Forever since I posted...

Well, the holidays came and I feel off the wagon big time with my eating and life. I have not written in forever and have just been pretty lazy. So, I ate bread over the holidays and not just on my cheat day. I feel better to have confessed it. I have tried to detox but I keep eating the wrong things. I have spent most of the month of January feeling sick and sluggish from my eating patterns and some wonderful Texas allergy issue called Cedar Fever.
It is a lot of fun not to breathe through your nose. I was even so desperate I tried a holistic remedy called a Neti Pot. For those of you who have not had the pleasure a Neti Pot is a teapot looking item that you fill with warm saline water, insert in to your nostril and tip to flush out your sinuses. It is not a fun experience because it is a delicate balance to keep it from running down the back of your throat and also to not feel like you are drowning. When you finish one side, you have to flush your sinuses from the other side. So fun!!! Also, this wonderful allergy has made me feel like I can not breathe quite regularly. I have to use an inhaler, I don't have asthma. I tried to run the other day and found that there are 70 year old, asthmatic, smokers who can probably breathe better than me. I was wheezing so bad after about a half a mile that I had to walk. Talk about embarrassing, here I am with a bright red face, wheezing, and sweating profusely and anyone who passed me on the road only saw me strolling slowly along. I must have looked like I was so out of shape that mere walking was a huge effort. Oh well. I will go see the doctor to see if there is anything to be done or if I just am that out of shape.
Now back to the bread. Well, I ate it and it tasted sooo good that I kept on eating it and now I feel icky and sluggish and fat. So, guess I will have to successfully detox all the way. I just have to survive about two weeks and then I can go back to having a cheat day only. Wish me luck.

I like my doctor but...

OK, so i told you about the doctor wanting me to eat gluten free and sugar free. I also went the extra step and decided to give up meat except for fish. It is going well, I have lost weight and feel a lot better. So I went back to my doctor recently for an enlarged lymph node and some neck pain. It is nothing serious but while I was there she said that I needed to give up dairy.  I think she may be crazy or at least expecting way too much of me. She told me that some people have enlarged lymph nodes because of diary and dairy can cause a lot of skin issues. I switched to lactose free milk about a year ago because I found myself to be lactose intolerant but I love milk. I know I love bread too and I gave that up, but seriously I think it will be impossible to eat if I have to give up milk products as well. Additionally, there is the issue of no ice cream, sour cream, cheese or lots of other things. I know there are soy replacements for all of these items but I really just don't want to do this. I am considering switching my milk to soy since that is the dairy product I consume most often but I only really like one soy brand and have not found it here yet. I want to be able to eat in a restaurant and at this point I am already limited to fish, vegetables, potatoes and rice. If I give up dairy even the gluten free, meat free foods I can find on a menu will be off limits to me. I know I can do the same thing with dairy that I do with the rest, allow myself the cheat day and eliminate it at home. I also know that in the animal kingdom we are the only ones who consume milk as adults but still... Seriously, I already eat basically beans, rice, fruit, veggies, chex cereal, occasional rice crispy treats, fruit roll ups, yogurt and cheese. You do the math if I eliminate the cheese and milk on the cereal. So to dairy or not is the question.

Gluten Free, Sugar Free, Vegetarian mostly...

Well, I have been eating gluten free, mostly sugar free (I won't say I have been perfect at that) and vegetarian ( I have eaten some fish) for about a month now. I have discovered that when I take away all the candy, sweet tea and soda it is a lot easier to think of fruit as really good, I never really ate a lot of candy but the drinks were getting me. I have never really liked fruit in the past but now I am finding it a lot easier to eat. I still don't like certain fruits but I like more than I did. I always loved vegetables and still do. Don't worry I have been eating plenty of black beans and almonds to make sure I take in adequate protein. Here is the really exciting news, I feel better, but also I have lost almost 13lbs in the last month. I guess this is what my body needs to be healthy. I feel I must have some sort of gluten intolerance because I do still allow a cheat day and my cheat is usually some kind of breakfast and the last couple of times the bread has made me a little sick. Crazy huh? I guess as much as I did not want to agree with the doctor, because I really like bread and pasta, I have to admit she is right. I will keep everyone posted as I continue on.

