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.
Friday, February 19, 2016
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.
Monday, February 15, 2016
Day 19 - Plateau
Well they warned us.....sometime between day 10 through 16 it's common to hit a plateau. For the past three days hubby has been at the same weight. The nice thing is that there are ways to break the plateau so today is no lunch and dinner will be steak with an apple. The funny thing is that we both hit a plateau on the same day so this will be interesting to see if it will break the same way. As today is Day 19 out of 44 there's still plenty of time for him to lose a lot more weight. The good news is also that he is not feeling hungry (which is common on this diet) so at least he can deal with the not eating a lunch today.
Friday, February 12, 2016
Day 16 - Still Rolling Along
In the past two days hubby has only lost 1.6 pounds for a total now of 21.6 pounds. The weight loss has definitely slowed however he still has not reach a plateau. We keep waiting for that however to this point we've been very lucky. He has 47 pounds to go and even if he does not reach it during the Nutrimost program he'll be on the right track and we've be armed with the knowledge of how to complete it.
Also, with me just following the food diet (versus him on the food diet PLUS the supplements) I've now lost 8 pounds and people I haven't seen in awhile they ASK me right away if I've lost weight so it's starting to show. When they see hubby they simply just say...wow, you're looking good how much weight have you lost.
One of the things dietitians and nutritionists always are saying to "read the labels". Well we really did start looking at them the other day. Did you know that most prepacked food has some type of sugar added? There's so many ingredients listed in their chemical name that you don't know what they are so you just skip right over them....MISTAKE! If you see a chemical you don't know and it ends in "-ose" or "-ol" there is a very very very high probability that it is sugar. We all know that anything with the name sugar or syrup is sugar but how about Maltodextrin? Yup, it's an additive (even in some dry stevia products!). Maltodextrins are classified by DE (dextrose equivalent) and have a DE between 3 and 20. The higher the DE value, the shorter the glucose chains, the higher the sweetness. So why do they add it? Simple it allows you to use it in both hot and cold applications without losing taste. Simple way around adding another sugar into the food....use the LIQUID stevia extract which does not contain any additional sugars and it can stand up to hot and cold applications.
Years ago, at our old house, we had a garden. We never used pesticides and it was truly and organic garden with Tomatoes, Green Peppers, Green Beans, Broccoli, Hot Peppers, etc. We always talked about putting in another garden and our new house but never did....until the other day. The old rototiller was pulled out and we got it running again and we are prepping the soil for another garden but this one will be much larger than our previous one. We're already nurturing some plants and have started from seed some others as the ground won't be ready for another two weeks. Prepping the soil is important....tilling the soil, adding nutrients to the soil, reworking the soil, add more nutrients, rework it again....you get the picture. Our old garden actually grew in height over the years and our sandy Florida soil turned into beautiful, perfect rich black dirt. So with this new garden along with Tomatoes, Green Peppers and Broccoli we're adding Pickling Cucumbers, Zucchini, Summer Squash, Jalapenos, two different kinds of lettuce and STEVIA! Can't wait to try making my own stevia extract which from reading up on online....it's not difficult at all. Best part about the whole process is the ability to walk outside for fresh vegetables. Vine ripe food has amazing flavor compared to what you get in the grocery store and anything I end up having to can, I'll know exactly what went into the canning and it will not be any sugar!
Also, with me just following the food diet (versus him on the food diet PLUS the supplements) I've now lost 8 pounds and people I haven't seen in awhile they ASK me right away if I've lost weight so it's starting to show. When they see hubby they simply just say...wow, you're looking good how much weight have you lost.
One of the things dietitians and nutritionists always are saying to "read the labels". Well we really did start looking at them the other day. Did you know that most prepacked food has some type of sugar added? There's so many ingredients listed in their chemical name that you don't know what they are so you just skip right over them....MISTAKE! If you see a chemical you don't know and it ends in "-ose" or "-ol" there is a very very very high probability that it is sugar. We all know that anything with the name sugar or syrup is sugar but how about Maltodextrin? Yup, it's an additive (even in some dry stevia products!). Maltodextrins are classified by DE (dextrose equivalent) and have a DE between 3 and 20. The higher the DE value, the shorter the glucose chains, the higher the sweetness. So why do they add it? Simple it allows you to use it in both hot and cold applications without losing taste. Simple way around adding another sugar into the food....use the LIQUID stevia extract which does not contain any additional sugars and it can stand up to hot and cold applications.
