Day 15

Today will be the 15th day since I started trying to stick to the "Eat to Live" plan. Though I've lost six pounds, I've had a couple off really off days. Last Friday was my dd's end of the school year sleepover, and we had a luau theme. I ate everything that they ate, including subs, chips, s'mores, ice cream floats....and overate it. I didn't feel sick or anything, but definitely felt regret. However, I let it go as just one day in my life, and carried on as usual the next day. Until dinner, that is. We went to my nephew's birthday party, and I didn't take any food with me, thinking that they'd have the same thing they always have: sandwiches, raw veg, and lots of fresh fruit. Wrong. They had burgers, brats, hot dogs, macaroni & potato salad, and watermelon. I felt a bit of dismay, let me tell you. I don't even like macaroni or potato salad! I waffled, but knew I'd binge later (due to massive hunger!)  if I didn't eat something. I ended up eating about 1/3 of a burger (which completely disgusted me because it was a frozen patty from wal-mart and was only med-well done....blech!!!), about 2 T of each salad, and about 3 cups of watermelon. It was okay. I was about 80% full, and even turned down cake and ice cream (unheard of for me!). That was made easier because it was wal-mart cake (trans fats!) and Breyer's ice cream (don't like theirs much). In hindsight, I wished I'd taken a veggie burger and stashed some crudite in my purse or something. Live and learn. I don't want to be the weirdo who brings her own food to people's houses, but I also want my cholesterol to go down!

I saw my doctor to have a bump removed from my scalp (which is hopefully nothing!), and told her about my eating change. She asked if I wanted to go off my cholesterol medication for the summer and then have a blood test to see if it had made a difference. I jumped at the chance, though she cautioned me not to be too upset if there wasn't enough of a change to stop the meds. I feel hopeful that there will be, though.

I used my food processor to shred a sort of cole slaw made of red cabbage, carrots, and raw beets. It's kind of blah by itself, but with an orange or 4oz of fresh pineapple cut up into it...yummers. Tomorrow I'm making my family Black Bean Burgers from the cookbook Veganonicon. I'm curious to see if they like them or not. They do like most bean dishes, so I'm optimistic. My 7-year-old chose 15-Bean Soup from the grocery store last week, and ate two bowls of it at dinner. I left out the seasoning packet, adding some spices instead, and made it meatless. My dh and 12-year-old didn't seem to love it, but didn't complain either. I've been feeding them meat 2-3 times a week, so maybe that's keeping them satisfied.

Eat to Live, Day 4

Today is day 4 of eating to live. I was very tired and draggy yesterday and the day before, but that could be related to not getting enough sleep. The afternoons have been difficult because I get really hungry. I don't want to overeat at lunch, but Dr. Fuhrman frowns on snacks. I've been eating one anyway -- and still end up ravenous at dinnertime. Dr. F says that is fake hunger -- "toxic hunger" -- and is my body detoxing from the not so healthy food I was eating previously. Huh. That sounds like a huge bucket of bologna to me, but the book Becoming Vegan for Dummies (or something like that) described the same thing. Perhaps it's not just diet-speak for "don't eat over 1200 calories"?

After the smoothie I made on Wednesday morning had me feeling hungry after two hours (in spite of the white beans and flaxseed in it!), I have gone back to my faithful oatmeal pancake. The oats will just have to be my grain for the day. Oats are just so much more satisfying than anything else I ever eat for breakfast. The "pancake" isn't quite kosher according to Dr F because it has egg whites in it, but if it keeps me from eating the pencils on my desk before lunch arrives, I'm fine with being slightly rebellious. I spent Wednesday morning chopping and cooking, making a soup from the website peertrainer.com. I had it for lunch with some kidney beans yesterday and today and it is quite rich and delicious tasting.

Our neighborhood's "biggest loser couples" challenge started June 1. Our neighbor created a website on which we can enter our combined weight as a couple every Friday. The website has a "smack talk" corner, which I think is quite hilarious. I'm curious to see the results of everyone's first weigh-in.

