Eat to Live Day 4 & 5

Sorry for my failure to update yesterday. The kids were out of school for a snow day and I sort of fell off the wagon. I didn't eat my normal breakfast because I was being lazy and so that started me off on a long hungry day. Then I had a crappy dinner and just didn't feel great. Today was good until dinner when I had a piece of pizza from Costco and some popchips. So, overall the past two days kind of stunk. However, I weighed in today and I'm down two pounds. That's pretty good for me and I know if I had followed the plan to the letter I would have lost even more. The snow day allowed me to clean house and get caught up on some work. I thought we were going to another wrestling tournament tomorrow, but it was cancelled due to snow. So with the exception of a little bit of work, I'm done with everything that had to get done this weekend. I stocked up on food at Costco this evening and I will have the time to sit down and really plan out and prepare what I'm going to eat this week. I'm excited and loving this!

Eat to Live Day #3

OK, it has only been three days, but so far I am loving this. This morning I went to the gym early. I don't have time to eat anything before I go so by the end of my workout my stomach is usually growling and I feel a little sick. This morning I felt like I could eat soon, but I didn't feel like I had to get something in there before I fainted. I didn't notice any difference in my workout performance. Breakfast was green tea with stevia, three kiwi, 100 calorie pack of natural almonds, and a banana. I felt pretty good until lunch, but I think on days when I work out in the morning I should probably eat just a little bit more. Lunch was sort of a fail, but not totally. I brought some steamable snow peas and a pita sandwich with avacado, tomato, onions and lettuce. The peas were just gross. I like them normally, but they just weren't good quality. So I dumped those and went to my co-op for a salad. All good there except for a few croutons, and I'm not sure about the dressing. I picked a vinaigrette, but I don't know the ingredients. I also had an apple, and some (yes sweet) tea. I was totally stuffed though. After work I went to get the boys, and to the store. I was still feeling good when I got home. I made a black bean soup and a repeat of the sandwich I had at lunch. Unfortunately I had some baked scoops with my soup and a Weight Watchers snack size ice cream bar. It's only day three though so I'm not going to beat myself up too bad. Last night I went to the store to replace my food processor that I knocked off my counter. I was looking for something $50 or less to get me through until I can save up for a really good one. I found one for $30 and was feeling good. Then I spotted a juicer on clearance for $24. I don't really like drinking things I could chew, but I thought it might be handy for when I'm just not in the mood to eat a ton of vegetables, and that the boys would like it. So I got a recommendation from a friend about what to try first, and got started. Helpful note, put the pulp catcher on before started. I shot spinach all over my counter, and juice ran everywhere when I moved it to out it on. As you can see...the first time was a fail.

Eat to Live Day #2

I didn't think I would like eating fruit and nuts for breakfast, but it is already growing on me. I did cheat and have a small slice of the pizza again, but aside from that this morning I had three kiwi, a banana, and a 100 calorie back of natural almonds. I also had green tea with stevia because it is freezing today. I had that around 8:00 and with my normal breakfast of a bagel thin with laughing cow cream cheese, and greek yogurt with fruit I'm normally starving by 10:00. At 10 today I was still feeling good. Also, the frequent trips to the bathroom have already slowed down. Lunch was a huge salad with romaine, spinach, peppers, olives black beans and onions. I used balsamic vinegar and lemon juice for dressing. I also had a green giant snow peas, potatoes and pepper combination in a light sauce. The box is four PP on Weight Watchers, and while I know it isn't totally approved because it has the sauce, I want to use up the things I already have. I also had a banana. I didn't end up finishing the whole salad because it was so big. Normally by 3:00 I am starving again and if I don't eat something before going to the gym after work I will feel faint while working out. Today, I was fine all the way through the rest of the day and my workout. I even went to the store afterward and still didn't feel like I normally do. I did eat the last two (and I should have mentioned, these are not normal size slices, they are very thin) pieces of pizza for dinner along with some veggies, quinoa, and a banana. Clearly I should have skipped the pizza and had more veggies because I got hungry later and had an apple. So far the withdraw feelings are very minimal. I did allow myself one diet soda today, but I really didn't want another one. I also walked through the bakery at the store and only had a mild desire for a donut (and donuts are a huge temptation for me). I had a lot of energy and didn't feel like I just had to have certain foods. I hope things continue like this but I have a feeling I could still have some cravings ahead. I'm going to start trying some of the recipes from the book so that I don't get burnt out fast eating salads.

