Currently, cutting out soft drinks feels easy. The last soft drink I had was in the first half of the day on 10-26-2011. Since that time, I have only been drinking water. I do not feel deprived at all. It tastes really good.
The perk to this is that I am noticing that my appetite seems less. It appears to be acting like an appetite depressant as I am filling up a lot faster. I am a drink guzzler. I did that with soft drinks. I am doing that with water. When I eat, which is the main time that I drink, I don't just take sips between bites, I gulp. I usually down 2 to 4 glasses of a drink with lots of ice. So it appears that the main factor in seeming to have a smaller appetite for food is the water versus soft drink factor. The jury is still out on this, but it seems to be the case - so far.
My current treat that I am greatly enjoying is Hazelnut Cappuccino made with milk. I have a Cappuccino machine that heats and froths the drink for you. I usually make 2 cups; although, this late Sunday afternoon, I made 3 cups. It tasted yummy!
Now, the question is, do I go with the nutrition experts that state that milk is good for you and therefore, I am doing myself a favor nutritionally?
OR
Do I go with the other nutrition experts is state that milk is bad for you once you get past the age of 3 and it actually leaches calcium from your bones rather than adds or aids this factor?
That is one of my great challenges is knowing who I should believe. Part of why I ended my attempt to make a lifestyle change toward being healthy and whole last spring was the fact that I got myself all confused by trying to follow two different theories and not knowing which one was the one that is accurate. I still am confused. I probably will try to make an appointment with the hospital nutritionist I met with when finishing up my cancer treatments to try to get some clarification.
I just figure that drinking milk flavored with Hazelnut is going to beat drinking soft drinks. Plus, it makes me feel really full and satisfies my sweet tooth. As a result, I am not as tempted to snack on cookies or other sugary desserts.
My other thing that I am really enjoying is eating Gala Apples again. I am loving their crisp sweet flavor. Once again, I am confused on that score as well. The Fit for Life Diet states that you should never eat raw fruit with anything but leafy greens as they feel that eating apples in combination with meat or starch or anything else will allow the apples or other fruit to go rancid in your stomach. They feel that you should eat an apple by itself and let 30 minutes go by before eating anything else. Or if you have had a non-fruit meal, you need to allow a minimum of 3 hours go by (for digestion reasons) before you can eat fruit again for the same reason. In other words, they state that you should only eat raw fruit on an empty stomach. If you must combine it with food, it should only be leafy greens or celery.
If this is true, this is sad as I find that eating one of these sweet crispy apples makes a great-tasting dessert or snack. I want to consult my nutritionist on this factor as well.
Does anybody have any clarifying thoughts on the matter? Thanks in advance for your help.
Sunday, October 30, 2011
Friday, October 28, 2011
Latest progress report - late October 2011
I am pleased to report that I only drank water yesterday and today. I do not want to make a definitive statement that I am cutting out soft drinks as that seems too drastic. I will simply take it one day at a time. Yesterday, it felt easy to only drink water. Of course, today is not yet over; however, I did not feel at all deprived by drinking ice water only with my lunch at Pizza Plus.
I feel that I could make a significant improvement to my weight situation by no longer drinking soft drinks. One day at a time will be my key.
I called my oncologist today to get more details about the whole soy situation. I had forgotten to ask when I had my quarterly check-up. If you have not read my other blog, then you may not know that I am a breast cancer survivor and cancer-free aka 'in remission'. I had already learned that I should not take 'One A Day' Menopause for hot flashes as it had soy in it. Soy, in the form they utilize it in those vitamins, contributes to cancer. That made me wonder about soy milk, etc. So today I called to request clarification. This is what I learned.
Soy is an artificial estrogen. In case you are not aware, estrogen feeds cancer. Therefore, they recommend that I do not drink soy milk or take soy in any form. I was not actually drinking soy milk, but I sometimes used it as a milk substitute in recipes. I will no longer do that.
