180 degree health

If you don't read this blog called 180 degree health, I won't blame you, its enough to make anybody's head hurt. Its quite verbose. But, crazy Matt Stone (my name for him, apparently not his birth name, go figure.) does one thing right which is he doesn't accept the status quo for being obviously correct. He does delve into different protocols and often dives in headfirst (all consequence noted and admitted.) This week's series of blog posts is focusing on a couple that have followed what is called RRARF. Its primarily a protocol for repairing the metabolism. I don't do things exactly according to his protocol. I did purchase a copy of the ebook. I read it. And, I went back to my basic simple method of correlating my weight, my food intake, and eating healthy, whole foods. If you are looking for a testimonial to my basic idea that eating whole foods is the way to go, definitely pop over to 180 deg. health and read both today's and yesterday's post, start with yesterday's first. As soon as I gave up weird food, everything got better.

I have also had a tremendous amount of success with some supplements including gymnema sylvestre (cures yeast issues), triphala (repaired my gut with it.) and tapioca pudding (home made please! for your hypoglycemia issues.)

Inspiring

Here is a very inspiring young lady. She is an aspiring olympic athlete. I have watched some of her videos online. Her workouts look extremely tough, definitely beyond my capability at this point. She seems to focus on adding dynamic strength and agility not just endurance. She also keeps a garden from which she gets some of her organic vegetables.

More, more, more

It would appear that I am guilty of not eating enough. Leigh Peel's diet ebook set my needs to be about 2200 per day and with a deficit at about 1800. Matt Stone over at 180 deg. is always railing against a diet with a deficit. He focuses very much on eating more, rather than less. Back when I was successful in losing the weight, I was eating pretty much as much as I could and skipping dinners every other day. Then, I went through a period of eating exactly the right amount for a weight loss, I did not gain or lose a single pound. I did that for four months. I was hungry and cold the whole time. So, I decided this year (Jan) to start cycling my carbs/cal again. I haven't really lost much. Its almost June. Gah! Ok. So, I bought Leigh's book last week and I have been reading Matt Stone's blog. They seem diametrically opposed, like thumbs on opposite hands. I have been doing a double low calorie day since the beginning of the year on Sat/Sun. I'm just not as focused as sometimes. I feel stuck, like I'm my own fluffy road bump. So, last week I started eating a little more, more carbs (some fruit, Matt seems to think its ok.) and a little more starch (controlled servings of cheerios.) I don't know that I'm any thinner, I'm retaining some water. I am still skipping dinner every other day. I felt like I was in ketosis last night. I'm focusing on home made meals with a variety of foods. The only processed food I'm having at all is an occasional Joe Joe, which is like an oreo from Trader Joe's post cardio workout. I'm resting well. I am having some dairy, I get some organic milk on my cereal and some days I have whole milk yogurt (plain, with some dried cranberries.) I did have a few rice crackers the other day. Thats where the water is from, cause of all the sodium.

I'm under some stress. I am putting together some new materials for my business. I'm emotionally invested in that. I'm dealing with it by writing out to do lists, practicing yoga, and talking with friends.

I seem to recall that the way I lost weight in the past was to eat a tremendous amount of food, exercise at high intensity, jog/walking, for at least 45-60 min. on an empty stomach and then practice yoga several times a week (lots of rapid breath.) That stopped working for a while when I was ill. Now, after having done that repair to my metabolism last fall, I was hoping that the cycles would work again. But, I'm wondering if I just wasn't eating enough and if I was doing enough of the cardio and the yoga. My rotation seems reasonable. What I don't have (and won't until the business thing is ironed out.) is a Polar that works anymore. I love my Garmin, but it doesn't have the same features as my old Polar. I miss my Polar. A lot.

So, as far as I can tell (just recapping) I need more fats, more vegetables, more healthy protein, more cardio and more yoga. I'm not doing much strength training. Leigh recommends the circuits. I might add one back into the mix. I just didn't feel like I needed more muscle.

So, that rotation would look like this:

Sunday: Rest

Monday: Walk/Run/Walk + short yoga

Tuesday: Steady State Step

Wednesday: Kick Box DVD + short yoga

Thursday:Rest

Friday:Walk/Run/Walk + short yoga

Saturday: Circuit

Release

Sometimes the ticket, the short way, the easy way to weight loss is to release something that has been eating at you for a while. There may be something that bugs you and raises your stress level. Stress is a true cause of weight gain, not the only one, but certainly one of the causes. Cortisol and testosterone and insulin (among others.) are released into the body when you experience stress, either perceived in your current environment or some thing on your mind. I like to use yoga and jogging for my stress relievers. They help me to release whatever might be bugging me, even if only for the time being. Its a good idea to hit that interrupt switch. With a fresh perspective, whatever is eating you might stop being such a big deal after all.

