Week Six

I need to continue reducing my appetite and eating less.  I need to do this more consciously.  Today I'm starting a local weight loss challenge and may join a yoga class too.  I really need to come up with a well planned diet of 1200 calories a day, and stick to it.  Then set a schedule for toning my muscles as well.  Next update will include the plan I come up with.

DR FUHRMAN'S DIET OUTLINES

Weight 171 lbs.   29.4 BMI.   45.1% Fat. 9 Visceral Fat.  23.3 % Muscle. 1470 kcal per day.

Weight 171lbs.
Bust 43.5"
Rib 36.5"
Waist 38.5"
Hips 40.5"
Bicep 13" right
Thigh 22.5" right

July 1, 2012 addendum:  Community Weight Race January 8, 2012 weight:  175.6 waist 39.5".

Week Five

The TOP 10 ANDI ratings:

Omron scale readings for today. Weight is 173.4 lbs,  BMI is 29.8, Body fat is 45.1%, Visceral fat is 9, Muscle is 23.5%, need 1482 kcal per day.

Weight 172.5 lbs
Bust 44"
Rib 36.5"
Waist 38.25"
Hips 40.75"
Bicep 13" right
Thigh 22.75" right

Week Four

I've been eating about 1500 calories a day but learned I need to eat no more than 1200 calories a day.  So redouble my efforts with Dr Fuhrman's plan.  Stay away from cheese, focus on S U P E R foods.

I got off my original 2-year plan by 4 months and haven't been able to make it up.   So I need to update the plan.  According to an on-line calculator, to stay at the same weight I am today I need to eat 1749  cal per day.  -500 cal per day, -3500 cal  per week is -one lb per week.

Eat 1224 cal per day to lose 50lbs by Nov 16, 2012.
Eat 1249 cal per day to lose 50lbs by Dec 3, 2012.  Lose 1 lb per week.
Eat 1312 cal per day to lose 50lbs by Jan 22, 2013.
Eat 1399 cal per day to lose 50lbs by May 2, 2013.
Eat 1486 cal per day to lose 50lbs by Oct 16, 2013.

But I got an Omron body scale recently and on December 25 my numbers were:  Weight 170.8,  BMI 29.3,  Fat 45.9%, Muscle 22.7%, Visceral fat is 9, I need 1466 kcal to maintain this weight.  Therefore to lose 1 lb a week I need to eat 939 calories per day to lose 50 lbs by Dec 3, 2012.  Goals are to gain muscle and lose fat.

Weight 171.5 lbs
Bust 44"
Rib 37"
Waist 39"
Hips 42"
Bicep 13-1/4" right
Thigh 22-1/2" right

Week Three

I have been too lax the first two weeks of following Dr Fuhrmans diet.  Especially yesterday when all I ate was pizza, fruit and diet soda.  Apart from the fruit it was junk.  I need to buckle down and follow the strict plan for the next four weeks.

I will follow Dr Fuhrman's Power Plate guidelines for eating:

1/2 of my daily calories from dark green vegetables, and another 1/2 from other vegetables, fruits, beans and legumes, nuts and seeds.
(Replacing the Grains section on the Power Plate with Seeds, Nuts and Avocados from the High Nutrient Food Pyramid.)

Now that I'm past the half way point, I need to define clearly my next goals.  When I passed the half way point I also just got out of the obese range and into the overweight range as defined by BMI numbers.  If I was still on target with my original 2-year plan goals I would be closer to 151 lbs now; and very close to being in the Normal weight range too.  My initial goal weight is 121-111 lbs.

BMI     18.5-24.9 Normal    25-29.9 Overweight   30+ Obese

                     108-145 lbs                    146-174 lbs                175+ lbs

Weight 171 lbs (but yesterday was 168.5 lbs)

Bust 43.5"

Rib 36.5"

Waist  38.5" (Women with waist of 31.5"+ is HIGH RISK)

Hips  41"

Bicep 13" right

Thigh 22" right

Week Two

Dec 10. This is the weekend of the first week transitioning into the Dr Fuhrman 6-week Holiday Challenge.

I didn't throw out all junk food and start out clean. I live with other people, its their house, and they would not appreciate such a clean out. That's not the way I like to do things anyway.  I'm transitioning into the program, taking this first week to clarify the important points that I should strive for.

When I start exercising I don't expect to do all the exercises perfectly, I expect to start out struggling and then slowly get better.  That's how I expect to transition into Dr Fuhrman's diet too.   Start out where I am and figure out how to better follow Dr Fuhrman's plan.

Dr Fuhrman advises "the simple formula is explained in Eat to Live.  
breakfast - fresh fruit
lunch - salad and soup and one fruit
dinner - salad or raw veggies with dip, steamed greens with mushrooms* and onions, fresh fruit.
nuts and seeds in the dressings and dips.
You can prepare all the food you need on Wednesday nights and Sundays.  You only need to pick a few simple recipes ans make one soup a week and two salad dressings a week."
*On the PBS show Dr Fuhrman advised all we need is 10 grams of cooked mushroom per day for benefit, this is one cooked mushroom per day.

One thing I did this week was buy ingrediants I've never tried:  kale, brussels sprouts, Braggs amino acids, and nutritional yeast.  I printed off a bunch of Dr Fuhrman salad dressing recipes and will make one or more of those this weekend.

