Yesterday and today at the gym I suddenly felt my old self again. I was able to really gun it, and I'm getting a lot more out of it, again. This is such good news, because I've been waiting for this to happen! Long may it continue...
Unfortunately, this afternoon I started getting a bad headache. I thought it was because I'd been out and about without a bottle of water (a rare and stupid occurrence), but water only helped for a little while. I'm hoping it's just some kind of stupid stress thing as The Bear and I work on something that pits two very different creative minds together.
Current weight: 76.6kg (-5.5kg)
Current body-fat percentage: 36.5%
Current feeling: Headachey, but pleased about this energy thing!
Friday, November 21, 2008
Thursday, November 20, 2008
A goal, and some resolve.
There are nine days left to this thing. My goal is to reach 75kg or under by the end of the BES Challenge. And if I don't? I remain 100% Raw until I do.
Current feeling: Resolute.
Current feeling: Resolute.
Day 18: Stuck in a rut
After the rapid weight loss of the first nine days (4.1kg, or 9lbs), it has slowed dramatically over the subsequent nine, to a further loss of just 0.7kg (1.5lb). I think this is for a number of reasons, and I shall address them (and their possible solutions) in turn.
Increased fat intake
I have written before about the "sneak eating" of almond butter that has gone on for the past week or so. I have also been over-using olives in my salads, I think, and perhaps avocados, too. I am beginning to find that it is getting too rich for me to have a big bowl of salad with half an avocado (to the point where I sometimes can't finish it), I think it might be the over-abundance of olives that are tipping it over the balance.
Solution: Stop putting so many olives in my salads, and fill up on more fruit and veg at meal-times so that I don't feel the urge to snack on high-fat foods, but can happily choose an apple or a cucumber instead.
Reduced green smoothie intake
Due to my unwillingness to keep on washing that damn blender, I have been remiss in my green smoothie intake. These are such an important part of the BES plan (and all raw vegan lifestyles, really), and I am ignoring it in favour of a single banana for breakfast!
Solution: These smoothies are tasty, filling, hugely nutritious and take an hour or two to eat, giving my digestive system a chance to go at the meal properly. Suck it up, make a smoothie and do a little washing up!
Reduced reliance on BES menu plans
And this one's the kicker. The overall reason for the problems mentioned above? I am not following the BES menu planners anymore. This is mostly because of the lull I felt in the recipes (shock, horror, about nine days ago) and the change I made toward making up my own raw vegan meal options. Now, the BES Divas are perfectly happy for us to make our own way and be flexible with the planners according to our own lifestyles and needs. However, I have been following the letter rather than the spirit of the law here, and focusing less on the dark leafy greens that are such a foundation to the success of a dietary lifestyle such as this one.
Solution: Don't ignore the menu planners entirely because they failed me once! Use them, and modify or change single meals rather than assuming I won't like the recipe at all and not even check it out.
Current weight: 77.3kg (-4.8kg)
Current body-fat percentage: (36.0%)
Current feeling: Rejuvenated in commitment to the BES
Increased fat intake
I have written before about the "sneak eating" of almond butter that has gone on for the past week or so. I have also been over-using olives in my salads, I think, and perhaps avocados, too. I am beginning to find that it is getting too rich for me to have a big bowl of salad with half an avocado (to the point where I sometimes can't finish it), I think it might be the over-abundance of olives that are tipping it over the balance.
Solution: Stop putting so many olives in my salads, and fill up on more fruit and veg at meal-times so that I don't feel the urge to snack on high-fat foods, but can happily choose an apple or a cucumber instead.
Reduced green smoothie intake
Due to my unwillingness to keep on washing that damn blender, I have been remiss in my green smoothie intake. These are such an important part of the BES plan (and all raw vegan lifestyles, really), and I am ignoring it in favour of a single banana for breakfast!
