Weigh in #3

Weight: 262 from 265: 3 lbs lost this week, 15 lbs since groundhog day.

Chest: 44.5 from 45: .5 inches lost this week, 3.5 inches since groundhog day.

Navel: 49 from 50.25  1.25 inches lost this week, 5 inches since groundhog day.

Hips:  40 from 41: 1 inches lost this week, 2 inches since groundhog day.

Another 2.75 inches and 3 lbs lost.  That brings my total loss since thanksgiving to 44 lbs. it also makes my total inches since Jan 21st when I took my first measurements 15 inches.  

I am a little more comfortable with this rate of loss than the huge losses that started things off, because this feels sustainable.

This week has been good, no really bad cravings. I did eat a little more this week. It was Heidi and I's anniversary on Saturday so we went to Logan and I ate salami.  I felt so sick on Sunday and Monday. I also gained 3 lbs that weekend, mostly water weight from the salt intake, although I am sure that I was a little "full of it" since it took me until Wed to have a good BM.  I won't be doing that again any time soon.  I did have a soft taco last night (beans, onions, cabbage, green peppers, Guacamole, and a little chicken I couldn't pull out wrapped in a tortilla) because Emily made us a yummy dinner.  I am sure I would have been lower if it weren't for that also.

I have gotten very liberal with my eating over the last few weeks. I need to tighten things down again for my last week of the month.  Just juice and smoothies this week.  Then I will be back on food normally the next week.

on the workout front things are going very well. I have started doing pushups with Matt 4 times a week. He still schools me but fortunately for me he quits before he gets to failure point, so I can usually do the same number...it is just way harder for me to get there.  I did not realize how much core work goes into a good pushup, and hopefully I can tighten up my moobs a little! I have increased the intensity of my running in order to not spend too much time out training and it has been a good thing. Yesterday I ran on the treadmill and did a 5k hill interval at 6mph (10 minute miles) which was the pace I was targeting for RAGNAR in June.  If it had not been a hill interval I know I could have done 8-10K which is right where I wanted to be then.  I now have hopes of surpassing my previous goals. I will reset my goals after my 10k the end of March.

Thanks to everyone for your support and encouragement.

Izkiate revisited

I finally got my Bob's Red Mill Chia seeds and there is a reason that they are cheaper than the rest :-(

I mixed up some more traditional izkiate today and it was pretty good, but not as good as last week.

Recipe:

1 T Chia seeds

1 T agave nectar

1 T Lemon or preferably Lime

12 - 18 oz water.

Mix it up. wait 15 min or so for the chia to gel. Enjoy!

Bob's Chia seeds did not gel like the Good Earth ones. I was able to make them gel up some, but even in just 1 T of water, they never got to the point of Frogs eggs like the other did.  Just not quite as much soluble fiber in the shell, I presume that is because either they are grown in less nutrient rich soil or conditions, or more likely they have been "washed."

I must say, although I was a bit disapointed with the seeds, the izkiate was awesome. I had one of my best training runs to date as far as pace and energy tonight.  I definitely can see that there may be something to the energy of these little babies.  More than that I find it super refreshing!  The acidity makes it hugely thirst quenching, yet it is sweet. The chewable texture also makes it very satisfying. I know that does not sound too appealing but that is the best way I can describe it. It is kind of like when you get poppy seeds in your teeth after eating a poppy seed muffin and then you can chew them for a few min, only you get that with a drink.

Izkiate has found a regular place in my diet and training.

Weigh in Day # 2

Weight: 265 from 269.2: 4.2 lbs lost
Chest: 45 from 46: 1 inches lost
Navel: 50.25 from 53: 2.75 inches lost
Hips:  41 from 42: 1 inches lost 

4.75 inches, and another 4.2 lbs lost: Not too shabby.
I started this journey at 306 lbs on thanksgiving day 2012 - so 41 lbs lost since I started being conscious of my diet and exercise!

