Wednesday, August 24, 2011
Sunday, August 21, 2011
8.21.11 Excitement and Motivation Continue
In this last meatless week my desire to eat meat completely vanished. It reminds me of learning a new language. It seems so difficult in the beginning... a working against what's natural and everyday to you... but slowly, as you keep working on it you suddenly realize that its now a part of you. The language is not just something you can speak but its now even the way you think. I am no longer thinking of meat or lusting after it as I watch someone else eat it. It almost is *dare I say it?* repulsive thinking of it. I really hate even saying that as I really despise that vegetarian food snob-style way of thinking. But, I have now experienced what many describe as feeling sick when they think of eating meat.
After a early morning run with my sister Bethanie, I walked into the Whole Foods Grocery Store we were parked at and decided to try some more samples of their ready-made deli items. You know, the fresh variety of salads, pastas and fruits. Except at this store it was filled with several quinoa salads, grains, and tasty alternatives to what you find in a conventional grocery store. This is now one of my favorite passtimes as I ask for a half dozen samples and order small quanties of the ones I love so I can take them home and try to duplicate the flavors. I leisurely walked over to the bulk food section and started to browse the selection. I am always in search of the latest organic grain, bean or rice that will create a base for my new vegetarian dishes. I was delighted to find that they had fava beans and farro (a type of wheat berry that is very hard to find). Even better, it was only $2.10/lb compared to another health food store by my house that had it for $8/pound. The price made me skim over the other prices of the bulk items and I realized how cheap these organic bulk items were; mostly less than 1.50/lb. When you consider that a pound of most of these items will make several large dishes the price seems even that much better. It's a funny thing how we assume eating healthy costs more. But when you REALLY look at your options and truly make things from scratch, that isn't the case at all. My grocery bill has already gone down quite a bit in the last few weeks. Eating healthy has resulted in us eating less. When you eat right, you're not as hungry and you eat less overall. A tradtional household is used to buying pre-made items such as bags of chips, snacks and boxed dishes which is very costly. Once you cut out all these pre-made items, eating healthy is eating cheaper, even when you choose organic. I used to argue that I just didn't have time to cook every meal. But switching to a vegetarian diet has resulted in my cooking habits completely getting an overhaul. Instead of cooking small time consuming meals often (2-3 times a day), I find myself cooking every other day and making 2 or 3 easy dishes at the same time. Imagine that deli I just walked through at Whole Foods... you make a few of those dishes in an evening then you pop them in the refrigerator. Viola, you have meals for the whole family for 2-3 days. Done. REALLY. Yes, I realize its not the traditional way where you make a meal, you gather everyone, you eat, you clean, you sleep (cuz the food was so heavy). But the way my cooking habits have changed actually give me WAY more time, make me feel better after I eat it and we still eat as a family. Many of the meals such as Vegetable Quinoa, Greek Farro Salad and Mushroom and Leak soup really are one-dish wonders. At what point did we turn into a society where we have to have our plates filled with 3 or 4 different items? Perhaps it was to get our meat, starch and veggie all in one meal. But cooking one-dish vegetarian style DOES get all that (sans the meat) into a meal. Starches such as Quinoa are a complete protien and replaces meat nicely.
Cooking this way has also brought me a lot of joy. The most profound revelation I have had is cooking with meat often results in limited boring choices. We try to think of which of the 3 meat groups we will make for a meal; beef, chicken or fish. We throw some seasoning on it, cut up a veggie or make a salad and add a side of rice or bean all of which usually take a good amount of prep and time (and cleanup). However, when you take the meat out of the equation, instead of choosing to build everything around 1 of 3 things, you now have hundreds of possibilites as you look at all the fruits, vegetables, legumes and grains you can work with. The flavor and taste of each individual vegetable, fruit, herb and spice is suddenly its own exciting item waiting to be enhanced with just a few simple other natural foods. I have so many recipes I want to try that I often can't figure out which one to do next. It's an amazing feeling and I can't believe how meat tied me down to such a small amount of choices. Okay, okay, before you roll your eyes, I have to assure you I am not one of those snobby meat-hating vegetarians that turns their nose up at people as they chow down on their steak. I am simply expressing how much fun changing my diet has been. I loved to cook before, but now I love it so much that I often find myself daydreaming about what new food I will try next.
