This amazing omelette with a side of cooked apples has only 331 calories!
I sauteed a huge mushroom cap, arugula and spinach, and other vegetables in .5 Tbsp of EVOO and filled my 2 whole egg omelette, then topped it off with 1/4 of a ripe avocado and some sliced red peppers. Delish! The Pink Lady apple was diced and topped with cinnamon, then pan-sauteed (can be microwaved too) with a sprinkle of water and salt til softened. I was so full! Double Delish!
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Over the past few days I have been cogitating over goals, the past, and the future; reviewing last year, considering what for what I can be grateful, remembering the rough spots, focusing on the good stuff, and seriously imprinting what I want to happen in 2020. I've come up with a new daily routine that includes goals, strategies to push me toward success, intentions, and other activities to do during the week that will nourish me emotionally, physically, mentally, and spiritually! I can do it!Strategies and Intentions Morning Practice Up at 7am, Read something positive or uplifting or helpful Write - 30 mins. Bike to Yoga Class -OR- Home Yoga Practice - Prana/Med Walk/Bike dog Remote Work - 1 hr. Write - 1 hr. Movement breaks every hour (calisthenics, yoga, etc.) Lunch around 1130am Afternoon Intentions Remote Work - 1 hr. Write - 1 hr. Massage/Acupuncture Errands- Tourisms Social Nourishment: hiking group, writing group Evening Goals Dinner around 5pm or earlier (No eating after 6pm!) Practice piano, chess, or write Work on blog (photos and essays) PM Practice Skin brush/Oil massage Write - Journal, Complete MFP food entries, Intention for next day, gratitude for present day MBSR Sleep well! I can do it!There are so many older trees here, and so many varieties new to me. I love them!
I am so glad I am not attempting a water fast or a complete starvation diet--I would never last. Today, after only having water until about 4pm, and only drinking about 500kcal yesterday in juice and soy milk, I had enough! I started getting a screaming headache around 1pm, and it just kept getting worse. My head was being squeezed by a vise and imploding simultaneously. I also woke up very tired, and that lack of energy shadowed me through the day. Finally, getting some juice after the tests were over, I was looking forward to an hour-and-a-half train ride home, with a stop for Indian food halfway. Then I found myself on the wrong tram after nearly 40 minutes, aargh! So that added an hour to my trip. I still got my Indian food, but was just drained when I got home. I was hoping dinner would revive me so I could walk on the beach, but even though the headache had slowly receded, I was still wiped out. I am so glad I am doing a low-calorie fast, rather than something more extreme. I just felt too burnt today. It was a good lesson.
Also, in my studies, I came across the term "strategy" as applied to a way of eating, method of weight loss, nutrition plan... I love it! It has a much more positive mental echo than "diet"; denoting positive action, intention, and a well-laid plan rather than starvation, "die-ing", and doing without. From now on, I will refer to this plan as my nutrition strategy, weight loss strategy, or health improvement strategy. Much more uplifting and inspiring terms; also, more accurate! I can do it! Tomorrow I am going to take a long walk and have brunch. My back is better (I have a swollen disc or pulled muscle), so Sunday I'll attend a gentle yoga class. Also on the menu for tomorrow is applying for some of the remote jobs on my list. And writing, too! I can do it! Yeah, yeah, yeah. Maybe it's all water. Maybe it's all air. I don't care! I need motivation and a kick-butt start to keep me going! I awoke today to a 5.1 lb. loss and I will take it! That's 5 lb.s in 2 days and I am thrilled! I have lacked discipline and will power and energy for so long that this little poof of intensity I have had to set a goal and work toward it, is magical!
