I went to see my doctor, who told me my low blood pressure doesn't seem to be arising from any medical problem, and to drink licorice tea (to raise my blood pressure) and eat more salt (to keep it elevated).
I felt an increase in energy after the first cup of tea, and felt like a fog had lifted from my brain, that I hadn't even realized was there. For quite some time, I've been exhausted at the end of the work day, with really sore eyes, but thought that I always had been tired at the end of the work day and that I needed new glasses. Turns out, I just needed more blood flowing to my brain and eyes. It's really like a miracle.
Even on weekends, I've woken up feeling exhausted, and had o push must to get anything done. This morning I awake, full of energy, despite having gotten home at 1am from A Bonnie Raitt concert. Before breakfast, I'd cleaned the two upstairs bathrooms thoroughly. Around lunch time, I started feeling exhausted and bought that maybe I'd just sit around and read for the afternoon, and then I realized--I need more tea. So I brewed another cup, and my energy level is back! Wow--I'm going to have a whole new life!
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Sunday, June 10, 2012
Thursday, May 31, 2012
It's Official: I'm No Longer Overweight!
Wow--that took a long, long time. I set the goal of being below 155 after I broke my arm and my leg, which was 2 years ago. Not eating after dinner is the key for me. Snacking in the evening has been a normal part of my life for many years--particularly if I'm hungry, which I am nearly every evening. I'm a very good follower of rules, so the fact that I have a rule that there needs to be 12 hours between my evening meal and breakfast makes not snacking after dinner easy. It's harder for me when there aren't clear cut meals.
I rented a place called Popcorn Noir for a company party tomorrow. It's a very cool place. It's a movie theatre where they don't charge you for the movies--they charge you for food and drink. That way they don't have to pay for the movies. The movie we're going to be showing is "The Big Lewbowski." if you haven't seen it, you should. It's classic Coen brothers--extremely funny, with a great cast. Liz and I watched it sometime in the last year, and I'd forgotten some of the cast members, like Phillip Seymour Hoffman in an early role.
But the point is, I'm going to be eating a lot of popcorn. I almost have to, don't you think, at a place called Popcorn Noir.
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I rented a place called Popcorn Noir for a company party tomorrow. It's a very cool place. It's a movie theatre where they don't charge you for the movies--they charge you for food and drink. That way they don't have to pay for the movies. The movie we're going to be showing is "The Big Lewbowski." if you haven't seen it, you should. It's classic Coen brothers--extremely funny, with a great cast. Liz and I watched it sometime in the last year, and I'd forgotten some of the cast members, like Phillip Seymour Hoffman in an early role.
But the point is, I'm going to be eating a lot of popcorn. I almost have to, don't you think, at a place called Popcorn Noir.
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Sunday, May 27, 2012
New biking shoes
Last week I was filling our tires before going for a ride, and the inside of the valve on one of Liz's tires exploded into the garage. I completely cleaned the garage looking for it(I wish I had before and after pictures), to no avail. So we headed to the bike shop for the $16 repair. $400 later, we left with all sorts of new bike gear, including a new pair of biking shoes for me. Note to self, avoid the bike shop in the future.
I didn't need new bike shoes, but they looked so cool and high tech. The salesperson convinced me that my speed would increase. I didn't believe her, but it was enough to close the deal. I used to get new roller blades every couple of years in order to increase my speed, and these shoes have a closure like roller blades, so what could I do. Here they are in all their glory:
They had to special order them, so I didn't get them till Thursday. I immediately went out and was pleased to record my fastest time of the season at 1 hour and 2 minutes. When I came home to tell Liz, she admitted that she could be biking faster, but stayed behind me because she thought I'd be mad if she passed me. Well that upset me. I don't want Liz holding herself back in any way because of what she thinks I might think. But also, if Liz went faster, my speed would pick up too. So when we went out on Saturday, I challenged Liz to go as fast as she could to see if we could get under an hour.
