Change in Plans...Again

After a tear filled conversation with my mother, she volunteered to pay for a month's membership with eDiets for me and my sister, Karee. On top of that, she offered to pay for the "convenience" and "diet-specific" items that we would need. This is the only diet I have ever had success with in the past, and though I LOVE Perfect Weight America, Body by God, Maker's Diet, and Nourishing Traditions...I need to lose the weight, fast! If I commit to this program, it will work, but as long as I try to straddle the two programs, I will not succeed at either one. So, I am committing to eDiets, for one month. After that month, I hope to finish out six months. I should be very close to my goal weight by then and ready to try pregnancy (which is a big goal of mine) again (we aren't trying right now...) and I can begin to incorporate Nourishing Traditions and Perfect Weight America methods to my diet.

Both diets agree on the "increase vegetables and fruits" method, but the major difference is in the comsumption of carbs and fats. Ediets will allow carbs, as long as they are whole grain but stringently limit the fats that you take in. Perfect Weight America goes the exact opposite way: completely limited carbs and fats are okay. I get so frustrated with this mess. What is the truth? They stand diametrically opposed to one another and I feel like the standard diet is not the way to go. However, it is the common way to go and it has worked for a lot of people, including myself. At the very least, it deserves a fair fight and my total commitment. Losing weight the "bad" way is still losing weight. In six months or so, I can always go to PWA if I want, right?

Anyway, I have not been committed enough over the last two days and I know that. I have been trying, but not hard enough. I need to see junk food as the enemy, trying to steal away my life and happiness. We rant and rave at the government when they do tiny things to interfere, why do I give in to food so readily? My husband made a pan of brownies the night I started my diet and though I know he did it "to get them out of the house" they still stayed in the pan, where I consumed them. Instead of blaming my lack of willpower on myself, I blamed my husband. Not a good strategy. When am I going to assume the blame for my years of bad eating habits? 

I am frustrated and not completely okay with this diet strategy but I am willing to give it another shot, even reluctantly. Tomorrow I plan on beginning to keep a food journal where I will post it for your inspection, nightly.

Ediets does a good job of finding "real" foods for you to eat and develops a community to be a part of while losing weight. When it comes right down to it, I've been particular and picky about food all my life. The food on eDiets is not going to kill me as fast as the food I'm currently eating, and that is probably the bottom line. Making a change right now, is essential. I want to run a triathlon. I think that would be cool. I want to be there for my kids. I want to have my sparkle and energy back. I want to feel good about the choices I make on a daily basis. 

New Background?

So, how do you like the new background???

Book I'm Reading...

It has been a long time since I have posted anything, but my diet is going poorly still and that is frustrating. Added to that are a number of serious stresses in my life right now and you've got a recipe for a "ate a whole cake in one day...alone" situation.

I am reading another book called The No-Grain Diet by Dr. Mercola. So far, I am having a hard time reading it, but I think it is interesting. He offers a three day start-up and I think I will give that a shot, using it like a fast. Otherwise, I still like the Nourishing Traditions/Perfect Weight America/Maker's Diet style of doing things.

Quite frankly, I want to go to fat camp; where everything is already set up for me, workouts are already designed and all I have to do is show up and do the work. If I could go for three months I think I would come back a completely different person. I almost want to apply to Biggest Loser!!!

My Menus...Finally!!!

Despite wanting to go whole-hog into this new dieting thing, I'm not. I am, however, following pretty closely to Perfect Weight America, with one (major) exception: I am not going organic! Don't get me wrong, I'd love to. When we move to Colorado in the next few months, I will be able to do my shopping at a Whole Foods market; the closest thing I have to that right now is a Trader Joe's that is about 45 minutes away. The produce section is tiny and that is a major reason I would even venture in, so I am not taking the time. I am looking for real food now, instead of the processed junk. Instead of buying chicken stock, I am making some, right now!

