Tuesday, December 17, 2013

The Diet That Changed My Life

Here is the diet plan for the 2-Week Rapid Weight Loss Plan that I just completed. It is easy and should work for anyone. I lost 12 pounds and 5 inches on my waist in the 2 weeks! 

Here are all the details:

NOTE: PEOPLE WITH UNDERLYING GI CONDITIONS, PREGNANT WOMEN, AND PEOPLE ALREADY ON A DIET RECOMMENDED BY A PHYSICIAN SHOULD NOT DO THIS DIET

WHAT YOU CAN EAT
-WAKEUP: Start day with cup hot water ½ lemon
-BREAKFAST SMOOTHIE: (see recipe)
-GREEN TEA
-MEAT: only one serving of meat (3-6 oz of chicken, turkey or fish) per day
-CARBS: ½ cup of cooked brown rice a day (otherwise no carbs/starches)
-FATS: good fats in moderation (olive oil, avocado okay)
-DAIRY: 1 cup of Greek yogurt per day as an afternoon snack (otherwise no dairy)
-VEGETABLES: unlimited low-glycemic vegetables (see list)
-DETOX VEGETABLE SOUP: drink all day long as much as you want (see recipe)
-OPTIONAL SNACK: 100% organic whey protein (1 teaspoon diluted in 16 ounces of water)

OTHER THINGS TO DO
-Take probiotic in the morning
-Take a multivitamin (preferably ½ in the morning & ½ at night)
-Detox bath every night (soak with 2 cups Epsom salt & 1 cup baking soda) 

WHAT YOU NEED TO ELIMINATE
-No meals between 8pm-8am
-No caffeine (ONLY green tea)
-No alcohol
-No white foods, corn or potatoes
-No artificial sweeteners
-No additional exercise

LOW-GI VEGETABLES
Artichokes
Artichoke hearts
Asparagus
Bamboo shoots
Bean sprouts
Broccoli
Brussels sprouts
Cauliflower
Celery
Cucumber
Daikon
Eggplant
Leeks
Lentils
Beans (green, kidney, garbanzo)
Greens (collard, kale, mustard, turnip)
Mushrooms
Okra
Onions
Pea pods
Peppers
Radishes
Rutabaga
Squash
Sugar snap peas
Swiss chard
Tomato
Water chestnuts
Watercress
Zucchini
Cabbage (green, bok choy, Chinese)
Salad greens (chicory, endive, escarole, iceberg lettuce, romaine, spinach, arugula, radicchio, watercress)

SHOPPING LIST (TO START)
-Rice protein powder (package with at least 28 servings—28 tablespoons)
-Whey protein powder (small container)
-1 ¾ cups ground flaxseeds
-3 ½ cups brown rice
-1 bottle olive oil (about1L)
-Balsamic vinegar (or other preferred vinegar) for salad dressing
-Green tea
-Epsom salt
-Baking soda

SHOPPING LIST (EACH WEEK BUY)
-4 lemons4 lemons
-56 oz frozen berries
-4 bananas
-2 quarts unsweetened vanilla almond milk
-4 avocados
-7 plain 2% Greek yogurts (6oz serving size)
-1 ½ lbs chicken, turkey, or fish combined

SHOPPING LIST (DETOX VEGETABLE BROTH)
4 large onions                       8 carrots
4 cups winter squash           8 celery stalks
2 cups cabbage                  Dried ginger
8 cloves whole garlic          Sea salt, to taste
4 cups root vegetable (any of the following: turnips, parsnips, rutabagas)
8 cups chopped greens (any of the following: kale, parsley, beet greens, collard greens, chard, dandelion)
(Or you can buy boxed broth from the grocery (5 quarts of low-sodium, organic vegetable broth)


RECIPES
Breakfast Smoothie
·         2 tablespoons rice protein powder
·         2 tablespoons ground flaxseeds
·         ½ cup frozen berries
·         ½ banana
·         1 cup unsweetened vanilla almond milk 


Vegetable Broth
For every three quarts of water add:
·         1 large onion, chopped
·         2 carrots, sliced
·         1 cup of winter squash cut into large cubes
·         1 cup of root vegetables: any of the following:  turnips, parsnips, and rutabagas for sweetness
·         2 cups of chopped greens:   any of the following:  kale, parsley, beet greens, collard greens, chard, dandelion,
·         2 celery stalks
·         ½ cup of cabbage
·         4 ½-inch slices of fresh ginger
·         2 cloves of whole garlic (not chopped or crushed)
·         Sea salt, to taste
Add all the ingredients at once and place on a low boil for approximately 60 minutes. It may take a little longer. Simply continue to boil to taste.
Cool, strain (throw out the cooked vegetables), and store in a large, tightly-sealed glass container in the fridge.
Heat gently and drink up to 3–4 cups a day.
Makes: 2 quarts or 8 cups
Prep time: 30 minutes
Cook time: 60 minutes
The Vegetable Broth - I bought the Pacific brand low-sodium, organic vegetable broth. It was not so great, but I forced it down. If you can make your own vegetable broth, it will be better. But it's cheaper to buy the broth. When I had a hard time drinking the broth, I added the brown rice and some veggies to it and made a soup. Slightly better, but not my favorite thing.

