Easter, Spring, and Diet Re-tooling

Sandra Ahten talks about a concept that I believe bears repeating, how much energy do you want to spend on dieting? How much time do you want to spend thinking about eating, what you are going to eat, what you aren't going to eat, what is important to you, what isn't.

Of late, I have had gluten, specifically bread, cravings. I had been off of wheat for about two years. I find that with having given in to my desires for sourdough, that now the thoughts seem to consume me, rather than me being the eater, I am the eaten. I do believe that this kind of issue is what boundaries are made for. I'm not wildly out of control, but I'm not as adherent to my diet goals as I had been. My carb intake has crept up. I find myself making justifications for a little bite. Those little bites add up, and one bite might be 5 carb grams, but over a day, that had 3-4 separate little bites, thats another 15 grams of carbohydrate that I didn't burn off.

I know that one of the most effective techniques for losing weight is maintaining a food journal. If you aren't honest, it doesn't work. It helps you to know what you have eaten and if you have fallen short of the mark in some way.

In the interest of honesty, today has been a good day.

Breakfast? It was a beef patty, green salad with mustard dressing and 1/2 a fiber brownie. I also had 2 slices of sprouted cinnamon raisin bread.

Lunch: I had a lot of green beans, a little round of sour dough, and 1/2 a fiber brownie. I also had 1 little Dove dark chocolate heart.

I intend to skip dinner. I don't always eat dinner as a way to cycle my calories.

I've been drinking Spearmint tea all morning. Its a lovely flavor and supposed to help with PCO hirsuitism symptoms.

The truth is, I must watch my carb intake. I'm thinking I should only have wheat once/week. This boundary takes it off mind, puts it back on the back burner. I am enjoying my fruit smoothies with coconut oil. The coconut oil does give me a boost with my thyroid, my body temperature stays up. I do count the calories. Some people don't count them, but I do. Even if you are burning it, that was still energy available to you, so it makes sense to me to count the calories.

The kinds of foods that occupy my mind are always sweets. I know that crazy Matt Stone over at 180degree health, is on a tare about adding carbohydrate, but I don't think that tooth pain and decay are good things. We really need to be reasonable about these things, if eating something is making you sick, maybe you need to lay off it for a while.

The more I live and learn, the more I learn that eating copius quantities of vegetables and good oils (coconut, olive) seems to be the key. The idea of eat less move more is only half right, I think eat more, move more, rest more, relax more and occasionally a skipped dinner might work. Don't eat the same thing every day. Sandra Ahten has mentioned that eating a different breakfast every day can induce weight loss. Nobody really knows why, it just seems to work.

So, my idea is what if you had a different breakfast, snack, lunch and dinner all week? Would that work too? I don't know if that would be too much work, but right now, I do have the time, so I think I'm going to put in the effort.

Do you have any zany weight loss tips? if so feel free to post them or a link to your blog.

The El Dorado Hills Dieter

AM Exercise

on an empty stomach used to be something I did all the time. I did it because it was convenient and fit easily into my day. I did it because then my exercise, the hardest part about my day was finished before I even began. I got out of this habit last fall when temperatures fell in the AM to below freezing. I wanted to run when it was warmer. My weight at that time plateaued even though I was eating the right amount of calories (my bmr) and getting a deficit through my cardio workouts. My weight didn't budge a pound. I was really frustrated. In January of this year I started cycling my calories again. I saw a small loss in January of 2 pounds. In February, I put that back on and have recently starting losing again. What was I doing differently? I started exercising first thing in the morning and I added back in one of Cathe Friedrich's Stretch Max workouts after my runs.

According to Dr. Jonny Bowden, the AM exercise on an empty stomach might have been the thing that did it. Here is a link to an article that he has written on the subject. I learned about this from Jimmy Moore of the Livin' La Vida Low Carb show. Jimmy is seeing a significant amount of progress from yoga, strength training, low carb intermittent fasting and exercising on an empty stomach. I'm inspired!

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.

My Diet Pyramid

At the top, pointy end, least amount: Sugars (never), refined carbs, starches, legumes.

Second to the top: Whole fruits, unrefined. Unsalted, raw nuts.

In the middle: Protein sources including fish, foul, and any red meat. Plain yogurt (only in moderation.)

Second from the bottom: Leafy greens, cruciferous (cabbage family), herbs,

At the bottom: Fats. Olive oil, coconut oil, cream.

Ok. So try eating like that for a week and get back to me. Let me know how it goes. By the way, don't restrict calories, you can cycle them if you want, but the idea is to stoke the fires of your metabolism.

Steak

Its whats on the menu when you are a low carber. I had steak and eggs for breakfast with a dash of hot sauce. It was so filling and a great way to start the day. I got lucky, it was a slightly older piece of meat and I got it at 97 cents a pound. It was so tender I could have eaten it raw with a fork, no knife needed. So, the next time you ask yourself, what am I going to eat on a low carb diet, just embrace the steak. Love it.

