Well, it's major to me. I've finally cracked the 200 pounds barrier on the way down. Here's the morning statistics:
Weight 199.2 pounds (was 207 at my heaviest)
Bust 43.5 inches
Waist 43.5 inches
Butt 48.5 inches
Thigh 26.75 inches
You can see the problem. At age 63, I'm a fat pear just waiting for a major heart attack. I weigh every day just to encourage myself to stay strong. I probably won't record weight and measurements again until I crack 195 pounds.
Since Friday I've been able to stick pretty close to my diet plan. Mostly juices, 1 "real" meal a day (veggies and lean protein), no added sugar, no dairy, and no flour for the most part. So, lots of fruit and vegetables. Some lean protein.
For example, yesterday I had a fruity juice in the morning, a big green salad with a couple strawberries and a few raisins for lunch (very little dressing: a bit of olive oil and a teaspoon of my favorite vinegar) and a hearty portion of high-quality chicken breast, and another juice for dinner. My downfall? A few Townhouse crackers before bed. I crave fat and flavor, not sugar. Still, it was a good day. Way healthier than I have eaten in the past. No sugar. That's big.
One of my favorite juices: red grapes, red cabbage, celery, apple, ginger, leafy greens. I've discovered that a knob of ginger makes almost anything taste good.
An observation. Juicing will be tough for people who don't like different tastes. These juices, whether purchased or made at home, don't taste like anything I'm used to. If I were a picky eater, I'd be screwed. Fortunately I am an adventurous eater, so I'm able to turn that trait to my advantage. I'm willing to give a new flavor a chance. Wasn't so keen on the red cabbage taste initially, but after a few tries I've found that I love it.
Another observation. It really helps me to eat my "real food" meal sometime in the middle of the day. If I wait for dinnertime, I'm ravenous. Although, further experimentation may yield a couple of juice combinations that are more filling for a longer time. I'm guessing those will be juices that are more vegetable based.
Well, success breeds success. I'm feeling motivated today. Yeah!
Wednesday, May 02, 2012
Friday, April 27, 2012
Friday!
Don't know why I still get so excited about Fridays since I haven't had a standard job for years. Heck, I haven't had any paying job for years. Except for riding herd on a physicist and 7 cats and all that is entailed. And making stuff. Friday is our traditional late afternoon lattes together time (me and Hubby). And we're kind of making dinner out afterwards a standard. So, what to eat??
Juice in the morning. Not a lot. A handful of peanuts for lunch since I was chasing all over town running errands. (I was hungry and wanted to chew.) Probably should have been almonds, but a little package of peanuts was right in front of me. Iced black coffee at Starbuck's with my Big Treat for the week: a chocolate chip cookie. Lordie, did it ever taste good. We tried a new sushi fusion restaurant for dinner. Ah-ha! They have no-rice rolls! God bless them. Raw fish, radish sprouts, soy paper, and a cucumber wrapper. All sitting in a spicy sauce. Seaweed and daikon salad on the side. Perfect! And delicious!
The antibiotics seem to be kicking in finally. I feel better. So I did a little weaving and a little quilting this afternoon although, seriously, I had a lot of errands to run. And changed the sheets on the bed. And paid attention to pussy cats. And communed with Hubby. That's the drill.
Thursday, April 26, 2012
Another Day, Another Juice
It occurred to me today that I'm basically doing a no-flour, no-sugar diet -- the one promoted by Dr. Gott of newspaper column fame. Veggies, fruit and a little protein. But no beans. Although I could. Because my approach is juice all day except for one ordinary, but healthy, meal. Preferable at mid-day.
I'm also surprised about not being hungry. Seriously. And I'm usually stuffing my face all day. And all evening. Which is the problem. Along with the flour and the sugar. I had a pretty big lunch today. A chunk of local fresh ling cod from Pier 46, and oven roasted red potatoes and carrots. A salad with the fish would have been better, but I wanted some real food. A couple oven-roasted potatoes and carrots only stretched the definition of vegetable a little bit. I hope. In addition to that, I've only had about 2/3rds of the mostly-fruit juice I made this morning. Now it's 9 p.m. and after a cup of my favorite tea, I'm stuffed.
And I'm peeing. Seriously peeing. I must have gotten up 5 times during last night. Well, it's part of the process.