I simply wanted to manifest some change and will power-- enough to pump me up mentally and keep me going! And I did it! I really want 2020 to be a great year. The past few have been rough and I've been on a decline physically and emotionally. Yet there is so much to anticipate this year, and I really want it to be a fabulous year! I get caught up in fear too much and it sets me off over the cliff into a downward spiral, toward blackness. I am determined to overcome some of these habits I have acquired that have steadily caused me defeat when I try to change. There is so much to consider: biochemistry, hormones, genes, age, emotional resilience, and physical state... it can be overwhelming. But I can do it! I am determined to stick to this Fast800 diet for at least 2 weeks, and possibly more if I can. Then I will switch to the 5:2 plan of 5 days of healthy Mediterranean-style eating, and two days of 800 kcal fasting. I want to lose 10 lbs. by the end of this two-week period --which is totally doable-- and keep exercising throughout that period. If I can continue, I should be able lose much my by the end of the month, and I will start running again, also! I'm confident that if I continue the fast days, and eat healthy and in moderation at other times, I will reach my goal by April! When I see the results, I feel more "can-do" power, which is an opposite of the downward spiral! With the gain in confidence, my motivation increases, which heightens my mental and emotional motivation. With the decreased weight and elimination/reduction of sugar and wine, my physical energy will increase, making it easier and more rewarding to exercise daily! I used to live like this, so it's a matter of replacing these bad habits I've acquired with the good habits I have had previously! I can do it! The Mediterranean diet is basically how I have eaten for years: healthy carbs, moderate to high protein, and low sugar. I used to get up and run 5 miles, 3 times each week (or at least 3 miles, 3 times weekly). I used to ride my bike everywhere, do Bikram, and rock climb. I can overcome the hardships and trauma that have caused the health decline! I've slowly been doing that for a few years, even though I still slide into the pit every now and again. Today, I am a little tired and I awakened with a headache, but I can make it through the day on a water fast, and then I'll enjoy an early dinner. My mottos are: "I can do it" and "It's only 24 hours"! Maybe this will help me to move back to being more present in life. I can do it! Today was a little harder, but I stuck with it. It was not difficult because of the hunger; that was bearable and actually, not too bad. I ended up around 600 kcals for the day. I had a massage and acupuncture in the early afternoon, and then I felt pretty tired afterward-- really bone-tired. But the transit system was all mucked up due to construction and so travels took extra time and detours and stops, which added stress, since I'm not always familiar with locations in Melbourne. When I finally arrived home, I felt depleted. I had more juice and rested. A bit later though, I felt more energetic, so the dog and I went for a bike ride. Tomorrow is water fasting, blah, until after the tests, then I'll have a regular meal. Saturday I transition to the 800 kcal portion of fasting, but includes eating small meals. I also want to add in restricted eating times, but haven't decided how to plan that out yet; although I definitely want to refrain from eating after 6, and possibly 5pm. I might do a 14:10 fast to start, only eating during the times of 8am-6pm, fasting the other 14 hours. I'd like to stop eating at night entirely, unless I am out for dinner. Eventually, I will strive for 16:8.
I need to remember to make some bone broth; I completely forgot about it until my massage therapist mentioned it. In addition to juicing, I've been using doenjang (Korean fermented soybean paste; similar to Japanese miso) to make a very low-calorie Korean seaweed soup, which is supremely healthy, filling, and nourishing! When I switch to a once weekly liquid fast in the future, I may skip the juice entirely because it is just pure fruit sugar sans fiber, or at least replace some portions with bone broth. Today was an overall good day. I feel more empowered and in control, which is exactly what I need in my life! Yay! Stuck it out today and had morning coffee and then a few glasses of juice and doenjang broth throughout the day, plus tea. Tomorrow, I'll cut out the doenjang, and only drink coffee, tea, shrub, and juice so I can lower my sodium content for the blood pressure test on Friday. Friday is a water fast until about 3pm, in prep for the Med exams After those, I'll indulge in a splurge meal because that marks the end of the juice fast and the beginning of the Fast800 for two weeks of 800 kcal Mediterranean diet fast. The calories were a bit too low today, but that's okay because I had a lot to deal with today emotionally, getting some frightening news from someone in San Antonio, and then just being exhausted from that. I also was resting my back one more day since straining it in yoga goddamnit! a few days ago. Hopefully I'll wake up tomorrow with pain gone and can start yoga again. I also have a massage and acupuncture tomorrow, so that will help all facets of my emotional and physical health! Did good today. I can't believe I weigh xxx pounds. It's horrifying. Never before has my health been in such an emergency state and the scale screamed so high. So now I'm really going to