Day 30: Baby Step Lessons

Baby Step Lessons

Q: Where have I been?
A: Bleeding. Just allot of bleeding, pain and surgery.

Don't worry, I'm fine. But a lesson was learned. I had some complications that made it impossible for me to have my LEEP surgery as scheduled. Turns out, the complication, likely has to do with a change in my diet. Sometimes when I start to lose weight my body will respond in a kind of over-reacting-manner to the new lifestyle change. It happened in 2003 after I loss 30+ lbs on Jenny Craig. However, this time around, I believe it had to do with eliminating about 70% of process foods and gluten from my diet. I did it over a span of 2 weeks , but I must have eliminated the processed foods and gluten too quickly, because my body essentially went through a form of "withdrawal," with a severe hormonal imbalance, so-to-speak.

I spoke with my Doctor about it and he said that "our bodies develop a dependance to the hormones and chemicals found in process foods and eliminating them drastically can have a negative effect on our bodies."

He recommended that I spend at least a year slowly tapering away my intake of process foods and gluten, "a baby steps approach." He said that "especially a person like yourself [me] who is dependent on process foods with a strong sensitivity to hormonal changes, should take a long-term approach to weening yourself off the process foods and gluten, rather than a sudden stop."

So I did have my surgery, and it went well, but in order to get my body to stop "over-reacting," I had to double up on my daily hormone regiment. I ate without a care to the processed foods but tried not to overindulge. My skin turned into a teenager and I felt bloated. I was sedentary for about 10 days. I feared I had gained back the 4 lbs. I worked so hard to lose -- only to be pleasantly surprised to lose an additional 1.5 lbs.

Whoohoo!

Moral of the story: Baby steps when making a BIG diet change and don't worry about weight gain when you're sick -- just get better.

Wheat Wars: The Phantom Wheat Menace™

Photo by lusi at http://www.sxc.hu/photo/1148243

Is wheat bread bad for your diet?
Many dietitians, health magazines and doctors will say that it is bad for your diet and that the long-held belief wheat bread is better for you and healthier for your diet is all just a myth.

According to author Dr. William Davis of the book "Wheat Belly" claims that wheat is addictive as crack cocaine:
"There's something in modern wheat called gliadin that was changed by the geneticists to change the properties of this plant, mostly to increase yield," Davis said. "The unintended effect is that it increases appetite ... for junk ... so, people can't help themselves." He added that wheat consumption can lead to feelings of "incessant hunger." CBS News, http://www.digtriad.com/news/local/article/262600/57/Author-Wheat-Is-As-Addictive-As-Crack 

Is this a sensational method to sell a book? Possibly. However, this hasn't been the first time I've heard accounts about diets that suggest to lose weight, you need to simply cut out ALL wheat products. Dr. William Davis says on his blog, that to remove wheat from your diet overnight is like removing a splinter:
"Remove wheat, like removing a splinter that makes your finger hot, sore, and open to infection, and the body needs to readjust to this new lifestyle." -- http://www.wheatbellyblog.com/ on January 12, 2013 blog entry entitled Nutritional supplements in the wake of wheat elimination

My original dietitian in 2009 tried to get me to follow a similar method for bowel health. SHAPE magazine author, Jennipher Walter says:
"Don't be fooled by wheat-bread products. If the package doesn't specifically say "100-percent whole wheat,” then it's probably mostly white bread with just a little wheat flour mixed in for marketing. Also: Make sure each slice has at least 2 grams of fiber—another mark of a truly healthy bread." -- http://www.shape.com/healthy-eating/diet-tips/50-seemingly-healthy-foods-are-bad-you?page=22, SHAPE Magazine.