Years ago, at our old house, we had a garden. We never used pesticides and it was truly and organic garden with Tomatoes, Green Peppers, Green Beans, Broccoli, Hot Peppers, etc. We always talked about putting in another garden and our new house but never did....until the other day. The old rototiller was pulled out and we got it running again and we are prepping the soil for another garden but this one will be much larger than our previous one. We're already nurturing some plants and have started from seed some others as the ground won't be ready for another two weeks. Prepping the soil is important....tilling the soil, adding nutrients to the soil, reworking the soil, add more nutrients, rework it again....you get the picture. Our old garden actually grew in height over the years and our sandy Florida soil turned into beautiful, perfect rich black dirt. So with this new garden along with Tomatoes, Green Peppers and Broccoli we're adding Pickling Cucumbers, Zucchini, Summer Squash, Jalapenos, two different kinds of lettuce and STEVIA! Can't wait to try making my own stevia extract which from reading up on online....it's not difficult at all. Best part about the whole process is the ability to walk outside for fresh vegetables. Vine ripe food has amazing flavor compared to what you get in the grocery store and anything I end up having to can, I'll know exactly what went into the canning and it will not be any sugar!
Wednesday, February 10, 2016
Day 14 - Milestone
Today is day 14 on the Nutrimost system for my hubby. Although some days he will only lose a fraction of a pound and on other days he will lose more than a pound. On the two week mark he has lost 20 pounds and although there still are times where he really wishes he could have a burger and some fries he has definitely found some new favorites.
Part of the Nutrimost system is that they give you recipes based on what phase of the plan you are in. During phase 2 (44 days of 500-800 calories per day) it was a little daunting in the beginning to figure out how to cook without any oils, butter, margarine....no fats. The one thing I have figured out though is that although oils make it easier to cook THEY ARE TOTALLY UNNECESSARY IN MANY RECIPES. Yes, that's right. Cook with the right pan using the right ingredients has turned out some wonderful meals.
Case in point, my hubby has always said that he did not "prefer" scallops....which in his terminology meant that he would eat it if served to him but he wouldn't exactly be happy about it. Well last night I made some Sea Scallops....pan fried (no oils using a ceramic coated pan well heated before cooking) for 1.5 minutes per side and during the last minute threw in some fresh minced garlic and one tablespoon of lemon juice. Done! They turned out beautifully browned and tender with a lot of flavor. We paired it with the recipe they have for ketchup (which is a ketchup that is also a great cocktail sauce) and using less than one tablespoon and a romaine lettuce salad with the Simple Girl Citrus Ginger Dressing (program recommended with no oils) and for dessert the Nutrimost recipe for Strawberry Sorbet. I've said it before....we are not hungry on this program! We don't miss the potatoes or rice or pasta that we would have included in the past for the simple fact that these meals fill us up and keep us filled up. Are they a little "plain jane"? Yes, because they are so simple with no mixed proteins, veggies or fruit however they are still flavorful because of the spices we are using with just a touch of some citrus for flavor only (too much counts as your fruit for the meal).
On Super Bowl Sunday we had the Nutrimost recipe for chili. Basically just meat, tomatoes and spices. Now tomatoes can go as either your fruit or your veggie and with our homemade chili we would also incorporate kidney beans, green peppers and onions we decided to treat the tomatoes as our fruit in the meal and add onions to the mix. Cooked everything on the stove top for an hour and wasn't satisfied with the flavor....very bland compared to our normal chili. Double downed on the spices, threw in a little bit of hot sauce (which replaced the flavor of the green peppers), cooked it for another hour and viola! We were both happy with the outcome.....so happy in fact that I'm making a big pot of it to bring over to my in-laws on Valentine's Day so they can try it and we can portion our servings out to meet the program requirements.
That's another thing.....I'm getting really good at eye-balling food and knowing approximately how much it weighs without getting the digital food scale out. I still measure it to be sure but I'm correct more often within a fraction of an ounce than I ever was in the past. Thinking about how big our portion sizes used to be compared to what they are now I don't wonder how the weight got packed on.