My other aim is to work on portion control. I did fairly well on that yesterday and not so good at it so far today. I can certainly see this will be a one-day-at-a-time effort.
I feel that I could make a significant improvement to my weight situation by no longer drinking soft drinks. One day at a time will be my key.
I called my oncologist today to get more details about the whole soy situation. I had forgotten to ask when I had my quarterly check-up. If you have not read my other blog, then you may not know that I am a breast cancer survivor and cancer-free aka 'in remission'. I had already learned that I should not take 'One A Day' Menopause for hot flashes as it had soy in it. Soy, in the form they utilize it in those vitamins, contributes to cancer. That made me wonder about soy milk, etc. So today I called to request clarification. This is what I learned.
Soy is an artificial estrogen. In case you are not aware, estrogen feeds cancer. Therefore, they recommend that I do not drink soy milk or take soy in any form. I was not actually drinking soy milk, but I sometimes used it as a milk substitute in recipes. I will no longer do that.
My other aim is to work on portion control. I did fairly well on that yesterday and not so good at it so far today. I can certainly see this will be a one-day-at-a-time effort.
Wednesday, October 26, 2011
A strange dream and a new beginning
This morning of 10-26-2011, I woke up thinking about my very strange dream. I dreamed that a woman and I were either undercover or in hiding. The two of us had somehow borrowed or temporarily traded bodies with two other women who were also in hiding or undercover in their location.
The woman I was with was deeply depressed and wanted to do heavy drugs to escape. I did my best to dissuade her from taking this course as the body she was currently inhabiting was only on loan to her. I was certain that the owner of the body would not want her body ruined in this way.
I awoke wondering if I was also doing harm to this borrowed body I currently inhabit due to my over-eating and lack of exercise. Was that the message of the dream?
* * * * * * * *
When I went through chemo over a year ago, I lost 17 pounds without even trying. Then through exerted effort, I lost an additional 8. So all told, over the course of a year plus, I lost 25 pounds. Since that time, I have gained all 25 of those pounds back plus more. I weigh more now than I have ever weighed before.
Why?
Well, part of it is that I turned rebel. Some aspect of me resented the fact that for 6 months, I couldn't taste a good portion of the food I put in my mouth. Then I put myself on a rather strict diet for an additional 6 months. Last spring, some aspect of me - an inner child or some other aspect rose up in rebellion. So I have indulged myself since then - eating whatever I felt like.
Another reason is that I got myself totally confused. I was following the Food Pyramid Diet. Then I started reading the "Fit for Life" material that contradicts some of that. I got to the point that I didn't know what to believe is the true correct course to follow nutritionally.
I have noticed that lately, I cannot eat very much without feeling overly full. I am kind of turning off food a bit. As I told my husband tonight, I am not fully trusting that this is going to be a long-lasting phase. I don't really trust myself per this endeavor to eat better and less and perhaps try to get some exercise as well.
So I will simply take this one day at a time and see where I am at.
I met one of my best friends for lunch at Olive Garden in Johnson City. It tasted really good; however, I went away from there feeling really bloated. I drank a Mellow Yellow.
Here are the steps I took for the rest of the day:
1. I drank only water for the rest of the day. I am thinking that I may try to cut out soft drinks altogether. I had been drinking Diet Ginger Ale, Ginger Ale, Mellow Yellow, Mountain Dew, and Diet Mountain Dew fairly often. I think if I cut out all of those, I may notice some weight loss from that effort alone.
2. My husband wanted to go out to eat. We went to China Chef in Greeneville. I wasn't really hungry, so I just ordered an appetizer of Potstickers dipped in Plum Sauce. I ate 5 - I think. I drank water. I brought the rest home so Randy, my husband, can bring them to the nursing home tomorrow to offer the rest to my mother-in-law and her roommate. I bet they will love the sweet plum sauce. They adore sweet things.
3. I made Lemon Cottage Cheese Whip at Randy's request. We each ate a dish of it. You mix together Lemon Jello powder, Cool Whip, Cottage Cheese, Crushed Pineapple, and crushed walnuts. It was pretty yummy! You can use any flavor Jello.