Even Dr. Oz is jumping into this fray of the Wheat Wars, with a November 2012 article about Dr. William Davis's book stating:
"Whether it comes in the form of organic, sprouted multigrain bread, a squishy white loaf or a strand of spaghetti, all wheat is bad for you, says cardiologist William Davis, MD, author of the bestselling book Wheat Belly. Davis claims that today’s wheat is both addictive and toxic. By eliminating what he calls “Frankenwheat” from your diet, you’ll dramatically shrink your belly and also ward off or reverse myriad health problems." -- http://www.doctoroz.com/videos/todays-wheat-making-you-gain-weight, DoctorOz.com

 It has been suggested to me that as a migraine sufferer I should eliminate the gluten and all wheat products as well. Well that's a challenge, isn't it. I do have a loaf of millet bread in the fridge for the upcoming week to try … I'll tell you what I think of it, and I will see if I can't eliminate wheat from my diet and see if it makes a difference. In the mean time, the war rages on and here's a funny from Stephen Colbert (warning, it is a little crass, not suitable for all ages):

The Colbert Report	Mon - Thurs 11:30pm / 10:30c
Thought for Food - Wheat Addictions
www.colbertnation.com
Colbert Report Full Episodes Political Humor & Satire Blog Video Archive

Day 18: Focus on Change, Not the Results

What happened to day 7-17? Life.
I stayed with my program and I've lost 3 lbs. It's been hard to get back into the swing of things, but I think I've found my rhythm. I was going to do a safety edition of my daily posts, but I've decided it should be a Royale Decree™.

Anyhow, I am not here to talk about food or safety. I'm here to talk about challenges -- medical challenges to be more specific. I spoke of a challenge I would be facing this year and it is a medical one. I am having surgery on Monday, and though I am not concerned about the surgery itself, I am concerned about sitting around on my backside for a few days. Unlike a cold or the flu, I know this is coming, so I am going to have to prepare.

I want to be sure that I don't get up often on my recovery day and that all my food and drink are healthy and nutritious -- and easily accessible. I am doing this, because I know my surgery might affect my metabolism. I don't know if this is a biological fact, but it seems that everything I do affects my metabolism. So part of me wouldn't be surprised if surgery does … hold on let's see what the interwebs say … according to Toshiedar L at http://www.traineo.com/topics/3540, my surgery will cause stress no matter what, emotional stress is what it sounds like. Toshiedar L suggests that I focus on keeping my vitamins and nutrients high and invest in things that decrease inflammation, speed wound healing and increase my immune system. Keep all my meals small but frequent.

Good advice for any diet, I imagine. So hopefully this small bump in the road won't make it harder to reach my goal. However a "goal" that focuses on just the results will distract me from what I really want, which is "change." I heard a quote the other day that I've thought about for days now:


"If you focus on results, you will never change. If you focus on change, you will get results."
–– Jack Dixon

So my new "goal" is the "change" I am going to to make for my body and my life. I want to change the way I eat, drink and live, so I can change into a healthier and leaner me with fewer health problems — and that's a good plan. Period.

Photo by miqueias at http://www.sxc.hu/photo/971651

Day 06: Dealing With My Head

I think I miss counted and today is actually day 7. However, in light of the new year and not to confuse myself and everyone, I am just going to count this as Day 06, as in Day 06 of the new year. Technicals, who needs them?

Today is a lazy day. I am at Activity Level I: Sedentary. I might motivate myself in about 2-3 hours to jump to Activity Level II or III, and go for a brisk walk. See Chapter 4: Fit As A King for the meaning of these Activity Levels. I've been trying to maintain an Activity Level of II this week, which means working out 3 times. So far, so good.

I had a severe headache last night and this morning. My medication for treating them makes me groggy and tired. I need to pick up my perscription for this medication, and the CVS is across the street, about a mile on foot. So that will be good to walk. Regardless, this is what I was talking about, in regards to the challenges I will face, and what it will take to stay on the path to health and a fabulous dress size. 

By the way ... looking for a quick and easy lunch without the extensive thought process, for only a few extra calories and we're talking about 20-40, choosing a fully packed Lunchables is a wise choice. For only 350 calories, you can enjoy a quick well balanced meal for under $4. Below is what I had yesterday for lunch. It was called the Turkey and Cheddar Sandwich Sub pack. It came with a small turkey and cheddar sub with low fat mayo, apple sauce, oreo cookies, and Kool-aide. Yum! I hope you are doing well on your diets today. Be well. 

