Carnivorous Husband Health Challenge and My Gym Challenge Day 1

Hello Readers!  It has been way too long since I have posted!  I realized I was on day 3 of week 5 of my 6-week Eat to Live health challenge the last time I posted, and for those of you who have been following.... To sum it up: I cheated and let things slip, I tried my best to stick with it, but then certain events came up including my birthday, having house (apartment*) guests stay for nearly a week, having a large basketball tournament downtown and eating on the go, eating out often with friends and family, and then a trip to the other side of the state for 4th of July weekend and staying with the in-laws. Id like to think that I made the best choices I could in the situations I was in, but those choices ended up becoming further and further away from the Nutritarian lifestyle.  This is sad for me to admit, but we all have mistakes and setbacks and this was one of mine.  What do you tell yourself when you fall off the wagon?

In other news.... I have some pretty crazy news that I never thought I would ever hear: my very meat and potatoes carnivorous husband is going to try the Nutritarian diet.... For one week.... With a catch.... I will have to do everything he says at the gym for the week.  The reason this "deal" came about was when we had gone to our small apartment gym yesterday after not having worked out since all of the commotion that led me off of my 6-week challenge. I wanted to go because I was needing to read a bunch of blog emails and was going to power walk on the treadmill while I did. I thought I was being quite productive since I would normally sit my lazy booty in the back porch and do the same thing. Kevin, who went hard on the stationary bike, told me that when I go to the gym I should be dripping in sweat and pushing myself to work hard and improve. That is all fine and dandy, but not something I would normally do. 

Later on that evening Kevin decided to make me a deal: he would eat however I wanted him to for a week as long as I would do whatever he said at the gym for a week.  One week of hard working out to get my husband to seriously try eating Nutritarian?  IM IN!  So this is what brings me back to blogging after my shame of not completing my 6-week challenge: documenting my husbands first tracks in Nutritarian shoes!

We started all of this today, and I have to say that it didnt go half bad. Here is how Kevin (and I) ate today:

Breakfast: Dr. Fuhrman Antioxidant Rich Breakfast Bar (find the recipe in Dr. Fuhrmans Member Center), 1 apple

Lunch: large romaine (me, spinach) salad with broccoli, cucumber, chickpeas and OMG Walnut Dressing (recipe from My Beef With Meat), 1 apple

Dinner: corn on the cob, Broccoli Mushroom Bisque (recipe in the Dr. Fuhrman Member Center), Better-Milk Biscuits (My Beef With Meat), sugar snap peas, and blackberries

Overall, Kevin was a great sport other than thinking the soup was way too bland, but he liked it with the biscuits I made. He said this was so much more food than he was used to eating (volume-wise), but that he liked the fruit. He was disappointed that today happened to be Free Slurpee Day and he wasnt allowed to have one. As for my hard work out, I was definitely sweating much more than I am used to at the gym, but feel energized and ready to go for tomorrow. 

Im looking forward to the rest of the week and taking on new challenges at the gym and in the kitchen. My husband will not be the easiest person to cater for while eating Nutritarian, but I will make it work, and hopefully he has a longer list of vegetables and Nutritarian dishes that he likes by the end of the week.

Do you have any recipes you would suggest for a meat and potato guy going Nutritarian?  He loves broccoli, romaine lettuce, and cucumbers.... But not too many other veggies. 

Oh, and here are some fun pictures from our shenanigans over the last few weeks since I have posted:

Read More..

Example Day Eating Plan 1

Whether you found your way to my blog from searching "Nutritarian", or if a recipe picture caught your eye on some social media (mostly Facebook and Pinterest... Im trying to get better at Twitter and Instagram, I promise!), if you are new to this way of eating, you might we wondering what a Nutritarian eats day-to-day, so I thought I would give weekly examples of what I eat within a day.

You wont be surprised to hear that I eat a lot of leftovers.  From having a day job and an obsession with knitting in the evenings, I really dont have a ton of time to prep new and exciting meals every day.  Im preaching to the choir right?

My general strategy is to do most of my food prep for the week on Sundays when it comes to soups, beans, grains, and other main dishes.  Often I make enough to freeze and I almost always have a few containers of soup or chili in the freezer in case I need to grab something and go.

So without further ado, here is a sample day of what I generally eat and drink:

Before I left for work, I poured myself a tumbler of green tea to go.

At work I got a second cup of green tea and had my breakfast.  

Breakfast was 1/2 cup raw rolled oats, cooked in the microwave, 

and topped with raspberries, blackberries, and organic soy milk.

One more cup of tea in the late morning.  

Today I opted for earl grey because it was gloomy and I needed a pick-me-up.

For lunch I had my Beet, Mushroom, and Onion Salad (recipe here) 

on top of raw spinach and topped with chopped pecans.  

I also had a sliced bell pepper and carrot sticks with hummus 

that was leftover from a work party last week.  Apple to finish off with for dessert.

After lunch I had a full water bottle and took my vitamins (Vitamin D, kelp, B-12).

I had another cup of green tea in the afternoon as I worked.

As I drove home I had one more water bottle.

Dinner was later in the evening around 7 PM and consisted of 

Sassy Sesame Tofu from the new cookbook, Vegan Under Pressure 

(a recipe I will feature next week with a GIVEAWAY!), on top of sauteed spinach.

I had a banana for dessert afterwards.