stick to the fast and hope for a 4.5kg/10 lb loss over the first two weeks. I wonder if I stick to the 800kcal/day fast for an additional week or two beyond the first two weeks, how much weight I'd lose. If I could lose an additional four pounds each week, it would make fasting those two extra weeks worthwhile! It would also bring me to a total of 18 lbs down over four weeks! Then I'd only have to lose xx more to get to my initial goal. Afterwards, I could easily lose at least two pounds a week; I could do that in two months. by March 31. Having extra weight off will allow me to run again, and doing the 5:2 Fast will allow me enough energy to pick up my cardio. So I should be able to start running again late January. I will be doing yoga and riding my bike throughout January; slowly building strength and endurance over the month and adding in calisthenics. By the end of January or early February, I'll be ready to run again. And running will be so much easier with the extra 10+ pounds off. I can do it! I can do it!I'm starting a fasting diet today; I'm just sick of being overweight and unhealthy--not engaging in life because I hate how I look and feel. I'm grateful that I have taken care of myself for most of my life and have been athletic, because I am convinced that is what has held me together during these last years of health decline. All the yoga and running and cycling, all the mind training and inner emotional work... if I had not had all of that to prop me up since 2015, I know I would not still be around; i.e., spoken plainly: alive. I started doing weekly fasts when I lived at the Himalayan Institute yoga ashram back in 2007-ish. I did those on and off for years and am grateful I did; those fasts are one of the causitive factors allowing a baseline level of health maintenance from that time through the present. It also gives me a knowledge base of the science and background of the fasting I will begin today. Today I will start a two-day juice fast to kickstart a two-week period of low-calorie fasting followed by a 5:2 plan fast, based on "The Fast 800" by Dr. Michael Mosley. I have some tests coming up on Friday that I have to fast overnight for anyway, so I thought I would go ahead and start early to clean out my system. I have been eating like crap, overeating, and drinking too much, so it's time for extreme measures! However, the fasting is only extreme in calorie amounts, because beyond that it's based on the "Mediterranean Diet", which is quite healthy, and how I tend to eat anyway, when I am healthy and exercising and being mindul of my nutrition intake. The Mediterranean Diet is simply cutting out simple carbs and sugars and eating more veggies, fruit, healthy fats, and complex carbs, along with protein. It's old school and it's a healthy way to eat. The Fast 800 is an 800 kcal short-term version of that diet, focusing on higher protein amounts to stave hunger. I'll eat 800 kcals on the Med Diet for at least two weeks and then switch to the 5:2 plan. The doc only recommends fasting up to 8 weeks depending on weight loss needed. I'll see how I feel at the end of the first two weeks, but can't imagine continuing for more than 4 weeks total; I only need to lose 30-35 pounds ("only"? Aaack! What the hell happened and how the hell did I let this happen?! Stress and trauma, that's how!). The 5:2 version included a fasting calorie intake of 800 calories, but for only two days out of each week. The other "5" of the 5:2 is healthy, moderate eating, Med style. Once I've kickstarted weight loss and have some confidence and energy increases, then I'll resume my former healthy habit of fasting once per week, but I'll skip the juice fasting, because it's so high in sugar, and stick with the fasting suggestions of Mosley's plan, 500-800 kcals for 1-2 days each week. I'm also considering a broth/juice fast for 3 days every 3-4 weeks, but that is further down the line. I've had a lot of health issues that I have never, ever had to face in my life and the situation is terrifying and depressing. To go from a healthy athlete to a decrepit person with no energy or will power has been very discouraging. It's also a vicious cycle: all the good habits I need to do--and used to do-- I have no energy for, and my discipline has diminished with my energy level. The only thing that will save me and reverse this whole process is exercising daily and losing weight. Both of those will help me emotionally and mentally, to follow the other steps I need to take to get my emotional self back in order and start prioritizing self-care. Today is Day 1, and I'll keep at 800 kcals during my liquid fast of juice, tea, coffee, and doenjang borth (miso). Oh, but I am using 3/4 c. of light soymilk for my coffee so I don't go insane and lose motivation. But I will slowly switch back to tea and give up the coffee over the next few weeks or month. I don't need it, just got back in the bad habit of drinking coffee every morning, instead of my healthy, Chinese, whole-leaf black teas! I joined a new yoga studio a few days ago, so I'm eager to get my yoga practice back on track. I also intend to change some of my habits that have contributed to a sedentary lifestyle and decreased energy and mood. I will start taking walks at night, instead of watching a movie and zombie-eating (eating in front of the screen like a brain-dead person). I'll also get a lot more activity with yoga classes because I'll ride my bike to and from the studio! I can do it! |
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