Although I want to lose weight, that isn't my primary goal. I haven't started weighing or measuring myself yet. My goal is to get healthier and establish better eating habits. The proof will show up in my next periodic blood work. High blood pressure, barely controlled with medication, is my main problem. That and the resulting inflation in my circulatory system. I'm just not ready to kick the bucket yet -- too many things left on the list.
Otherwise, I'm still feeling yucky. I'll be very grateful when these antibiotics kick in and I get rid of this lousy cold or whatever it is. It's really dragging me down. But overall? Another successful day. At least diet-wise.
I'm also surprised about not being hungry. Seriously. And I'm usually stuffing my face all day. And all evening. Which is the problem. Along with the flour and the sugar. I had a pretty big lunch today. A chunk of local fresh ling cod from Pier 46, and oven roasted red potatoes and carrots. A salad with the fish would have been better, but I wanted some real food. A couple oven-roasted potatoes and carrots only stretched the definition of vegetable a little bit. I hope. In addition to that, I've only had about 2/3rds of the mostly-fruit juice I made this morning. Now it's 9 p.m. and after a cup of my favorite tea, I'm stuffed.
And I'm peeing. Seriously peeing. I must have gotten up 5 times during last night. Well, it's part of the process.
Although I want to lose weight, that isn't my primary goal. I haven't started weighing or measuring myself yet. My goal is to get healthier and establish better eating habits. The proof will show up in my next periodic blood work. High blood pressure, barely controlled with medication, is my main problem. That and the resulting inflation in my circulatory system. I'm just not ready to kick the bucket yet -- too many things left on the list.
Otherwise, I'm still feeling yucky. I'll be very grateful when these antibiotics kick in and I get rid of this lousy cold or whatever it is. It's really dragging me down. But overall? Another successful day. At least diet-wise.
Wednesday, April 25, 2012
Wednesday Report
I'm so looking forward to shaking the end of this lousy cold. It's cloudy and rainy outside (never rains in April here...) and I'm tired. Seriously tired. Ears hurt. Throat hurts a little. Yuck.
Juiced yesterday morning's stuff again this morning, but with spinach and a couple carrots instead of cabbage, and added a cup of blueberries. Pretty good, but certainly looked weird. Purple/blue + orange = brown. Some of these juices, I think, will best be consumed from an opaque travel mug with a lid so you can taste them but not see them.
First trek of the morning was to Target to pick up my antibiotics. Although I'd prefer to use my small local pharmacy in Los Osos, it just isn't local anymore since we've moved to Atascadero. While at Target I picked up a couple bottles of commercial juices to try them out. Ya gotta read those labels VERY carefully. Oh yes -- and a few glass pint canning-type jars for juicing ahead and storing juices in the frig.
As long as I was in the Templeton area, my real meal for the day was a seared ahi salad at Pier 46 for lunch. Totally within my food plan and such a great treat.
I've run a couple more errands and will join Randy at the dinner table with a carrot or two. Then turn into a vegetable myself.
Tuesday, April 24, 2012
A Pow-Wow With Doc: A Change in Plans
Started the day by juicing red cabbage, celery, Granny Smith apples, red grapes, and adding the juice of half a lemon. I like to make the first juice of the day a little more fruity than the second. The lemon juice made this one zingy and citrusy, just as I like it. Looks like 2 juices a day will do it for me. I like them icy cold and diluted a little with filtered water. One a little more fruity and the other a little more vegetably.
Then I checked in with Doc. Seems I have some lingering inflammation from the cold I contracted 9 days ago, so Doc wants me totally over it before starting the HC3. My game plan is to take antibiotics for 10 days during which time I will do a modified juicing program. Mostly I'll juice, but I'll be able to include 1 protein and veggie meal a day as the mood strikes. Maybe lunch. Maybe dinner. Or not. Highly flexible. After the antibiotics I can launch into the HC3 plan.
As I mentioned yesterday, both the HCG and the HC3 plans are highly controversial. For various reasons the FDA, for example, frowns on both of them. Proponents of each sniff in derision at the other plan. For the moment I'm pretty much neutral, but taking into consideration that Doc recommends it. Now, I gotta tell ya that Doc is a stunner. She's 5' 2" and looks EXACTLY like a model. Seriously. She is hot. Gorgeous. But I had to ask her if she herself had ever used the HC3 plan. She said she had, that she had once weighed over 200 pounds (OMG!) and had used HC3 as part of her weight-loss plan. Whoa!! Well, I guess that's all the endorsement I need. So, first we juice, then we HC3.
