We're almost done. Over the past few weeks we've been able to maintain our weight within 2 pounds of our set weight....when we've gone over that 2 pound limit (Easter for example) we know exactly what to do to bring it down within the proper range too. We've started to reintroduce some foods that were an absolute no-no during this diet as of last Friday. So far we have found that flour tortillas (I had a wrap with ham, turkey, lettuce, onion, tomato) and hubby with steak fajita do not affect us at all for weight gain. One night I decided to try making some homemade doritos which called for corn tortillas...we both ended up gaining 1 pound the day after eating those and the rest of the meals we were careful to be very strict in the diet and the calories were where they needed to be for the whole day overall. So....corn tortillas are an issue we need to watch. The other item we tried was white potatoes in the form of hash browns (prepackaged and preshaped) with breakfast. Wow....only having one hash brown I literally felt like garbage the entire rest of the day. The potatoes sat heavy in the stomach for hours and did not play nice with the rest of the g.i. tract either. When we eat foods that at "better" for you...you can almost feel your body working to break it down and any feeling of being overfull disappears within a few minutes leaving you just satisfied. You don't feel bloated, you don't feel like you've horribly overeaten, you just feel full and satisfied. Potatoes in any form are not our friend anymore. We've both decided to kick them to the curb forever....which is a great thing because any cravings we had for potato chips just turns the stomach now. Tomorrow we'll be introducing pepperoni back into the diet as I'll be making homemade pizza using a cauliflower pizza crust and adding homemade pizza sauce, green pepper, red pepper, onions with the pepperoni. The only no-no food is the pepperoni as it has....you guessed it....dextrose (sugar) in it.
So many prepackaged foods have sugar it's absolutely horrible. They hide the name so it doesn't make you believe it's sugar but it's typically easy to spot now that we know what to look for. By avoiding as much pre-packaged, pre-made foods as possible we'll be able to limit that sugar and eat the calories and carbs that our bodies can easily breakdown and process. Next up....and something we are looking forward to.....the slow but steady weight loss to finish up losing the last of the weight we both want to lose by the end of the year doing it 0.5-1 pound a week and doing it day by day making sure we achieve our goal.
Monday, April 4, 2016
Wednesday, March 23, 2016
Phase 4
The reintroduction of some foods as well as healthy oils has been interesting and so very missed. For the most part this phase is literally training your body that this is the maximum weight you want to be so there can not be more than a 2 pound gain or loss from the set point weight. Six nights a week we do really well and we'll even go out for dinner without any issue....then Sunday hits. It's by far our laziest day of the week and we almost always go to the in-laws for dinner. There's always something in those fabulous meals that messes us up whether it's fruits (cranberries from a can) or starches (rice, potato, flour/corn starch for thickening of sauces) that messes us up. In one day we'll have a 2-3 pound weight gain and Monday has become our typical "apple day". If the weight doesn't come off enough on apple day we go back to our normal breakfast and lunch but have steak for dinner with good veggies. We've done this two weeks in a row and after 2 days hubby is back to within 0.4 pounds of his set point and I am at -0.4 of my set point (yes, that's a negative 0.4).
This is what is so awesome about the Nutrimost system.....it teaches you to monitor your weight daily, if you splurge occasionally or your body reacts to a new food being reintroduced (your weight triggers) you understand what you need to do to fix it immediately. Your body does not get used to the weight gain and the weight comes right back off easily. I wish we had known about this way back when in our late 20's and early 30's....but then again, we probably would have gotten busy with the kids with no time to cook and best laid plans would still have gone haywire.
During this phase you also learn your weight gain triggers and one item we have found which triggers weight gain in both of us is flax meal. One day we had breakfast and lunch just like always without going overboard and for dinner we made pizza with a flax meal crust which was well within the calories range. The next day we had both gained 3 pounds. I went through and double checked every meal and every ingredient within each meal (yes...it's still important to track everything!) and the calories were correct with no excess....but still a weight gain. I've used coconut flour to make bread, I've used almond flour in a number of items and neither one was an issue. Using the flax meal in such high concentration was the issue. If I use it as a minor ingredient there is no problem but with the pizza crust it was basically just flax meal, fresh grated parmesan cheese, egg and herbs without anything else added. Lesson learned and filed away with full weight loss within 2 days. Next up...Easter Sunday which we know will be an issue day with that beautiful sugar crusted spiral cut ham.
This is what is so awesome about the Nutrimost system.....it teaches you to monitor your weight daily, if you splurge occasionally or your body reacts to a new food being reintroduced (your weight triggers) you understand what you need to do to fix it immediately. Your body does not get used to the weight gain and the weight comes right back off easily. I wish we had known about this way back when in our late 20's and early 30's....but then again, we probably would have gotten busy with the kids with no time to cook and best laid plans would still have gone haywire.
