Goal weight: 130
Current weight: 165
Lost so far: 20 lbs
Huzzah! I finally made it to 20 lbs this week! It is SO HARD for me to be patient, I feel like it has taken forever to get to this point. I think the problem is that I weigh myself way too often. My scale is like crack, it just keeps pulling me back to it. I even try to put it away on a high shelf in the closet, but it never stays there for long. It can't be healthy to be so obsessed with that silly number.
I discovered a book this week that is threatening to change my life. I will tell you about it here, but read it at your own risk. You may never see food the same way again (but if you're like me, that's probably a good thing).
The cover makes it look like just your typical crazy diet book, but it is actually an incredibly well-supported argument for completely overhauling the way we eat, and it's much more concerned with health and longevity than weight loss. Dr. Fuhrman's basic premise is that the typical American diet is the main contributing factor for diseases like diabetes and cancer (and many others) because it is profoundly nutrient deficient and does not provide our bodies with the tools to fight and prevent disease. His recommendation is that we dramatically increase our consumption of unrefined plant foods (unprocessed fruits, veggies, beans, whole grains), to 90% of our caloric intake. This is his version of the food pyramid:
When I first started reading his dietary recommendations, I have to admit I thought he was a little crazy and that it would be near impossible for me to eat that way (for example, he recommends that we shoot for a POUND of raw vegetables and a POUND of cooked vegetables PER DAY, although he does recognize that most people probably won't get there most of the time). But I've really been trying for the last week or so and I've actually been getting a lot closer than I thought I could, although I will admit to falling off the wagon a few times. Ok, several times. But perfection isn't the point. When I'm doing well with it I feel an enormous difference in my body. After the first few days (when I was pretty darn cranky, to be honest) I really started to see a lot of little differences and noticing how much better I felt. And my sugar cravings have been SO much better, almost gone completely (which is pretty much unbelievable to me). The hardest part is just figuring out how to work in all those vegetables! It's a whole lot of vegetables. And salad has never been my thing, but I'm getting there.
I'll just say that if anybody does happen to read the book, don't let it scare you! Better to incorporate as much as you can than to say "that's impossible" and chuck the whole idea out the window. When I read all of the research and evidence he presented to back up his claims about nutrition and disease I was pretty convinced and I just felt like I had to give it my best try. I'll probably never be perfect at it, but I'm sure I'll be a lot healthier for the effort, regardless.
Ok, done preaching.
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