it has been a month

(note: this was so painful to write that i am not even editing it. i just had to get it out since it has been so long. my advanced apologies to you.)

i am learning, rather slowly, but still learning. the only way to get into the habit of doing something well is to do it over and over. as you can see from the date of my last post october 31st, i have not been practicing that idea when it comes to my writing. not only have i lagged on my blog but i have also lagged on my book. so, i am jumping back in with the attempt to post here daily and hope that motivates my book writing as well. ok here goes.
what has happened on the food front since october 31st? first we had halloween and then the extended thankgsgiving holiday. basically there were potential minefields everywhere. i dodged every bullet...even when a few friends told me i was "missing out". i thought about eating a friend's cheesecake but after slicing a piece, i just had no interest. could this have to do with the fact that i can't get a check appointment until jan. 11 2012? maybe. i also think i have put some of those cravings on hold. so the food journey continues.
and for the writing, i know...rusty. just gotta work out the kinks.
happy holidays peeps.

halloween candy

oh my gosh...had no idea i can taste through my smell. sunday night...remembered i needed to take bag of candy out of refrigerator for tomorrow...gotta give out candy to the kids. opened the bag to put the candies in a bowl and zap that smell of chocolate knocked me out. i was so tempted to eat one reeses but also afraid that i couldn't stop at just one. i think i don't have the control to handle. guess for now i gotta skip it entirely. crazy.

candy

part of the reason this food experiment was enticing was the timing of it...the time before we all start to eat and eat and eat...from candy (halloween) to pies (turkey day) to chocolate chip cookies (my mother-in-law-s specialty at christmas). i wanted to really feel at the top of my game going into the holiday craze. i have a friend who said the day after christmas she woke up and felt like her blood was like gravy from all the food consumed. i don't want that. today the news it was reported that the average american, and we know i am above average, consumes 25 pounds of candy per year. and as i wrtie this in my refrigerator thanks to my husband sits a combo pack of reeses/twix candy to give out at halloween. thankfully i have had absolutely no desire to rip that plastic bag open. have to say that alone feels pretty good.

heading home.

today is day 107. yes, i continue on. been in vermont for the last couple of weeks in the home of two super healthy vegans. so my send off today...breakfast was a glass of homemade green juice. nice. i don't know what happens once i land in sf but for right now i feel pretty darn good. i supported the vermont/ny economy and bought myself some new clothes to fit my new size. i need to get pants but think i will wait until the end of the year. for some reason in my mind i think that will be the best time.
here's to the beginning of holiday time...halloween, thanksgving, christmas, new years and continuing on this path of food exploration.

follow up

been a few days since my day 100 and the journey continues. i have thought about what would be the food that would break the experiment and still no answer. i was in walgreens and thought about a candy bar. i love or maybe loved candy. now i want it to be something that is amazing. so far nothing. i will let you know when it happens and of course what it is!

day 101

what's my big take away from all of this? any goal that might seem big to achieve is easier if taken in small steps. i totally understand the AA philosophy of one day at a time. when i set out on this food experiment, 100 days seemed like a long period of time. just getting to the end of the month to change the calendar page seemed long. but with my daily count down before i knew it i was in the home stretch and now i have crossed over to the plus side with day 101.
keeping it real...one day at a time.

day 100...last day

went to dinner last night with liz and her two kids. they had a pizza with red sauce (no cheese) and pasta with red sauce. then dessert...a brownie cut in four. i think the waitress thought all four of us would split the brownie but instead the kids shared.
have to say the aroma of the food along with the kids humming as they ate their meal got my stomach churning and my nostrils flaring. uh oh.
what will i do after today? i have no idea.
for now i can say i have completed my goal and i am feeling good about it.
thank you for reading! cheers to me and to you.

99

i think it is perfect to end this experiment with liz and anthony....vegans. yesterday their son poet got excited because the superfood juice bottle was made from plants. so for the most part day 99 to means absolutely nothing to them. they live well, eat well. you get the idea.
and so now i am just starting my day....blogging...drinking coffee...and eating an apple and a handful of organic raw cashews.
happy monday.

sunday night

two days to go. amazing. just got back from burlington. visited my niece kate and her girlfriend lluvia as well as my college friend katherine. thankfully kate has a vegetarian diet so she chose an awesome fun lunch place that fit into my food experiment needs. reminds me how easy it is to do this today as opposed to probably 20 years ago. we are way more aware of what we eat now and have so many options.
but i am tired now from my visit so i am shutting this thing down. happy sunday night.

saturday

ok gotta head out quick before the rain comes. but just a couple things to say.
one...three days to go.
two...went into the general store this morning and like every nice vermont general store on a saturday morning...free cake. had to give a polite no thanks despite the fact that it oozed and smelled of deliciousness.
ok off to burlington.

the effect of sugar

i saw the effect of sugar...on kids (ages 2 and 4). my friend made super healthy tasty vegie soup for dinner. yum. but of course getting my friend's kids to finish dinner she had to bribe them with "if you finish your dinner you can have the coconut ice cream". she serves some kind of non dairy healthy version but it had sugar in it. they didn't even finish their mini cones before they were up and out of their seats dancing around the living room. it was pretty cute to see their little dance party. these kids don't eat many foods with sugar so the reaction to it was big. pretty amazing to see.
wonder what will happen to me!
4 to go.

5 days

i can't believe it...5 days to go. i know. i know. i will probably say this every day for the next 5 days. but really, at the beginning 14 weeks and two days seemed like a long time. and now here we are at the end. i ask myself what is my take away from this. and it is, if we want to make change then pick one thing, whatever it is and practice that over a period of time...100 days for instance. sure there maybe moments along the way that we fail to practice the change but hey start again the next day and by the end of the 100 days most likely whatever you attempted will be a part of you. i know that regardless of when i consume - flour, sugar, etc. again that i will always look at it differently and i will always have less than what i previously have. i know that i can live happily and easily and better with out it.
and now with out putting it into my calendar every day i automatically write something everyday...and that was the ultimate goal of this experiment. i think success has been had.

count down is on

i am in vermont for the next two weeks which means...food experiment is really coming to an end. i will keep this brief as i have to go teach soon. less than one week to go. wondering what will be the first thing off the list that i will eat? not a clue.
what would you eat?

one week to go

I'm at sfo waiting for my flight to Boston. Please keep in mind that I'm typing this on my phone.
Food experiment is so helpful for traveling. I know that food choices at the airport and on the plane will be limited so I'm prepared. I've got food for the day...nuts, apple, banana, cheese. I also ate breakfast before I left...typically I would have just gotten some greasy expensive egg sandwich at the airport. For less cost, less effort, and less bloated feeling I have my food consumption taken care of. There is something to be said for planning ahead. OK I'm going to eat a banana now.
Have a great day

strange

either my clothes have grown or i have shrunk. i feel like that kid in big when he goes from tom hanks adult size back into the child size person. strange feeling.

i enjoy this

i know i have done entire posts on what i eat and don't eat. and now i shall take this one step deeper.
i have to say i discovered two things i am really enjoying eating. first off i am loving me some fried eggs. yes, fried. since there is so much on the do not eat list i added some fat foods. it is a fast, quick, tasty satisfying meal.
second...buttered popcorn with salt at the movies. my friend katite turned me on to it. typically if i ate anything it would be a shared candy. but boy oh boy hot buttered popcorn with salt is pretty awesome. the one thing that i need to learn is go size small. the medium...just a bit too much.

saturday

it is saturday here in beautiful sf. i have been up since 7, had my coffee, apple and raw cashes (love that combo). read a few chapters of an awesome book called the art of fielding. and now 9 am my husband is getting ready to surface so we shall venture out into the day. but before we do the one thing i need to acknowledge here today is that today is day 90. with ten days to go i can officially say in yoga terms, i am in the home stretch.
namaste.

i got a present. i got a present...woo hoo.

