Need to feel free to choose

Hi all,

I fell off the proverbial wagon shortly after we spoke last. Now that does NOT mean what it used to mean. No bingeing...

Even though there was a huge amount of food and choices in the grouping that I was working with when last we spoke, the fun in the game of using those specific foods in specific amounts and seeing what variety I could come up with wore off. I began to feel limited. Funny how that happens whenever you do in fact LIMIT yourself. At least it does to me. It becomes a diet!

Nothing adverse about the true value of the foods that were on that list, nor that eating them isn't a perfectly healthy thing to do. One choice at a time, making each choice in my best interest is the Way to LIVEit!!!

Inform yourself, listen to your body, trust yourself, be active and ENJOY!!!!! I promise before you know it you will be your best self, body... You will NOT feel deprived, even though, because you are well informed about GOOD for you foods, you do NOT eat lots of foods you used to eat.

Remember, if you crave something less than healthy, less is more, but denying yourself completely puts your mind in charge and the mind is a dangerous thing. Trust yourself! Live well.

1 week mark

I thought I'd let you know that I have been following Jillian's (last post) specific suggestions for a full week today. Eating every 4 hours just from her list of daily foods and I feel wonderful. I have been getting good daily walking sessions in as well.

I have yet to be able to eat all that is on her daily list. There is simply more than I can eat in one day on that list. I have tried to get everything in just in smaller portions. But they are ample, filling, satisfying and tasty.

I am not an early riser, so I have had trouble getting any more than 3 meals a day. I am a night owl but I don't eat after about 7PM. That is something that the myth busters have debunked but it was ingrained into me since childhood. Also, I ate late for years when I was working nights and I don't sleep well on a full stomach. Waking up with that food hangover feeling is not pleasant. I have found that even a healthy snack later in the evening stays with me all night.

I do NOT weigh. If you have followed Way to LIVEit for long or read back a ways you know that about me. I think scales are not only evil but extremely in accurate. It is not about the number. I need/want to loose all the extra weight especially around my middle that I have piled on in the last year because they make me feel bad. Look bad too, but this is about taking good care of myself NOT about judging myself.

The good news is that I DO feel significantly better and much LIGHTER. MY MIDRIFF HAS SHRUNK BEFORE MY EYES. I am taking care of myself and that alone puts a lift in my step. My body tells me when it is time to eat and I am listening to my body when it tells me I've eaten all that I need.

Specifically:

BREAKFAST: 1/2 cup of Kashi whole wheat or Oatmeal with my 1/2 cup of berries and 1/4 cup of nuts for breakfast. If I eat Kashi then there is also a 1/2 cup of unsweetened soy milk which I count as a serving of dairy. If I eat oatmeal I usually throw in cinnamon and 1/4 cup of milled flax seed.

My other 2 meals are a combo of ALL the ingredients on Jillian's daily intake list in the form of a salad, very good salad with beans (1/2 cupish) and avocado (1/2 small or 1/4 large) 1-1 1/2 cups of fresh baby spinach, 1 cup of broccoli slaw, handful of grape tomatoes, boiled egg, 1/4 cup of unsalted sunflower seeds. When I have them green onions, cucumber and oh yes baby carrots are included. My dressing is 1/2 cup of low - non fat cottage cheese and spices (garlic, red pepper flakes...)

Besides salads, I have made great chili, stir fry and omelets with these ingredients adding 1/4 of a package of fat free ground turkey, 1 tbsp of olive oil... To mix it up, I used fresh cooked salmon and even canned in water white tuna as the protein or a chicken thigh/leg.

This list of ingredients can take you anywhere, I am having a great time creating meals from it.

I measured out 16 oz of water in one of my glasses the first day and drink it gone as often as I can. In addition I drink 3-5 cups of green tea a day.

Here's to week 2!!!!!!!!!!!

A great tip: 2 tbsp of ANY spices add FIBER to your meal.

back up from The Biggest Losers' fitness coach

Jillian Michaels in a 2009 article in for women First, offers up a "fat-blasting diet" that fully supports Way to LIVEit principles. She makes what to eat more specific. She urges to choose organic, whole foods first. Says it will power up your metabolism and balance your hormones and in general make you feel better while providing significant weight loss. No talk of calories.

