'I have learned now that while those who speak about one's miseries usually hurt, those who keep silence hurt more.'

-- C.S. Lewis --

Week 1 of the 6-Week Plan

(written on 5 June)

I'll start right off by saying I haven't been sticking to it flawlessly. I'll own up to eating some brownies and pizza over the weekend... Thankfully, that was as bad as it got. And they were deviations, not the norm. I also shared the brownies with my dogs, so that's good, right?

Overall, I've made some pretty major changes in my diet. A few weeks before this I stopped buying the frozen smart ones entrees (which, you may think is gross, but I really, really like some of them - mostly the pasta dishes). I started making more of an effort to make lunch and bring it with me. Sometimes that worked, other times I ended up in the cafeteria downstairs. This past week I never bought lunch. That was definitely made easier by staying at home one day, and going home early on some other days, because then I would just eat something at home. This week... it's only Tuesday and I don't have a lunch. I was exhausted when I got home last night and figured that the fresh fruit that I had bought yesterday could work as breakfast and lunch and that I'll make something - with leftovers - when I get home today.

I haven't really been too adventurous so far. I've been sticking with what's easy and familiar. I made a stir fry last week with onions, cabbage, zucchini and pineapple. Sometimes I'd eat it plain, other times I'd have it with quinoa pasta.

(written on 6 June)

 Last night I got home around 5 and didn't leave the kitchen until after 8. I only sat down for 5 minutes for eating. Other than that I was cooking. Or cleaning during/after cooking.

I was looking at my sister's blog for meal ideas (the stir fry was already getting old) and had smelled some really good things being heated up in the microwave (I'm very close to the break room here which means I smell everything being heated - for better or worse -- and trust me, sometimes it's been for the much worse.) so I wanted something that I could cook and would have good smells. In this post she mentioned sweet potato quesadillas being a big hit with her family. I looked at the recipe she linked to and didn't love that I'd have to cook the potatoes first (remember, I was surviving off fruit for the first 9/10 hours of my day yesterday and was really hungry) so I googled other recipes for sweet potato quesadillas. I found this one, and ended up kind of combining the two.

On the way home from work I managed a trip to the store that followed my grocery list exactly - always a trick for me when I'm shopping hungry. The one thing I added at the end was a French loaf of whole grain bread for a snack while making dinner.

My version of the sweet potato quesadillas -
(note: I didn't measure everything exactly, so amounts are approximate. when I'm dealing with vegetables, I don't hesitate to add more than it calls for, so I didn't actually measure the onions, peppers or sweet potatoes)

Ingredients:

• 1 1/2 cups finely chopped onions
• 2 garlic cloves, minced
• 1 cup red or green bell peppers, chopped (I used both red and green - I forgot to add the orange that I had also bought.. The more color the better, right?)
• 2 teaspoons dried oregano
• 1 1/2 teaspoons chilli powder
• 1 1/2 teaspoons cumin
• 4 cups peeled and grated sweet potatoes
• salt
• pepper
• cheese - I used a tiny, tiny bit to help the tortillas stick to the sweet potato mix
• 8 flour tortillas (my mix filled 7 - I was generous with the filling. and I used whole wheat tortillas)

Directions:

•  Saute onions, peppers and garlic until onions are transparent (I sprayed the pan with a little Pam so I didn't have to use oil.)
• Stir in oregano, chili powder and cumin
• Add sweet potatoes, cover and cook for 10 minutes stirring frequently so it doesn't stick (I would add a little water occasionally if I hadn't stirred it soon enough and that helped pick up the things that had started sticking to the pan.)
• Add salt and pepper to taste
• In another pan (I don't think I sprayed the second pan at all) I put a tortilla in to barely start to toast one side then I flipped it over, put a tiny (literally, tiny) bit of cheese down, dumped in the filling on half of the tortilla, sprinkled another tiny, tiny bit of cheese on the filling,  folded it and toasted both sides.

I ate mine plain, but you can serve it with salsa, sour cream, guacamole, etc.

Very good.

My dad had one too and said it had a meat-like texture which he liked. So it may be a good way to sneak in vegetables for people who don't necessarily love them...

After making one, I ate it, and then made up the others for leftovers. Then I took this recipe for layered vegetable enchiladas and put the filling together. I didn't layer anything, and just mixed in the beans with the vegetables (again, no measuring for me - be generous with veggies!). I'm planning to use the mix as a burrito filler or something simple like that. I wanted to get a few things ready so I couldn't use exhaustion or lack of time as an excuse for the rest of the week. So I'm feeling pretty good about what I was able to do last night.

That's it for now.

But to sum up, week 1 went pretty well even though it wasn't perfect. And I ended up losing 3.8 lbs. Not too shabby, right?!

Sometimes...

I look in the mirror and I think

how did this happen?!

And then I think

Blast.

And So It Begins

All right. I'm doing it. It's official. I have to do something, and I've known for a long time that this is the healthy way to get done what I want to get done. I just haven't done it. But now I'm going to. Do it, that is.

If you followed that, you're awesome. I'm not even reading back over it to make sure it's possible to follow it. So good luck.

Anyway, here's what I'm doing. Dr. Fuhrman's 6-week plan, as outlined on this blog.