went exploring in the coat department at macys. before long ladies were telling me to buy the beautiful coat i had on. i went back and forth on it. i even attempted to leave the store. i just didn't make it to the exit time. somehow i found myself back on the up escalator to the 5th floor for one more look. then a phone call later with my husband (who offered it as a belated birthday gift), i was purchasing my pretty coat. and thanks to the food experiment, it locks great.
i got a present. i got a present. (to be hummed and sun like a girl).

satisfying the sweet

the one thing i have used to satisfy my sweet tooth...sugar free trident gum - watermelon, strawberry, orange...basically it has an artificial super sweet taste. i have chewed piece after piece. wrappers are everywhere. the car. my pockets. next to my bed. reminds me of being a little kid. my mom said she always used to find little wrappers in my room. as a kid, i loved to chew gum. i even fell asleep with it my mouth only to find it stuck in my hair the next day. another thing i would do was to put a chewed piece on my nightstand to save for when i woke up. yes, i have been a gum addict. back in those days it was full on sugar gum. as i got older i switched to the sugar free kind. my dentist has shared that gum chewing is not only bad for the teeth but also for the jaw. in the past couple years i have cut back and in fact stopped buying it. now with the food experiment that has all changed. recently my husband did the grocery shopping and i had him add trident to the list. yes, gum is acting like a food. and the addiction is back in full force. i am chewing non stop - blowing bubbles, walking around like a chomping cow. attractive right? however today i decidede that it is time for me to start cutting back. why now? my jaw hurts. sure, it helped me to get through the 100 days but now it is time to go...again.

a little bit of a downer

with just less than two weeks to go, i have to say i am a little bummed that i am coming to the end. at first this seemed like such a big deal but now, well, not so much. i hate the endings of goals. it is a feeling of ok, now what. sure i still have two weeks to go and i could screw up. i even have had a few temptations recently. but realistically that is highly unlikely. which then leads me to thinking this experiment is basically over. i know gloom and dooom, right? maybe it is the rain outside or the shortening of the days but i am definitely feeling low spirited.

such nice words

two weeks to go, and i am starting to hear nice compliments from people. i have been told in the last 24 hours from different people...
"wow, you look so great. what are you doing."
"your skin looks so healthy. no wrinkles."
"you look like you have lost a lot of weight."
"your face looks so different."
"i want to do what you are doing."
i think all of those kind words are going to power through to the end.

the benefits

looks like i am starting to reap some benefits from this food experiment. it may seem not a big deal to you but to me, a girl, it was nice. after spending yesterday taking my friends to the hospital and all that followed with that, my friend as a thank you gave me a beautiful indian shirt. my first thought looks small - will it fit! i knew my friend would want me to put it on right away so i held my breath and hoped for the best. yes, i made a disclaimer "remember i already have a shirt on". but wouldn't you know - it fit perfectly. beautiful, comfortable. and most important my friend was thrilled. her response - "wow, you look so beautiful, like a real indian girl". i was so happy that after such a stressful day for my friend worrying about her husband that this gift brought a smile to her face.
thank you food experiment for making my hips and butt a little smaller.

222

today is october 2nd and i have two weeks and two days to go. yep, today is my 222 day. i am on the right path. nice.

amazing

i can't believe it. i just turned to page on the calendar and am now in the home stretch of my food experiment. when i started this journey october seemed so far away and now it is here. i am going to reach my 100 day goal. woo hoo. yes. oh and yesterday i tried on a short at american apparel...size xs. i guess my body shape has changed as well. happy saturday people and welcome to fall.

friday

ok yesterday was a bit of a crisis but i am back. you know that empty fridge with just the light bulb glowing inside almost set me over the edge. but hey that is over. i got a few food items to tied me over and i am so much better. that was a little scary but thankfully the blood sugar level has returned to normal.
happy weekend people.

it is just an ongoing thing

i understand that yoga is something that i will do for the rest of my life. like brushing your teeth it is an ongoing thing. i am learning that is also true for buying groceries! as i look in my empty refrigerator, i begin to understand that the food just doesn't replace itself. for as much as i have made a habit of all the foods i don't eat, i have not made the habit stick of replacing the foods at home that i do eat. hmmm...maybe i should sign up for grocery delivery. i wonder, does anyone do this....well, this is an area i need to continue to work on. ok, time for e to look at safeway.com!

the banana

i realized this morning that the banana is a perfect food.
i dropped off my car for service and since it is such a beautiful day i decided to walk home. coffee in hand...life was perfect. in the back of my head however, i thought...hmmm hunger is kicking in. tried to satiate the hunger feeling with another cup of coffee. remembered what nutritionist told me...."andrea, coffee is not a food". as that thought entered the brain i saw mr. perfect food, the banana. love that. quick, easy, tasty, cheap, good for you. fits all the important categories. i hate waiting for the preparation of food, the cost and the question, is this good or bad for me. the banana is a perfect food....and yes, so is the bagel...but don't get me started on that.

it crosses my mind

I think we have all experienced being super hungry in a place that doesn't have great food choices. Sometimes you just have to compromise and eat what's there. Amazingly that happened to me at whole foods! I was in Sonoma working with my client for the first half of the day and then I had to head to pacifica to teach yoga. That meany I needed food which would last me from 10am through 9pm. Amazingly every prepared food item, including salads, was on my restrictive list. Before I knew it, I was compromising in my mind. I was shocked when I heard that little voice say..."It will be OK to eat chicken salad". Wow. I know I liked eating that at one point but besides the food experiment, I am a vegetarian. Thankfully after walking around many times my better judgment kicked in. I bee lined to an arugula salad, then to the cashier and I was out the door. That was interesting.

it is monday again.

start of a new week. always feel refreshed and renewed to continue on with this experiment. i know i said it before and i will say it again. mondays, i can conquer anything. it is thursday/friday that the doubts come in. but hey, i am living present moment. i am feeling on top of the world. i worked yesterday (which means cash in my pocket). i have completed 11 weeks on this food experiment. and, i see that this week i flip the calendar to october...home stretch of the food experiment. rock on people. here's to monday. to goals being completed. and to hopefully me taking on new clients.
peace out.

so what do i eat

i am often asked..."well, what do you eat"? there are many things that i have added guilt free to this food experiment. many of these things i ate occasionally but now i enjoy them as a regular part of my day. here goes...
avocados, eggs, butter, milk in my coffee, caesar salads (love them)and best of all buttered popcorn with salt at the movies. basically you can say i have added fat and i absolutely 100 percent love it. so there you go.
11 weeks completed today.

walking can make me hungry

well it turns out just walking around sf can bring up some triggers of foods i miss...here we go...(hope I don't introduce you to some tasty new bad foods!)

starbucks - red velvet whoopi pies, little cakes on lollipop sticks...so yummy.
i first learned of these items at heathrow airport trying to get rid of the remaining pounds in my pocket. no one takes the change so i figured i might as well spend it.

cake batter frozen yogurt - introduced to me by my friend Samantha (no, it doesn't come in sugar free)

Madeline cookies...bite size yummy fun and great with a cup of coffee

rice...any with any type of asian food.

the new fad of eating cupcakes

oh and of course the old list...bagels and pizza.

hungry yet?

sometimes this food experiment seems easy but right no well, not so much.

good morning

i used to pride myself on the fact that i could pretty much eat anything. basically, a non difficult eater. well that all changed with the yoga. the more yoga i did the more difficult thr food eater i became. but aha i just remembered in one way i am still not difficult. i don't have time restrictions on eating. for instance, right now i am eating a salad for breakfast and i had eggs for dinner last night. woo hoo i am not completely difficult.
oh did i mention today is day 75? that deserves a second woo hoo.
happy friday people.