In following his diet with only the food part (not taking the supplements he has to in order to really get the metabolism pumped up) in the past two weeks I've lost a very respectful 6.2 pounds. His supplements help him to not be hungry until lunchtime (phase two you only eat lunch and dinner) whereas I am hungry within an hour or so of waking. The thing is I don't remember any time in my life including as a kid that I ever felt like eating before lunch and sometimes not until mid-afternoon. My metabolism is starting to get moving again just by eating and doing so in a healthy manner. Being in this phase is "resetting" some of our bad habits into good habits and killing off those cravings for chips, pretzels, Doritos as late night snacks. :)
Part of the Nutrimost system is that they give you recipes based on what phase of the plan you are in. During phase 2 (44 days of 500-800 calories per day) it was a little daunting in the beginning to figure out how to cook without any oils, butter, margarine....no fats. The one thing I have figured out though is that although oils make it easier to cook THEY ARE TOTALLY UNNECESSARY IN MANY RECIPES. Yes, that's right. Cook with the right pan using the right ingredients has turned out some wonderful meals.
Case in point, my hubby has always said that he did not "prefer" scallops....which in his terminology meant that he would eat it if served to him but he wouldn't exactly be happy about it. Well last night I made some Sea Scallops....pan fried (no oils using a ceramic coated pan well heated before cooking) for 1.5 minutes per side and during the last minute threw in some fresh minced garlic and one tablespoon of lemon juice. Done! They turned out beautifully browned and tender with a lot of flavor. We paired it with the recipe they have for ketchup (which is a ketchup that is also a great cocktail sauce) and using less than one tablespoon and a romaine lettuce salad with the Simple Girl Citrus Ginger Dressing (program recommended with no oils) and for dessert the Nutrimost recipe for Strawberry Sorbet. I've said it before....we are not hungry on this program! We don't miss the potatoes or rice or pasta that we would have included in the past for the simple fact that these meals fill us up and keep us filled up. Are they a little "plain jane"? Yes, because they are so simple with no mixed proteins, veggies or fruit however they are still flavorful because of the spices we are using with just a touch of some citrus for flavor only (too much counts as your fruit for the meal).
On Super Bowl Sunday we had the Nutrimost recipe for chili. Basically just meat, tomatoes and spices. Now tomatoes can go as either your fruit or your veggie and with our homemade chili we would also incorporate kidney beans, green peppers and onions we decided to treat the tomatoes as our fruit in the meal and add onions to the mix. Cooked everything on the stove top for an hour and wasn't satisfied with the flavor....very bland compared to our normal chili. Double downed on the spices, threw in a little bit of hot sauce (which replaced the flavor of the green peppers), cooked it for another hour and viola! We were both happy with the outcome.....so happy in fact that I'm making a big pot of it to bring over to my in-laws on Valentine's Day so they can try it and we can portion our servings out to meet the program requirements.
That's another thing.....I'm getting really good at eye-balling food and knowing approximately how much it weighs without getting the digital food scale out. I still measure it to be sure but I'm correct more often within a fraction of an ounce than I ever was in the past. Thinking about how big our portion sizes used to be compared to what they are now I don't wonder how the weight got packed on.
In following his diet with only the food part (not taking the supplements he has to in order to really get the metabolism pumped up) in the past two weeks I've lost a very respectful 6.2 pounds. His supplements help him to not be hungry until lunchtime (phase two you only eat lunch and dinner) whereas I am hungry within an hour or so of waking. The thing is I don't remember any time in my life including as a kid that I ever felt like eating before lunch and sometimes not until mid-afternoon. My metabolism is starting to get moving again just by eating and doing so in a healthy manner. Being in this phase is "resetting" some of our bad habits into good habits and killing off those cravings for chips, pretzels, Doritos as late night snacks. :)
Sunday, February 7, 2016
Day 11 - Super Bowl Sunday
Hubby is now down 17.2 pounds and told me today that his cravings are getting fewer and farther between. The first 10 days would have been so easy for us to give into snacking on chips, Doritos, Cheetos, etc however we're both to the point that we have to succeed in this challenge. Since we are both challenge orientated people, being coaches to each other, and both stubborn as all heck in not backing down, it's working. I can see how someone could fail in this program....without the support of your spouse, partner, boyfriend, girlfriend, mom, dad, kids, friends it would be easy to cheat and end up failing. My recommendation before anyone starts this program.....make sure everyone you live with is on board to eat the same foods you have to and get rid of all the junk food in your home!
