June 2009

May I just say that orange-fleshed honeydew melon is absolutely delicious!!?? It doesn’t taste like regular honeydew (which I personally don’t like). It almost tastes like cantaloupe, but a bit different… hard to explain but it is so amazingly yummy.

Anyway, the plan is still to leave tomorrow for Cali. I have a million and one things to do today but it’s all written down on a list, which is keeping it manageable.

Fruit is not allowed to be taken into California, (and yes they stop you at the border to make sure you don’t have any) so whatever I bring with me needs to be eaten before I leave Arizona Thursday morning.

Speaking of which, I am going 100% raw fruitarian starting today. As shallow as it sounds, I want to be as slim as possible before I see my family and friends on Thursday/Friday… so I have about 4 or 5 days to lose an additional inch or two. It’s going to be well over 100 degrees throughout much of my road trip, which means all I’ll really want is fresh fruit anyway. I’m bringing a couple of awesome raw nut and dried fruit combos with me as well – pistachio/golden Himalayan raisins and dried mulberries/macadamias. Mmmm. I think for fruit, I’m going to bring bananas and melons for Tuesday, Wed and Thurs. morning, because they are pretty easy to deal with. (Mangos are a little too messy to bring, as I learned in Branson). Maybe some berries and a couple of apples as well.

Anyway, I’ll update more later… time to go get my car serviced and hit the Sprint store for a replacement wireless headset for my cell phone!

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Sunday Update

I’ve been exercising, exercising, and exercising some more! I’ve finally found an outlet for all of the intense energy I get on a daily basis now.

I’ve been taking the stairs a lot. Yesterday I walked up (and down) a total of 18 flights. Keep in mind that my building has generally high ceilings so there are 16 good-sized steps per floor. I also did 20 minutes on the Airdyne. That thing gave me a fantastic full-body workout as usual.

Today my fitness goal is to not take the elevator once… so far I’ve walked up and down 14 flights (once down to my car, once up, once down to the lobby, once up). I’m also going to do the bike for about 15 minutes as soon as my late lunch digests.

Speaking of food, I’ve cheated a couple times on cheese-items in the past few days. Earlier this week I got a bad craving and I decided to just give in, but had a small amount. And a couple of days ago the same happened. Unfortunately my appetite has increased quite a bit due to all the intense exercise (and maybe PMS), so I’ve been eating a bit more. I’ve added veggie sandwiches in twice this week. But everything else is staying the same: fruit, greens, nuts, seeds and potato slices here and there.

I haven’t gotten on the scale because I already know intense exercise always makes me gain in the beginning. However, there have been further body changes that I and others can see. One is my face, which is slimming down even more. (Plus right now my facial complexion looks amazing!) Another is that my arms are already tighter and look/feel slimmer, as well as my thighs and legs. The Airdyne actually works out the stomach too (which I found out yesterday). There is a pair of capris that 1 week ago, I wasn’t able to zip. Now I can zip them. Still can’t button them, however, I will be able to if I lose another half inch or so around my waist. (So close!) So I’m not weighing or measuring myself these days but using clothing and vision to judge my progress. For now.

Wisteria Lane & My Upcoming Cali Trip

I’m leaving for So Cal this coming week… I need to get out there ASAP or I won’t be able to visit Wisteria Lane. Sounds silly but I’m a huge Desperate Housewives fan, and my ex-boyfriend P (now a good friend) has promised to take me on a walking tour down there. He works in the back lots there at Universal Studios/City and took me on a walking tour 2 years ago, but they were shooting Season 4 so I couldn’t get onto the lane. However, I did get a photo of one of the houses at the entrance. This house has been used in a few episodes:

So anyway, they haven’t started shooting Season 6 yet – but they are starting any day now – so I need to hurry. My friend is worried that by the time I get out there they will have begun shooting, at which case I’ll be out of luck. So I am going to TRY to leave by Tuesday or Wednesday this week. My trip will be either two days where I’ll stop simply in Albuquerque, NM the first night, then get to Cali the next night, or three days, where I’ll stop in Albuquerque the first night, then Kingman, AZ the second night, then CA the following afternoon. The two-day option is extremely tiring though and requires 9-12 hours of driving each day so I’ll probably settle on the 3-day option. If I leave Tuesday I can be there by Thursday afternoon.

