Day #12 Body by Ayman

Double checked at the gym and I'm totally 150 lbs! My first goal has been reached! 30 lbs lost and it only took 10 months (haha). Seems slow, but I'm thrilled =) Went down to 163 from 180, back up to 167 for a while, back down to 163 for a while, then slid through the 50s down to 150. Don't know if I'll be here for a while or keep sliding. We'll see...Yay!

8am BREAKFAST
Oatmeal w/ ricemilk & blueberries
1 boiled egg (half yolk, shared w/ Juliette)

9:30 EXERCISE
50 minute spin class

11am SNACK
1 green apple

12:45pm LUNCH
organic raw baby spinach w/ olive oil & white fish in the toaster oven.

3pm SNACK
2 apple cinnamon rice cakes

6pm DINNER
Sally Ling's chicken & asparagus

Walked around the mall for extra exercise. Bought size 13 Mossimo jeans =)

Day #11 Body by Ayman

I think I'm down to 150...that's what my cheapie IKEA scale said this morning. Wow...

8:15am BREAKFAST
Oatmeal w/ ricemilk and blueberries
1 boiled egg (half yolk, shared with Juliette) w/ black pepper

11am SNACK
1 green apple

11:15 "UNOFFICIAL" EXERCISE
Supposed to be my day off, but it wasn't raining for the first time this week so I put Juliette in the stroller and we walked to Tenafly and back (Mr.Wok, didn't buy anything).

1pm LUNCH
organic raw baby spinach w/ olive oil & home-baked chicken chunks

2:40 SNACK
3 apple cinnamon brown rice cakes

6:30 DINNER (Actually lost track of time)
organic raw baby spinach w/ olive oil, balsamic vinegar & 3 roasted turkey breast deli slices (no nitrates)

Day #10 Body by Ayman

8:15am BREAKFAST
Oatmeal w/ rice milk & organic blueberries
1 boiled egg (half yolk, shared w/ Juliette)

10am EXERCISE
1hr training session w/ Ayman
Triceps, shoulders, back, legs, core

11:20am SNACK
1 green apple

1:10pm LUNCH
Raw baby spinach w/ canned tuna (in water,unsalted) & MIL's legumes

3pm SNACK
3 Apple Cinnamon brown rice cakes

5pm DINNER
organic raw baby spinach w/ olive oil and home-baked chicken chunks

Day #9 Body by Ayman

9am BREAKFAST
Oatmeal w/ ricemilk & blueberries
2 boiled eggs (1 yolk)

11am SNACK
1 green apple

12:30 LUNCH Super hungry & again couldn't wait 2hrs...
Unsalted canned tuna (packed in water) sauteed w/ olive oil, red onion & spinach

3pm EXERCISE
50min Cardio - seated bike, random, level 10 for most of it except my L knee started hurting 30min into it so I took the level down to 4.

4:18pm SNACK This was poorly planned. Ended up being almost 4hrs btw meals.
3 Brown ricecakes (unsalted)

5pm TASTE
Was cooking chicken and tasted it. Baked in the toaster oven with lemon juice, grated red onion, a dash of sea salt, lemon pepper and cayenne pepper. Cut it in chunks, separated tonight's dinner and put the rest in 4 baggies in the freezer.

7pm Dinner
Raw baby spinach w/ home-baked chicken chunks & MIL's legumes

Day #8 Body by Ayman

9am Breakfast
Oatmeal w/ rice milk & organic blueberries
1 boiled egg (half the yolk)

10am Exercise
1 hr workout with Ayman
hamstrings, aductors, triceps, chest, shoulders, back, biceps, abs

11:30 Snack
Green apple

1pm Lunch...I was super hungry and couldn't wait 2hrs.
Organic baby spinach w/ chicken strips, olive oil and balsamic vinegar

3pm Snack
3 cinnamon brown rice cakes (they gave me the itis and I ended up taking a nap)

5pm Dinner
Organic baby spinach w/ mahi mahi in the toaster oven and homemade honey mustard (note to self, it was absolutely wretched).

As per Ayman today I can no longer consume balsamic vinegar. I can eat canned tuna in water (no salt added). I drank a lot of water between meals. Pee is totally clear. I weighed myself on the cheapy Ikea scale today and it looks like 152lbs. Whoa.

