Pain is a great motivator. #18

This is my the first week at my new address in (Saanich) Victoria. It's small, but everything I need, with decent bus service to downtown. Getting set up, however means that I've been out and about again this week. Finding a new place and getting settled in is why my postings for the past few weeks have been so late. Thank you for your patience.  

It seems that over the weekend, the back pain I spoke about in a previous posting, has migtated to my groin area. I suspect that with the change in diet, there's been a slight blockage of the intestines creating a definite level of discomfort, particularly when I'm walking. At times, the pain can be quite sharp, and when it hits I can barely walk. As a result, I've gone from walking an hour or two a day to taking the bus whenever I can.  

Pain is a great motivator. The colon hydrotherapy appointment I've been postponing is the first item on Monday's Things To Do list. Hopefully, that will be all that is necessary to clear things up.

Last week I ordered a couple of electronic devices. They just arrived on the weekend. More about those in next week's posting. Until then here are
the stats for this past week #18:

                             02/28/10              03/07/10           Change

Weight              126.5 lbs.               125.2                   -1.3 lbs.

A slight drop. Not sure why exactly. Been on the road a lot and maybe not eating as well or as often as I would at home.

Body Fat           15.7 lbs.                 15.0                    -0.7 lbs.

Virtually half of the loss is fat.

BMI                     19.9                       19.7                     -0.2

A reflection of the weight.

Body Fat           11.4%                     12.0                     +0.6%       

Given the loss is body fat above, this increase doesn't make sense. Let's see what happens next week.

Water                64.0%                     64.3                    +0.3%

Back in the upward groove.

Bone Mass        6.3%                       6.3                     No Change.
Last week's slight increase disappeared this week, which seems to suggest that I'm right on the cusp between the two. The slightest variation in the reading of the scale could have me going one way or the other. It suggests that my bone mass is holding steady.

February Monthly Overview #4

A few observations, in no particular order,  for the month of February.

• I continue to be amazed at how much (relatively) easier it is to do this raw diet in a warmer climate.
•  
• Diarrhea-like symptoms have been the main challenge mid-January to the present time.  At first I thought it would just take time to clear, as it did when I first started. So far that doesn't seem to be the case.
• 
  
• Reaching a low of ~122 lbs has me concerned about how much more weight I can safely lose.
•  
• Raw food is not yet a habit or easy. Every day cooked food, baked food, goodies of kinds and flavours "speak" to me in loving terms.  Every day I have to remind myself why I'm doing this.
•  
• There are days where I can feel my impatience with the process. I feel like I should be making more progress faster. (Admittedly, patience was never my strong suit.)
•  
• Overall, I've been feeling well and my energy levels most days are pretty good. From an average of ~11.50 hours sleep per night when I first started, I'm now down to ~10 hours.

Cooked Food..... Once Again #17

Being so beautifully spring-like here on the Island, I've decided to not go back to Montreal (and the cold and snow). Consequently, I've been busy looking for new accommodations. Being able to eat cooked food certainly simplifies things while I'm out on the road.

Last week, I ran out of the bowel cleanser and chlorophyl products the naturopath prescribed. There's been a delay in their arrival, so I've been doing without this past week.

For the past couple of months I've been having this pain, a dull aching, in the middle of my back between my shoulder blades. It usually makes an appearance up in the evening, although some days it starts in the afternoon. Not sure what it's about. Whatever the reason, I just realized that for the most part this past week it hasn't shown up -and I'm definitely OK with that. I'm hoping it stays that way.

It's amazing to watch how quickly the weight goes back on every time I go start eating cooked food. In my situation, and there's lots of other anecdotal information, to suggest raw food is a great way to lose excess weight. I highly recommend it.

The stats for this past week #17:

                             02/21/10             02/28/10           Change

Weight              122.9 lbs.               126.5                   +3.6 lbs.
Definitely going in the other direction now! Almost a 4 pound gain this week. The weight gain feels good, but mostly I'm happy that the weight loss has stopped.

Body Fat           13.3 lbs.                 15.7                    +2.4 lbs.

The majority of this week's weight gain is fat.

BMI                     19.3                       19.9                     -0.1

A reflection of the weight.

Body Fat           10.8%                     11.4                     -%       

Same as above but as a percentage.

Water                65.1%                     64.0                     -1.1%

The first big drop since we began. Not unexpected as I've been "on the road" a lot more, which makes it more difficult for me to notice my thirst in the first place, and then more difficult to address it.

Bone Mass        6.3%                       6.4                       +0.1

The first time it has gone up since we started. Well see if it holds at this level again next week.

My Favourite Recipe (so far)

I've never been much of a cook. Truth be told, until recently my attitude toward cooking has been one of disinterest, a kind of necessary evil -best avoided if possible; tolerated when not. 

My raw food experience over the past few months has changed that. There are times when I actually get into the groove and find myself enjoying the process, the planning, the experimentation, the presentation, etc. 

It's when I get caught up in the other aspects of life, when I start feeling like there's too many things on my plate, that I fall back into my old attitude. That's when preparing a favourite recipe is called for. It's a motivator, beckoning me to get out of my rut and into a better frame of mind.  