I was amazed how fast Liz was going. Her training at Fitness Together is really having an impact. Liz has always been faster than me going up hills--whether it was running, roller blading, or biking. But I was faster than her on flats and especially going downhill, because Liz has had a fear of losing control going too fast down hills. So when Liz got ahead of me going up hill and I couldn't catch her on the flats, I figured I'd catch her on the downhills. But our trikes are so stable, Liz now feels comfortable going fast down hill. I caught her once on the way out, but she passed me almost immediately and that was it--she was gone. And how did we do, you might ask:
We not only went under an hour, we took 10 minutes off our normal time. Amazing!!! Now I'd like to get down to 45 minutes.
Hey, those new shoes were a great investment!!!
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I didn't need new bike shoes, but they looked so cool and high tech. The salesperson convinced me that my speed would increase. I didn't believe her, but it was enough to close the deal. I used to get new roller blades every couple of years in order to increase my speed, and these shoes have a closure like roller blades, so what could I do. Here they are in all their glory:
They had to special order them, so I didn't get them till Thursday. I immediately went out and was pleased to record my fastest time of the season at 1 hour and 2 minutes. When I came home to tell Liz, she admitted that she could be biking faster, but stayed behind me because she thought I'd be mad if she passed me. Well that upset me. I don't want Liz holding herself back in any way because of what she thinks I might think. But also, if Liz went faster, my speed would pick up too. So when we went out on Saturday, I challenged Liz to go as fast as she could to see if we could get under an hour.
I was amazed how fast Liz was going. Her training at Fitness Together is really having an impact. Liz has always been faster than me going up hills--whether it was running, roller blading, or biking. But I was faster than her on flats and especially going downhill, because Liz has had a fear of losing control going too fast down hills. So when Liz got ahead of me going up hill and I couldn't catch her on the flats, I figured I'd catch her on the downhills. But our trikes are so stable, Liz now feels comfortable going fast down hill. I caught her once on the way out, but she passed me almost immediately and that was it--she was gone. And how did we do, you might ask:
We not only went under an hour, we took 10 minutes off our normal time. Amazing!!! Now I'd like to get down to 45 minutes.
Hey, those new shoes were a great investment!!!
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Monday, May 21, 2012
10%
I've read a number of places that if you lose 10% of your body weight, it is a significant improvement to your health (but apparently not your grammar). I've now lost 17 pounds, which is 10% from where I started. Just .8 of a pound and I'm officially not over-weight (although you wouldn't know it from all the rolls of fat hanging out here and there).
I broke my commitment to Mark Saturday night. We went to the Blue Heron--my favorite restaurant-- and they had Dog Fish Head on tap. I decided to celebrate my 17 pound weight loss and had two beers. They tasted fabulous. But the next day I was so draggy, I don't know how I managed to ever drink. I didn't want to do anything. Bennett declared me a boring old lady, which was accurate. I finally forced myself out for a bike ride in the lat afternoon. The whole way out I thought about turning around. At least the second half of the ride was fun because I wasn't wasting energy thinking about whether to continue or not.
I had an amazing change since the cleanse. I'm used to being hungry--it just feels like a normal way to be, rather than a problem I need to address immediately with food. The one day since the cleanse when I wasn't hungry at dinner time, I really didn't want dinner, so I just made a smoothie. I'm really hoping I can make that a long-term change.
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I broke my commitment to Mark Saturday night. We went to the Blue Heron--my favorite restaurant-- and they had Dog Fish Head on tap. I decided to celebrate my 17 pound weight loss and had two beers. They tasted fabulous. But the next day I was so draggy, I don't know how I managed to ever drink. I didn't want to do anything. Bennett declared me a boring old lady, which was accurate. I finally forced myself out for a bike ride in the lat afternoon. The whole way out I thought about turning around. At least the second half of the ride was fun because I wasn't wasting energy thinking about whether to continue or not.
I had an amazing change since the cleanse. I'm used to being hungry--it just feels like a normal way to be, rather than a problem I need to address immediately with food. The one day since the cleanse when I wasn't hungry at dinner time, I really didn't want dinner, so I just made a smoothie. I'm really hoping I can make that a long-term change.
