Day 17 - Waist deep in the big muddy and the damn fool says, "Push on..."

About Me

I feel like a damn fool. Yesterday apparently was a bad dream. Yes, I know - I'm getting a tad obsessed with the tenths of pounds thingie, but if you don't know me - you should be able to discern this much from my rambles: when I get focused GET OUT OF MY WAY. It's the curse of the Scorpio - we tend to do nothing in halves or moderation. It's all or nothing baby. So yes, the tenths of a pound are ticking me off. I wish my body would just make up its mind and roll with it like my brain does. This week has been frustrating. Week 1 -> Week 2 brought 13.2 lbs off. Week 2 -> Week 3 was only 3.2 lbs off. I'm not gearing up for another stellar week at this point either. Reality's slap is stinging...

BTW - I did the calculations on last night's accidental marathon walk and it was - get this - 5.6 miles! OMG - no wonder we were whipped! AND we did it in just under 1-1/2 hours! That's on top of the 2+ miles I had done at lunch time! WOW! (OK - enough exclamation points). It's no surprise that I have a blister trying to form on the bottom of my left foot.

Another interesting thing - I'm finding the heat is bothering me a whole lot less lately. As more of me melts away, so does my intolerance for heat. In fact, my air conditioning wasn't working and it didn't bother me at all (and it's been hot & humid here in Philadelphia). There must be a correlation between excess fat and being hot/cold. I guess all those poor whales the Eskimos took out so they could get their blubber are proof of that.

By the way, my subject line today is from the Pete Seeger song "Waist Deep in the Big Muddy". I actually REALLY like the Richard Shindell remake and that's how I discovered the song. Give it a listen. Here's the good word...

Statistics

Height - 5' 7-1/2"

Weight - For the record, I'm weighing in nude or next to nude on the same scale, around the same time every morning before eating or drinking anything.

WEEK ONE

DAY 01 - 173.4 lbs

DAY 02 - 167.3 lbs
DAY 03 - 165.0 lbs
DAY 04 - ? - I was away and couldn't weigh in
DAY 05 - ? - I was away and couldn't weigh in
DAY 06 - 162.8 lbs

DAY 07 - 161.6 lbs

WEEK TWO

DAY 08 - 160.2 lbs

DAY 09 - 160.4 lbs

DAY 10 - 159.2 lbs

Day 11 - ? - I was away and couldn't weigh in

Day 12 - ? - I was away and couldn't weigh in

Day 13 - 159.4 lbs
Day 14 - 157.6 lbs

WEEK THREE

Day 15 - 157.0 lbs
Day 16 - 158.2 lbs

Day 17 - 157.0 lbs

Food

Breakfast

2 cups of coffee

1 banana
handful of walnuts

Snack

1 apple

baby carrots (I really do prefer them cooked)

2 cups of jasmine green tea

Lunch

- Salad: Lettuce, black olives, scallions, sun dried tomato, avocado DRESSING: sesame oil, olive oil, rice wine vinegar

- 1 orange

Snack

- 1/4 pint blueberries

- baby carrots

Supper

- Chopped romaine with a mix of avocado, garlic, tomato, onion and lime juice (guacamoule :-) on top.

Exercise
- 15 minute ab workout (Tamilee Webb "I want that body" ) in the morning. I did the tough one - Exercise II. I can't get the whole way through it YET...

- No walk today - my feet need to recover from yesterday!

Day 16 - Backwards? WTF?

About Me

GRR ARGH!!!!!!!! I will kick my own butt! How frustrating! I have been beyond good and my damn body is being stubborn. OK, yes, I am being hard on myself. After all, I have lost over 15lbs in 16 days. What do I want? I don't think I could GAIN 15lbs in 16 days (well maybe if I ate nothing but icky fried fast foods - ala the film "Super Size Me")! (( sigh )) Yes, it happens - but I really want to get to my goal - only 20 more lbs to go! I have NEVER made my goal. I always fall short just shy of the goal. I am completely determined to make it this time (plus I have a pool party to go to on 8/15 ;-) There is great relief on one hand that I am not continuing the non-stop weight dump. The initial week was a little intense (but I have to admit - exciting). It looks like it's back to reality for me and the slow 1lb at a time that most normal people deal with during the weight loss process. Oh do I HATE being normal.

