I returned to the Sadkhin Complex this week for my 1-month follow-up visit. I have successfully maintained the weight, despite a trip to Las Vegas two weeks ago and a party this past weekend. I'm trying to stick to the recommendations for maintenance, but it's difficult these days - it feels like I'm not getting the support from others now that I'm "done" with the program as I was while I was on it. Everyone seems to expect me to just fall right back into old habits and stuff, so impressing on people that I still wish to make an attempt at following the guidelines just earns me funny looks and comments of "But I thought you were done."
You're never really done. The only way for any "diet" to work is to have an actual lifestyle change. So if that means I don't want to eat after 6pm (7pm at the LATEST), or if I want to have a tea fast day or a milk day, or if I want to just do veggies for a couple of days - don't look at me funny. Show the same support as while I was actively on the program. If I allow myself a cheat for each friend, just to avoid the funny looks, I'm going to end up gaining all the weight back. So stop it.
Andre was very proud of me for keeping the weight off so far and that I've done pretty well with the recommendations. I'm proud of me, too. And people keep telling me that they can really notice the difference and are impressed by it. If I want to keep it off, I have to keep it up. Which means I might be funny some days for eating.
Thursday, May 26, 2011
Friday, May 6, 2011
Maintenance: Week 2
3 more pounds down! And I'm officially now done with the whole thing and am on my own. I'm being good so far about getting to the gym or going for a good long walk at least 3 times a week. Hopefully I'll keep that up. I'm still getting full from the smaller quantities of food, so I might just be able to keep this going for a while, and finish losing the weight I want to shed. Now where did I put that card... ah, here it is. So these are the "recommended rules" to help keep the weight off:
1. Follow the 5 Ps:
P-1: Portion control - watch the quantity of the food you eat (ok, no brainer)
P-2: Property of the food - choose high quality foods with good nutritional values (duh)
P-3: Proper time of consumption - continue to eat between 12pm and 6pm (I think I can do this - at least during the week, I've gotten used to it)
P-4: Preparation of food - stick to raw, steamed, grilled or baked, don't do fried (again, duh)
P-5: Physical activity - do at least 30 to 40 minutes of exercise a day (I see more walks in my future)
2. Make Thursdays a milk day (I can do that)
3. Make Mondays a fasting day (We'll see)
4. Choose in-season fruits and vegetables (makes sense - fewer preservatives that way)
5. Continue to take the vitamin and herb supplements (I'll probably switch to a generic multivitamin instead of their expensive stuff)
And they suggest repeating the program every 8 to 12 months as a booster. There's more tips and stuff on their website.
1. Follow the 5 Ps:
P-1: Portion control - watch the quantity of the food you eat (ok, no brainer)
P-2: Property of the food - choose high quality foods with good nutritional values (duh)
P-3: Proper time of consumption - continue to eat between 12pm and 6pm (I think I can do this - at least during the week, I've gotten used to it)
P-4: Preparation of food - stick to raw, steamed, grilled or baked, don't do fried (again, duh)
P-5: Physical activity - do at least 30 to 40 minutes of exercise a day (I see more walks in my future)
2. Make Thursdays a milk day (I can do that)
3. Make Mondays a fasting day (We'll see)
4. Choose in-season fruits and vegetables (makes sense - fewer preservatives that way)
5. Continue to take the vitamin and herb supplements (I'll probably switch to a generic multivitamin instead of their expensive stuff)
And they suggest repeating the program every 8 to 12 months as a booster. There's more tips and stuff on their website.
Friday, April 29, 2011
Maintenance: Week 1
It was very difficult to stay completely strict to the maintenance cycle plan this week. With Sunday being Easter, my friends and I went to the Easter Brunch at the Claddagh, and later on was Easter dinner with a friend's family. Dinner was pretty well on-key (shrimp with broccoli, carrots, and cabbage), except that I'd eaten quite a bit off for brunch (sausage, ham, omelette, sweets). Plus there was the little sliver of cheesecake and 2... no, 3 chocolate chip cookies. Oops. Saturday, I had done pretty well though. I ate the leftovers of my crab from Friday, then boiled up the shells to make a seafood stock.
Always keep the shells. Always!
The stock was used later on during my Wednesday milk day to create a creamy onion soup that had just a hint of crab flavoring to it. Monday, I had salmon, broccoli, carrots, and a fizzy mango drink. I discovered this carbonated beverage thing that uses mango puree and sparkling water and that's it - no added anything - so it made a really refreshing fizzy drink. I'd been craving a soda for a little while, so this is a great and healthy alternative! I'm also drinking sparkling water more often than still water this week.
I don't remember Tuesday. What did I have on Tuesday? Was there a Tuesday? Yeah, total blank. Wednesday, as mentioned, was a milk day. I bought some Kefir to try. I couldn't figure out anything to do with it to make it tastier than the standard lassi, or throw it in soup. And it wasn't cooperating - I couldn't get the right mix of anything to make it a tasty drink, so it became the onion soup, which was awesome. Using my Creamy Onion Soup variation, I put the Kefir in place of the yogurt, 1/2 cup crab stock and 1/2 cup Herbal Soup in place of the plain water. I didn't put the herbs in with the onion since I used them for the herbal soup, and I didn't use any honey with it. I'm finding now that if you dice up the onions really finely, they produce enough of their own liquid that the honey isn't required.
Thursday was also a milk day, but I was just not feeling up to babysitting a vat of milk to turn it into yogurt. We went out for Indian food for lunch and I ate it, darn it. I had some chai tea latte later on, but lunch was delicious - just a mix of the vegetarian options from the buffet.
I weighed myself this morning - no change! So I'm holding steady, which is awesome. Last night I cooked up some ratatouille (why didn't I think of THIS one before??) and shrimp in beurre blanc for today. The only way this could have been better is if I had a glass of the white wine I used for cooking to sip with it. It was so delicious! Yes, there was butter involved with cooking the shrimp. No, I didn't consume the butter. At least, if I did consume some butter, it was just droplets.
Recipewill be available on the recipes page later this evening now available! In the meantime, drool over this!
Always keep the shells. Always!
The stock was used later on during my Wednesday milk day to create a creamy onion soup that had just a hint of crab flavoring to it. Monday, I had salmon, broccoli, carrots, and a fizzy mango drink. I discovered this carbonated beverage thing that uses mango puree and sparkling water and that's it - no added anything - so it made a really refreshing fizzy drink. I'd been craving a soda for a little while, so this is a great and healthy alternative! I'm also drinking sparkling water more often than still water this week.
I don't remember Tuesday. What did I have on Tuesday? Was there a Tuesday? Yeah, total blank. Wednesday, as mentioned, was a milk day. I bought some Kefir to try. I couldn't figure out anything to do with it to make it tastier than the standard lassi, or throw it in soup. And it wasn't cooperating - I couldn't get the right mix of anything to make it a tasty drink, so it became the onion soup, which was awesome. Using my Creamy Onion Soup variation, I put the Kefir in place of the yogurt, 1/2 cup crab stock and 1/2 cup Herbal Soup in place of the plain water. I didn't put the herbs in with the onion since I used them for the herbal soup, and I didn't use any honey with it. I'm finding now that if you dice up the onions really finely, they produce enough of their own liquid that the honey isn't required.
Thursday was also a milk day, but I was just not feeling up to babysitting a vat of milk to turn it into yogurt. We went out for Indian food for lunch and I ate it, darn it. I had some chai tea latte later on, but lunch was delicious - just a mix of the vegetarian options from the buffet.
I weighed myself this morning - no change! So I'm holding steady, which is awesome. Last night I cooked up some ratatouille (why didn't I think of THIS one before??) and shrimp in beurre blanc for today. The only way this could have been better is if I had a glass of the white wine I used for cooking to sip with it. It was so delicious! Yes, there was butter involved with cooking the shrimp. No, I didn't consume the butter. At least, if I did consume some butter, it was just droplets.Recipe
Friday, April 22, 2011
Day 51
Fruit/Veggie Day. Technically. But I had some crab at lunch and it was DELICIOUS. I got the Dungeness crab, and substituted the potatoes and corn for broccoli and onion straws (yes, fried, bad me, I know, blah). And I stole some crab dip and chips. I ate one of the knuckles, and took the other two home, so I have it for the weekend. Tomorrow I will begin counting the maintenance days. I went back in for my final visit. I now have a ball taped to the front of each ear - each in a different location on their respective ears. There is no rotating required for these (yay!), they just kind of sit there. Perma-pressure. My maintenance phase has begun. 14 days of maintenance, then I remove the balls and I'm done! I go back in a month for a check up (and to return the balls, I guess... they didn't really say what to do with them other than to take them off) to see how I'm doing. That will be JUST after my Vegas trip, so um, that'll be... interesting...
I only lost 2 pounds this cycle. Which is only 1 pound more than the last time the balls were in this location, and the last time, I majorly cheated. I didn't cheat nearly so much this time, I don't think, so I think perhaps my body just doesn't react to that location like others. But, remember, the second location (intestines) I had a really good loss, which was unusual - so, I'm weird, apparently. Unfortunately, this means I didn't break the 180 mark before maintenance, which is kind of sad. But overall, I'm down 27 pounds, and that is CERTAINLY an accomplishment to be proud of!
So what's the plan now?
Well, a ball on each ear. Still need to eat between noon and 6pm. Wednesdays and Thursdays are to be milk days - so no more 2-day rotations. The rest of the days is more of the same - 1.5lbs of 3 types of fruits and veggies, with the addition of 4-6oz of seafood (any kind of seafood) for the day. And I keep taking the vitamin and herbal supplements. I should also definitely ramp up the exercise to three days a week - no more slacking off in that regard.
My new little card also tells me what to do AFTER maintenance to help keep the weight off. Nothing really surprising about it - eat healthy, don't fry things, make most of your meals be veggies with about 4-5oz of protein on the plate (Andre explained it as "fill half the plate with veggies, a quarter of the plate with protein - be it meat, beans, etc - and a quarter with good carbs - and don't plunge straight into a baked potato, work your way up to it with rice, whole grain pasta..."). Try to eat between noon and 6pm. One day a week as a milk day, one day a week as a tea fasting day, and keep taking vitamins.
I'll be weighing myself once a week from here on out - once I'm off maintenance, I'll likely scale back the blog to be a once weekly check-in, so I can continue to have the accountability of you all, and to keep track of my weight.
I only lost 2 pounds this cycle. Which is only 1 pound more than the last time the balls were in this location, and the last time, I majorly cheated. I didn't cheat nearly so much this time, I don't think, so I think perhaps my body just doesn't react to that location like others. But, remember, the second location (intestines) I had a really good loss, which was unusual - so, I'm weird, apparently. Unfortunately, this means I didn't break the 180 mark before maintenance, which is kind of sad. But overall, I'm down 27 pounds, and that is CERTAINLY an accomplishment to be proud of!
So what's the plan now?
Well, a ball on each ear. Still need to eat between noon and 6pm. Wednesdays and Thursdays are to be milk days - so no more 2-day rotations. The rest of the days is more of the same - 1.5lbs of 3 types of fruits and veggies, with the addition of 4-6oz of seafood (any kind of seafood) for the day. And I keep taking the vitamin and herbal supplements. I should also definitely ramp up the exercise to three days a week - no more slacking off in that regard.
My new little card also tells me what to do AFTER maintenance to help keep the weight off. Nothing really surprising about it - eat healthy, don't fry things, make most of your meals be veggies with about 4-5oz of protein on the plate (Andre explained it as "fill half the plate with veggies, a quarter of the plate with protein - be it meat, beans, etc - and a quarter with good carbs - and don't plunge straight into a baked potato, work your way up to it with rice, whole grain pasta..."). Try to eat between noon and 6pm. One day a week as a milk day, one day a week as a tea fasting day, and keep taking vitamins.
I'll be weighing myself once a week from here on out - once I'm off maintenance, I'll likely scale back the blog to be a once weekly check-in, so I can continue to have the accountability of you all, and to keep track of my weight.
Thursday, April 21, 2011
Day 50
Fruit/Veggie day. Wow, I made it to day 50! Tomorrow I go back in for a weigh-in and start my maintenance phase. I probably will not be technically allowed to have fish tomorrow - technically I should probably finish up my fruit/veggie 2-day and have my first fish on Saturday. However, I am heading out for lunch to Joe's Crab Shack with some friends, and there will be fish! I'm so excited!!
Two weeks of maintenance, and then, I'm done! I'm pretty confident I lost more weight this cycle - each time I step on the scale, it goes down a little. Oh yes, I bought a scale for myself for home. About time, huh? Really it's more for when I'm not going down to Sadkhin every 10 days, so I can keep myself on track at home. The gym will have to become a regular part of life, instead of this random, every-now-and-then thing that I've been pulling.
Yay fish!!
Two weeks of maintenance, and then, I'm done! I'm pretty confident I lost more weight this cycle - each time I step on the scale, it goes down a little. Oh yes, I bought a scale for myself for home. About time, huh? Really it's more for when I'm not going down to Sadkhin every 10 days, so I can keep myself on track at home. The gym will have to become a regular part of life, instead of this random, every-now-and-then thing that I've been pulling.
Yay fish!!
Wednesday, April 20, 2011
Day 49
Milk day. I think I hit burnout at work. Yesterday's extreme grouchiness and lethargy coupled with the annoyances of the day just really did me in. When I woke up this morning, I just couldn't get myself up. Lots of aches all over, pounding headache, and light was evil. So I took the day off, and I'm feeling immensely better after sleeping half the day away. I managed to drag myself downstairs to get my vitamins in the morning and have some tea before going back to sleep, and I think I hit about every OTHER rotation (missed the 2pm one though - slept through it) between sleeping. Clearly, I needed it.
I only had the remnants of the store-bought yogurt left from the container I bought to make my first batch of yogurt - I was in no mood to go out, buy milk, and make more of my own last night. Especially since I won't be having another milk day until next Wednesday, if I'm reading the maintenance literature correctly. I'm pretty sure I didn't get up to the 20oz for the day, but whatever. Half cup of yogurt around noon, and another cup combined with a little cheese (tiny bit) for bolstering, cooked up with onion for a creamy onion soup about an hour ago.
My cat has been curled up on top of or next to me all day. I think she's just happy to have me home all day. Back to work tomorrow with fruit/veggie day - having cabbage salad again. Because it is that good. Don't judge me. And then it's a three day weekend, with maintenance beginning! I have a salmon fillet all ready to go, and I intend to have shrimp, scallops, tilapia, and maybe even some crab over the next week. Mmmm fish!