As it turned out then, I had no regrets about attending the neighborhood Italian everybody-bring-something dinner tonight. Since I've been sick, I didn't want to cook anything that might pass on my bug, so I brought the Cava, a sparkling Spanish wine. Spanish, Italian. It wasn't Proseco, but close enough. Dessert was Trader Joe's can't-miss tiramisu. Antipasto was all the right tasty stuff. The salad wasn't so swell, seriously overdressed with run-of-the-mill bottled dressing, but the bread was excellent and the host's lasagna with meatballs, sausage and sauce was fantastic. I won't want to do this every day, but the modified juicing plan means I won't have to turn down any special invitations.
So, onward and upward. Frankly, I'm looking forward to getting rid of the end of this cold. My ears hurt and I have yuck dripping down the back of my throat during the night. Ick.
Then I checked in with Doc. Seems I have some lingering inflammation from the cold I contracted 9 days ago, so Doc wants me totally over it before starting the HC3. My game plan is to take antibiotics for 10 days during which time I will do a modified juicing program. Mostly I'll juice, but I'll be able to include 1 protein and veggie meal a day as the mood strikes. Maybe lunch. Maybe dinner. Or not. Highly flexible. After the antibiotics I can launch into the HC3 plan.
As I mentioned yesterday, both the HCG and the HC3 plans are highly controversial. For various reasons the FDA, for example, frowns on both of them. Proponents of each sniff in derision at the other plan. For the moment I'm pretty much neutral, but taking into consideration that Doc recommends it. Now, I gotta tell ya that Doc is a stunner. She's 5' 2" and looks EXACTLY like a model. Seriously. She is hot. Gorgeous. But I had to ask her if she herself had ever used the HC3 plan. She said she had, that she had once weighed over 200 pounds (OMG!) and had used HC3 as part of her weight-loss plan. Whoa!! Well, I guess that's all the endorsement I need. So, first we juice, then we HC3.
As it turned out then, I had no regrets about attending the neighborhood Italian everybody-bring-something dinner tonight. Since I've been sick, I didn't want to cook anything that might pass on my bug, so I brought the Cava, a sparkling Spanish wine. Spanish, Italian. It wasn't Proseco, but close enough. Dessert was Trader Joe's can't-miss tiramisu. Antipasto was all the right tasty stuff. The salad wasn't so swell, seriously overdressed with run-of-the-mill bottled dressing, but the bread was excellent and the host's lasagna with meatballs, sausage and sauce was fantastic. I won't want to do this every day, but the modified juicing plan means I won't have to turn down any special invitations.
So, onward and upward. Frankly, I'm looking forward to getting rid of the end of this cold. My ears hurt and I have yuck dripping down the back of my throat during the night. Ick.
Monday, April 23, 2012
Juicing and HC3: Here We Go!
Yeah, it's been awhile. I know. I haven't felt compelled. Now I am compelled.
I'm setting cooking aside for a little while because I gotta get some fat off my ass. There. I've said it. It's just that simple. About the time I came to this decision I also got back the results of my latest routine blood work. Not good. Not dreadful, exactly, but not good. I'm 63, folks. I have essential tremor (genetic, no doubt). I have high blood pressure (likewise). A couple other blood numbers were not too swell. And I'm not ready to throw in the towel on life. Too damned many UFOs.
So, I asked Doc (my M.D., Dr. Anna Talarico) what I could do to lose a lot of weight fast on the way to establishing eating habits more appropriate to my age and station in life. In the past I've been able to lose 15 pounds, but then I get stuck. And then I gain it back, of course. What I want to lose is more like 50 - 60 pounds. Doc suggested I investigate juicing and the HC3 diet. Juicing is pretty straight forward, requiring only a juicer (often quite $$$$) and lots of veggies and fruit (cheap). Most people don't juice exclusively for more than a couple days. Many juice except for 1 regular meal a day.