This is the El Dorado Hills Dieter,

Over and out.

Diet History

I have tried lots of different kinds of diets over the years. It started when I was 11 years old and told how fat I was by all the kids at school. They were so mean. I did the low fat diet and went vegetarian at that time. Then, when I was 19 I went vegan for about two years. I had not wanted to eat meat really. Then when I was 21 years old something in my head snapped. I had a craving for beef. I had the first 6 oz. at a steak house and I annihilated it in about 5 minutes. I have been a meat eater ever since. I eat chicken, beef, fish, and pork. I prefer the meats from Raley's, they have the most consistent and best flavored meats. I prefer Foster Farms unsalted chicken, anything else tends to plump me. That said, I do also eat a wide variety of vegetables, fruits and gluten free grains (in moderation.) I prefer to get my carbs from whole fruits and a little bit of grain. Lately I haven't wanted to eat as much meat. I'm leaning more towards a high healthy fat diet with lots of vegetables rather than a high protein diet. In a way I guess its actually a very clean diet. I do tend to eat more carbs than I should so I watch that closely, using portion control on the carbs.

So, here I am considering reducing my meat intake. Not so much for health but rather to keep my focus on healthy fats as my calorie sources. I'm not a body builder, I'm not focused on rebuilding muscle. I don't need the same level of protein that some people need. So what are your thoughts, if any, on a fairly low carb, high healthy fat, vegetable focused diet?

Early!

Consider setting your resolution now and getting started early. This way when you get to Jan. 1, you will be well on your way. That date will help you get through that mid diet slump that always happens and give you the boost that you need to stay motivated. You will be quite literally, ahead of the pack by a month! I'm starting, would you like to start with me?

Expense, Resources and Cost

Sandra Ahten brings up a very important concept, that you spend resources on dieting. Sometimes, its easier to just decide that you are not eating a certain food at all, for a while, or during the week. This kind of structure can give you the back bone you need in order to stay in control, rather than the food controlling you. Its just food, why should it have this much power? I've set boundaries for myself. I don't eat certain foods most of the time, including gluten, cheese, and milk chocolate. I can't eat See's in general because I tend to find myself thinking about it all the time. Ice cream has the same effect. For some reason, salmon salads and berries do not. I have made the choice to set these foods aside while I'm in weight loss mode. I'm not sure that I will re-introduce them at a later date or not. I will find out when I get there. Ask yourself this, do I really want to be thinking about this all the time? What parameters and boundaries are the most effective at recovering your power from food? If at all? Some people don't have a problem with any foods, I envy them, I want to be like them, but I'm not them.

Delinquent

Its been a long time since I posted a blog. I haven't been posting cause I figure no body is reading this anyway. But, here is the deal everybody needs some accountability more or less on their weight loss journey, I learned that from Sandra Ahten of The Reasonable Diet Podcast. She is a fabulous life coach and her podcasts have proven to be invaluable to me personally. She is the reason I got started on this journey at all. It is not easy to be at this point. I have been in a plateau for over a year and now with stressors in my life, the pounds have crept up. Well, like in 2007 its time to be honest with myself. Its time to put my calories down on paper. Its time to recognize that there are only 3.5 months left to 2010. I want 2010 to be another year of success on this weight management journey.

In the beginning, I thought I wasn't capable of losing weight at all. Then, once I began to lose weight (30 + in the first year.) I thought I would have attained my goal weight by now.

In the middle, at the 210 mark, I discovered IOWL, the C25K program and Cathe Friedrich. I also discovered calorie cycling. That worked really well for another 30 pounds. Then, that stuck until February of 2009. I became ill twice and was put on antibiotics, twice. I put on 8 pounds with the first round. I got that off. Then, I put on nearly 10 with the second round. That started to come off and they changed my medicine again, and voila, it all came back. Well, now I battle constant sugar cravings where I didn't used to have much. Now, I have to watch everything I put in my mouth. I wake up hungry in the middle of the night and force myself to roll over and go back to sleep. Now, every little bite of chocolate puts visible adipose back on my frame. The drive to eat is there before I am even really awake in the morning.