To summarize according to Dr. Fuhrmans 6-week Nutritarian Plan, I had:

• 1 lb of raw vegetables in my lunch with spinach, bell peppers, and carrots
• 1 lb cooked vegetables with my beets for lunch, as well as veggies in the tofu on top of sautéed spinach
• 4 fresh fruits: 2 at breakfast with raspberries and blackberries, 1 at lunch with an apple, and 1 at dinner with a banana
• 1+ cup beans/legumes with hummus at lunch and tofu for dinner
• 1 cup or under of grains with oatmeal for breakfast
• 1 oz raw nuts/seeds with my pecans on my lunch salad

Health and Happiness,

Amy

Read More..

Meta Level 1 Day 1

So I started it yesterday, the 18th January! Thats the hardest part I guess. And for me finding time is also a very very very difficult task. I wake up early as it is, and as my daughter is still not sleeping completely through the night (after Christmas travelling), I really cant get up any earlier. So instead of working out in the morning like I used to do in the beginning of Meta last time, I work out in the evenings, when Button is asleep already. Today it was quite late - 9 pm. After I put the little pumpkin to sleep at 7pm, I had to clean up and do some work, and finally got around to the workout by 9.

DC. So let me tell you, while I dont remember it, my body DOES!!! I could only remember that DC is crazy jumping. But then the moves start - and here I go, remember even the counts!!! Wow. I decided to start off easy not to overdo it. So, 10 minutes or so, and it was approximately at the limit of my ability for now. I did 11 minutes, and then crawled dead and sweaty to drink some water.

MS. This is tough and easy at the same time. While my body does remember it, the moves are hard to repeat at times. I had to take breaks, and I couldnt to all the reps. But then again, I dont want to overdo it, I need to get into it slowly. So its fine. One thing I remembered I did the last time is switching legs between days, because after the first section, you are already completely dead, and the second leg doesnt get as thorough a workout. Standing abs is still my favourite part, besides the very last 10-20 seconds - when everything is finished and you know - YEY, IM DONE!

Im also adding 3 more things in the end of MS. First, a plank. I started with 20 seconds and will add 5 seconds every three days. When I used to workout pre-pregnancy, I used to be able to do 1.5 minutes. Now 20s was hard... That says a LOT. Second, I added some simple exercises for the back, because it hurts and I need to strengthen it. And third, I am adding as last time some cool-down section with stretching.

EATING. Im not so happy with my eating yet, but I will get there. I will post later about how and what I eat. :) Also to come - my initial measurements, day-by-day reports (or as often as I can), tracking sheets that I prepared which are more convenient for me.

Off to have a lovely long day with my Button and at work. :)

Read More..

Day 5 Week 1

Happy Friday!  I was so ecstatic to find that when I weighed myself this morning, I was down 7 pounds from where I started this week!  I realize that a lot of this could be water weight, but seeing progress like that is definitely the encouragement I needed over the weekend.  Here is my log for today:

Food log:

• Breakfast: 1 cup fresh pineapple, 1 banana, 1 apple
• Lunch: romaine lettuce salad with cannellini beans, chickpeas, broccoli, red onion, and a bit of Trader Joes Goddess dressing; 1 apple

• Dinner: Vrueban (vegan rueban), corn on the cob, baked fries
• Extras: 1 beer

Mmmm! Vegan Rueban!

Exercise log: Today I had to work late and didnt get time to exercise.  More energy to do things tomorrow!

How I feel:  Like I said above, seeing the difference on the scale this morning made me feel so encouraged.  I had a stressful day at work, and it just seemed like one thing after another went wrong.  On a normal day in the past, I would have let my stress translate into bad food choices.  I would think that since my day was so hard, I shouldnt have to cook.  Instead, today, I looked forward to nourishing my body with healthy food and to make my cooking time more of a relaxing meditation time for me.  

Since my mom is still on vacation with my sister-in-law, I went over to the house to make dinner for my dad and myself (Kevin came along with sausages of his to cook up).  My dad requested Vruebans, which is my version of a vegan rueban sandwich.  Find the recipe for the Vrueban here, and the accompanying Vegan 1000 Island dressing here.  

Tomorrow Kevin and I are going to help some friends move into their new place.  It should still be a lovely warm day, so Im sure we will break quite a sweat.  Im happy to help so I can get in some much needed arm muscle toning!  Im planning on packing a few snacks for tomorrow since we will be gone for most of the day and I dont want to be temped into eating anything that we might get to-go.  I may not be able to fit in my log tomorrow, but I hope you guys have a lovely Saturday!

What are your go to to-go snacks for when you have a busy day away from home?

Read More..

Tracy Anderson C1 1 1 results in numbers

Hey you guys! As I have not uploaded my results in numbers from Meta (yet), I thought to upload the results at least now after level 1 of Continuity... I dont think things changed much since Meta, but overall, I am happy about what I have achieved so far. I dont think from now on there will be much change in the cm/inches or kilos, but more in the way I look, but I am still expecting a little bit of change in things and bikini area. I have to say - this is my problematic zone somewhat, but hey - I am working on it! :) 

So here we are.

Boobs: -3 cm (that is NOT good!)

Under boobs: -5 cm

Waist: -8 cm

Hips: -6 cm

Thighs: -3 cm

Left bikini: -7 cm

Right bikini: -7 cm

Arm: -2 cm

Wight: -5.1 kg

These are the results since the time I started Metamorphosis in February 2012. It is almost exactly 6 months now into the Tracy Anderson method and I am still loving it! Most important things for me - there are no push-ups and exercises like that, and it works for me. What else do you need? If you found something that works for you - dont waste it!!!!