the mall can be a trigger

ok let me just get it out there. was in the mall...a huge trigger reminding me of all the foods i love and have not eaten...here we go...
wetzel's pretzels
pizza
chocolate chip cookies
cake...any kind
boudin sourdough bread
papaya king hot dogs
roast chicken
candy bars
bagels bagels bagels
chips
chocolate croissant
peet's blackberry raspberry scone
tuna sandwich
grilled cheese
courtney's vegie burger sandwich
ice cream

that little voice in my head...oh yeah, that's my mom

part of my constant dilemna with eating has been based on my upbringing. i grew up in a house where you had breakfast food (cereal, toast, eggs) for breakfast, lunch food (sandwiches) for lunch and then dinner food (meat, starch, vegie) for dinner. i have attempted to model this and failed...especially the dinner thing. like tonight for instance. my husband had to go to a dinner function and i taught yoga until 8. plus i was out of the house all day working with a client. oh and it was hot...that is a factor too. so what did i eat? breakfast...yogurt with blueberries and nuts, snack of a banana. then went all the way until 3 when i got home for a quick bite...apple and nuts...then taught. got home late and what did i have...apple and nuts. i was tired. it was hot. i just needed some food. so silly but based on my mom
s food pyramind, i failed. oh well. tomorrow is a new day.

i am soooooooo good

now for some people who know me...you know that i don't always keep a stocked refrigerator. and even now with all of my planning for what i can and can not eat, there are still times when my refrigerator is pretty close to empty. and seeing that this food experiment requires me to eat only perishable items well let's just say having an empty fridge is kind of a problem. but i have a solution. just make sure i have ingredients for the next meal. for instance if it is night time, i better have something i can eat for breakfast. that way i don't fall into the trap of hunger. no food in the house and now i am brain dead and have no idea or solution as to what to eat. yep, just plan for that next meal. may seem like a small thing to you but for me that gives me ease of mind. yes, i am sooooooooooooooooo good. thank you.
Oh and I mention...I hav
e exactly 4 weeks to go. Hell yeah I'm good.

10 weeks in and i am getting ahead of myself

now that i am 10 weeks in, i am getting kind of bummed that it will be ending soon. ok i know i still have another 4 weeks to go, but still. it's like reading a good book. you want to get to the end to see what happens but then you have to go through the process of finding a new book. of course my mind gets to thinking...well i should extend this experiment at lest until the end of my stay in Vermont. well if i do that then i should extend it the end of the yoga conference....you can see where this is going....why not just go until the end of the year. yep, i get ahead of myself. ok enough. live present moment.
yahoo. i have completed ten weeks. good for me.

no good food is eaten after ten on a friday night

went to see diana ross the other night. fantastic. on the way there, i drove by several bars filling up with people in their mid twenties. that was me many moons ago. chuckled about that and went to the show. thankfully diana had no opening act. she started exactly at eight and we were out by ten. love that. totally suits my schedule. after purchasing a t i headed out to market street. boy there is something about being out bars, concerts, friens parties whatever that as soon as you leave, the mind goes to the stomach. it felt like a pavlov experiment. i had reminders of the olden days leaving late night drinking festivities and then heading to find food. well post diana i had that same feeling. thankfully i wasn't drunk so i could just dismiss the thought, get in my car and head home. no junk food for this gal.

i hear what you are saying.

i have heard that lessons are first whispered to you, then spoken to you and then yelled you...i hear someone yelling.
watching the nate berkus show - theme is his 40th birthday. no food topics, cool. wrong! his guest for the show is dr. oz who talks about aging and staying healthy and fit. his first tip. "when you take the fat out of dairy products all you are left with is...sugar. you are better off having whole milk or 2 percent milk it actually helps you lose weight. and the calcium in dairy sucks up the fat and takes it out of your body. so you don't get that big belly."
amazing. i have heard this message three times in three days. ok, i am done. i am switching to two percent milk in the coffee. i will keep you posted. now can someone please stop yelling. i am getting a headache.

i hate this.

so what do i hate? i know hate is a strong word. whatever. i used to hate it when someone would introduce me to their new favorite junk food...whatever it was whatchamacallit, skor bar, a bag of chips, whatever it was i took it on...full on. i loved it. it just got added to my list of favorite foods to hate. but now i have a new hate.
i hate when someone tells me a food that i think is on the good list secretly is really on the bad list. this information was just enlightened to me about something i have every day. i drink a cafe ai lait - coffee and steamed milk. i had the non fat version of milk thinking that was a good idea. now when i saw a nutritionist last year she told me to eat the fat versions of food - i.e. yogurt as there is less sugar. that got planted in my head so i moved away from the non fat to two percent. but milk? no way non-fat. the new reveal came from my coffee barrister. he said that the non-fat milk in my coffee gets most of its calories from...sugar. seriously? here i am not eating sugar and yet there it is in my coffee. i am annoyed. so after that little pearl of wisdom was shared, i sat in my car doing a little research on my phone and yep, there it was. non fat milk gets most of its calories from sugar.
i hate this. yes, i used the word hate.

not this time

went to my husband's 630 softball game. exciting game so i stayed the entire time. that meant i left around 745...oh and i took yoga class before the game. this meant that my drive home i was aware of that hungry feeling in my stomach. and as i have said before i don't do well with food choices when hunger enters the equation. i thought well i am near whole foods i will go there. thankfully i rethought that. supermarkets plus empty tummy equals poor decisions. so i just headed home. and to my great relief i had food. yep, i forgot i already had cooked lentils, steamed broccoli, sauteed mushrooms and some vegie meat crumble. yahooo. put it in a pan. cooked it up. ten minutes later i had an awesome meal.
again really? no, not this time. phew.

discouraged...just a bit

took yoga class yesterday and besides being a super challenging class, i noticed that stomach roll was still there. i don't like it. then i just had my mind going for the rest of the class that i don't look any different since when i started this experiment. there's only 5 weeks left and not much has changed. or has it? was i just being hard on myself? i don't know. but i am feeling a little discouraged. maybe tomorrow will feel different. i can only hope.

3 hours later....
watching dr. oz. topic - women after 40 and belly fat. well at least i am not alone!

monday...monday

new week. new goals. same food experiment. thankfully it is the morning and mornings are always the easiest for me. yogurt, fruit nuts or eggs/avocado. the days mine fields are ahead but for now i am in the beginning of the day so no problemo. now if i could only make the rest of the day feel as easy as the morning. but then again i am a morning person.

sunday

woo hoo. 9 weeks completed. what have i discovered so far? i still crave rice with thai food. i still like the idea of eating my friend's homemade chocolate chip cookies with butterscotch chips. i am still documenting how long i have been doing this food experiment. i am discovering new foods that i like. and i still am wondering what if anything will change when i am done with this. but for now...congrats to me on completing 9 weeks.

girls are funny

yesterday i went into a boutique on chestnut street to check out what the style is for fall. i tried on a sweater by rag and bone and loved it. or so i thought. sometimes i think i love something just because it fits. i know that sounds stupid but it is true. i then have to ask myself how does it look. but once again, i get confused that the item fits me. oh and did i mention it was a size small? typically i am a medium and this had a giant s on the inside. amazing how a label can change how i think. but i of course them tell myself "oh this clothing line must run large". stupid i know. so i put the sweater back on the rack and left store. my thinking about it doesn't end there and i thought about the sweater the remainder of the afternoon. i even went so far as to look on line to see if i could find it thru an on-line store. nope, that was an in-store item and i couldn't find anyone else who sold it. in doing this i also came across a review of the boutique. some amazing reviews and some not so nice reviews. one review said how this store only sells clothes to small people. one lady said she was a size 10 and couldn't find a single item in her size. i always got annoyed by this but for some reason today i wasn't bothered by it. all of this information got processed in my head and i kind of had a good feeling thinking i could get a size s from the boutique that sold to small people. now keep in mind i do come from a family of small women and at 5'5 i am a giant in my family so this may have something to do with my crazy thought process. but boy oh boy some of us women are just so silly when it comes to size. me, included. i did drive back there later in the day and tried it on. thinking about all the crazy thoughts i had i still was able to say that it looked good, it was definitely my style and yes, it is a size S. wow, the games we play with ourselves. happy almost fall.

eating all the time

i have heard from people on diets/food programs that they feel they are eating all the time. exactly my thought. i think my norm has been to have coffee to start the day, maybe then a banana and then go several hours before eating again. this meant that by the time i sat down to eat in the afternoon i would be ravenous. i would then have one large meal. this also meant i needed something immediate so not the best food choices were made. that seems to be different now. by limiting my sources of food i am focused on buying food that fits in to the experiment. and i am finding i am eating throughout the day. i just started the day with my norm of coffee and banana followed by fried eggs. wow. yep, i am eating all the time.