Even greater joy has come from how much my family has supported my choice to go vegetarian until November 8th. Both my husband and 11-year old son have been happily eating the vegetarian dishes. My husband even announced that he never was a huge meat-eater. On another evening, after a day of new recipes and no meat, I mentioned to my 11-year old son how happy I was he was eating my food. Telling him I knew it wasn't as delicious as some of the things I use to make laden with fat and meat. To my surprise he said, "Actually Mom, I think the food you're making is better than the food at McDonald's and other fast food we buy a lot." To my excitement he was full of ideas for recipes; veggie burgers made to look like a chicken nugget, sweet potatoe fries, homemade healthy ice cream. Then he said he saw some aloe Vera juice you can drink at the store... he wants to try it!
The thing I am really amazed about most is that the healthy way of eating is changing so may other seemingly small but profound things in my life from my mood, health (even my skin looks better tonight as I peered in the mirror with a naked face), my conversations with my family (Bridon talking about how'd he be able to turn our master bath into a house and where he'd put the kitchen, laundry and bed in a confined space--talk about his perspective simplifying!). I used to associate vegetarians as being a more earth friendly, hippie-like type of person. But now I realize why we stereotype them. Changing your eating to vegetarian-based forces you to become keenly aware of natural foods, the health benefits and how this amazing earth provides us with such an abundance and variety of delicious foods. This overflows into your other daily decisions and how they affect your surroundings. I am really excited to discover how eating this way changes other things I do. I will be sure to share in the upcoming weeks.
With my commitment to eat a vegetarian based diet to Nov 8th in support of my sister Kailee Rainey who is undergoing a juice fast until the same date, my refrigerator has undergone quite the transformation. Slowly, all the meat based products made their way out of the refrigerator. When I opened it today I realized the transformation was complete. It is now fully stocked on almost EVERY shelf with fresh fruits, veggies and herbs. Stacked in the drawers are kale, cabbage and collard greens. Grapefruit, mango, oranges and apples take up another drawer. Packed into bags are fresh cilantro, parsley, green onions and peppers. Freshly made Green Curry Mushroom Soup and Vegetable Quinoa sit packed in containers ready to eat tomorrow. It feels SO GREAT to eat this way and my refrigerator looks so much better than the old one packed with processed ready-made foods, take-out left overs and old veggies that were going bad, never to be used. Follow our journey as we blog with our progress: http://mylastfatsummer.blogspo
After a early morning run with my sister Bethanie, I walked into the Whole Foods Grocery Store we were parked at and decided to try some more samples of their ready-made deli items. You know, the fresh variety of salads, pastas and fruits. Except at this store it was filled with several quinoa salads, grains, and tasty alternatives to what you find in a conventional grocery store. This is now one of my favorite passtimes as I ask for a half dozen samples and order small quanties of the ones I love so I can take them home and try to duplicate the flavors. I leisurely walked over to the bulk food section and started to browse the selection. I am always in search of the latest organic grain, bean or rice that will create a base for my new vegetarian dishes. I was delighted to find that they had fava beans and farro (a type of wheat berry that is very hard to find). Even better, it was only $2.10/lb compared to another health food store by my house that had it for $8/pound. The price made me skim over the other prices of the bulk items and I realized how cheap these organic bulk items were; mostly less than 1.50/lb. When you consider that a pound of most of these items will make several large dishes the price seems even that much better. It's a funny thing how we assume eating healthy costs more. But when you REALLY look at your options and truly make things from scratch, that isn't the case at all. My grocery bill has already gone down quite a bit in the last few weeks. Eating healthy has resulted in us eating less. When you eat right, you're not as hungry and you eat less overall. A tradtional household is used to buying pre-made items such as bags of chips, snacks and boxed dishes which is very costly. Once you cut out all these pre-made items, eating healthy is eating cheaper, even when you choose organic. I used to argue that I just didn't have time to cook every meal. But switching to a vegetarian diet has resulted in my cooking habits completely getting an overhaul. Instead of cooking small time consuming meals often (2-3 times a day), I find myself cooking every other day and making 2 or 3 easy dishes at the same time. Imagine that deli I just walked through at Whole Foods... you make a few of those dishes in an evening then you pop them in the refrigerator. Viola, you have meals for the whole family for 2-3 days. Done. REALLY. Yes, I realize its not the traditional way where you make a meal, you gather everyone, you eat, you clean, you sleep (cuz the food was so heavy). But the way my cooking habits have changed actually give me WAY more time, make me feel better after I eat it and we still eat as a family. Many of the meals such as Vegetable Quinoa, Greek Farro Salad and Mushroom and Leak soup really are one-dish wonders. At what point did we turn into a society where we have to have our plates filled with 3 or 4 different items? Perhaps it was to get our meat, starch and veggie all in one meal. But cooking one-dish vegetarian style DOES get all that (sans the meat) into a meal. Starches such as Quinoa are a complete protien and replaces meat nicely.