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Monday, May 14, 2012
Friday, May 11, 2012
We Did It!
Today is the last day of the cleanse! We made it through the preparation week, and the 3 weeks of the cleanse. The hardest day for both of us was the first Saturday. Part of what made it hard was just being hungry for so many days. But it was also that we had a couple of juices that we really didn't like, the garlic we were eating was upsetting both of our stomachs, and I was constipated. Not a pretty situation all in all.
But we got used to being hungry, our stomachs shrunk, we cut out the raw garlic, I added different forms of fiber to our diets, and we figured out which recipes to avoid.
In some ways, being on the cleanse was probably easier than trying to figure out how to eat healthily and in the right proportions after it's done. I was playing some game on my iPad tonight and an ad came up for Flixster that featured a tub of popcorn. I've seen that ad many times, but tonight, it made my mouth water. I love popcorn, and popcorn is now back within reach. My brother-in-law Berny once said that my sister Barb could eat her weight in popcorn and I adopted that as an apt description of myself. I can make Liz and I each a giant bowl of popcorn, and I can eat mine and whatever Liz couldn't finish. I haven't had popcorn since the film festival.
My next temptation will be tomorrow night. I'm going to see the Celtics play the 76ers in the first game of the second round of the playoffs. I'm going with Bob and Alexandra and finding a place to eat that doesn't veer too far from how I have been eating may be a challenge. We have to be careful about how we come out of the cleanse so as not to upset our systems. But really, wouldn't a beer and popcorn hit the spot!
I'll do my official weigh-in in the morning, but as of today, I've lost 15 pounds. Just 2.6 pounds and I'll officially not be over-weight, although I'll still be about 18 pounds over my ideal weight.
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But we got used to being hungry, our stomachs shrunk, we cut out the raw garlic, I added different forms of fiber to our diets, and we figured out which recipes to avoid.
In some ways, being on the cleanse was probably easier than trying to figure out how to eat healthily and in the right proportions after it's done. I was playing some game on my iPad tonight and an ad came up for Flixster that featured a tub of popcorn. I've seen that ad many times, but tonight, it made my mouth water. I love popcorn, and popcorn is now back within reach. My brother-in-law Berny once said that my sister Barb could eat her weight in popcorn and I adopted that as an apt description of myself. I can make Liz and I each a giant bowl of popcorn, and I can eat mine and whatever Liz couldn't finish. I haven't had popcorn since the film festival.
My next temptation will be tomorrow night. I'm going to see the Celtics play the 76ers in the first game of the second round of the playoffs. I'm going with Bob and Alexandra and finding a place to eat that doesn't veer too far from how I have been eating may be a challenge. We have to be careful about how we come out of the cleanse so as not to upset our systems. But really, wouldn't a beer and popcorn hit the spot!
I'll do my official weigh-in in the morning, but as of today, I've lost 15 pounds. Just 2.6 pounds and I'll officially not be over-weight, although I'll still be about 18 pounds over my ideal weight.
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Saturday, May 5, 2012
Two weeks down, 1 to go
Today was a very hard day to stay on the cleanse. We went to Grace and Melinda's engagement party. We thought the party was supposed to start at 2, but it started at 3, which really affected our meal plan for the day. We had smoothies for breakfast and brought smoothies for dinner, and Melinda said her brother would grill us chicken, which we'd have for lunch. Well, it's one thing to delay our only meal of the day from noon to 2, delaying it to 3 was really challenging. On top of that, when we got to the party, the chicken and salad hadn't arrived, so we were surrounded by people acting chips and salsa and couldn't eat. Liz couldn't stand it and ate one chip. I was impressed--if I'd eaten one chip, many more would have followed.
We allowed about 3 seconds to pass from the time the chicken and salad arrived until we filled our plates. I have to say, that chicken was really delicious!