we are now in the second half

day 60 people. 40 to go. nice. now if i had done this for just 40 days that would seem a lot but considering i am doing 100 days of this..well, 40 more just doesn't seem like much. huh. it always comes back to the numbers for me. and of course since i have a full house of food i can eat, 40 days doesn't seem too difficult. we shall see.

much better

started the day off well...opened the door and voila a box of food. yep, our vegie box was delivered. then headed to sonoma to work with a client and on the way back, picked up more produce. of course i wanted to deposit my paycheck and that meant a stop at the super market. now we have a nice array of food. i feel so much better. amazing how getting groceries can soothe my mind.

i hate this

had an awesome weekend in donner. even stayed and extra day. but that meant...no food in fridge at home.
got home mid-day which also meant i only had breakfast. thank god for the banana packed in the cooler for the ride home. arrived back in sf around 3 and then quickly headed down to woodside for a client meeting. this meant returning to sf after 7, rush hour time, hungry and knowing no food at home. spent the second half of the drive trying to figure out what to eat. the more i thought about it the hungrier i got and the more clueless my brain went. i hate this.
then...light bulb...told myself to pick one thing i can eat...salad. where can i get it? squat and gobble on haight. headed right there. got parking in front. salad prepared fast. food in stomach.
crisis averted. phew.
oops...what's john going to eat? must text him to get food. i just can't deal with that now.

yum

When I started this food experiment, I anticipated the first challenge to be...Sam's birthday. That came and went with total success. My awesome husband prepared my favorite things which complimented what I prepared perfectly! So by the end of dinner I was completely content and had no desire for the pretty chocolate cake. Phew. Crisis averted.

sam's 45th

so nice. holiday weekend. drinking coffee, coconut water. eating fresh cut (by my wonderful husband) watermelon. watching u.s. open. looking out at the trees around donner house. so nice.
kitchen scene. john's reading a magazine. sam's putting together her daily routine of bags to go to her day's event. preparing food. eating food.
conversation...
john - "sam, what do you want for your birthday dinner? i can barbecue up anything you want."
sam - "i like the meat thing."

so there you have it. dinner will be the meat thing.
note to self...must go to the market to get myself the non-meat things. glad i am learning to take care of my needs too. my old self i would have just been concerned with making sure sam's birthday was about making sam happy. but i am learning. yes, i have her birthday cake covered. i just didn't make it. too hard to make a cake while not eating sugar. hey, that's ok. there will still be yummy cake to celebrate her special day.
sam is getting older and thankfully i am feeling wiser.

really tasting the food

normally if i eat something it is one item with another. now many of my additional items have been removed...crackers, bread. so i am really tasting the various foods that i like to eat. i just had Gouda cheese. yum. always had my cheese with a cracker. it was surprisingly nice to just have the cheese. wonder how we started to do the food combinations.

would you like to sample

Free candy?
Free cookie?
Free cake?

Why doesn't anyone offer non-sugar items?

something i am good at

i may not be the best chef in town but i know how to be creative. i grew up with what some might say traditional meals but that really doesn't fit into the vegetarian/food experiment diet. so i have to be creative. in the past few years i think i have mastered some great variations on the standard salad. basically i just take whatever is in the fridge that i think will be tasty and throw it together. now i am learning to apply that to other dishes. my dutch friend saskia made a red bean dish that was so yummy. i had that in the fridge as a left over. i also had some lentils that i had made. and then i found avocado and a head of butter lettuce. heated up the lentils and bean dish. mixed it with the salad avocado. oh and i already mixed the lettuce with a sesame oil. threw it all together in a bowl. voila. lunch. warm. cold. yummy. i don't know a lot of recipes but i certainly can mix it all up.

the grocery store

i have heard this many times. do not go to the super market if you are hungry. i did and that saying is true. i hadn't eaten much and figured i would stop in safeway to pick up a few things. the first thing that happened was i had no idea what to get. something about being hungry in a place with so many options just fried my brain. so i went up to the first thing i saw, the nut counter. of course i bought way more than i needed and a bunch of different varieties. crazy. i did manage then to get some items but they were pretty random and nothing that i could combine. yogurt, avocado, nuts, and coconut water. in the mean tine my friend saskis was grabbing some things to take on her flight back to holland. she couldn't find the size roll she wanted and needed my help. uh oh. the smell of the bread and bakery department ignited all of my senses. wow. never felt that way at safeway before. crazy.
now i now know first hand...no supermarket when hungry.

i just might have to quit

well no, not really. but gosh this is hard. not the food part. the writing part. how do people do this as a job? i just can't come up with thoughts every day. oh well. my only food thought is that my two dutch friends at different times have told me that i need to eat more warm food. they notice i eat lots of cold temp food...yogurt, fruit, salads, etc. i think i make up for that feeling with ht coffee. i have no idea what it means but i am now noticing it. ok well i guess that's my food thought for the day.

day 51

on day 51 i don't think there is much to say. yeah i have crossed over the half way mark but i am still in the middle of it. and well it's tuesday. i am just plugging along. and well it's a grey day. yep, it's oifficial. nothing to say. but at least i said that!

50

i should probably edit and spell check what i have written below but i am just too tired. hope it is ok.

so on day 50 i have an aha moment.
people in the clothing business say that a large percentage of women wear the wrong size bra. i am going to take that one step further and say many women wear the wrong size clothes...either too big (i am known for this one) or too small (you know the button down shirt that puckers just enough to show bra?).
i am noticing that perhaps in the last year my clothes, specifically my jeans, were getting a little shall we say a bit tight. women's jeans are usually made with lycra so the difference in how they fit just out of the dryer versus day three of wear can be entirely different. what i have been noticing is that my jeans were feeling a bit more on the snug sie post out of the dryer and my mind kept saying that the dryer must be shrinking them. after a few years of ownership i just don't think that is possible. but by day three of wear well they felt just right. i also was not complaining because i could get longer wear out of them. but now 50 days in, they are fitting comfortably just out of the dryer and day 3...well they are just too big.
yep, i was a little in denial about the expanded waist band and thankfully now well i think everything is just the right size. so for now i think my clothes fit just right.
thank goodness for day 50.

i don't do well with this question...

friend - "so have you lost a lot of weight?"
me - well, um you haven't seen me in a few weeks...what do you think?"

when people ask me the weight question, i really have no idea what to say. you see it usually comes from someone that only sees me once in a while. if i have lost a lot of weight wouldn't they see it?

seems like a strange question...but what do i know...i still have 7 weeks and two days to go. maybe i will learn a better answer.

nothing to report

so i am at a point where i have to remind myself to write down on the calendar what day i am on. in the beginning i anticipated of the food experiment i looked forward to this. in the beginning i recorded the number as a count down of days to go. but when i changed the calendar to the new month i decided to record the number as to days completed. but now i have to remind myself just to do it. i guess (for now) this food experiment is my norm. but notice that i say "for now". i suspect that will change as i cross over day 50 (monday) and into the home stretch.

triggers

i was doing the laundry at the Laundromat and like most times, also chatting with a stranger. this lady first shared her relationship experiences and then got into the topic of triggers to her sobriety. she is a recovering alcoholic and one of her her triggers is ginger ale. she said that when it hits the back of her throat she could also feel her throat burn similar to when she drank whiskey. former whiskey and soda drinker. the soda triggered the sensation of drinking alcohol. hmmm. do i have food triggers? you betcha.
i wanted to bake cookies for my husband's work retreat. the more i thought about it...the more i realized i couldn't do it. who doesn't eat the batter? and then the smell when they came out of the oven? no way. i have no control.
yesterday, i walked near this great pizza place and thought...i should get a pie for john. but as i walked up to the front door i could see this guy eating a just of the oven long garlic bread roll. it looked crazy good. i immediately turned around and thought nope, can't do that.
so yes, i have triggers. who knew?!