I am happy and satisfied. Today is the first day of level 2. Im excited! Going to preview it now, then workout, and a long working day for me today. Sigh. I know its Saturday, but I had a pretty unproductive working week, so busy Saturday for me today.

Cheers yall! Have nice weekends! Not like me :)

Read More..

Continuity 1 1 Level 4 Oh Boy

Level C1.1.4

Day 4

So folks, I started level 4! I was really tired and bored with level 3, as again I had to redo it at certain point. Sigh... Now thats done, and I was SOOOO happy to move on to level 4. I still get really excited about MS changes - they are new and unexpected. I know a lot of people like to preview the new levels, but I dont. I actually like to turn it on an be surprised. :) It means of course that MS does not take 30 minutes, but well over 40 at first - as I pause and rewind and do the exercise again. But it is so great - the anticipation of something new and you dont know what to expect!

My verdict so far: I loved level 4! It is weird and strange, but I still loved it! But beware: it is different!!! It is surprising and strange.

First, I think there is a little weird thing going on with reps (I am not sure if it was supposed to be that way or not...). Basically all exercises are repeated - and it looks like it is simply repeated by copy-pasting the video... 

Second, there are no arms with weights or standing abs. That was a shocker. So basically you do the sequence of moves for the arms without weights, and then they are repeated a second time. Weird. And then a shocker: after arms, you go directly to the mat for abs. And to be honest, I liked this little change - whether it was indeed planned or not... You would think that arm exercises without weights would be easy-peasy... Nope! I still cant even contemplate doing them with wrist weights: my arms are falling off as it is. The abs - well I have to be honest, all the exercises are doable and dont seem hard at all, but by the end your abs really hurt. For me this change is somehow "Back to simplicity"... It is great!

Third, the leg moves are doable! Wow! I actually can repeat most of the reps from the start and after day 5 will be putting ankle weights. And I like them - they are truly enjoyable. Lots of moves, during which you feel stretching all along your body. There are many of the exercises - about 8, and some of them I feel very very very well on my inner-thigh! Goody!!!! 

WARNING: Level 4 definitely has some video-making problems. So left leg lifts miss 3 exercises!!! Not one, not just a different angle, but whole 3 exercises! And nice ones too - from the very beginning. Hence, the video seems to be really short (total of 27 min), but if you do all the leg moves on the right and left, it becomes about 30 min workout. What I do - I simply rewind the video back to the start of right leg moves and mirror then for my left leg. By now I am almost able to do them on my own.

So, that is level 4. I have in generally not been eating extremely healthy. Me and my bf really want to go on diet - together to lose some of those kilos (I didnt really gain anything...), but I definitely lost some of my tight and cool abs (as I cant really workout more often than 4-5 times a week these days...)

But I think Im still keeping it up reasonably well....

I also found a cool way to sparkle the DC a little and make it a little more fun: little skirts for dancing and tennis! They are so cute - I love them!!!! :)

Read More..

Pre Day 1 Preparations

I received the DVDs last week. I got the food processor. I got the sports shoes. I got the mat. I bought all the groceries. This means, there is no way back. I am starting the journey tomorrow.

Before the start of the programme, I decided I need to eat my favourite foods, as I wont be able to for some time. I also had a couple of beers, and some Baileys - as I dont really want to drink in the next couple of weeks. Or may be only some wine occasionally.

Today I have spent two hours preparing some food... (I use the little sticky notes to remind me how many portions are in each container, so I dont eat too much... though it seems a lot of food, I dont think I will have a problem eating too little :D)

And to be honest, I had couple of problems

1. Portion sizes. I honestly do not know what size the apples are in States, but 4 steamed apples + 1/2 cup of blueberries does NOT make 8 oz (about 230 gr) portion (I ended up having twice as much actually!). I mean, its not bad - I did follow the recipe, and if the portion is bigger - oh well. Better for me, I wont survive on too little food anyway.

2. The food does take some time to prepare, so it is far better to leave some time for it, and not leave it to the last minute. Even though it seems easy: put it in the food processor and voila! But it still took me 2 hours to prepare 3 meals (out of 7) for 4 days. I also made Blueberry Applesauce 1 portion for tomorrow. But this means, that a) I will have to cook the rest 2 meals tomoro and b) spend another 2-3 hours cooking up for the rest of the week on Wednesday or Thursday. Oh well. It was me, who got myself into it. But main note: if you want to succeed, dont leave it up to chance, leave enough time for cooking.

OK, so Im off to bed, and gonna start my day off with Tracy - 6am up, then food (Blueberry Applesauce), then DC and MS (decided to do the MS second to keep it pumping through my body), then shower and then I have Maths course from 9 till 5pm. Crazy I know, but I am bringing my little boxes with my purees tomorrow.

Anyhoo, will update you later on my BIG START!

Read More..

Challenge number 1 who could have known !

So, apparently, my first challenge is to want the disks badly enough to actually get them...

I ordered the disks online... hmmm on Friday, 27th January 2012, and left light-hearted for a weekend in Barcelona - a great weekend, lots of fun and relaxation, read in my other blog. All along I was checking my emails now and then, and well - nothing :(. I only got the automatic confirmation, but never got the follow-up email with log-in details... Then I checked my bank account - nothing there either.

So, now it is day 5, my order has apparently not been processed yet, and after I sent an email to the customer services, I still didnt get a reply. You can blame the time difference, but still - I am getting impatient. (So much to say about the infamous TAM customer service - I heard before it is not the best in the world). If nothing happens by tomorrow morning, I am gonna spend the money to call inter-continental.