This week was a rough week, lots of candy temptation around for Valentines day, activities like Kira's tea, etc. There was a lot of temptation, in fact I ate dinner last night...Heidi and I are going out of town for our anniversary today (that's right 20 years ago today we went on our first date) so we wanted to go spend an evening out with the kids. We decided to go to Heidi's favorite Mexican restaurant Maria Bonitas.  I ordered the vegetarian enchiladas, and except for the meat (yes I really had a big piece of carne asada in on, hahahahaha) they were amazing!!! Big pieces of multi colored peppers, onions, tomatoes all grilled together fajita style, all I can say is they were delicious. I was only able to eat about 1/3 of the portion though, I guess that is a good thing, last time we were there I would have polished them off and Kira's burrito that she wouldn't eat because of the red sauce.

So the weight loss has been slower this last week, but I am kind of happy about that. It feels like this is more realistic weight loss.  I have also been doing smoothies every day and a hand full of nuts, so perhaps I am no longer on a "juice feast" but I am just eating a more healthy, nearly raw plant based diet...since I have been a little more liberal with my food choices I also feel like this is pretty sustainable.  I ate dinner with family on Saturday and Sunday when we were together all day, and made a good vegetable based meals.

I do feel really good, and again Matt and I are the only ones who did not get the vomits this week, so that says something about how my body is liking my new diet. I have upped my pace significantly on my runs, and am now running easily for 5 min in the my old yellow zone. All in all I feel like things are going very well.  Time to keep on going.

Valentines day, unlucky 13

Today was rough!
Work was really tough today. We had a customer system go down, at the same time that I took over for another engineer who did not include me on most of the communication so I am having to re-do some of his work. The result, I did not get my smoothie made until about 11:00 and my follow up juice was thrown together rather quickly so it was not really good. :-(

Then we had Kira's tea,  I had a sugar cookie, and soda for the first time in weeks. Those pretty eyes asking "daddy aren't you going to eat your cookie?" Who could resist? Was it worth it? Yeah, she was worth it, but the sugar crash was miserable.  I was physically ill for the next 2 hrs. I actually thought I was coming down with the flu that everyone else has had. Everyone but Matt and I were vomiting from Monday until yesterday.  We will see if I puke tonight or if it was just the sugar, but I feel better now than I did a few hrs ago.

Notes to self:

• Eat early!
• SUGAR BAD!!!

Izkiate how do I love thee.

Juice Feast Day 12
I picked up some chia seeds today (they were really expensive) because I wanted to try out izkiate. It was totally worth it.  I made some watermelon pineapple juice, added a teaspoon of chia seeds and it was fantastic.

The shell of the chia seeds kind of expand into a gell, like half set jello. It thickens the drink to a kind of frog spawn looking potion...not very appetizing.  That being said; It tasted great, and I really liked the consistency. I did experience the unusual energy and clarity about an hour after I drank the izkiate.  It wasn't the hyper feeling of an energy drink but it was definitely a pick me up.  I had another hit in my veggie juice tonight on my run and I clocked 5 k at 10:04 pace rather easily (today's run was a race pace run).  I am thoroughly impressed. I have ordered 1 more lb of chia seeds, and some more elete electrolyte water supplement  to drink it in.

Here's the rub though.  Bobs red mill chia seeds on amazon <$9.00 for 1 lb, chia seeds at good earth, $3.89 per oz.  Would I do it again? Yeah I probably would. If I could not stomach the chia slime, what would I do with the other 15.8 oz of chia seeds? So it was a good investment to try it out.  That being said, I am not buying any more chia seeds at Good Earth!

On a different note, I had someone comment on how much weight I seem to be losing (it was a guy too).  I also had to hitch my belt one loop further today (since last week). So things seem to be going well.  I feel really good. My runs have been pretty easy, no bad bonking.  I feel like if I get a twinge somewhere doing a sprint, I recover super quickly, usually the next morning I am fine.  And I am not experiencing hunger pains.  It seems that things are really good. I am really liking the plant based diet.  I  am sure I will eat meat in the future, but I will be more sparing with it than I was in the past.