Solution: These smoothies are tasty, filling, hugely nutritious and take an hour or two to eat, giving my digestive system a chance to go at the meal properly. Suck it up, make a smoothie and do a little washing up!
Reduced reliance on BES menu plans
And this one's the kicker. The overall reason for the problems mentioned above? I am not following the BES menu planners anymore. This is mostly because of the lull I felt in the recipes (shock, horror, about nine days ago) and the change I made toward making up my own raw vegan meal options. Now, the BES Divas are perfectly happy for us to make our own way and be flexible with the planners according to our own lifestyles and needs. However, I have been following the letter rather than the spirit of the law here, and focusing less on the dark leafy greens that are such a foundation to the success of a dietary lifestyle such as this one.
Solution: Don't ignore the menu planners entirely because they failed me once! Use them, and modify or change single meals rather than assuming I won't like the recipe at all and not even check it out.
Current weight: 77.3kg (-4.8kg)
Current body-fat percentage: (36.0%)
Current feeling: Rejuvenated in commitment to the BES
Wednesday, November 19, 2008
Day 17: Not much to report.
A pretty uneventful day, today. Did a bit of walking, ate some raw food, was generally pretty happy.
The end! :)
Current weight: 77.2kg (-4.9kg)
Current body-fat percentage: 37.0%
Current feeling: Pretty good!
The end! :)
Current weight: 77.2kg (-4.9kg)
Current body-fat percentage: 37.0%
Current feeling: Pretty good!
Tuesday, November 18, 2008
Day 16: Positive and negative eating habits emerge & recede
Today I noticed two things as I wandered around the kitchen thinking about a quick breakfast. One showed a positive habit emerging, and the other showed a negative one receding. Since my boss always maintains that you should go with the bad news first when there are both to be had, let's begin with...
A negative eating habit begins to recede: "sneak eating"
The main times when I ate junk food were when nobody was around to judge me for it. In the car on the way to/from work, or at home when everybody was out. The other main times were when I was with so many people (eg at a bbq) that my intake wouldn't be noticed. I call this "sneak eating" because I would be trying to sneak away from the judgements I felt sure others were making about my food intake. Of course, I was never able to sneak away from my own judgements, but they were easier to placate.
Since I have been on the BES, although there have been times when I haven't been 100% strict on myself—eg medicinal cups of green tea, buying Boost-made juices—I have nevertheless not broken the rules in anyway. I have been 100% raw and 100% vegan since Day 1. I have not, therefore, been eating the types of foods that, in the past, I would have eaten alone. I have, however, been engaging in small amounts of sneak eating over the past few days as I got over my negative feelings about the diet. This has mainly taken the form of snacking on organic almond butter, a high-fat easy-access snack. This has only ever been when there was no one around, which to me indicates personal feelings of guilt over the choice.
So, although I have not broken out of the Challenge in any way (and I'm stronger for it), I have minimised but not entirely got rid of sneak eating in my life. This is something that deserves more consideration, I think, because if I can sort it out in the remaining couple of weeks, then I will have made a really significant step in continuing my future weight loss and maintaining my weight once I'm where I want to be.
A positive eating habit begins to emerge: healthy food choices
The reason I noticed the negative habit receding was that, although I was alone in the house, and I looked through the fridge (cheese, yoghurt, bread) and pantry (Dutch ginger biscuits, condiments, pasta sauces) for food for breakfast, I did not take the opportunity to cheat because "no one would ever know", which is the hallmark of sneak eating.
Instead, I chose a banana and an apple and sat down to enjoy them. I didn't have time for a full-on green smoothie, so picking two easy fruits and then eating them was the best option. I have never been a huge fan of fruit, and found it to be unsatisfying and unsustaining in the past. Although it wasn't my favourite breakfast ever, I enjoyed it, and it easily got me through a walk and a 35-minute workout at the gym.
The fact that I was totally content about my decision to have fruit for breakfast (and made that decision so matter-of-factly) is a big change for me.