Day 05: Get Thee a Playlist

I find the best exercise happens when you have a good playlist to workout to. I use Spotify. This is not a promotion, but for a small $9.99 a month I have unlimited songs I can take with me on my mobile devices and even temporarily store a playlist to my device, for offline usage. There are other companies like this I imagine, but regardless of what you do, get yourself a playlist you can listen too as you workout. This is mine on Spotify. Click the link below to listen to the playlist Workout NOW!!! on Spotify:
http://open.spotify.com/user/128009102/playlist/4iGuXU1VewUpqVQNoabpTP

ALSO ... this breakfast was 699 calories. Based on my Daily Empire (breakdown of calories per meal), I am allowed 654 calories for breakfast. Since I am over, I will lighten up my Queen Snack, Prince Lunch and Princess Snack by 15 calories. I don't want to skim on my Pauper Dinner and Peasant Snack, because I will need those allocated calories for my good night's rest. That's how I juggle when I go over allocated calories.

Day 04: Falling Down, Doesn't Mean You Can't Get Back Up Again

Wow, is it really only Day 4? I thought I was on Day 5. Guess that is tomorrow. I has been an amazingly weird week ... it was up, down, and all around, but I really did try my best to follow my plan, or at least get myself to start thinking in that direction. I know there will be many challenges. The migraine-headaches for one. Today I had a pretty severe headache. Because of my ordeal last month with the 50 day migraine-headache, my headaches get me a little worried that it might come back. The downside is when I have headaches as severe as a level 5 and up (1-10), all I can focus on is the pain and making it stop. Sometimes this means food. It never means run a mile or two ... unfortunately. It often means rest and sedative activity. Long story short, they always put a crimp in my diet plans. In addition to this, I am a woman and having a monthly reminder that "I LOVE SWEETS!!!" allot, doesn't help either. A woman's menstrual cycle can screw with their appetite, weight, emotional state and will power. It is enough to derail any diet. Unfortunately when I am in the middle of all that madness I can't allow myself to "cheat" as it were on my diet plan, but it does happen. So that is one of the many challenges I personally face, and I am sure millions of other women do too. But tomorrow morning when I rise, I will go for a brisk walk again. I need to measure the distance of my path. As apart of my overall goal of a fabulous dress size, my other goal is getting back to the point of run walking a 45 min. 5k. I am not a fast runner due to my asthma, but that was a personal best. I know I am likely back at 60 mins. We'll see. But whatever I do, the point is to keep trying.

Remember, "always do your best" means that if you fall down, you can always get back up again, dust yourself off and "do you best" at trying again.

History Repeats Itself, Plan Originale 2010

This is the Diet Royale™ The Originale plan ... :)
I weighed 166.0 lb on Wednesday, November 17, 2010. That was my best weight when I plateaued originally. My original diet was posted on FatSecret here in 2010: http://www.fatsecret.com/diets/member-diet/Default.aspx?dietid=234656

I reset my account to start over with the 2nd edition of Diet Royale™.

Day 03: Meal Planning

Well I took my own advice and created a meal plan for the day -- you can now get your own planner to start using by downloading it from Chapter 10 HERE. I ate what I had at home, because we are on a budget and can't really go shopping for new foods. I also just did all the dishes and I didn't want to do anymore. So that sort of dictated my day. My walk was about 2.5 miles this morning. I feel good and energized.

I spent my day formatting that PDF for your use. If you look at Day 3's meal plan ... you see dinner can be tricky. I know what you're thinking ... Canned Peas ... for dinner. Okay?

Well I have some leftovers in the fridge I'd like to get rid of. I don't want to do any extra cooking right now, so I eat what I have. I've been more creative than this in the past for dinner. Sometimes the easiest way to do a 250-300 calorie dinner, is eating one of the frozen "diet" dinners I mention or sip on a Muscle Milk. Salad works too. The hardest part in the beginning, is getting used to small or light dinners. Most people end their day with a really big meal. However, that's not an option in this plan.

If you are going to end your day big, do it sparingly, no more than once a week. Don't eat light the following morning to compensate, just eat better, and increase your activity and water. 

Good luck and happy new year!

