Cleanliness is Next to Godliness

I've been eating clean now for a couple of weeks and I'm down 7 pounds in 10 days. The only thing I've changed in my lifestyle is the way I eat. I know exercise is key, but I just haven't gotten in a routine... yet.

Eating "clean" has changed the way I feel from top to bottom. I no longer have out-of-control cravings for sugar. I have a lot more energy. I'm waking up easily in the mornings. All these crazy aches and pains have gone away.

What is eating clean? For me: no milk, no sugar, no chemicals, no genetically modified food, no processed food, no hydrogenated oils, no white flour. I've been eating a lot more organic produce. Replaced high fructose corn syrup and added sugars with fresh fruit and stevia. Replaced my beloved cow's milk for unsweetened almond milk. Started cooking fresh food for myself or buying freshly cooked food, rather than processed and preserved food. I refuse to put any artificial sweeteners or man-made chemicals into my body.  Juicing occasionally to use up my fresh produce. Basically, I'm eating food that is closer to the way it exists in nature.

And it's PAYING OFF!

My moods are stabilized without the crazy sugar/insulin/sugar swings. My brain is working at a more optimal and less foggy level. My digestive system is balancing out.

I'm not being fanatical, just responsible and balanced. I wanted a cupcake so badly last night, and I got a little one baked fresh at Whole Foods. I knew there were no hydrogenated oils or crazy additives and it wasn't nearly as sweet, but it was satisfying.

The other night, I was tempted to stop and get something for dinner. I usually stop at Boston Market, which is a better option than most places because I get freshly cooked food. But, I remembered I had plenty of food in my fridge. I came home and took 15 minutes to thaw and cook some black tiger shrimp in garlic and some reheated brown rice and peas. Stir fried everything in the garlic and olive oil and put it on a plate with fresh tomatoes and sea salt. It was very yummy.

There's a saying that "Cleanliness is next to Godliness", and maybe that's true but not in the way we have been interpreting it. I believe God lives in us, not in a church. So, in that respect keeping your body clean is keeping your "temple" clean, right?  I feel closer to everything around me now that I'm starting to get my body working like it was intended to work.

Fresh Food!

My new Jack LaLanne Power Juicer Pro arrived earlier this weekend. That inspired me to go out shopping for fresh fruits and vegetables. Not that I didn't have any, I just now wanted more variety. Here's the bounty except what's in the fridge...

This juicer makes it easy to use the fruits I like without too much prep work. For example, I like oranges, but it's too much work to get all the texture off that I don't like, just to eat an orange.  This way, I just peel the rind off and throw the whole orange in the juicer. Easy!  Also cut a pineapple in quarters without peeling in, and in it goes! It also makes it easy to get the benefits from some things I don't like so much, like carrots (at least raw) because I can sweeten it with fruit.

Here's the before and after of my juice du jour...

 

It wasn't quite as delicious as the pure apple juice I made last night (I had some really ripe apples that needed to be used). But, it was tasty despite having a whole raw carrot, half a cucumber, and two cherry tomatoes in addition to the pineapple and orange. 

I'm excited about this addition to my healthy lifestyle changes. Last night I whipped up a quick dinner of rotisserie chicken (pre-made by the grocer), fingerling potatoes with crimini mushrooms and fresh garlic, and steamed broccoli. It was yummy and satisfying.

 

I think I'm going to make my own omelet for lunch with onion, mushrooms, tomato, and a little avocado on top. I always hated cooking just for myself, but it's nice to know exactly what I'm eating and to see the results on the scale. Two pounds down in the last few days. :)

Loving the Breeze

I have been keeping to my word (for the most part) of getting on track with healthy eating. This includes frequent visits to Whole Foods and lots of planning and preparation. I've been taking my lunch to work most days and eating healthy when I have gone out. Case in point, I had a warm spinach salad at Macaroni Grill yesterday instead of pasta. And, it was really good. When a vendor took some of us to lunch the other day, I had a fancy spinach and goat cheese omelet. Yummy! (and I'm not being sarcastic this time)