During this phase you also learn your weight gain triggers and one item we have found which triggers weight gain in both of us is flax meal. One day we had breakfast and lunch just like always without going overboard and for dinner we made pizza with a flax meal crust which was well within the calories range. The next day we had both gained 3 pounds. I went through and double checked every meal and every ingredient within each meal (yes...it's still important to track everything!) and the calories were correct with no excess....but still a weight gain. I've used coconut flour to make bread, I've used almond flour in a number of items and neither one was an issue. Using the flax meal in such high concentration was the issue. If I use it as a minor ingredient there is no problem but with the pizza crust it was basically just flax meal, fresh grated parmesan cheese, egg and herbs without anything else added. Lesson learned and filed away with full weight loss within 2 days. Next up...Easter Sunday which we know will be an issue day with that beautiful sugar crusted spiral cut ham.
Sunday, March 13, 2016
Day 44 - The Start of Phase 4
Hubby is now down 50 pounds with Nutrimost and today is day one for the Reset Phase and it will last for 3 weeks. Doctor has set his calorie intake at 2800/day....we both actually said holy cr*p at that too....when you don't eat a lot of junk food it's going to be a challenge. Thank goodness though we can now mix veggies and begin to add some items back into our diet.
Breakfast this morning was a 2 egg omelette with green peppers, red peppers, onions, a little bit of tomato and one slice of bacon. On the side we had another two pieces of bacon. Total calories was a little under 500. Now for me that's fine as I don't need as many calories however for him it's going to be interesting getting it up that high.
As we'll be making homemade chicken sausage today....lunch today will be a bunch of taste testing along with a salad. Hmmmm, going to have some issues with calories in that meal too. Of course we'll be adding snacks - good nuts, fruits, etc. in between meals but it's still going to fall far short for the overall count for the day. We'll have to work on getting this right though as this phase is what tells your body that this is your new permanent weight.
Overall we're still loving this program. It's taught us a lot about food including what to eat more of, what to avoid eating except for once in a blue moon, different cooking techniques to reduce/eliminate fat where possible, and it's gotten hubby to eat some foods that he would never consider eating in the past....and that's the icing on the cake as some of those foods are some of my favorite foods that I haven't made in years because he didn't really like them.
Oh, before I forget, they do tell you that your taste buds will change (which they did for both of us) and that as you add back foods into the diet you will, almost definitely, have a digestive tract reaction. It makes sense....you eat extra lean for over 40 days and then you can begin bringing in some fat with oils, diary and even fattier meat. Anyone who doesn't think there will be a reaction is a little naive. We're prepared though as we added fresh shredded cheddar cheese in the omelettes and used a touch of butter in the pan to make it easier to cook without sticking. We'll be definitely taking it slow in the adding of items back into the diet....the only restrictions are still no starches, no sugars and pay particular care with certain fruits as they may be triggers for your individual body that will make your weight jump. At least at this point we're starting to put the jigsaw puzzle back together and only have to figure out a few slightly complicated pieces to make it all work.
Breakfast this morning was a 2 egg omelette with green peppers, red peppers, onions, a little bit of tomato and one slice of bacon. On the side we had another two pieces of bacon. Total calories was a little under 500. Now for me that's fine as I don't need as many calories however for him it's going to be interesting getting it up that high.
As we'll be making homemade chicken sausage today....lunch today will be a bunch of taste testing along with a salad. Hmmmm, going to have some issues with calories in that meal too. Of course we'll be adding snacks - good nuts, fruits, etc. in between meals but it's still going to fall far short for the overall count for the day. We'll have to work on getting this right though as this phase is what tells your body that this is your new permanent weight.
Overall we're still loving this program. It's taught us a lot about food including what to eat more of, what to avoid eating except for once in a blue moon, different cooking techniques to reduce/eliminate fat where possible, and it's gotten hubby to eat some foods that he would never consider eating in the past....and that's the icing on the cake as some of those foods are some of my favorite foods that I haven't made in years because he didn't really like them.
Oh, before I forget, they do tell you that your taste buds will change (which they did for both of us) and that as you add back foods into the diet you will, almost definitely, have a digestive tract reaction. It makes sense....you eat extra lean for over 40 days and then you can begin bringing in some fat with oils, diary and even fattier meat. Anyone who doesn't think there will be a reaction is a little naive. We're prepared though as we added fresh shredded cheddar cheese in the omelettes and used a touch of butter in the pan to make it easier to cook without sticking. We'll be definitely taking it slow in the adding of items back into the diet....the only restrictions are still no starches, no sugars and pay particular care with certain fruits as they may be triggers for your individual body that will make your weight jump. At least at this point we're starting to put the jigsaw puzzle back together and only have to figure out a few slightly complicated pieces to make it all work.