I must get back into my low carb lifestyle. I have over the month of August, successfully given up ice cream completely, even the ice cream fakes, like yogurt/ice milk etc. The self imposed challenge of Sept. 2010 was a bust. I was trying to give up nuts. I have a very hard time with following portion guidelines with nuts. I just love them too much. I also have a hard time with fruit. I used to be able to have a small serving and walk away, not so much now.

I do think it is my medications. But, could it be age? I am older by three years. nah. its just time to cleanse the old bugs and repopulate with good ones.

I can't forgo my jog. I discovered that without the running, I become depressed, and the weight just creeps up again in spite of being within limits on calories or carbs.

My spirit, my soul, my self all want to be slender now. I don't need that old security blanket anymore. But I find my body tired. I find my mind bored. It takes a lot of personal fortitude to even contemplate the physical work, stamina and emotional oomph to lose weight. Its not the bottom up that is so horribly difficult. The trick is staying on top of your behavior, your mind set and not settling into a momentum black hole.

Healthy eating step by step from Bay Books

I bought this book on sale. I had to do a ISBN search because the title brought up way to many search results from Google. There are a lot of full color photographs. The book is primarily aimed at the low fat dieter. I am a low carb dieter, my aim is a higher fat diet. However, that doesn't mean you can't use books intended for the low fat dieter. Its very simple to add butter, olive oil or coconut oil. Also, sometimes you may be cooking for someone who requires a low fat diet. While it seems to make sense for everyone to be on a low carb diet not every body can tolerate one. There are medical conditions which preclude one following a low carb diet. Also, there are other things to take into consideration, protein while normally embraced on a low carb diet is not always an appropriate part of one's diet, people with kidney stones often avoid a high protein diet because it tends to increase the number of kidney stones they have. I don't eat as much protein as some people do because I don't lose weight as quickly on a high protein diet. I do better getting most of my calories from healthy fats.

Another fun tid bit about "Healthy Eating Step by Step" is that it was clearly written in a different country than the US. The temperatures are given in F, C and gas numbers. Also, in several instances there are subtle lingual variations such as biscuit where a US citizen would say cookie.

I do like this book. If you see it in a bargain bin, you might pick it up. I'm planning to serve the Pearl barkely and Asian Mushroom Pilaf on page 64, the Swordfish Skewers with White bean puree (I will adapt it to chicken) for a party. I plan to also use the brownie recipe on page 105.

Happy reading!

Saturated Fat is not evil

Cool blog about the role of fat in our diet. I am following a high fat low carb diet myself. I found this article to be somewhat vindicating.

Serious Weight Loss

When you are serious about your weight loss goals you throw out the junk food. You just let it go. Yesterday, I dumped two boxes of cookies. I realized that they were not the monetary value (not to mention that now they were stale) that my weight loss goals are to me. Taking care of my health is important to me. I have spent lots of money towards this endeavor and I don't see the point in saving maybe 5 bucks in cheap carbohydrates. I'm leaning towards giving my dark chocolates from Christmas (I still have over half a box.) to a friend. Sound like a plan? I think so.

I'm working on a 50 pound loss. Last year was real rough. Getting started up in the first part of the year was a bit iffy due to travel in February. Also, I didn't have the gumption to get on the scale. I know I'd been heavier on the first but I waited until mid February to weigh in. I know I had been heavier and that I did lose size/inches in February. This weight thing is an ongoing challenge. When I was younger, I thought that once I had lost that weight that would be it, I would be home free. I did not understand that this was a thing one had to maintain on a daily basis with a healthy diet, exercise, and setting my intent everyday. I also have to make sure I have healthy foods available. I can have an issue, especially first thing in the morning, where I'm hungry and I just don't care and I will eat anything, potato chips, chocolates, ice cream you name it and I will eat because its been 12 hours and my blood sugar is low. The key to a successful day starts the day before with a cleaned kitchen and prepared breakfast foods.

These days I am allowing myself a small amount of fruit after a meal. Usually, its a cutie. Today, it was half cup of fresh strawberries. Overall, I'm not finding grain to be my friend. I don't eat much in the way of tubers either such as potatoes or carrots. I do have a fresh eggplant in the refrigerator. I am focusing on green leafy vegetables, cruciferous, and plenty of healthy fats such as olive oil and avocado. I love the avocados on my salad. Watch out for the vinegars, they can have hidden sugars in them. Lemon juice is a safer bet than vinegar.

I am very sore. I don't what did it, either my Cathe Friedrich workouts or the weed pulling or the jogging. I don't know. I do know, I'm experiencing nasty doms in my hamstrings that are preventing me from doing much of anything, including sitting. This week I'm concentrating on a weights/cardio program called 4 Day Split. This will give me three days of rest to work with and time to recover. I will start back up with my jogging program in a week.