While eating said omelet, a discussion occurred at the table about healthy eating and that I was avoiding red meat. I spared telling them that I had my second colonic appointment later that afternoon and didn't want to clog the plumbing. I was also relaying how funny it was that my cats are now pissed that I'm using Rice Dream in my cereal instead of milk because they usually lick the remains in the bowl when I'm done. A couple of licks of the Rice Dream and they both gave me the stink eye. Oh well, it tastes just fine to me (to my delight). I struggled with the idea of giving up my beloved dairy, especially in the form of a glass of ice cold milk or ice cream. My coworker at the table mentioned that if I liked the Rice Dream, I would really like almond milk better. He was absolutely right! LOVED the Almond Breeze (unflavored) in my fiber cereal this morning. I was very pleased at the difference in the smooth texture and flavor even though the Rice Dream really wasn't bad.

Giving up milk, sugar, and bread completely are not going to be easy. Even if it is just for a few weeks during the cleanse. But, after switching to pure Stevia extract instead of sugar, and Almond Milk instead of cow's milk, I'm ever hopeful that it will be so much easier than I expected it to be.

Proof positive is already showing. In the last two weeks of eating healthier, eliminating red meat, limiting dairy consumption to a little cheese here and there, watching the sugar grams on the labels of everything I eat, and focusing on more whole and natural foods instead of processed... I have felt better than I have in a very long time. Not to mention the weekly colonics to get in practice for the hard core cleanse routine! Several people around me have been sick and I've been feeling great. I've had more energy than I have in a long time.

Oh, and I'm also getting better about taking my vitamin D, krill oil, and B complex.  Hopefully, in the not-too-distant future, I will be able to ween off all my medications.

Still working on the exercise part. :(  But not until after I have a massage this afternoon.

To good health!!

Taking Back My Health

So the last couple of weeks have been difficult, health wise. In fact, the last couple of months have been difficult.

Strange, sheet-drenching night sweats. Waking up with unexplainable, 24-hour, tailbone pain (alien abduction anal probing gone wrong?  -- not that it could ever go right). Bouts of pure exhaustion even with plenty of sleep. Cluster headaches. And I'm sure I'm forgetting a couple of things. Not to mention the strange "gain 4.5 pounds and suddenly lose it 2 days later" thing. I think I had forgotten to mention that I lost it as quickly as I complained about it. Speculations abounded about perimenopause, arthritis in my tailbone, crazy bacteria, and even cancer.

With all this weirdness going on, I decided to follow my doctor's orders and take the Prevpac she prescribed for the h. pylori bacteria in my stomach. I have always fought taking medication unless absolutely necessary. And recently decided to stop the Crestor after the blood tests proved it was having adverse effects that weren't worth the "theoretical" benefits. First day into the Prevpac and I experienced what I call the "great exorcism". It was the most violent series of vomiting ever, which caused me to have black eyes and tiny bruising all over my swollen face for several days after. That was Super Bowl weekend and after I let my stomach settle and nursed on Pedialyte for a day, I tried the medication again and was in pain and a lot of discomfort all of Sunday.

That's when I decided I'd had it with this whole idea of throwing prescription meds at every symptom. I'm tired of doctors listening to the pharmaceutical companies who are deep in their pockets instead of hearing their patients. I want a more holistic approach to my health. Apparently, I'm very sensitive to chemicals as this is not my first or second horrible experience with medication side effects.

I'm on a mission to recover my health. I'm researching natural methods and ways in which I can make myself function at my best. I just finished reading "Cleaning Up! The Ultimate Body Cleanse". It's very thorough in defining the why, where, and how of cleansing your body of all the crazy toxins that are robbing us of good health.  I'm not naive in thinking it will be easy. I've started this journey in various forms over the last 7 years. However, I realize how important it is that I finally see this through.

I know that it is going to require dedication to routine and follow-through, so I have to work up to it.