Daily eating specifics:

at least 1/2 cup serving of berries (frozen okay)

3 x 1 cup of dark leafy greens (spinach, arugula, dandelion greens)

2 x 1 cup of broccoli, cauliflower, cabbage or bok choy

5 x 1/2 cup servings orange, yellow, purple or red fruit & veggies (carrots, sweet potatoes, mangoes, tomatoes, watermelon...

add garlic, onions, chives and shallots to meals (detoxify liver)

1-2 servings of nuts and seeds or their butters - serving size is 2Tbsp of butters and 1/4 cup of nuts/seeds (almonds, walnuts, sesame, flax and pumpkin) MUFA - optimize fat burning

1-3 1/2 cup servings of legumes (chickpeas, red, black beans)

3-5 4 oz servings of eggs, lean meats, poultry and fatty fish (organic, free range, wild caught)

1-3 daily servings of dairy (organic and Jillian prefers cultured like yogurt, greek yogurt, buttermilk and kefir (enhance digestion)

2 Tbs. of healthy oils ( olive, avocado or flaxseed) ensure nutrients are readily absorbed

3 servings of fiber-rich whole grains (oatmeal, brown rice, couscous and whole wheat

64 oz of water DAILY

also drink green, white and herbal teas as desired

That is a lot of food and you are supposed to eat that much daily. If you were in need of a plan that would help you shop and or meal plan this is it, quite a bit of variety as well. No additions of the "other" stuff allowed.

Let me know if this helps! It helped me.

Learn it all over again

I am NOT a scientist. I am NOT a certified professional in the field of nutrition, or weight control, or... I am a long life experienced and intimately involved eater and "weight watcher." I began this blog because for the first time in my then 62 years, I found a way of thinking, a process that is working to better my health and happiness and it includes weight loss.

Recently a fb friend queried about shots to assist in weight loss. I didn't pay much attention to the actual ingredient. It was something like the sheep's uterus or the like that we were told was the answer when I was a young woman. They are bogus and can be dangerous.

Another friend wanted to know about one of many pills being advertised widely on the television right now - Lipoxene. Again bogus and likely dangerous.

Most all of these alternatives work in some small way, depending on your unique body make-up and lifestyle. I emphasize “small.” They are all short term and work for a very limited population. Most have a health trade off that is dangerous.

We have been trained to think that those dangers are a risk we should be prepared to take because our condition, being fat, is by far a worse condition. Being fat is so horrendous; they offer damaging shots, pills and life threatening surgeries to fix us.

Truth: Obesity is NOT healthy, but it is not so dreadful that it is worth risking your life in another way to loose it. If you are fat, truly fat, you have a health issue. It is in your power with good information to improve your health fat or thin.

We think the hard part is giving up our favorite foods or making time in our lives for that dreaded exercise routine and even worse how long we have to be that unhappy and uncomfortable in order to achieve measurable results.

The hard part is caring enough about your fat self to take care of yourself. The hard part is realizing that you deserve all the best including your best health even though you are fat.

It isn’t necessarily “easy” but it is simple and it is NOT a short term fix, it is a real and complete “life change.” Taking care of yourself, like you deserve to be taken care of is something that will always be in your best interest.

You need a thorough knowledge of your own body. The effort is doing the work, the research, to find the best information for you. This is totally an individual story. I don’t have the answers but I have done the work and the research. I can tell you what works for me. I will share all the information I can gather about the options. It is up to you to put together the program that works for you. The program that is best suited to your body, your health and your lifestyle.

You are worth it.

Move it or loose it

I just got back from a hike with a group of friends. They do it every Thursday. We carpool to local trails and beautiful places within about a 50 mile radius. They range from semi-difficult to easy easy. Everyone is challenged in some way, age, size,bad back, knees... It is NOT a stern, keep up with anybody event. Usually the terrain itself provides any level of difficulty. I have gone with them about 4 other times, sporadically over the last several months. I am committed now to go every Thursday. Between the fresh air, often at least tinged with ocean, the beauty of nature, today the sunshine and singing birds, and the social aspect, the rewards are so much more than the "exercise."