I only had the remnants of the store-bought yogurt left from the container I bought to make my first batch of yogurt - I was in no mood to go out, buy milk, and make more of my own last night. Especially since I won't be having another milk day until next Wednesday, if I'm reading the maintenance literature correctly. I'm pretty sure I didn't get up to the 20oz for the day, but whatever. Half cup of yogurt around noon, and another cup combined with a little cheese (tiny bit) for bolstering, cooked up with onion for a creamy onion soup about an hour ago.
My cat has been curled up on top of or next to me all day. I think she's just happy to have me home all day. Back to work tomorrow with fruit/veggie day - having cabbage salad again. Because it is that good. Don't judge me. And then it's a three day weekend, with maintenance beginning! I have a salmon fillet all ready to go, and I intend to have shrimp, scallops, tilapia, and maybe even some crab over the next week. Mmmm fish!
Tuesday, April 19, 2011
Day 48
Milk day. We went out for lunch to an Indian restaurant. So I could get a lassi! Whoo! And then the day spiraled downhill, FAST. Really awful afternoon, made me want to cheat and have a big bowl of spaghetti or something. With lots of cheese. AFTER 6pm (gasp).
But I didn't. Sort of. A little cheat, perhaps, but not horrible. I made a cheesy onion soup - finely chopped up onion, with garlic. Added in my "cream cheese" and let it melt, then tossed in the whey that I had... and then added a little bit of shredded every-cheese-in-my-fridge. And topped it off with some Bacon Salt. Oh it was delicious. And I am much calmer now.
Later tonight I'm heading to Kohls to return some capris I decided not to keep, and then spend my Kohls cash from last week. This should do the trick nicely, methinks!
But I didn't. Sort of. A little cheat, perhaps, but not horrible. I made a cheesy onion soup - finely chopped up onion, with garlic. Added in my "cream cheese" and let it melt, then tossed in the whey that I had... and then added a little bit of shredded every-cheese-in-my-fridge. And topped it off with some Bacon Salt. Oh it was delicious. And I am much calmer now.
Later tonight I'm heading to Kohls to return some capris I decided not to keep, and then spend my Kohls cash from last week. This should do the trick nicely, methinks!
Monday, April 18, 2011
Day 45-47
Milk day, then fruit/veggie days. I was traveling in Canada over the weekend, and was without internet, so sorry about the lack of updates! Saturday was filled with winery tastings - yes, you can still do that, you just have to master the art off swish-and-spit. Nothing was actually consumed - well, maybe one or two sips that were just too smooth or too good to spit. I brought along my yogurt and an assortment of stir-ins for it, as well as my "cream cheese" stuff. There was also some excellent cheese. We ended up at a nice restaurant for dinner, where I had a lovely cheese plate, with a fun coffee for dessert.
Sunday was the trip home, and I had put together more of the cabbage salad for the trip since it travels pretty well. I left the dressing off until I was ready to eat it, which seems to extend the life of it. Stir in the dressing and grind a little sea salt on top, and it was once again the awesome salad. I am also loving the POM stuff, so that was my fruit for the day. I did cheat a little in the evening and had a bit of chocolate. Lindt truffles... who can resist?
The remainder of the salad was for today, as well as the POM. There wasn't quite enough salad left, so I steamed up some carrots for my final meal.
I'm finding that I'm being more tempted by regular food the past few days. Possibly because I know this is almost over now, and I'm just so looking forward to being able to have some of these things. Pizza, mac 'n cheese... yeah. I'm really starting to wonder now what the maintenance phase includes. I know fish gets brought into it, but what other restrictions are lifted? Do I get to start cooking with olive oil again? Or maybe vinegar? Can I start mixing fruit into my yogurt? I'll find out on Friday!
Sunday was the trip home, and I had put together more of the cabbage salad for the trip since it travels pretty well. I left the dressing off until I was ready to eat it, which seems to extend the life of it. Stir in the dressing and grind a little sea salt on top, and it was once again the awesome salad. I am also loving the POM stuff, so that was my fruit for the day. I did cheat a little in the evening and had a bit of chocolate. Lindt truffles... who can resist?
The remainder of the salad was for today, as well as the POM. There wasn't quite enough salad left, so I steamed up some carrots for my final meal.
I'm finding that I'm being more tempted by regular food the past few days. Possibly because I know this is almost over now, and I'm just so looking forward to being able to have some of these things. Pizza, mac 'n cheese... yeah. I'm really starting to wonder now what the maintenance phase includes. I know fish gets brought into it, but what other restrictions are lifted? Do I get to start cooking with olive oil again? Or maybe vinegar? Can I start mixing fruit into my yogurt? I'll find out on Friday!
Friday, April 15, 2011
Day 44
Milk day. Experimented with yogurt flavors today. I picked up some single-serve instant decaf coffee packs yesterday. One of them makes a perfect cappucino-flavor 1/2 cup of yogurt. A heaping teaspoon of cocoa powder makes a good chocolate yogurt that is almost, but not quite, pudding-like. 2 teaspoons of honey is about the right amount of sweetening for 1/2 cup of yogurt and is required for all sweet applications of yogurt. If you want a savory yogurt (cardamom, cinnamon, dill), 1 teaspoon will do. 1 teaspoon of vanilla added to the yogurt adds a nice flavor. Adding 1/4 teaspoon of sea salt enhances everything. I'm still trying to find the right combination to make it taste like cheesecake. I know it's possible, because completely plain, unsweetened yogurt tastes like cream cheese. By extension, finding the right combination of honey and vanilla should make it cheesecake-like. I just ran out of yogurt allotment for the day to make it happen.
Back up. Dill? Yes! If you strain the yogurt and make it more like a greek yogurt, dill is awesome. Dill is also awesome when folded into extremely strained yogurt (so much so that it becomes a softened cream cheese consistency).
I keep joking that I'm soon going to have a whole line of yogurt products to sell. If I was ambitious enough to figure out packaging and stuff, perhaps that would happen. But I'm not, so it's not. I am more than happy to share these recipes though!
I tried to make a new onion soup today using the whey from my cream cheese, but it was just all wrong. I ended up just dumping it. Which makes me sad, because it was a decent amount of whey. I'm hoping that I'll end up with enough at some point to attempt making ricotta. It's one thing to have to start over when you consume it, it's quite another when you end up just wasting it.
Back up. Dill? Yes! If you strain the yogurt and make it more like a greek yogurt, dill is awesome. Dill is also awesome when folded into extremely strained yogurt (so much so that it becomes a softened cream cheese consistency).
I keep joking that I'm soon going to have a whole line of yogurt products to sell. If I was ambitious enough to figure out packaging and stuff, perhaps that would happen. But I'm not, so it's not. I am more than happy to share these recipes though!
I tried to make a new onion soup today using the whey from my cream cheese, but it was just all wrong. I ended up just dumping it. Which makes me sad, because it was a decent amount of whey. I'm hoping that I'll end up with enough at some point to attempt making ricotta. It's one thing to have to start over when you consume it, it's quite another when you end up just wasting it.
Thursday, April 14, 2011
Day 42-43
Fruit/Veggie Days. I'm off to a good start this cycle. Nothing cooked so far - all raw, which is infinitely better for you. I ate the cabbage salad yesterday (by the way, it's much better fresh), with some extra carrots on the side. I also had some POM Wonderful pomegranate juice. MMMmmmm... Today was a parsley salad - shredded bell pepper and carrots and onion mixed in with parsley and tossed with the sesame dressing. Needed a little more lemon, but was tasty. Finished off the POM, too, and had some carrot juice at the end of the day.
I went clothing shopping today. It's kind of sad to realize that the only reason the jeans "fit" before the weight loss was because they stretched out. The new stuff is the same size as the old stuff, it just fits me now. Hmph. But I am down a dress size, which is awesome. I decided I didn't need new tops - the ones I have simply fit better now. Pants were becoming an issue. So I got new jeans, new trousers, new capris, new swimsuit... and since I got it all from Kohls, with their current promotions running, I will be able to return on Monday and get new sneakers for free. It was definitely nice to be able to go shopping and actually FIT the stuff they had.
I am currently in the process of making a fresh batch of yogurt. It will be going with me on my trip to Canada on Saturday so my friends can try it (plus I'll need it for the day for consumption). Expect no post on Saturday evening - I don't intend to have a data connection.
Yay new clothes!
I went clothing shopping today. It's kind of sad to realize that the only reason the jeans "fit" before the weight loss was because they stretched out. The new stuff is the same size as the old stuff, it just fits me now. Hmph. But I am down a dress size, which is awesome. I decided I didn't need new tops - the ones I have simply fit better now. Pants were becoming an issue. So I got new jeans, new trousers, new capris, new swimsuit... and since I got it all from Kohls, with their current promotions running, I will be able to return on Monday and get new sneakers for free. It was definitely nice to be able to go shopping and actually FIT the stuff they had.
I am currently in the process of making a fresh batch of yogurt. It will be going with me on my trip to Canada on Saturday so my friends can try it (plus I'll need it for the day for consumption). Expect no post on Saturday evening - I don't intend to have a data connection.
Yay new clothes!
Tuesday, April 12, 2011
Day 41
Tea Fast day. I went in, and I'm another 7lbs down, bringing my total to 25lbs down in 40 days! I let Andre know that the next time I come in, I'm going on maintenance, and that I knew it meant I wouldn't hit all the way down to the target, and he understood, with the vacation plans and all. He said I could come back in whenever if I wanted to, even if it's just for the one 10-day, just to finish it off. I may - that would be pretty easy to do. Then again, I still think I can finish it off on my own and I'll be good.
Tomorrow will officially start the next 10-day cycle, apparently. He placed the spheres on the third position - gall bladder/spleen (so, skipping the intestines this time). Because today is a split/transition day, he recommends just taking the day as a tea fasting day, and then starting fresh with veggies tomorrow. So I will - I stopped at Starbucks on the way back to treat myself to one of the good Tazo teas. I was going to hit the gym this evening, but will not, since there will be no food consumption for the day.
He's pretty confident that if I stay very strict this time, that I should see another good drop by the time I go back in next Friday. You know, unlike LAST time, where I totally blew it for the week. If I can do another 7 lbs this week, that would only leave 11 lbs for me to deal with on my own. Doable. Completely.
And yes, all you worriers out there - if I start feeling weird today from having no food, I will drink a glass of milk, since it would be a milk day in a normal rotation. Thank you all for caring and for your support!!
Tomorrow will officially start the next 10-day cycle, apparently. He placed the spheres on the third position - gall bladder/spleen (so, skipping the intestines this time). Because today is a split/transition day, he recommends just taking the day as a tea fasting day, and then starting fresh with veggies tomorrow. So I will - I stopped at Starbucks on the way back to treat myself to one of the good Tazo teas. I was going to hit the gym this evening, but will not, since there will be no food consumption for the day.
He's pretty confident that if I stay very strict this time, that I should see another good drop by the time I go back in next Friday. You know, unlike LAST time, where I totally blew it for the week. If I can do another 7 lbs this week, that would only leave 11 lbs for me to deal with on my own. Doable. Completely.
And yes, all you worriers out there - if I start feeling weird today from having no food, I will drink a glass of milk, since it would be a milk day in a normal rotation. Thank you all for caring and for your support!!
Monday, April 11, 2011
Day 40
Fruit/Veggie day. The end of another cycle. I go back in tomorrow for a new position and the weigh in. I ate more of my cabbage deliciousness today, and had an apple in the afternoon. Still don't care for green apples, but oh well. It was really tart. There's more salad leftover for tomorrow, but then I'll have to come up with something else for Wednesday.
I'm pretty certain at this point I won't hit the target I had set because of that awful week last time, and I am bound and determined to be able to eat for my trip in May, which means tomorrow MUST start the final 10-day cycle, regardless of how much I end up losing over the next 10 days. I'm hoping (fingers crossed) for an 7lb loss from this week, which I don't think is unreasonable given: 1) The last time I went through this particular cycle was a 10lb loss with 3 inches from my waist, and 2) I lost another 2 inches on my waist this week!
If I have lost more than 5lbs this week, that will put me at the slimmest and lightest I have been in 10 years, which is accomplishment enough for me. I feel pretty confident that I'll be able to knock off the last bits of what I want to lose on my own.
I'm pretty certain at this point I won't hit the target I had set because of that awful week last time, and I am bound and determined to be able to eat for my trip in May, which means tomorrow MUST start the final 10-day cycle, regardless of how much I end up losing over the next 10 days. I'm hoping (fingers crossed) for an 7lb loss from this week, which I don't think is unreasonable given: 1) The last time I went through this particular cycle was a 10lb loss with 3 inches from my waist, and 2) I lost another 2 inches on my waist this week!
If I have lost more than 5lbs this week, that will put me at the slimmest and lightest I have been in 10 years, which is accomplishment enough for me. I feel pretty confident that I'll be able to knock off the last bits of what I want to lose on my own.
Sunday, April 10, 2011
Day 39
Fruit/Veggie day. Oh my. I may have invented my new favorite salad, like ever. This is amazing. Yes, I'm posting really early because it's JUST THAT GOOD and you must all know about this like NOW and go make it NOW and have it today while it's a gorgeous warm sunny day. Oh this is good. First you will want to find a mediterranean or Indian grocer from which you can buy a jar of tahini. Do it now. Then head out and get the rest of this all, and make it. Because it is delicious and this is my most successful experiment of the whole program so far and I wish I had discovered this way back at the beginning because I think I could live off of this for a while.
Cabbage Salad with Italian Tahini Dressing
For the salad:
1/4 head red cabbage, finely shredded
1/4 head green cabbage, finely shredded
2 large carrots, finely shredded
handful fresh cilantro, coarsely chopped
3 green onions, chopped into 1/4" rounds
For the dressing:
1/2 cup tahini
1/4 cup lemon juice
1/2 cup water
1 packet Italian dressing mix
Combine all salad ingredients in a large bowl and toss. Combine all dressing ingredients in a shaker and mix well. Pour about half of the dressing over the salad and stir to mix. Save the rest of the dressing in the fridge, because you will want it for other applications. Like to marinate chicken. Or to toss with stir fry. Or for everything.
Have with a large glass of iced tea with a squeeze of lemon in it. This is summer.
If you like, you may shred an apple and mix that in, too, but it's awesome without. Have an apple for dessert or something. Om nom nom.