Eating to Live

So....I read this book -- Eat to Live by Dr. Joel Fuhrman. I think I heard about the book on Peertrainer, where a friend and I belong to a group. Anyway, I read it, returned it to the library because I thought it sounded too radical, but checked it out and read it again. In the meantime, my doctor's office called me to ask if I was taking my cholesterol medication. Apparently, the insurance company called them to tattle that I wasn't refilling it enough to be taking it daily. Big brother, indeed.

I hate taking medication. I can't even really say why, except that I've always prided myself on being so healthy that I rarely even get a cold. The last time I had the 'flu was when I was a kid. I just don't like taking it. In his book, Dr. F tells of people being able to go off all sorts of medications for all sorts of maladies after they've been eating per his advice for several months. I couldn't stop thinking about that. Could I do it? Could I change my "familial" high cholesterol, reduce my risk of heart disease, and maybe lose some weight in the bargain? Hmmmm. I decided to try it. I started trying to ease into it by incorporating more vegetables and fruits, and eating fewer grains. That was okay, except for the days when I threw a virtual tantrum and ate several helpings of crap food. I waffled, but in the end, I want to try it. If I don't, I'll always wonder if I could have.

Today was day 1 of his initial six week plan. It wasn't nearly as difficult as I thought it would be. I did get quite hungry around 4pm and had difficulty concentrating on my work by 4:30pm, so I need to either take an afternoon snack or eat a bigger lunch. I felt satisfied after lunch, though, so maybe a snack is in order -- at least temporarily. Dr. F frowns on snacks because your body needs to be empty for a while in order to let it do its work in cleansing everything. Or something like that.

A day in his 6 week start looks like this:
1 lb of raw non-starchy vegetables
1 lb of cooked non-starchy vegetables
(he stresses greens for both kinds)
4 servings of fruit
1 cup of whole grains or starchy vegetable
at least 1 cup of beans
1 T ground flaxseed
1 or 2 oz nuts or natural nut butter
there might be some mention of 1/4 avocado somewhere in there too
no (or very limited amounts) meat, fish, dairy, sugar (or honey or agave or syrup, etc)

I didn't stick STRICTLY to this. I had a greek yogurt to use up, and forgot about the nuts. This is what I ate:

breakfast (I did walk the dog a mile and do the elliptical for 30 min before eating and felt okay): smoothie with 3 oz baby spinach, 1 cup unsweetened almond milk, small (85g) banana, cup of mixed berries (black, blue, rasp), T ground flaxseed, and 1/2 c of cannellini beans. I think the beans added some staying power, because I was okay until noon. I ate the smoothie in a bowl a la Kath, which made it seem more like a meal of soup. I sprinkled on 1/4 c of Kashi GoLean for some crunch.

lunch: leftover eggplant "mash" I'd made last weekend (eggplant, garlic, onion, diced tomatoes, peas), a container of plain 0% Oikos greek yogurt, and an orange.

dinner: Veggie Enchilada Pasta, 1/8 of a small cantaloupe, and a few baby carrots, celery, and cauliflower florets...along with 2 bites of dd's pizza crust.

Right now, I feel good about my day. I really didn't eat very many calories -- 1300 maybe? But I wasn't overly hungry, didn't dwell on food all day, and liked what I ate.

Veggie Enchilada Pasta

I ate a delicious dinner today, adapted from this recipe for veggie enchilada pasta. She doesn't really give any quantities, but I used:
6 1/4 oz whole wheat shell pasta (cuz that's all I had)
3 smallish zucchini
3 smallish summer squash
1 lb 12 oz can of crushed tomatoes
16 oz jar of (medium heat) enchilada sauce
12 pkg of frozen corn
hot ro*tel
can of black beans, rinsed and drained
can of pinto beans, rinsed and drained
1-2 T minced garlic
an entire bunch of green onions
and all of the spices in copious amounts - cumin, chili powder, and cayenne pepper. I like spicy and hot. It was spicy and delicious. I made it a few weeks ago and froze individual servings for later. It still tasted quite yummy and the noodles didn't get all dried out. I'm glad I used a firm pasta and cooked it JUST til al dente. Otherwise, I think it would have been mushy.

I gave the recipe to a coworker who has a vegetarian daughter. She made it for her family and they all raved about it. I think my kids would like it, but I'd have to make it with "mild" ingredients.