Cos to be very honest, I am afraid I wont have enough of excitement, if I dont get the disks and soon. :(

Never knew that my challenge would actually start before the BIG START, before DAY 1 :)))) But I will keep it up.

For now I am sticking with a healthier routine. I eat oatmeal porridge every morning - on water without salt or sugar. I know, some people say it is disgusting, but if you add an apple or mandarin (or any other fruit you really like), it becomes a really enjoyable breakfast - both tasty and healthy. I dont use any sugar in anything, and try not to eat too much sweets. I am also not a very bread person, but - sigh - I love pasta. So I switched to whole grain pasta at least. I use only olive oil for anything in the food (no butter, mayonnaise or any other oil). And I dont fry anything at all. I only eat fresh, boiled, steamed or backed stuff. Even though I still consume a lot of calories, but I am trying to have healthy yummy calories at least.

Hope to solve my little TAM disks problem and get it going with!!!! Fingers crossed.

UPDATE: At 10pm got an email from the customer service (yuhooo!!!), was able to locate my order, which was apparently shipped already today (so from 1 to 6 weeks of waiting for its arrival now.... :() AND got my password for the community. Will start getting acquainted with it and more and more motivated. Keep up the spirit!

Read More..

Level 1 grand results before and after with pics !

So a little late, but here are the first results. I tried to keep with the diet for the most part, but not all the time,  - it was not as difficult as I thought. All together I am amazed, and fascinated by the results. Really. So here it goes (pics are below!):

Weight: -2.9kg

Chest: -0 cm
Waist: -4.5 cm
Hips: -2.5 cm
Thighs: -0.5 cm
Arms: -1 cm
Left Bikini: -2 cm
Right Bikini: -0.5 cm

So, the numbers are not mesmerizing compared to other women out there, but hey, Im a small girl and any change is amazing for me. Any change is amazing for anyone! Baby steps!



And finally, here are some pictures of before and after. Indeed, it has only been 10-12 days of training, but I could def see more definition, my tummy literally went away (I didnt held my breath or anything!), arms seem to become a little slimmer and with muscle appearing to be there somewhere, waist is more defined... It is all small and tiny changes, but hey - it is only 10 days! Way to go! Love handles are still there, but oh well... Check out how differently my shorts fit!!! They are the same ones :) Haha!

Read More..

Week 1 diet

There are only two words describing week 1 diet: LIQUID and HARD! I know this is kinda funny, but very true. It is mostly puree-based (so if you like something crunchy and going to do this diet, you might as well forget about crunchy every other week...) - hence liquid; and I cant say it is so little food, but it is hard to fit in 7 servings of food a day, which are not such a nice consistency (to be very honest, I am not very fond of purees ever since I had to recover from wisdom teeth surgery) - hence hard. 

So below all the meals (the menu) - not in order I ate or they are present, but in random order more or less, with pics. Then some tips on cooking them. Then the reflections of each day.

THE MENU


Gazpacho - a portion. I forgot about chives and didnt have cilantro or rice vinegar, I also overdid it a little with cayenne pepper (I have very low tolerance for hot-spicy food), but oh well. But it more reminded me of a processed salad than a real Spanish gazpacho, but still OK (if you like fresh salads and dont mind them in a puree form :D). Extremely easy to make: just dump everything in the processor and press "play" :)

Sweet Potato Corn Pudding - it turned out to be less like a pudding, more like porridge, but still good. I actually liked the taste and was positively surprised with that. Never ate sweet potatoes before, so this is a first. I didnt steam the potatoes though, but simply backed them till tender in the oven - I still dont have a steamer. Next time I will try to blend the ingredients to get a more pudding texture. This is a bit more difficult/long to prepare, but I figured I would prepare lots (3-4 at a time) to save time. I then got 2 portions in the freezer (can unfreeze and warm them up in couple days and they would still be fresh) and 2 portions left in the fridge.

Blueberry Applesauce - really yummy, but it turned out too much. 4 apples (I baked them) and 100 gram blueberries ended up to be almost 400-500 ml, rather than 230... But at least it was a good start of the day - sweet and juicy. One advice though - eat it fresh! Apples dont keep so long after you cut or blend them (they change colour into this horrific poop-like brown...), and if you prepare apples (steam or bake them) the night before, it is not such a hard thing to prepare the sauce for breakfast for example. But it tastes so so so much better fresh. But I might try fresh apples next time...

Veggie Protein Soup is so far my absolute favourite on the menu in week 1. It is also liquid, but at least it is a soup - it is the consistency I am used to in soups. And I love chicken. I have to admit, I took a bit more chicken than there was in the recipe, but well its not like Im adding ham or something... The soup is also very easy to make, and I think I would even continue making it outside of diet. :) So I just took two small carrots, grated them; one and a half celery stalks - chopped them in the food processor, cut the frozen chicken into cubes (frozen so that it doesnt spoil, I put it in the freezer), dumped all of it in light chicken broth. While it was seaming, I chopped handful of broccoli and added to the soup too (almost right away), then some parsley in another 10 min, and voila!  In the process of making:

Final result:

Carrot Parsnip Puree is probably my least favourite on the menu for week 1, but its not too much of it, so I can bear it (I noticed, it is much nicer cold than hot/warm - at least for me). The soup makes it possible to survive the rest :) For a bit of a taste I also added a little bit of parsley into the mix. This is a box of 3 portions:

Chocolate Pudding - God! It is good. I had a great desert with my tea. I used strawberries instead of chestnuts (I have not been able to find them) as Tracy suggests in the Eating Plan - and I found that absolutely yummy. Dates were kinda rough, so they had some problems to mix with the test of the ingredients. But all in all it turned out to be great. Also a recipe to remember for other occasions. :) This is a box (sorry - not so nice-looking) of two portions:

Power Juice - the only part of the diet I have not tried, as a) I dont have a juicer, and b) even though Grünkohl (Kale) is traditional (North) German cuisine, I was not able to find it now. So, decided not to bother. And in general it is a lot of food as it is. May be the next Nutrient Boost Week. :)

About drinks. As I am a tea addict, I drink tons of it a day. Mostly different herb tea mixtures. To keep me warm and cozy.