Come on body - let's kick some butt!

Statistics

Height - 5' 7-1/2"

Weight - For the record, I'm weighing in nude or next to nude on the same scale, around the same time every morning before eating or drinking anything.

DAY 01 - 173.4 lbs

DAY 02 - 167.3 lbs
DAY 03 - 165.0 lbs
DAY 04 - ? - I was away and couldn't weigh in
DAY 05 - ? - I was away and couldn't weigh in
DAY 06 - 162.8 lbs

DAY 07 - 161.6 lbs

DAY 08 - 160.2 lbs

DAY 09 - 160.4 lbs

DAY 10 - 159.2 lbs

Day 11 - ? - I was away and couldn't weigh in

Day 12 - ? - I was away and couldn't weigh in

Day 13 - 159.4 lbs
Day 14 - 157.6 lbs

Day 15 - 157.0 lbs
Day 16 - 158.2 lbs

Food

Breakfast

2 cups of coffee

1 banana
handful of walnuts

Water, water and yes, more water (will I ever learn to like this stuff?)

Snack

1/2 apple

1/2 cantaloupe

Lunch

- Salad - lettuce, sprouted chick peas, alfalfa sprouts, squash, black olives, peppers, avocado, scallions, dried apricots DRESSING: sesame oil, basil olive oil, rice wine vinegar

- 1/2 cantaloupe

- 1 cup of jasmine green tea

Snack

1 cup of cauliflower tabuli

1 orange

1/2 apple

Supper *** SUPER TREAT - THANKS KC! ***

- blueberries
- Awesome Foods "Raw Butternut Squash Crackers"
- Awesome Foods "Raw Unmeatball Sandwich"
- Awesome Foods "Raw Better Than Turkey Salad" <-- really, really good! (see www.awesomefoods.com for more on their awesome products)

Exercise
- 15 minute ab workout (Tamilee Webb "I want that body") in the morning

- 35 minute power walk at lunch
- BONUS!! 1-1/2 hour power walk before supper!

Day 15 - Halfway there...

About Me

Let's talk about energy today. I do seem to have it in abundance these days - and that is a very good thing. The food, the exercise; combined with the LACK of alcohol to deaden my senses and you have a recipe for a high octane chick. My body's natural rhythms have re-emerged. I start getting sleepy at a more natural time and have no difficulty falling asleep. The alarm clock goes off and I GET UP. I don't hit snooze. You don't KNOW what a major thing that is. I have THREE alarm clocks with their alarms staggered to go off because I'm so bad about getting out of bed in the morning. I'm currently down to 2 and have shut off the 2nd alarm before it went off for over a week. Wild stuff.

I may only be halfway there, but I am fully engaged.

Statistics

Height - 5' 7-1/2"

Weight - For the record, I'm weighing in nude or next to nude on the same scale, around the same time every morning before eating or drinking anything.

DAY 01 - 173.4 lbs

DAY 02 - 167.3 lbs
DAY 03 - 165.0 lbs
DAY 04 - ? - I was away and couldn't weigh in
DAY 05 - ? - I was away and couldn't weigh in
DAY 06 - 162.8 lbs

DAY 07 - 161.6 lbs

DAY 08 - 160.2 lbs

DAY 09 - 160.4 lbs

DAY 10 - 159.2 lbs

Day 11 - ? - I was away and couldn't weigh in

Day 12 - ? - I was away and couldn't weigh in

Day 13 - 159.4 lbs
Day 14 - 157.6 lbs

Day 15 - 157.0 lbs

Food

Breakfast

2 cups of coffee

1 banana
handful of walnuts

Water, water and more water

Snack

1/2 apple

1 cup of jasmine green tea

Lunch

- Salad: Romain, onions, sprouted mung beans, sprouted chick peas, 1 whole avocado (woot! woot!), yellow pepper. DRESSING: Sesame oil, basil olive oil, rice vinegar

- a bunch of blueberries

Snack

1/2 apple

Supper

- Zucchini linguine
- Cauliflower tabuli
- Cantaloupe
- 1 cup of decaf coffee

Exercise
- 15 minute ab workout (Tamilee Webb "I want that body") in the morning

Day 14 - 2 weeks of hard work for what...?

About Me

Two weeks already? What have I got to show for it? Well...