For the salad:
1/4 head red cabbage, finely shredded
1/4 head green cabbage, finely shredded
2 large carrots, finely shredded
handful fresh cilantro, coarsely chopped
3 green onions, chopped into 1/4" rounds
For the dressing:
1/2 cup tahini
1/4 cup lemon juice
1/2 cup water
1 packet Italian dressing mix
Combine all salad ingredients in a large bowl and toss. Combine all dressing ingredients in a shaker and mix well. Pour about half of the dressing over the salad and stir to mix. Save the rest of the dressing in the fridge, because you will want it for other applications. Like to marinate chicken. Or to toss with stir fry. Or for everything.
Have with a large glass of iced tea with a squeeze of lemon in it. This is summer.
If you like, you may shred an apple and mix that in, too, but it's awesome without. Have an apple for dessert or something. Om nom nom.
Saturday, April 9, 2011
Day 38
Milk day. Yay for Variations on Onion Soup! I think? I made a similar creamy onion soup with just milk ... oh, way back during the second cycle. That seems so long ago... Anyway, this time I used the thinner yogurt instead of milk, which yielded a thicker, creamier, tangier onion soup. It needed more honey, and I went a little overboard on the white pepper, so at first it just kind of burned up my throat until I tempered it with more yogurt. I'm not totally pleased with the combination of spices I used in it - I think I just used too much and simpler is better when it comes to onion soup. It's exceptionally filling though - of the two cups of yogurt I ended up using to make the soup, between two "meals" of it, I only ended up eating about 2/3 of the yield. Which means I didn't end up getting the full 20oz of yogurt for the day. On the plus side, I'm totally not feeling hungry today.
I also made up a dish of yogurt to snack on (since 16oz went into the soup, I made up a 4oz bowl of yogurt). Added honey and vanilla to it, and it was really tasty. I really wanted to add a little cocoa powder to it. Cocoa powder is a spice, right? Right?? I'll have to ask Andre about that. I know "chocolate" is a no-go, but what about cocoa powder? Hmm... Anyway, my cat sat watching me eat the yogurt with her "I'm cute, feed me some of what you're eating" face on, one paw raised in curiosity. I kept telling her that it wasn't what she thought it was (I usually let her lick up the leftovers of ice cream, so I can only guess she thought that was what I was eating), but she kept begging. So when I was done, I let her lick the bowl. She took a couple of licks, made a face, and walked away. And I said, "See, I told you." She's a fiend for milk and ice cream, but not so much for cheese, and apparently not so much for yogurt. I'm sure she'll still beg for the next bowl and I'll have to teach her again. Hmm... I wonder if I do that enough with yogurt, if she'll just decide eventually that she hates it all and stops begging when I have ice cream...
A girl can dream, right?
Oh, I almost forgot - the strained yogurt now strongly resembles cream cheese. Now if only I could have a bagel to put it on... or crackers... There's a good amount of whey left too. I still haven't decided what to do with it. Maybe I'll try making ricotta with it... or maybe I'll just save it to use in place of water sometime. Maybe the next onion soup variant trial. But that will be at the earliest 4 days from now. Two veggie days to go, and then it's back to a weigh-in, back to the 2nd sphere location (intestines) with the 1.5-hr rotations, and a new round of veggie/milk days! And this will be the LAST ONE! That's right. I am currently sitting 12 days away from being able to have FISH introduced to my diet. Woo hoo! And then two weeks, and then... I'm totally done!
Wait, that means there's still 26 days to go... yeah that doesn't sound as exciting.
I need to go buy belts. Now.
I also made up a dish of yogurt to snack on (since 16oz went into the soup, I made up a 4oz bowl of yogurt). Added honey and vanilla to it, and it was really tasty. I really wanted to add a little cocoa powder to it. Cocoa powder is a spice, right? Right?? I'll have to ask Andre about that. I know "chocolate" is a no-go, but what about cocoa powder? Hmm... Anyway, my cat sat watching me eat the yogurt with her "I'm cute, feed me some of what you're eating" face on, one paw raised in curiosity. I kept telling her that it wasn't what she thought it was (I usually let her lick up the leftovers of ice cream, so I can only guess she thought that was what I was eating), but she kept begging. So when I was done, I let her lick the bowl. She took a couple of licks, made a face, and walked away. And I said, "See, I told you." She's a fiend for milk and ice cream, but not so much for cheese, and apparently not so much for yogurt. I'm sure she'll still beg for the next bowl and I'll have to teach her again. Hmm... I wonder if I do that enough with yogurt, if she'll just decide eventually that she hates it all and stops begging when I have ice cream...
A girl can dream, right?
Oh, I almost forgot - the strained yogurt now strongly resembles cream cheese. Now if only I could have a bagel to put it on... or crackers... There's a good amount of whey left too. I still haven't decided what to do with it. Maybe I'll try making ricotta with it... or maybe I'll just save it to use in place of water sometime. Maybe the next onion soup variant trial. But that will be at the earliest 4 days from now. Two veggie days to go, and then it's back to a weigh-in, back to the 2nd sphere location (intestines) with the 1.5-hr rotations, and a new round of veggie/milk days! And this will be the LAST ONE! That's right. I am currently sitting 12 days away from being able to have FISH introduced to my diet. Woo hoo! And then two weeks, and then... I'm totally done!
Wait, that means there's still 26 days to go... yeah that doesn't sound as exciting.
I need to go buy belts. Now.
Friday, April 8, 2011
Day 37
Milk day. I went with lassis again today just because I was in a rush this morning to get out the door and couldn't think of anything more creative. I put in a little extra honey and cardamom and only did one mint leaf. That seemed to be a really good balance. I'm finding, however, that I don't feel quite as full throughout the day when I make the lassis as opposed to the lattes, but I can't mix yogurt and milk in a day. Why? I don't know, it's just one of the rules. I also can't have yogurt one day and milk the next. That's one of the weirder restrictions that I just don't get, but rules are rules.
I strained some of the yogurt before using it (since I had to get up at 3am to finish making the yogurt, I let some of it cool as-is, and some of it strain while cooling). That helped with the texture of the lassi, I think - it made it thicker, for sure. I'm keeping the leftover whey for an as-yet-undecided new adventure. I'm also going to strain some more yogurt and just let it sit overnight and get really thick and see what happens to it.
Tomorrow, being Saturday, means I will have more time to be adventurous with the yogurt and try new things with it! Which probably means "Variations on Onion Soup" day. Are you excited yet?
I strained some of the yogurt before using it (since I had to get up at 3am to finish making the yogurt, I let some of it cool as-is, and some of it strain while cooling). That helped with the texture of the lassi, I think - it made it thicker, for sure. I'm keeping the leftover whey for an as-yet-undecided new adventure. I'm also going to strain some more yogurt and just let it sit overnight and get really thick and see what happens to it.
Tomorrow, being Saturday, means I will have more time to be adventurous with the yogurt and try new things with it! Which probably means "Variations on Onion Soup" day. Are you excited yet?
Thursday, April 7, 2011
Day 36
Fruit/Veggie day. We ended up at Pei Wei for lunch. I got the spring rolls and edamame, and just ate the insides of the rolls - not ideal, but not terrible. Edamame is the perfect diet food, by the way. It's a complete protein all by itself (unlike most veggies that require a mix with something like rice or another vegetable to make a complete protein), high in fiber, high in protein, and has good fats. They're awesome. I am now having some salted brown tomato. I don't particularly care for the flavor of raw tomato, but I'm getting through it... I needed a fruit for the day.
Tonight I intend to make another batch of yogurt. I have enough for tomorrow, but not for Saturday. I'm going to thicken up some of the yogurt, too, by straining it, to see how it does.
Tonight I intend to make another batch of yogurt. I have enough for tomorrow, but not for Saturday. I'm going to thicken up some of the yogurt, too, by straining it, to see how it does.
Wednesday, April 6, 2011
Day 35
Fruit/Veggie day. 35 days already, wow. So how do I feel? I feel great. My hair doesn't shed as much, and it's much less oily in the mornings than it used to be. It's also grown about an inch and a half in the past month. My face is clearer - still a couple of little pimples that pop up occasionally, but the ones on my chin have been gone and stayed gone for a couple of weeks, which is great. And the new ones don't stick around as long. The psoriasis is meh. Not as itchy, scaly and gross as it was, but it's still red - I'm sure the redness will just take some time to clear up. These things don't just disappear overnight. My fingernails are less brittle, and shinier - almost like I've got a clear coat of polish on. The nasty morning breath isn't there anymore. I find myself wearing my glasses less often - it seems my eyesight has gotten a little bit better - not enough that I'll go driving without them, but I don't need them for the TV to be watchable anymore. I'll probably need to get a new prescription later this year. I'm sleeping better at night - I don't toss and turn as much, and I fall asleep faster. Getting up in the morning is still rough.
I had the eggplant thing today. It was quite good! Needed some salt, and it could REALLY use cheese. I wish I had made the sauce be just a tomato sauce - the carrots definitely made it too thick. I steamed up some more carrots for a mid-day snack between the two servings of eggplant. I forgot how much I enjoy plain steamed carrots with a little salt on them. They're not as good as mom's buttered carrots, but they come close!
Baked Eggplant with Brown Tomato Sauce
2 baby eggplants (or 1 large eggplant) cut lengthwise into 1/4" slices
1/2 lb brown tomatoes, cut into chunks
3 carrots, peeled and cut into chunks
carrot greens, coarsely chopped (buy the carrots with the greens attached)
handful cilantro, coarsely chopped
1 Tbsp dried basil
1 Tbsp salt
4 cloves garlic, minced
1 shallot, diced
2-3 green onions, chopped
water
Preheat oven to 350.
In a large skillet over medium heat, heat 2 cloves garlic plus a few tablespoons of water, until it is all bubbling and the garlic starts to become pasty. Add a half cup of water. Spread out eggplant slices (only cook in single layer - you may have to do multiple batches) and cook until it starts to become tender and has absorbed the garlic-water.
Meanwhile in a medium saucepan over medium heat, combine garlic, shallot, and salt with a few tablespoons of water, and cook until shallot has become translucent. Add the carrots, tomatoes, and dried basil. When carrots have become softened, add the cilantro and greens, with about a half cup of water. Allow to cook until greens are wilted. Pour all into a blender or food processor, and blend until smooth.
In an 8x8 glass dish (or personal pan pizza plates, if you have them), alternate layers of sauce and eggplant (begin with sauce on the bottom) until you run out. Top with green onions, then place into the oven and allow to cook for about a half hour.
I had the eggplant thing today. It was quite good! Needed some salt, and it could REALLY use cheese. I wish I had made the sauce be just a tomato sauce - the carrots definitely made it too thick. I steamed up some more carrots for a mid-day snack between the two servings of eggplant. I forgot how much I enjoy plain steamed carrots with a little salt on them. They're not as good as mom's buttered carrots, but they come close!
Baked Eggplant with Brown Tomato Sauce
1/2 lb brown tomatoes, cut into chunks
3 carrots, peeled and cut into chunks
carrot greens, coarsely chopped (buy the carrots with the greens attached)
handful cilantro, coarsely chopped
1 Tbsp dried basil
1 Tbsp salt
4 cloves garlic, minced
1 shallot, diced
2-3 green onions, chopped
water
Preheat oven to 350.
In a large skillet over medium heat, heat 2 cloves garlic plus a few tablespoons of water, until it is all bubbling and the garlic starts to become pasty. Add a half cup of water. Spread out eggplant slices (only cook in single layer - you may have to do multiple batches) and cook until it starts to become tender and has absorbed the garlic-water.
Meanwhile in a medium saucepan over medium heat, combine garlic, shallot, and salt with a few tablespoons of water, and cook until shallot has become translucent. Add the carrots, tomatoes, and dried basil. When carrots have become softened, add the cilantro and greens, with about a half cup of water. Allow to cook until greens are wilted. Pour all into a blender or food processor, and blend until smooth.
In an 8x8 glass dish (or personal pan pizza plates, if you have them), alternate layers of sauce and eggplant (begin with sauce on the bottom) until you run out. Top with green onions, then place into the oven and allow to cook for about a half hour.
Tuesday, April 5, 2011
Day 34
Milk day. Made honey vanilla yogurt smoothie for today. I received a tip on how to make the yogurt thicker without compromising the flavor - strain out some of the liquid. So I think I'll give that a go for the next batch, which will likely be made Thursday evening - strain out half of it for eating and leave the other half liquidy for drinking. Not much left of the first batch since I had less than half a gallon of milk left, but there's certainly enough there to get a new batch started. Will have to buy more milk.
I stepped on the scale at work today and was encouraged - it read 3 lbs down from its reading on Friday, so that's good! Working from home tomorrow, so I won't have a chance to do a mid-week weigh. Maybe Thursday when I'm in the office again. Muscles are sore from hitting the gym yesterday, but it's a good sore.
I cooked up some eggplant in a tomato-carrot sauce tonight for tomorrow. What's that? Tomato? Yes! I found brown tomatoes at the grocery store. Yes, they're supposed to be brown. And since brown is not red, I can use them, right? I hope? Well, I am. The sauce came out really thick, so I think no carrots next time. Just tomatoes. It looks good - we'll see how it tastes tomorrow!
I stepped on the scale at work today and was encouraged - it read 3 lbs down from its reading on Friday, so that's good! Working from home tomorrow, so I won't have a chance to do a mid-week weigh. Maybe Thursday when I'm in the office again. Muscles are sore from hitting the gym yesterday, but it's a good sore.
I cooked up some eggplant in a tomato-carrot sauce tonight for tomorrow. What's that? Tomato? Yes! I found brown tomatoes at the grocery store. Yes, they're supposed to be brown. And since brown is not red, I can use them, right? I hope? Well, I am. The sauce came out really thick, so I think no carrots next time. Just tomatoes. It looks good - we'll see how it tastes tomorrow!
Monday, April 4, 2011
Day 33
Milk day. Or as I like to call today... Lassi day! The yogurt turned out AWESOME. It's thinner than your typical store-bought yogurt, but that's only because I didn't add any thickeners like the brands do. I made up a large vat of cardamom-mint lassi, and saved a little of my 20oz to have as yogurt, with honey and vanilla.
This is so much more filling than my regular milk day lattes. I used a little too much mint, I think. One fewer leaf would have been more than sufficient. So in the recipe, I will give what I SHOULD have done, rather than what I did. I'm just sad I can't add fruit to it, because that is the only way this could be better. So tasty!!!
To make the yogurt, I followed the instructions at http://www.makeyourownyogurt.com/. It was easy, you just have to be patient. It's a really great way to save the remains of any milk you have that is approaching its sell-by date (or is already a day or two past).