One of the things we were talking about yesterday is the lack of legumes in this diet. We kind of figured that potatoes, rice, quinoa, would be big no no's for the obvious reasons. What we didn't know, until the doctor discussed this, is that some foods contain naturally occurring opiates in them and as part of the detox they are not allowed until much later.
So what is an opiate? According to the Merriam Webster Dictionary it is:
Simple Definition of opiate
Popularity: Bottom 40% of words
: a drug (such as morphine or codeine) that is made from opium and that is used to reduce pain or
cause sleep
: something that causes people to ignore problems and to relax instead of doing things that need to be
done
Full Definition of opiate
1a : a drug (as morphine or codeine) containing or derived from opium and tending to induce sleep
and alleviate pain; broadly : narcotic 1a
b : opioid 1
2: something that induces rest or inaction or quiets uneasiness
And to think that every day, sometimes twice a day, for 50+ years we were eating foods which contained naturally occurring opiates....no wonder we causing damage to our metabolism. Does that mean we need to totally get rid of this from our diets? No, it just needs to be put back into the proper scale within our diets. If you're reading this and want to find out more about this I've added a couple of links below and as always...do your own research too, do not rely on just one doctor or one item you read online.
http://www.healthy-eating-politics.com/toxins-in-food.html
http://www.drbriffa.com/2012/05/17/wheat-opiate-of-the-masses/
One of the things we were talking about yesterday is the lack of legumes in this diet. We kind of figured that potatoes, rice, quinoa, would be big no no's for the obvious reasons. What we didn't know, until the doctor discussed this, is that some foods contain naturally occurring opiates in them and as part of the detox they are not allowed until much later.
So what is an opiate? According to the Merriam Webster Dictionary it is:
Simple Definition of opiate
Popularity: Bottom 40% of words
: a drug (such as morphine or codeine) that is made from opium and that is used to reduce pain or
cause sleep
: something that causes people to ignore problems and to relax instead of doing things that need to be
done
Full Definition of opiate
1a : a drug (as morphine or codeine) containing or derived from opium and tending to induce sleep
and alleviate pain; broadly : narcotic 1a
b : opioid 1
2: something that induces rest or inaction or quiets uneasiness
And to think that every day, sometimes twice a day, for 50+ years we were eating foods which contained naturally occurring opiates....no wonder we causing damage to our metabolism. Does that mean we need to totally get rid of this from our diets? No, it just needs to be put back into the proper scale within our diets. If you're reading this and want to find out more about this I've added a couple of links below and as always...do your own research too, do not rely on just one doctor or one item you read online.
http://www.healthy-eating-politics.com/toxins-in-food.html
http://www.drbriffa.com/2012/05/17/wheat-opiate-of-the-masses/
Friday, February 5, 2016
Day 9 - Doctor Visit
As I said before this is a diet which is monitored by doctors which is a good thing because hubby has come down with what we thought was going to be the flu but is now looking more like a cold. With his weight down just shy of 17 pounds...YES 17 POUNDS....we didn't want him taking anything that would mess up the weight loss. Doctor gave him Nucleo Immune Supplement which he said would give that cold a kick to the door. It's made by Premier Research Labs, the same people that make the Pink Salt you are to take during the program.
I love this pink salt. We sprinkle a little on the food and it bumps up the flavor of the food wonderfully. The salt just adds that little bit to take it from yes it's good to wow, I love this flavor. Definitely going to buy more of this after the program just because I love this stuff.
This weekend we'll be making some chili....to diet specifications...a version of what we normally make but since we can't mix veggies yet it will be interesting. Tomatoes can be a fruit or veggie so we'll be using it as a fruit in the chili as hubby refuses to not have his onions in it. We'll be leaving out the green pepper this time around.