Slim in six and other adventures

Hello. I just realized it has been a really long time since I posted anything. I have been pretty busy with my sick puppy (actual dog not a euphemism) and my class. I have been working out though not as regularly as I would like but I have lost 5lbs. Yeah. Some success other than inches. I have lost a few inches as well.
My biggest news and what I am trying to deal with other than my poor dog, is that I have to start an entirely new lifestyle as far as eating is concerned. I went to see a new doctor here because I needed to establish a doctor and have my thyroid tested. She is an MD but also specializes in natural medicine and nutrition. In short she is the doctor I want to be when I grow up except I will be a DO. Anyway, she was wonderful and took her time talking with me. When she told me she also specialized in natural medicine she said it almost apologetically, not sure if it is viewed as wonderful in TX. So, she told me she thinks I need to quit all sugar and go on a gluten free diet. I know you are thinking that this is just another crazy doctor preaching the latest eating fad. I did too until she gave me the reasons, then I found I could not argue with her.
First, the gluten free is because she believes I may have this thing called Celiac Disease. Not as tragic as it sounds it is just an intolerance to gluten. For those of you who are wondering what the heck gluten is, it is in all the good stuff bread, pasta and basically anything made with wheat. I am already familiar as my stepfather and one of my favorite honorary nephews eat gluten free.
I should mention that in addition to this I had already decided to give up meat for the most part. I will make exceptions because I can't see myself not having ham on Christmas. Overall though I will eat only fish. Mainly because I already gave up red meat and I just don't really care if my meals have meat in them or not. I have decided to eat only what I really want not just what I think I am supposed to. It has been working too, I have actually started to crave fruit, which I did not even like before.
Back to the gluten free and sugar free living of my future. The doctor said I may have this intolerance to gluten based on a number of symptoms I get weekly, many of them are gastrointestinal, similar to lactose intolerance or irritable bowel. Also she told me it is likely that I am not lactose intolerant as I thought, my inability to digest milk is being caused by my flare ups from the gluten. The reason she wants me to quit sugar ( and this is the one that may kill me cause she means all simple carbohydrate) is due to the rapid blood sugar changes I experience some days and the resulting cortisol that they produce.
Cortisol is a stress hormone, when we were hunters and gatherers we used cortisol as one of our "fight or flight" hormones, now that we no longer have to protect ourselves from the woolly mammoth our body secretes cortisol when we are stressed. Our body also secretes insulin along with the cortisol, which in turn makes us crave carbohydrate ( our quick energy source to help us in flight) and we eat sugars, then our body secretes more insulin to digest the sugar and the cortisol makes us store the "energy" we have just taken in and we get fatter because we eat more and more carbohydrate. I am sure I am explaining that whole process badly but it made a lot of sense when the doctor said it because I experience blood sugar highs and lows sometimes that leave me sweating and shaking and with the feeling that I have to eat something with sugar in it now. This is I guess the overproduction of insulin and by eating sugar I am perpetuating this cycle.
So, the bottom line is no sugar and no gluten, oh and no meat by choice. So what will I eat and am I actually going to try to eat this crazy way? I will try anything once, I have been fighting my body for years and if this allows me to be the weight I want and feel good that is what is important not pasta. Right? Don't think I won't be finding some ways to have gluten free bread and pasta. I am also allowing myself one cheat meal a week because I like to eat in restaurants and gluten free, sugar free and meat free in a restaurant will not happen. Plus I just don't want to be the person who makes the dining out all about what I can't eat. I have several friends who are vegetarians in varying degrees ( some eat fish, some don't) and they don't make a big deal out of it, they just order what they can on a menu. I am going cold turkey on all these things because I know that if I don't I will not quit them. Once I do we will see how crazy and cranky I become.

Hiking with the husband

I went hiking with my husband today. We went to a park we have gone to before, I think I wrote about it the last time because I remember wanting to cry like a small child when we got lost. This time we did not get lost, but we were apparently in a hurry that I was not aware of. I am short so for every step he takes I have to take two. I am clumsy so I try to make sure I don't faceplant by going a little slower. I tried to explain this to my husband but I don't think he believes it, he thinks I am just making excuses for the fact that I am panting and sweating profusely. Maybe I am a little. It does not slow his pace one bit. At least it is a quick workout right? We have improved too because we can find our way back out of the park now, without the compass. Did the slim in 6 twice last week as well. I think I wrote about it. It is still going well and I think I may be getting stronger. I can even complete some push ups now, and not like a girl. That is an improvement.

Slim in Six

So, I am continuing to work out with the Slim in six. I have found out that Debbie Siebers, does sweat. She also mispronounces the word behind. It does not have a T in it. She is very proud of her in studio workout companions, they are doing their exercises perfect... not perfectly but just perfect. I know that picking on her grammar is really making me a dork but I focus on strange things when I am trying to exercise.
I have decided to hate Debbie a little because she tells you how many reps you have left in the strength exercise, she tells you to hold the last rep, then lower it slowly and then says 8 more reps. For that 8 more reps I hate her, even though I know it is coming. However, hate and all, I have lost additional inches on my waist, hips and thighs. From the when I began I have lost 4 inches on my waist, 2 on my hips, 1 on my thighs and 1 on my arms. This is all in the course of about three weeks. So even though I hate her, I have to say her workout works so far. I have not lost any weight though which is frustrating, I mean I know that the loss of inches is good but I really would like the scale to back it up.

Slin in 6 Challenge

Ok, so I am trying to run or do some sort of cardio every day. I am also trying to do the slim in six every night. I say trying because I do not always succeed with both. I always get at least one in but sometimes when I get home from work at 11pm I just don't feel like doing the other half of the workout. I have to get over that since I really want to do this. No excuses, just get over it right?
I had not been running in a while until recently. Boy if you don't use it you lose it as far as running is concerned. I was trying to run outside, I can not survive, I had to take it to the air conditioned comfort of the gym. I was surviving the run outside but I don't always have the two hours of recovery time required to return me back to a normal color from the lobster red I am when I finish. The gym is better. I can complete a couple of miles and be on my way back home for some minimal cooling off time before I get ready for work.
Today I think I may do the slim in six during the day and then head over the gym for a quick two miles. I do love the strength training. I want to see if my arms are capable of looking anything other than flabby. I wonder if the wave that keeps on waving will ever go away. Also, I want to know if this is the permanent position of my butt without surgical intervention. I am ok with it but if it could be higher, tighter and look a little less like it just survived a vicious hail storm that would be a good thing. One day during my life I would like to put on a bathing suit and feel good about it. I know, not possible no matter how small you are, but a woman can dream right.