Wednesday, March 9, 2016
Coming Into the Home Stretch for Phase 2
Just another day or two left in hubby's blue bottle of supplements until we start phase 3 & 4. He is now under 230# with total loss from being on Nutrimost at about 45#. Phase 3 is the "making sure all the supplements are out of your system" which only lasts 3 days...then it's Phase 4 where breakfast is reintroduced, we can mix veggies (something we really missed) and we can have same fruit or veggies in one day.
In Phase 4 we still won't be eating the bad carbs but oh we can start eating some of the recipes we love.... I miss my mixed roasted veggies! We're also starting to plan and think out some of the differences we want to incorporate into the meals later. We've been doing some research on different flours which there are so many out there now and they all do it a little differently. Some can be used just like typical flour but others need more liquid or less liquid....the trade off though is in the carbs. I'm not going to swear off of breads, pastas, pizza for life but if I want some I'm going to make dang sure it's as healthy as I can get it.
Oh and that pizza? That is the ONLY item that hubby and I both miss. It is one of the things we would always make at least one night when our grandson comes over and stays overnight....and it really is the one thing we want again. So my challenge will be to figure out a really good thin crust pizza dough without having so many bad carbs as typical flour. I've tried a couple of the cauliflower pizza crusts and I have not been impressed....don't get me wrong, they are okay but fall far short of what I was hoping for with texture and taste. Good thing I like challenges....!
In Phase 4 we still won't be eating the bad carbs but oh we can start eating some of the recipes we love.... I miss my mixed roasted veggies! We're also starting to plan and think out some of the differences we want to incorporate into the meals later. We've been doing some research on different flours which there are so many out there now and they all do it a little differently. Some can be used just like typical flour but others need more liquid or less liquid....the trade off though is in the carbs. I'm not going to swear off of breads, pastas, pizza for life but if I want some I'm going to make dang sure it's as healthy as I can get it.
Oh and that pizza? That is the ONLY item that hubby and I both miss. It is one of the things we would always make at least one night when our grandson comes over and stays overnight....and it really is the one thing we want again. So my challenge will be to figure out a really good thin crust pizza dough without having so many bad carbs as typical flour. I've tried a couple of the cauliflower pizza crusts and I have not been impressed....don't get me wrong, they are okay but fall far short of what I was hoping for with texture and taste. Good thing I like challenges....!
Wednesday, March 2, 2016
Day 34 & 35 - BusyBusyBusy
Day 34 - Another check in with the Nutrimost doctors yesterday resulting in some pretty fantastic new. Except for hubby's BMI every other reading is falling in the green or so close to it that one more week should do it. When he started this program his metabolic age was well over 90 (anything over 90 keeps just showing 90) and with yesterday's readings he now has the metabolic age of a 53 year old...he's 54 right now...and with 11 days left they hope to get him in the 30-something age bracket.
Day 35 - Endocronologist Visit (type 2 diabetes). Hubby shocked the heck out of the doctor and nurse when they weighed him in and check his last weight 6 months ago. The doctor was asking questions about the diet he is on as some of these plans that call themselves "homeopathic" actually give you a injection weekly that once you go off them you gain the weight right back. He explained to the doctor about the 44 day start and the remaining phases that we'll be seeing soon. Even the doctor says that it sounds logical and if it works she wants to know more about it on his next visit in 6 months. She looks at his daily blood sugar readings and has seen that they have leveled out to be "normal" without taking any of his medications. She did recommend though that once he gets back into the you can basically eat anything you want phase that he continue with one of his diabetic meds which doesn't let your body absorb the bad sugars to spike the blood sugar. She explained that it would actually help him maintain his weight or even lose some more based on what he was eating.
Last weekend we flew up to Atlanta for a Hops in the Hanger event....yup a beer fest. Hubby was very careful about what he ate and came back 1 pound lighter....even with sampling the beers. I on the other hand gained 5 pounds....my problem is with flying and the fact that all of a sudden my body starts holding so much water to the point that my feet, ankles and even my hands swell. It's not enough that anything hurts but it's just something I've always had to deal with. So after 2 days back now I've only got 0.8 pounds to go and I'll be back to my pre-trip weight.