How does 15.8 lbs less of me sound?

I have been blessed with having the body type of someone who can really "hide" their weight. Whenever I would tell someone how much I weighed they would mostly react with shock. Though I have never been "thin" I have only occasionally been "fat". I've mostly been "solid". My height, I suspect, helped a lot with this. But even though no one else may have known - I knew. I knew what I looked like before I jumped in the shower or when I couldn't fit into a pair of pants. The life of a yo-yo. There was one point where I had FIVE wardrobes of different sizes of clothing. Do you know how much space that took up? Someone once told me that Jackie Gleason did the same thing. Now as much as I adore the Great One (Baby you're the greatest!), I would rather not be in his company in that area. Thankfully - I haven't been THAT much of a yo-yo in years. The last few it's been 20 - 30 lbs and NOT 50 - 80 lbs.

Being overweight is demoralizing. It doesn't effect just your clothing or your appearance. It effects every aspect of your life: how you treat others, how you treat yourself, your interests, your activities... It can change your social gatherings - do you really want to go to that swim party, high school reunion... and many other subtle areas. The thing that I'm finding so interesting is that so much of our lives is beyond our control: illness, accidents, the reactions of others... yet, this is the one area we all have COMPLETE control over, but so many of us struggle to embrace it. No one else is opening my mouth and putting anything in it. I've done it for myself since I was two. I'm in charge. I am empowered.

So who's putting what into YOUR mouth?

Day 14 has been good to me...

Statistics

Height - 5' 7-1/2"

Weight - For the record, I'm weighing in nude or next to nude on the same scale, around the same time every morning before eating or drinking anything.

DAY 01 - 173.4 lbs

DAY 02 - 167.3 lbs
DAY 03 - 165.0 lbs
DAY 04 - ? - I was away and couldn't weigh in
DAY 05 - ? - I was away and couldn't weigh in
DAY 06 - 162.8 lbs

DAY 07 - 161.6 lbs

DAY 08 - 160.2 lbs

DAY 09 - 160.4 lbs

DAY 10 - 159.2 lbs

Day 11 - ? - I was away and couldn't weigh in

Day 12 - ? - I was away and couldn't weigh in

Day 13 - 159.4 lbs
Day 14 - 157.6 lbs

Food

Breakfast

2 cups of coffee

1 banana
handful of walnuts

1 cup of decaf green tea

Snack

1 apple

1 cup of jasmine green tea

Lunch

- Blueberry "soup"

- Salad: greens with tomatoes, red pepper, scallions, alfalfa sprouts, sprouted mung beans, sprouted chick peas, green peppers with a dressing of sesame oil, basil olive oil, rice vinegar

1 plum

1 cup of jasmine green tea

Snack

Cucumbers, blueberries, onions in vinegar

1 cup of jasmine green tea
6 prunes

Supper

- Zucchini Linguini
- Salad
- Cauliflower Tabuli

Exercise
- 15 minute ab workout (Tamilee Webb "I want that body") in the morning

- 1 hour+ Power Walk

Day 13 - I'm still moving even though I'm standing still

About Me

Plateaus, plateaus. Oh how flat you are. Grrrr. You make me more determined to blow right through you. Doubling up the exercise when I can from here on out. Abs in the a.m. Walk at lunch. Something at night. You will feel my wrath and my determination. I am gravely disappointed. Again you will make me unleash my dogs of war.

Here is where I am. <---- ---> Here is the goal.

The 2 shall meet very soon...
I'll get you my pretty...

On a good note - I am a bit relieved to see my melting body slow down to a more realistic pace. Though exciting, it was a tad disconcerting to be dropping weight that fast - even if it was done safely. The best news is fitting in clothes that I couldn't wear less than 2 weeks ago. That's just weird (in a very good way).

Let's get to it. I have high hopes for Day 14 and the 2 week marker!

Statistics

Height - 5' 7-1/2"

Weight - For the record, I'm weighing in nude or next to nude on the same scale, at the same time every morning before eating or drinking anything.