Tonight, since it's Friday, has always been our fish fry night. Tonight hubby had foil baked mahi mahi with a dash of chopped onion, a lime slice and fresh parsley while I had grilled ahi tuna (he doesn't like ahi tuna at all but will eat albacore tuna out of the can). Matched it with wilted spinach cooked with water and apple cider vinegar with two cloves of garlic thrown in for good measure as well as pink salt and pepper. Dessert will be the Nutrimost candied apple recipe however instead of slices I wanted mine chunky. Baked for an hour in the oven. They're only about half the way done and the house is starting to smell yummy.
One thing I have found on this....we are not hungry at all. With the smaller portions you would think you'd be starving but you're not. When you finish eating you are pleasantly full, not over stuffed, and definitely not looking for more food.
I love this pink salt. We sprinkle a little on the food and it bumps up the flavor of the food wonderfully. The salt just adds that little bit to take it from yes it's good to wow, I love this flavor. Definitely going to buy more of this after the program just because I love this stuff.
This weekend we'll be making some chili....to diet specifications...a version of what we normally make but since we can't mix veggies yet it will be interesting. Tomatoes can be a fruit or veggie so we'll be using it as a fruit in the chili as hubby refuses to not have his onions in it. We'll be leaving out the green pepper this time around.
Tonight, since it's Friday, has always been our fish fry night. Tonight hubby had foil baked mahi mahi with a dash of chopped onion, a lime slice and fresh parsley while I had grilled ahi tuna (he doesn't like ahi tuna at all but will eat albacore tuna out of the can). Matched it with wilted spinach cooked with water and apple cider vinegar with two cloves of garlic thrown in for good measure as well as pink salt and pepper. Dessert will be the Nutrimost candied apple recipe however instead of slices I wanted mine chunky. Baked for an hour in the oven. They're only about half the way done and the house is starting to smell yummy.
One thing I have found on this....we are not hungry at all. With the smaller portions you would think you'd be starving but you're not. When you finish eating you are pleasantly full, not over stuffed, and definitely not looking for more food.
Thursday, February 4, 2016
Day 8 - Nutrimost Wow!
Using Nutrimost hubby is now down 13.2 pounds in one week. I, by just following the food part of the plan, am down 3.1 pounds. No exercise at all....yet.
When hubby first started he got a goody bag of products - toothpaste, deodorant, shampoo, conditioner, hair gel, etc. Since he doesn't use conditioner I decided to try it this morning to see how good of a job it did. When reading the back label it shows that it can be used for a number of purposes from hair conditioner, hand/body lotion, in shower moisturizer, makeup remover, shaving lotion, cuticle cream, lip balm/gloss, massage cream as well as for psoriasis, poison ivy, eczema.
The first thing you notice about the conditioner is that there is no perfume smell. The conditioner looks like any other lighter weight conditioners and left my hair soft, full of body without being over conditioned which in me makes my hair flat. The other thing I noticed was that my hands were conditioned too. I never noticed a "hair conditioner" ever doing that to my hands before...with this I noticed it right away.
The first thing you notice about the conditioner is that there is no perfume smell. The conditioner looks like any other lighter weight conditioners and left my hair soft, full of body without being over conditioned which in me makes my hair flat. The other thing I noticed was that my hands were conditioned too. I never noticed a "hair conditioner" ever doing that to my hands before...with this I noticed it right away.
All the items in the goody bag do multiple duties....the hair gel is also a hand sanitizer as well as a pain reliever for muscles and joint pain. According to my hubby he says it worked great on his knee the other night and was pretty amazed that a "hair gel" could do that.
Now I am a big one to try to save money where I can. I make my own laundry detergent which works just as good as the name brands you may find in the grocery store but where you might spend $10 or more on a one bottle of laundry detergent and you might get about 90 loads from it. Of course that is if you use the correct amount and only if your clothes are not heavily soiled where you might need to add more. I spend $10 every 6 months and I get about 200 loads. So if I can find a product that does three or more things for me for less than the price of buying those three or more individual items and reduce the clutter in my house I'm all for it.
So in a nut shell after one full week....we are liking the weight loss and we are liking the products.