It was fun to meet Melinda's family--her mother is one of 11 kids, so there were tons of aunts and uncles there. Her aunts and uncles have small families, though, so there werent many cousins. Our family, by contrast, is a giant pyramid. There are seven in my generation, 14 in the next, and 12 so far in the next--and that generation is only going to grow.
Here's a picture of my nephew Jay with his wife Liz, Liz, Grace, Melinda's mom Peggy, me, Melinda, and Melinda's brother Chris.
Before we went to the party, we went to Storm King, a sculpture garden nearby on 500 acres. We love Andy Goldsberry and new he had a stone wall there, but had no idea of all the cool sculptures that were there--and most of them are huge. Here's a section of the stone wall:
And here's a sculpture called the Three Legged Budha:
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We allowed about 3 seconds to pass from the time the chicken and salad arrived until we filled our plates. I have to say, that chicken was really delicious!
It was fun to meet Melinda's family--her mother is one of 11 kids, so there were tons of aunts and uncles there. Her aunts and uncles have small families, though, so there werent many cousins. Our family, by contrast, is a giant pyramid. There are seven in my generation, 14 in the next, and 12 so far in the next--and that generation is only going to grow.
Here's a picture of my nephew Jay with his wife Liz, Liz, Grace, Melinda's mom Peggy, me, Melinda, and Melinda's brother Chris.
Before we went to the party, we went to Storm King, a sculpture garden nearby on 500 acres. We love Andy Goldsberry and new he had a stone wall there, but had no idea of all the cool sculptures that were there--and most of them are huge. Here's a section of the stone wall:
And here's a sculpture called the Three Legged Budha:
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Sunday, April 29, 2012
Cleanse: Day 8
Well, I've started taking a natural laxative, so life is much better. Who knew this topic would be the major feature of my blog about the cleanse! We are at the stage of the cleanse where the novelty has worn off, so it's much harder to stay with it. I'm pretty good at staying with something once I've committed to it (witness my 34 year old business and 28 year old relationship with Liz), so I'm not worried about sticking with it, it's just harder. Some days, I'm pretty much hungry for most of the day, like today. I actually had the misconception that we'd been on the cleanse for 2 weeks, and was planning what I wanted to eat next Sunday, when Liz reminded me that we've only done it for a week. How can that be?
We've also started talking about what we want to do when we finish the cleanse. We both want to continue having 12 horse between the last time we eat in the evening and breakfast. It makes sense to both of us that that gives our system time for some housecleaning in addition to digestion. I'm thinking about permanently not eating desserts. Our friend Walter does that, and he's managed to stay trim his adult life. I'm also thinking about limiting the frequency with which I drink beer. That's going to be a harder one. I really like beer and I like getting a little buzz on. I no longer like getting a major buzz on like I did when I was in my teens and 20s. Just a mild little buzz. So I have to experiment with what works. I want to get to my ideal weight and stay there this time, not put it all back on over a period of years.
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We've also started talking about what we want to do when we finish the cleanse. We both want to continue having 12 horse between the last time we eat in the evening and breakfast. It makes sense to both of us that that gives our system time for some housecleaning in addition to digestion. I'm thinking about permanently not eating desserts. Our friend Walter does that, and he's managed to stay trim his adult life. I'm also thinking about limiting the frequency with which I drink beer. That's going to be a harder one. I really like beer and I like getting a little buzz on. I no longer like getting a major buzz on like I did when I was in my teens and 20s. Just a mild little buzz. So I have to experiment with what works. I want to get to my ideal weight and stay there this time, not put it all back on over a period of years.
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Friday, April 27, 2012
Day 6
I'm so blocked up I could scream. It's been 2 days with no relief. I took castor oil last night with no effect, and I've taken it twice today. Very frustrating.
I went to a fundraiser last night. Lots of great food being passed around that I avoided. Today we had a birthday party at work, so I had to avoid beer, chips, and chocolate.
I've fallen asleep twice while writing this, so I'm off to bed.
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I went to a fundraiser last night. Lots of great food being passed around that I avoided. Today we had a birthday party at work, so I had to avoid beer, chips, and chocolate.