DAY 01 - 173.4 lbs

DAY 02 - 167.3 lbs
DAY 03 - 165.0 lbs
DAY 04 - ? - I was away and couldn't weigh in
DAY 05 - ? - I was away and couldn't weigh in
DAY 06 - 162.8 lbs

DAY 07 - 161.6 lbs

DAY 08 - 160.2 lbs

DAY 09 - 160.4 lbs

DAY 10 - 159.2 lbs

Day 11 - ? - I was away and couldn't weigh in

Day 12 - ? - I was away and couldn't weigh in

Day 13 - 159.4 lbs <- Up 2/10s again, but still below 160!

Food

Breakfast

2 cups of coffee

1 banana

Snack

6 prunes

Lunch

- Salad - spring mix, sprouted chick peas, sprouted mung beans, alfalfa sprouts, scallions, 1/2 avocado, black olives, walnuts, zuccini DRESSING: sesame oil, basil olive oil, rice vinegar

- 1/4 pint blackberries

1 cup of jasmine green tea

Snack

1 cup of jasmine green tea
I wasn't hungry so I didn't eat my apple.

Supper

- Blueberry soup
- Zucchini linguini
- 1 apple

Exercise
- 15 minute ab workout (Tamilee Webb "I want that body") in the morning

- 40 minute power walk at lunch
- Buns of Steel video

Day 11, 12 - Out and about but still committed!

About Me

On the road again... Well another challenging few days as I moved out of my comfort zone and routine. I was hanging for a few days with some good friends and I always find myself falling back on the easy to do raw foods: fruit, nuts & salad. And YES - I do get tired of them. It IS hard to watch a couple of marinated steaks cooking on a charcoal grill, along with some asparagus and mashed potatoes and eat another salad. BUT - and this is what keeps me going - IT IS ONLY FOR 30 DAYS. I can be strong for that long. I can. I'm nearly 1/2 way there! Personally, the habit of kicking a few back on the weekend is nearly as hard as not baking a potato or having eggs in the morning. Again though - it's only for 30 days!

Everyone keeps asking me: So what is my weight goal? Well, the rule of thumb is 100 lbs for the first 5 feet and then 5lbs for every inch after that. That puts me needing to weigh 137.5 lbs and we'll round it up to 138 lbs. As of tomorrow morning, we'll know how much further I have to go. I haven't been in the 130 lbs since either high school or college - take your pick. I think it'll be cool to be able to say that I weigh as much now as I did then.

Statistics

Height - 5' 7-1/2"

Weight - For the record, I'm weighing in nude or next to nude on the same scale, at the same time every morning before eating or drinking anything.

DAY 01 - 173.4 lbs

DAY 02 - 167.3 lbs
DAY 03 - 165.0 lbs
DAY 04 - ? - I was away and couldn't weigh in
DAY 05 - ? - I was away and couldn't weigh in
DAY 06 - 162.8 lbs

DAY 07 - 161.6 lbs

DAY 08 - 160.2 lbs

DAY 09 - 160.4 lbs <- UGH The dreaded plateau

DAY 10 - 159.2 lbs <- I'm outta the 160s!!!

DAY 11 - ? - I was away and couldn't weigh in
DAY 12 - ? - I was away and couldn't weigh in

Food

Breakfast both days

Banana
Apple
Handful of Walnuts

Snack

Apple
Banana

Lunch

Salad (usual suspects - lettuce, mixed greens, onion, tomato, olives, strawberries, walnuts, apple)
Dressing: basil olive oil, balsamic vinegar, lemon, pepper & sea salt

Snack

Sat: guacamole & carrot sticks
Sun: banana

Supper

Salad: (Sat) same as lunch
Salad: (Sun) spring mix, scallions, avocado, sprouted mung beans, sprouted chick peas, alfalfa sprouts, walnuts, 1/2 avocado, zucchini, black olives Dressing: sesame oil, basil olive oil, water, rice vinegar, pepper

Exercise
- Sat - 3.2 mile power walk
- Sun - a day of REST other than playing guitar for a few hours!

Day 10 - Steady as you go...

About Me

HEY NOW! What a terrific surprise this morning! After my downer of a 2/10ths bump yesterday, my hard work was rewarded with the breaking of the nasty 160 lb barrier! If KC hadn't been sleeping I would have shouted from the damn rooftop! It commits me further to my mantra of "I will not waver. I am a rock. I am a diamond. I am steady. I am hard." or I could quote from one of my favorite funny movies Galaxy Quest "Never say die. Never surrender!". Thanks body, I needed a pick-me-up :-)

Two cool things in addition to the barrier breaking this morning:

1. I'm in jeans I haven't been able to wear in months

2. I'm in a top I haven't been able to wear since I purchased it. It was one of those - I'll lose weight and get into it, after all it's only a little too small - purchases. Success! I'm finally in it and it's no longer too small.