Day 02: New Year's Eve & Pizza

So today went really well ... for the most part. I had Muscle Milk, a banana, Greek Yogurt with peaches, and 8 oz. of V8 Splash for breakfast. About 510 calories, and a great way to start the day. For snack, I had 170 calories in roasted almonds. For lunch I had chicken noodle soup, 8 oz. of Naked Blue Machine and 8 oz. of V8 Splash. I believe (without my daily planner in front of me) it was about 300 calories. The soup pushed my sodium levels past what I wanted, but it wasn't bad. For my second snack I had canned peaches. For me this might have been a bad idea. I find my stomach processes fruit really fast, so within an hour I was super hungry. Painfully hungry. I got home and I hadn't decided on dinner ... but the future Hubs wanted pizza.

Well I let it go, because 'heck, it was New Year's Eve, and only day 2.' I let the pizza win. One last hurrah, with the knowledge I would walk first thing New Year's Day.

By the way, as of yesterday morning, I weighed in at 188.8 down from 190. I am not going to weigh in today, because I know the pizza likely pushed me back to 190 ... and I'd rather not look and upset myself. I will save my next weigh in for the up coming Sunday or Monday.

So Day 03 is here, and I started it out with a good night's sleep. Woke up and did my body photos, for progress checking, and am preparing to go for a brisk walk.

I am going to have a frozen "diet" meal for breakfast. I recommend if you are going to have a pre-prepared "diet" entree, it be first thing in the morning, when you get to dine like a King. Remember, they are packed with sodium. So it is better to eat it in the morning so you can burn through it and flush it out with PLENTY OF WATER!!!

Good luck, and happy new year.

Day 01: Nobody's Perfect

Practicingwhat you preach can be hard and hey, nobody's perfect. Day 1 may seem like a bit of a challenge. If you’renot ready to start counting and planning a day in the life of your stomach,then start out small. I haven’t had time to buy new foods, so I looked in ourfridge, freezer and cupboards to determine what I was going to eat today. It isnot a perfect menu, but it did get me started on things to look for. I over didbreakfast by about 300 calories and 700 mg of sodium. No worries, just keep in mind that throughout therest of the day my meals would have to be smaller. You will notice I am not focusing on fat and sugar atthe moment. I will next week. This is just to get me started,

Here’swhat I did for Day 1:

QUEEN MARY'S DAY – The Royale Menu Planner -- Limit 1500 calories
Time	Event	Calories/Sodium/Fiber/Protein/Potassium
4:30 a.m.	Waking:	I am not hungry for 2 hours -- listen to your body!
6:30 a.m.	KING BREAKFAST	6 Nancy’s Petite Quiches 715 cal., 1080 g sod., 3 g fib., 26 g pro., 150 mg pota.
8:30 a.m.	QUEEN SNACK	Almonds 169 cal., 0 g sod., 4 g fib., 7 g pro., 211 mg pota.
10:30 a.m.	PRINCE LUNCH	Tomato Soup & Grilled Cheese 340  cal.,  1364 g sod., 4 g fib., 15 g pro., 488 mg pota.
1:30 a.m.	PRINCESS SNACK	Talente Sorbet 120 cal., 0 g sod., 3 g fib., 0 g pro., 0 mg pota.
4:30 a.m.	PAUPER DINNER	2 cups Steamed Broccoli 60 cal., 60 g sod., 6 g fib., 4 g pro., 556 mg pota.
6:30 a.m.	PEASENT SNACK	Yogurt Drink 70 cal., 40 g sod., 0 g fib., 3 g pro., 135 mg pota.
	Total intake	1474 cal., 2544 g sod., 20 g fib., 55 g pro., 1540 mg pota.
8:30 a.m.	8 hours of Royal Beauty Sleep	A minimum of 8 hours for healthy weight loss.

Mybreakfast, though really good, put my numbers over the top too early and I hadto seriously think before I ate anything after I realized how many calories andsodium I had consumed. All in all total calories were in line, but my sodiumturned out to be really high, and I needed to take 5088 mg of potassium just tobalance 2544 g of sodium. So I was a little short. As you can see, the firstmeal of the day should be the biggest … but try not to make it above 400calories as it will limit what you eat for lunch and dinner. I had to choosebroccoli for dinner, because breakfast and lunch were so big. However this isday 1, which though was a fail, got me to think about planning day 2 better.