4. I made some Red Pepper Soup that I learned about when telling stories at Historic Rugby in Tennessee last weekend. I had about half a cup. It was yummy! I would like to eat more soup. This is kind of the time of year for that.
5. While grocery shopping, I bought a bag of Gala Apples. Those are my favorite type of apples. I ate one apple later on. It was sweet and delicious.
6. I had one piece of Dove dark chocolate.
7. I ended the evening having 2 mugs of Hazelnut Cappuccino made with 2% milk.
So, we will see how tomorrow goes. I feel pretty good about today.
The woman I was with was deeply depressed and wanted to do heavy drugs to escape. I did my best to dissuade her from taking this course as the body she was currently inhabiting was only on loan to her. I was certain that the owner of the body would not want her body ruined in this way.
I awoke wondering if I was also doing harm to this borrowed body I currently inhabit due to my over-eating and lack of exercise. Was that the message of the dream?
* * * * * * * *
When I went through chemo over a year ago, I lost 17 pounds without even trying. Then through exerted effort, I lost an additional 8. So all told, over the course of a year plus, I lost 25 pounds. Since that time, I have gained all 25 of those pounds back plus more. I weigh more now than I have ever weighed before.
Why?
Well, part of it is that I turned rebel. Some aspect of me resented the fact that for 6 months, I couldn't taste a good portion of the food I put in my mouth. Then I put myself on a rather strict diet for an additional 6 months. Last spring, some aspect of me - an inner child or some other aspect rose up in rebellion. So I have indulged myself since then - eating whatever I felt like.
Another reason is that I got myself totally confused. I was following the Food Pyramid Diet. Then I started reading the "Fit for Life" material that contradicts some of that. I got to the point that I didn't know what to believe is the true correct course to follow nutritionally.
I have noticed that lately, I cannot eat very much without feeling overly full. I am kind of turning off food a bit. As I told my husband tonight, I am not fully trusting that this is going to be a long-lasting phase. I don't really trust myself per this endeavor to eat better and less and perhaps try to get some exercise as well.
So I will simply take this one day at a time and see where I am at.
I met one of my best friends for lunch at Olive Garden in Johnson City. It tasted really good; however, I went away from there feeling really bloated. I drank a Mellow Yellow.
Here are the steps I took for the rest of the day:
1. I drank only water for the rest of the day. I am thinking that I may try to cut out soft drinks altogether. I had been drinking Diet Ginger Ale, Ginger Ale, Mellow Yellow, Mountain Dew, and Diet Mountain Dew fairly often. I think if I cut out all of those, I may notice some weight loss from that effort alone.
2. My husband wanted to go out to eat. We went to China Chef in Greeneville. I wasn't really hungry, so I just ordered an appetizer of Potstickers dipped in Plum Sauce. I ate 5 - I think. I drank water. I brought the rest home so Randy, my husband, can bring them to the nursing home tomorrow to offer the rest to my mother-in-law and her roommate. I bet they will love the sweet plum sauce. They adore sweet things.
3. I made Lemon Cottage Cheese Whip at Randy's request. We each ate a dish of it. You mix together Lemon Jello powder, Cool Whip, Cottage Cheese, Crushed Pineapple, and crushed walnuts. It was pretty yummy! You can use any flavor Jello.
4. I made some Red Pepper Soup that I learned about when telling stories at Historic Rugby in Tennessee last weekend. I had about half a cup. It was yummy! I would like to eat more soup. This is kind of the time of year for that.
5. While grocery shopping, I bought a bag of Gala Apples. Those are my favorite type of apples. I ate one apple later on. It was sweet and delicious.
6. I had one piece of Dove dark chocolate.
7. I ended the evening having 2 mugs of Hazelnut Cappuccino made with 2% milk.
So, we will see how tomorrow goes. I feel pretty good about today.
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