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.
Sunday, August 28, 2011
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.
Monday, August 22, 2011
Being a Vegan in Texas
I'm sitting in George Bush International Airport in Houston, on my way home from Austin. I've had an interesting food weekend, including 2 "cheats" while I was away.
When I travelled in on Saturday morning, I managed to find vegan, no-gluten, no refined sugar energy bars in the magazine shop at the airport. Who knew? That and a banana were breakfast. I had a very bland spinach salad at the airport in Denver for lunch, and an avacado with tomato when I finally got to Mike's house.
The dinner party at Mike and Ben's house was really, really fun... and I managed to NOT eat any of the food cooked on teh grill. I had a huge, delicious salad. But then the wheels fell off the cart. Ben had bought a giant carrot cake for the evening, and after watching EVERYONE else eat it, I also had a piece. A Texas-sized piece (although my state of Texas was half the size they were serving up for everyone else). I love carrot cake with cream cheese frosting, it was truly outstanding.
What I found interesting, though, is that I woke up with an absolutely horrendous headache on Sunday morning. Absolutely head-splitting. I read in the Alicia Silverstone book that it can be an offshoot of eating sugary food after abstaining for a while... really? It's only been 3 weeks! I will definitely put me off sugar for a while though.
We spent Sunday morning on the Lake waterskiing. I had a peach for breakfast, and was starving by the time we made it to fabulous Tex-Mex for lunch. I indulged in chips & salsa (how could I have known that tortilla chips do not have gluten?) and a corn flour tortilla stuffed with roasted mushrooms and red peppers. Delicious. And on-diet!
I met Scott and Renee at her storage place in the afternoon, and hoofed boxes and bags up 2 flights of stairs in 107 degree heat. I have NEVER sweated like I did yesterday afternoon - not even in my most difficult workouts with Michael. Renee's dorm room is small and cozy, and she is in love with it. I think Scott wishes it was bigger - he's worried about how she's going to fit all of her things in. Renee was confident, though, and happy to be getting settled in. She truly LOVES school.
We went to her favorite sushi place for an early dinner, where Renee and I shared a bowl of edenmame and 3 roles. The roles had tuna, white rice and spicy mayo... none of which is on my diet. And my stomach really, really, really hurt for a while post-dinner. We walked all over campus so that Renee could show me her school -- such a beautiful campus. More sweating, and then I was off for the night.
This morning at the airport I'm back on track. I had another vegan, gluten-free, refined sugar free energy bar with a banana for breakfast. I had steamed veggies and rice noodles for lunch, and am not happily sipping away on an all-fruit smoothy while I wait for my flight to Seattle.
I'm anxious to see how this weekend affects the scale... but will have to wait to the morning to find out. 3 weeks down; 3 to go... though truthfully I'm already feeling like I'll stay with this beyond the 6-weeks I committed to. I just feel that good. :)
When I travelled in on Saturday morning, I managed to find vegan, no-gluten, no refined sugar energy bars in the magazine shop at the airport. Who knew? That and a banana were breakfast. I had a very bland spinach salad at the airport in Denver for lunch, and an avacado with tomato when I finally got to Mike's house.
The dinner party at Mike and Ben's house was really, really fun... and I managed to NOT eat any of the food cooked on teh grill. I had a huge, delicious salad. But then the wheels fell off the cart. Ben had bought a giant carrot cake for the evening, and after watching EVERYONE else eat it, I also had a piece. A Texas-sized piece (although my state of Texas was half the size they were serving up for everyone else). I love carrot cake with cream cheese frosting, it was truly outstanding.
What I found interesting, though, is that I woke up with an absolutely horrendous headache on Sunday morning. Absolutely head-splitting. I read in the Alicia Silverstone book that it can be an offshoot of eating sugary food after abstaining for a while... really? It's only been 3 weeks! I will definitely put me off sugar for a while though.
We spent Sunday morning on the Lake waterskiing. I had a peach for breakfast, and was starving by the time we made it to fabulous Tex-Mex for lunch. I indulged in chips & salsa (how could I have known that tortilla chips do not have gluten?) and a corn flour tortilla stuffed with roasted mushrooms and red peppers. Delicious. And on-diet!
I met Scott and Renee at her storage place in the afternoon, and hoofed boxes and bags up 2 flights of stairs in 107 degree heat. I have NEVER sweated like I did yesterday afternoon - not even in my most difficult workouts with Michael. Renee's dorm room is small and cozy, and she is in love with it. I think Scott wishes it was bigger - he's worried about how she's going to fit all of her things in. Renee was confident, though, and happy to be getting settled in. She truly LOVES school.
We went to her favorite sushi place for an early dinner, where Renee and I shared a bowl of edenmame and 3 roles. The roles had tuna, white rice and spicy mayo... none of which is on my diet. And my stomach really, really, really hurt for a while post-dinner. We walked all over campus so that Renee could show me her school -- such a beautiful campus. More sweating, and then I was off for the night.
This morning at the airport I'm back on track. I had another vegan, gluten-free, refined sugar free energy bar with a banana for breakfast. I had steamed veggies and rice noodles for lunch, and am not happily sipping away on an all-fruit smoothy while I wait for my flight to Seattle.
I'm anxious to see how this weekend affects the scale... but will have to wait to the morning to find out. 3 weeks down; 3 to go... though truthfully I'm already feeling like I'll stay with this beyond the 6-weeks I committed to. I just feel that good. :)
Thursday, August 18, 2011
Steady State
Day 18 - 29.2 to go (down 10.6 lbs)
Under the 10lb mark! Perhaps my weekend in the Texas heat will help me sweat it down a bit further. :)
Under the 10lb mark! Perhaps my weekend in the Texas heat will help me sweat it down a bit further. :)
Wednesday, August 17, 2011
Cravings
Day 17 - 30.2 to go (down 9.6)
I fully intended to crave sugar, bread and cheese - and discovered tonight that I'm craving completely other things. Tonight, post-workout, for example -- the only thing I wanted was tomatos and avacado. It's a strange dinner, and yet I am completely sated.
Breakfast today was also odd... I forgot to take it with me, so I had carrot sticks and hummus that I had in the fridge at work.
Lunch -- Thai food. The King & I was so accommodating: rice noodles with steamed veggies in veggie broth. It had tons of garlic, and was absolutely delicious. I think the rice noodles were processed rather than brown-rice, but I'm gonna let that one slide for the day.
Hoping to be under 30 lbs to go by tomorrow morning. :)
I fully intended to crave sugar, bread and cheese - and discovered tonight that I'm craving completely other things. Tonight, post-workout, for example -- the only thing I wanted was tomatos and avacado. It's a strange dinner, and yet I am completely sated.
Breakfast today was also odd... I forgot to take it with me, so I had carrot sticks and hummus that I had in the fridge at work.
Lunch -- Thai food. The King & I was so accommodating: rice noodles with steamed veggies in veggie broth. It had tons of garlic, and was absolutely delicious. I think the rice noodles were processed rather than brown-rice, but I'm gonna let that one slide for the day.
Hoping to be under 30 lbs to go by tomorrow morning. :)
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