Those 2 little things (OK, and breaking the barrier) have gone a long way to make my already great mood even more stellar. Not to mention having wheels again - I picked up my rental car this morning and my car should be back on the road in a few weeks. Yeah! You know it's been a busy morning and it's barely 10:30am.

I'm away again this weekend so we'll have to see how I do without my scale and out of my comfort zone.

Now on to the numbers. Drumroll please....

Statistics

Height - 5' 7-1/2"

Weight - For the record, I'm weighing in nude or next to nude on the same scale, at the same time every morning before eating or drinking anything.

DAY 01 - 173.4 lbs

DAY 02 - 167.3 lbs
DAY 03 - 165.0 lbs
DAY 04 - ? - I was away and couldn't weigh in
DAY 05 - ? - I was away and couldn't weigh in
DAY 06 - 162.8 lbs

DAY 07 - 161.6 lbs

DAY 08 - 160.2 lbs

DAY 09 - 160.4 lbs <- UGH The dreaded plateau

DAY 10 - 159.2 lbs <- I'm outta the 160s!!!

Food

Breakfast

1 cup of coffee 

1 banana

Handful of walnuts

Snack

1/2 apple

1 cup of organic jasmine green tea

Lunch

Sprouted hummus, raw zucchini and baby carrots

Snack

2 cups of tea (regular)

1/2 apple

Rest of the walnuts

Supper

Salad

1 Orange

Leftover cauliflower tabuli

Exercise
- 15 minute ab workout (Tamilee Webb "I want that body") in the morning

- 1 mile walk to the car rental place!

Day 09 - DRATS! The dreaded plateau...

About Me

I was really hoping to make it into the 150's before it happened but it was not to be; I've hit the plateau. Despite the fact that I have been steadfast and true to both diet & exercise - I actually added 2/10ths of a pound to my girth today. It was bound to happen. I knew that my rapid loss was really just my body's fluid dump of all the water it had to hold on to to maintain stasis to against all the preservative and other crap I had been ingesting. (Remember I had 3 days of sushi leading up to kicking this thing off!). I'm expecting more realistic weight loss from here on out - more like 2 lbs per week. After all - it's 1200 extra calories to gain a pound and 1200 too few calories to lose a pound. As my guru KC said - I would have to have been doing marathon laps around the globe non-stop for my loss to have been actual fat. I knew this - I JUST REALLY WANTED TO BREAK INTO THE 150s BEFORE REALITY SET IN!

OK, that's off my chest. So what's a girl to do? Juice, baby, juice! Monday - is the day of juice.

Let's get to it:

Statistics

Height - 5' 7-1/2"

Weight - For the record, I'm weighing in nude or next to nude on the same scale, at the same time every morning before eating or drinking anything.

DAY 01 - 173.4 lbs

DAY 02 - 167.3 lbs <-- Realize that I'm dumping water weight.
DAY 03 - 165.0 lbs
DAY 04 - ? - I was away and couldn't weigh in
DAY 05 - ? - I was away and couldn't weigh in
DAY 06 - 162.8 lbs

DAY 07 - 161.6 lbs <-- Is this unbelievable or what?

DAY 08 - 160.2 lbs

DAY 09 - 160.4 lbs <- UGH The dreaded plateau

Food

Breakfast

1 cup of coffee

1 banana

1 peach

Snack

2 cups of tea

Handful of raw almonds

6 prunes

1 apple

Lunch

LEFTOVERS:

Snack

Cherries

Supper

Soup: cauliflower, red pepper, cayenne pepper (yeee-ha!), basil

Salad: greens dressing: honey, apple cider vinegar, lemon

Tabuli: Cauliflower, red pepper, tomato, scallions,

Exercise

- 15 minute ab workout (Tamilee Webb "I want that body") in the morning

Day 08 - What can YOU do in 1 week? Check it out!