What a fabulous idea! Real Food Challenge

Very interesting article. I love the idea of going completely unprocessed. I could do it myself. I don't think that my family would do it. My brother and Dad are addicted to refined foods. One goes for a taco run at least once a day. I could eat just vegetables, fruits, oils, and meats. I could, I really could. As a matter of fact its not a bad idea. I wonder if the challenge excluded dried legumes? Such as lentils or red beans. I do have some gluten free millet after my workouts. I also like the dried Bob's Red Mill coconut meat. Its a fabulous snack, gluten free, low carb, and very high in healthy fats.

Go to http://ow.ly/1dmJI to see what I mean.

The beginning of a new year and daily menus

My intent is to eat and move in a manner that produces 53 pounds of fat loss. So far this year, I've lost 1.4 pounds. I'm sticking to my general plan.

Gluten free and now mostly dairy free. I do have 2/3 of a pint of Stoneyfield After Dark ice cream left, that is to expensive to just through away. 1/4 of a cup per week should be ok post workout.

Low carb/clean eats: 30-60 g. of carb/day. I do allow myself a gluten free treat on the high days post cardio workout and on regular days I do have a very low carb cereal called puffed Millet from Arrowhead. I do have 1/2 c. of plain yogurt left and some fresh blueberries. Also, I tried the Trader Joe's nitrite/nitrate free bacon but I'm retaining water so I'm probably not going to buy that again even though it was very tasty.

Caffeine free, completely or very close to that. I discovered a while ago, that I get headaches from caffiene, even a little bit. I quit drinking all sodas several years ago, but I gave up caffeine last year. I stopped drinking teas with caffeine. As it turns out, I read online that caffeine retards your liver's ability to dispose of the estrogen in your system. Well, I'm estrogen dominant, that is what caused my PCO symptoms. As the estrogen is built up in the body, if it doesn't find an estrogen receptor it is converted via enzymes into testosterone. The testosterone is what then causes the symptoms including hirsuitism, cysts on the ovaries, weight gain, brittle bones that break, hardening of the arteries and ultimately death via heart attack between the age of 40 and 45. Caffeine also induces insulin resistance. Insulin resistance is also known as pre-diabetes. Insulin resistance is what is thought to cause the PCOS symptoms. Insulin, that is not properly absorbed due to overly abused receptors and a high carbohydrate, low fat diet, is converted into testosterone. As noted before, it then causes tremendous problems in the female body. As a result, I am now considering giving up chocolate as soon as I blast through the chocolate stores I have in the pantry (there isn't much.) I usually only have a small square on my high calorie day. But if the caffeine is as bad a culprit as it appears to be at this point, it may need to go.

Calorie cycle 2 low calorie days followed by one high calorie day
Low cycle: 1200-1500 calories
High cycle: 1800-2000 calories
Daily food/activity journaling: Its easy with Fitday.com to track everything. Also, I intend to post my low carb meals here.
Weigh/measure my eats. I got a brand new digital food scale for this, no reason to leave it in the drawer! Also, I bought an extra set of measuring cups/spoons at the dollar store, I love a bargain.

Diet break down

Low day: Pre workout: 2 eggs poached in microwave with a tablespoon of coconut fat 20 min before workout.
AM Post workout: 1 c. puffed millet, 1/3 c. Enviro kids, 1/4 c. coconut cream, 1/2 c. So Delicious unsweetened coconut milk
Noon: 2 cups salad greens, protein, and olive oil drizzled on top.

High Day: it just adds a fourth meal.
Dinner: 1 cup. vegetables, protein, and olive oil drizzled on top.

I drink 8 cups of water and two cups of decaf tea, usually herbal.

The other components: cardio, yoga, journaling, and podcasts. Currently, my cardio rotation is dependent on the weather. I can't run/jog in the rain. I won't do either with a mountain lion in tow. We had one for six weeks in the neighborhood. I live in a rural area. I use my yoga practice as my over all body conditioning. My job requires significant upper body work that produces doms in that area anyway. I get lower body doms from running hills, step aerobics, and MMA videos. I don't do real fighting, I'm not interested in

My current rotation, break down:

AM
Sunday: Jog, yoga
Monday: off
Tuesday: Jog, yoga advanced
Wednesday: Step Steady state
Thursday: HIIT/dance toning workout
Friday: Step Intervals, Easy yoga
Saturday: MMA