SOME TIPS ON COOKING

Equipment

• Food processor!!! Do get a food processor if you dont have one already. It is nearly impossible to cook all this without it.
• Blender (if not combined with food processor, and sometimes a hand-blender might be useful as well)
• Juicer (multi-juicers are always good!)
• Steamer (electric or simply one to use in pots) 
• Water boiler / electric kettle - would save your time when you need to boil something, normally it boils water pretty fast
• Chopping boards, knife, some bowls, etc.
• Vegetable peeler
• Apple cutter is a really useful gadget - especially when you have 4 apples to dice and fast!

• Tupperware - any containers: choose appropriate sizes. I prefer to go for portion-sized containers, so you can easily take one or two with you to work.

Preparation - this is essential! Try to find time to prepare: do your homework.

• You need to get a shopping list ready (NB! Mistake in the groceries list on TA community website: it lacks broccoli on the list and adds garlic, which you dont need in week 1). 
• Do your groceries a little in advance - so you are sure you have everything. Get an extra on each (e.g. carrot, onion, etc.) - if your onion is bad and you have only one, there is nothing you can do.
• Plan to find 2-3 hours on cooking to prepare the meals for at least a couple days - that would save your time over the week. I would not go for cooking food for the whole week, as there is a danger things might spoil till day 7, unless frozen... But again, fresh is always better than not!

Cooking

• Power juice is definitely the thing which should be drunk fresh!
• Blueberry Applesauce is also nicer fresh, so either start a day with it (I do) or the other way around, have it as a snack before bed. Do not overdo cinnamon in it, unless you are a fan of it.
• Do several/all recipes at the same time.
• Try to think of efficiency and how you can reduce the time on cooking. Multitasking is essential!
• Calculate how much ingredients you need. Most of the recipes are for two portions, so it is really easy to prepare them twice as much for four days.
• Start with all the prep needed: 
• put the sweet potato/es to steam/bake
• (you can also bake/steam apples for then preparing the Blueberry Applesauce at the same time)
• put water to boil in kettle for boiling carrots and parsnip for the Carrot Parsnip Puree, in the meantime peel and large cut carrots and parsnip, and when water is boiled, put them to boil (I added light stock, which intensified the taste a little)
• if you did not find roasted tomatoes, you might need to roast them yourself (simply bake tomatoes, cut in halves and seeded on a tray open side up for 25-40 min depending on the size of tomatoes)

• While everything above is preparing, start with Gazpacho
• as I written above, just dump all the ingredients in the food processor, and pulse. This should take around 10 minutes or so (if you already have roasted tomatoes). You want a puree consistency, so leave it in there for some time. Then separate into containers.
• By this time the carrots and parsnip should be ready, take the cooking stock into a separate bowl, blend the vegies right there in the pot, adding some of their cooking stock till it is of the desired consistency. I also added some parsley for taste - was really good. Separate into containers.
• Now you can start on the Veggie Protein Soup 
• put the required amount of stock to boil (this can easily be done for the whole week and then frozen)
• chop carrots, celery (in food processor this would take seconds), chicken - put into the stock
• now take the corn off the cob - this is NOT for this meal, but for the Sweet Potato Corn Pudding
• then chop the broccoli and dump into your soup.
• Take the (by then cooked) sweet potatoes and corn, puree in the food processor, separate into containers.
• Your soup should be ready by now too - so separate into containers (and freeze if you want).
• Start with your Chocolate Pudding 
• melt chocolate - on slow heat
• in the meantime put the strawberries (I took them instead of chestnuts, easier and tastier for me, but blueberries and raspberries would do too), pitted dates (I chop them in small pieces, as they are a bit too rough and take some time), coconut flakes, and cacao powder in the blender and blend (I add some water right away too)
• add chocolate, blend and it is ready.
• You then you would only have Blueberry Applesauce to cook (but I do it fresh every morning and using an apple cutter, it really takes only 10 minutes) and Power Juice (again fresh every morning)

REFLECTIONS


Day 1. After day 1 of TAM diet, I have to say, I am feeling good. I dont particularly like the Carrot Parsnip Puree (it is primarily cos I simply dont like boiled carrots), but all the rest is manageable, and the soup and choco pudding are magnificent (and I feel kinda guilty eating all the chocolate and coconut - I dont even eat sweet stuff every day in my normal diet...). I actually feel like I am actually gaining weight. I am not hungry at all. It is honestly hard to find time to eat so many times and so much food. :) Is this really a diet?... I calculated - we are supposed to eat about 1.5 liters of food (I am not counting juice). I know it is low fat and all, but thats a lot... I think I had a bit more even.

Day 2. Still food is enough, though feels much less than the first day. Or may be I made mistakes calculating portions, so make sure you make even portions.

Day 3. This is when cravings start to come in. I simply want some diversity, not anything unhealthy... So I allowed myself to crunch on a carrot and an apple separately. I guess, thats not so bad.

