Day 30!!!!!!

Today is day 30.

Concerning the dietary challenge I succeeded. The other two parts, not so much

Why did I do this?...

I was tired of feeling SICK...and FAT...and like I was killing myself slowly (or not so slowly) I had been to the Dr a couple of times for chest pains. I was taking ibuprofen on a daily basis for body pain. I had been told I was borderline diabetic and had been taking blood pressure meds for a few years. I was swollen and slow and couldn't do anything.

What did I do?...

I challenged myself to 30 days of a mostly plant-based diet.

I eliminated; dairy, white foods, processed foods and animal flesh foods ;)

That left veggies, fruits, nuts, legumes and eggs.
We began juicing during the challenge too.

For 30 days that is what I have eaten. It was insanely hard at time, once I even had to go to the Dr because I totally lost my appetite and no longer wanted to eat. But I got through it.

So... Today is day 30.


Was it worth it?...

My blood pressure is completely normal.
The swelling and water retention I was experiencing is gone.
Aches and pains gone.
IBS gone!!!
My weight is 25 (Yes twenty-five!!!!) pounds less.
My diabetic #s look normal (have to still have a full workup)
DH joined me after the first week and BOTH of us saw an increase in libido ...sweet ;)

I am totally sold on a plant-based diet way of life. I miss some foods, but think it might be a special kind of stupid to choose to go back and sell my health for a snack.


Now what?....


Another 30 day challenge!...stay tuned ;)

Day 20

Almost three weeks in now. School is CRAZY so I can't post daily, but I'm still in. Still eating right, still trying to move my body, still pursuing a closer walk with my God.

Overall I'm doing it. It's not perfect. It's been hard. I have failed. Mostly with the pursuing a closer relationship with the Lord. Second has been the exercise. But the food I have stuck with.

I have had cravings. Some days when the only thing that would satisfy would be pizza or enchiladas, but I have eaten the veggies and drank the juice.

With one week to go I am very actively trying to decide what I will continue doing and what I will change. Right now I believe I will continue on the vegan and juicing path. Too many radical health benefits to ignore. I do feel like I want to limit processed foods and possibly find some vegan cheese product, but I need to research soy. No mater what i decide I know now that I need to be cognizant of every mouthful of food and not eat casually any more.

I have missed a few days and will try to recall the meals and come back in and fill that in. I don't think there have been too many new things.

The Dr's office did call with my lab results. Everything was good except my ALT reading which they said was slightly elevated at 42. They want to check it again in a few months. Hopefully all will be good at that time.

I also have to get an insurance physical and at 50 y/o we know what that means.

So tomorrow begins week LAST. I can have a cheeseburger when this is over but I don't think I want one anymore ;)

Day 15

Drum-roll please..... HALFWAY THERE!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

15 lbs gone! High blood pressure gone! Headaches, gone! Night sweats, gone! Fatigue, gone! Low libido, Way gone!!! 

Ok, let's calm down.

Today I worked out on the elliptical. I felt good and energetic.

I ate....

Breakfast

Boiled egg
Coffee

Snack

Apple
Almonds

Lunch

We tried to make lettuce wraps... we need some serious help in that area. Is there a Lettuce Wraps For Dummies book out yet???  LOL

Dinner

Brown rice with stir-fried veggies w/ lemon and cilantro! YUM!

Juice

Green juice (cabbage/pears/lemon/ginger)
Orange juice (carrots/oranges/apples)

Looks pretty healthy doesn't it?

I wanted pizza (just cheese pizza though, no meat) ALL DAY!

Ok, 15 days to go...one at a time. See ya tomorrow

Day 11-14

2 Weeks today!!!!!! But...school is kicking my butt!!!!!!

I don't have time to breath, forget posting to my blog! I'm sorry to all the 2 or 3 of you who actually read it lol. I have kept up with the food challenge but have not done well with the others. MUST IMPROVE!!!

I'm going to post for the days I have missed and I will come back and add in things forgotten...

Overall... I am feeling better. Tim and have both realized some changes... no more headaches. No more IBS pain or bloating, we're sleeping better and...a surprise bonus...an increased libido ;) Not bad for an unexpected plus!