-----

UNLIMITED (eat as much as you want):

• all raw vegetables, including raw carrots (goal: 1 lb. daily)
• cooked green vegetables (goal 1 lb. daily)
• beans, legumes, bean sprouts, or *tofu (minimum 1 cup daily in total of these)
• fresh fruit (at least 4 daily).
• eggplant, mushrooms, peppers, onions, tomato and other non-starchy vegetables, cooked and raw (unlimited)

*Beans should be eaten daily; tofu should be eaten less frequently.

LIMITED (not more than one serving):

• cooked starchy vegetables OR whole grains–Maximum 1 cup per day (butternut or acorn squash, corn, sweet potato, brown rice, cooked carrots, whole grain breads*, whole grain cereals*)
• raw nuts and seeds (1 oz. or 28.5 grams a day) or 2 ounces avocado
• ground flaxseed (1 tablespoon a day)
• soymilk, low-sugar preferred–Maximum 1 cup a day

*avoid breads and cereals as much as possible

OFF-LIMITS:

• dairy products
• animal products
• between meal snacks
• fruit juice, dried fruits
• salt, sugar

NUTS and RAW SEEDS, but not ground flax, are optional for obese or overweight persons while they follow this weight loss plan. People who have difficulty losing weight may also eliminate the starchy vegetable/grain.

 -----

I'm glad they typed it all up because I really didn't want to.

Anyway, I'm doing it. If you read this book, you'll see how compelling the evidence is and how much healthier a more natural and raw foods diet is for you. I've tried it before, with great success. My sister and brother-in-law have been following it pretty religiously for the last while and have had amazing results as seen here.

So now I'm in. I'm all in. I wasn't going to mention it on here, but I feel like I need to put it out there in order to be more invested. The more people that know, the better. Feel free to check up on me. I'll need all the support/help/reminders I can get. Especially at the beginning.

My Walk Tonight - Sunset

I love catching pictures like this.

Houston, Day 1

I left for Houston this morning and arrived in the early afternoon. I had a brief layover in Denver. Just enough time to get from one gate to the other and basically walk onto the plane. That airport is huge!

I came out to spend time with a friend and her four kids while her husband is out of town. I've been wanting to come out for a while, and this worked perfectly.

After landing in Houston I started talking to my seatmate. I asked him about his book 'Service' when I saw it was written by the same guy who wrote 'Lone Survivor,' a book about this military mission in... Iraq(?) where they get attacked and this guy is... the lone survivor. My friend from the plane mentioned that he was out serving when the attack happened and he heard about it. No details or names, but he remembers when it happened. I asked him about his military service and he said he served three tours in the space of five years and he thinks that's the reason his wife divorced him. When they got divorced he got custody of the children and left the army at that time.

As a side note - he said that his current wife went to high school with the line survivor and his brother.

I thanked him for his service and he responded with a 'yes ma'am.' (Speaking of which, this guy is a Texan and military... I just about got yes ma'am'ed to death) But my conversation with him made me realize even more that I don't understand most of what a great sacrifice it is for these men and women to serve our country. And I just want to say again how grateful I am for them. And I'm so proud of my granddad and brother-in-law and many others for being a part of them.

Well, there may be more updates while I'm here, but I didn't bring my laptop so I'll be posting by phone. Which isn't quite as easy and convenient.

My New Hobby (Addiction?)

To sum up in a picture -

And if we're friends on facebook, then you may have been subject to my latest ravings about this hobby.

I'm a trail runner now! (after four days in a row, am I officially a trail runner? or not yet?)

I love it.

And I'm pretty sure I look just like that person in the picture.

Except that I wear pants because I'm afraid that bugs and poison ivy will get me.

And I don't heel strike. (that was for you)

And my legs aren't that toned. Yet.

But other than that, I'm pretty sure I look just like that. (:

And it's sooooo much fun!

And I can say that the day after I came home like this -

that bump in the front shouldn't be there...

There's a pretty nice chunk of skin that rubbed off my left palm too.

But it's still fun!

I got right back up and kept running down. I figured that running down a mountain has certain risks, and falling down the mountain is one of them.

As a consequence of the fall... I took medicine for the first time in... a long time. I've never been a huge user of medication, and my job has made me even less inclined to be so, but I was grateful to pop four (yes, four!) advil last night. My body was aching and my knee and palm were throbbing. No tears, but I came close a couple of times. Especially when I had to clean it off. And then again in the shower. Ouch.

But again - still fun! Promise.

Oh, and an explanation for the fall - I've taken my dog, Max, with me each time I've gone up there. Yesterday I had him running in the heel position, and he moved just a little too close to me. I tripped on his leg and felt myself going down. I thought I caught myself, I worried that I didn't, I thought I caught myself and then, *BAM* I was sliding down the mountain flat on my stomach with my hands out-stretched also sliding flat on the ground. What always amazes me is that your clothing can be completely untouched and you'll have scrapes on your skin. My pants had nothing but dirt on them when I got back up, but both my knees were scratched. How does that happen?!

In other news... here are some videos - and other things - I've come across from facebook or blogs or otherwise lately that I really like.

This little boy has cerebral palsy and doctors said he would probably never walk. His dad comes home from overseas and is greeted with this...

I cried a little bit.


This next one is just cool.

I also came across this article on obesity that I thought was kind of interesting.

There are a few other things that have been mulling around in my brain but I'm afraid they each deserve their own post. Which means it might take a while before I actually post them...

Until then, Happy Friday!