Current weight: 77.2kg (-4.9kg)
Current body-fat percentage: 36.6% (I won't list the loss anymore, because it changes according to the weight, obviously. Suffice to say, however, that the healthy range for women my age varies, but is generally between the figures 21-33%, so I am in the overweight category, and would like to get to a healthier figure.)
Current feeling: Strong and positive
A negative eating habit begins to recede: "sneak eating"
The main times when I ate junk food were when nobody was around to judge me for it. In the car on the way to/from work, or at home when everybody was out. The other main times were when I was with so many people (eg at a bbq) that my intake wouldn't be noticed. I call this "sneak eating" because I would be trying to sneak away from the judgements I felt sure others were making about my food intake. Of course, I was never able to sneak away from my own judgements, but they were easier to placate.
Since I have been on the BES, although there have been times when I haven't been 100% strict on myself—eg medicinal cups of green tea, buying Boost-made juices—I have nevertheless not broken the rules in anyway. I have been 100% raw and 100% vegan since Day 1. I have not, therefore, been eating the types of foods that, in the past, I would have eaten alone. I have, however, been engaging in small amounts of sneak eating over the past few days as I got over my negative feelings about the diet. This has mainly taken the form of snacking on organic almond butter, a high-fat easy-access snack. This has only ever been when there was no one around, which to me indicates personal feelings of guilt over the choice.
So, although I have not broken out of the Challenge in any way (and I'm stronger for it), I have minimised but not entirely got rid of sneak eating in my life. This is something that deserves more consideration, I think, because if I can sort it out in the remaining couple of weeks, then I will have made a really significant step in continuing my future weight loss and maintaining my weight once I'm where I want to be.
A positive eating habit begins to emerge: healthy food choices
The reason I noticed the negative habit receding was that, although I was alone in the house, and I looked through the fridge (cheese, yoghurt, bread) and pantry (Dutch ginger biscuits, condiments, pasta sauces) for food for breakfast, I did not take the opportunity to cheat because "no one would ever know", which is the hallmark of sneak eating.
Instead, I chose a banana and an apple and sat down to enjoy them. I didn't have time for a full-on green smoothie, so picking two easy fruits and then eating them was the best option. I have never been a huge fan of fruit, and found it to be unsatisfying and unsustaining in the past. Although it wasn't my favourite breakfast ever, I enjoyed it, and it easily got me through a walk and a 35-minute workout at the gym.
The fact that I was totally content about my decision to have fruit for breakfast (and made that decision so matter-of-factly) is a big change for me.
Current weight: 77.2kg (-4.9kg)
Current body-fat percentage: 36.6% (I won't list the loss anymore, because it changes according to the weight, obviously. Suffice to say, however, that the healthy range for women my age varies, but is generally between the figures 21-33%, so I am in the overweight category, and would like to get to a healthier figure.)
Current feeling: Strong and positive
Monday, November 17, 2008
Day 15: Half-way, and plans for post-BES eating
Half-way!! I can't believe it's here already. With the exception of the past few days, it's been easier than I thought it would be, and I can definitely see myself finishing this thing without falling off the wagon. Good times.
Plans post-BES
Eating, etc
I do not think that a 100% raw vegan diet is a long-term dietary proposition, and so I will not be maintaining this diet in its entirety when I've finished. What I will be doing, however, is incorporating it into my daily diet, to perhaps 50-60% raw vegan. This will be easier during the warmer months, I think, but this is my idea, especially for when the school year starts up at the end of January:
Breakfast: Something wholesome with lots of fibre, eg homemade muesli with natural yoghurt (Jalna no-fat is my current favourite), or organic sourdough toast with baked beans. And, of course, the obligatory cup of green tea.
During the day: For meals during the school day I will take a large jug of green smoothie and a large, colourful salad. This is the major raw vegan part of my day.
