Day 41... 23.8 to go (down 16 lbs)
Same as it ever was... I've now spent one full week at the same weight. Not up, not down... just the same. I had a long, hard look at last week today, and realized that I only had 2 workouts, and that's 3 down from my norm. So perhpas I'm not actually plateau-ed as much as just not quite on my game.
Tomorrow is the end of the 6-week period I committed to for this change. I'm going to keep going. I feel healthier than I have in a long time, and even though I'm sure I'll be lucky to lose even a 1/2 lb a week moving forward, I have a great start. :)
Saturday, September 10, 2011
Sunday, September 4, 2011
Day 35
5 weeks... 23.8 to go; down 16 lbs. :-)
I've had a strange eating day -- Garlic & Herb Couscous with fresh corn, cherry tomatoes and mushrooms for breakfast and lunch. I ate the entire batch I cooked (must've been hungrier than I thought).
For dinner, I"m going to have a salad -- I feel the need, the need for green.
I've had a strange eating day -- Garlic & Herb Couscous with fresh corn, cherry tomatoes and mushrooms for breakfast and lunch. I ate the entire batch I cooked (must've been hungrier than I thought).
For dinner, I"m going to have a salad -- I feel the need, the need for green.
Saturday, September 3, 2011
Day 34 -- 25.4 to go (down 14.4 lbs)
Almost five weeks in, and continuing to make slow and steady progress.
Two things I learned this week:
1 - my period is entirely different on this diet. I'll spare the gorry details, but far, far easier.
2 - my workouts really are quite impactful. While I started today down 14.4 lbs, after eating breakfast (oatmeal and a fresh peach) and then spending an hour with Michael & Company, when I jumped on the scale post-workout, I was down 15.4. And that's with soaking wet hair!
Two things I learned this week:
1 - my period is entirely different on this diet. I'll spare the gorry details, but far, far easier.
2 - my workouts really are quite impactful. While I started today down 14.4 lbs, after eating breakfast (oatmeal and a fresh peach) and then spending an hour with Michael & Company, when I jumped on the scale post-workout, I was down 15.4. And that's with soaking wet hair!
Sunday, August 28, 2011
The Last Heart Attack
Day 28. 26.6 to go (down 13.2 lbs)
Yesterday I spent the day on Vashon Island, with the O'Shea-Millinovich family and their assorted friends. It was a great day, beautiful, peaceful and warm out on the water. Of course, gatherings with my neighborhood crew typically include an absolutely alarming amount of food, and despite Megan's pleas to keep it to a minimum, the meat offerings included: 2 different kinds of sausages, 2 different kinds of steaks, 2 racks of ribs, fresh salmon steaks, and hot dogs. There were 10 of us out at the cabin. 10 of us, and I'm not eating meat.
We also had appetizers and compliments to the meal, including hummus & crackers & carrots, strawberries & peaches, guacamole with corn chips, and bruschetta. I did fully enjoy the fresh guac, and the tomato conconction that went with the bruschetta was also very good (sans bread).
I brought 2 portobello mushrooms that were delicious cooked on the grill, and a giant bowl of brown rice. :)
Among the group yesterday was Megan's spin class instructor. When I turned down M&M's and various other snacky foods, mentioning that I'm following a vegan, no gluten, no refined sugar diet -- she actually walked out of the cabin, saying over her shoulder, "I can't even listen to this. I'm a professional in the industry and what you're doing is not sustainable." To say I was shocked is an understatement.
Why does everyone in the world think they're an expert on EVERYTHING? I am a gracious enough guest to not have an argument about the merits verses detriments of a vegan diet, particularly with someone who is so quickly irritated by the mention of it. But to say it didn't bug me is absolutely untrue.
Tonight I caught a piece on CNN with Dr. Sanjay Gupta called, "The Last Heart Attack." Among the things the piece espouses is a diet not dissimilar to the one I'm currently on... advocated by Dean Ornish (highlighted in the piece), who wrote the book several years ago called, "Reversing Heart Disease."
http://thechart.blogs.cnn.com/2011/08/25/becoming-heart-attack-proof/
One of the subjects of the piece is President Clinton, who after having a quadruple bypass heart surgury went on to have a stent put in (not uncommon in cardiac patients) and experienced significant lethargy as he went about his rather hectic schedule post-Presidency. After Ornish reached out to him to say that whatever he was doing clearly wasn't working, Clinton adopted his vegan-based diet 2 years ago. He allows himself "one bite" of turkey on Thanksgiving, but is otherwise completely vegan now (with very little oil as well).
Clinton has lost 24 lbs since adopting the diet, while maintaining his excercise regimen.
So I thought it was very interesting for numerous reasons, but the thing that stuck with me most? Sub-Sarahan African culture follows a vegan diet... and heart disease is virtually non-existent in their culture. I think that's amazing.
And not to further incent Megan's instructor, but clearly they (and President Clinton, and Dean Ornish, and tens of thousands of other people) are able to sustain it just fine, thank you very much.