Eat to Live Day #1

Well today was supposed to be my official start on Eat to Live, but it was a fail. I spent all weekend at wrestling tournaments with my sons and was not adequately prepared for today. I did the best I could this morning, but I was just so exhausted that I fell off the wagon. Breakfast started out good. I had a 100 calorie pack of natural almonds, three kiwi, a banana and some pomegranate seeds. I also had some green tea with stevia. Two things here, I forgot I really only like pomegranate mixed in other things, and eating a breakfast like that when you're not used to it will make you pee about a million times. I am sure my co-workers thought something was wrong with me. Lunch was a hummus, swiss, sprout and cucumber sandwich on a bagel, a banana, and two clementines. I was offered lunch and the company was too good to pass up :) Dinner was where things went south. I was starving and while I knew this was normal, I was too tired to fight through it. I had stir fry veggies, fake chicken and quinoa...but I also had a piece of my sons pizza. I plan to get the boys on this way of eating as well, but I need to finish the book Fuhrman wrote for children because their plan can't be as strict. So, tonight it was all about fast. We also had banana/peanut butter "ice cream" for dessert. A few observations from what I did accomplish today. The breakfast was good. I didn't really start to feel like eating until lunch time. Lunch needs a lot more veggies to keep me going until dinner. My head did hurt after lunch but I'm also trying to quit Coke Zero at the same time so I think it was a combination of withdraw symptoms. I'm really tired tonight, but I think that's residual from the weekend and my lack of sleep. Hopefully I do a better job tomorrow. Oh and learning to cook would help.

Eat to Live

I have finished reading Eat to Live: The Amazing Nutrient-Rich Program for Fast and Sustained Weight Loss, Revised Edition by Dr. Joel Fuhrman, and I must say that I am impressed. Before I was even halfway through I went ahead and ordered Disease-Proof Your Child: Feeding Kids Right because I knew that this was something I wanted to start my kids on, but that the plan would be different. There's a very high family history of prostate cancer on their dad's side and I want to do everything in my power to lower their risk. I think Dr. Fuhrman can lower our risk for just about everything. I don't suffer from any of the diseases he had had success in eliminating in his patients (aside from my weight and anything I might not be aware of) but I am excited to see how this program will impact my weight, my food cravings and obsession, and the few annoying things I think could possibly go away with this form of eating. Tonight I found a girl on YouTube that has been having some great success without even following his plan to the letter so I am encouraged. Her detox period kind of scared me, but from other things I've read her's sounds a bit more extreme than most. I plan to start adding the foods in more and more over the next few days but we're at wrestling tournaments all weekend and I don't want to try to start when I'm going to be away from home. So my official start will be Monday. I'm going to weigh tomorrow at my gym because they have a scale that measures BMI as well as weight and I have taken measurements and before pictures. I am considering doing a weekly video, but we'll see how that goes. I'm scared, I'm excited...I'll let you know!

Ready for Radical

A few posts back I said I was sort of at my wits end with my weight. I'm tired of losing and gaining the same pounds, tired of being hungry all the time, tired of the effort of it all. At the time I was considering posting pictures of myself to perhaps shame me into doing something about it once and for all. I still may do that if I get the courage. But this has to be it. I have to find a way to achieve the weight loss that I want without the constant mental anguish I experience. I've been a vegetarian for a few years now, and while I'm not a very good vegetarian in that I eat too much garbage, I do feel better since eliminating the meat. Oddly enough I was often anemic before going veg and now whenever I donate blood I'm always good. I know the benefits of a good vegetarian diet, and I've wanted to go vegan for a long time but have been sort of hesitant to dive in. I think now's the time. Right before Christmas when Amazon was having all of their sales I bought a copy of Dr. Joel Fuhrman's Eat to Live. It was an impulse purchase because something in the description stuck out to me. But, due to my sever addiction to books, I got it, and put it on my shelf as something to read later. Then I heard he was going to be on Dr. Oz. I watched the videos from the show, and started reading the book. I'm halfway through and I must say, I believe him. His book speaks to everything I've been reading and seeing about a plant based life, and the success stories on his website are the kind of thing you have to see to believe. I don't have all of the illnesses (or if I do, I am not aware) that many of his followers have been cured of following his advice, but I know that so many people that I know would benefit from even following it halfway. It's radical when you compare it to the standard American diet. Little to no animal products, living off beans, nuts, seeds, fruits and vegetables. But, as doctor Esselstyn says in Forks Over Knives...having your chest divided, and a vein removed from your leg for a bypass is pretty darn extreme too. I think I'll try Fuhrman's approach. I'm scared. It's a change, and I know that a nasty detox period may be in store for me. But I'm tired of the body I'm living in not serving me the way that it should, and I'm ready to help it do that. A friend of mine on Facebook told me that he follows a similar approach for two meals a day and that he's seen positive results. He's an athlete and if he can do this and see his abilities improve then I'm sold. Now what about Weight Watchers you say? I still maintain that WW is a fantastic program. I lost from 213 to 160 on WW, and gained back to 175 when I went off of it. It is still the method I encourage people to follow to change their life, because most people starting a weight loss journey cannot go to the extreme without backsliding. WW made me look at food in a whole new way, but it only works if you do it, and right now, my heart is in a different place. I need something new. I'll let you know how its going.

Theme Song for 2013

At the start of every year I like to pick a "theme song" for the year. Usually its a song that I hear within the first few days of the new year and it speaks to me in some way. I just use it as a motivator throughout the year. I ran my fastest 5K in 2012 on the 4th of July. The race sponsor made a video of shots from the race and put a song with it called On Top of the World by Imagine Dragons. The posted the video on Facebook again the other day to remind us that its only six months away and I was reminded of how much I love the song. So, here's the video with the song!

Valley 4th RUN 2012 from Chris Meyers on Vimeo.