Potatoes!!!!! So during Phases 1 & 2 you are on this strict diet with absolutely no potatoes, rice, grains, etc. Over the weekend we went out to dinner with our son who ordered french fries and yes, you guessed it....I had 3 french fries. I'm not kidding....3 french fries. They tasted so good but then about 15-30 minutes after eating them all of a sudden I felt bloated, my stomach felt "funky" and by the 45 minutes after all I did was want to curl up and go to sleep. WTF! Literally 3 french fries sent me into a carb coma feeling? But the better question is, what was with the bloated and funky feeling? Well is just so happens that the Nutrimost staff started talking to him about the next phases where they would start reintroducing some oils and foods into his diet. Without him saying anything they mentioned that fact that when he starts eating potatoes again to be prepared for the result. Hubby just laughed and told them about my experience over the weekend and their reply was....yes, even a small about of certain bad carbs will produce that result. They also said that because I was following his diet part and with my reaction to the french fries it was because I too had "detoxed" from the opiates which naturally occur and are found in potatoes and even with the very small portion I had it would hit like a ton of bricks.
So to date.....Hubby and I both love how we are feeling. We both have more energy during the day and we are sleeping longer and more soundly at night. We're both still dropping weight and even with "special events/weekends/etc" we are able to dump any temporary weight gain quickly. I was skeptical when hubby wanted to do this but after 30 days and with the results we've seen I think it was probably one of the very best decisions we've made.
Day 35 - Endocronologist Visit (type 2 diabetes). Hubby shocked the heck out of the doctor and nurse when they weighed him in and check his last weight 6 months ago. The doctor was asking questions about the diet he is on as some of these plans that call themselves "homeopathic" actually give you a injection weekly that once you go off them you gain the weight right back. He explained to the doctor about the 44 day start and the remaining phases that we'll be seeing soon. Even the doctor says that it sounds logical and if it works she wants to know more about it on his next visit in 6 months. She looks at his daily blood sugar readings and has seen that they have leveled out to be "normal" without taking any of his medications. She did recommend though that once he gets back into the you can basically eat anything you want phase that he continue with one of his diabetic meds which doesn't let your body absorb the bad sugars to spike the blood sugar. She explained that it would actually help him maintain his weight or even lose some more based on what he was eating.
Last weekend we flew up to Atlanta for a Hops in the Hanger event....yup a beer fest. Hubby was very careful about what he ate and came back 1 pound lighter....even with sampling the beers. I on the other hand gained 5 pounds....my problem is with flying and the fact that all of a sudden my body starts holding so much water to the point that my feet, ankles and even my hands swell. It's not enough that anything hurts but it's just something I've always had to deal with. So after 2 days back now I've only got 0.8 pounds to go and I'll be back to my pre-trip weight.
Potatoes!!!!! So during Phases 1 & 2 you are on this strict diet with absolutely no potatoes, rice, grains, etc. Over the weekend we went out to dinner with our son who ordered french fries and yes, you guessed it....I had 3 french fries. I'm not kidding....3 french fries. They tasted so good but then about 15-30 minutes after eating them all of a sudden I felt bloated, my stomach felt "funky" and by the 45 minutes after all I did was want to curl up and go to sleep. WTF! Literally 3 french fries sent me into a carb coma feeling? But the better question is, what was with the bloated and funky feeling? Well is just so happens that the Nutrimost staff started talking to him about the next phases where they would start reintroducing some oils and foods into his diet. Without him saying anything they mentioned that fact that when he starts eating potatoes again to be prepared for the result. Hubby just laughed and told them about my experience over the weekend and their reply was....yes, even a small about of certain bad carbs will produce that result. They also said that because I was following his diet part and with my reaction to the french fries it was because I too had "detoxed" from the opiates which naturally occur and are found in potatoes and even with the very small portion I had it would hit like a ton of bricks.
So to date.....Hubby and I both love how we are feeling. We both have more energy during the day and we are sleeping longer and more soundly at night. We're both still dropping weight and even with "special events/weekends/etc" we are able to dump any temporary weight gain quickly. I was skeptical when hubby wanted to do this but after 30 days and with the results we've seen I think it was probably one of the very best decisions we've made.
Friday, February 19, 2016
Day 23 - Worrisome Doctor Vist
Ever since the plateau broke, for the past two days, hubby has actually gained just over 1.5#. I went over every single ingredient in every recipe for the past couple of days without turning up any indication of hidden sugars or too many calories. Just got the phone call after his doctor visit today and the doctors were really happy and even gave him a congratulatory hug for his hard work. His new readings are perfect! He is now at his correct body water percentage, his visceral fat rating is again marching downward, his body mass index and body fat percentage is down. Last week his metabolic age was still over 90 but today it is in the 60's and considering the fact that he is only 54 years old that news was fantastic to hear. So what about the weight gain? He gained water, was working harder than normal this week and gain muscle weight which when added with the loss of the body fat his weight went up slightly as muscle weighs more than fat. The doctor told him that if he wanted to do another apple day or steak day on Monday to give it "a kick in the pants" he could.