Lassi
1 3/4 cups plain yogurt
1/4 cup honey
1/2 cup water, chilled
6 ice cubes
pinch salt
Combine all ingredients in a blender and blend until smooth. Serve as-is or over ice. This is your standard salted lassi base. To this, you may add spices, herbs, or fruit for variations. For today, I added
1/2 tsp rose water, 1/2 tsp ground cardamom and 3 mint leaves.
This batch will yield approx. six servings - so spread it out over the day!
This is so much more filling than my regular milk day lattes. I used a little too much mint, I think. One fewer leaf would have been more than sufficient. So in the recipe, I will give what I SHOULD have done, rather than what I did. I'm just sad I can't add fruit to it, because that is the only way this could be better. So tasty!!!
To make the yogurt, I followed the instructions at http://www.makeyourownyogurt.com/. It was easy, you just have to be patient. It's a really great way to save the remains of any milk you have that is approaching its sell-by date (or is already a day or two past).
Lassi
1 3/4 cups plain yogurt
1/4 cup honey
1/2 cup water, chilled
6 ice cubes
pinch salt
Combine all ingredients in a blender and blend until smooth. Serve as-is or over ice. This is your standard salted lassi base. To this, you may add spices, herbs, or fruit for variations. For today, I added
1/2 tsp rose water, 1/2 tsp ground cardamom and 3 mint leaves.
This batch will yield approx. six servings - so spread it out over the day!
Sunday, April 3, 2011
Day 32
Fruit/veggie day. Success! I found cardamom for a price I was willing to pay at the Indian grocery store. Along with rose water, fresh mint, and tahini. The tahini is not for the lassis. They also had ripe mangoes for cheap, so I grabbed one of those for dinner. By the way, if you're ever looking for spices, go to a local ethnic food store. This grocer had DOZENS of spices, all fresh, and not what you typically find in your standard supermarket. For much less cost.
Lunch was really tasty. I cooked up my artichoke, and diced up an eggplant (one of the little ones) and sauteed it with some green onion, garlic and white wine. Put a little too much salt into it, but it was still quite tasty.
Garlic Eggplant with Artichoke
1 baby eggplant
2 cloves garlic, minced
2 green onions, chopped
1/2 cup white wine
pinch sea salt
1 artichoke
Fill a medium saucepan with water, add artichoke and bring to a boil.
Meanwhile, place garlic and a little water in a wok over medium heat and allow to cook until water evaporates and garlic is fragrant. Add the white wine, onions, eggplant, and salt, and saute until eggplant is tender. Add water as necessary (use the artichoke water) to prevent burning after the wine has evaporated.
Remove eggplant from pan. Add some of the water from the artichoke to the pan to get all the garlic bits, then return the water to the artichoke and continue to boil it until it has turned a nice dark green and the leaves are tender. Drain the artichoke, cut off the sharp tips, and serve opened up like a flower alongside the eggplant.
Artichoke may be eaten by pulling off the individual leaves and biting off the meaty ends, or you can pull off all the leaves until you get to the heart, then scrape off the fuzzy stuff, and cut it up to eat. You may also get into the heart of the artichoke and chop it up and add to the eggplant for a single dish.
Lunch was really tasty. I cooked up my artichoke, and diced up an eggplant (one of the little ones) and sauteed it with some green onion, garlic and white wine. Put a little too much salt into it, but it was still quite tasty.
Garlic Eggplant with Artichoke1 baby eggplant
2 cloves garlic, minced
2 green onions, chopped
1/2 cup white wine
pinch sea salt
1 artichoke
Fill a medium saucepan with water, add artichoke and bring to a boil.
Meanwhile, place garlic and a little water in a wok over medium heat and allow to cook until water evaporates and garlic is fragrant. Add the white wine, onions, eggplant, and salt, and saute until eggplant is tender. Add water as necessary (use the artichoke water) to prevent burning after the wine has evaporated.
Remove eggplant from pan. Add some of the water from the artichoke to the pan to get all the garlic bits, then return the water to the artichoke and continue to boil it until it has turned a nice dark green and the leaves are tender. Drain the artichoke, cut off the sharp tips, and serve opened up like a flower alongside the eggplant.
Artichoke may be eaten by pulling off the individual leaves and biting off the meaty ends, or you can pull off all the leaves until you get to the heart, then scrape off the fuzzy stuff, and cut it up to eat. You may also get into the heart of the artichoke and chop it up and add to the eggplant for a single dish.
Saturday, April 2, 2011
Day 31
Fruit/Veggie day. Better, but still not quite back on track. Another birthday celebration today, but not nearly as bad of a cheat for me - we went out for dinner at a Mexican restaurant at 4:30, so the food came in plenty of time to be consumed before 6pm. I got the vegetarian fajitas with guacamole, and asked them to not put cheese on it (description says they top it with Muenster). I completely ignored the chips, and gave away the sour cream and tortillas, leaving me with the mixed veggies, guacamole, and pico de gallo. I had thought it would be onions and peppers and tomatoes, so the order was made thinking I'd only have 3 items to be consuming in various forms (avocado in the guacamole with tomatoes, pico de gallo is tomatoes). Unfortunately, the mixed veggies also contained broccoli, cauliflower, zucchini, carrots... just a little of each. And of course there was some oil involved in cooking. So, I had oil, and more than 3 items for the day. Alas. But still, not NEARLY so bad as last Saturday.
I started on the yogurt today. It's a fairly time-consuming process, requiring a seven hour fermentation period, and then an overnight chill. So I got it started, and it is currently sitting on a heating pad for the next seven hours, doing its magic. When I wake up in the morning, it should be yogurt, and it will be placed into containers, put in the fridge, and chilled all day. Tomorrow's quest is to find cardamom at a price that is not exorbitant (I know, good luck, right?). There was ground cardamom in the grocery store, but they wanted $12 for the 6oz jar and I said "No, thank you." There's a number of Indian food stores nearby, so I will head to one of them and see what they've got - cardamom is a pretty standard spice in Indian cooking, so I would imagine they'd have it for cheaper. I know, that's not standard economics, but it works in my head.
Veggie day tomorrow, and then... LASSI DAY! I'm so looking forward to it! Since I had to have some plain yogurt to pitch into the milk to make yogurt, and you can only find plain yogurt in the 32oz tubs, I have plenty left over as backup, in case the homemade yogurt fails miserably. So one way or another, there will be lassis on Monday.
I started on the yogurt today. It's a fairly time-consuming process, requiring a seven hour fermentation period, and then an overnight chill. So I got it started, and it is currently sitting on a heating pad for the next seven hours, doing its magic. When I wake up in the morning, it should be yogurt, and it will be placed into containers, put in the fridge, and chilled all day. Tomorrow's quest is to find cardamom at a price that is not exorbitant (I know, good luck, right?). There was ground cardamom in the grocery store, but they wanted $12 for the 6oz jar and I said "No, thank you." There's a number of Indian food stores nearby, so I will head to one of them and see what they've got - cardamom is a pretty standard spice in Indian cooking, so I would imagine they'd have it for cheaper. I know, that's not standard economics, but it works in my head.
Veggie day tomorrow, and then... LASSI DAY! I'm so looking forward to it! Since I had to have some plain yogurt to pitch into the milk to make yogurt, and you can only find plain yogurt in the 32oz tubs, I have plenty left over as backup, in case the homemade yogurt fails miserably. So one way or another, there will be lassis on Monday.
Friday, April 1, 2011
Day 30
Fruit/veggie day. Well, THAT was awful. On the plus side I didn't gain any weight this week with all the "little" cheats. I still actually lost a pound, which apparently, relatively, isn't all that bad. When I walked in and Andre asked how I did this week, and I said "It's been a rough week," he was fully expecting the scale to read a gain in weight. Apparently that's what always happens when people walk in and say "rough week". So, relatively, I'm still doing OK. Just time to really get back on track. And really, in retrospect, this was a good week to be bad, considering I'm now basically starting over again anyway.
The spheres have been returned to their original positions, targeting the stomach and liver. I'm back to an easy rotation schedule of every 2 hours, with mandatory times of 3 and 7 (so rotate on the odd hours and it's easy). He thinks if I stay strict this week, I should see another good drop like during the very first week, so here's hoping! I'm also planning to be good about getting to the gym, with or without company, and at the very least getting in a decent little walk on the treadmill in the evenings.
Hunger hasn't been a problem - so I've never been tempted to snack. Energy hasn't been a problem - except today. I'm pretty beat today, but I only had about 5 hours of sleep last night and Mother Nature decided today was a good day to visit. So really, my big problem has been all the little cheats. Yes, yes, and that massive huge cheat last Saturday. I need to really stop going out for lunch, and when I do, I have to make SURE there's no oil in my veggies!
Clean slate tomorrow, veggie day. And I will be making my own yogurt this weekend for the Monday/Tuesday milk days. I'm still looking forward to that! Ooh, 7pm. Rotatin' time!
The spheres have been returned to their original positions, targeting the stomach and liver. I'm back to an easy rotation schedule of every 2 hours, with mandatory times of 3 and 7 (so rotate on the odd hours and it's easy). He thinks if I stay strict this week, I should see another good drop like during the very first week, so here's hoping! I'm also planning to be good about getting to the gym, with or without company, and at the very least getting in a decent little walk on the treadmill in the evenings.
Hunger hasn't been a problem - so I've never been tempted to snack. Energy hasn't been a problem - except today. I'm pretty beat today, but I only had about 5 hours of sleep last night and Mother Nature decided today was a good day to visit. So really, my big problem has been all the little cheats. Yes, yes, and that massive huge cheat last Saturday. I need to really stop going out for lunch, and when I do, I have to make SURE there's no oil in my veggies!
Clean slate tomorrow, veggie day. And I will be making my own yogurt this weekend for the Monday/Tuesday milk days. I'm still looking forward to that! Ooh, 7pm. Rotatin' time!
Thursday, March 31, 2011
Day 29
Fruit/Veggie Day. I tried my hand at making a smoothie again this morning that would work for the day. I have decided I should leave the smoothie-making to the professionals. The blend just never works. Of course, I keep insisting on trying to get at least some part of a beet in there, and that apparently destroys it. So after making and dumping the smoothie, once again, it was decided that out to eat was the only option.
We went to Pineland, a middle-eastern cuisine kind of place. VERY Sadkhin friendly - they have a lot of vegetarian options, and you can ask for their salads to have just lemon juice on them instead of the lemon and olive oil dressing they usually use. They've also got a number of good smoothies on the menu. So look for a middle-eastern restaurant near you if you're going through this. I had their eggplant salad - eggplant, tomato, onion, parsley, cucumber, served cold. The eggplant was cooked to mushiness so it became the dressing with a little lemon mixed in. Delish.
Also, I used the last of my honey today and did not have time to get more, so, oops. I also need to purchase stamps. Tomorrow is back to Sadkhin for ... well, aside from the weigh-in, I'm not really sure. This is now the end of the detox cycles, so I honestly don't know what's going to happen tomorrow.
We went to Pineland, a middle-eastern cuisine kind of place. VERY Sadkhin friendly - they have a lot of vegetarian options, and you can ask for their salads to have just lemon juice on them instead of the lemon and olive oil dressing they usually use. They've also got a number of good smoothies on the menu. So look for a middle-eastern restaurant near you if you're going through this. I had their eggplant salad - eggplant, tomato, onion, parsley, cucumber, served cold. The eggplant was cooked to mushiness so it became the dressing with a little lemon mixed in. Delish.
Also, I used the last of my honey today and did not have time to get more, so, oops. I also need to purchase stamps. Tomorrow is back to Sadkhin for ... well, aside from the weigh-in, I'm not really sure. This is now the end of the detox cycles, so I honestly don't know what's going to happen tomorrow.
Wednesday, March 30, 2011
Day 28
Milk day. I always get brilliant ideas at the worst time. I was thinking about lassis, an Indian yogurt drink, and how delicious they are and how I could live on them forever, and I thought, "I wonder if I can find a recipe for those." So I went looking, and what do you know, it's yogurt, water, optional spices, and sugar. Sometimes milk. Well, I can replace the sugar with honey and not use milk. But since I have to substitute for both days when substitutions are made, I will have to wait until the next two milk days to do this.
Which is 4 days away. Grr.
So I'm going to try something new - I'm going to make my own yogurt with the rest of the milk that I have, otherwise it will expire and I will have to throw it away and that would just be a waste. Make my own yogurt, and then I will play with lassi recipes to add to my growing collection of recipes. Mint and cardamom, honey and vanilla ... popular lassis include mango, but sadly I won't be able to do that.
Fruit/Veggie day tomorrow!
Which is 4 days away. Grr.
So I'm going to try something new - I'm going to make my own yogurt with the rest of the milk that I have, otherwise it will expire and I will have to throw it away and that would just be a waste. Make my own yogurt, and then I will play with lassi recipes to add to my growing collection of recipes. Mint and cardamom, honey and vanilla ... popular lassis include mango, but sadly I won't be able to do that.
Fruit/Veggie day tomorrow!
Tuesday, March 29, 2011
Day 27
Milk day. Pretty boring, standard day - tea in the morning, lattes all afternoon, tea in the evening. I did finally manage to get back to the gym, though. I went on my own, and will attempt to do so more often. I'm paying for it, after all! Decided to start working on toning my mid-section, so I found some good ab machines and occupied them for a while, and then found an open treadmill and went for a jog. Yes, a jog. I felt like jogging and the music I was listening to had a good jogging beat to it. Despite not having been to the gym for a while now, it felt easier to keep up the jogging than the last time - certainly went further. Usually I can only do quarter-mile bursts, if I'm lucky, and then require a good half mile or more of walking before I can get another jog in. Tonight, the jog went a good half mile before I said enough. I probably could have gone more if I pushed it - I wasn't feeling as pained as before at the end of it. But I also figured I was probably pushing it as it was, given I'm only supposed to walk, briskly at best. I feel great though!
I did sneak a small chunk of cheese when I got home, though, since I know it's good to put some protein in you after you workout. Wasn't much, maybe half an ounce, but it just seemed like the right thing to do.
Tomorrow brings with it another team lunch thing, and we're heading to bd's Mongolian BBQ. Kind of a shame that it's a milk day, because if it were a fruit/veggie day, that would be a great place to go. Ah well, I'll survive!
I did sneak a small chunk of cheese when I got home, though, since I know it's good to put some protein in you after you workout. Wasn't much, maybe half an ounce, but it just seemed like the right thing to do.
Tomorrow brings with it another team lunch thing, and we're heading to bd's Mongolian BBQ. Kind of a shame that it's a milk day, because if it were a fruit/veggie day, that would be a great place to go. Ah well, I'll survive!