Tim is doing the juice prep and I am doing meals. It all takes a lot of time and then we have school work and our kids seem to expect our attention too... not much time left.

9/1/13

Breakfast

Coffee

Egg

Oatmeal

Lunch

Sweet potato oven fries

Cabbage

Cucumber/tomato salad

Dinner

None really…

Apple

Almonds

Banana

Mean Green

8/31/13

Breakfast

2 boiled eggs

Coffee

Lunch

Salad

Dinner

Veggie chili & brown rice

8/30/13

Breakfast

Boiled egg

Coffee

Dinner

Veggie chili & Brown rice

Green mean juice

8/29/13

Breakfast

1/2 cuppa coffee

1 boiled egg

Lunch

Salad

Dinner (I don't even remember LOL)

Tomorrow is my halfway point...all downhill from there...right??? 

Day 10...1/3 of the way!!!

Down 16 lbs...Blood pressure is 118/78...That is NORMAL!!!!!! Not even close to high today. It's been a long time since I've seen that... so that makes me want to keep going.

I will eat the piles of raw veggies.

I will get my health back!!!!!!

I will drink the green koolaid!!!

...but I would really like some pizza. *sigh*

So I called for a Dr appointment and promptly began feeling better. :)

Yesterday my appetite returned.

I ate...

Breakfast

Coffee
Boiled egg
Kiwi

Lunch

Had to take Eric to his recruit workout so packed a lunch. Probably too much fruit...I think I'm going to look for lettuce-wrap ideas.

Apple
Almonds
Banana

Dinner

Roasted Acorn Squash (sorry no picture, I was hungry and wanted to eat!, but...Yum!)
Big salad with lots of veggies

Juice!!!

Tim made us each a Mean Green juice ...I'm actually still sipping on this today. It's going to take some getting used to ;)

*No real snacks, I still wasn't famished but eating wasn't difficult.

Now, into the 2/3 of the challenge... I MUST focus on the spiritual more. I MUST focus on the physical more (though I did walk around UA's campus on Tuesday so that counts :) I want to see more weight come off.

The "newness" of the challenge is wearing off. It's gotten heard to find a variety of things to eat. I have missed soft drinks (although my friend Sandra told me to put lime in my water and that has helped sooooooooo much!!!!) I am fighting temptations more. I am having to tell myself that I want to be healthy MORE than I want that cheeseburger (although that cheeseburger looks pretty good at times)

Till tomorrow

Day 9

The good...down 15 *FIFTEEN* pounds as of this posting

The bad...still in survival mode..just eating to live right now.

On day 9 I also have my first on-campus class and as an older returning distant-ed student this made me incredibly nervous.

I still had no appetite at all, this was beginning to worry me... I figured if I got hungry enough I would and could eat anything, I mean isn't that what we are always told? But I found that I didn't get hungry and could barely stand to eat at all.

I was praying but the exercise goal got dropped as I wasn't feeling well and was just trying to move through the day.


What I ate...

Breakfast

1 boiled egg and 1/2 cuppa coffee

Lunch

I packed almonds, cukes, broccoli and apple

I ate the apple and cukes and a few almonds while I drove home

Dinner

Tim cooked stir fried veggies and served it over brown rice, with a greed salad, it was tasty but still did not wake my appetite.

I made myself eat most of it but then just went to bed.

As of today (day 10) I have made an appointment with my Dr.

Day 8

I burned out.

I had begun vaguely not feeling well but couldn't figure it out.

I was overwhelmed with my classes starting and all that I had to do plus my new way of eating. Maybe it was stress, maybe it was something else... Don't know but I found that I have no appetite and was forcing myself to eat. I manged breakfast and lunch and then stopped eating... Could not make myself eat and felt awful.

So ...what I ate....

Breakfast

Coffee 

Boiled egg & 1/2 an avocado

Lunch

Navy beans over brown rice w/ 1/2 and avocado (could barely eat this so did not finish it)

Dinner 

Nothing

Snacks

Nothing

I think I could have eaten something unhealthy but I could not make myself eat healthy food. 

On to day 9...