The HC3 plan is more controversial, but so are many if not most if not all weight loss plans. This is NOT the HCG plan that requires daily injections of hormones. This HC3 is NOT who-knows-what you buy over the counter that is otherwise often labeled HCG but isn't. The program I will undertake is Numedica's HC3 which I will do under Doc's supervision. Basically, it's a low/no-carb, very low calorie plan with a homeopathic version of the hormones. Whatever. As I said to Doc, at their heart, all successful weight loss plans are the same: drink a lot of water, pee a lot, and eat less. But I need structure (the HC3 plan) and a cheerleader (Doc).
To start, I obtained the HC3 plan "kit" from Numedica. At $299.00, this isn't cheap, but my grocery bill will be cut to nearly nothing, so it'll all balance out. Not to mention the theory that I won't drop dead of a heart attack sometime in the near future. Anyway, making a big financial commitment provides a certain level of motivation, as does the $15.00 co-pay to see Doc every once in awhile. I also obtained a juicer. Since I'm not sure about this juicing thing, I didn't want to spend a lot of money on a juicer -- they can be awfully expensive. On Amazon I found a re-manufactured Breville for only $70.00. Since I love my Breville stand mixer and the $70 juicer got good reviews, this was an easy pick for me.
So, I'm going to mostly juice for a couple days, using recipes I've found on the interwebs. The theory is to detox, although that seems a bunch of hog-wash to me. Whatever. Drinking veggie and fruit juice for a couple days seems like a pretty healthy thing to me. I'll survive a couple days w/o protein. This morning I started by juicing some stuff that's been in the frig too long: celery, carrots, apples, and tangelos. Pretty tasty and very rich. I can see you have to go easy on the very assertive celery.
This new start was a good excuse to clean out the frig. (The deer will be dining on the elderly veggies.) I made a trek to Food 4 Less for vast quantities of fresh produce and spent a couple hours cleaning and organizing all of it so it's all ready to go right into the juicer. For lunch and dinner I juiced red cabbage, cucumber, spinach, celery and apples. This was way tastier than I thought it would be and made enough juice to fill me up for the rest of the day. But, I found that I miss chewing. So for having dinner with Randy, I had a teeny weeny salad and a few dry roasted peanuts. Much better. As you might expect (I sure did), I've started peeing a lot.
Well, that's it for today. I haven't weighed myself yet nor taken any measurements. I'm not sure how long I will juice. I do know that 100% juicing is not for me, especially since we have a neighborhood Italian dinner tomorrow night. And that thing about missing chewing. But I did really well today. Not a lot of calories. Everything I ate was healthy. And I've added juices to my cooking repertoire. Tomorrow? Juice, a visit to Doc, and the neighborhood dinner.
I'm setting cooking aside for a little while because I gotta get some fat off my ass. There. I've said it. It's just that simple. About the time I came to this decision I also got back the results of my latest routine blood work. Not good. Not dreadful, exactly, but not good. I'm 63, folks. I have essential tremor (genetic, no doubt). I have high blood pressure (likewise). A couple other blood numbers were not too swell. And I'm not ready to throw in the towel on life. Too damned many UFOs.
So, I asked Doc (my M.D., Dr. Anna Talarico) what I could do to lose a lot of weight fast on the way to establishing eating habits more appropriate to my age and station in life. In the past I've been able to lose 15 pounds, but then I get stuck. And then I gain it back, of course. What I want to lose is more like 50 - 60 pounds. Doc suggested I investigate juicing and the HC3 diet. Juicing is pretty straight forward, requiring only a juicer (often quite $$$$) and lots of veggies and fruit (cheap). Most people don't juice exclusively for more than a couple days. Many juice except for 1 regular meal a day.
The HC3 plan is more controversial, but so are many if not most if not all weight loss plans. This is NOT the HCG plan that requires daily injections of hormones. This HC3 is NOT who-knows-what you buy over the counter that is otherwise often labeled HCG but isn't. The program I will undertake is Numedica's HC3 which I will do under Doc's supervision. Basically, it's a low/no-carb, very low calorie plan with a homeopathic version of the hormones. Whatever. As I said to Doc, at their heart, all successful weight loss plans are the same: drink a lot of water, pee a lot, and eat less. But I need structure (the HC3 plan) and a cheerleader (Doc).