Monday, March 28, 2011
Day 26
Fruit/Veggie day. Wow, day 26 already? It's gone by so quickly! Did much better today, so I think I'm back on track. I stepped on the scale at work and I think it thinks I'm down about 4 pounds, but I'm not sure. My "calibration" for it was the last Sadkhin visit - when I got back, I stepped on the scale and noted the difference from what the official scale had, and the one at work was reading about 5 lbs higher. It said today I'm at 192, so with the calibrated difference, I should be down to 187, officially. Which is very cool. I'm hoping to get down to 185 this cycle, which is only a 6 pound loss in total.
Today's food was wok-fried green pepper, onion, and asparagus with garlic. The minced garlic juice stuff seems to work pretty well to keep the pan clean, if you heat it up before putting the veggies in. I also devoured the pomegranate seeds. That was a really tasty treat - I may have to splurge for that again. My stomach is gurgling at me right now, but I don't feel hungry, so I'm not sure what it's trying to tell me.
Milk day tomorrow!
Today's food was wok-fried green pepper, onion, and asparagus with garlic. The minced garlic juice stuff seems to work pretty well to keep the pan clean, if you heat it up before putting the veggies in. I also devoured the pomegranate seeds. That was a really tasty treat - I may have to splurge for that again. My stomach is gurgling at me right now, but I don't feel hungry, so I'm not sure what it's trying to tell me.
Milk day tomorrow!
Sunday, March 27, 2011
Day 25
Fruit/Veggie day. So after last night's massive cheat, I started fresh again today. I was going to do the tea fasting thing, but my stomach didn't want to let that happen. I still wanted to go "light" though, so I finally decided to give in and give that green smoothie thing a try. It's a 15.2oz bottle, containing mostly apple, with a little bit of mango, kiwi, banana, and pineapple, along with a healthy dose of broccoli, spinach, ginger, parsley, garlic, and algae. It tasted like apple juice. I was really surprised! So a bottle of that, with tea, was my all-day fare. Back on track!
More veggies tomorrow!
More veggies tomorrow!
Saturday, March 26, 2011
Oops.
Well, I did a bad thing. We went out this evening for a friend's birthday to a place I've been wanting to try. So I tried. I had the spinach artichoke dip with chips, a taste of the nachos (with like a teaspoon of ground beef), and a boneless wing. So tasty... but now my stomach hurts. The dip alone would have been fine on a F&V day as it was just spinach, artichoke, garlic, salt and herbs. But the chips... perhaps a tea fasting day tomorrow. Andre keeps telling me I could tea fast on a transition day, and I never do. So I think I will tomorrow. Been a bad week so far for me as far as sticking to this goes. Must get back on track!
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Day 23-24
Milk days. I meant to post last night, really, but around 7pm I went to bed to just close my eyes for a bit, and the next thing I knew, it was 9am. Yes, in the morning. Oops. I guess I needed sleep! I think last weekend's travels and stuff just finally caught up to me, now that it's the end of the work week, and I just collapsed. Sleep is good for you though, and I feel far more alert today than I have all week. So yesterday, once again we went out for lunch (I know, we go a lot) as it was the boss' last day before his week-long vacation, and he felt like going out for lunch and then going home. I had a glass of milk and a plateful of grilled onions. The onions tasted like french fries. They were awesome. Clearly there was oil involved. Tea lattes for the rest of the day, as well as a vow to not do anymore cheating, no matter how small, for the weekend.
Today I attempted to recreate the french-fry-onions as best I could without using oil. I thought, "it's fat, right. Let's try soaking the onions in milk before grilling them!" Alas, they burned to a tasteless crisp before reaching that nice caramelized state that is the awesomeness of grilled onions. So then I thought maybe I'd cut them too thinly, so I tried a second onion, sliced much more thickly. Turned the heat down in the grill, too, thinking it was possibly too high. Still didn't turn out right and was more burned than anything. Oil is apparently very important when it comes to properly grilling onions. Next, determined, I tried just sauteing them, to see if I could get SOMETHING tasty out of it. Burned the pan pretty well, but the onions came out ok. Not the flavor I was hoping to get, and I oversalted them, unfortunately. I was not about to cut up a fourth onion though, and I just quit. Had a honey-vanilla steamer, followed later on by a large chai latte. Clearly I was not meant to have onion today.
Back to veggies tomorrow. I found pomegranate seeds! And I picked up an artichoke, so that should be tasty!
Today I attempted to recreate the french-fry-onions as best I could without using oil. I thought, "it's fat, right. Let's try soaking the onions in milk before grilling them!" Alas, they burned to a tasteless crisp before reaching that nice caramelized state that is the awesomeness of grilled onions. So then I thought maybe I'd cut them too thinly, so I tried a second onion, sliced much more thickly. Turned the heat down in the grill, too, thinking it was possibly too high. Still didn't turn out right and was more burned than anything. Oil is apparently very important when it comes to properly grilling onions. Next, determined, I tried just sauteing them, to see if I could get SOMETHING tasty out of it. Burned the pan pretty well, but the onions came out ok. Not the flavor I was hoping to get, and I oversalted them, unfortunately. I was not about to cut up a fourth onion though, and I just quit. Had a honey-vanilla steamer, followed later on by a large chai latte. Clearly I was not meant to have onion today.
Back to veggies tomorrow. I found pomegranate seeds! And I picked up an artichoke, so that should be tasty!
Thursday, March 24, 2011
Day 22
Fruit/Veggie day. My team went out for lunch today as a farewell to my Indian co-worker who will be returning to India soon. So it was another semi-cheat day. I had a tossed salad without dressing and their steamed veggies. So, couple extra "items" for the day, but not too far off. I actually had created a veggie smoothie this morning. It was going to be the psoriasis power smoothie - beets, carrots, and mangoes, all of the super items recommended for me. I think I went overboard on the beets though. I put in two beets, two carrots, and a mango. And a cup of water. It was exceedingly purple - probably should try with just one beet, four carrots, and the mango, and see how that turns out.
Hunger seems back under control again - had a little trouble yesterday evening. Milk day tomorrow. I'm actually pretty relieved to finally get back to a milk day. They're just so much easier.
Hunger seems back under control again - had a little trouble yesterday evening. Milk day tomorrow. I'm actually pretty relieved to finally get back to a milk day. They're just so much easier.
Wednesday, March 23, 2011
Day 21
Fruit/Veggie day. Today was the official start of the 3rd cycle. It was also avocado experiment day. Sadly, I was unable to render the fat out of the avocado in any way that wasn't absolutely gross, but I think I may have discovered my new favorite salad dressing. A line of dressings even. Start with a similar base, and then you can add seasoning packets to make it extra tasty. So food today was a simple romaine salad with avocado dressing, and then later on I had some zucchini soup (toss some zucchini around in a fry pan then toss it into some veggie broth, heated up).
Avocado Dressing Base
1 avocado
2 cloves garlic, minced
1 tsp onion powder
1 tsp tumeric
1 tsp cumin
1 Tbsp lemon juice
1/2 cup water
Place all ingredients in a blender and blend until smooth. Add water as needed to reach desired consistency. To change up flavors, try adding Italian or Ranch dressing seasoning packets.
Avocado Dressing Base
1 avocado
2 cloves garlic, minced
1 tsp onion powder
1 tsp tumeric
1 tsp cumin
1 Tbsp lemon juice
1/2 cup water
Place all ingredients in a blender and blend until smooth. Add water as needed to reach desired consistency. To change up flavors, try adding Italian or Ranch dressing seasoning packets.
Tuesday, March 22, 2011
Day 20
Fruit/Veggie day. Last day of the 2nd cycle, so I went back in to see Andre, and got the spheres repositioned. They will now target my spleen and gall bladder. But, I am down another 7 pounds! Whoo hoo! 17 pounds in 20 days. Pretty impressive!
I had an intense craving for meat this morning, but I think it's passed now. I did cheat a little bit today, though, and I think maybe I deserve it just a little bit. It's a transition day, after all. We went out for lunch, and I got the mixed grilled vegetables. Now, I didn't have "cheat" on mind when I ordered this. I thought, most places when they say "mixed grilled vegetables", it's zucchini bell peppers and onions, and that's it. And grilled vegetables - that's safe, right? Well, when it came, it was clear that oil had been used, and it was a mix of 5 vegetables or so - zucchini, bell peppers, onions, broccoli, cauliflower, and snow peas. It was really delicious, and totally worth it. Then I had some cantaloupe later on.
I'm back to 2-hour rotations, with mandatory times at 2 and 7, so that means there will be 3 hours of single-hour waits. Hm. Tomorrow begins the new 10-day cycle with a fresh start of fruit/veggie days, so the avocado experiments will take place tomorrow.
I had an intense craving for meat this morning, but I think it's passed now. I did cheat a little bit today, though, and I think maybe I deserve it just a little bit. It's a transition day, after all. We went out for lunch, and I got the mixed grilled vegetables. Now, I didn't have "cheat" on mind when I ordered this. I thought, most places when they say "mixed grilled vegetables", it's zucchini bell peppers and onions, and that's it. And grilled vegetables - that's safe, right? Well, when it came, it was clear that oil had been used, and it was a mix of 5 vegetables or so - zucchini, bell peppers, onions, broccoli, cauliflower, and snow peas. It was really delicious, and totally worth it. Then I had some cantaloupe later on.
I'm back to 2-hour rotations, with mandatory times at 2 and 7, so that means there will be 3 hours of single-hour waits. Hm. Tomorrow begins the new 10-day cycle with a fresh start of fruit/veggie days, so the avocado experiments will take place tomorrow.
Monday, March 21, 2011
Day 19
Fruit/Veggie day. Also a travel day. Due to my washing the car yesterday, the weather decided it was not indeed spring yet and thus there must be snow. So the car is gross again. What should have been an 11 hour drive turned into a 14 hour ordeal, and I am fairly well exhausted. Note to everyone: If you must travel during Sadkhin, MAKE SURE you travel on a milk day. Fruit and veggie days are awful for travel. Awful. Also: Getting up at 5:30am and not being able to eat anything until noon is horrible. Nevermind that I couldn't FIND anything until 1pm. Stopped at a Sheetz to get gas and see what I could rustle up. They do carry those smoothie things, but I didn't want to go on another all-fruit day thing. So I found, in the To-Go section, a pack of chopped romaine lettuce (they sell salad kits - one pack of lettuce, and one pack of topping, and there's various salad type toppings to choose from. Pretty neat.) and a pack of carrots and celery, which comes with ranch dressing. The lettuce was quite tasty all on its lonesome, and I ignored the celery.
Later on as 5:00 was approaching, I kept an eye out for something else to consume. Let me tell you, service station areas are not all that helpful. Around 5:30 I finally pulled into something with a Burger King (no way), Manchu Wok (has potential but requires research), Popeyes and Panera (both bombed out) as well as a Starbucks. I thought if nothing else, Starbucks would be the backup as they usually have little fruit platters or those smoothies or something. Manchu Wok has a vegetable stir fry in a garlic sauce that has potential, but I couldn't get a straight answer as to whether oil was involved in there. So I had to pass, although I will be looking that up later, since it would make a nice meal. Panera was disappointing - they have smoothies, but they use yogurt in them. So that disqualifies them. So I went to Starbucks. Who promptly let me down. No smoothies, no fruit platters. Ugh.
There's a little travel mart inside the service stations, so I wandered in to see what I could find. There were lovely looking bowls of cheese and crackers, and bowls of grapes, and bowls of red apple slices. All of which fail. So I checked the fridge. I found a V8. Now, Andre says we can do V8, unless you're me, in which case I'm not supposed to have tomatoes. But it was 5:45. And I was tired. So I had the V8. And everyone will just have to get over it. It turned into an all-veggie day. Oh well.
Tomorrow I go back in for a repositioning of the spheres. I don't think there was a lot of physical progress during this cycle - maybe a couple of pounds of weight loss, but my measurements haven't changed. Now, that could just be because it's the end of a very long day and I should measure myself in the morning (like all the other times) and see where things stand... So we'll see. Fruit/veggie day for the next 3 days (new cycle, restart the food).
Oh, yes, I had a thought - can't use oil for cooking, but avocados are fatty. 22g of fat per fruit, actually. And it's the really good for you fat. So I wonder - can they be melted over heat? To make a fatty something for cooking with? Not tomorrow, but Wednesday when I am home, will be avocado experiment day. We'll be attempting to melt some avocado for stir-fry, possibly even (gasp) pan frying, and an attempt at a salad dressing will be made. I picked up a seasoning packet to put in and give it a try. Stay tuned!
Later on as 5:00 was approaching, I kept an eye out for something else to consume. Let me tell you, service station areas are not all that helpful. Around 5:30 I finally pulled into something with a Burger King (no way), Manchu Wok (has potential but requires research), Popeyes and Panera (both bombed out) as well as a Starbucks. I thought if nothing else, Starbucks would be the backup as they usually have little fruit platters or those smoothies or something. Manchu Wok has a vegetable stir fry in a garlic sauce that has potential, but I couldn't get a straight answer as to whether oil was involved in there. So I had to pass, although I will be looking that up later, since it would make a nice meal. Panera was disappointing - they have smoothies, but they use yogurt in them. So that disqualifies them. So I went to Starbucks. Who promptly let me down. No smoothies, no fruit platters. Ugh.
There's a little travel mart inside the service stations, so I wandered in to see what I could find. There were lovely looking bowls of cheese and crackers, and bowls of grapes, and bowls of red apple slices. All of which fail. So I checked the fridge. I found a V8. Now, Andre says we can do V8, unless you're me, in which case I'm not supposed to have tomatoes. But it was 5:45. And I was tired. So I had the V8. And everyone will just have to get over it. It turned into an all-veggie day. Oh well.
Tomorrow I go back in for a repositioning of the spheres. I don't think there was a lot of physical progress during this cycle - maybe a couple of pounds of weight loss, but my measurements haven't changed. Now, that could just be because it's the end of a very long day and I should measure myself in the morning (like all the other times) and see where things stand... So we'll see. Fruit/veggie day for the next 3 days (new cycle, restart the food).
Oh, yes, I had a thought - can't use oil for cooking, but avocados are fatty. 22g of fat per fruit, actually. And it's the really good for you fat. So I wonder - can they be melted over heat? To make a fatty something for cooking with? Not tomorrow, but Wednesday when I am home, will be avocado experiment day. We'll be attempting to melt some avocado for stir-fry, possibly even (gasp) pan frying, and an attempt at a salad dressing will be made. I picked up a seasoning packet to put in and give it a try. Stay tuned!