Cooking this way has also brought me a lot of joy. The most profound revelation I have had is cooking with meat often results in limited boring choices. We try to think of which of the 3 meat groups we will make for a meal; beef, chicken or fish. We throw some seasoning on it, cut up a veggie or make a salad and add a side of rice or bean all of which usually take a good amount of prep and time (and cleanup). However, when you take the meat out of the equation, instead of choosing to build everything around 1 of 3 things, you now have hundreds of possibilites as you look at all the fruits, vegetables, legumes and grains you can work with. The flavor and taste of each individual vegetable, fruit, herb and spice is suddenly its own exciting item waiting to be enhanced with just a few simple other natural foods. I have so many recipes I want to try that I often can't figure out which one to do next. It's an amazing feeling and I can't believe how meat tied me down to such a small amount of choices. Okay, okay, before you roll your eyes, I have to assure you I am not one of those snobby meat-hating vegetarians that turns their nose up at people as they chow down on their steak. I am simply expressing how much fun changing my diet has been. I loved to cook before, but now I love it so much that I often find myself daydreaming about what new food I will try next.
Even greater joy has come from how much my family has supported my choice to go vegetarian until November 8th. Both my husband and 11-year old son have been happily eating the vegetarian dishes. My husband even announced that he never was a huge meat-eater. On another evening, after a day of new recipes and no meat, I mentioned to my 11-year old son how happy I was he was eating my food. Telling him I knew it wasn't as delicious as some of the things I use to make laden with fat and meat. To my surprise he said, "Actually Mom, I think the food you're making is better than the food at McDonald's and other fast food we buy a lot." To my excitement he was full of ideas for recipes; veggie burgers made to look like a chicken nugget, sweet potatoe fries, homemade healthy ice cream. Then he said he saw some aloe Vera juice you can drink at the store... he wants to try it!
The thing I am really amazed about most is that the healthy way of eating is changing so may other seemingly small but profound things in my life from my mood, health (even my skin looks better tonight as I peered in the mirror with a naked face), my conversations with my family (Bridon talking about how'd he be able to turn our master bath into a house and where he'd put the kitchen, laundry and bed in a confined space--talk about his perspective simplifying!). I used to associate vegetarians as being a more earth friendly, hippie-like type of person. But now I realize why we stereotype them. Changing your eating to vegetarian-based forces you to become keenly aware of natural foods, the health benefits and how this amazing earth provides us with such an abundance and variety of delicious foods. This overflows into your other daily decisions and how they affect your surroundings. I am really excited to discover how eating this way changes other things I do. I will be sure to share in the upcoming weeks.