I've fallen asleep twice while writing this, so I'm off to bed.
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Wednesday, April 25, 2012
Cleanse Day 5
I had a nice surprise when I got on the scale today--159.6. The shocking part is that my weight was higher yesterday--163.4. I had been bummed yesterday about my weight being higher. I started second guessing myself--am I doing the cleanse right, etc., etc.
My biggest issue is--how to put this delicately--problems with elimination. I'm definitely out of my routine. The book we're following is very unhappy about elimination problems--we don't want to reabsorb those nasty toxins we went to so much trouble to get into our colon, now, do we. So it suggests that any day you haven't eliminated properly, taking castor oil. Now there's a disgusting substance. It's disgustingly thick. It does its job quite well. My low weights are the mornings after the castor oil has cleaned me out.
I really don't want to make a habit of asking it, and Liz doesn't want me to either--she's worried I'll become dependent on it. So I've been adding things to my diet. First I added ground flax seed. That didn't do it. Then I added bentonite clay. Still not enough. Now I'm taking psyllium seed twice a day. Now that's an interesting substance. I put a tablespoon in water and drink it down. It doesn't have a taste but it has a weird texture. Kind of like tapioca beads or something. It feels like I should chew it, but I want to drink it as fast as possible. We'll see if that can get me off the caster oil.
We're doing well at staying with the cleanse. The hardest part for me is after dinner. Dinner tonight was an 8 oz glass of juice made from an apple, a head of fennel, and a half of lemon. It was really delicious, but not what my prior 61.9 years has led me to think of as dinner. I'm not as hungry as I thought I would be--it's more not satisfied. But I'm loving the results. Liz looks fabulous--she's lost 10 pounds and it shows!
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My biggest issue is--how to put this delicately--problems with elimination. I'm definitely out of my routine. The book we're following is very unhappy about elimination problems--we don't want to reabsorb those nasty toxins we went to so much trouble to get into our colon, now, do we. So it suggests that any day you haven't eliminated properly, taking castor oil. Now there's a disgusting substance. It's disgustingly thick. It does its job quite well. My low weights are the mornings after the castor oil has cleaned me out.
I really don't want to make a habit of asking it, and Liz doesn't want me to either--she's worried I'll become dependent on it. So I've been adding things to my diet. First I added ground flax seed. That didn't do it. Then I added bentonite clay. Still not enough. Now I'm taking psyllium seed twice a day. Now that's an interesting substance. I put a tablespoon in water and drink it down. It doesn't have a taste but it has a weird texture. Kind of like tapioca beads or something. It feels like I should chew it, but I want to drink it as fast as possible. We'll see if that can get me off the caster oil.
We're doing well at staying with the cleanse. The hardest part for me is after dinner. Dinner tonight was an 8 oz glass of juice made from an apple, a head of fennel, and a half of lemon. It was really delicious, but not what my prior 61.9 years has led me to think of as dinner. I'm not as hungry as I thought I would be--it's more not satisfied. But I'm loving the results. Liz looks fabulous--she's lost 10 pounds and it shows!
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Monday, April 23, 2012
Cleanse: Day 3
I feel like I'm getting into the rhythm of the cleanse, although it feels weird to have our main meal at lunch. Liz offered to make the main meal today, so I came home for lunch. She did a great job-- lamb chops with quinoa and kale.
I weighted 162 this morning--the pounds are flying off fast. I'm adding a few new things to our diet to increase the fiber content. Starting this morning, I ground up some flax seed to put in our smoothie and tonight I took some Bentonite clay, which is also supposed to be good for removing heavy metals from the system. We also started taking garlic pills, which are supposed to be good at removing parasites. I don't know if we have heavy metals or parasites, but what the hell, may as well do the whole thing. In for a dime, in for a dollar.