Day #7 Body by Ayman

This entire week I stuck with Ayman's nutrition plan with very few deviations. Monday I did not eat an egg in the morning, and I had rice because I thought it was still on the plan. Thursday I had guests over and I ate a little salad (romaine, black olives, red onions, shredded carrots, tomatoes, olive oil and balsamic vinegar), some TJ 10 grain bread toasted with olive oil, garlic powder and oregano, and a little ww pasta with zucchini, eggplant, yellow squash and marinara sauce. On Friday morning I was in a hurry and had raisin brain cereal, then I had broccoli in the evening because I thought it was still on the plan. On Saturday I went to a bday party and had (no cake or candy - woohoo!) a lot of romaine lettuce with ensebollado (mmmm). Also tried the soy chicken and potatoes in sauce that Karen's mom made. Ok dang, that's a lot of cheating for one week...but still healthy.

8:45 Breakfast
Oatmeal w/ rice milk & blueberries (no raw honey for the first time; didn't need it)
1 hard boiled egg (half the yolk)

11:30 Snack
Green apple

1 Lunch
Raw Organic baby spinach w/ olive oil and balsamic vinegar
organic free range chicken strips

2:30 Snack
3 honey nut brown rice cakes (shared with J&J)

4:30 Dinner
Raw Organic baby spinach w/ olive oil, balsamic vinegar & hot sauce
wild caught mahi mahi in the toaster oven

Then I nibbled on a little bit of toasted TJ 10 grain bread w/ olive oil, pesto sauce & oregano. Then later on around 8:45 I felt so stressed out by not wanting to be around my husband that I waited until he left to bring Eddie home and I ate some ww spaghetti with yellow squash & zucchini...then I had a piece of mint dark chocolate.

I realized this last bit of eating was totally to manage my emotions because I literally felt like I was not going to survive w/o eating. Wasn't hungry in the slightest. Was hungry other evenings this week, but Pierre was not here so I was emotionally great and just drank water. Tonight it was total emotional eating, and I need to find another outlet.

Another journey begins

It's been close to a year since my last entry. I was reading all the previous posts last night and it was a bit unbelievable that I thought I was going to get my weight in order with the way I was eating. Writing things down helped tremendously all on its own because I have never again put something in my mouth without realizing I was doing it. Mindless eating has pretty much ceased completely. However, shortly after my last entry I got pregnant with my daughter (now almost 8 weeks old) and went back to eating the S.A.D. diet I hadn't eaten in years. I am ready to begin fresh with new knowledge, grace and fortitude.

First, I now know that it doesn't just matter WHAT you eat, but WHEN you eat it. You can pretty much eat a S.A.D. and be healthier than someone on a raw foods diet if you only eat during daylight hours. My friend, Paul Nison, is coming out with a new book about this appropriately titled, "The Daylight Diet". You can hear an interview about this here. I haven't been eating past 6pm this entire week and I feel wonderful. I have experienced deeper sleep than I have in years, and tons of energy.

Second, when I went raw for 35 days last year I was making a ton of raw gourmet recipes the entire time. I did not eat a lot of veggies as is (if at all). Even though everything I was eating was raw, it was all spiced up, dehydrated, smothered and/or reconstituted to taste like something else. Did I lose weight? Yup! Did I get my poor eating habits under control? Nope . If anything, they were made worse because the recipes I was making took so long to prepare, my life pretty much revolved around food.

With these facts, I am now eating very simply and rediscovering how good foods taste in their natural state. As of Monday of this week, I have been having a daily green smoothie, a daily green salad, fresh raw veggies as is, some fresh fruits and lots of water. I have completely eliminated everything else, including fats/oils/grains/herbal teas...the list goes on and on. Next week I will slowly reincorporate fats such as avocados and nuts, but in very limited quantities like they are meant to be eaten - and only if I really want them (I might not after how good I feel this week).

I am definitely cutting out all gluten and dairy, as I have found these to be the most addicting and harmful foods to the body. These foods will be reserved for rare occasions in very limited quanitites, instead of the daily staple they have been in my diet. Notice I did not say I will never eat gluten or dairy again. I am no longer that naive.

So my journey continues and yet begins fresh. If you are reading this and have fallen off the bandwagon with past attempts at getting healthy, start today to make small changes (such as not eating past 6pm) and you will see a tremendous difference. I advise you to listen to that interview with Paul Nison and start your journey towards better health today! Don't wait another moment. Your life is worth it.