Read More..

Day 1 of Metamorphosis!

Today my journey started. It is hard, but I am positive that I can make it. I woke up after refreshing 7 hours of sleep. The advice is to get at least 8 hours of sleep, so I will try to increase this and will go to bed early in the next days.

As my weight tends to jump within a 2-kilo margin, I decided to weigh at the same time every morning - when I am out of bed and before eating. So I started off today with 56.5 kilos. I know it is not much at all (in the past 3 days my weight ranged between 56 and 57.9), but i dont have that much muscle. What is my goal? Well, I dont have a clear ideal weight. But I checked out this body-fat-calculator (of course it is not as precise as other measures can be, but it seems reasonable enough, and I only need it for a little guidance) to figure out how much would be healthy for me - for my size.

So my calculations are:

• My weight: 56.5 kilos
• My body-fat calculated at 26% - which is not bad at all (for women 25-31 is acceptable as is seen here), but one wants to be in the "fit" range I suppose, so around 20-24. But I think while this is an estimate calculator, it is quite off - I definitely have more than 26%...
• Lean body weight: 42 kg
• Then the minimum I should get to is around 52 - which should still be a healthy and fit weight...

Hence, I will say my goal for the next 4 months is to lose around 4-4.5 kilos, maximum - 6-6.5. But for me the main thing is actually in the measurements. I want to lose 10cm off my waist, 10cm off my but, and tighten up all around. I will keep you posted how this goes.

About the day so far...

Th DC went surprisingly well (in the sense of endurance). I know the general recommendation is that if it is too hard to jump yet, one should step-touch, and then increase slowly the amount of jumping. I was semi-jumping from the beginning to the end, and in the end the last several minutes (the moment when the music is becoming more intense, and Tracy becomes more motivating), was a blast! I was really dancing my ass off in those several minutes. I cant wait to get to the point when I can dance like that the whole cardio, cos it is fun. For now though I am careful in order not to feel any pain or stress in my joints, and not to over-exhaust myself, and have to step-touch from time to time. But I have to say overall, I did feel a bit like a hippo in a skirt (and I was NOT wearing a skirt) - I was so awkward in these sexy dance moves... I managed to fit in the whole dance cardio in the little space I have in my living room: about 2x2 meters probably, so that was good. Kicked my little coffee table though a couple of times. Oh well, as long as I dont hurt myself or my furniture, I consider it all a success... :)

The MS though was much tougher. Arms again are my weak point - no surprise there. I had to shake them off like twice during the arms series. I still LOVE standing abs, but when I got to the floor work - maaan that was painfully embarrassing :) First, my wrists gave up pretty fast... So I did half of the exercises on my knuckles. Second, my supporting legs are killing me when I am doing it (I hope it is because I am learning how to balance...). And third, the leg feel like stopping moving after several reps. Well, to say that I did not expect this is to lie, but I was hoping I would do better in MS than DC, which turned out to be the other way around... MS so far killed me, I hope to get better tomorrow - now that I know what awaits me. Ah.

I will add about diet in a new post.

Read More..

Weekend and Day 1 Week 2

I hope everyone had a nice weekend. We spent ours helping some friends move on Saturday, then going boating with my dad on Sunday. A slight tan was achieved!  Today unfortunately brought tons of rain and much colder temperatures. That means.... Chili for me! Here are my overdue logs for this weekend as well as todays.

Saturday:

Food log:

• Breakfast: 2 bananas, 1 apple
• Lunch: carrots, multigrain chips, hummus
• Dinner: egg flower soup, basil fried rice with veggies
• Extras: 2 beers in the afternoon, 3 beers in the evening

Exercise: Helping our friends move, 1.25 mile dog walk

How I felt: I felt like I tried my best with being healthy while being away from home and eating out. I made sure to drink lots of water over the course of the day, since it was so hot. For dinner the Chinese restaurant we went to had no options for salads, so o had to settle for a veggie fried rice. I could tell that there was more salt and more oil in the dish than I would have liked, but you do what you can. I held off by eating a little less than I normally would, volume-wise. Overall, not the best day, but more motivation to do better the next day. 

Sunday:

Food log:

• Breakfast: 1 apple, 1 banana
• Linner (late lunch): 2 small breadsticks, 2 slices whole wheat pesto pizza with light cheese
• Late dinner: leftover basil fried rice

Exercise log: Day of boating at the lake. 

How I felt: This day was a lot of fun, so fun, that I really didnt think of food. I know, weird!  I dont know about you, but I seem to always be thinking about food. It was so nice to have an afternoon to just enjoy myself in the sun, and to not think of what my next meal would be, or when it would be.  When it was time to eat, I realized that, I wasnt necessarily hungry or "starving", but that I was needing nutrients. That was a good way to feel. At this point I was looking forward to Monday and consuming more veggies and fruit than I had over the weekend. All of the grains and not enough plant fiber made me a bug backed-up. 