DOH

i am so silly. i have been thinking to myself lately that i with this experiment i eat all the time. today...light bulb effect. i realized the things i'm eating are...bananas, nuts, yogurt, apples.
as homer simpson would say...DOH!

donner lake

typically going to our house in donner means relaxing, eating, drinking, hiking, swimming, eating, drinking. you get the idea. this past weekend john and i were up there with a bunch of friends. that definitely means eating and drinking. the drinking part has never been that big for me. i can take it holiday i made a red velvet cake. sugar is around.
when i arrived saturday morning to the house, i was greeted in the kitchen by a plate of chocolate chip cookies. thankfully i came prepared with a bunch of different choices. and eventually this camei n hand. saturday everyone was out doing a variety of things so by saturday night, no one was up for cooking. due to the experiment i thankfully had my own food items. so while all the guests were off to town to scavenge for food, i just whipped myself up a tasty vegetarian meal. ahhhhh. so nice. i was hungry and i had food. thank you food experiment. i am learning to experience different situations and have solutions for them.

changing how i eat

well my arm is still bothering so i am just going to type one thought this morning. and truly i only have one thought as i haven't had my morning cup of coffee.
i love the morning. it is so easy to start the day and think that i am going to be really good and that this experiment is not a problem. then the hours of 2pm - 4pm hit and i'm thinking what can i eat. so i am trying a different solution - a banana for one hour, nuts for another hour, etc. i finally understand what people mean by eating little meals throughout the day. who knew this would happen but i am changing the way i eat.

on the injured list

my arm is still not healed so just a few words today.
loving that it is monday. start of a new fresh week on my program. everything seems possible. and after this week, i am at the half way mark. woo hoo.
ok, good luck to all of you setting goals today. go out and get 'em.
happy monday.

few words today

wish i could write more but i have hurt my left forearm and typing doesn't help it. so, gotta cut to the chase. today is day 42. yep, 6 weeks. one more week and i am half way there. little by little i am getting there. woo hoo.
ok, i got a sign off. hopefully tomorrow will be better for my arm. happy sunday.

planning ahead worked

i have always heard that it is best to eat before going to parties so as to not overeat. i didn't really believe it until last night. my friend had a party and you know how dangerous parties can be when trying to be on a food plan. i imagined there would be fruits and vegies as well as a variety of sugary fun treats. so before i left my house i decided to put the eat beforehand idea to a test. i had a healthy tasty fulfilling meal. sure enough, i had no desire to indulge in all the savory items being served. in fact it was nice to just chat with people and not have to maneuver the holding of the drink and the food item. it all looked great but i was able to just pass it by. success. happy day 41.

i have to be creative

i don't know if you remember but a while back i wrote about experimenting with fake chicken...yuck. well, today i am trying fake hot dogs. the directions said to boil water. turn off heat. add hot dog. let it sit in water for two minutes. did that. taste? again, yuck. oh, and it said to make sure to not over cook. as if that would make a difference. well i decided i had nothing to lose so i tried something else. i got out a pan, butter and added cut up the fake warm hot dog. turned on the heat and got some sizzle. then added to the mixture...beans. i remember this as a fav from childhood. hot dogs and beans. well this is my new version. fake hot dog. no bun. black beans. the outcome. pretty darn tasty. is this a meal i would have all the time? no. but for a quick little fill me up. it hit the spot. i still think the fake meat industry has a ways to go but for now i am working with i got.

dr. oz

the number one food dr. oz wants out of our house...sugar (watched this program tuesday night). the average person has four times the amount of sugar he/she needs.
why is it so bad?
- people who consume higher quantities of sugar have a lower good cholesterol and higher triglyceride, LBS...basically the the bad cholesterol which causes increased cardiovascular disease risk. sugar converts to triglyceride which is stored as omentum fat...the way bad kind of fat.
- sugar causes liver disease...sugar gets in to the liver and spikes the insulin which causes cirrhosis of the liver (behaves similar to alcohol)
- insulin spikes so high the cells become insulin resistant. the blood instead of the cells will then have process the sugar as the cells are insulin resistant. and when that happns the cells can no longer use the sugar to give us energy. this process can lead to the hardening of the artery. end results increased weight gain, body fat and diabetes.
those are just a few things highlighted but i think you get the picture.
sugar can be so yummy...m&m's, cupcakes, ice cream....but for now, i am giving it a time out!

hate to be a pain but can i have...

before i became a vegetarian, i kind of prided myself that i can eat anything. part of it was that i never wanted to inconvenience anyone. maybe that has to do with being the youngest in the family. i just never wanted to rock the boat. but then i decided i liked animals too much to want to eat them. some people had reactions that were not completely positive. they told me they didn't like the change. so again, i tried to always make sure that my non-meat eating ways didn't bother anyone. in fact, in new eating situations, i often wouldn't say that i was a vegetarian. well now with my experiment, it can not be avoided...i am high maintenance when it comes to food. john and i went to our friends for dinner and i had to fess up in advance all of my food restrictions. i felt embarrassed. i felt uncomfortable. i even apologized. to my surprise, they were so kind and the chef said he liked the challenge. fortunately, i eat seafood so that was the base of the meal.
i am amazed by the people who can just put their needs out to the world. no worries of what people will think. i am slowly learning how to do that. it took me to the age of 46 to figure that out. of course, i occasionally have a set back when met by someone who points out my "food needs" but i am learning to smile and not feel the need to react.
alright i think i am beginning to see some results from this experiment.

hungry

there is a fine line between having energy from food and still being in digestion, while taking a yoga class. yesterday i was in the energy mode. i ate a good breakfast (yogurt fruit) in the early morning and then took noon yoga class. basically yoga for lunch. i felt so good after class that i was motivated to do some errands. the problem...i was maybe a tiny bit hungry and by the time i finished my work at kinko's in daly city i was HUNGRY. i am not in familiar territory. home seems way far away. and, i need food right then and there. i scanned the outdoor shopping center. there must be something...right?...wrong. looking at burger king, honey baked ham, and quizonos. ugh. we need more healthy fast serving food. i noticed the last time i was in nyc there were many quick food places with awesome healthy choices. unfortunately that is not high on the list for daly city. the end result was i went to quiznos and had a salad with none of their toppings and no bread. i noticed the guys all said something in spanish after i ordered and had a great laugh. oh well. thankfully the greens tied me over until i got home. now i know or rather i was reminded once again that i need to carry some little snacks for things like that post yoga class hunger.
hopefully today i will have it down a little better.

it is a beautiful morning.

hello monday morning. beautiful day here in sf. seeing kids with backpacks and school buses. even feels a little crisp in the air. of course i still want to hold on to summer as long as possible but the change in the air also signals to me that i am getting closer to reaching my goal. 5 weeks complete!
however, i did have a strange experience last night. my brother in law is visiting and i was thinking about going out early today and getting us both coffee. then i thought i should get him something to eat. don't think he will want my yogurt and fruit combo. ok i will get him coffee and one of the pastries at the coffee shop. that just got my mind whirling thinking of all the pastries. i think my mouth was watering. thankfully i finally fell asleep. but wow, it went for a while.
today is new and i am happy having my coffee, yogurt and fruit.
happy monday.

oops

went to my friend elena's birthday last night. held at a swanky kind of bar with swanky kinds of drinks. day later. those drinks must have had sugar in them. damn. oh i mean oops. i didn't cheat but sugar was had. via alcohol. oh well. no biggie. moving on...the experiment continues.
noticeable results today. it seems like my clothes feel slightly hanging on me in that drapey kind of way. not completely sure but i think so.
day 35...5 weeks...congrats to me.
happy sunday.

funny enough

Per yesterday's post...
Another friend says. "Wow, you lost a lot of weight "
Strangely that gives me this an empowered feeling.
I know. Dumb but true.

perfect just the way i am but if i can put in a request...

got a voice mail message from my friend "hey dude, can't believe haven't seen you in so long. you must be super skinny".
first thought...does she think i am over weight?
second thought...my other friend told me over the week that i am in great shape.
third thought...who is right?