Vegan and Low carb?

I'm not really interested in going back to a vegan diet. I did that in my teens for two years and it really didn't work for me. However, I am focusing on more fat and vegetables and less protein these days. I have read on some other blogs about people who have embarked on a low carb and vegan diet. It was very interesting to read their ideas of what they think was a low carb diet. It certainly wasn't Atkins as laid out by Dr. Atkins himself. The further into this low carb adventure I go, the more I realize the tremendous importance of a high fat low carb diet. Protein is a free by to a point. Some of us do not tolerate protein very well. I do better with more healthy fats than with more protein. Once you have shifted your focus to healthy fats, its not so hard to get your calories from fats and not from animal based proteins. Many of the low carb vegetables provide the vitamins you need. Coconut fat, olive oil and avocados provide wonderful fats that are very good at helping you with your low carb diet because they satiete the appetite. That is what fat does for you, it turns off the feeling that you are hungry. Adding a slug of olive oil to a low carb soup brings up the calories and gives you what you need to be effective the rest of the day.

Italian Vegetable Soup

Good morning, everybody! The sun is shining. Its a beautiful day in my neighborhood.

Here is a recipe from "The Ultimate Healthy Eating Cookbook" modified for gluten free living. If you want, you can just leave the pasta out entirely for a low carb version.

Ingredients:
1 small carrot or
1 baby leek (or another 2 oz. of cabbage)
1 celery stick
2 oz. green cabbage
1 cup cooked green beans
3 3/4 cups of Pacific brand low sodium chicken broth
1/3 cup of gluten free pasta,
Salt and black pepper
Fresh parsley

Method:
Slice and dice all the carrot, leak, celery and cabbage. Sautee them in olive oil or butter.
Add the stock and bay leaf. Simmer for about 6 minutes.
Add the cabbage, beans and pasta. Season with salt and pepper.
Cook until the pasta is tender.
Remove the bay leaf.
Garnish with the parsley and additional olive oil to taste.

Options:
Napa cabbage can be substituted for the cabbage.
You can add some hot sauce or hot peppers for heat/flavor.
You can substitute butter or coconut oil for the olive oil garnish.

Notes:
I like rice noodles best. Be sure to soak them according to the package directions. Brown rice noodles can be used.
I like Annie's small shells for 'mac/cheese' just skip the cheese sauce.

My high fat diet

Omg! Did she really just say that in public!!!! Whoa! Most of my calories come from fat. My body rebelled against too much carbohydrate and gave me problems. It rebelled against too much protein and gave me serious problems. So, whats left? Nothing but healthy saturated fat. Check out Dr. Aziz's new book on the subject. He gives the green light to saturated fat. I'm going, are you?

I do still calorie cycle, it seems to work for me.

My diet break down is as follows:

Low Calorie day:

Pre WO 1 c. squash, 4 oz. protein, 2 tbsp olive oil
Post WO: 1/3 c. enviro kids cereal, 1/2 c. millet, 1 cup blue berries, 2 tbsp . coconut oil
Lunch: 1 c. spinach, 4 oz. protein, 2 tbsp butter

About 1500 calories

High Calorie day:
Pre WO 1 c. squash, 4 oz. protein, 2 tbsp olive oil
Post WO: 1/3 c. enviro kids cereal, 1/2 c. millet, 1 cup blue berries, 2 tbsp . coconut oil
Lunch: 1 c. spinach, 4 oz. protein, 2 tbsp butter
Dinner: 2 chicken thighs, 1 tbsp olive oil, 1 cup. green beans.

About 1900 calories.

Gluten Free, how I love thee, let me count the ways.

Hello fellow gluten free foodies!

I decided to dedicate this blog entry to the ever intrepid gluten free foodie. The foodie who avoids gluten for a myriad of reasons may encounter a world of resistance. Never fear, your brain is here to help you and what is more I'm here too.

The basics of gluten free eating is that you avoid foods that have gluten in them. This includes wheat and its bretherin. Anything that contains wheat is not gluten free. There are many food lists online, so I will not exhaustively list them here. What I will do is list what I do eat. Hopefully this will give you an idea of how to navigate the grocery store. In the finer grocery stores there will be a section of "gluten free" products. This is especially true at Raley's and Bel Air grocery stores in northern Ca. I have found their service to be invaluable. They go to the trouble to label the foods with little green signs that say "gluten free" in the natural health food section. The Sacramento Co-op and Elliott's Natural Foods have a good selection of gluten free foods. At the co-op they sometimes have a gluten free brownie in the deli for sale, its not good for the waist line but sometimes "anti-depression Friday" really is Anti-Depression. Watch out for protein powders, often they hide gluten in the form of "dextrose." Any prepared trail mix is suspicious too. Chocolates and candies are risky. Read the label, check the allergens. Look out for yogurt or chocolate milk, sometimes those have dextrose.