My meal plan consists of several "basics" that I can just pick and choose from at will. Dinners will be more extravagant but I don't have the budget for much of that. I am building a repertoire of simple, easy to cook, healthful recipes suitable for dinners and appealing to children! The major dinner change is replacing the ever-present starch (usually potatoes) with a smaller amount of rice (keeps longer/cheaper) for the kids and my husband and the addition of a large salad with some new dressing selections. I am not a particular fan of most dressings, so I am searching for something new. (I admit it- I love RANCH!!!)

Breakfasts:

Egg dish- two eggs cooked in coconut oil or butter served with sauteed peppers and onions or homemade salsa (store bought for now, but I will get the ingredients on Friday for the good stuff), piece of fruit (if I am still hungry...I won't be!)

Fruit smoothie- frozen fruit, whole milk yogurt (that I am also going to begin making for myself, it's very easy- here's a link. She also tells you how to make cream cheese and whey from the yogurt, check out her recipes on the left sidebar.) goat's milk protein powder, some coconut oil and honey. Blend.

Starchy breakfast- Oatmeal or Cream of Wheat with a tbsp of real maple syrup mixed in, piece of fruit. I am making a soaked, whole wheat sourdough bread, also courtesy of the website above, but that takes a week to get the sourdough starter started. This bread is actually very good for you, I will spread with the cream cheese mixed with a little honey and cinnamon. This is something I only want to eat less than once a week.

Dairy breakfast- Cut up fruit mixed into some yogurt or cottage cheese. I don't care for this idea so much, but it is part of the Perfect Weight America regime, so I'll try it- the kids will like it!

For the kids- They can choose to have what I'm having or they may have cold cereal (I know it's not good for them!)

AM Snack, if needed: Fresh fruit or one of the "PWA" items listed in the book (Perfect Meal Shake or FucoBars), I didn't care for them when I tried them before, though the shakes smell fantastic! I am willing to give them a try again. The goal is to reprogram my taste buds anyway!

Lunchs:

A large salad mixed with whatever fresh veggies are on hand, and a protein, either two hard-boiled eggs, a can of fish or a chicken breast.

A nourishing soup. One I want to try is Coconut Chicken Soup. I've tried it before, but did it wrong...it was still edible, but I am looking forward to trying it again.

Kids will either eat with me or eat a sandwich with fruit and veggie "dipping sticks" - I make a dip out of the cream cheese, good brain food for kids!

PM Snack: veggie sticks or a "PWA" item (Perfect Meal shake or the FucoBars)

Dinners:

Though I already mentioned what I plan on doing, I want to pull from Dr. Rubin's own words on the subject:

From Perfect Weight America, pg. 86:

"Build family dinners around:

*Healthy salads (romaine lettuce, radicchio, escarole, and endive) with tomatoes, celery, red onions, peppers, and avocados
*Healthy grains like amaranth, millet, buckwheat, and quinoa
*Healthy vegetables like spinach, broccoli, cauliflower, onions, sweet potatoes, and white potatoes.
*Grass-fed meat, free-range chicken, and wild-caught fish, all served as a vital ingredient, not necessarily the main course."

I know this isn't really an adequate plan, but it a loose guide to follow. I am hoping that I can stick to this (more or less) until the New Year, where I will begin with The Perfect Cleanse, ala Perfect Weight America and then move into a closer following of this diet plan. I will be using Nourishing Traditions as my primary cookbook, but I will also be using the recipes from the PWA website.

Also of note is my water consumption: Per the recommendations in PWA, I will be drinking about 50% of my body weight, in ounces, per day. That comes out to about 110 ounces, or about 9- 12 oz. cups. Let's see: wake up, breakfast, AM snack, lunch, PM snack, dinner, after dinner, before bed? That's only 8, and I don't like the idea of drinking so much before bed. I will probably increase the amounts earlier in the day, especially when I first wake up. In the end, I just want to be well-hydrated, so if I'm feeling well, I will probably drink less than 110 ounces of water.

The final note is that I will also be taking three supplements. The first is a Garden of Life brand (Jordan Rubin's company) Woman's multi-vitamin. It is whole food based and really good for you. The next is a dose of FucoThin, also a JR item and finally, some Cod Liver oil in the evenings, I take the capsules.

So there you have it!!! It all seems to be good, but we will see how many days I stick with it versus how many days I "splurge."