so today in yoga class i looked right at my whole self in the mirror. for the most part i would have to say i think i am just right. if i had this same body for the rest of my life, i could live with that and be completely satisfied. but...the one thing my eye has a tendency to go to in the mirror is that little flap of skin that hangs over the short line. kind of like a wrinkle in a shirt. so if i had to request one thing from this no bread, rice, pasta, sugar thing is that the wrinkle goes away!

will that happen? i don't know. but if i can put out requests, i think i will go for that.

getting the support i need

i am so lucky to have an amazing husband. in the past, whenever i have attempted different challenges i basically just took it on myself. but this time i am doing things different. i have asked my husband for his support, even writing down for him the foods i am not eating. he has been incredibly helpful. last night, after a long work day, a softball game and a workout, he went to the grocery store and got me all my essential foods. some of my friends have even jumped on the bandwagon to help me out. i am meeting my friend rebecca for dinner tonight and she picked the place...pluto's (which is just another word for awesome salad place). i know ultimately it is up to me to finish the 100 challenge but part of my success will be due to the support from the people i love.

yoga part 2

i was reading in one of my organizing books that when you accomplish a goal you should reward yourself with a treat. now for hoarders the treat should not be buying some "thing". so does that mean that when i accomplish my goal i shouldn't treat myself to a red velvet cake? ok gotta come up with a back up idea...i got it.
day 101 will be spent in pittsfield vermont. why pittsfield vermont? well i will teach yoga at my friend liz' bikram school and take yoga class everyday. my friends liz and anthony are vegetarians. the real kind. anthony has never even eaten meat! open their refrigerator door and you will basically find the ingredients for an amazing salad. the last time i was there i felt like i was at one of those cleanse places people spend too much money to go to. plus it will just be beautiful to be there. liz and anthony live in a forest. so amazing. i'm going to end this experiment on a super healthy note. friends, yoga and fall in vermont.

yoga

The one thing I'm beginning to notice is that my yoga practice is feeling a lot smoother. It feels like chunks of stiffness are breaking away from my joints. Movement is more fluid and I can focus on the technique of the postures. Now is this happeninh because my mind has convinced me the body moves better without sugar or is this really what happens? Perhaps it's both. If that's the case I'm looking forward to day 100 and the yoga class I take that day. For now I'm enjoying the comfortable fit of clothing and the freedom of movement.
Namaste.

looking for change

When I was a kid i would go to a friend's house for a sleep over and when I got home I would somehow expect my room to have changed. I don't know why I thought that but I really expected to find something different. That is how I feel now. I'm four weeks and 1 day into this and I'm waiting for someone to say you look different. I have even tried to force the issue by making physical changes...cutting my hair, coloring it. Nothing. Of course I rationalize in my mind that I see the same people all the time so they wouldn't notice. I know that's not true. Once again I'm reminded of my initial goal which is to get me to write. How quickly I lose sight of that.
New day, new week, new experiences and...no bread, rice, pasta, sugar. Happy Monday.

i am not sure about this

ok, i have been given a solution to the treat dilemma. my friend rebecca took me to her favorite frozen yogurt place and yes, they had sugar free flavors. i am still a bit skeptical as to what they put into it to substitute for the sugar but have to say it was pretty tasty. i am born of the thought that if it is too good to be true than it probably is...time for some research on this.
happy sunday.

day 28=4 weeks

sometimes when i am typing this i wonder, oh i can't say that because someone will get mad or think it is stupid. but then i am editing myself and feeding into a stupid insecurity. screw it. here goes...
woo hoo today is day 28, congrats to me. i rock.
ok, now back to reality...10 weeks and 2 days to go. (my version of the 26.2).

day 27

i am struggling with desserts and treats. it doesn't happen that often but when the craving comes for something fun, it is pretty immediate. and unlike regular meals, this is something i don't plan. now when the feeling comes i don't know what i can eat. everything that's fun to eat has sugar and/or flour. so here i am wanting something fun, immediate and i don't know what to have. i know that is a high class problem especially since there is a commercial on about starving children. nonetheless it is my current dilemna. for now i have had back ups of decaf coffee with milk, and sugarless gum but certainly that is not enough. as a kid my mom would have said to eat an apple but that is part of my regular meals.
guess i need to do some research on what vegans eat for treats. that never sounds good. my friend once made a vegan cheesecake and no offense, it was awful. but who knows maybe recipes have gotten better. i will keep you posted.

keep in mind i still am not well...so if sounds stupid...

I have come to realise that i had s little bug and not food poisoning. yesterday was still feeling low so all things i planned to do got put to the side. basically i was horizontal for most of the day watching millionaire matchmaker. my friend rebecca seems to use this lady as a reference so i had to investigate for myself. i have lots of thoughts and opinions about that but really who cares. enough said. in addition to my stomach issues, my left arm is also giving me some aches and pains. thankfully john recently won a gift certificate for a massage so i used right up. the massage therapist really dug into the tendon (yes, i asked her to do that)and loosened it up. have a nice bruise on my arm to prove it.
now it is a new day and my energy level is still a bit low. thankfully no organizing until Sunday. i can use today to prep my first ever teleclass on organizing, take a steam at the kabuki spa, and take my husband to see planet of the apes. nice healing day right?
what is my thought about the food experiment for today?
the go to foods for stomach ailments...toast and/or crachers! yep, they're on my do not eat list. is this what dieting people go thru all the time? no wonder diets are difficult.
so what did i eat yesterday? well i had to be creative. i wanted simple and bland. i had a hard boiled egg (mostly the white part) and later on a banana. have to say it worked out fine. gave me energy and had no after effect.
but maybe that is it. if we choose to make a change such as diet, then we better have a plan to deal with those kinds of challenges. i know it sounds annoying to bring food wherever you go but if the desire to meet the goal is stronger than that perhaps is a good enough motivation. i like that.

the difference in a day

amazing how quickly things can change from one day to the next. one day i am feeling all good about myself. i'm feeling a little over confident perhaps. i have been sticking to my experiment and noticing all the changes but then something happens...all hell breaks loose.
first of all some where along the way i hurt my left arm and it aches bad. probably from what i am doing right now...typing on my little computer. then last night i make myself a nice little salad dinner. i even admired how great i am at making delicious salads. then an hour later the world turns upside down. i had at least 7 rounds of vomit sessions for a total of probably 35 pukes. i can't even tell you what came out of me because nothing resembled salad. wait, is my body detoxing? hmmmm. seems suspect as i have been on this for 25 days. who knows. so now i lie in bed, sip water, and notice that my arm hurts and my stomach feels just not right. oh no, seems like the lower part of my stomach is starting to turn.
i need to just turn this computer off and rest. i look forward to checking in tomorrow when hopefully the difference of a day brings me back to normal. fingers crossed.

i'm noticing

on a micro scale i am noticing a change. in fact, i feel like i'm melting! i have a pair of jeans that i.ve been avoiding lately as they were feeling shall we say a little snug. i know some ladies like that fitted feel but not me. i had a pair that had that little too snug feeling around the stomach and the thigh. yuck. but today i felt brave enough to just put 'em on and to my surprise not only did they go on easily but they had a looser feel!
think i'm digging the benefits of my new found eating.

showing up in the skin

ok, the compliments are starting to roll in. well actually the same compliment but from two different people. in the last two days, two people who i don't really know and see only occasionally told me the exact same thing..."andrea, you look so rested". i don't know exactly what that means but i am taking it as a compliment. thank you very much.

funny how emotions and hunger mix

having physical feelings and emotional feelings at the same time. not a good combination. the physical feeling was hunger. the emotional was disappointment. that is a prescription for...wanting to eat food on the restricted list. i guess the feeling of hunger combined with any big emotion can trigger this. thankfully i had been to the market earlier in the day so the refrigerator was stocked with all sorts of delicious happy meals...including awesome leftovers made by john.
now an hour later after having a yummy meal the down feelings have left with the hunger feelings.
i am learning that food is an emotional crutch for many things.

new day. new week.