What to eat???? Where to eat????

If you start off in any of the deli counters or hot woks across the country, the likely hood that the sauces are full of gluten is pretty high. The average soy sauce has wheat in it. San-J Tamari sauce is wheat free. I use that at home. Dextrose is often found in meat products. This can be derived from wheat or corn. Its safest to buy plain meats, vegetables, fruits, dry beans, lentils, and rice. Watch out for prepackaged foods often there will be the opportunity for hidden wheat. Eating commercial food is not easy. If you are going to a restaurant check the website before you go out. I've had success with Denny's, Applebee's, Del Taco, Fresh Choice, and Carl's Jr. Its easier just to pack a lunch or snacks. Don't trust any dessert when you are out. Oddly enough, the Olive Garden website says that they have a gluten free pasta available, I have not tried it yet. There is often gluten in chocolate sauce or caramel sauce. There is gluten in most baked goods. I do like the Quinoa Macaroons from Mrs. Denson. Soo good!

Gluten free alternatives do abound in the stores and online. Vitacost is a good source online for gluten free groceries and they have very reasonable shipping costs. I like rice pasta, quinoa pasta, and Trader Joe's even has a gluten free brownie mix available. They have a handy list online that you can printout and take with you to the store. I carry it in my little fabric grocery bags. It just sits in the trunk of my car. I never know when I might stop by. I love pork chops, roast chicken, or hamburgers. I get the nitrate free bacon from Trader Joe's. Its really tasty. I haven't found a bread I really liked. The pretzels are fine. I like some of the alternative flours like garbanzo and brown rice. Beware, that brown rice flour must be mixed with either the AP or something else. There are great cook books on the subject, get one to help you out. Don't just rely on the internet.

So, what do you eat? Thats the question I get asked all the time.
This is what I eat most of the time:
Fats coconut, olive oil, butter
Protein: eggs, meat, cheese,
Vegetables of all kinds especially romaine hearts, spinach, asparagus, sugar snap peas, and broccoli slaw.
Fruits like tomatos, avocados, summer and winter squash

I eat the following less often because I'm on a low-carb diet.
Pulses, nuts, drupes and seeds that are not roasted/salted like almonds, peanuts, pistachios, and brazil nuts.
Gluten free pasta, brown rice (rarely, I'm on low carb), quinoa, lentils, beans,
I use dairy sparingly from whole milk, organic cream, kefir or plain yogurt. I prefer coconut milk So Delicious for its carb content, but its not induction friendly.
Gluten free cookies, gluten free chips or cheese puffs (not good for the diet, just a cheat day food.)
Haagen Daz 5 mint ice cream.

7 low carb breakfasts

Many people have a hard time dealing with breakfast on a low carb diet. I eat low carb to improve my insulin resistance and PCOS symptoms. Sandra Ahten has suggested, in her podcast, using 7 different breakfasts in a week. For some unknown reason, this seems to help kick start the body into fat loss mode. I think that the body needs a variety of nutrients and when it gets a variety of nutrients through different foods it has the opportunity to relax and lower its out put of stress hormones. Thats just a guess on my part, I do not have any research to back up my idea. Most people associate breakfast with certain foods, there is nothing wrong with having atypical food for breakfast.

Here are 7 good, low carb, and clean breakfasts to try while on a low carb diet. These are not induction recipes:

1. Roasted turkey with eggplant: In other words, use the left overs! Just heat and eat.

2. Nitrate/nitrite free bacon with eggs. This is quick if you cook the bacon in the microwave on low for 3.5 minutes. I have a handy little device that cooks eggs in the microwave in 2 minutes. I love it.

3. Beefsteak tomatoes sliced in half, salted, drizzle with olive oil and roasted in the oven. You can add cheese if you eat dairy.

4. Mushroom Omelet with a variety of mushrooms, I like criminis, shitake, and button. Cheese is not required. Fluff the egg, you can add cream or coconut cream to make it rich.

5. Saute spinach with cream cheese and almonds. Serve it with parmesan crackers (bake parmesan in a hot oven just a couple of minutes and watch closely, you don't want them to burn.

6. Mexican style stir fry: Stir fry beef strips or tofu ( I don't do the soy but some do.) with bok choy and some pre-shredded cole slaw mix, add in a small amount of either pico de gallo or salsa. I also add hot sauce to taste. For extra protein you can add a scrambled egg at the end of the cooking.

Regards salsa: Choose one without MSG, it is thought to induce insulin resistance and thus make you hungrier and also retain fat in your body.

7. Coconut milk and protein powder, I prefer the whey powder from the Sacramento Co-op. Its really clean. But, this won't help you lose weight so watch out for that.

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

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.