About Me

As the Wicked Witch of the East said in the Wizard of Oz, "I'm melting! I'm melting!". Wow! Week one is complete and I am 13.2 lbs less! Who'd a thunk it was possible? I know these results ARE NOT typical. I KNOW that there is a lot of water weight going here since my sodium intake is a lot lower. I KNOW it's because I haven't had a drop of booze since last Monday. I know it's because I'm eating these amazingly nutritionally dense but calorically sparse foods. But WOW friggin' WOW!

My stress level has been pretty high lately and last night KC and I went for a super power walk of an hour & 20 minutes. We kept the pace up for the entire walk and I couldn't believe how fast it seemed. LESSON: Use your pent up frustrations, anxiety and stress for your benefit. When you feel like your going to explode get it out in a productive manner. It's a win-win. I felt a thousand times better when we were done and I had done something great for my heart and my body. On top of all of that, I had been pretty hungry when we left for the walk. When we came back I was debating if I even wanted to eat. I did, but it took about 20 minutes for my appetite to resurface after stopping and when it did it wasn't nearly as intense.

TONIGHT we did a good power walk to the local produce store and piled up bags and knapsacks and then power walked home loaded down with our dinner. Talk about working for your food!

Water. I'm still struggling to drink, drink, drink the stuff. I never liked it. Ever. Even as a kid. Even as a grown-up (sort of grown-up). I know I need to drink it so I drink it. But I'm still gonna grumble about it. So there. :-p

Oh did I mention that tomorrow is going to be a day of JUICE only? (gulp!) I keep telling myself this is only for 30 days. This is only for 30 days. Then I click my heels 3x but just end up with bruised heels! Ha! HOLD THE PRESSES... KC just change gears on me and juice day will be FRIDAY! Woot! Woot!

Here's the latest:

Statistics

Height - 5' 7-1/2"

Weight - For the record, I'm weighing in nude on the same scale, at the same time every morning before eating or drinking anything.

DAY 01 - 173.4 lbs

DAY 02 - 167.3 lbs <-- Realize that I'm dumping water weight.
DAY 03 - 165.0 lbs
DAY 04 - ? - I was away and couldn't weigh in
DAY 05 - ? - I was away and couldn't weigh in
DAY 06 - 162.8 lbs

DAY 07 - 161.6 lbs <-- Is this unbelievable or what?

DAY 08 - 160.2 lbs (150's here I come...)

Food

Breakfast

1 cup of coffee

1 banana

1/2 handful walnuts

Snack

1 peach

Cup of Jasmine Green Tea

Lunch

LEFTOVERS: zucchini linguine, yellow salad, a peach

Snack

1 apple

Handful of cherries

Cup of Tea

Supper

Peach, squash, basil soup

Romaine with red onion & scallions with an avocado, lemon dressing

One of my favs!
Zucchini linguini with squash, peaches, scallions in an oriental sesame, tahini sauce. Yum, friggin' yum!

Exercise
- 15 minute ab workout (Tamilee Webb "I want that body") in the morning

- Close to an hour power walk after work hauling lots of groceries back to the homestead!

Day 07 - Rain, rain down on me...

About Me

You know, one of the coolest benefits to going raw & vegan is the utter enthusiasm you feel. I am sleeping about 6-1/2 to 7 hours a night and just went through a truly hellacious week last week and this morning a co-worker says to me, "Why are you so happy?". Wow! I'm feeling the vegetable love man. Groovy.

Perhaps when we are doing positive actions for ourselves it simply rolls over into how we act with others? I know THIS for sure, people are much more attracted to positive outlooks than negative ones. Haven't we all, at one time or another, been exposed to someone with a dour outlook on life; someone espousing "Woe is me", "Why me", "My life sucks", etc. You know what I mean. Well, those people have failed before they've even TRIED.

When attempting any type of change; eating, drinking, stopping smoking, exercising, break-ups, moving, new job, YOU NAME IT... - the largest battle one wages is with one's self and one's ATTITUDE or MINDSET. I have been on the raw, vegan path for less than a week, but the mindset and attitude change was nearly immediate. There has been no other weight loss plan that this yo-yo gal has ever embraced that encompassed my mind so completely and positively. I say it again, "groovy".

Here's the latest:

Statistics

Height - 5' 7-1/2"

Weight - For the record, I'm weighing in nude on the same scale, at the same time every morning before eating or drinking anything.