I'll also make chili or soup this weekend, and some refried beans and hummus too.  Just to prepare for the week ahead.

Each week I'll try a new dark green vegetable.  I'm scared of dark green vegetables, scared to try them.  It makes no sense but oh well, now is the time to face my fear.  Romaine, Arugala (rocket), Watercress, Endive, Mustard greens, Bok choy, Spinach, Kohlrabi.   Cruciferous vegetables include cabbage, broccoli, brussels sprouts, asparagus.

I weigh 170.5 lbs today.  I am so relieved to be below the half way point and starting on the second half now.  I feel encouraged for the future too.

- - - - - - - - - - -UPDATE- - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - -
Dec 12. First day of week two, weigh 172 lbs.  grrrrrrr  But waist is smaller! YAY
Neck 13.5"
Bust 43.5"
Rib 37"
Waist 39"
Hips 41"
Bicep12.75" right
Thigh 22.75" right

Healthy Goal

Reading Dr Joel Fuhrman's book Eat to Live is so reassuring.

In the first place his diet makes perfect sense to me, its what I was always imagined I'd design for myself but I worried it might be unhealthy.  Dr Fuhrman is a scientist who understands anatomy and physiology so he can explain scientifically, in ways that I just have to trust, why a vegan, low fat, high nutrition diet is healthy and safe.

Dr Joel Fuhrman also reassured me that my goal weight of 121 lbs is fine.  Its not too low, not unrealistic.  In fact he suggests 95 lbs for a 5' person and another 4 lbs per inch taller, unless they are muscular and then their weight should be higher because muscle weighs more than fat.  So my goal weight is even a little bit too high!  That's super fantastic reassuring, because that means as I become successful at eating healthfully, with high nutrition and low calories, his optimum diet, then I could even get down to a lower weight and still know I am healthy.

Its weird living in America nowdays.   Living in London in the 1990s was more similar to living in America back in the 1970s.  In the 70s we had one idea of what was slim and attractive and it was much skinnier than what is considered slim and attractive nowdays.

I've recently seen 3 women who are lovely, not too slim at all, who deliberately tried to gain weight with diet and medication because people told them they were too slim.  Then when they got up to a "healthy" weight they looked too plump to me.  It wasn't that way in the 70s, it really wasn't.  It's completely confused me how some lovely slim girls think they are too skinny nowdays.  I just don't get it.

I don't mean to discount anorexia, either.  I personally know the woman who made medical records for getting down to the lowest weight without dieing.  She's a surgeon now and has to perform surgery standing on a footstool because she stunted her growth through malnutrition.  So yes anorexia is a serious issue.

But the girls who are gaining weight just to look "normal"  -- that is ridiculous too.   Dr Fuhrman suggests a man should be able to pinch no more than 1/2" fat at his naval, and a woman no more than 1" fat at her naval.  So I'm going to stand with Dr Fuhrman on this issue, a person who is 5' tall and 95 lbs is fine, good health.

5'1" - 99 lbs
5'2" - 103 lbs
5'3" - 107 lbs
5'4" - 111 lbs
5'5" - 115 lbs
5'6" - 119 lbs
5'7" - 123 lbs
5'8" - 127 lbs
5'9" - 131 lbs
6' - 135 lbs

So I highly recommend Dr Fuhrman's six week holiday challenge and even though I'm not following it perfectly yet, I'm preparing myself with groceries, knowledge, and just getting myself in the right frame of mind.  I'm gentle with myself, so I'm ok with not being perfect, and knowing I'll improve.  New goal based on wellness test is 118-121 < stay in that range.

Week One

Every month  I seem to crave a new challenge to keep up the momentum, or revive my motivation to watch more carefully what I eat, to strengthen my resolve, to continue to eat less and exercise more.

Starting today and for the next 6 weeks, I'm going to follow the Dr Fuhrman Eat to Live plan of eating mostly fruit and vegetables that are either raw, or juiced, or steamed, as well as eating beans, nuts and seeds everyday.

I am looking forward to it, imagining it will feel like a spa.  That's how I'm going to think of it anyway.  It's not so different from how I've been eating on the gluten-free vegan plan; except I've been getting sloppy with that.  (This past weekend I craved pizza and cheesy nachos like crazy as well as diet Coke.  Too much fat, too much salt.)  In fact it's the plan I always imagined would be the most healthful way to eat.  So it will be interesting to see how good it is.  Fingers crossed.

Weight: 177.5 lbs  (This weight might just be a fluke. I weighed 174 the day before and after.)

Bust:  44.5"

Waist:  41.5"

Hips:  43.5"

Bicep:  13.5" right

Thigh:  22.5" right

I am committed to my health and I am taking Dr Fuhrman's Holiday Challenge!  This year, as I celebrate  the holidays and enjoy the company of my friends and family, I will make food choices to support my health.

For the next 6 weeks I promise to:

eat a large salad everyday,

eat a generous serving of steamed greens with mushrooms and onions,
satisfy my sweet tooth with 3 fruits a day,
have at least one fulfulling serving of beans each day.

For the next 6 weeks I promise to:
avoid white flour,
avoid sugar and artificial sweetners,
use oils sparingly.

I will resist peer pressure and tempting toxic food that would derail me from my health goals.
I will not compromise my health to please others.
I will set an example of health-mindedness for those around me.