"Dinner": After school (i.e. by 5pm) I will have "dinner". This will be a meal akin to the foods I have cooked in the past, eg stir-fries, pasta dishes, rice/cous cous dishes, and steamed vegies. After dinner, at around 7pm, I will do my daily exercise. (I have a lot more physical energy in the evening and find I get a lot more out of my workouts if I exercise then.)
After dinner: If I am hungry, then all I will eat is some more salad. This way my final meal before bed is very light and unlikely to cause my digestive system any problems as I sleep.
What do you think?
Weight management
There are two main things I would like to avoid in the aftermath of this Challenge: the first is that I do not want to become obsessed about calories, nutrients or my weight. The second is that I do not want to put back on all the weight I've lost this year (I had lost almost 10kg in 2008 before I began the BES detox). My pre-emptive solution to those problems is as follows.
I will get myself a few kilos below 70kg. Once I have done that (assuming that I am looking and feeling the way that I want to at that stage), I will eat basically as indicated above, but without being thingy about it. In essence, I will eat in a balanced and sensible way, without freaking about calorie content or denying myself "treats". I will also try to eliminate (or at least reduce) the refined/processed foods in my diet, by cooking from scratch etc. But (there's always a "but"): I will also keep an eye on my weight, and if it starts getting close to that 70kg "ceiling", I will get a bit tougher on myself and start being a little more careful about my intake so that I can get back down to where I need to be.
Current weight: 77.6kg (-4.5kg)
Current body-fat percentage: 37.4% (-1.0%)
Current feeling: Happy that I'm half-way through, but also happy that I'm doing better again...
Plans post-BES
Eating, etc
I do not think that a 100% raw vegan diet is a long-term dietary proposition, and so I will not be maintaining this diet in its entirety when I've finished. What I will be doing, however, is incorporating it into my daily diet, to perhaps 50-60% raw vegan. This will be easier during the warmer months, I think, but this is my idea, especially for when the school year starts up at the end of January:
Breakfast: Something wholesome with lots of fibre, eg homemade muesli with natural yoghurt (Jalna no-fat is my current favourite), or organic sourdough toast with baked beans. And, of course, the obligatory cup of green tea.
During the day: For meals during the school day I will take a large jug of green smoothie and a large, colourful salad. This is the major raw vegan part of my day.
"Dinner": After school (i.e. by 5pm) I will have "dinner". This will be a meal akin to the foods I have cooked in the past, eg stir-fries, pasta dishes, rice/cous cous dishes, and steamed vegies. After dinner, at around 7pm, I will do my daily exercise. (I have a lot more physical energy in the evening and find I get a lot more out of my workouts if I exercise then.)
After dinner: If I am hungry, then all I will eat is some more salad. This way my final meal before bed is very light and unlikely to cause my digestive system any problems as I sleep.
What do you think?
Weight management
There are two main things I would like to avoid in the aftermath of this Challenge: the first is that I do not want to become obsessed about calories, nutrients or my weight. The second is that I do not want to put back on all the weight I've lost this year (I had lost almost 10kg in 2008 before I began the BES detox). My pre-emptive solution to those problems is as follows.
I will get myself a few kilos below 70kg. Once I have done that (assuming that I am looking and feeling the way that I want to at that stage), I will eat basically as indicated above, but without being thingy about it. In essence, I will eat in a balanced and sensible way, without freaking about calorie content or denying myself "treats". I will also try to eliminate (or at least reduce) the refined/processed foods in my diet, by cooking from scratch etc. But (there's always a "but"): I will also keep an eye on my weight, and if it starts getting close to that 70kg "ceiling", I will get a bit tougher on myself and start being a little more careful about my intake so that I can get back down to where I need to be.
Current weight: 77.6kg (-4.5kg)
Current body-fat percentage: 37.4% (-1.0%)
Current feeling: Happy that I'm half-way through, but also happy that I'm doing better again...