Weigh in Day

Weight: 269.2 from 277: 7.8 lbs lost
Chest: 46 from 48: 2 inches lost
Navel:53 from 54: 1 inches lost
Hips: 42 from 42: 0 inches lost (this one is going to be slow going...)

3 inches and nearly 8 lbs I can't shake a stick at that.

This week was good.
Energy was good!
No significant hunger cravings!
Not a lot to report except for the total loss reported above, it was a pretty good week.
I will probably eat today, because we are having an amazing vegetarian salad with black beans. Chew well and it is not too different from eating a smoothie!

Juice Feast 2 Day 7

Today makes a week, I am excited for weigh in tomorrow, I am hoping to be under 270.  I had hoped to blog every day but I have been particularly busy.  This week, we had 3 sets of parent teacher conference, a cat die, a dog break a leg and have surgery to mend it...This has been crazy week to say the least.

I have been tempted many times to stop the fast and just go back to food with all the stress, but I stayed strong and am continuing on.

There are a few things that really help -

• I am allowing the consumption of nuts when things get really hard. For example yesterday when I was out and about I got some nuts at the store and 1/4 cup of nuts is really satisfying.
• Smoothies - These help keep me full in the morning and help keep things moving in my colon.
• The whole family knows about the fast and is helping keep me honest.
• Writing this blog - I would have to admit to all of you that I was quitting and that would be difficult.
• I got a great book The Healthy Green Drink Diet with some great recipes for juice and smoothies that help keep things interesting without any horrible mistakes (gagging down juice because it is nasty but you can't stand the thought of wasting the produce it came from is difficult.
• I am getting better at juicing, I am learning what my body likes and what it doesn't like. When I just listen I know what will taste good to me.
• Heidi is Juicing with me in the mornings and afternoons - although this means making lots more juice, it is great to have someone doing it with you.

It is also notable that I have felt pretty good. This morning especially I feel really good.  I have been sleeping well, last night my hose pulled out of my mask and I did not jerk awake with an apnea episode like I used to. It wasn't until the dog needed to go out that I even woke up. I was able to get up and work with a very clear mind. I got a ton accomplished in my first hr of work today even with the kids getting ready for school.

I feel like:

• I am leaner - this is a painless way to strip a few pounds.
• I am clearer - My mind especially is more able to work through issues. This last week was rough, but I feel like I am more able to cope with the stress than a few months back.
• I am more healthy - Weight aside, I have not gotten as sick as the rest of the family in the same time. When I run and get a twinge somewhere, it feels better the next day instead of lingering for 2-5 days like it did before.

I will definitely keep the Green Smoothie breakfast for many moons to come. I can feel the pendulum swinging to the other side, I am hoping that I can slow it as it comes back to find more stability and balance, instead of always leaning to one side or the other.

Looking forward to measurement day tomorrow!

Juice Feast 2 Day 3

Great energy today. I woke early about 5, the kids came down to bed so we just snigged the morning away.

Breakfast is pumkin, spinach, avocado, banana, and raspberry smoothie.  Yummy and super creamy!

Today would be a good day to show my juicing process.
First I blend up all the fruits and veggies, juicy ones on the bottom, less juicy like greens and celery on top. I add as much water as is necessary to get it to blend, just about half a cup at a time. Most days I can juice with just half a cup of water or no water if I have citrus and a cucumber on the bottom.

Then comes the pictoral fun part:

These are the strainers I used $2 at The Home Depot.  They come in a two pack. These do let a little more fiber through than real Nut Mylk bags but they are a fraction of the price, and a tiny bit of fiber is not a bad thing.

