. Also, I'm not a fan of cosmetic surgery and I'm not a celebrity who can afford to hire a personal trainer, dietitian and chef. And also with time, age, a woman’s body changes, it is the process of aging which is quite natural and no one can escape it.
Around the 50s and with the onset of menopause our metabolic system changes, so that the calorie requirement becomes low and it is more difficult to create a deficit between calories consumed and calories expended. Weight loss will therefore tend to be slower at menopause.
This means that if we decide to lose weight, it becomes necessary to gradually make important changes in our habits in order to develop a diet that can satisfy the appetite and nutritional needs with fewer calories.
As I mentioned above, I have always been a very physically active person. And it has always been very beneficial for my well-being and my mental health. My body got used to it this way and if I don't do physical activity, my body doesn’t feel right.
Impact of the Coronavirus
Like many of you, the Coronavirus has had an impact on my lifestyle. Being in lockdown in March 2020 was a shock to my system.
No more possibility of going to the gym and the stress generated by everything that was going on: the unknown, the media which kept bombarding us with bad news, the reorganization of family life, the ordeal of going out and doing groceries, all this had an impact on mental health. Usually when my mind is affected, I can calm things down by doing physical activity. But this time, it was impossible! My body was in survival mode. The only thing I could do was yoga, and just every now and then.
But I didn't have enough energy to do cardio, and cardio is known to help burn calories. And on top of that, it became like a vicious circle: the inability to do physical activity, increased the stress that caused me to eat (I am one of those people who eat their stress) and it was feeling frustrated at not being able to move. Instead of burning calories, I was storing them.
Sedentary lifestyle (lockdown) + stress + lack of exercise = weight gain.
I was done !!! I ended up catching what I call COVID 5 (5kg gain due to the pandemic).
At the beginning, I told myself that the situation was going to change, it took me 9 months to realize that the situation was not going to change, hence the decision to take the bull by the horns. It decided to make the drastic decision to start a diet.
Decision! Decision!
Okay, I mentioned to you that I had never dieted before. So, you must have guessed that I didn't see myself dieting for a long period of time. So 2 weeks suited me perfectly. So I took advantage of my two weeks off during the Xmas holidays to start my diet. Yes I know ! Who decides to go on a diet while people are enjoying food and eating like crazy ? Me !! 🤷🏽♀️ It's crazy, I know! But hey, I'm good at doing things differently.
As far as I'm concerned, going on a diet during my 2 weeks off was a good idea since the Xmas holidays seasons were different (no family reunion, no crazy meal to prepare and I had made some food in advance therefore the boys and the husband could manage like adults). It was the perfect situation for me.
So I started doing a Google search to find a diet that could be done over 2 weeks. And I came across the Cosmonaut diet.
But what is this cosmonaut diet?
I admit that I did not consult the archives of NASA or ROSCOSMOS (Russian Space Agency ) to try to understand how this diet works. I just did a search on Google where I found quite a few websites that mention it. It seems that it was a colonel and doctor from NASA who put it in place at the end of the 1960s to help cosmonauts lose weight very quickly before carrying out a mission in space, that’s why it’s named cosmonaut diet.
It is a hypocaloric diet therefore very low in calories but still providing essential nutritional contributions. The goal would be to lose up to 10 kg in two weeks. It is a drastic diet that can be enriched with food supplements (vitamins and minerals). Importantly, this drastic solution should not be followed for more than 14 days, and it would be preferable to have a medical opinion.
Well considering that the diet was invented in the 60s and that I don't think at that time that they thought to send women into space, I would say that it was invented taking into consideration men’s metabolism only. But of course, for a special occasion, several women wanting to lose weight fast decided to give the diet a try.
This diet is not for everyone and I do not encourage anyone to follow it without first consulting a doctor, dietician or nutritionist. And that's what I did.