To start, I obtained the HC3 plan "kit" from Numedica. At $299.00, this isn't cheap, but my grocery bill will be cut to nearly nothing, so it'll all balance out. Not to mention the theory that I won't drop dead of a heart attack sometime in the near future. Anyway, making a big financial commitment provides a certain level of motivation, as does the $15.00 co-pay to see Doc every once in awhile. I also obtained a juicer. Since I'm not sure about this juicing thing, I didn't want to spend a lot of money on a juicer -- they can be awfully expensive. On Amazon I found a re-manufactured Breville for only $70.00. Since I love my Breville stand mixer and the $70 juicer got good reviews, this was an easy pick for me.
So, I'm going to mostly juice for a couple days, using recipes I've found on the interwebs. The theory is to detox, although that seems a bunch of hog-wash to me. Whatever. Drinking veggie and fruit juice for a couple days seems like a pretty healthy thing to me. I'll survive a couple days w/o protein. This morning I started by juicing some stuff that's been in the frig too long: celery, carrots, apples, and tangelos. Pretty tasty and very rich. I can see you have to go easy on the very assertive celery.
This new start was a good excuse to clean out the frig. (The deer will be dining on the elderly veggies.) I made a trek to Food 4 Less for vast quantities of fresh produce and spent a couple hours cleaning and organizing all of it so it's all ready to go right into the juicer. For lunch and dinner I juiced red cabbage, cucumber, spinach, celery and apples. This was way tastier than I thought it would be and made enough juice to fill me up for the rest of the day. But, I found that I miss chewing. So for having dinner with Randy, I had a teeny weeny salad and a few dry roasted peanuts. Much better. As you might expect (I sure did), I've started peeing a lot.
Well, that's it for today. I haven't weighed myself yet nor taken any measurements. I'm not sure how long I will juice. I do know that 100% juicing is not for me, especially since we have a neighborhood Italian dinner tomorrow night. And that thing about missing chewing. But I did really well today. Not a lot of calories. Everything I ate was healthy. And I've added juices to my cooking repertoire. Tomorrow? Juice, a visit to Doc, and the neighborhood dinner.
Wednesday, February 01, 2012
Cliffhanger Resolved: Faithless Lover Makes Rice
Boiled and Baked Long-Grain Rice - pg. 101
Then we went to Borneo. Which was wonderful, enlightening, fun, and just basically a swell trip. We had a few days in Singapore on the way. I love Singapore. I want to spend 2 weeks in Singapore. Then we went to Ft. Smith Arkansas to spend Christmas with Randy's mom and step-father. Then we went to Bakersfield to see Randy's brother and his wife and their twin college freshman sons. Then we went to San Francisco for a business meeting. Okay, Randy conducted business, I shopped and played and ate. And, we've had to give our oldest cat, Maizie Jane Valentine, a lot of extra care and attention to deal with her severe arthritis -- she's doing a lot better now on gawd-awfully expensive narcotics. Well, heck, I would be, too.
Meanwhile, back at the range.... I've been a faithless lover. I haven't cooked much and haven't pursued my Alice Waters TAOSF project. OTOH, I have made Alice recipes that I've made before. And I've played "Chopped" in the kitchen, cooking from the frig without recipes. And I've played around with my Crock-Pot slow cooker and America's Test Kitchen Slow Cooker Revolution cookbook, both of which I LOVE.
Tonight! Tonight! I'm back at it. I made Boiled and Baked Long-Grain Rice. Doesn't sound like a big deal, I know, but I gotta tell ya I've NEVER been able to make rice. Ever. I've always made Randy make the rice because following the directions on the backs of the rice bags has never ever worked for me. I've always ended up with gummy messes. Now I've made rice with all 3 of Alice's methods and every single one of them has yielded the fluffy rice of my dreams. Now Randy makes ME make the rice! (Lately, his rice has gone down hill. Sorry about that, Dear Heart.) I topped the rice with a "Chopped" dish: left over shredded chicken and fresh chopped broccoli in a sauce made of chicken sauce from the originally cooked chicken (in the Crock-Pot) with a big shot of very spicy fresh salsa finished with a bit of hickory smoked salt. It was really good!
So, it's a new year. I've been very productive in my studio in 2012, and now I'm back to TAOSF and blogging about it.
104 recipes completed; a mere 201 yet to tackle
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