Sunday, March 20, 2011
Day 18
Milk day. Once again out and about all day. We went to Red Lobster after church, where I had a lovely glass of milk whilst my parents had lovely salads and soups and cheddar bay biscuits. Had it been a fruit/veggie day I could have gotten a dressing-less salad, or one or two of the veggie sides - they have asparagus and broccoli... Mmm! Stopped back at home to put together a giant tea latte using some vanilla caramel tea. I highly recommend doing this. It is most tasty. Dinner was from Dunkin' Donuts - decaf iced latte with whole milk and honey. Yes, they'll do that for you, without even blinking.
I got my car thoroughly washed today. Naturally, it will be gross by the end of the day tomorrow, with traveling and all, but at least the inside is good and clean for the first time in forever. Fruit and veggie travel day tomorrow - yipes.
I got my car thoroughly washed today. Naturally, it will be gross by the end of the day tomorrow, with traveling and all, but at least the inside is good and clean for the first time in forever. Fruit and veggie travel day tomorrow - yipes.
Saturday, March 19, 2011
Day 17
Milk day. We were out and about all day, including a reception at my friends' place where there was just a ton of delicious-smelling and -looking food. Managed to not give in and just stuck to my milk for the day. When we came home, I made an altered version of the onion soup, replacing the cilantro with thyme, and most of the water with milk, so it was more of a creamy onion soup. It was quite good and very satisfying. The whole house smells of onion though!
I still feel like I'm doing pretty well, and today's test was pretty good for me, to know that I can definitely say no to things and be content about it.
Tomorrow will be another milk day, and again, we'll be out and about all day. Should be interesting. I'm really curious about my progress this week, so I'm looking forward to heading in on Tuesday for the next round to begin.
I still feel like I'm doing pretty well, and today's test was pretty good for me, to know that I can definitely say no to things and be content about it.
Tomorrow will be another milk day, and again, we'll be out and about all day. Should be interesting. I'm really curious about my progress this week, so I'm looking forward to heading in on Tuesday for the next round to begin.
Friday, March 18, 2011
Day 16
Fruit/veggie day. Finished my traveling today and arrived at my parents house. My dad and I went golfing, and I had a banana on the course. Then it was time to figure out a Sadkhin friendly dinner in a non-Sadkhin house. We picked up some eggplant, zucchini,and onion, and I said "You figure out your meat, I'll do the veggies."
Mom and Dad had salmon burgers, and I grilled up the eggplant and zucchini. I also made onion soup. They turned theirs into French Onion soup by adding croutons and cheese. I left mine as-is. It was a good dinner!
Milk day tomorrow.
Mom and Dad had salmon burgers, and I grilled up the eggplant and zucchini. I also made onion soup. They turned theirs into French Onion soup by adding croutons and cheese. I left mine as-is. It was a good dinner!
Milk day tomorrow.
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Thursday, March 17, 2011
Day 14-15
Milk day, then fruit/veggie day. As I posted earlier, I'm taking a trip this weekend, and discovering the difficulties of traveling with the limitations of this diet. Traveling on a milk day isn't so bad - it's the fruit/veggie day that's weird. I packed some stuff to eat, but, well, blah. Got to my 2nd destination a wee bit early so I found a local Starbucks (like that's hard to do) and took a peek at the Naked smoothies that they sell. These appear to be Sadkhin friendly. If V8 is allowed to replace the fruit/veggie day, these must also qualify - they are nothing but purees with a little juice to liquefy them. I probably chose poorly for the one I'm currently consuming - it's all fruit, it mixes mango and banana, and it has orange in it. But it's so tasty! There's this green one, too, that is basically V8 without the tomato, but I've tried that one before and it was really nasty. So, today will just simply be all fruit. I had an all veggie day, so it'll do. Makes me a lot less nervous about trying to be traveling knowing this option is out here. Plus I think I'll have to find some of this stuff to purchase for home.
The biggest hassle has been the stupid balls. Driving takes so much longer when you have to pull over every hour and a half or so to do the rotations. Sometimes there's just not a place to stop. Stayed pretty close, though.
Nothing much else to report. I would have done an unofficial mid-week weigh in today, but I'm nowhere near a scale that I'm familiar enough with to trust. Alas, I will just have to wait it out until Tuesday when I go back to see Andre again.
The biggest hassle has been the stupid balls. Driving takes so much longer when you have to pull over every hour and a half or so to do the rotations. Sometimes there's just not a place to stop. Stayed pretty close, though.
Nothing much else to report. I would have done an unofficial mid-week weigh in today, but I'm nowhere near a scale that I'm familiar enough with to trust. Alas, I will just have to wait it out until Tuesday when I go back to see Andre again.
Tuesday, March 15, 2011
Day 13
Milk day. I like milk days. Have I mentioned that before? I just like milk days. I meant to have the onion soup today that I made last night, but I ran out of time and I just wasn't hungry for it. Ah well. Nothing really out of the ordinary for today. Feeling good.
Tomorrow, however, I'm heading away for the weekend. Milk for work all day. Not quite sure how I'm going to handle travel day 2, a fruit/veggie day. Then I have to keep this up while running around with family for the weekend. I can do this... I can. I must!
So, there may or may not be a post tomorrow and Thursday.
I just want to pause here to say thank you to everyone who's been following along and encouraging me. It really helps!!
Tomorrow, however, I'm heading away for the weekend. Milk for work all day. Not quite sure how I'm going to handle travel day 2, a fruit/veggie day. Then I have to keep this up while running around with family for the weekend. I can do this... I can. I must!
So, there may or may not be a post tomorrow and Thursday.
I just want to pause here to say thank you to everyone who's been following along and encouraging me. It really helps!!
Monday, March 14, 2011
Day 12
Fruit/veggie day. I had jury duty today. Packed up the remaining pepper/onion/carrot mix from the fajitas, and threw an apple in the bag and called it good, hoping there would be a microwave available for the pepper mix. I ate the apple for lunch, and ended up being dismissed before eating the pepper mix, so it came home with me. An inspiration struck me on the way home - why not throw the pepper mix into some vegetable stock, heat it up and call it soup? So I did. 8oz of stock + leftover pepper mix = Tri-Pepper Soup. Then, as I was eating the soup, I was reminded of simple, humble onion soup. Since onion is a free thing that I can have any day, including milk days, I decided to play around and come up with a purely free onion soup for milk days. Not that milk days need any help, mind you, but it's nice to have for bringing to work so I can actually have lunch with the coworkers. It's no French Onion Soup, since I can't have the beef broth or the bread or the cheese, but this turned out pretty well and will definitely do.
I didn't get much sleep last night, and it wasn't the best sleep - probably anxiety for the jury duty today. After I got home (before the pepper soup), I just passed out for a little while. Sitting around all day waiting (I was never called up), with nothing to do but sit and wait (and rotate the spheres), really sucks the life out of you. Missed the 4pm rotation - slept right through it. Oops. I feel better now though! And that soup was really good!!!
Back to milk tomorrow, with onion soup in tow! Ooh, I could probably make a creamy onion soup on milk days by replacing some of the water with milk...
Free Onion Soup - may be consumed on any day
1 sweet onion
2 cloves garlic, minced
2 tsp honey
1 tsp vanilla
1 Tbsp dried basil
1 Tbsp dried rosemary
handful chopped fresh cilantro
2 tsp sea salt
1/2 cup white wine
2 cups water
Cut off ends of onion and chop in half, removing outer peel. Slice to form half-moons. Heat a large saucepan on medium-high heat. Add honey and vanilla and allow honey to thin. Add garlic. Place a layer of onions in the pot, then sprinkle 1 tsp salt over it, then another layer topped with remainder of salt. Leave it alone for a little while to let the onions caramelize - it'll take a good 15 minutes. You want them to be nice and soft - don't worry about the inevitable burning on the bottom of the pan, we'll take care of that.
Add in the basil, rosemary, and cilantro, and stir. Add in the wine - this will deglaze the bottom of the pan and bring back all those flavors stuck down there. Allow the wine to completely cook away, stirring frequently. Finally, add the water and bring to a simmer. Allow to simmer for about 10 minutes. Serve.
You can also strain out the onions and herbs and reserve the liquid as a stock for cooking other stuff.
I didn't get much sleep last night, and it wasn't the best sleep - probably anxiety for the jury duty today. After I got home (before the pepper soup), I just passed out for a little while. Sitting around all day waiting (I was never called up), with nothing to do but sit and wait (and rotate the spheres), really sucks the life out of you. Missed the 4pm rotation - slept right through it. Oops. I feel better now though! And that soup was really good!!!
Back to milk tomorrow, with onion soup in tow! Ooh, I could probably make a creamy onion soup on milk days by replacing some of the water with milk...
Free Onion Soup - may be consumed on any day
1 sweet onion2 cloves garlic, minced
2 tsp honey
1 tsp vanilla
1 Tbsp dried basil
1 Tbsp dried rosemary
handful chopped fresh cilantro
2 tsp sea salt
1/2 cup white wine
2 cups water
Cut off ends of onion and chop in half, removing outer peel. Slice to form half-moons. Heat a large saucepan on medium-high heat. Add honey and vanilla and allow honey to thin. Add garlic. Place a layer of onions in the pot, then sprinkle 1 tsp salt over it, then another layer topped with remainder of salt. Leave it alone for a little while to let the onions caramelize - it'll take a good 15 minutes. You want them to be nice and soft - don't worry about the inevitable burning on the bottom of the pan, we'll take care of that.
Add in the basil, rosemary, and cilantro, and stir. Add in the wine - this will deglaze the bottom of the pan and bring back all those flavors stuck down there. Allow the wine to completely cook away, stirring frequently. Finally, add the water and bring to a simmer. Allow to simmer for about 10 minutes. Serve.
You can also strain out the onions and herbs and reserve the liquid as a stock for cooking other stuff.
Sunday, March 13, 2011
Day 11
Fruit/veggie day. Today I ended up going to the Gaelic League for their St. Patrick's Day celebration. Guinness counts as a vegetable, right? No? Oh well, so I slipped, but there had to be a Guinness.
Since I was out and about all day with a friend, we needed to find somewhere to eat. I am pleased to say that Ruby Tuesday is Sadkhin friendly. I got the salad bar, and had the mixed baby greens, zucchini, and carrots, then squeezed some lemon juice over it all. Really delicious, and it's nice to know there are options. I could also have ordered the steamed broccoli side.
Today also begins the supplements. Two vitamins and an herb in the morning, one of each in the evening.
Feeling great today. I feel more alert, like my eyes are just more open.
Since I was out and about all day with a friend, we needed to find somewhere to eat. I am pleased to say that Ruby Tuesday is Sadkhin friendly. I got the salad bar, and had the mixed baby greens, zucchini, and carrots, then squeezed some lemon juice over it all. Really delicious, and it's nice to know there are options. I could also have ordered the steamed broccoli side.
Today also begins the supplements. Two vitamins and an herb in the morning, one of each in the evening.
Feeling great today. I feel more alert, like my eyes are just more open.
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Saturday, March 12, 2011
Day 10
Fruit/Veggie day. Technically today is the last day of the first round, so technically the new round begins tomorrow, even though my appointment for the sphere repositioning was at 9:15am. I have lost a total of 10lbs and 3 inches from my waist so far! That puts me right at the 5% mark of weight loss that they claimed can be achieved. I had hoped for a little more, and there were a few things I did "wrong" during these past 10 days that may account for it.
1. Missing rotation times. Hey, it's hard when you're at work and you get into something. Or you're out and about and don't really have the ability to keep track of time. Two hours goes by and you don't even realize it.
2. More raw food. Should've had more raw and less cooked, with a little more focus on cabbage (blah, boring).
3. Slow down rotations. I think with the missing rotation times, I've let myself feel harried about doing the rotations, so I've been doing them too quickly which may have not let the full effect happen. I definitely noticed a difference between the speed that Andre did on them today vs what I have been doing, so I will make a conscious effort to slow down.
But I am super excited for the accomplishment so far! I've been sleeping better the past couple of days, and waking up more easily. I've had more energy during the day, and I'm actually more pleasant to be around at work. Even without the morning coffee. People are beginning to notice the weight loss now - clothing fits better, I look slimmer... Still got a ways to go, but this is a great start!
The next round focuses on the large and small intestines for detox. The balls are placed a little lower behind the ears (so I don't have to remove my glasses to rotate them now). As it turns out, when you begin a new 10-day round, you start back at fruit/veggie day again, so tomorrow is another fruit/veggie day rather than switching to milk. And since tomorrow is technically the first day of the next round, I have 2 fruit/veggie days to go through before the next milk day now. This also marks the beginning of the vitamin and herb supplements. So now, twice a day, I will be taking the supplements (morning and evening) - no eating for 2 hours after taking them, so first thing in the morning and then after the 6pm food deadline works well. Plus, there's a new schedule for the rotations. Now it will be every 1.5 hours (as if it wasn't hard enough to do 2 hours before...), with the mandatory times at 4 and 7 pm. Suggestion is to start rotations at 7am, 8:30am, or 10am to force the two times to fall in.
Andre says that this round doesn't typically see a lot of weight loss, but rather the loss is in inches around the midsection. There's generally weight loss that corresponds with it, but not always. He has seen some people lose several inches from their waist and actually gain a pound or two during this cycle. He also says this round is very unforgiving if you cheat, so pay close attention to the food. Cheating hasn't been a problem for me - it's the rotations, so I'll definitely have to watch that. I also asked him about the vegetable stock; he approves - he actually had the exact stock I'm using stashed away in his cupboard to show people what's OK to get - so that's good to go. Says that it doesn't count toward the "item" count for the day, but 8oz of stock would account for about a half pound of the total for the day, so I'll have to watch that. I'm finding that 1.5lbs of fruits/veggies is actually a lot of food.
Going to have some cantaloupe at noon today, this evening will be three-pepper "fajitas", a recipe from the Sadkhin site. My change to it is that I will add carrots to the mix. I think that'll add a nice flavor to it. Plus they call for a red bell pepper - I can't do that because of the red skin, so I'm swapping it for an orange bell pepper.
Three Pepper Fajitas
1 each green, yellow, and orange bell peppers, cut into strips
6 to 8 baby carrots, cut into strips
1 sweet onion, cut into strips
2 cloves garlic, minced
juice from 1 lime
fresh cilantro
sea salt
lettuce leaves
Heat a non-stick skillet on high. Add peppers, carrots, onion, cilantro and garlic and squeeze juice on top. Sprinkle a dash of salt on top. Saute until tender. Wrap in lettuce leaves with a little more cilantro for extra kick, and serve.