Yesterday I spent the day on Vashon Island, with the O'Shea-Millinovich family and their assorted friends. It was a great day, beautiful, peaceful and warm out on the water. Of course, gatherings with my neighborhood crew typically include an absolutely alarming amount of food, and despite Megan's pleas to keep it to a minimum, the meat offerings included: 2 different kinds of sausages, 2 different kinds of steaks, 2 racks of ribs, fresh salmon steaks, and hot dogs. There were 10 of us out at the cabin. 10 of us, and I'm not eating meat.
We also had appetizers and compliments to the meal, including hummus & crackers & carrots, strawberries & peaches, guacamole with corn chips, and bruschetta. I did fully enjoy the fresh guac, and the tomato conconction that went with the bruschetta was also very good (sans bread).
I brought 2 portobello mushrooms that were delicious cooked on the grill, and a giant bowl of brown rice. :)
Among the group yesterday was Megan's spin class instructor. When I turned down M&M's and various other snacky foods, mentioning that I'm following a vegan, no gluten, no refined sugar diet -- she actually walked out of the cabin, saying over her shoulder, "I can't even listen to this. I'm a professional in the industry and what you're doing is not sustainable." To say I was shocked is an understatement.
Why does everyone in the world think they're an expert on EVERYTHING? I am a gracious enough guest to not have an argument about the merits verses detriments of a vegan diet, particularly with someone who is so quickly irritated by the mention of it. But to say it didn't bug me is absolutely untrue.
Tonight I caught a piece on CNN with Dr. Sanjay Gupta called, "The Last Heart Attack." Among the things the piece espouses is a diet not dissimilar to the one I'm currently on... advocated by Dean Ornish (highlighted in the piece), who wrote the book several years ago called, "Reversing Heart Disease."
http://thechart.blogs.cnn.com/2011/08/25/becoming-heart-attack-proof/
One of the subjects of the piece is President Clinton, who after having a quadruple bypass heart surgury went on to have a stent put in (not uncommon in cardiac patients) and experienced significant lethargy as he went about his rather hectic schedule post-Presidency. After Ornish reached out to him to say that whatever he was doing clearly wasn't working, Clinton adopted his vegan-based diet 2 years ago. He allows himself "one bite" of turkey on Thanksgiving, but is otherwise completely vegan now (with very little oil as well).
Clinton has lost 24 lbs since adopting the diet, while maintaining his excercise regimen.
So I thought it was very interesting for numerous reasons, but the thing that stuck with me most? Sub-Sarahan African culture follows a vegan diet... and heart disease is virtually non-existent in their culture. I think that's amazing.
And not to further incent Megan's instructor, but clearly they (and President Clinton, and Dean Ornish, and tens of thousands of other people) are able to sustain it just fine, thank you very much.
Friday, August 26, 2011
Thursday, August 25, 2011
More of the Same
Day 25. 28 to go (still).
Yesterday I was up 1.2 lbs (salt). Today I'm back to my low (so far). I've learned that salt and sugar are really NOT my friends. Salt seems to cause me to hang on to EVERYTHING I eat, even though what I'm eating is well within the bounds of this diet; sugar meakes my stomach hurt -- even when it's natural sugar (like the gluten-free, vegan cookie I had this afternoon).
I'm also trying to kick the diet coke habit... I wish I didn't love the fizzy stuff so much. I'm down to no more than 1 can per day. I think once I make it to the end of week 6, that will be next off the list.
If I lose a lb a week between now and the end of the year, I'll be within 10 lbs of my goal weight.
Yesterday I was up 1.2 lbs (salt). Today I'm back to my low (so far). I've learned that salt and sugar are really NOT my friends. Salt seems to cause me to hang on to EVERYTHING I eat, even though what I'm eating is well within the bounds of this diet; sugar meakes my stomach hurt -- even when it's natural sugar (like the gluten-free, vegan cookie I had this afternoon).
I'm also trying to kick the diet coke habit... I wish I didn't love the fizzy stuff so much. I'm down to no more than 1 can per day. I think once I make it to the end of week 6, that will be next off the list.
If I lose a lb a week between now and the end of the year, I'll be within 10 lbs of my goal weight.
Tuesday, August 23, 2011
3 Week Checkup
Day 23 - 28 to go (down 11.8 lbs)
The scale was kind to me post-Texas. I'm down 1.2 lbs from Saturday.
I've had a strange eating day. I ate dry corn chex for breakfast; lunch was Pad See Ew with mixed vegetables (and no egg); I had french fries with Tara at our meeting this afternoon; and brown rice with hummus and cherry tomatoes for dinner. Not sure how all of that will affect the scale tomorrow -- my stomach was not happy post-french fries, though.
The scale was kind to me post-Texas. I'm down 1.2 lbs from Saturday.
I've had a strange eating day. I ate dry corn chex for breakfast; lunch was Pad See Ew with mixed vegetables (and no egg); I had french fries with Tara at our meeting this afternoon; and brown rice with hummus and cherry tomatoes for dinner. Not sure how all of that will affect the scale tomorrow -- my stomach was not happy post-french fries, though.
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