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I weighted 162 this morning--the pounds are flying off fast. I'm adding a few new things to our diet to increase the fiber content. Starting this morning, I ground up some flax seed to put in our smoothie and tonight I took some Bentonite clay, which is also supposed to be good for removing heavy metals from the system. We also started taking garlic pills, which are supposed to be good at removing parasites. I don't know if we have heavy metals or parasites, but what the hell, may as well do the whole thing. In for a dime, in for a dollar.
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Sunday, April 22, 2012
Cleanse: Day 2
Day 2 as easier than day 1. I wasn't starving when I got up, and felt full after breakfast. I was very hungry by lunchtime, but part of that was because we had a late lunch. I was a little hungry by dinner time, but felt very satisfied by dinner's juice (apples, kale, celery, broccoli, cucumber, and lemon).
I'm hoping each day gets a bit easier. My weight was up a bit from yesterday--how I have no idea, given what I ate yesterday, but I'm sure the overall direction will be down.
Again, the best thing about this cleanse is how delicious all the recipes are. I'm sure we'll continue eating them long after the cleanse is done.
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I'm hoping each day gets a bit easier. My weight was up a bit from yesterday--how I have no idea, given what I ate yesterday, but I'm sure the overall direction will be down.
Again, the best thing about this cleanse is how delicious all the recipes are. I'm sure we'll continue eating them long after the cleanse is done.
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Saturday, April 21, 2012
Let the Cleanse Begin
Liz and I started a 3 week cleanse today. I'm pretty excited about it I think it will kick-start us getting to our ideal weights, and let me be not over-weight by my birthday.
I've done a few cleanses in my lifetime. The first one was when I was in my mid-20s. I read a book about fasting and did a fast--I think it was for 3 days. At the end of it, I was so starving, I did just what they said not to do and ate a big meal. I still remember how much pain I was in all night.
The next one was when Katy was living with us. She had done a cleanse using a kit you can get online or at Whole Foods or similar places. With that cleanse, we had smoothies for breakfast and lunch with a mixture that came with the kit, and then had a very simple dinner--my memory was that it was a piece of baked skinless, boneless chicken breast with maybe a side vegetable. We did that for a week. It wasn't too bad, but didn't result in any permanent changes. And it was a bit boring in terms of what we ate. I think we did it again a few months later.
This one is very different for a number of reasons. First, it starts with a week of preparation, and then the clause lasts three weeks. During the preparation time, there were a lot of foods we had to cut out of our diet, like dairy, wheat, alcohol, sugar, caffeine, beef, pork, some vegetables (like corn and peppers), some fruits (like oranges, grapefruits, strawberries, and bananas, and some nuts (like peanuts and pistachios). The idea is two-fold--not eating foods that are common allergens and eating fewer acid-producing foods. The other thing was to have 12 hours between dinner and breakfast--if we finished dinner at 7, we shouldn't eat breakfast before 7 in the morning.
The preparation phase went well. We did it from Monday to Friday and both lost a few pounds. Today we started the actual cleanse. That involves having smoothies, fresh made juices, or light soups for breakfast and dinner, and a full meal at lunch. The book we're doing this from has recipes for everything we eat, to make sure we getting the right nutrients and eating the right quantities. The idea behind it it to have our bodies spend the least amount of time digesting, and maximum time detoxifying.
I thought I'd be starving tonight, but I'm not even hungry. I was starving this morning. I got up at 6 and Liz slept till 8 so I waited for her to get up to make breakfast. I was really hungry, and breakfast didn't do much to alleviate it. We went for a 12 mile bike ride and I was so hungry when we returned, I ate an apple and some almonds (the almonds ere permitted as a snack, not the apple). But I was going grocery shopping and literally was afraid of my driving skills because I was so hungry. But lunch was so filling, I wasn't even hungry at dinner time. I ate the soup I made for dinner, and though it was very light, I still feel full.
The best part is that every recipe we've tried so far is incredibly delicious! I've mad a meal plan that has us eating something different for very meal this week. That pretty much exhausts the recipes in the book, but that's much more variation than we normally have.
So here's where I stand:
I weighed 172.4 when I made the commitment to stop eating dessert and sinking alcohol on March 18th.