Tuesday, February 2, 2016
Day 6 - And We're Back
Yeah! Weigh in this morning netted an even 1 pound loss for hubby and 0.5 pound loss for me. After the blood pressure scare of yesterday hubby is feeling better and beginning to halve his blood pressure medication today.
One of the best things hubby has said about the Nutrimost system is that it is, so far, exactly what they said it would be. He may get hungry but not close to how hungry he used to be and sometimes he has to eat just because he knows that he has to eat. Cravings for evening snacks are starting to abate and when one does come around it's easy to ignore it as it seems to just disappear after five or ten minutes.
Last night we decided to save the dinner fruit portion until about one hour after dinner and have it as a dessert. That dessert was Strawberry Sorbet.....8oz frozen strawberries, a tablespoon of fresh lemon juice, sweet leaf stevia to taste (I only used 1/8 teaspoon) and a tablespoon of water (optional to get to the consistency I wanted), Hubby looked at the serving (yes, that is one serving) and couldn't believe how much he got all for 73 calories.
Today for lunch he brought shrimp (with 1 tablespoon of homemade ketchup which is also really good as a cocktail sauce), apple chips (dehydrated apple with cinnamon) and celery. The guys he works with are amazed at the lunches he gets to eat and sometimes a little envious that it looks so much better than the typical sandwich, sub, burger.
One of the best things hubby has said about the Nutrimost system is that it is, so far, exactly what they said it would be. He may get hungry but not close to how hungry he used to be and sometimes he has to eat just because he knows that he has to eat. Cravings for evening snacks are starting to abate and when one does come around it's easy to ignore it as it seems to just disappear after five or ten minutes.
Last night we decided to save the dinner fruit portion until about one hour after dinner and have it as a dessert. That dessert was Strawberry Sorbet.....8oz frozen strawberries, a tablespoon of fresh lemon juice, sweet leaf stevia to taste (I only used 1/8 teaspoon) and a tablespoon of water (optional to get to the consistency I wanted), Hubby looked at the serving (yes, that is one serving) and couldn't believe how much he got all for 73 calories.
Today for lunch he brought shrimp (with 1 tablespoon of homemade ketchup which is also really good as a cocktail sauce), apple chips (dehydrated apple with cinnamon) and celery. The guys he works with are amazed at the lunches he gets to eat and sometimes a little envious that it looks so much better than the typical sandwich, sub, burger.
Monday, February 1, 2016
Day 5 - Recovery
Due to the oops of yesterday hubby was only down 0.1 pounds. Although we were disappointed we were both pretty happy that it wasn't a weight gain. So we're getting back on track today.
One of the issues that the doctor reiterated a few times as hubby is on blood pressure medication; one day it just might hit where he would not need as much of his medication to control it. Today was the day. About 10:00 am this morning, working outside, walking up and down ladders he started getting light headed, dizzy and nauseous. A pharmacy was right down the street and he took his blood pressure at one of those self service machines....yes, they can be accurate, but then again they typically are not as good as you would hope. His pressure was down a lot lower than it typically runs (but not in any red flag danger zone reading) so out came the fruit he had for lunch. Eating raises your blood pressure and he did start feeling better however there was no way he was good enough to be working on a ladder. Tonight is better but standing up too fast is still an issue....time to cut back by half on the blood pressure medication and monitor.
One of the things we both have missed since the beginning of this is something crunchy. Celery and biting into an cold fresh apple will only go so far in satisfying that crave for crunch. I've banished the potato chips, doritos, cheetos in the house as well as soda of any kind....so how to replace it with "healthy". Simple, after buying all the beautiful fruit yesterday we'll be freezing some, juicing some (portioned out according to the plan 1/2 grapefruit with pulp) and apple chips....nothing more than dehydrated apples with cinnamon....portioned out to an appropriate serving size. So tonight I'm starting to dehydrate....I have cinnamon apple chips, strawberries, and for me only bananas. Bananas are not on "the list" but since hubby doesn't like them it's one way for me to make sure they don't rot before I eat them.