Okay, please don't complain if you try it and it doesn't work for you. Especially since this diet was initially made for male cosmonauts, my naturopath doctor suggested that I make some small modifications to take into account my body constitution. Since I am a fairly muscular woman, there was no way I could lose my muscle mass. Although there are basic principles of the cosmonaut diet, my naturopath suggested some modifications in order to obtain a slightly more personalized diet.
What are the basic principles of the cosmonaut diet?
- Drink water, lots of water (at least 2 liters per day); or tea, herbal tea or coffee.
- Do not consume: oil, butter, margarine, and sugar (except artificial sweeteners).
- (Not mandatory) Daily 30 minutes of sport. A good walk is also enough.
Example of a cosmonaut diet menu
- Breakfast : coffee or tea with skimmed milk.
- Lunch : 2 eggs + green salad with light seasoning like lemon, mustard or vinegar.
- Dinner : lean grilled meat + green salad with light seasoning.
My plan and personalized menu in consultation with my naturopath doctor
- Breakfast : tea without sugar
- Lunch : 2 eggs or Chicken, turkey, fish + green salad with light seasoning
Seasonings allowed: lemon, vinegars (apple cider, balsamic in small quantities , rice wine, etc.), all spices and herbs, mustard, ginger, garlic, onions.
Oils, various: 2cT per day
Mayonnaise, tahini = small quantity
Salad = all green vegetables. At least 3 cups of vegetables from the broccoli family per day.
- Dinner : chicken or fish breast + broccoli or cauliflower or Brussels sprout all steamed
Vegetables: 3 cups of the broccoli family + 6-8 cups of vegetables = 9-11 of vegetables per day
All cooking mode is permitted; raw, steamed, roasted etc.
Avoid: sweet potatoes, white potatoes, beets, turnips
Suggestion from my naturopath doctor
For best results:
no bread
cheese: max every 2 days, if necessary
calories: Aim for 1000 calories per day during the 2 week period since I have a good muscle mass and she didn't want to put “that healthy mass” at risk.
in the morning: on an empty stomach do 20 minutes of cardio exercises at minimum intensity (walking) Since intense exercises on an empty stomach are not recommended
Eat breakfast after walking
water = Drink 4L per day (herbal tea, tea included ), 1 L may contain electrolytes Ex: Nuun tablets (1X per day)
intermittent fasting: 12-15 hours from supper to breakfast / lunch
take vitamin C, D, A, B12 and B complex supplements, Panax Ginseng
Discipline works: My schedule
I was very disciplined in following the recommendations that my naturopath had given me. So during the 2 weeks, I organized my schedule as such:
Wake up at 9:30 am: drink 1 L of water
10:30 am Walk 20 min on the Treadmill
11:00 am Breakfast: Tea
11:30 am Preparing my dinner (most of the time, I had my Meal Prep which is very useful when you are hungry)
12h00-12h30 Dinner - Drink water
In the afternoon, Relaxation and watching Netflix during this time, I drink a lot of water (I installed the app Be Wet to remind me to drink)
4:30 p.m. Dinner preparation (if I forgot to do the Meal Prep)
5:30 p.m. Dinner - Drink green tea
Then until 9:30 p.m. I continue to drink water.
It went well and I was surprised that I was able to achieve the target goal:
I lost 6 kg in 2 weeks (my goal was to lose 5 kg)
I managed to do 20 min of walking on the treadmill every morning before eating around 12:00
I ate only twice a day to respect the intermittent fasting (I ate around 12:00 and 18:00, and I stopped eating after 18:00 it made me a fasting of 18h)
Fas a reward, I allowed myself a little treat: A dessert at Baileys
But what did I get myself into?
Folks, I'll be honest with you, doing this damn cosmonaut diet is not for everybody. You need to have strong nerves, great discipline and be a bit masochistic in my opinion. So, masochist, I am not, however I believe that my nerves of steel and my discipline have been an advantage for me.