A year of stagnation

Its time to refocus on the weight loss. I will weigh in one week. I'm working up to it by cleaning up my eats this week. I'm ready to go low carb again. I tried it last year and ended up with a high protein diet which back fired and resulted in a kidney/bladder infection. This year I will be going high fat. I am embracing the high healthy fat lifestyle, aka Atkins. I won't be going as low in carb as the induction. I will be keeping it between 30-60 g. of carbs and I will continue to calorie cycle. I need to be mindful of my PCOS and eating a low carb diet is well known to assist with the root cause of our disorder, insulin resistance. I am happy to report my fasting blood glucose was a cool 81 the last time I was tested. I do need to lose about 50 more pounds and I need to start being more vigilant. I am experiencing a carb craving first thing in the morning. I need to stay mindful of my eating at all times of the day, even when its most challenging. I have reduced the number of my meals to 2-3 a day because it really seems to help my IBS.

My eating plan is relatively loose, but here it is broken down. I'm using broad categories because I really like these kinds of meals. This is not true atkins. Do not be confused. I have arrived at my diet through much experimentation. I need some berries for my exercise performance. The protein is from either whey or rice powder. I do not add sweetener to my frozen blueberries. I just blend it with a little lemon juice. I add protein as I need it in the form of chicken, pork or beef.

TTSat Low calorie
Breakfast: Coconut milk/cream, 2 eggs, 1 pat of butter, and gluten free millet cereal,
Lunch: Vegetable soup with healthy dose of coconut fat

MWF: High calorie
Breakfast: Coconut milk/cream, 2 eggs, 1 pat of butter, and gluten free millet cereal,
Lunch: Vegetable soup with healthy dose of coconut fat
Dinner: Stir Fry with olive oil, blueberrie smoothie with protein powder

Sunday: (Not a low Carb) Refuel:
Breakfast: Gluten free waffles, plain yogurt, berries
Lunch: Gluten free Mac/cheese
Dinner: Roast chicken, wild rice or 1/2 baked potato (see not low carb there.) vegetables with lots of butter,
Dessert: 1 low carb cookie. (relax its just 1/2 or 1/3 a serving)

The idea being I refuel my ability to exercise at top performance throughout the week but I don't beat my insulin receptors into insulin resistance throughout the week, make sense? I think so.

This week is 4DS or 4 day split for those who don't know Cathe Friedrich. Next week? Next month? I don't really know right now. Lets look at my calendar. There are two challenge days, one tomorrow and one in two weeks. I can manage that. Both are just day trips. I've been really happy to discover that Fresh Choice has gluten free options on their menu. How awesome is that? So, I can stop and eat there and be ok. yippee! My workout days off will need to be on Mondays. Thats easy to accommodate too. I'm guessing that its safe to go back on the road soon. No one has seen the mountain lion in a couple of weeks. I will take my cel phone and baton for safety. I will not run in the dark at all.

This next month exercise rotation is designed to learn all of my new STS Cardio discs and to get my cardio back up:

Wk Dec. 27- Jan 2: 4DS
Wk Jan 3-9
Sunday: Yoga,
Monday: off
Tuesday: 4DS HIS
Wednesday: 4DS BC
Thursday: 4DS LIS
Friday: 4DS KB
Saturday: off

Wk Jan 10-16
Sunday: HIIT 1, Yoga
Monday: off (travel to Palo Alto to Stanford)
Tuesday: Cardio Core Circuit
Wednesday: Jog Steady State 30 min. Yoga
Thursday: MMA Kick Box
Friday: Jog Steady State 30 min. Yoga
Saturday: Step Athletic

Wk Jan 17-22
Sunday: HIIT 2, Yoga
Monday: off
Tuesday: Circuit Blast
Wednesday: Jog Steady State 45 min. Yoga
Thursday: MMA Boxing
Friday: Jog Steady State 45 min. Yoga
Saturday: Step Rhythmic

Wk Jan 24-30:
Sunday: HIIT 3, Yoga
Monday: off
Tuesday: Cardio Core Circuit
Wednesday: jog Steady State 60 min. Yoga
Thursday: MMA Fusion
Friday: Jog Steady State 60 min. Yoga
Saturday: Step Athletic