The only problem is that I’m not quite ready to leave yet and don’t know if I will be that soon! Argh.

Once I’m in Cali, I’ll be staying for the first few nights in the city my sister lives in – La Mirada (not my favorite area, but oh well). Then a few nights in Hollywood or Beverly Hills. (More on that later). I’ll definitely be checking out some of the places celebs go, now that I know where they go!

There are many health and organic produce stores in So Cal so I am NOT worried about my diet at all. The first place I’m staying has a full kitchenette, too.

So anyway, I’ve got a busy week ahead of me. Tomorrow I need to see my mechanic, get my car cleared for another road trip, stock up on a couple books-on-CD’s for the trip, straighten my apartment, do laundry, plan my food, etc etc…

I am hoping that upon my return from Cali, I’ll be down another few pounds. We shall see…!

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Whew is it hot out again! Heat index 102. Earlier when it was the same temperature on the heat index, I took a 25-minute power walk. Way too hot out but I really needed some sun (for Vitamin D). 25 minutes in the blazing sun thankfully wasn’t enough to get sick or have a heatstroke. I had ice-water with me and rubbed some on my face/forehead and sipped from the bottle.

Then I came home and did an amazing workout on my new Schwinn Airdyne. Yep – I traded M my elliptical for the Airdyne, which is a MUCH MUCH better workout. When I got off that thing I felt like I got a total body workout. (My arms are going to look amazing!) Then I did a few yoga poses that M had taught me. M will probably have me walk the stairs again later tonight. He also has a Total-Gym thing in his apartment that I might work out on.

All in all, about an hour of working out. To the point where my leg/arm muscles are a little sore. I swear I am noticing new changes in my body every day now. I think it’s from stepping up the exercise and being a strict vegan.

The amazing thing is that I actually want to work out a lot now. My body feels so amazing that I want to constantly ‘go go go’!

I haven’t done another 100% raw day since earlier this week, but that’s OK. I’ll do another one soon. Perhaps tomorrow. I’m going to slowly increase the days each week until I’m 100% all the time. Today I’ve had lots of pineapple, mango and some potato slices. Dinner is definitely going to be lots of melon. I have canary melon (which we tried this week and is delicious!), watermelon, and orange-flesh honeydew. I also have some romaine lettuce, tomatoes, English cucumbers and sunflower seeds to eat later.

I don’t know how I lucked out in getting such an amazing fitness/diet buddy who lives in my building, but I am so extremely grateful. This is really hard to do on your own!!! Especially when everyone around you eats nothing but mostly crap. M and I are spending a lot of time together now but it won’t always be that way, since I’m leaving on a road trip soon and he’s got some upcoming obligations.

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It is about 1:30am and I am about to hit the sack, but I wanted to update and say it was a super-successful day diet-wise. I was 100% raw today, for starters. I had lots of fruits and a few nuts and seeds.

Secondly, I got some great exercise. M had me walk up 15 flights of stairs to his apartment – and when we came back down to mine, we walked back down the 15 flights. (Yes, you read that right – 15 floors! He lives on the 24th floor.) He has a Schwinn Airdyne exercise bike in his apartment that I worked out on for about 15 minutes. That thing is no ordinary exercise bike – it has handles to work out your arms while you pedal. As I sit here typing this I am feeling the burn. It gives a total arm workout since you both push and pull and can move your hands up or over, working out the biceps or triceps.

So I ate well and got some great exercise today.

Anyway, it’s bedtime! I’ll update more tomorrow.

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Yesterday was fabulous: I didn’t break my diet, I had a great time with family, got complimented by multiple people about my weight loss/facial appearance and spent some interesting hours with my new friend M.

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Full update: So yesterday was amazing! Firstly I woke up with tons of energy. I had plans to spend the day with my sister, niece and Aunt for my sister’s 30th birthday, and I did. It went really well – we hung out at my Aunt’s house for a while first. Then we went to the mall and walked around for a while. Then we went out to eat at Chili’s. Then we went back to her house and they ate cake and ice-cream. (I sipped water).

Now, let me say, Chili’s is NOT a vegan-friendly restaurant. Almost every menu option has meat. Even the salads are meat-based. And everything else is clearly loaded with butter, oil or some sort of dressing. After perusing the menu for a while I finally decided to order two sides – one of grilled seasonal veggies, and one of PLAIN mashed potatoes. I stressed no butter on either the veggies or potatoes.