Makes 4 wraps
Edit: I forgot to add the garlic to mine, but it was still tasty. And I discovered if you chase it with honeyed green tea, the tea ends up tasting like chocolate. Yes, it does.
1. Missing rotation times. Hey, it's hard when you're at work and you get into something. Or you're out and about and don't really have the ability to keep track of time. Two hours goes by and you don't even realize it.
2. More raw food. Should've had more raw and less cooked, with a little more focus on cabbage (blah, boring).
3. Slow down rotations. I think with the missing rotation times, I've let myself feel harried about doing the rotations, so I've been doing them too quickly which may have not let the full effect happen. I definitely noticed a difference between the speed that Andre did on them today vs what I have been doing, so I will make a conscious effort to slow down.
But I am super excited for the accomplishment so far! I've been sleeping better the past couple of days, and waking up more easily. I've had more energy during the day, and I'm actually more pleasant to be around at work. Even without the morning coffee. People are beginning to notice the weight loss now - clothing fits better, I look slimmer... Still got a ways to go, but this is a great start!
The next round focuses on the large and small intestines for detox. The balls are placed a little lower behind the ears (so I don't have to remove my glasses to rotate them now). As it turns out, when you begin a new 10-day round, you start back at fruit/veggie day again, so tomorrow is another fruit/veggie day rather than switching to milk. And since tomorrow is technically the first day of the next round, I have 2 fruit/veggie days to go through before the next milk day now. This also marks the beginning of the vitamin and herb supplements. So now, twice a day, I will be taking the supplements (morning and evening) - no eating for 2 hours after taking them, so first thing in the morning and then after the 6pm food deadline works well. Plus, there's a new schedule for the rotations. Now it will be every 1.5 hours (as if it wasn't hard enough to do 2 hours before...), with the mandatory times at 4 and 7 pm. Suggestion is to start rotations at 7am, 8:30am, or 10am to force the two times to fall in.
Andre says that this round doesn't typically see a lot of weight loss, but rather the loss is in inches around the midsection. There's generally weight loss that corresponds with it, but not always. He has seen some people lose several inches from their waist and actually gain a pound or two during this cycle. He also says this round is very unforgiving if you cheat, so pay close attention to the food. Cheating hasn't been a problem for me - it's the rotations, so I'll definitely have to watch that. I also asked him about the vegetable stock; he approves - he actually had the exact stock I'm using stashed away in his cupboard to show people what's OK to get - so that's good to go. Says that it doesn't count toward the "item" count for the day, but 8oz of stock would account for about a half pound of the total for the day, so I'll have to watch that. I'm finding that 1.5lbs of fruits/veggies is actually a lot of food.
Going to have some cantaloupe at noon today, this evening will be three-pepper "fajitas", a recipe from the Sadkhin site. My change to it is that I will add carrots to the mix. I think that'll add a nice flavor to it. Plus they call for a red bell pepper - I can't do that because of the red skin, so I'm swapping it for an orange bell pepper.
Three Pepper Fajitas
6 to 8 baby carrots, cut into strips
1 sweet onion, cut into strips
2 cloves garlic, minced
juice from 1 lime
fresh cilantro
sea salt
lettuce leaves
Heat a non-stick skillet on high. Add peppers, carrots, onion, cilantro and garlic and squeeze juice on top. Sprinkle a dash of salt on top. Saute until tender. Wrap in lettuce leaves with a little more cilantro for extra kick, and serve.
Makes 4 wraps
Edit: I forgot to add the garlic to mine, but it was still tasty. And I discovered if you chase it with honeyed green tea, the tea ends up tasting like chocolate. Yes, it does.
Friday, March 11, 2011
Day 9
Fruit/veggie day. Made up a giant salad to munch on throughout the day, using the dressing I made a couple days ago. Spinach, broccoli, and carrots. Quite tasty, though it could really have used some cheese. Good energy levels today.
I treated myself to a glass of wine this evening as a reward for completing the first cycle. I go in first thing in the morning to get the spheres repositioned and the first official weigh-in. Pretty sure I hit the 5% mark, but I was hoping for more. A step on the scale today was slightly disappointing, so we'll see what happens tomorrow. In any event, people are starting to notice the weight loss now, so that's exciting.
I plan to try out one of the recipes on the Sadkhin site tomorrow. Round one ... complete!
I treated myself to a glass of wine this evening as a reward for completing the first cycle. I go in first thing in the morning to get the spheres repositioned and the first official weigh-in. Pretty sure I hit the 5% mark, but I was hoping for more. A step on the scale today was slightly disappointing, so we'll see what happens tomorrow. In any event, people are starting to notice the weight loss now, so that's exciting.
I plan to try out one of the recipes on the Sadkhin site tomorrow. Round one ... complete!
Thursday, March 10, 2011
Day 8
Milk day. Got a chance to play around with the milk today to do something interesting to it. The results: Delicious! While you're all planning to feast on milk and honey "one of these days"... I'm gonna do it now!
Energy levels are really good today. I'm feeling a little feisty, actually. I've also lost another inch on my waist and I'm beginning to worry about needing to go buy new pants. Or belts. Or something! That's a good thing to have to worry about. So far, I've managed to stay very close to the 2-hour marks for the spherical rotations, but I think I might have a bruise on the right one. It's a little sore. Only 1 more full day before I head back in to get the spheres repositioned and have an official weigh-in!!
Frothy Milk and Honey
8 oz whole milk
1 Tbsp honey
1 tsp vanilla extract
1 tsp cinnamon
Heat milk in a frothing pitcher. When warm, froth it. Combine honey, vanilla, and cinnamon in a microwavable container and heat on high for 20 seconds. Pour honey mixture into a mug, then pour the frothy milk over it. Stir carefully so as not to reintegrate the froth. Top off with froth and a sprinkling of cinnamon.
Coffee Milkshake
8 oz whole milk
8 oz decaffeinated coffee, brewed
1 Tbsp honey
ice
Microwave honey on high for 10 seconds to liquefy, then combine with milk and coffee and ice in a blender. Blend until smooth.
Energy levels are really good today. I'm feeling a little feisty, actually. I've also lost another inch on my waist and I'm beginning to worry about needing to go buy new pants. Or belts. Or something! That's a good thing to have to worry about. So far, I've managed to stay very close to the 2-hour marks for the spherical rotations, but I think I might have a bruise on the right one. It's a little sore. Only 1 more full day before I head back in to get the spheres repositioned and have an official weigh-in!!
Frothy Milk and Honey8 oz whole milk
1 Tbsp honey
1 tsp vanilla extract
1 tsp cinnamon
Heat milk in a frothing pitcher. When warm, froth it. Combine honey, vanilla, and cinnamon in a microwavable container and heat on high for 20 seconds. Pour honey mixture into a mug, then pour the frothy milk over it. Stir carefully so as not to reintegrate the froth. Top off with froth and a sprinkling of cinnamon.
Coffee Milkshake
8 oz decaffeinated coffee, brewed
1 Tbsp honey
ice
Microwave honey on high for 10 seconds to liquefy, then combine with milk and coffee and ice in a blender. Blend until smooth.
Wednesday, March 9, 2011
Day 7
Milk day! I like milk days. I don't really get to be creative so much with them because there's really only so much you can do, especially when you're bringing it to work. Created a giant thing of iced chai latte in the morning and sipped on it all afternoon, and honestly, that's good enough for me. I love chai lattes! I'm working from home tomorrow, so I might try to get at least semi creative with the milk. Maybe I'll heat some up and froth it and add tea and make it a hot drink. Or maybe I'll mix it with some ice and make a frappe out of it. Or both!
I did, however, play around with creating a salad dressing or veggie dip today for my next fruit/veggie day. 1/4 cup of honey, tsp of lemon juice, tsp of vanilla extract, salt, paprika, cumin, Italian seasoning... I think that was everything that went into it. Warmed up the honey first, then whisked it all together. It tastes pretty good, so I'm excited to try putting it on a basic spinach salad on Friday.
So far, so good, with the food, it seems. Hunger isn't really much of an issue anymore. The only thing that's really kind of getting to me is the whole "have to rotate the spheres every 2 hours" thing. I keep missing the 2-hour mark and I'm always late. It's just so hard to have to keep watching the clock, especially when you're right in the middle of intensely working on something. Truly annoying. But, I am doing my best and will continue to do so!
I did, however, play around with creating a salad dressing or veggie dip today for my next fruit/veggie day. 1/4 cup of honey, tsp of lemon juice, tsp of vanilla extract, salt, paprika, cumin, Italian seasoning... I think that was everything that went into it. Warmed up the honey first, then whisked it all together. It tastes pretty good, so I'm excited to try putting it on a basic spinach salad on Friday.
So far, so good, with the food, it seems. Hunger isn't really much of an issue anymore. The only thing that's really kind of getting to me is the whole "have to rotate the spheres every 2 hours" thing. I keep missing the 2-hour mark and I'm always late. It's just so hard to have to keep watching the clock, especially when you're right in the middle of intensely working on something. Truly annoying. But, I am doing my best and will continue to do so!
Tuesday, March 8, 2011
Day 6
Fruit/Veggie day. Had the carrot soup, which turned out AWESOME. The avocado that was garnish in the photo ended up getting blended into it, and then I added the rest of the avocado, chunked up, after I heated the soup up. And that was just amazing. Cut and print, that recipe is a keeper!
I brought in papaya for my third item. I had tried some a long time ago and didn't care for it. Decided to give it another shot, hoping that maybe my palate had evolved over the years to make it tolerable, since it's marked as being a super item for me. Alas, I still don't like papaya and couldn't get through more than 3 chunks before deciding I just couldn't eat it. Any tips on how to make papaya better?
Today was a low energy day. Struggled getting through the day, though I think it has something to do with the fact that I didn't eat nearly as much yesterday as I had planned to. I'm feeling pretty well now, though. Back to milk tomorrow, so no recipe tonight.
I brought in papaya for my third item. I had tried some a long time ago and didn't care for it. Decided to give it another shot, hoping that maybe my palate had evolved over the years to make it tolerable, since it's marked as being a super item for me. Alas, I still don't like papaya and couldn't get through more than 3 chunks before deciding I just couldn't eat it. Any tips on how to make papaya better?
Today was a low energy day. Struggled getting through the day, though I think it has something to do with the fact that I didn't eat nearly as much yesterday as I had planned to. I'm feeling pretty well now, though. Back to milk tomorrow, so no recipe tonight.
Monday, March 7, 2011
Day 5
Fruit/Veggie day. The Spinach and Turnips turned out really great, and is surprisingly filling. I wasn't able to eat it all today. I think once I'm done with this and back on full food again, I'll upgrade that dish with mushrooms and bacon, and discard the broth after it's done cooking. That'll make it really shine and be an awesome side dish. Or full dish. More salt needed upon eating though. Spinach really needs salt. Oh yes, and I went with the mango again today. Mmm mango.
So I did an unofficial weigh-in today. Official weigh-ins will be at the Sadkhin place, on their scale, but halfway through each week I'll do an unofficial weigh-in using the scale at work... which is fairly accurate. According to that, I'm down 7lbs! Which seems to correspond with the inch that's come off my waist. Loose jeans!!
No hunger pangs today. Ate til I was full, and have been keeping my tea filled. Making the carrot soup tonight, as promised. It's difficult cooking when you can't really sample what you're cooking to make sure it's any good. But so far, I've been doing ok in that area. Soup's on!
Carrot Soup
3/4 lb baby carrots
1 medium yellow onion, chopped
2 cloves minced garlic
1 cup vegetable stock
1 Tbsp dried Herbes de Provence
1 tsp white pepper
1 tsp sea salt
1 tsp lemon juice
In a medium saucepan over medium-high heat, saute onion and garlic with a Tbsp of stock until onions turn translucent. Add carrots, the rest of the stock, herbs, pepper, and salt and bring to a simmer (reduce heat when necessary). Allow to simmer, covered, for about 20 minutes until carrots are tender. Use a blender or stick blender to puree to desired consistency. If soup is too thick, add more stock. Add lemon juice and stir well. Serve topped with fresh parsley for garnish. Or avocado slices as pictured.
So I did an unofficial weigh-in today. Official weigh-ins will be at the Sadkhin place, on their scale, but halfway through each week I'll do an unofficial weigh-in using the scale at work... which is fairly accurate. According to that, I'm down 7lbs! Which seems to correspond with the inch that's come off my waist. Loose jeans!!
No hunger pangs today. Ate til I was full, and have been keeping my tea filled. Making the carrot soup tonight, as promised. It's difficult cooking when you can't really sample what you're cooking to make sure it's any good. But so far, I've been doing ok in that area. Soup's on!
Carrot Soup
3/4 lb baby carrots1 medium yellow onion, chopped
2 cloves minced garlic
1 cup vegetable stock
1 Tbsp dried Herbes de Provence
1 tsp white pepper
1 tsp sea salt
1 tsp lemon juice
In a medium saucepan over medium-high heat, saute onion and garlic with a Tbsp of stock until onions turn translucent. Add carrots, the rest of the stock, herbs, pepper, and salt and bring to a simmer (reduce heat when necessary). Allow to simmer, covered, for about 20 minutes until carrots are tender. Use a blender or stick blender to puree to desired consistency. If soup is too thick, add more stock. Add lemon juice and stir well. Serve topped with fresh parsley for garnish. Or avocado slices as pictured.
Sunday, March 6, 2011
Day 4
Another milk day. Either milk days are easier in general, or I'm just really adjusting. No real hunger pangs today aside from the typical "it's mealtime, gimme ma food!" pangs. Soothe the savage beast with a little bit of milk and/or tea and it's happy. Today's meals consisted of a glass of milk at noon, a chai tea latte in the afternoon, and another tea latte thing for dinner. I think splitting it into three makes for the best use of the milk - 8oz in the morning, and 2 6oz servings throughout the afternoon. Oh yes, and I've lost an inch from my waist!
I had another revelation today for how to deal with the fruit/veggie days. Vegetable stock. Yup. Now, I haven't consulted with Andre to ensure that it's ok to use, but I don't really see any reason why not. While I could have made my own stock, I decided to see what was on the shelves first. Meijer (local grocery store) has its own branded "natural" vegetable stock, and looking at the ingredients, it's just carrots, celery, onion, honey (!), salt, and water. Nothing on the No list in there. The only thing I want to ask is if this means I have to count it as carrots and celery for two of my three daily items, or if it's kind of a free thing, since it is just stock. What makes the Meijer brand stock unique from others is that it uses honey instead of sugar, and there's absolutely no oil involved. Plus a lot of others have tomato, which is on my No list. So I'm pretty excited about this find. It's also cheap enough that I probably can't actually make it myself for cheaper. Sweet! And now I have a world of opportunities available to me for making food.