Can't wait to see his results tomorrow and I swear after not even a week I'm already seeing a difference in him. :)
One of the issues that the doctor reiterated a few times as hubby is on blood pressure medication; one day it just might hit where he would not need as much of his medication to control it. Today was the day. About 10:00 am this morning, working outside, walking up and down ladders he started getting light headed, dizzy and nauseous. A pharmacy was right down the street and he took his blood pressure at one of those self service machines....yes, they can be accurate, but then again they typically are not as good as you would hope. His pressure was down a lot lower than it typically runs (but not in any red flag danger zone reading) so out came the fruit he had for lunch. Eating raises your blood pressure and he did start feeling better however there was no way he was good enough to be working on a ladder. Tonight is better but standing up too fast is still an issue....time to cut back by half on the blood pressure medication and monitor.
One of the things we both have missed since the beginning of this is something crunchy. Celery and biting into an cold fresh apple will only go so far in satisfying that crave for crunch. I've banished the potato chips, doritos, cheetos in the house as well as soda of any kind....so how to replace it with "healthy". Simple, after buying all the beautiful fruit yesterday we'll be freezing some, juicing some (portioned out according to the plan 1/2 grapefruit with pulp) and apple chips....nothing more than dehydrated apples with cinnamon....portioned out to an appropriate serving size. So tonight I'm starting to dehydrate....I have cinnamon apple chips, strawberries, and for me only bananas. Bananas are not on "the list" but since hubby doesn't like them it's one way for me to make sure they don't rot before I eat them.
Can't wait to see his results tomorrow and I swear after not even a week I'm already seeing a difference in him. :)
Day 4 - Sunday Funday
No matter how best your plans are laid out, something will always mess them up. I'm writing this after the fact to serve as a little warning.....
One of the best things about living in Florida is that you can get just about anywhere within a 2-3 hour drive. Plans on Sunday were to pick up our grandson, driving to Plant City, FL and pick up some fresh strawberries and fruit from some of the farm stands up there. It's a nice little drive about 1.5 hours from the house and we were successful in getting a bunch of flats of beautiful fruit from strawberries, grapefruit, apples, tomatoes and more. We packed my husband's lunch in a cooler with his water....everything was going great until hubby decided to snack on his celery. Our grandson wanted some celery too and hubby ended up with only 1/4 of what he was to eat.
Then we decided to see if our daughter who lives in Orlando was off or working and we drove up to visit her. We also decided to go to lunch. Mistake! Especially because he also forgot to pack the supplements he would normally take mid-day. We settled on a place that was American-Asian Fusion style....figuring his lettuce wraps with shrimp (yes, it had tofu with it and it was not on his list) wouldn't have a bunch of oils that's what he ordered. When it came out it was laden with a soy/olive oil sauce that has been poured all over the top which the menu had not made any mention of. The waitress talked to the manager and they remade his food free of oils and hubby didn't even make a move to use any of the side sauces they provided.
We knew that his results for day 3 would not be very good for several different reasons mentioned above and as long as there is no weight gain....we'll be happy.
One of the best things about living in Florida is that you can get just about anywhere within a 2-3 hour drive. Plans on Sunday were to pick up our grandson, driving to Plant City, FL and pick up some fresh strawberries and fruit from some of the farm stands up there. It's a nice little drive about 1.5 hours from the house and we were successful in getting a bunch of flats of beautiful fruit from strawberries, grapefruit, apples, tomatoes and more. We packed my husband's lunch in a cooler with his water....everything was going great until hubby decided to snack on his celery. Our grandson wanted some celery too and hubby ended up with only 1/4 of what he was to eat.
Then we decided to see if our daughter who lives in Orlando was off or working and we drove up to visit her. We also decided to go to lunch. Mistake! Especially because he also forgot to pack the supplements he would normally take mid-day. We settled on a place that was American-Asian Fusion style....figuring his lettuce wraps with shrimp (yes, it had tofu with it and it was not on his list) wouldn't have a bunch of oils that's what he ordered. When it came out it was laden with a soy/olive oil sauce that has been poured all over the top which the menu had not made any mention of. The waitress talked to the manager and they remade his food free of oils and hubby didn't even make a move to use any of the side sauces they provided.
We knew that his results for day 3 would not be very good for several different reasons mentioned above and as long as there is no weight gain....we'll be happy.
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