The Detox Bath - Ok, if you are a bath person, you will have a better time with this than I did. I hate baths and had to force myself to do this. If you google detox baths, it says you need to stay in the tub for 40 minutes. But A) who has the time; B) there is no hot water after about 5 minutes; C) who wants to sit in tepid dirty water with nothing to do; and D) why...just why! If you can do it, more power to you and kudos.

The No Additional Exercise - That doesn't really make sense, although it shows you that you can lose the weight without exercise. Of course, exercise is a key to a healthy life. And if you exercise while doing this, you will lose more weight.

I have to say, I am not hungry eating this way at all. It is a huge change from the fast food, take-out, diet soda addicted life I was living just 3 weeks ago! Since starting this, I sleep better, have better concentration, and all around feel great! I am no longer looking at this as a diet, but as a lifestyle change. That is what will keep me on the right path. Let me know how you do and any questions you may have. 

I will post some recipes as I make them. Having support is another key to living a healthy life. I believe you can do this and I will help you in any way I can! 

Saturday, December 7, 2013

The Real Story

I wasn’t always overweight. I was an average sized child and teenager. Many of my relatives were overweight, but it was never a real issue with me. My mother was overweight and I remember her trying different diets and going to a gym occasionally. She managed to give me her weight issues. She would call me “thunder thighs” and “hippo hips” constantly when I was a teenager. I believed I was enormous when in reality I was an average size 6-8. I even drank Slimfast shakes when I was 14 years old. Even when I started college, I was an average size and shape. I was in plays in school and the community and loving all the attention. That would all change.

By the time I turned 21 years old, I went into a deep depression and turned to alcohol and food to cope. What I didn’t realize at the time was that I was gaining weight in order to hide. I was small, pretty, and in the spotlight all the time. In gaining the weight, I would be fat and ugly and not apt to be taken advantage of
. All it did was make me dislike myself and retreat from people, plays and singing. I even dropped out of college in my last semester.


Throughout the years I’ve tried different diets. I had some success with Weight Watchers in 2003, but I haven’t been able to keep the weight off. I would keep turning to food to comfort myself when upset. I believe weight loss will never happen without the entire mind, body, spirit connection happening. I wasn’t ready to pull it all together then.

I finally finished my BA in Behavioral Studies in 2005 at 30 years old. The college hired me and things started looking up for the first time in my life. I started getting back into singing. I was working out my past in counseling. I also have a strong faith in God. So my spirit and my mind were being strengthened, but I was still overweight and out of shape. 


After being laid off from Harvard University in 2008, my life again went through a major depression. I moved all over the place, rented rooms from people, never kept a job longer than 3 months. I was completely depressed and food was my steady companion. Fast food, Chinese food, pasta, bread - nothing healthy and nothing helping. 

I was at my heaviest I have ever been last year. I guess to be completely honest I have to post my weight. I hit 250 pounds. And that is a huge accomplishment even posting the number, because it's something I am ashamed of. I can't believe I let myself get to weigh so much. But I don't want to beat myself up over it...because I'm really good at that! So I keep applying to weight loss projects on Dr. Oz. Thankfully I got into one now! And it is not only changing the way I eat dramatically, it is also changing the way I look at what I eat. I have been able to eat out while still sticking to this 2 week diet. I'm searching the internet for different ways to prepare all these vegetables I have to eat. And with social media, facebook & my blog, I have the support and accountability I need to make this successful! 

So to lose almost 10 pounds this past week, has been so amazing for me! To be under 240 pounds is exciting! Of course I totally want some chili cheese fries from Wendy's...but what will that do for me? Make me feel horrible and have regrets. I feel better than I have ever felt before! Whether it's the multivitamin or the healthy food or the happiness that I am losing weight or the Holiday Spirit, or most probably a mixture of everything...it's working for me right now! That's all I have to know. It's working and I feel great!

Friday, December 6, 2013

Follow the diet-filled road to Oz!

Recently, I was chosen to participate in a 2 week rapid weight loss project by Dr. Oz. I was given the list of foods and the instructions on what to do, and on Saturday, November 30th I began my 2 weeks. While I cannot give out the diet or the instructions until after the episode airs (per a producer), I can discuss what I have done and how it's going and the like. If you are friends with me on Facebook, you have seen my daily posts about the diet. But because I couldn't for the life of me remember my old password to get back here, I wasn't able to give you my daily account here. But I will going forward. 

However, with all my struggles with eating Greek yogurt and not wanting to take the detox baths (I really am a shower chick!), I was able to lose 8 pounds and 3 inches on my waist!! 

Starting now, I'll write here as much as I can about a variety of things. I look forward to sharing my journey with you!

I'm baaaaaack!

Hello there my friends. Sorry I took so long to get back here. Life has gotten in the way of my life! But now I'm back and completely focused and newly dedicated to my writing. I know there are many people out there who can relate to some of the things I think and feel. Being a single woman; being overweight; living paycheck to paycheck; wanting more out of this life; trying to find your place in this world...pretty much hits home for just about everyone out there. So maybe we can ponder this life together. Join me, won't you.