When I got home, I decided it was time to make tomorrow's food. I think that's going to be a pattern - evenings on the day before a fruit/veggie day will be spent preparing the next day's food so that I can just bring it to work and be done with it. No idea what to call this recipe, so please feel free to suggest something. For now, we'll just call it Spinach and Turnips. It's almost soup-like, but not quite. I haven't decided what my third item for tomorrow will be - the avocados are ripe now, so I may go with one of those, but since I'm trying to keep at least one "super" item each day, I might just have a mango. I think tomorrow night I'll make a carrot soup... hmm, stay tuned for that.
Spinach and Turnips
1 Tbsp honey
1 tsp vanilla extract
1 Tbsp minced garlic
1 red onion, diced
2 turnips (or 1 rutebaga), diced
3 Tbsp mixed dried herbs (basil, thyme, oregano, rosemary, parsley)
2 cups vegetable stock
10oz baby spinach
salt and pepper to taste
In a large pot, combine honey, vanilla, garlic, salt and onion over medium-high heat. Saute until onions are caramelized, about 5 minutes. Reduce heat to medium and add turnips, stirring occasionally, for 7-8 minutes, or until edges of turnips are beginning to soften. Add herbs and stock, reducing heat to a simmer. Cover and simmer for 7-8 minutes, stirring occasionally. Add spinach and cover, allowing to cook for about 5 minutes, or until spinach is wilting, then stir to complete cooking. Add salt and pepper to taste.
Makes 2 servings.
I had another revelation today for how to deal with the fruit/veggie days. Vegetable stock. Yup. Now, I haven't consulted with Andre to ensure that it's ok to use, but I don't really see any reason why not. While I could have made my own stock, I decided to see what was on the shelves first. Meijer (local grocery store) has its own branded "natural" vegetable stock, and looking at the ingredients, it's just carrots, celery, onion, honey (!), salt, and water. Nothing on the No list in there. The only thing I want to ask is if this means I have to count it as carrots and celery for two of my three daily items, or if it's kind of a free thing, since it is just stock. What makes the Meijer brand stock unique from others is that it uses honey instead of sugar, and there's absolutely no oil involved. Plus a lot of others have tomato, which is on my No list. So I'm pretty excited about this find. It's also cheap enough that I probably can't actually make it myself for cheaper. Sweet! And now I have a world of opportunities available to me for making food.
When I got home, I decided it was time to make tomorrow's food. I think that's going to be a pattern - evenings on the day before a fruit/veggie day will be spent preparing the next day's food so that I can just bring it to work and be done with it. No idea what to call this recipe, so please feel free to suggest something. For now, we'll just call it Spinach and Turnips. It's almost soup-like, but not quite. I haven't decided what my third item for tomorrow will be - the avocados are ripe now, so I may go with one of those, but since I'm trying to keep at least one "super" item each day, I might just have a mango. I think tomorrow night I'll make a carrot soup... hmm, stay tuned for that.
Spinach and Turnips
1 Tbsp honey1 tsp vanilla extract
1 Tbsp minced garlic
1 red onion, diced
2 turnips (or 1 rutebaga), diced
3 Tbsp mixed dried herbs (basil, thyme, oregano, rosemary, parsley)
2 cups vegetable stock
10oz baby spinach
salt and pepper to taste
In a large pot, combine honey, vanilla, garlic, salt and onion over medium-high heat. Saute until onions are caramelized, about 5 minutes. Reduce heat to medium and add turnips, stirring occasionally, for 7-8 minutes, or until edges of turnips are beginning to soften. Add herbs and stock, reducing heat to a simmer. Cover and simmer for 7-8 minutes, stirring occasionally. Add spinach and cover, allowing to cook for about 5 minutes, or until spinach is wilting, then stir to complete cooking. Add salt and pepper to taste.
Makes 2 servings.
Saturday, March 5, 2011
Day 3
Today turned out to be much easier than I thought it would be. It's my first milk day, which means my only food for the day is whole milk. 20oz total. First meal was a lovely iced green tea latte with honey, vanilla, and cinnamon. I have decided I need to have one of these every milk day because it's amazing.
Went to The Henry Ford museum with a friend, followed by a trip to the mall, dinner, and movie. So it was a great out-and-about trial. While at the mall, we attempted to find somewhere that I could get a simple glass of milk while my friend could have food. This proved to be more of a challenge than anticipated. I ended up getting a milk jug from Cinnabon, then we went to PF Changs, where I had a pot of awesome Citrus Tea, and he had a regular meal. The waiter was exceedngly confused at my lack of ordering food, but oh well!
Didn't really feel hungry today, so maybe I'm settling into the new food routine. And now it's movie time!
Went to The Henry Ford museum with a friend, followed by a trip to the mall, dinner, and movie. So it was a great out-and-about trial. While at the mall, we attempted to find somewhere that I could get a simple glass of milk while my friend could have food. This proved to be more of a challenge than anticipated. I ended up getting a milk jug from Cinnabon, then we went to PF Changs, where I had a pot of awesome Citrus Tea, and he had a regular meal. The waiter was exceedngly confused at my lack of ordering food, but oh well!
Didn't really feel hungry today, so maybe I'm settling into the new food routine. And now it's movie time!
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Friday, March 4, 2011
Day 2
Ah, that's better. Hit the snooze three or four times first! Now that's a regular wakeup! I was much more excited about today's food adventure. Last night I came up with a plan for today's food, and I baked up an eggplant to be stuffed into peppers (recipe to follow), and cut up a mango. Smelled awesome and I was really wanting to just scarf it down right then, but I managed to exercise a little restraint and discipline and did not.
The peppers turned out awesome. I ate one at noon and was just stuffed. Really satisfying meal! Later on I dug into my mango, which was a great uplift in the afternoon. Dinner was another pepper. I think I'm going to add garlic to it next time. Tea all day, of course!
Energy levels today are pretty good, and hunger was much less of a problem. My face has broken out a little bit, forehead mainly, which sucks. I blame it on the 24-hour period of not being allowed to wash my hair after the application of the spheres. Should clear up in a couple of days.
Oh yes, the chocolate I ordered a couple of weeks ago showed up today (along with a ton of wine). Great timing, huh! Guess it'll have to go into the cabinet of things-to-hide for now. I think I might start calling that "things to look forward to" soon. Walked past the candy dish at work a couple of times today and it was hard to not just grab a piece, but I managed it. Milk day tomorrow!
Green Peppers stuffed with Baked Eggplant
1 large eggplant
2 green peppers
2 green onions
1 tbsp lemon juice
1 tbsp honey
2 tbsp mixed dried herbs (Italian seasoning will do)
salt & pepper to taste
Preheat oven to 350.
Whisk together the lemon juice, honey, and herbs. Cut the eggplant in half lengthwise, and spread the honey-lemon mixture over the cut sides of the eggplant. Place cut side down on a baking sheet, and bake for 50 minutes. Pull from oven and place the green onions, whole, on the baking sheet and return to oven for an additional 10 minutes. Allow to cool for a few minutes, and then scoop out the flesh from the eggplant and chop the onions. Mix the eggplant and the onions together, and add salt and pepper.
Cut the tops off of the green peppers and scoop out the seeds. Pour half the eggplant mix into each pepper. To store, put the cap of the pepper back on top, wrap in plastic wrap, and place in the fridge. When ready to eat, microwave on high for 4 minutes.
Makes 2 servings.
The peppers turned out awesome. I ate one at noon and was just stuffed. Really satisfying meal! Later on I dug into my mango, which was a great uplift in the afternoon. Dinner was another pepper. I think I'm going to add garlic to it next time. Tea all day, of course!
Energy levels today are pretty good, and hunger was much less of a problem. My face has broken out a little bit, forehead mainly, which sucks. I blame it on the 24-hour period of not being allowed to wash my hair after the application of the spheres. Should clear up in a couple of days.
Oh yes, the chocolate I ordered a couple of weeks ago showed up today (along with a ton of wine). Great timing, huh! Guess it'll have to go into the cabinet of things-to-hide for now. I think I might start calling that "things to look forward to" soon. Walked past the candy dish at work a couple of times today and it was hard to not just grab a piece, but I managed it. Milk day tomorrow!
Green Peppers stuffed with Baked Eggplant
1 large eggplant
2 green peppers
2 green onions
1 tbsp lemon juice
1 tbsp honey
2 tbsp mixed dried herbs (Italian seasoning will do)
salt & pepper to taste
Preheat oven to 350.
Whisk together the lemon juice, honey, and herbs. Cut the eggplant in half lengthwise, and spread the honey-lemon mixture over the cut sides of the eggplant. Place cut side down on a baking sheet, and bake for 50 minutes. Pull from oven and place the green onions, whole, on the baking sheet and return to oven for an additional 10 minutes. Allow to cool for a few minutes, and then scoop out the flesh from the eggplant and chop the onions. Mix the eggplant and the onions together, and add salt and pepper.
Cut the tops off of the green peppers and scoop out the seeds. Pour half the eggplant mix into each pepper. To store, put the cap of the pepper back on top, wrap in plastic wrap, and place in the fridge. When ready to eat, microwave on high for 4 minutes.
Makes 2 servings.
Thursday, March 3, 2011
Day 1
I woke up today in a little bit of a panic. First off, I woke up before my alarm, and came right awake, which is highly unusual for me. And then I realized - I had no idea what to do with the plethora of vegetables and fruits now residing in my fridge. No clue. So the day was tough.
"Breakfast" consisted of a couple of cups of green tea with honey, which surprisingly worked really well to take the edge off the hunger I was feeling. The kettle was boiling water all day, practically, as any time I started to feel hungry before the magical noon time resulted in me downing another cup of honeyed green tea. And then noon came around and I had to figure out something to eat. So I opened up the bag of coleslaw (cabbage & carrots) and pulled out a heaping bowl and mixed it with a little lemon juice and honey and some random herbs that I pulled from the cabinet. Made a mental note to go get fresh cilantro as that would have added a really nice, needed flavor to it. Real exciting, right? I also had a banana and a fistful of carrots later on. At some point I broke down and had an apple as well, although that technically put me over the "3 fruits/veggies" limit. See, you're only supposed to have a combination of any 3 fruits/veggies for the day, and ONLY those 3. But you're also only allowed one banana - so I figure that means I can put in a substitute fruit for the second meal. They say the best combination to do is 2 veggies and 1 fruit, so I will try to do that.
Hit the gym for about a half hour to just walk on the treadmill to get a little activity in. I had asked Andre about the gym, since I just recently joined and go fairly regularly now with a friend and I didn't want to abandon her. He actually encouraged me to keep it up, but keep it light. Walking good, running bad. So that is what I shall do!
Quite a struggle with hunger today, and I can't tell you how much tea I ended up having. Going to bed with a grumbly in my tumbly.
"Breakfast" consisted of a couple of cups of green tea with honey, which surprisingly worked really well to take the edge off the hunger I was feeling. The kettle was boiling water all day, practically, as any time I started to feel hungry before the magical noon time resulted in me downing another cup of honeyed green tea. And then noon came around and I had to figure out something to eat. So I opened up the bag of coleslaw (cabbage & carrots) and pulled out a heaping bowl and mixed it with a little lemon juice and honey and some random herbs that I pulled from the cabinet. Made a mental note to go get fresh cilantro as that would have added a really nice, needed flavor to it. Real exciting, right? I also had a banana and a fistful of carrots later on. At some point I broke down and had an apple as well, although that technically put me over the "3 fruits/veggies" limit. See, you're only supposed to have a combination of any 3 fruits/veggies for the day, and ONLY those 3. But you're also only allowed one banana - so I figure that means I can put in a substitute fruit for the second meal. They say the best combination to do is 2 veggies and 1 fruit, so I will try to do that.
Hit the gym for about a half hour to just walk on the treadmill to get a little activity in. I had asked Andre about the gym, since I just recently joined and go fairly regularly now with a friend and I didn't want to abandon her. He actually encouraged me to keep it up, but keep it light. Walking good, running bad. So that is what I shall do!
Quite a struggle with hunger today, and I can't tell you how much tea I ended up having. Going to bed with a grumbly in my tumbly.
Wednesday, March 2, 2011
Day 0
My first appointment today - I met with the Certified Sadkhin Practitioner, Andre, at the local Sadkhin Complex location. The staff was friendly and energetic, and after filling out a brief "about me" questionnaire (similar to what you would fill out in a doctor's office), I was led to a room where I was shown a video explaining the program. It sounds a little hokey to hear about it, and I'm a little skeptical, but I've decided to give it a shot anyway. After the video, Andre met with me personally to discuss my goals and plan. Because I have psoriasis, he recommends that I stay away from citrus and red-skinned fruit, including tomatoes. Sad for me, because I love strawberries, and I was hoping to be able to have tomato soup. However, he also says I should definitely incorporate mangoes into the diet, which I love, and to load up on cabbage and carrots. Pomegranates are also a super-fruit for me, but sadly they're not readily available at this time of the year. At the end of the session, he taped on the first of the Sadkhin Spheres behind my ears and showed me the proper way to activate them.
After I left, I headed straight for the grocery store to stock up on fruits and vegetables, and to buy my whole milk. I was still feeling skeptical about the whole thing and wondering if I'll even make it through. But I'm going to give it my best effort! The evening then consisted of me emptying the fridge of my disallowed items - the skim milk went down the drain after having one last glass of it, and a lovely bowl of cottage cheese became dinner. Thankfully I had already had a fairly empty fridge, as I hadn't gone grocery shopping in quite some time, so not much had to go to waste.
Here goes!
Starting weight: 208 lbs
Goal weight: 165 lbs
After I left, I headed straight for the grocery store to stock up on fruits and vegetables, and to buy my whole milk. I was still feeling skeptical about the whole thing and wondering if I'll even make it through. But I'm going to give it my best effort! The evening then consisted of me emptying the fridge of my disallowed items - the skim milk went down the drain after having one last glass of it, and a lovely bowl of cottage cheese became dinner. Thankfully I had already had a fairly empty fridge, as I hadn't gone grocery shopping in quite some time, so not much had to go to waste.
Here goes!
Starting weight: 208 lbs
Goal weight: 165 lbs
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