I put the strainer over a pitcher and pour in the liquid, generally four cups or less because it gets a little unmanageable with too much.  This batch is V10, in the order added to the blender: Tomato, Lemmon, Cucumber, Apple, 1/2 cup Carrots, 1/2 Onion, Celery, Spinach, 1/2 beet (amazing how so little over rides all other colors), Ginger.  I blended through the onion first, and used the celery to push everything down into the blades, once that was going I added the remaining items still using the celery as a plunger with the Spinach.  Then poured 4 cups into the strainer.

Pick up the strainer, note the juice running off is a beautiful purple from the Beet. I could just leave this for an hour or so and 75-90% of the juice would strain through but I am impatient, so I start massaging the juice ball. I have found that when it is full, milking the bottom so that the juice rises makes it come out faster (I am going to have to get a picture of that or make a video). This allows the juice to rise in the strainer, and strain from the unplugged holes above. I continue gently massaging the mass until too little juice comes from each squeeze to warrant my continued effort.

Look how much fiber is left after squeezing the juice out, not too bad considering the giant bulb that was up there just a minute ago.  Dump out the fiber into your handy dandy composter (feed it to your worms!!), and you have a bunch of juice.  at this point I usually rinse the filter before filtering the rest of the pulp from the blender, it is much easier when the pours of the filter are not all plugged up.

This is the rinsed filter. Note that it is stained green from all of the green juice. So far I have only used 1 in roughly 20 days of juicing (at least on batch of juice every day).

Not much to it, I generally spend 15 min in the morning getting my juice ready that takes me through half the day. So how much is that you ask? Well: here you see the juice from this morning, it started as about 8 cups of pulp (the blender will hold 9 if I am careful. This is a 1 gallon pitcher so from 8 cups of pulp we get just over 1/3 of a gallon of juice (I think this was right at 6 cups).

Make sure to store your juice in an air tight container, and make sure to use an acid in your juice to prevent oxidation, you can see a little foam on top of this juice. I try to drink the foamy part right away because it will start to oxidize, lose vitality and turn brown quickly.

Juice Feast 2 Day 2

I feel really good today. It is fast Sunday so I normally would fast two meals anyway.  I slept really well last night. I have good energy today.

Today's juice is citrus, pear, kale.  It is tasty, although with something so simple I would probably use spinach instead of kale in the future because the kale is a little stronger flavored.

I had to take in one more hole in my belt this morning while dressing (one benefit of only wearing a belt once a week.)

I made Chili for dinner, and did have a minute where I thought I might eat (I did taste the food to make sure it was flavored ok, but grand total I had about half a table spoon) because it smelled so good. In the end I held out, and once I had my juice the cravings left.

Bottom line:

• I feel good
• No significant cravings
• No pain
• Good energy level

All in all that feels like a success. Now on to tomorrow.

Juice Feast Part Deux 28 days.

Weight: 277
Chest: 48
Navel:54
Hips: 42

Groundhogs day - I am going to do it again, and again, for the next 28 days!

Ok so I am doing the juice feast again with a couple of changes:

1. I am not going to weigh myself every day. Weigh-ins will be Saturdays in the morning.
2. I am going to add nut mylk - I really feel like I need the little bit of good fat that comes with the nuts.
3. I am going to do smoothies at least 1 day a week (preferably 2) because a good BM is important.
4. Because I am doing smoothies, if there is an important meal I will eat whole plant based food (not highly refined). however this cannot happen more than 1 meal a week and should happen in conjunction with smoothie day.
5. I will blog about how I feel and what I am consuming as well as some of my exercise activities.

This should be good times. I feel like I have a pretty good handle on what this will be like this time around, and I am looking forward to it.  Here we go through March 1st.  I expect I will not lose as fast as last time because of the modifications but I am ok with that. This is about resetting my body's desire for animal products.  I am also much smarter this time around, about what I am consuming and why. 

My Goal is to make this painless enough and still effective enough, that even Emily will try it for a week with me.