I must admit that it was not easy:
A few times in the mornings I had big migraines,
Around 4:00 p.m., I had a craving and in order to try to hold out until my supper time around 6:00 p.m., I drank water like a person lost in the desert,
A few nights, I dreamed of food, I have never been so creative during my dreams because I had several inspirations of recipes that crossed my mind (I admit that this was more a torture for me),
Drinking water almost every hour to meet my 4L to 5L per day made my toilet my go-to place (If you have only one toilet at home, I do not recommend drinking so much water),
I had to force myself to stop drinking before 8:30 p.m. in order to avoid waking up every hour during the night to go to the toilet.
Some self-motivation and frustration
In the middle of the 1st week :
I said to myself : " Come on my dear! You've held on until now, that means you can continue to the end "
On the other hand my husband kept telling me: "But eat! If you fall, it won't be the one bringing you to the ER with that damn COVID going around!"
Ah, men! And to think that we celebrated our 25th wedding anniversary in December!
Around the middle of the 2nd week :
I said to myself: "Do not give up at this point, otherwise all the sacrifices you have made will have been useless "
D-day = last day :
I said to myself: "Good , you're going to get there, it's the home stretch! Look to the end! You can see your reward waiting for you, you will have the choice between Haagen Dazs chocolate, a good croissant or a piece of Côte d'Or chocolate "
The day after D-Day :
I said to myself: “ Never again! You're really crazy!”
I must tell you one thing, I hurt myself by doing the cosmonaut diet during my two weeks of holidays. So that was also a good plan to flush 2020. Yeah I know it's a weird concept to say bye bye, sayonara to 2020 in this way. But hey, it's me and I always like to do things differently from others.
After all that, I am ready to start my stabilization period which will last for 10 weeks. My naturopath meets me on a regular basis every two weeks, and the goal now is above all to adopt better eating habits and I decided to start by personalizing my menu based on the Primal Diet which is a variation of Paleo.
POST MORTEM - My Point of View
Will I do it again? No and believe me, I will do everything necessary (by not recovering the lost kilos) in order not to relive this painful experience. So this diet allowed me to discipline myself well and also, to help me adopt a healthy lifestyle by taking into account my diet and practicing physical activity. Remembering everything I've been through will allow me to respect my decision not to have to start a diet again.
Advantage of the Cosmonaut diet: loss of kilos quickly, 3 kilos in three days or 10 in two weeks. I lost 6kg
Disadvantages of the Cosmonaut diet: it can cause nutritional deficiencies and feelings of fatigue. But also the risk of a yoyo effect. Hence the importance of undertaking a well-controlled stabilization phase
Note (for those who want to try the adventure) in case of renewal of the diet (OUT OF QUESTION FOR ME!), It is recommended to allow two weeks of elapse.
Conclusion
This diet is not for everyone, it's drastic, it's painful, you have to be a masochist to do it. I tried and I think what helped me was my determination, my slightly crazy mind, and the short duration of two weeks helped me cope. Being a former competitive athlete, I have always kept with me the discipline that it takes to excel in sport (for me it was athletics). It may sound silly, but I approached this diet as if I was doing a competition: the preparation, during and after.
And if I have to draw an analogy with a track and field competition, this diet was hell for me just like when I ran a 400m. I always hated running the 400m, at the finish line I felt like my lungs were coming out, I was cursing the coach and I always promised myself never to do it. Well, it's the same with that damn cosmonaut diet, never again, whoever invented it was crazy.
Last thing, what also motivated me to finish this damn diet was that I was always constantly visualizing myself enjoying a nice little cup of Haagen Dazs chocolate or coffee ice cream (my favorite). It was one of my selected rewards but in the end it was the Baileys dessert that I selected. And I really enjoyed it, it was a real delight as if I found myself in 7th heaven.
I am not trying to discourage all those who want to embark on this adventure. And I don't judge them because they must have their own reasons for doing so. And that's okay but I take my hat off to them because for me, dieting is out of the question. From now on I will take care of myself in order to maintain good health while enjoying the good food that I love. After all, life is too short and why not enjoy the wonders of food while being careful because like they say: 'Too much of a good thing'.
This is what the French proverb says :
“Eating more than you should, hurts more than you think."”
Thanks for reading !
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