Well it certainly is nice to be at the beginning of a new week. Always feel so successful and rejuvenated. Even better that this Monday starts the first day of the month. I am charged up and ready to take on August. New page for the calendar and I am ready to continue on with my food experiment. I can for it.
And now for a special thank you to Greg and Alison who made an awesome dinner for is last night that complied with all of my crazy dietary requirements. Very kind of you!
Happy day 22 to me.

thank you

i have the best husband. yesterday he brought out his culinary talents to prepare us a variety of dishes...all of which i can eat. beets, basil/tomato salad, corn on the cob, summer squash and a white bean stew. put them all together and i have had two yummy meals in the last two days. and tonight our friends greg and alison are having us over for dinner. so awesome to have my meals taken care of for me.
thank you.

ok i would call this a high class problem

as a professional organizer i try to keep to a minimal amount of personal belongings. especially clothes. as my friend samantha will often say, "i don't know how you even still have things to donate". and i donate on a regular basis. anyway, because of that the clothes i do have i really love. now for the high class problem. i am beginning to notice that some of my clothes have a little more room to them then they normally do. for the most part i am a solid medium size wearer. yes, on occasion a small has snuck into the wardrobe but for the most part i am medium girl. see what i mean about the high class problem? yes, it is always nice to shed a couple pounds but at the expense of me not fitting into my clothes? hmmmm. i totally realize how stupid this sounds and of course it is still so early into all of this that i am just speculating.
to use an overused expression..."i'm just sayin".

first road block

i just realized that i have no go to treats during this experiment. sure people will say eat and apple, have a piece of fruit but that is my regular food. what's my fun treat? the closest i get is a not fat au lait....1/2 milk 1/2 coffee. today is the first day that i thought oooh, i'd like a treat. but what? this sucks. i had also planned on making some cookies or brownies for john to bring to his poker tournament tomorrow. but there is no way i will be making those fun treats with out eating something. who doesn't love cookie dough batter? they've even made an ice cream with it. i know the feeling will pass but for now, i am a tad annoyed.

i am shifting

it amazes me that i can still continue to talk about the same topic. guess that means i am seeing changes. the one thing for sure that i am noticing is the way i eat seems to be changing. i seem to be eating a smaller volume of food at each meal. what the heck does that mean? it means i used to be able to fill my bowl with yogurt and fruit and just eat it straight through. well now i take a bite and there is a longer space of time until the next bite. normally i would just continue to eat. the other change is that i don't eat as much. not out of choice...it just happens that way.
but to be fair i have been noticing this particular shift since the beginning of the air. perhaps this is what is meant by metabolism shifting during the aging process. my mother in law is perfectly happy eating a muffin and drinking coffee as her meal for the day. she sits at her kitchen table grazing on this small amount of food spending hours with her crossword puzzles. ok, i know i am not old but i do classify as older. 46...that's closer to 50 than it is to 40. eventually even i the yogi girl will start change.
funny...i just looked at bowel of yogurt that i have been eating during the posting of this blog,..yep, i have hardly made a dent in it. i am shifting.

yum

finally i cooked some warm temp food...lentils and steamed broccoli. one thing is for sure the simple taste of foods are really appealing to me. perhaps my palate is shifting. i took yoga class and then came home and prepared this simple dinner. i feel so satisfied from this simple little meal. ahhhhhhhhhhhhhhhh.

self doubt

ok i guess with any experiment, there is the possibility that the experiment will fail. for me, what would failure look like? i guess one failure would be that i don't make it to 100 days. for some reason, i don't think that will happen. i am only a couple weeks in but for now i think i can make it thru 100 days. ok, so what other failures could there be? the one that comes mostly to mind is that nothing changes. what if i go 100 days and i look and feel exactly the same? will i feel stupid that i did this? i guess i have to ask myself what is the goal of this experiment. and the answer is to get me to write. and as we can see that is happening.
ok phew, i feel better. i just had to talk myself down. i got a little crazy there for a second.

usa food rocks

i have to say that i am so grateful to live in the us. the quality of our food is amazing. by food i mean the food that we grow. i don't think this experiment would be as easy and successful if i lived in other countries. i was in holland for two months and getting fresh fruits and vegies was just not the same as it is in california. first of all, the price was pretty expensive and secondly, the quality just wasn't the same. oh and the variety...not so much. here in california, john and i have a vegie/fruit box delivered to us every two weeks. it just arrives at the door. we get what is currently in season grown by the local farmers. i also go to the supermarket and am always amazed at the vastness of what is there. we are truly blessed.
yes, usa food rocks!

not much new

i have heard that repetition is the key to setting a positive habit. so i am two weeks and two days in and for right now, my diet restrictions do not seem that bed. i do find that i ear more cooler temp foods like yogurts, and salads so if i need that instant warm feeling like you get from food, i just have a coffee. decaf. my work has been keeping me busy so i haven't had too much time to cook food so that's why i am just doing lots of salads and yogurts, cottage cheese, fruits. but thankfully they are all so yummy, that i don't mind. but later in the week when i am a little more free i am planning to cook up things to have ready. maybe a good soup or a stew.
so as i said...not much new.

fake meat...no good

well while i have been on this experiment, i have been getting recipes from friends. one person suggested a soy base product that was supposed to taste like chicken. key words here...supposed to. it tasted like anything but chicken and on top of that, it was disgusting! so not only do i now not eat bread, rice, pasta, meat but now i can add the fake meat too. thank god i am eating so many vegies so the fake stuff can leave my system fast.

it's a new week

ok here we go again. new week. new ups. new downs. clean slate. thankfully i have a busy organizing week so that should make this experiment a little easier. i hope. so to all of you setting goals (we always start on monday) good luck. and as they say in AA...one day at a time.

day 14

John and I went out for dinner with our friends Cynthia and Tony to a great Japanese restaurant called K's kitchen. First observation I had was rice on rolls....can't have them. Will have to go back again. Anyway, made do with some great vegie dishes. During the meal Cynthia asked if I felt different after 2 weeks on my experiment. In one word - no!
But now early the next morning I will say the jeans feel looser. On the other hand, it could be that this is day 3 of wear!
For now I think I'm the same but hey I still have 12 weeks and 2 days to go.

so silly

just a quick saturday note. in the last week my wonderful husband and my lovely friend samantha both treated me to two of my fav treats...either from forgetting about the experiment or just not knowing. anyway, i had to take a pass on their kind gestures and in both situations felt badly about it. i know stupid right? but in that instant of not accepting i immediately took on the feeling of how can i disappoint these two people? the mind is a funny thing. oh well i am almost two weeks in and i am sure there will be more of these not so important exchanges.
happy saturday. now time for some breakfast with out toast!

it's all in the calories

last night my husband john and i had a fun conversation about body shapes, fitness, calories, how to stay fit and the amount of calories in favorite food items. nyc now has a program that all food items on menus must declare the calorie conent. it is amazing to go to starbucks and see the caloric content of some of the drinks. kind of scary. anyway, john was hungry for dinner and thought he'd just go pick something up. quick, easy and yummy. but we then did a scan of the refrigerator and i remembered i had made him some turkey burgers as a back up during the week. before long he had put together a nice meal of salad, turkey burger and vegies. not only did he not have to get in the car and drive somewhere to get food but it was right there and apparently from his reaction quite tasty. at the end of the meal he said he was so happy. he thought that if he had gone out to get food it probably would have bought more than food what he wanted/needed and just not as good. there's a lot to be said for the home cooked meal...even if it is just a turkiey burger.

new things creates new things...maybe

i am not sure if i explained this but the reason for the food experiment was to get me writing. i heard if you put in effect what you want to do once a day that eventually you will form that behavior as a habit. the problem for me is that i didn't know what to write about. yeah, i could talk about the new business but what about it...the success, the failure, my daily routine. what? so having the food topic gives me a set direction. and then once i started to do that voila the writing thing would kick in. people ask me what my blog address is and i just tell them it's stupid you don't want to read it. time...i need time.
anyway, i am noticing that doing this new thing with the food experiment i have also started to do new things in other aspects of my life. first of course is that i am writing in this blog. good or bad, words are getting typed here. second, i am trying different ways to put my business out there to the general public. so far my business was people i know, then referrals from friends, facebook referrals, and then referrals from clients. the referrals from clients were my first exposure to people i have no connection to. well what would it take to get me to the next level of the general public? advertising. how? i put a simple ad up on craigslist and voila i am getting calls. i sort of feel like a seinfeld episode. thankfully, i am taking it as it comes. i am excited but not out of contrul excited. i usually just call my husband to share the news with him. who knew what could happen when you remove processed foods from your diet?!
ok now off to something old...taking afternoon yoga. until tomorrow.