With my commitment to eat a vegetarian based diet to Nov 8th in support of my sister Kailee Rainey who is undergoing a juice fast until the same date, my refrigerator has undergone quite the transformation. Slowly, all the meat based products made their way out of the refrigerator. When I opened it today I realized the transformation was complete. It is now fully stocked on almost EVERY shelf with fresh fruits, veggies and herbs. Stacked in the drawers are kale, cabbage and collard greens. Grapefruit, mango, oranges and apples take up another drawer. Packed into bags are fresh cilantro, parsley, green onions and peppers. Freshly made Green Curry Mushroom Soup and Vegetable Quinoa sit packed in containers ready to eat tomorrow. It feels SO GREAT to eat this way and my refrigerator looks so much better than the old one packed with processed ready-made foods, take-out left overs and old veggies that were going bad, never to be used. Follow our journey as we blog with our progress: http://mylastfatsummer.blogspo
Friday, August 19, 2011
Tuesday, August 16, 2011
8.16.11 - Our Journey Begins Publicly
The Journey begins. I start my blog tonight with words I named my first blog on August 2nd. Just 1 week ago a new commitment was made. This commitment was not a half willed one. It was one that deep down inside, was real. I knew it would result in profound change for the future. I am ready. This is it. I am starting this new journey with the most wonderful support system. A partner who is going to be making her own equal changes; some similar to mine, some different. My older sister, Kai and I have never been super close in the past but these last 2 years have turned us into confidants, partners in business and partners in life changes. No one understands me quite like she does and I believe there are certain aspects of herself that I understand that no one else quite does like I do. We are the closest in blood it can get and although we are different in many ways, we are intimately alike in others. We both have an amazing ability to accomplish what we put our mind to. That ability results from a sharp focus that often hones in on our main goal while all other aspects of our life fall out of focus. We focus on work and our spiritually and family life are not as healthy as they should or need to be. We focus on spiritual things and our health and business fall out of focus. We both know we need better balance and this journey is all about that—becoming the women we know we can be in all aspects of our life. Making our health, family life, spirituality, and business life work harmoniously; finding the fine balance and keeping proper focus.
I will be sharing my goals and progress with my dear sisters; spiritual and fleshly (Kai and I have 7 sisters, 8 girls in all). I invite you to share with me in this as I blog about my ups and downs, progress and stumbling blocks and how I overcome them. But even more exciting to me than sharing my own progress, is hearing about your own goals. I invite you to share your own journey with Kai and I. This system of things is difficult. All of us can use a support system to encourage us to be strong women… women who can be inspiring mothers, supportive wives and faithful servants of God. What goals do you have? Kai and I would love to hear about them. We can do this girls, we are wonderfully made and all of us can accomplish whatever we put our minds and hearts to.
As a start to our journey, Kai has made a commitment to lose weight. A lot of weight. As she has focused on all other people in her life the last 20 years, she has turned focus away from herself. 6 weeks ago she weighed 309 pounds. She has yo-yoed up and down over time. At one point, 10 years ago, she lost 150 pounds. When she reached her goal she then turned her focus on other things in her life, lost balance and gained her weight back—all of it and then some. The last 10 years she has weighed over 200 and probably averaged about 250. Her goal to lose 150 or more pounds again started 6 weeks ago. She made a commitment to go on a juice fast for 126 days until November 8th, when she turns 40. She has stuck to her juicing for 42 days and is now 43 pounds lighter; 266 pounds today!
Kai knows that in order to be able to accomplish her utmost, she needs to be physically healthy. Sometimes we put ourselves last thinking we are helping others more by doing this. However, we soon realize that if we are not healthy, we are limited in how much we can do for others. We are also not as happy as we can be if our health is in good shape and of course, this affect our relationships. When Kai announced her juice fast and commitment to lose weight 6 weeks ago, I knew this was it for her. This was the final time she would need to lose so much weight. I knew she was ready and that although she would have a tough road ahead of her, that she was now mentally capable to take it on. It was almost as if I already knew it before she even told me. I knew it was her time. Excitedly I confirmed my faith in her and her ability to do this. We talked about the road ahead and what it would be like. That evening, I wanted to show my support to her in this new lifestyle and I decided I would make a commitment to also overhaul my eating habits. I have decided that I would turn to a vegetarian diet until November 8th. My commitment also includes staying away from all refined carbs and sugar. If she can juice fruits and veggies all day, I certainly can eat fruits, veggies and whole grains. I started my own diet August 2nd, one week ago. I started with the notion I would eat Lacto-Ovo-Pecto (includes fish, eggs and dairy) but I decided today I would make a full commitment to not eat fish or any meat. I have already studied about how to make sure I get enough nutrients and I have come across some exciting recipes I will soon share. Just a week of eating this way has already resulted in a 6 pound weight loss for myself. This is an exciting thing but even more exciting are other ways this eating style have changed things I thought diet had nothing to do with. I am more clear-headed, happier and focused. I will share some of my exiting new discoveries in the upcoming weeks. In the meantime, I invite you to share in Kai’s and my journey and share your own. You can create a free blogspot account or you can email us. We can do this. We are ready.
