My Diet...
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In the last five weeks I've lost about 27 pounds. I'm planning to loose another 38 pounds to get my weight to 190 pounds. That's what I weighed in my early twenties. I'm now 45. My weight gain to around 256 pounds was a very gradual one. It coincided with a gradual increase in the amount of beer & booze I was drinking and other gradual lifestyle changes. My wife had similar changes but gained relatively less weight.
We heard about Dr Joshi's Holistic Detox diet and did some searches on the Internet to learn more about it. With four or five hours of reading what we found online, we didn't feel the need to buy the book. The ideas of the Dr Joshi's plan are simple enough.
Basically it involves a 'Detox' idea. By going cold turkey and completely cutting out a number of things from your diet, you give your body a chance to rid itself of accumulated toxins like chemical food preservatives, artificial flavors and other unnatural compounds our systems were never designed to ingest. The result is better health with enhanced absorption of nutrients, an absence of cravings, more energy, alertness, and general well-being.
My wife and I decided to do a detox together. Doing it with another person has been great. Much easier than doing it alone, I'm sure. Together we have cut out all booze, coffee, added salt, gluten (no wheat products), corn products, yeast, red meat, potatoes, white rice, cheese and diary products [we have continued eating some yogurt], and refined sugar. During the 21-day detox period Dr Joshi also advises to cut out all fruit except bananas. If you smoke or take recreational drugs I'm sure Dr Joshi would want you to stop them completely too.
The list of don'ts sounded very intimidating at first but we soon realized it wasn't very difficult. Stopping coffee did lead to withdrawal symptoms (bad constant headache) for the first couple of days. Stopping the booze was surprisingly easy. [Between us we were spending about $60-$70 per week on beer/vodka/rum by each having a couple of beers and a couple of doubles, a daily thing. We knew we were drinking too much and over the years the trend had become a slow steady increase in amounts]. Because we knew booze and coffee were really bad for us, cutting them out definitely has had a positive psychological effect -- making us feel good that we have no dependence on them. Loosing weight also has had a positive psychological effect!
What we are eating has not really felt like a sacrifice at all. We are eating lots of big salads. with them we'll eat a few ounces of chicken, turkey, or lean pork. Sometimes we'll have fish, shrimp, or scallops with a salad. In a typical salad we'll have organic greens, some almond slivers, perhaps a few organic raisins, and sesame seeds, with a light vinaigrette dressing. For breakfast & snacks we'll often have a small bowl of cereal -- typically millet flakes (no gluten), a little granola, and soy or almond milk -- sometimes with some sliced banana. Another snack I like is a slice of chicken or ham on a thin toasted slice of imported real Dutch pumpernickel bread -- the kind that is basically just fermented rye kernels -- yum. We will also eat a two or three eggs per week, legumes like a bean salad or hummus. Sometimes we'll have a wild blend of brown rices. We eat some tofu and will make thin soups like meso. To drink, we are now drinking lots of filtered water, caffeine-free herb teas, some low-caffeine green tea, and my wife likes sparkling mineral water. She has had a few glasses of red wine. We have had no deserts.
The simple nature of the diet has not required much planning. We just make sure we have lots of salad-making supplies, appropriate meats/seafood, cereal, bananas, etc. in the house. It is very easy to quickly whip something tasty together without a recipe or any fuss. The grocery bills are a little less expensive. We feel very nourished and always have enough to satisfy -- no starvation going on here! Our two boys (9 & 13) aren't on the diet with us but our new attention to feeding ourselves quality foods has had us feeding them better. They also are getting more aware of healthy eating and are asking for better snacks.
When we've had to eat out at restaurants we have not found it too difficult. Typically we'll just order a salad with boneless chicken and drink water. My wife went out to a bar drinking with friends. While the friends got drunk she just sipped sparkling water. She found she still had fun and didn't miss the booze.
Eventually when we've reached our target weights, I don't see us going back to our old habits. I suspect at that time having the occasional beer or desert will just have us maintain our weight. The way we are eating now I feel that eventually my body will find the weight it wants to be.
I should add that we have increased our amount of exercise. We now try to walk the dog for two 3km walks each day. Additionally we walk on the treadmill for at least another 3km.
I hope this information encourages someone. You can be healthier!
Regards, Ross
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Well done Ross, I am sure that you are feeling a lot better than before....
My mother-in-law has done somethign similar and have lost about 14 kilos [30-odd pound] and she looks and feels great!!
Drinking a lot of water has been something that she swears by.Keep up the good work. Am i allowed to say that I am proud of you???
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Ross,
Well done! That sounds like a tremendous turn-around. You will have to feel so much better.
Funny about coffee....I used to drink about 6 VERY strong black coffees a day. I decided to stop and expected all sorts of withdrawal symptoms.....but apart from some mild cravings for a couple of days nothing much happened. I now maybe have one cup of coffee in the afternoons but mainly drink green tea or a tea made from dried Goji berries http://hanlin.hit.bg/wolfberry.htm
Stu -
Ross that is great and thank you for all the information. I think it will take a bit for me to digest
the info you and Craig D have given:
viewtopic.php?f=6&t=251
I am encouraged and excited. I decided to stop caffeine today. My first step. -
Ross and others,
Great to hear that you found a plan that works for you and you can keep at. The key to me seems to be you have to fundamentallty change your way of life otherwise you get on a treadmill of gaining and losing weight.
A few years ago I got fed up with my weight and gut and went on my own diet. I cut down the amount of food I eat, drink lots of water and made it a point to order healthy foods as opposed to fried grease and blubber and developed an exercise program that I keep at.
I've lost over 60 pounds and have pretty much kept it off. Yesterday, my daughter, her boyfriend and I took part in a 100 mile bike ride out on Long Island. I'm nearly 64 (that Beatle song does resonate in my ears) and kept up with and actually finished just ahead of those 30 somethings.
The key is developing a lifestyle that makes you focus on being healthy and making time on a regular basis to exercise. I do it three times a week for 2 hours and get up at 5AM to do it and ride my bike on the weekends. I still have the time (and added energy) to be active in the office, learn new software applications and enjoy myslef.
Keep at it Ross.
Allen
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Hello again all. Let's bring this one back to the top.
I am in the middle of week 4, 3 weeks and 5 days to be exact, and I have lost 17.5 pounds. That is an average of 5 pounds a week.
Thanks again Ross for all the tips.
I found Bob's Red Mill gluten free hot "Mighty Tasty GF Hot Cereal".
http://www.bobsredmill.com/
And to tell you the truth it is mighty tasty. The ingredients are: whole grain brown rice, corn, white sorghum and buckwheat. That is all. Put a "pinch" of honey in it and I am good to go.What I am liking about this way of eating is looking at the ingredients on everything. And you know what, you don't have to look at a label to know there are no preservatives or other junk in a banana, apple or lettuce.
I will have to say I am not too fond of the Pumpernickel. But I do love salads and I pile fresh mushrooms, tomato's and peeled carrots (I peel them into slivers) along with slivered almonds. I found a roasted red pepper vinegrette that has no preservatives... yummy.
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That's a great update Eric! I'm currently at about 35 pounds lost in eight weeks. That works out to an average loss of 4.375 pounds/week. My jeans are noticably more loose. The other day I had to punch a new hole in my belt so it could continue to keep the pants up.
I'll have to look for that Bob's Red Mill "Mighty Tasty GF Hot Cereal". I'll give it a try but only in small amounts as I'm trying to avoid eating corn products.
Regards, Ross
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