always counting

I am noticing that I'm constantly calculating numbers...how many days I've been on this (today is day 10) how many days to go, what is the date I end, on and on. I have to assume this is the mindset during any kind of diet. Boy it certainly makes time go by slowly. I have had the silliest thoughts. Sam's birthday is over half way in. I end in October a couple weeks before Halloween. Then I start thinking wow that's far away. But before long I'm thinking i should be feeling pretty healthy before the holiday madness. Really I'm thinking about the holidays in July? Wacky. OK now back to today and day 10!

blue jeans not too snug

So I can only speak to the ladies on this. You know when the jeans are just out of the dryer and that shall we say snug feeling you get attempting put them on along with the deep inhale breath? I didn't have that today. Usually it is on the 2nd day of wear that my jeans feel perfect. Today put them on and they fit and within an hour I have that 2nd day wear feeling. Does this have to do with the experiment? Wow.
I also have realized that I need to do some cooking. Girl can't live on soup and salad. I want this to be enjoyable. Feel free to share recipes.

easy to make big goals in the morning.

Up and out early this morning to drop car off for service and then walk to eye doctor appointment. For the walk I picked up a coffee and then set out for a nice morning stroll. I felt great and along the way I thought wow, one week done and I feel ok about my experiment...no bread, rice, pasta and white sugar foods. This was quickly followed by two thoughts. The first...it is so easy to set goals Monday morning and a totally different story as the day and week progress. I guess that is why everyone sets these goals on Monday. The second thought was...what to do at the end of the 100 days. Should I do the opposite? Eat only those things? Now that would be silly. Let's just get through the first 100 and see what happens. But for right now I think one week in, I am off to a good start. Happy Monday everyone.

wow, it is everywhere

so the last two days john and i have been in napa with our friends karen and jill. karen was running the napa half marathon and we were her cheer squad. this meant, hotel dining, poolside dining, meals at restaurants. and wow did i discover of course that all of the foods i am not eating are every where. of course as a vegetarian i already can rule out a good portion of any menu. but now add the 100 day experiment of not eating bread, rice, pasta and white sugar foods. well you have pretty much knocked out the remaining portion of both menus. all of us laughed at dinner last night when the server brought the break basket over at the start of the meal as he of course put basically on my plate. and then this morning when i asked for scrambled eggs with no toast on the side. well i wasn't served toast but my friend's english muffin was on my plate. we also went to a great market in napa called the oxbow market. one word awesome but for until my 10o days are up. not a place for me. i could pretty much rule out 75 percent of all the business there as falling in to one of my off limit food items. i am slowly beginning to understand the struggles that many must have that attempt any type of restrictive diet. i am learning quickly that if i am to be successful at this i have to have an ample supply on hand of all the foods i do eat. this is going to be interesting. i could very well stop but for now i am plugging on. heck, i don't even thing i have made it through a full week yet. we shall see.

idle time = wandering mind

yesterday was shall we say interesting? i spent a good amount of time doing computer stuff...emails, phone calls, etc. so that meant i was home. dangerous. well my mind was wrapped around food all day long. i ended up eating more than i normally do. thankfully the only thing i have in the house comes from nature. so it meant an additional salad and another piece of fruit. interestingly enough my friend who does a weight watchers program told me the day prior that in the point systems fruits and vegies have no points. that kind of made me feel good.
but the long and short of it, idle time at home = idle mind thinking about food. so i think a key for people on weight loss and nutrition programs is to keep busy.

the experiment

so last night i was sharing with my husband john and friend karen the thoughts that haven been running thru my head the past few days. things like "wow no sweets means i can't have any of samantha's birthday cake'...the birthday that is in septemeber! that's two months away. then my husband said that this is the reason why he would never do restrictive diets becuase the mind goes immediately to panic mode and wants what ever it is that has been restricted. so my next question on this experiment is "does that thought go away"? right now i can say it has but i know this is way to0 early in to believe it. literally too early in...it is only 9:30 am.
happy friday.

it is a new day

so i took noon yoga class today and before entering thought...this is going to be a tough class as i haven't taken class in a few days. well, i was wrong. it was a good class and for the most part my postures felt and looked pretty good. does this have to do with the change in diet? or am i just convincing myself it is? whatever the reason, i had a good class and i feel great. now enjoying my mixed vegie salad. i make a good salad if i do say so myself.

guess it takes more than one time

well i thought i learned yesterday that going into the supermarket when hungry is not a good idea. so there i was to get avocados and nuts and of course nuts are in the baked goods aisle. suddenly my mouth was salivating and i was wanting to bake a cake. get out. headed to produce and got the heck out. much better now that i am home having a nice salad and amazingly the cup of hot coffee is also giving me a satisfying feeling. phew. that was close. ok note to self...AGAIN...no shopping while hungry. over and out.

day 2

It is amazing to think just barely two days into this and my mind is going to all the things that I won't have. Stuff that I normally don't think about. I do know that I was hungry at the time. But now I am home and had an awesome lunch and all of those thoughts are gone. Ok, note to self make sure to have a stocked kitchen with my fav foods. Hungry belly plus hungry mind equals the desire for what I am trying no to have for 100 days. Feel better now.

topic

I am realizing that my biggest challenge to this blog is my topic. Well for the next 100 days I have a topic and if other things get added in...even better. For the next three months I am going to attempt to eliminate bread, rice, pasta, and white sugar from my diet. I am not sure if this is going to be a big deal or not as I really am not aware of my daily consumption. But right out of the gate when preparing my lunch I noticed that means no tortilla salad combo today. Hmm. That is interesting. I think it is good to be mindful of what we eat. As a vegetarian I am often asked "what do you eat". I think this 100 day challenge will help me answer that question. For now I am off to a good start.

all over the place

so i started this blogs in the hopes of what? i have not a clue. part of me says that it is a journal. part thinks it is to get my business on the road to success. part of is that i think i have words to share. it's the liberal arts education of blogs...lots of ideas with out any direction. from what i have read, most people have a particular voice to their blogging. my friend sam writes about her adventures in extreme sports. my friend katherine writes about her travel to bhutan. and then you have me who writes about a little bit of this and a little bet of that. in some ways this is really a reflection of me. i mean look at my job skills. i do a little bit of this and a little bit of that.


i am beginning to finally wrap my head around the fact that i don't do just one thing. i teach yoga classes in a school. i would like to teach yoga classes for seminars, retreats and conferences. i have started a business as a professional organizer. and, i am an ordained minister.

this brings me to my question...how do i bring it all together to make it work? i feel i am so close to a break thru. it is right in front of me but i am having a hard time seeing it.

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sam, you asked...

so my friend samantha asked me a point blank question "why don't you do your blog"? i felt like saying huh. but instead i was blank. first thing that comes to mind of course is that i don't have the wit, talent, props to be a writer. that is the samantha in the relationship. anyway, i am at a loss for words. and of course i do have random thoughts that are blog worthy but somehow they just never make it to the computer. i prefer on-line backgammon!

i also think that i am kind of in a strange place and have not committed to the direction of the blog. is it...what it like to start a business, tips on being organized, random thoughts of the 45 year old woman, yoga, what is currently on my mind. i just don't know. and you know what that is exactly how i feel about my life.

i am the classic liberal arts person. not an exact skill of excellence at one thing but a variety of skills some pretty good and some average. this is a work in progress and apparently this blog thing is too.

well sam to answer your question, i will try harder to make write more. who knows maybe like yoga the more i try the easier it will be. i am not making promises. and in the meantime sam, can you please start writing your book?

thank you.