Sunday, August 7, 2011
8.7.11 - Tripping up yesterday & gaining renewed motivation from 2 great documentaries
I should have gotten so much more done with work today than I actually have. I have spent the majority of my afternoon and evening with thoughts actions on Kai's and my journey. I watched Fat, Sick and Nearly Dead today. Last night I watched Food, Inc.
Food Inc. made me want to stay devoted to a low meat diet forever. It also made me want to stick to good choices at the grocery store. Buying as much as I can that is locally grown and organic. I realized if I eat organic it wouldn't be as costly if I was eating less meat, processed foods and sugar. A high veggie/fruit/grain diet leaves you satisfied so you eat less during the day.
Fat, Sick and Nearly Dead gave me that burst of motivation to continue. Here are some of my favorite things from the movie:
-"You do the crime, you do the time." This was Joe's initial feeling starting out. Expressing how hard it was to stick to the diet in the beginning. The depressing thoughts of the long journey ahead.
-Most people keep putting off changing to a healthy lifestyle to a more convenient time. I was amazed at the young people he interviewed in their 20's and 30's who look awful... at least twice their age!
I was reminded of an important thing. Eating bad or abandoning my goals makes me feel REALLY bad. I get disappointed with myself, even angry which puts me in a horrific mood. My family gets the brunt end of that as I am now upset with them as well. Heck, I am mad at the world at this point. Eating well and maintaining a good diet may require total deprivation of some foods for me. I have an emotional disorder and that quickly leads to overeating and rationalizing wrong choices. I must watch what I eat and think twice before diving in. Watching the two movies really helped me gain motivation to get back on track. I ate GREAT today completely sticking to the Lacto-Ovo-Pectarian diet.
In the future, I want to remember the saying from a motivational speaker. He reminded the audience about how they feel after going to a motivational seminar, read a good book, or come across something inspiring. You feel this amazing willpower to change; like you can conquer the world. Then as time passes, sometimes even a few hours, that feeling slowly slips away as realities of life slip in. If you don't immediately set goals and take action to make those goals, it's difficult change anything you wanted to. We must constantly remind ourselves of WHY we are doing something. Every day, I have to wake up and meditate on the really important things for that day. For me, it will start with sticking to a healthy regime as all other goals are much easier to make when I feel good mentally and physically. If a day ends with bad choices, re-reading these posts, watching tidbits of these movies or something of the like will help me get back on track the next day. But it will be vital that day start with focused meditation on making good choices and not letting the prior day lead to a allowance of bad choices the next day. As Joe Cross put it, "It's about maintaining a balanced lifestyle. If you go back to your old ways, you'll be back to your old self in no time. The choice is yours."
Food Inc. made me want to stay devoted to a low meat diet forever. It also made me want to stick to good choices at the grocery store. Buying as much as I can that is locally grown and organic. I realized if I eat organic it wouldn't be as costly if I was eating less meat, processed foods and sugar. A high veggie/fruit/grain diet leaves you satisfied so you eat less during the day.
Fat, Sick and Nearly Dead gave me that burst of motivation to continue. Here are some of my favorite things from the movie:
-"You do the crime, you do the time." This was Joe's initial feeling starting out. Expressing how hard it was to stick to the diet in the beginning. The depressing thoughts of the long journey ahead.
-Most people keep putting off changing to a healthy lifestyle to a more convenient time. I was amazed at the young people he interviewed in their 20's and 30's who look awful... at least twice their age!
-People feel they eat what they want as it makes them happy and if that means they die early, they die happy.
-DR: we don't have to have to be demented, have heart disease, strokes, most cancers. We do most of these things to ourselves by our daily choices.
-If you Juice, your mates will think your extreme ,crazy...
-It's about maintaining a balanced lifestyle. If you go back to your old ways, you'll be back to your old self in no time. The choice is yours.
- A balanced lifestyle in moderation--not perfection!
-"People say I couldn't do that, w/out even trying. So what if you do it for 7 days then stop. Good on you for trying."
This movie reminds me of the need for us to keep trying. If something doesn't work, try something else but never stop trying. If a good diet or lifestyle you are maintaining gets put off for a day... you goof up, don't let that be an excuse to stop all together or a reason to eat poorly the next day.