DAY 01 - 173.4 lbs

DAY 02 - 167.3 lbs <-- Realize that I'm dumping water weight.
DAY 03 - 165.0 lbs
DAY 04 - ? - I was away and couldn't weigh in
DAY 05 - ? - I was away and couldn't weigh in
DAY 06 - 162.8 lbs

DAY 07 - 161.6 lbs <-- Is this unbelievable or what?

Food

Breakfast

1 cup of coffee <-- woo hoo just 1!

1 peach

1 plum

1/2 handful walnuts

Snack

1 apple

Cup of Jasmine Green Tea

Lunch

LEFTOVERS: zucchini & sprouted hummus, greens with apple slices, pecans and blueberries, strawberries and the last piece of live lasagna

Snack

1/2 handful of walnuts and 6 almonds

Cup of Jasmine Green Tea

Supper

Yellow salad - romaine, mango, coconut, yellow pepper, lemon juice, tahini

Exercise
1hour & 20 minutes of steady, intense power-walking. Nothing like getting the aggression out with some physical activity!

DAY 03, 04, 05, 06 - Weekend challenges, but still on track

About Me

What a series of days! You don't need the nitty or the gritty but it involved a car crash and a very emotional split. My cortisol level was high, I wasn't at home and I really, really, really wanted a beer... or 15. However, I am a rock. I am unbreakable. I am a diamond. I am hard. I am strong. I am going to do this. And I DID! I had moments of wavering, but stayed the course. For once... the center did hold!

I stayed raw (except for the coffee) with my food even with the unexpected twists and turns. Here's the skinny...

Statistics

5' 7-1/2" height

173.4 lbs - DAY 01
167.3 lbs - DAY 02 <-- that's right 6.1 lbs in a day and a half. Please realize that I'm dumping water weight. Let's see what I'm doing in a week or two once my body adjusts to the new diet & exercise routine...
165.0 lbs - DAY 03
? - I was away and couldn't weigh in - DAY 04
? - I was away and couldn't weigh in - DAY 05
162.8 lbs - DAY 06

Diet
Friday Breakfast

1-1/2 cups of coffee

1 apple

1 plum

Friday Snack

1 Asian pear

Friday Lunch

- Leftovers from last nights feast (Asparagus "soup" with dried blueberries, sun dried kale leaves stuffed with sun dried tomato paté, mushrooms stuffed with sun dried tomato paté, chopped kale with blueberries)

1 plum

Friday Snack

1 plum

Friday Dinner (Away) (restaurant)

House Salad

Saturday Brunch (Away)

2 cups of coffee

1 banana

handful of walnuts

Saturday Snack (Away)

1 apple

Saturday Supper (Away)

Giant salad - spring mix, tomato, avocado, onion, walnuts, mushrooms, basil olive oil, fresh squeezed orange

juice, salt & pepper

Sunday Brunch (Away) (restaurant)

3 cups of coffee <-- I know, wrong direction... Large fruit bowl: berries, melon, banana slices...

Sunday Snack
1 banana

handful of walnuts

Sunday Supper (back home)

- Mushroom, Zucchini soup (see picture)

- Live "lasagna" (see picture)

- Zucchini linguine (see picture)
- cucumber slices topped with sprouted hummus (see picture)

- Mushrooms stuffed with sun-dried tomatoes (see picture)

- Raspberry cloud pie (I forgot to take the damn picture. I was too busy eating!)

Monday Breakfast

2 cups of coffee

1 peach

handful of walnuts

Monday Snack

1/2 apple

Organic Jasmine Green Tea

Monday Lunch (restaurant)

- California Pizza Kitchen - custom salad - field greens w/ pear, grapes, avocado, sun dried tomato, onion, tomato, walnuts, carrots, black pepper w/ olive oil and fresh squeezed lemons.

Monday Snack

1/2 apple

Organic Jasmine Green Tea

Monday Supper

- live lasagna
- sun-dried tomato stuffed mushrooms
- strawberries

EXERCISE

FRIDAY - no exercise. It was pre-empted by the car crash.
SATURDAY - 2+ mile powerwalk w/ jaunts of running
SUNDAY - Helped stack wood for around 2 hours
MONDAY - Walked and ab workout

Day 02 - So far so good...