Today:

Food log:

• Breakfast: 2 apples, 2 bananas
• Lunch: romaine salad with cannellini beans, cucumber, red onion, broccoli, TJs Goddess Dressing, and 2 mandarin oranges
• Dinner: bowl of chili made from leftover lentils, polenta slices
• Extras: dessert of Dr. Fuhrmans Fudgy Black Bean Brownie (if you have a subscription to Dr. Fuhrman Member Center, find the recipe here)

Exercise: Stretching in the morning and evening

How I feel: Today I feel great!  I am feeling like I am craving salads more and more.  When I got home today, I spent part of the evening trying new recipes that have caught my eye recently, like the Dr. Fuhrmans brownies, and these baked jalapeño polenta squares. Both recipes turned our pretty well, but I think the brownie recipe is the only one I will be making again. The brownie was my first real dessert other than fruit that I often eat for dessert. I have to say, wow it tasted rich! This made me want to eat it slowly and savor the square of brownie that I had. In the past I may have chowed down two or more pieces and end up feeling guilty about it. Not this time around! I am being happy about every good choice I make and knowing that I am doing my best. 

How does positive thinking change your success in achieving your health goals? What does negative thinking do?

Oh, and heres a funny pic I thought you all might enjoy...

Read More..

Bountiful Basket 1

Have you guys heard of Bountiful Baskets Food Co-op (BBFC)?  It is a wonderful co-op that allows anyone to purchase produce or goods on any given week to be picked up (for us it is Saturday mornings).  It allows you to have fresh, inexpensive produce weekly without bothering to go to the grocery store.  Here is the description on their website:

"BBFC is a group of people who work together for mutual benefit. This is a grassroots, all volunteer, no contracts, no catch co-operative. Since there are no employees at Bountiful Baskets, we as a group pay rock bottom prices on your food. This also means the co-op would not happen without volunteers. If you are interested in the co-op continuing, please volunteer occasionally. All it takes is a little time, energy and a smile. Volunteer opportunities include helping prepare the baskets, breaking down boxes, assisting with the distribution, and packing up. To help out, simply arrive an hour early dressed and ready to work with water to drink."

My mom has been getting a bountiful basket just about every week for well over a year and very much enjoys it.  She likes the mystery of what might be coming each week and trying some of the more unique items she hasnt before, while enjoying some of her regular favorites.  I havent participated in it all too often because I am generally the only one who eats the produce in my house, and cant always get through everything before some things go bad.  Now, however, Im going to be optimistic enough that I can get away with only getting produce from BBFC and grocery shopping only for dried or canned basics like brown rice, oats, nuts, and beans when I need to.  Im also being optimistic for hoping that Kevin will partake in eating a bit of the produce.  He was quite excited to see blackberries in the basket that I picked up this Sunday:

This time I got a bag of apples, blackberries, strawberries, bananas, romaine lettuce,
asparagus, oranges, grapefruit, leeks, cucumbers, zucchini, and broccoli.

This week I split the bountiful basket with my mom.  Her and my dad just got back from a 20 day cruise (20... I didnt mistype), and their fridge was as bare as I have seen it in years!  So far this week I have been enjoying the fruit (except for the bananas, which will be ripening for a while), broccoli, zucchini, and cucumbers.  I have special plans for the asparagus, the rest of the zucchini, and the leeks.  Perhaps I will post about the outcome if all goes well.

This weekend Kevin and I took a small road trip with friends to go into western Montana for an overnight visit to Quinns Hot Springs.  We enjoyed some time relaxing in the wonderful hot spring pools while enjoying the snowy forested surroundings.  There was (gloriously!) hardly any cell service, so I and mostly everyone else left their phones in the cabin and just enjoyed the scenery and company.  I did manage to snap a picture of Kevin and I just before we left.  Here we are with the cabins behind us (and my new knitted cowl and headband that I finished on the drive to the resort):

Im just a bit squint-y... and with no trace of makeup.  It was actually quite liberating!

I hope everyone is having a great week so far!  Does anyone have some good plans for Valentines Day?!

Read More..

Week 1 of ETL 6 Week Challenge

So, last Monday I started Dr. Fuhrmans Eat to Live 6-Week Aggressive Weight Loss Program.  I talk more about specifics of how and what I eat on this page here.  Back when I first read Eat to Live in January 2011, I went through this 6-week program... for 4 weeks, and then I met Kevin (my now husband) and gave a little here and there tweaking the program to fit with my life better at that point.

In the years since then I have had ups and downs of following a Nutritarian lifestyle through huge changes in my life including moves, marriage, new jobs, etc.  I have gone through a personal struggle with weight following hormonal complications with birth control I took when Kevin and I first got married.  I dont believe Ive mentioned this much on the blog, mostly because I would start to write a post and delete it thinking it wasnt right or good enough.

Long story but, when we first got married in 2012 I went on a pill for birth control.  Several months later I was noticing that I was having extreme fatigue issues (my iron, Vitamin D, and B-12 levels were fine).  One day I went home from work with what I thought was the start of an ear infection.  While driving one side of my face went partially numb and I had a panic attack before making it to a health clinic.  It was probably the worst day of my life.

The clinic doctor attributed the pain and part of the numbness to a migraine onset by TMJ muscle issues, which were aggravated by excessive caffeine from coffee I had that day.  He suggested I go home and relax the rest of the day, and take ibuprofen daily for my TMJ issues whether I was feeling pain or not. (Thanks doc... super helpful.  I didnt follow this advice with the medication BTW.)

If you have ever had a panic attack, you will understand how helpless and out of control I felt.  After this incident I continued to feel an awful overhanging feeling that something was about to go wrong... all the time.  When you have had one panic attack, your "emergency" hormones and chemicals in your body are going crazy, and your body reacts to those regardless of what the mind tries telling the body.  Because of that and an incessant fear of having another panic attack, it took me over a year to feel normal again.