Sunday, November 16, 2008
Day 14: An improved outlook
Today I was feeling quite a lot more positive. Given the task of making a tasty breakfast for me and my boyfriend (who's not a fan of green smoothies), I sliced up a bunch of bananas and some mangos and arranged them nicely on the plate. This set up my day really nicely. Later, we went to Boost again, and I felt decadent being able to order something out! After that, Mum and I ignored the menu planner and made a massive salad of rocquette, lettuce, cucumber, red capsicum and grated carrot, to which I added some kalamata olives, some baby capers and half an avo mashed with the juice of half a lime as a dressing. Dee-licious!
Dinner tonight was "fettucine alfredo", if by "fettucine" you mean spaghettified zucchini, and by "alfredo" you mean a raw vegan blend of macadamia nuts and some seasoning, why they do. It was nice, actually, and remarkably similar to its namesake (given, you know, that it totally isn't), but again it was far too rich for me and I only had about half a bowlful. These nut- and seed-rich dressings are tasty, but I can really only handle a tiny amount of them.
Halfway point tomorrow! I'm trying to persuade Mum to see the midday meal of December 2 (Day 30) as our last one of the challenge (since we began the fast the evening before Day 1), so that we can have the dinner as a celebration of our successes and enable us to have cooked food once again! I can't wait to cook again. The aromas, the process of bringing it all together, I miss it so much! I think that we will be so unused to animal fats that I might make a vegetarian meal, though, like a vegie curry with an assortment of condiments. I'm going out on the night of December 3 and I want us to be able to share the occasion with each other.
I must say, for all my down moods about some of the foods lately, I am feeling really strong and positive about my progress so far, and my ability to withstand cravings. I have lost a noticeable amount of weight, and I have (pretty) happily declined offers of non-raw vegan foods and withstood what could be described as mostly pretty mild cravings. I think a large part of this has been because I know that, if I really wanted to, on the 3rd of December I could make a list of all the foods I declined, all the foods I craved, and make myself sick by eating all of them, all in one sitting. Which would be stupid. But the fact remains that this is not forever (nor do I think it should be, although that is a topic for another day), and so I can manage this for another 16 days.
Current weight: 77.3kg (-4.8kg)
Current body-fat percentage: 37.8% (-0.6%)
Current feeling: Better than before
Dinner tonight was "fettucine alfredo", if by "fettucine" you mean spaghettified zucchini, and by "alfredo" you mean a raw vegan blend of macadamia nuts and some seasoning, why they do. It was nice, actually, and remarkably similar to its namesake (given, you know, that it totally isn't), but again it was far too rich for me and I only had about half a bowlful. These nut- and seed-rich dressings are tasty, but I can really only handle a tiny amount of them.
Halfway point tomorrow! I'm trying to persuade Mum to see the midday meal of December 2 (Day 30) as our last one of the challenge (since we began the fast the evening before Day 1), so that we can have the dinner as a celebration of our successes and enable us to have cooked food once again! I can't wait to cook again. The aromas, the process of bringing it all together, I miss it so much! I think that we will be so unused to animal fats that I might make a vegetarian meal, though, like a vegie curry with an assortment of condiments. I'm going out on the night of December 3 and I want us to be able to share the occasion with each other.
I must say, for all my down moods about some of the foods lately, I am feeling really strong and positive about my progress so far, and my ability to withstand cravings. I have lost a noticeable amount of weight, and I have (pretty) happily declined offers of non-raw vegan foods and withstood what could be described as mostly pretty mild cravings. I think a large part of this has been because I know that, if I really wanted to, on the 3rd of December I could make a list of all the foods I declined, all the foods I craved, and make myself sick by eating all of them, all in one sitting. Which would be stupid. But the fact remains that this is not forever (nor do I think it should be, although that is a topic for another day), and so I can manage this for another 16 days.
Current weight: 77.3kg (-4.8kg)
Current body-fat percentage: 37.8% (-0.6%)
Current feeling: Better than before
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