Day 4 of the 6-week Plan

Well, my husband and I have just started day 4 of the Eat to Live, 6-week Aggressive Weight loss plan. If you'd like to catch-up, look here and here. My husband got rid of his headache about mid-day 2 and feels good now. He's lost 4-1/2 pounds (in 3 days) and he wasn't a big guy to begin with. I've lost 2. I haven't had any detox symptoms which makes me feel really good that I've cleaned up my body enough to have very few toxic things left in my body. (At least that's my theory.) I feel even better following 'the plan' this strictly. The first 2 days, I wanted to eat, just to eat. But I trucked through it and now am very satisfied with the food at meal times and not thinking about eating in between.

So, what's been different these last 3 days that's different from that last 10 months? I've noticed that I was eating bread and pasta. And more nuts. The bread I was eating was whole wheat with very few ingredients, so I will go back to eating that when I've reached my ideal weight. That said, I was only having 1-3 slices a week, I rarely had pasta, so not worried about that. Nuts, though are where I think the stagnant weight issue lies. When I would eat them, I tried to be very aware about how many I was eating. It's easy to eat way to many and not realize it. But I wasn't looking at the cumulative nuts in my daily life. I was adding sunflower seeds to my salads, hemp seeds in my smoothie, plus almond milk in my dressing and smoothie, plus cashews with a banana after dinner and walnuts for breakfast. I didn't realize how much I was consuming in a day,  it's a wonder I didn't gain weight! Nuts are insanely healthy, just not that many when I still have weight to lose. I know that life isn't forever going to be this restrictive, so it's easier to enjoy this phase of restriction, knowing that everything will even out.

Some people have asked how much more I want to lose. My BMI is still in the overweight category, barely, but still there. I have 5 pounds to go before I'm in the normal weight category and I'll be at the top of that. Dr. Fuhrman suggests in his Eat to Live book that I should be around 111. I'm 149 now, so according to his research and recommendation, someone my height should still lose 38 pounds. I do believe his research and trust that this is the path God wants me on, so I know that I'll end up just where I need to be. I want to keep my eyes open and my ears listening to what God wants and not get stuck on a number or a size.

All this said, this is truly not all about the weight. I have my eyes fixed on seeing my Great-Grandchildren. The Lord might take me home before that, but I don't want to be digging my own grave by what goes into my mouth and what I'm addicted to. Honestly though, it is so nice to look decent and fit in a decent size. I hated being big and was constantly aware that I was the biggest person in the room and feeling guilty with every bite. For me, life was humiliating. So, for me, to not have the filter of self-perceived ugliness to see life through is such an added blessing.

Tuning Up

I've been following the Eat to Live lifestyle for 10 months now.  My health has improved tremendously. I'm so excited to get blood work next year to see how my numbers look now. I had blood work done when I was about three months in and it was amazing!! Super low cholesterol and my thyroid, which had been out of whack, was in the normal range!! My blood sugars were great too! So I can't wait to see what the next test will show. My blood pressure is great too, sometimes too great. My blood pressure runs 90/60.

When I first started Eat to Live I had been jogging for 8 months at a 13 minute pace. Now I jog at a 10 minute average. My next step in the journey is to focus on improving my pace and distance. But for now I'm focusing on consistency in getting out there and jogging. I aim for 7 days a week of activity and am happy with 6. I love to do Just Dance with my kids (or alone :)) and that kicks my butt! I also love yoga and I love that I love it because it takes care of stretching and strength training. I knew I needed to start strength training, but the thought of lifting weights did not thrill me, so finding a love for yoga was such a blessing.

I've been stuck at the same weight for a couple of months. I'm happy with where I'm at, but there is definitely some fat that needs to be gone. So I figured that after all this time, I might be doing things that I'm not aware of, so I decided to do the 6-week Aggressive Plan from the Eat to Live book. This is how I started Eat to Live and really thought I was still fully on it, but after a day of doing the Plan diligently, I realized that I had let things slip. Nothing too major, but enough to make the weight stop coming off. I must say, though that doing the Aggressive Plan hard core, no slipping is so much easier now. My sweet husband is doing it with me. He has a bit of fat he wants gone too, but his transition is so much rougher. He's in bed with a headache and nausea. He ate good before, but not Eat to Live good. His detox is really something :( I have no headache and no nausea, so thankfully we aren't both feeling yucky.

So you might be wondering, what was I doing that was keeping my weight stagnant? The answer is, I was eating too much. I was eating past full and eating at night, a couple hours after dinner. And I realized too, that I was eating too many seeds and nuts. I was still Eating to Live, just too much. Dr. Fuhrman is right that you can't gain weight eating this way (minus too many nuts), but if you have weight to lose, it won't come off very quickly if you are over-eating. Once I get to my ideal weight, I will be able to eat more seeds and nuts, just like I've been doing and maintain my weight. I know that because that's what I have been doing, maintaining! But I still have 20-30 pounds left to go, so it's not my time to maintain. This has caused an issue in my head. I have a hard time being content in life, so to have accomplished so much and be bummed that I can't lose more was a wake up call to just be content!! I've had to remember to be thankful to God for where He has me :)

I'm back to the basics, doing the exact menus in the Aggressive Plan. It's actually really great. I have been in a rut, so to have variety is a pleasant treat. And to have my husband doing it with me is an added bonus. We'll see how he feels once he wakes up from his detox! Detox is so hard!! I'll keep updating and sharing about our progress.

P.S. If you are on the fence about this lifestyle, I must give you encouragement and say "Go for it!" Let me know how you do :)