Day 3 and Start of Day 4

Well good news is so far I've lost almost 5 pounds and 2 inches around my belly and hips. I'm tired of the lemons (just the thought makes me shudder) but I go on. I just realized my caffeine headache is finally gone. Maybe now I'll start getting the increased energy the book says you'll have. I'm not hungry but am fighting soda and sugar and junk food cravings (buying the family McDonald's just about did me in last night). Hopefully those craving will soon fall by the wayside and I can really start enjoying this diet. Well this is a quick post as I'm going to whip up a quick hummus to eat for lunch at work today. Kinda tired of just rice and broth so today I think it will be carrot and celery sticks, hummus and broth. Still loving the Ultrashake...even if I did make it kinda thick this morning so have to use a spoon to eat it. Have a great hump day everyone.

Day Two

Day two of the Ultrasimple diet finds me tired. I have a bit of a headache (probably caffeine withdrawal) and cravings for soda and sweets. I'm trying to keep going and made some Ultrabroth (which isn't as bad as I had originally thought). I'm down 1lb but inches are the same. Well it's off to bathe and bed.

Uh Yeah...

I may of told some friends and coworkers (and hubby) that I wasn't going to do another diet for a while because I was tired of trying to pay attention to what I could or could not eat. Well that lasted a week. Starting today I'm doing Dr. Mark Hyman's Ultrasimple Diet. It's only 1-3 weeks long (well if you add in the prep week then it's a bit longer, but I didn't do a full prep week). It's restrictive the first week, very restrictive. No coffee, no sugar, no dairy, no gluten (wheat), no beef. Basically the Ultrashake (which is yummy) and the Ultrabroth (meh it's a veggie broth), rice, chicken and certain kinds of fish, lots of veggies and fruits and some nuts/seeds and 3 types of legumes. It can be filling and tasty it's just not very exciting. It's basically a detox diet after the first week you can start adding foods back and then figure out which ones work with your body and which ones work against you. So first day has not been bad. Doing the 20 min Ultrabath was difficult as I'm not much of a bath person. Hubby asked if I was marinating myself. I have a slight headache but I think that's due to lack of sleep last night due to a storm going through around midnight. I was worried I would have a caffeine withdrawal headache but I think the two cups of green tea I'm allowed kept that away.

Well off to bed and then to work in the morning.

I'm ready

• I'm ready for classes to start (well except I still have to buy textbooks and school supplies...mentally I'm all prepared)
• I'm ready for life to slow down a bit so I can catch up.
• I'm ready for my kids to finally start doing as I ask (yep, that's gonna happen)
• I'm ready for my work hours to cut back so I can concentrate on getting ready for school.
• I'm ready to be able to go to Zumba again (between work and baseball games I've just not had the time).
• I'm ready for a change, any change (I just have a feeling some changes are coming).
• I'm ready to hear the doctors FINALLY know why my little nephew is so sick so much.
• I'm ready to have the education so I could know why my little nephew is so sick (he is too 'cause Aunt Jackie is suppose to fix things )
• Right now I need to get ready for the day, including getting all the kiddies up.

Hope everyone has a fantastic Monday and a wonderful week.

Slowly but surely

I've been to five Zumba classes now. I'm feeling more fit and like I have more energy. I've lost 3lbs and I like the classes. I don't feel embarrassed that I can't quite do the steps right. I don't feel embarrassed that I'm a bit chubby. It's a very small class (usually only 2-3 other women not counting the instructor) and all are really friendly. Unfortunately this week I'll miss my Monday class because of work. I should make the Wednesday one and I'm going to try and go to the kick boxing class on Thursday to make up for Monday. I'm only sorta doing the Genotype diet this past couple of weeks due to finances not being able to let me go and buy the sorta foods I need for it. I'm just having to make do with what we have in the freezer and pantry. Which is fine, I'm trying to balance out foods that are bad for me with foods that are super good for me. I may eat like crap one day, but for the next couple days I'll try hard to eat very good. Still I'm only like 40% compliant and that's not enough to see any results. I'll do some grocery shopping and meal planning next weekend and get that on track though. I feel as I'm getting somewhere health/body wise right now. I feel fitter even though I haven't lost any real weight/inches. That will come along shortly I'm sure. A lady I work with said she was thinking about taking up tennis and I may see about that. It would be fun and another workout. I could do it while my middle son was at his baseball practices. Or after Zumba class while her son was at football practice, either way would work.

Genotype Diet...I'm a Gatherer

Well I finally took the time to take my measurements and figure out which genotype I am according to Dr D'adamo's book the Genotype Diet. By just reading the descriptions I had always thought I would be a Warrior type...but lo and behold I'm a Gatherer. Now that I reread the descriptions I could see that.