I have less than 4 weeks until I go to Puerta Vallarta and so for the next few weeks the focus will be on exercise and healthy eating (not quite to the extreme of the cleansing diets, but getting on the right track). Then after PV, I plan to start the cleansing regimen. There's a lot of preparation that goes into this. Meanwhile, I'm cleaning and organizing my kitchen and my closets to get into a healthier routine.

Wish me luck!

WTF?

My body is clearly not cooperating with me. Friday morning I woke up with tailbone pain for no reason. I hadn't fallen recently. I hadn't done anything to exert myself except for 5 days prior I went walking twice and overdid it a bit. I was taking care to limit my intake of sugar grams. And for no reason, my tailbone hurt pretty badly all day, making it difficult to walk or sit comfortably.

The pain went away over the weekend after some icing and rest. But, I got up this morning and stepped on the Wii Balance Board to find out I've gained 4.5 pounds in the past week. 4.5 pounds!!!! How is that possible?? I would have had to eat over 15,000 extra calories on top of a normal diet (NORMAL, meaning NOT dieting). And yet, I was paying close attention to my sugar intake. I did get a little out of control over the weekend after the whole tailbone thing, but there's no freakin way some pound cake after a week of being good adds up to 4.5 pounds.

It's starting to get really disturbing, all this weirdness that keeps happening with my body and not knowing what the cause is. Frustrated beyond belief!

Sugar, Sugar Everywhere!

I've known for a long time that I had an addiction to sugar. I thought it was pretty harmless as long as I was exercising and watching my calories. But see... that's the thing. I haven't been exercising (until yesterday), and like any addiction, a substantial dose of sugar makes you want more and more and more! It sends all kinds of warm fuzzy signals to your brain, which make you feel good for a while, until you crash.

There's a lot of newly published research out there about what sugar does to your body and the vicious cycle it causes. The main concern for me is the spike in insulin, especially since I'm labeled by the doctors as "insulin resistant". When insulin goes up, it triggers the urge for more sugar, which causes more insulin, which triggers sugar cravings, which causes more insulin... you get the point.

Insulin also causes fat storage in the belly area. And if you're on a vicious insulin, sugar, insulin, sugar cycle, guess what's getting bigger? Yep! I have been overweight my whole adult life, but never really had a BELLY until the last 2 years. Where the heck did that come from? I thought maybe it just had nowhere else to go, and maybe that's true. But, the things I'm reading about sugar are quite scary because I know that if I don't get it under control, I am fighting a losing battle.

So, instead of counting calories, I'm trying to stick to the recommended max 5 grams of sugar per meal (which doesn't spike insulin). It sounded easy enough to do until I started looking at nutrition information. Do you realize how much sugar is in everything you eat? Not talking about carbs here... just sugar grams. It's going to take a lot of effort and a major mind shift to ween myself off of sugar, but I think if I can do that and keep up the exercise, the results will follow. The hope is that eventually I don't daydream about Sprinkles cupcakes all day long. mmmmmm.... bad!bad!bad!

3 Weeks In

More than three weeks into 2010 and I have lost a grand total of 2 pounds. OK, so time to get serious. I have less than 7 weeks until I go to Puerta Vallarta and I want to be able to fasten my seatbelt on the plane without an extender. I also want to be comfortable walking around sight seeing and taking pictures. I know it's going to take a lot longer than 7 weeks to be swimsuit ready so I'll just have to deal and enjoy the surf and sun anyway and hope that I don't get mistaken for a beached sea turtle or something.

I went for a long walk today around my beautiful neighborhood. It took a half hour and I measured it later at exactly 1.5 miles. Then somebody called me and asked me to go take a walk at a local nature preserve... so I went. I was there for an hour and a half so I'm sure I walked/hiked about 1.5 miles. Now my knees and ankles ache but I've been icing them all evening. I will sleep well tonight because I took a hard nap earlier this evening until my phone rang and woke me and I almost didn't know where I was.

I've been pulling a lot of key pages out of one of my favorite magazines, FIRST Magazine for Women. There are always great tips on health and recipes among other things. Taping all these things up on my wall so they are right in front of my face.