So of course they got the order wrong… the ‘veggies’ were simply broccoli and carrots and there was yellow butter visible on them and the plate, so I gave them to my sister. I should have complained but didn’t. The potatoes were plain but were clearly loaded with seasonings and probably MSG. Whatever was in them gave me a mild stomachache for about an hour after eating them.

I got several compliments from my Aunt about my weight loss. She said I look a lot slimmer and that my face looks healthy. (Fruit really has made my complexion look great!) She complimented me as soon as I walked in the door.

It was a fun day! I got home around 8pm and a little while later M came downstairs to my apartment to hang out. He said as soon as I answered the door that he can tell I’ve slimmed down a bit in the past few days. We shared a pint of blueberries and some sunflower seeds and sat on my couch and talked for hours! We are just friends but this guy and I connect on a mental level that I have never experienced with anyone else. He’s a great teacher – I’m a great learner. We are both great storytellers and listeners.

Speaking of my weight, it’s still hovering around 159ish, but nonetheless my body is suddenly slimming down noticeably. I am supposedly PMS’ing so maybe that’s why the scale is kind of stuck? In any case I’m not going to worry about it!

I’m on day 8 of veganism… yay! Cheese is still in the back of my mind but I ignore it. I’ve noticed that I have so much energy these days that it’s astounding. I am bouncing off walls and my brain is going a mile a minute (in a good way). The ‘inner energy’ is also back and I can’t seem to stop smiling, for real!

I wish I would have taken a photograph of my fingers when they were so raw, red and irritated for the past couple of months. My hands are totally cleared up now. And the only thing I’ve changed in that time is…… diet.

I’ve also been in a pretty much constant state of euphoria for the past few days. It goes away occasionally.

Anyway, I am going to go do some exercise now – indoor elliptical and yoga stretches since it’s about 10,000 degrees outside and 10000000000% humidity.

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Today is my sister’s 30th birthday, which is quite a milestone, so I’ll be spending most of the day/afternoon/evening hanging out with her, my niece and my Aunt! Unfortunately this will involve a restaurant visit; however, I am feeling very strong and calm today diet-wise and know I will not order any crap food no matter what the temptation. Wherever we go, I’ll stick with salad or potatoes or grilled veggies. I hope she doesn’t choose Mexi Cali Border Cafe, which is my favorite Mexican Restaurant, because I’ll be tortured by smells of cheese enchiladas. Today is my 7th day of full vegan (no cheese) and I feel like I turned a corner last night. My diet buddy was busy last night but I got through my mild cravings alone, and had: lots of juicy blueberries, an English cucumber, a few bits of pineapple and some sunflower seeds for dinner.

I’ve been incorporating a bit more stretching and simple yoga moves into my day, plus I’ve been working out on my elliptical more since it’s so hot out, so I feel pretty fit and limber right now.

Today I’ll be seeing my Aunt for the first time in a couple months, so I’m curious to see if she says anything about my weight.

I’ll update here later tonight to let you all know how I did, since clearly I will be tested many times throughout the day with cake, restaurant food, movie popcorn, etc.

As silly as it sounds, I feel a sort-of inner calm, peaceful strength that I know will get me through the cravings and temptations!

On a last note, once again I’ve gotten a couple of people comparing my diet with a starvation diet. Well here’s the deal:

A starvation diet: is [generally] 900 calories or less. People feel tired, weak, crappy, high on hunger, complain of lots of headache and digestive issues, insomnia, hair loss, skin and nail problems, fatigue.

My diet: consists of between 1400-2400 calories per day of mostly pure fresh natural foods. I feel highly energized, my muscles feel limber and strong as ever, I have no digestive issues, rare insomnia, and my skin/nails are absolutely fabulous!! My finger/foot skin irritation has cleared up 95%! (Remember it had gotten much worse when I was incorporating grains back into my diet temporarily). I rarely feel hungry and when I do – I eat. I also have a mostly steady inner peace and feeling of great happiness and joy most of the time. (Not a starvation high – I’ve felt that before during my Kimkins days and this definitely isn’t it.) My weight on this plan is coming off slowly but surely.

Anyway, I hope you all have a fabulous Father’s Day!

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