A Gatherer has :

• phenomenal capacity for prolonged and concentrated brain work (must be why I like school so much)
• "Algorithmic" mind-set: natural-born problem-solver
• "Early adopter" of new and revolutionary ideas
• Sweet-natured with a tendency toward emotional "highs and lows" (those who know me know this is true)
• "Exercise-challenged" (wonder if this is a nice way to say lazy).
• endomorphic body type: always looks "padded" even when at proper weight (yep this would be true...always had hips and a booty even at 112lbs,my lowest weight)
• blood type O or B (type O check)
• Mostly Rh-positive (yep, I'm positive...I mistakenly said neg earlier...but my oldest son is a neg Rh type so maybe that's what I was confused with...i looked it up on my records so fix that, lol)
• high estrogen levels (must be why I have those emotional highs and lows, huh)

Superstar Gatherers

• Oprah Winfrey
• Orson Welles
• Marilyn Monroe
• Elvis Presley

Slogan

• "Whoever dies with the most wins." (honestly I could see this since I grew up with next to nothing and want to live comfortably and looking at the superstar gatherers they were the same way, grew up dirt poor and gathered wealth as they got older)

Strengths to count on

• terrific mental endurance
• Highly motivated
• Fertility- male and female (yup with four kiddies I would say I got this down pat)
• Potential to age well (working on this one)

Weaknesses to Watch out for

• Gatherers are unsuccessful crash dieters with a strong tendency to store calories as fat.(unfortunately I see this too...but now I can learn how to fix it)
• Appetite regulation can be a problem (yep I either forget to eat or end up not being able to stop eating no happy middle)
• Elevated estrogen sensitivity can stimulate hormonal cancers.
• Accumulation of damaging chemicals in tissue can lead to diabetes, hbp, Alzheimer's.

Health Risks

• Alzheimer's
• Depression
• High Blood Pressure
• Insulin resistance and diabetes
• Low thyroid activity
• Obesity
• Reproductive cancers with advanced age

The food part confuses me as parts of it are contradictory to the type O Blood type diet. For example; I should avoid chicken for 3-6 months which was a neutral. I will be able to add coffee (like I would ever completely take it out) after 3-6 months and this was an avoid in BTD. Being able to eventually add in goats milk is a plus and soybean products being an avoid is a plus as I don't like the flavor of them. From what I've read on Dr D'adamo's website is not to compare the two diets but see them as separate eating/health plans. Genotype diet is suppose to be more personal then the BTD. But if you find the BTD diet works better then use it as some people do better on one then the other. He's more for (from what I've noticed) people taking control of their health and eating in a way that benefits their specific type not using a one-diet-fits-all strategy.

Well it doesn't hurt to give it a shot...so I think I'll start today and give it six weeks to see how I feel afterwards. If I've lost weight and have more energy then I'll keep it up..if not then I'll go with BTD which is a hard diet to follow(not because of the restrictions but because of the cost of the foods that you should eat...ever seen the price of spelt flour, ridiculous).

If anyone wants more info check out Dr. D'adamos website .

Gluten free Brownies

Hubby was asking for brownies tonight. I thought it sounded good since I have a sweet tooth as well, but beings as I'm doing the blood type diet and getting ready to include aspects of Dr D'adamo's Genotype as well (just as soon as I do the measurements and figure out my genotype...I think I'm leaning towards Warrior, but will let ya'll know later). Anyway this means no wheat, dairy or corn products. Luckily there are a million gluten-free products and recipes and most are acceptable with my diet. So tonight I found a brownie recipe that I can make work and will share.

It's not done baking yet so I can't share the end result...but tasting the batter and it tasted really good all chocolaty and banana-y.

This is an adaption from Emeril's Gluten-Free, Dairy-Free Brownie recipe

Ingredients:

Vegetable spray or Smart Balance for greasing pan(I used plain old canola oil)

1 3/4 cups applesauce

1 1/2 cup cocoa powder

3/4 teaspoon salt

2 1/2 cups sugar

2 mashed banana

2 eggs

2 1/2teaspoons vanilla extract

1 2/3 cup gluten-free flour (I used a mix of 1:1 soy and brown rice flours...don't really like the taste of soy flour but it was all I had and might as well use it up..and I was afraid that using just brown rice flour would of left too gritty of a product. Emeril's recipe calls for just brown rice flour)

2 cups chocolate chips (Emeril's recipe calls for vegan chips, but we're not vegan so it's not something I keep around the house...carob chips would probably be good though and more in agreement then reg. chocolate chips for my diet...I think a trip to Whole Foods may be in order soon).

• Preheat oven to 350º F.
• Grease an 9x13 pan
• In a large mixing bowl, combine all remaining ingredients. Pour mixture into prepared pan.
• Bake for 35 to 40 minutes or until a toothpick inserted in the middle of the pan comes out clean.
• These brownies are dense and fudgey.