Speaking of... so yesterday we had a congregation picnic. It was a good day. I went out in service in the morning and resisted the urge to eat pastries and high calorie coffee drinks. I just drank water and wasn't tempted. I ate tuna with onions, garlic and pickles for lunch (no bread). The picnic had an amazing amount of vegetarian dishes. Cut fruit, meatless lasagna, broccoli salad, etc. I started with fruit but when i realized there were so many more choices, I filled my plate with some of them. Then when I wanted a taste of a new salad that arrived, I went for seconds. I realized the new salad had bacon in it... something i am not eating. Yet I found my mind slipping back into it's old self rationalizing that maybe this once wasn't so bad... it was just a few crumbles of bacon. After all, maybe i instead would follow the flexitarian diet! That is mostly vegetarian with "some" meat every once in a while. I ate the salad. Then my mind started to play tricks on me. I realized i now had eaten more than I should have. I also cheated with the bacon. So a third helping wouldn't matter at this point. I felt my mood slip even more. I was now grumpy and unsocial. I ate a piece of cake. Hey, it's part of my diet if I want... a vegetarian diet can include cake.... it was my OWN created wish to stay away from sugar.
Needless to say, the headache I had all day got worse and I was now feeling completely grumpy being I had totally lost control. I left with friends who could take me home early and told Kevin I'd see him later at home.
In the future, I want to remember the saying from a motivational speaker. He reminded the audience about how they feel after going to a motivational seminar, read a good book, or come across something inspiring. You feel this amazing willpower to change; like you can conquer the world. Then as time passes, sometimes even a few hours, that feeling slowly slips away as realities of life slip in. If you don't immediately set goals and take action to make those goals, it's difficult change anything you wanted to. We must constantly remind ourselves of WHY we are doing something. Every day, I have to wake up and meditate on the really important things for that day. For me, it will start with sticking to a healthy regime as all other goals are much easier to make when I feel good mentally and physically. If a day ends with bad choices, re-reading these posts, watching tidbits of these movies or something of the like will help me get back on track the next day. But it will be vital that day start with focused meditation on making good choices and not letting the prior day lead to a allowance of bad choices the next day. As Joe Cross put it, "It's about maintaining a balanced lifestyle. If you go back to your old ways, you'll be back to your old self in no time. The choice is yours."
8.5.11
Woke up 1 more pound lighter-164.5! Crazy! This is the lightest I have been in about 10 months or so since my last HCG episode and running kick. I was certain I would plateau or even gain a little today. Last night we were Bridon-free so at 9pm Kevin and went out to Dukes. That day I had eaten well all day but I felt I ate more than I should have. I ate well at dinner, too, but had salmon with goat cheese and blueberry sauce, my first meat in 3 days. The portion was large and I ate most of it and kept the rest for lunch today. I also had rice and asparagus and I have not been eating grains yet. I had lemon water and 1 piece of sourdough. So the meal was all in range of my new diet other than I really am trying to eliminate all refined carbs... sourdough sort of falls in that category. But I was concerned that I went well over what I should be taking in calorie-wise. I have a feeling I may gain tomorrow as perhaps those calories won't be put to storage until today... we'll see.
12:13 am: Going to bed now but feeling very happy about my diet today. I wasn't very hungry and the choices I made were very satisfying. I did notice that when I walked by a bag of chips I wasnt thinking and caught myself as I almost mindlessly put reached my hand in. But it wasn't tempting, just a mindless act. Bridon ate a Hershey's bar while we watched a movie tonight and he asked if I wanted some. I didn't, it didn't even smell good. Loving my new body and the satisfaction that comes with knowing I am feeding myself with nutritious foods.
8.4.11
I woke up this morning to start day 3 and found myself 1.5 pounds lighter at 165.5. That is exciting!
My diet today:
2 cutie oranges
10 raw almonds
2 tsp coconut oil
1 string cheese
JUICE:
1 beet
2 carrots
.25 bunch parsley
1 apple
Quinoa with Kale
Kale chips
Iced Green tea with agave
pine nuts-tbsp
mango
Subscribe to:
Posts (Atom)