About Me

I had an early day today and didn't have time to even think about eating until nearly 10 am (that's unusual). Yesterday was interesting - I had lots of energy until about 3pm and then just wanted a nap. I'm suspecting my sudden cutback in caffeine might account for it (I was drinking at least a pot of coffee daily and now am only doing 2 cups. I'll move to 1 cup on Day 08). I arrived home famished and exhausted. My task master, I mean inspiring leader in this, KC, promptly got me on a 58 minute power walk with bursts of running which got me through the tiredness. Interestingly, today I didn't get "tired" until around 6pm. I'm convinced it's the caffeine.

By the time we arrived home again, my hunger had dissipated and we ended up not eating until nearly an hour later. Interesting.

I'm working on increasing my water intake. It's a chronic problem for me. I just don't like the stuff. Coffee - yes. Tea - yes. Beer - yes. Wine - yes. Water - uh, do I have to - YES, I MUST. So it's another battle to be waged that will benefit me in the end. I'm increasingly determined to be stoic about this for 30 days. I will not waver. I will not falter. I will succeed. Now, notice I did NOT say I wouldn't complain (as KC will be sure to tell you).

By the way - weigh-ins are in the mornings and before I drink any liquid or eat any food. I'm using a weight watcher's scale and dressing as scantily as possible.

STATISTICS

5' 7-1/2" height

173.4 lbs - DAY 01

167.3 lbs - DAY 02 <-- that's right 6.1 lbs in a day and a half. Please realize that I'm dumping

water weight. Let's see what I'm doing in a week or two once my body

adjusts to the new diet & exercise routine...

Diet

BREAKFAST

2 cups of coffee <-- yes, I know - not raw. I'm working on it.
[1] apple
[1] banana

SNACK

Cantaloupe "soup"

1 cup of Jasmine Green Tea

LUNCH

- salad leftovers from last night's dinner

1 cup of Jasmine Green Tea

SNACK

Cherries

SUPPER
- "Soup" was creamed asparagus with dried blueberries
- The "grape leaf" looking thingies are kale leaves stuffed with sun dried tomato paté and then baked all day in a solar oven (flipping unbelievable!)
- Mushrooms stuffed with sun dried tomato paté
- chopped kale salad (in middle of plate) with cherries


SNACK
- Some tea concoction of green tea, lime, lemon & mint (I added lemon drop stevia to sweeten 'er up)

Exercise

- Teensy powerwalk tonight
- Ab workout with my favorite DVD "I Want That Body" -Tamilee Webb

Day 01 - And we're off!

About Me

Food is not the enemy. I swear someday I will really believe this. However, for now I'm continuing my journey along the path of making that statement a reality.

I'm a diet yo-yo who has lost the same 40 - 60 lbs probably close to a dozen times in my life, which as we all know IS NOT GOOD. I've been raw before, but never completely vegan. This time I'm delving into this with the help of my good friend, dietitian and chef KC. I'll grant you - I have it easier than most with the direction coming from her - but if you've ever tried to change your lifestyle and get healthy - it's no easy task.

I decided to do a little blogging more for me than anyone else, but I'm also aware that everyone will be seeing this. I'm going to be taking some "before" pictures tonight, but will not post them until the very end of this journey - in 30 days. I'll try to list out the foods I'm eating each day but am bound to miss a day or two so please forgive me kind reader.

Now - let's get going!

Statistics

5' 7-1/2" height

173.4 lbs

Diet

BREAKFAST

2 cups of coffee <-- yes, I know - not raw. I'm working on it.

Banana

Oats with walnuts & maple syrup

SNACK

6 prunes

1 cup of Jasmine Green Tea

LUNCH

Soup: Asparagus "soup". Fresh asparagus pureed in a VitaMix (yum)

Chop salad: red pepper, squash, asparagus, carrot, sunflower seeds, cherries, mangoes, onions and cashews with a lemon/olive oil/secret ingredient

1 grapefruit
1 cup of Jasmine Green Tea

SUPPER
- Dinasaur Kale salad
- Broccoli with a lemon dressing
- Chop salad
- ginger lemon "tea"

NIGHT TIME SNACK
- Cantaloupe in a blender with some mint & vanilla

Exercise

Powerwalk with 2 running bursts (58 minutes)