After the panic attack, I went off of my birth control pills and went with something that did not mess with the hormones in my body.  During this time of feeling unlike myself and constantly anxious, I gained close to 20 lbs.  Since then I have slowly released some of those pounds while practicing a very loose nutritarian diet.  Now that I feel like my mental and hormonal health are under control, I wanted to complete what I didnt quite do over four years ago: the 6-week ETL challenge.  Last week was my first week and here is how it went (These pictures are from a great food tracking app that I use called Two Grand.  If youd like to join me on there, the app is free and you can search for my username, "amynutritarian".):

Monday Dinner: Sauteed Asian Veggies with Butter Lettuce
(I used the lettuce as little wraps to eat the bowl of veggies with...
yep I ate that whole head of lettuce!)

• Monday
• Breakfast: banana and strawberries
• Lunch: Large green salad and 1/2 bowl homemade bean chili
• Dinner: Lettuce wraps with water sauteed Asian veggies
• Dessert: watermelon
• Exercise: Actively walking around work, first day at our new gym with a 1 mile walk, stretching, and arm lifting exercises

Tuesday Lunch: Large Green salad topped with hemp hearts and ground flaxseed,
along with leftover chili and two golden beets that were sliced and steamed.

• Tuesday: 
• Breakfast: apple and peach slices
• Lunch: Large green salad, 1/2 homemade bean chili, 2 sliced steamed golden beets
• Dinner: Steamed kale with water sauteed Asian veggies
• Dessert: watermelon
• Exercise: This day I went home early from work because I tripped up on the treadmill the day before and badly strained my hip, so no exercise this day.

Dinner Wednesday: Water sauteed onions, garlic, mushrooms, and kale
with a peanut sweet and sour sauce, topped with hemp hearts.

• Wednesday:
• Breakfast: apple and peach slices
• Lunch: Large green salad and an apple
• Dinner: water sauteed garlic, onion, mushrooms, and kale
• Dessert: watermelon
• Extras: 1 beer at weekly trivia
• Exercise: Again, my hip was injured and I was unable to exercise this day.

Thursday Dinner: Lightly steamed collard green leaves wrapped up with hummus,
cilantro, red onion, carrot, mushroom, and celery.
Steamed green beans with cilantro hemp dressing topped with raw sunflower seeds.
This was by far my favorite meal of the week!

• Thursday:
• Breakfast: apple and peach slices
• Lunch: Large green salad and two red plums
• Dinner: Collard green veggie wraps, steamed green beans with hemp seed dressing
• Dessert: watermelon
• Exercise: I went home early from work again this day from an onset of nausea and just feeling unwell.  I thought the nausea might be from detoxing.  That evening, my sinuses stuffed up with what I think is a reaction to some chemicals they sprayed in my work building due to some flooding of a water fountain (I have to remember, this is just my body protecting me, but I sure felt miserable.)

Friday Lunch: Large green leaf lettuce salad (lettuce from my neighbors garden)
with chickpeas, red onion, carrot, ground flaxseed, hemp hearts,
sundried tomatoes, and cilantro hemp dressing.

• Friday:
• Breakfast: banana
• Exercise: Mid morning I met with a trainer at my new gym.  She kept it very easy on my hip that was healing and stuck to arm exercises.
• Lunch: Large green salad
• Dinner: Small green salad out at a restaurant (I ordered tomato soup, but it was far to salty and I didnt eat more than a few bites)
• Extras: sampling beer at a brewery

Saturday Lunch and Later Dinner: Collard green vegetable soup flavored with
black pepper and Mrs. Dash no-salt seasoning.
This was the day that I was feeling the worst,
so a nice mild bowl or two of soup was just what I needed.

• Saturday:
• Breakfast: Skipped, did not feel well from my sinuses and cough
• Lunch: Plain vegetable soup
• Dinner: Indian chickpeas and brown rice while out running errands with my husband
• Extras: more vegetable soup later at night
• Exercise: Walking around running errands

Sunday After Lunch: A big bowl of delicious red raspberries!

• Sunday:
• Breakfast: Skipped, did not feel hungry in the morning
• Lunch: Lettuce wrapped bean burger with sugar snap peas, bowl of raspberries
• Dinner: Grilled potatoes and whole wheat toast with preserves while out with my husband at a breakfast food place
• Dessert: homemade chocolate peanut butter banana nice cream

Summary:  I feel like I had a good rhythm to the week despite generally falling apart from an injured hip and having respiratory issues.  Places Im looking to improve on this week are increasing my exercise now that my hip is feeling better, making dinner a smaller meal so that I am truly hungry for breakfast the next morning, and limiting my consumption of beer to one on Wednesday and one on Friday or Saturday.  Overall, I am down 3 lbs, and am hoping to progress more this week without as many hurdles as last week.

Health and Happiness,

Amy

Read More..

C1 1 2 killer or just a new level

Its official: I started level 2 of Continuity 1.1. And well, I heard lots and lots about this level - that it is tough and really really challenging. Well, to be honest, it is hard, but I didnt find it harder than some of the levels in Meta. It had lots of exercises, it is almost 5 minutes longer than level 1, and yes - the moves are tough. But some similar moves we did in Meta, and I would say they are doable... But that said, I do think I will have some sore muscles tomorrow! During MS I felt like my ass was on fire, and after that I was a bit exhausted. Needed (and still do actually) a nap. 

In two weeks Im moving to a different office, and there I will have a big fat couch... and you can laugh at me, but I will start taking naps in the middle of the day. And I am afraid I will start living in my office at some point. :)))) Ooops.

OK, so great weekend to you all! Im going back to work and thinking of a holiday in December. Sigh.

Read More..