I weighed 166.2 on April 16th when we started the preparation phase.
I weighed 162.8 this morning when we started the cleanse.
I just need to lose 7.8 pounds to not be over-weight on my birthday, and 26 pounds to be at my ideal weight. I think the next 3 weeks will get me past the first goal and well on my way to the second!
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I've done a few cleanses in my lifetime. The first one was when I was in my mid-20s. I read a book about fasting and did a fast--I think it was for 3 days. At the end of it, I was so starving, I did just what they said not to do and ate a big meal. I still remember how much pain I was in all night.
The next one was when Katy was living with us. She had done a cleanse using a kit you can get online or at Whole Foods or similar places. With that cleanse, we had smoothies for breakfast and lunch with a mixture that came with the kit, and then had a very simple dinner--my memory was that it was a piece of baked skinless, boneless chicken breast with maybe a side vegetable. We did that for a week. It wasn't too bad, but didn't result in any permanent changes. And it was a bit boring in terms of what we ate. I think we did it again a few months later.
This one is very different for a number of reasons. First, it starts with a week of preparation, and then the clause lasts three weeks. During the preparation time, there were a lot of foods we had to cut out of our diet, like dairy, wheat, alcohol, sugar, caffeine, beef, pork, some vegetables (like corn and peppers), some fruits (like oranges, grapefruits, strawberries, and bananas, and some nuts (like peanuts and pistachios). The idea is two-fold--not eating foods that are common allergens and eating fewer acid-producing foods. The other thing was to have 12 hours between dinner and breakfast--if we finished dinner at 7, we shouldn't eat breakfast before 7 in the morning.
The preparation phase went well. We did it from Monday to Friday and both lost a few pounds. Today we started the actual cleanse. That involves having smoothies, fresh made juices, or light soups for breakfast and dinner, and a full meal at lunch. The book we're doing this from has recipes for everything we eat, to make sure we getting the right nutrients and eating the right quantities. The idea behind it it to have our bodies spend the least amount of time digesting, and maximum time detoxifying.
I thought I'd be starving tonight, but I'm not even hungry. I was starving this morning. I got up at 6 and Liz slept till 8 so I waited for her to get up to make breakfast. I was really hungry, and breakfast didn't do much to alleviate it. We went for a 12 mile bike ride and I was so hungry when we returned, I ate an apple and some almonds (the almonds ere permitted as a snack, not the apple). But I was going grocery shopping and literally was afraid of my driving skills because I was so hungry. But lunch was so filling, I wasn't even hungry at dinner time. I ate the soup I made for dinner, and though it was very light, I still feel full.
The best part is that every recipe we've tried so far is incredibly delicious! I've mad a meal plan that has us eating something different for very meal this week. That pretty much exhausts the recipes in the book, but that's much more variation than we normally have.
So here's where I stand:
I weighed 172.4 when I made the commitment to stop eating dessert and sinking alcohol on March 18th.
I weighed 166.2 on April 16th when we started the preparation phase.
I weighed 162.8 this morning when we started the cleanse.
I just need to lose 7.8 pounds to not be over-weight on my birthday, and 26 pounds to be at my ideal weight. I think the next 3 weeks will get me past the first goal and well on my way to the second!
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Wednesday, March 14, 2012
Day 3: Eating Out
I knew today would be a challenge--have dinner out on a day that I couldn't exercise. I'm not sure I got my calories right--it's really hard to know what the ingredients or quantities are. My first thought was to not record my food for the day. If I wasn't writing in this blog, I wouldn't have tried to recreate it. I Googled the things I ate and entered the calories, and ended up 99 calories over my goal--not bad. I tout it'd be much worse.
Here's the count:
Weight: 169--even for the week
Exercise: none
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Here's the count:
Weight: 169--even for the week
Exercise: none
- Posted using BlogPress from my iPad
Tuesday, March 13, 2012
Day 2: Already Struggling
Tonight, Liz and I went shoe shopping. It was essential for me, because Emmaline, our golden retriever, stole one of my sneakers and refuses to give it up. So I was wearing heavy winer boots today despite the 70 degree temperature. I was feeling exhausted from travel, the time change, and losing an hour of sleep to daylight savings time, so all I wanted to do was to get a hamburger, fries, and a beer or two.