What a relief though as a slight weight gain was not something we anticipated as during this phase as you are not to work out heavily. Too much working out at this phase with the lower calories can set up the body to go into fat storing mode again and that is something they do not want. So word to the wise....watch your diet first and foremost, moderately exercise if you must and don't get too concerned if your weight does increase slightly after losing so much. As long as your readings are coming in better, you're actually still on the right track.
What a relief though as a slight weight gain was not something we anticipated as during this phase as you are not to work out heavily. Too much working out at this phase with the lower calories can set up the body to go into fat storing mode again and that is something they do not want. So word to the wise....watch your diet first and foremost, moderately exercise if you must and don't get too concerned if your weight does increase slightly after losing so much. As long as your readings are coming in better, you're actually still on the right track.
Tuesday, February 16, 2016
Day 20 - Plateau Broken
We did the steak plateau breaker yesterday. No lunch and had a steak dinner with an organic apple. First of all, by the time dinner came around we were both ravenous. That dry pasta in the pantry was looking mighty fine about 5:30 pm. We did the right thing though and we ate dinner (about 6 pm). A beautiful med-rare steak and a perfectly ripened apple that was almost as sweet as candy. They tell you in the program outline that the plateau may not break for up to two days and you need to be patient if that happens....our plateaus though broke over night. Both of us back on the scale this morning with both of us losing another 2 pounds. We're back on the scheduled food today. That feeling of being discouraged at a plateau did not appear with this program. Yes, we hit one but at least we were given the knowledge of how to break it without any struggle.
One of the things in this plan is that you really need to not drink alcohol. Hubby is on the full blown plan with all the supplements and doctor visits and food. I on the other hand am just doing the food. Not that we drink a ton anyway but we do go out on Wednesday nights typically and meet up with one of our friends and then usually we'll go out on Friday night to one of our local watering holes. He has not had any alcohol at all for the past twenty days....I on the other hand will still have a beer or if at my in-laws house will have that Manhattan or Gimlet before dinner. One of the changes this diet has created that could be dangerous.....drinking one-third of a Manhattan will now get me tipsy (I used to have to be starting my 2nd one to make me feel like that before this diet) and also now just two beers will do the same. It's not that gradual march towards feeling it either. With a higher metabolism my body is processing the alcohol faster and it's a wham in your face, here you go scenario. Hubby is wondering what it will be like for him as he will not have any alcohol for another two weeks until we travel up to Atlanta to the Hops in the Hangar event at the Delta Museum. We both don't want to screw up the diet but we've had these tickets since well before even thinking about starting the Nutrimost program and we both love taste testing all the different craft beers. At least hubby goes for the lighter beers, most often with some type of fruit (he loves a good Steigl Radler or Cigar City Florida Cracker any time) whereas I enjoy more of the porters, stouts, and ales. It will be interesting to see exactly what will happen and if it knocks us off schedule for a day or two at least we now have a better understanding of the foods we need to eat to get it right back on track.
One of the things in this plan is that you really need to not drink alcohol. Hubby is on the full blown plan with all the supplements and doctor visits and food. I on the other hand am just doing the food. Not that we drink a ton anyway but we do go out on Wednesday nights typically and meet up with one of our friends and then usually we'll go out on Friday night to one of our local watering holes. He has not had any alcohol at all for the past twenty days....I on the other hand will still have a beer or if at my in-laws house will have that Manhattan or Gimlet before dinner. One of the changes this diet has created that could be dangerous.....drinking one-third of a Manhattan will now get me tipsy (I used to have to be starting my 2nd one to make me feel like that before this diet) and also now just two beers will do the same. It's not that gradual march towards feeling it either. With a higher metabolism my body is processing the alcohol faster and it's a wham in your face, here you go scenario. Hubby is wondering what it will be like for him as he will not have any alcohol for another two weeks until we travel up to Atlanta to the Hops in the Hangar event at the Delta Museum. We both don't want to screw up the diet but we've had these tickets since well before even thinking about starting the Nutrimost program and we both love taste testing all the different craft beers. At least hubby goes for the lighter beers, most often with some type of fruit (he loves a good Steigl Radler or Cigar City Florida Cracker any time) whereas I enjoy more of the porters, stouts, and ales. It will be interesting to see exactly what will happen and if it knocks us off schedule for a day or two at least we now have a better understanding of the foods we need to eat to get it right back on track.
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