Task for tomorrow: mindful shopping at Whole Foods and preparing my food for the week.

Older Than I Wanna Be

So, I'm back after a brief hiatus. I was out of pocket due to kidney stone issues and then it took me a while to get back in the groove.

Tonight I took a long questionnaire on Dr. Oz's free RealAge - Live Life to the Youngest website. The questionnaire was very thorough and after I received my body's "real age", I also got a goal plan of the things I needed to improve to get my age down.

What was my Real Age?

OK, so it's not horrible, but still... I don't want my body to be 45 yet!  I would have been much older if I smoked or drank, or had cancer in my immediate family, or hated vegetables. Thank goodness for broccoli! But it's apparent even without the test that I suck at diet and exercise.

Why don't you take the test? I dare you!

Down and Out

Been down and out the last couple of days. Still not feeling 100% but I hope to wake up refreshed and energized tomorrow. Cross your fingers.

I do feel proud about the fact that I watched The Biggest Loser tonight for the first time without stuffing my face. Yay! Although, that's partially due to the fact that my stomach doesn't want food right now.

Tomorrow should be a good day to weigh!

Fire Drills

My exercise this weekend was a multitude of fire drills. No, that's not some fancy technique. The fire alarms kept going off at various times over the last two days. The first time, I evacuated myself and the cats and got all sweaty from that even though it was in the 20's outside.  The other times just involved me up and down the stairs trying to figure out what was going on. I also walked around Wal-mart this morning. Does that count?

Good news is that I lost another half a pound, so that's 2 total since January 1. And the Wii actually said "great!" when I stepped on instead of "ooohhh!" this time. :)

Imagine what I can do when I actually get my butt in the workout mode. I did buy some healthy food today and snacks so I'm hoping to get even more dilligent with my food this week.

Bagel Fridays

I had a plain bagel this morning. Fridays are free bagel days at work. I couldn't resist because I was running late and didn't eat my bran cereal for breakfast. Then I went to lunch at a Vietnamese restaurant with 11 other people for my old boss's last day at the company. I ate relatively well there, but forgot about my no dessert policy and got a small slice of cake... or two. For dinner, I stopped at my favorite little Jewish deli for breakfast. I love scrambled eggs and pancakes at night. Just two eggs and half of 2 small pancakes (so really just 1).

Basically, I sucked today.

Need to work off the carbs tomorrow.

Wii, Wii, Wii... All the Way Home

So, the Wii and I had a meeting this morning and it told me I had lost 1.5 pounds since my last weigh-in on January 1. I like the Wii balance board today even though it still did that stupid "ooohhhh" when I stepped on. I can't figure out what makes it sometimes do that foreboding "ooohhhh" like I'm hurting it versus the sometimes, "Great!" :)

Haven't gotten my butt out to exercise yet, but I did some very important work on the mental part in therapy. Gradually, I'm starting to remember that I'm worth self-respect and love. It feels empowering.

For dinner, I stopped by Boston Market and got a chicken breast, red potatoes, and squash casserole and I made sure to tell them not to put any cornbread in there because I knew I would eat it. Oh, and I took the skin off the chicken!! Wooo!   Still no sodas, juices, or sweet tea.

One small step for normal people... one giant leap for Jennifer.

Take Care of You

I made it a point to leave work at 5 today so I could get home and have time to eat dinner, relax, and exercise. Well, I ate a healthy meal at my favorite local deli and had water instead of their famous sweet tea. I was proud of that. I made it home by 6:20 and I sat around expecting a phone call that I somehow knew wouldn't come anyway. I should have just gone to exercise and taken care of myself instead of worrying about being by the phone in this limited window of time. Nobody to blame but me.