After a successful shopping trip--we both got cool new shoes--we contemplated our culinary options. We started with the best of intentions. We headed to a place called Karma that we'd never eaten at, but heard had really good food. It started as a raw food restaurant, so we figured it would have healthy options. But alas, it had already closed. It's relocating to a smaller location in the next town, so they must not have found an audience.
We were too tired to go to a restaurant that took much time, so we went to Local Burger. They serve great burgers from local beef. I really, really, really wanted French fries--they make incredible sweet potato fries, but Liz was being good, so I followed her path. Burger, no bun, side of cole slaw, and water. It was hard smelling the fries all around us, I have to say. But whenI got home, I discoveredI had enough calories left for a beer, so I got 2/3 of my fantasy and stayed within my calories.
Today's facts:
Weight:159
Exercise: 45 minutes with Sean, a trainer at Fitness Together
Food: 1,336 calories
I did much better thanI thought I would. Tomorrow will be a challenge. I have an army AM meeting, so I can't exercise in the morning, and I'm meeting a friend for dinner, so the calories will be a challenge.
- Posted using BlogPress from my iPad
After a successful shopping trip--we both got cool new shoes--we contemplated our culinary options. We started with the best of intentions. We headed to a place called Karma that we'd never eaten at, but heard had really good food. It started as a raw food restaurant, so we figured it would have healthy options. But alas, it had already closed. It's relocating to a smaller location in the next town, so they must not have found an audience.
We were too tired to go to a restaurant that took much time, so we went to Local Burger. They serve great burgers from local beef. I really, really, really wanted French fries--they make incredible sweet potato fries, but Liz was being good, so I followed her path. Burger, no bun, side of cole slaw, and water. It was hard smelling the fries all around us, I have to say. But whenI got home, I discoveredI had enough calories left for a beer, so I got 2/3 of my fantasy and stayed within my calories.
Today's facts:
Weight:159
Exercise: 45 minutes with Sean, a trainer at Fitness Together
Food: 1,336 calories
I did much better thanI thought I would. Tomorrow will be a challenge. I have an army AM meeting, so I can't exercise in the morning, and I'm meeting a friend for dinner, so the calories will be a challenge.
- Posted using BlogPress from my iPad
Monday, March 12, 2012
Baby, I'm Back
I haven't posted in over 4 months. I felt like I wasn't making any progress on my goals, and I was just repeating myself. But today, I got to bike outside for the first time in 2012, and it felt so great to be outside, I decided to recommit. So this is what I'm going to do. Everyday, I'm going to post my weight, how much my weight has changed overall from today and for the week, how many net calories I ate (my goal is a maximum of 1,500), and how much I exercised.
Here's the results from today's biking:
I feel very good about many things about my ride. First, I felt in great shape--the ride was easy and fun. I know riding using the trainer all winter plus working out twice a week at Fitness Together kept me in great shape. Second, I like that I averaged 11.7 miles per hour. That feels like a great pace for a first ride. Third, I like that I got my heart rate up to 155--I felt like I was having trouble getting my heart rate up biking last year.
Here's my food record for the day:
It's hard to read--I had net 1,423 calories after my bike ride.
Posted using BlogPress from my iPad
Here's the results from today's biking:
I feel very good about many things about my ride. First, I felt in great shape--the ride was easy and fun. I know riding using the trainer all winter plus working out twice a week at Fitness Together kept me in great shape. Second, I like that I averaged 11.7 miles per hour. That feels like a great pace for a first ride. Third, I like that I got my heart rate up to 155--I felt like I was having trouble getting my heart rate up biking last year.
Here's my food record for the day:
It's hard to read--I had net 1,423 calories after my bike ride.
Posted using BlogPress from my iPad
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