Earlier this week I attempted a yoga class. I have always been drawn to yoga and the numerous times I have tried it, have always been unsuccessful. I need a small, slow starting class, I think. Anyway, this was a small class with caring people. The teacher is an awe inspiring 77 year young master. They were all very accommodating but I was basically being drug along kicking and screaming. The screaming didn't stop for 2 days and sleepless nights because of all the unused muscles that I'd tried to use.

Recently, I heard someone when speaking about "exercise" say that they didn't like the word or the doing and that the KEY to an active life is to organize your life around "activities" that you ENJOY. I concur.

Most of us can let our wills keep us on the couch or in the easy chair no matter how much we enjoy some activities but if we win just that small battle with our wills and get up and outside to do something we enjoy, we will move.

Movement is ESSENTIAL! If you don't use it you will loose it. The "it" in this case being the ability to move. It is additionally true that if you "move it," if you use the calories you intake, you will loose unwanted pounds and inches and without movement you won't.

But I repeat, exercise is best if it is gotten with an activity you enjoy. Then it is adding to your life NOW, not a dreaded and not enjoyed activity that you require of yourself in order to get to some future goal.

"Youth is not a time of life, it is a state of mind, it is not a matter of rosy cheeks, red lips and supple knees; it is a matter of the will, a quality of the imagination, a vigor of the emotions; it is the freshness of the deep springs of life." suano mind (part of a quote received from my youngest son's I phone this AM)

Again for the first time

It has been a long time since I posted. I have NOT been using the time to my healthiest advantage. I did great for the rest of 2009 but in 2010 after a big life move involving a major refocus I left this blog behind. Sadly about 6 months ago + or - I began a self indulgent period and have undone much maybe even most of the good I had done health and body wise.

I have been reading my old posts and do not find anything that isn't truth as I know it. This process for healthy eating was in NO way at fault for my being sidetracked.

I have several different issues that I have to solve this time out. Probably the most important being how I can be sure there are no more "times." I want to adopt the value in Way to LIVEit forever. It has great flexibility.

This time out, I am working on an extremely limited budget - none. I am living off a monthly box from the local food share program and 52.00 per month in food stamps. I mention that because one of the issues I found with Way to LIVEit previously was the high cost of organic. I am only one, not a family, so I truly have it way better/easier than many of you do. More importantly millions of Americans are in the same or worse shape.

Way to LIVEit will now be an as you go, discussion of the available choices and priorities I find along the way. My intent is to gain back the ground I lost pretty quickly within healthy parameters and to build a guide to eating healthy without funds.

I hope to hear from any/all of you about your specific circumstances and challenges. We will get down in the trenches and find the best case scenarios amidst worst case circumstances.

It is a GREAT DAY! Great FEELING!

The "eating for what ails you" blog promised is in process. At this stage it is more like multiple chapters of a book, so give me a wee bit more editing time please.

Today, I just want to say is just an absolutely amazing day. No lie and I have more and more of these amazing days in my life since beginning on a Way to LIVEit path.

I've just finished making a miraculous smoothie with lots of yummy super foods in it and as a side dish had 1 slice organic whole wheat bread, 2 tbsp chunky, all natural, high in omega III's peanut butter and a tsp of fruit only jelly. This is living. Every taste bud is buzzing with delight and my body is bursting with energy and happy vibrations. I feel like I've taken good care of my self, so pats on the back all around and I feel like I've treated myself. Truth is I have done both and much more. This is what really makes this path work. It tastes good, FEELS good and is super great for your body, mind and spirit.

Never, ever, got this much pleasure out of a standing rib roast with all the trimmings dinner and I have gotten much pleasure out of such a dinner in the past and I absolutely will again BUT this is hear, now, every day, much less work and has much more long life value. I promise!

If you need any help identifying the foods that will make you feel like this please contact me. We will talk about your preferences and what ails you and I will come up with a grocery list of suggestions!! leave a comment with a return contact or contact me at trudonna@gmail.com

I wish you each and every one days like this!!!