I've been sitting here watching Armageddon Week on The History Channel. It's not all doomsday, but there is so much scientific information corroborating ancient predictions from all over the world that no matter what you believe, it's hard to not think that some global horror is on its way in the near future. Heck, I read news somewhere the other day about Russia trying to find a way to keep an asteroid from hitting the Earth. Whether the future is bright or dim, my point is that life is short. I need to take care of me and enjoy the life I have and the time with the people I care about.  Fully enjoying this life means getting my ass in gear and getting a chunk of this weight off so that everything is more enjoyable.

A friend suggested after my blog last night that I at least do 10 crunches before going to bed to get in a habit of doing SOMETHING. I thought that was a good suggestion and I went a step further and also did 10 quality squats (perfect form). By number 10 of each, I was thinking I wasn't going to make it. And I could feel the muscles twitching.

Even though I failed my goal of exercising again today, I did eat well and I will do my squats and crunches again before heading off to bed. And... I will resolve to make tomorrow better.

Goodnight all.

The Big O' Loser

Well, I worked late again tonight and the only exercise I did was watching The Biggest Loser after eating my lasagna roll-up from Whole Foods. It actually was very healthy as it was 75% spinach... lots and lots of chopped spinach mixed with some cheese and rolled in a big lasagna noodle, topped with a tiny bit of marinara.

I have a post-it easle like you see in an office sitting on my island bar in the kitchen. It says, "What Have You Done Today to Make You Feel Proud?" from The Biggest Loser theme song.  I didn't exercise, but I did make myself proud with my food choices today and yesterday. I haven't had any sodas or refined sugars.

I could still go exercise, but it's late and I know from the last time I did that, I wouldn't get to sleep in a reasonable time. So, I'm going to opt for going to bed early tonight and getting up early in the morning to get my bike ride in.

My Bologna Has a First Name

Well, it was a very long day returning to normal routine after the holidays. I didn't make it with my exercise, so that means I will have to exercise every day through Sunday to meet my goal of 6 times per week. I was planning on taking Sundays off. Maybe it will have to be Mondays instead. I hate Mondays anyway.

I did however go to the tanning bed and acted like I was a sexy bitch on the beach in the hot sun. That was funny... but I'm sure only to me... in my head.

The Brutal Truth

You know for a certainty it's time to do something about your weight when:

1. You need a seatbelt extender for the first time on an airplane.
2. You struggle to wipe or wash your own ass. Disgusting!
3. You have troubles turning over on the massage table.
4. You can't fully close the tanning bed.

It's not that I haven't known for quite a while that my weight was reaching critical mass. But somehow, I have had a total sense of apathy about it and have been struggling to find the motivation to get me back on track.

I still don't really have the motivation, but I'm going to fake it until I make it. In the meantime, I'm going to face the horror of posting for anyone who wants to see... the brutal truth about my weight, my goals, my struggle. I really am quite horrified, but hoping that the embarrassment of exposure will spur me on somehow.

2010 started with the Wii yet again reminding me of my obesity. But isn't my fat little Mii kinda cute?

I've decided I am going to start with a reasonable goal... 40 minutes of exercise 6 days a week, alternating types. Keeping my calories per day under 1600. Taking my vitamins, especially D every day. I think I'm going to break my weight loss goals up into 40 pound increments. So, here's to losing 40 pounds!

Now, the question is... do I start with the bike or Jillian Michaels Fitness Ultimatum on the Wii?

Beginning the Dig

It's my intention with this blog to explore, uncover, discover, experiment, share, and hold myself accountable to doing the steps necessary in order to get to the best version of myself. Seems almost like an archeological dig, hence the name of the blog. Mostly this means getting control of my weight, my health, my peace of mind, and becoming an outward manifestation of everything I can be.

Essential Steps to a better me (subject to change):

• Clear the cobwebs in my brain that prevent me from believing in the person I can be. Somehow everyone else sees the potential but me.
• Determine the best exercise regimen for me and actually be consistent with it. I presume this will take a lot of trial and error.... blood, sweat, tears.
• Discover the right way of eating to maximize my health and lose a substantial amount of weight without making me want to drown myself in a pool of chocolate fudge and call it quits.
• Find a way to bring peace to mind on a daily basis and make each day count.

Here we go...