Here's my favourite recipe (so far):

Cauliflower Salad Recipe
Preparation time: 25-30 minutes.
Serves 8-10.

Ingredients:
4 cups of raw sliced cauliflower.
1 cup of coarsely chopped black olives.
1/2 cup of chopped green pepper.
1/4 cup of chopped red pepper.
1/2 cup of chopped or sliced red onion.

Dressing:
1/4 cup of vegetable oil.
3 tablespoons lemon juice.
2 tablespoons of apple cider vinegar.
1 teaspoon of sea salt (or dulse).
1/4 cup of raw honey.

Instructions: 

• Combine all salad ingredients in a large bowl. 
• In another bowl, whip together the dressing ingredients.  
• Pout the dressing over the salad ingredients and toss to coat.  
• Refrigerate until serving time.  
• Correct seasoning before serving.

 In keeping with an earlier posting about serving half one day and half the next, I add a cup of peas to the second day's serving to add a bit of variety, color and texture.

Note: I've made a few changes to the ingredients of the original recipe to make it healthier. If you'd like to work from the original, and to give credit where credit is due, here's the original recipe.
Bon appetit.

Color me Twiggy #16

A while back I had to buy a new belt to account for my weight loss.

This past week I had to buy another new, smaller, belt and smaller pair of jeans. What surprised me the most, besides getting the jeans at a remarkable sale price, was that I got them in the boys department. A size 20, whatever that is. That hasn't happened since way back when my mother did the shopping!

The TCM doctor said I had lost some muscle mass and I agree. Given the circumstances, I was prepared to do that, but only to a point. After consulting with the team, I've decided to bring in some cooked food to slow down the cleansing process.

Even though I'm quite thin, even too thin, I feel pretty good. That's why I'm continuing with this process. In hindsight it might have been wiser to bring in some cooked food sooner -but that's hindsight for you.

I feel good about the weight loss so far and my decision to slow the process down. I've been on this journey 17 years now. A few more months isn't going to make much difference.

The stats for this past week:

                                02/14/10           02/21/10            Change

Weight              123.6 lbs.               122.9                   -0.7 lbs.
(Actually, I was at an all time low of 121.7 lbs at one point this week.) Definitely feels low.

Body Fat           14.1 lbs.                 13.4                    -0.7 lbs.

100% of the loss is body fat.

BMI                     19.4                       19.3                     -0.1

A reflection of the weight.

Body Fat           11.4%                     10.8                     -0.6%       

Same as above but as a percentage.

Water                64.7%                     65.1                     +0.4%

Still going in the right direction.

Bone Mass        6.3%                        6.3                        No Change.

A bit below normal, but acceptable in the short run.

When is an apple, an (organic) apple?

Have you ever been in the produce department, and it's not clear from the signage whether what you're looking at is organic or not? It happens to me from time to time. Not a life threatening situation, but annoying at times, particularly if I'm in a rush.

Most produce these days comes with little sticky tags that have a product code. The checkout clerks sometimes key in these numbers to identify the product.

It turns out that the numbers on the tags typically come in two flavors: 4 and 5 digits. The 5 digit numbers signify organic produce.

A good thing to keep in mind when it's not clear whether the apple you're looking at is indeed the pesticide-free version.

A Two For One Special #15

I'm not really aware of how I got to into this routine. It was a learning process, more of a series of adjustments than an intentional, thought-out process.

What seems to be working for me these days is to make a double size salad and set half the ingredients and dressing aside for the following day (that way they don't go soggy). I eat the first portion that same day; the following day, the remainder just needs a bit of tossing and it's ready to go.

Eventually, I get ambitious and create a second salad (doubling up on this one as well).  Even though I've only made up the one salad that night, I get to eat two different salads as a result -today's and the already prepared one from the previous day. 

Ideally, one is a leafy green salad, and the other a cabbage, etc. This approach gives me a some variety in vegetables and textures and makes eating raw more interesting and fun.

There's another advantage to doubling up on the recipe. Say I've had a tough day and I come home and just don't feel like I have the energy to "cook". No problem. I just open the fridge, and the extra portion from yesterday is already there, waiting to be tossed.

Granted at some point I'm going to have to put in the extra effort to get ahead once again, but at least this way I got through the energy crunch and avoided the urge to eat processed food just because it's easy.

If you've got a raw food or handy kitchen tip you'd like to share, just drop me a line.

The stats for this past week:

                             02/07/10             02/14/10           Change

Weight              125.5 lbs.               123.6                   -1.9 lbs.
My weight gain of last week was short lived. I dropped another couple of pounds this week.

Body Fat           15.1 lbs.                 14.1                    -1.0 lbs.

Once again, half the loss is body fat, although I'm stumped as to where it's coming from!

BMI                     19.7                       19.4                     -0.3

A reflection of the weight.

Body Fat           12.0%                     11.4                     -0.6%       

Same as above but as a percentage.

Water                64.3%                     64.7                     +0.4%

Heading in the right direction.

Bone Mass        6.3%                       6.3                        No Change.

A bit below normal, but acceptable in the short run.