Half way through October

I have been tested for Celiacs and I was not found to have sprue's disease. However, I have read online that women with PCOS often have gluten intolerance, not true Celiac's disease. Apparently, 85% of us are gluten intolerant. So, I have decided to stick to a gluten free diet. Its not terribly hard for me because I already focus my caloric load on healthy fats, protein, and vegetables. I also eat some fruits. As a low-carber, I also try to avoid sweets anyway. This diet helps support my insulin receptors. I do allow myself one day per week to eat anything I want as a strategy to avoid multiple diet infractions during the week. I have purchased some of the low carb foods but I am not focusing on those products because I believe I can make my own eats that do not focus on grains anyway. Those by default are gluten free. I have given up my oat meal. I won't be eating any of the cookies I make for the holidays and for other people's birthdays. I used to test them. But, I won't be doing that anymore. The pain I had with this IBS was so severe that I am not willing to chance that kind of pain again. Some of the gluten free products I have purchased are tings (too tasty induced sugar cravings), brown rice tortillas from Trader Joe's, Pamela's chocolate chocolate chip cookies (perfect on my Cheat day), some baking mixes (again only on cheat day), and wheat free soy sauce. I also bought some puffed millet. I can still have a little dark chocolate but I noticed that I don't care for the semi-sweet chips anymore, they seem too sweet. I wonder if I will ever get to the point of unsweetened chocolate.

The newly re-tooled EDH Diet

Low carb(30-60g/day)

Calorie cycled

Gluten free diet

Diet break down:

Low Calorie Days:

Pre-WO Attune bar (90 calories, 8 g. carb)

Post WO: 1/2 c. millet, 1/4 c. coconut milk, 2 tbsp. cream,

Second breakfast: 2 eggs scrambled in 1 tbsp. coconut oil

1 cup sauteed mushrooms/spinach (7.4 g carb)

Lunch: 2 cups greens (4 g. carb)

4 oz. protein (0 g. carb),

2 tbsp. olive oil

Dinner: Chicken broth

2 tbsp. butter

High Calorie Days:

Pre-WO Attune bar

Post WO: carb, fats, 1 cup steamed/sauteed vegetable

Lunch: 2 cups greens, protein, fats

Snack: Chicken broth with some fats

Dinner: 1 cup steamed/sauteed vegetable, protein, fats

Obsession

Why is it that food is on my mind so often?  I'm either planning what I'm going to eat, worried about what I ate, or anticipating when I will be hungry again.  I would like for food to stop being the important part of my day.  But, the thing is when you have had blood sugar problems, you can't just not think about it, you have to plan out your day according to when you can eat.  You have to pack some eats with you no matter where you are going.  You have to be sure that you have enough water and take your vitamins on time.  Its crucial because without that kind of planning you eat the kind of food which is fastest to absorb (simple sugars.) and gain weight or you forget to eat and your blood sugar crashes and you have a seizure or pass out.  I don't know if you have ever had a seizure but it really hurts alot.  I work really hard to keep my blood sugar in check.  I am always analyzing what I'm going to eat so that I don't eat mindlessly.  I can't just eat what I want to eat.  My natural tendency is to eat lots of sugars and the kinds of fats that make me gain weight.  I need to watch myself as thought I were a child and make sure I tell myself to eat healthy food.  

I want to be more normal but I"m not.  How do I shift my focus to other things and still be smart about taking care of myself?  I guess having a little 3 by 5 card with the day's eats on it might help.  How do you set this aside and still be effective?  I don't like eating poorly because it makes me feel so badly.  I am really good about avoiding processed meats anymore because the nitrates give me migraines.  I am really good about what I put in the shopping cart.  I'm also good about using my small kitchen scale to weigh nuts and chips or the natural cheetos.  I just don't know why the tendency to eat that stuff is still there.  Why is that urge there?  

FOCUS! Episode #2

Just eat healthfully.  Don't eat what has a bad effect on your body.  Don't eat processed food.  Do interval workouts.  Get your mind off of food.  Hard for your cooks and gourmands lol!  Do your yoga, its important.  Eat plenty of high quality calories.  Vary your calorie intake.  Be smart.  Take your weight daily.  It all makes simple sense.  

The El Dorado Hills Diet

My diet is sensible and based on research and success.  

I am still very much in the trenches of weight loss.  I hope to achieve a healthy weight.  I am 5'3" and I weigh 211.6 pounds.  I started 2007 at 255 pounds and with a broken set of toes.  The method that I use is in many ways simple and based on the work of others.  Simplicity seems to be key for me.  Baby steps help as well.  Exercise is an integral part of my success.  None of these concepts are novel or new.  Together it seems to be working and I wanted to share it with others who may benefit.

Breaking it down my method or approach involves the following:

1. Movement

2. Nourishment

3. Motivation