Another Monday

Yet again, I am starting over. Hate this.

Sure, life is all about do overs, but honestly, enough is enough. Today, I woke up determined to eat only great things today, and so far, so good.

But I am only halfway through the day.

Even I know that losing weight is not about one day. It's about a string of days, all filled with only good food and lots of exercise that will get me to my goal.

One day? That's only a start. Consistency is what counts. Seven days a week, for many months. They say it takes at least a month to develop a new habit, but once that month is over, the habit is with you to stay. I do buy into this philosophy when it comes to most things. Not eating. For me, it takes more than a month.

It will take the rest of my life.

I just reread what I wrote, and I felt as if I was slapped in my face. Yes, to lose weight, and to keep it off, will be a lifelong battle.DUH! However, there is no better day than today to begin.

If I wait till next week, Monday the 26th will be another do over. I really don't want that to happen.

Curb that hunger

A very wise person once told me that dieting is not about giving up but adding -- leafy greens, whole grains, fruits and lots of water -- so the good eventually crowds out the bad. There's just not enough room in your tummy for everything.

What you crowd out are the highly processed carbs found throughout the grocery store -- the fiberless, nutrient lacking foods that major food companies love the jam down our throats. And we can't resist because they taste too damn good.

High-fiber foods, good fats, and lean protein work together to help slow the digestion of the sugar in carbs. Fill your system with the good stuff and your body produces less insulin, and less insulin means fewer swings in blood-sugar levels. And why is this important? Because if we keep our blood-sugar levels on an even keel, our cravings and hunger just goes away.

We feel satisfied: What a concept!

Fiber: We all  know we should eat more. Abut a month ago, I began starting and ending the day with a teaspoon of pysillium (the natural stuff not the manufactured Metamucil, Benefiber, etc.) dissolved in a cup of water. It really gets things moving, which for me is always an issue. I like to follow my morning pysillium with some steel-cut oatmeal -- and I have to say I often have to remind myself that it's time for lunch. I did some research and learned that before my stomach digests the sugars in the oatmeal, it has to separate the sugars from the fiber. Then the fiber passes undigested through my system, naturally slowing down digestion. That promotes satiety.

Fat. For years I avoided fats like the plague. Low-fat diets were the rage -- and I was starving most days. It's one of the reason I am enjoying the Sonoma Diet: It is teaching me that fat is my friend, especially when it's the good fats such as olive and nut oils. But fat also helps in digestion, slowing the speed at which my small intestines access the sugars I've eaten. Fats are a chef's best friend, simply because they make food taste better. Mono and polyunsaturated fats are the best kind. And of course, when you are trying to shed pounds, there really can be too much of a good thing. However, used sparingly, friends are becoming my new best friend.

Protein is digested slowly and keep blood sugar from spiking -- so again, you feel satisfied for a longer period of time. If it's not oatmeal I am eating for breakfast, it's two eggs scrambled with lots of veggies. And just like the oatmeal, it keeps those late-morning hunger pains away. For lunch, I add either grilled chicken or beans to my huge salad, and dinner is always a protein, a small serving of brown rice and lots of veggies. For me, this way of eating works.

Acidic foods. Before I take my morning psyllium, I squeeze the juice of half a lemon in a cup of warm water. My mom always started her day - and mine -- this way, so it comes naturally for me. But what I have since learned is that acidic foods -- lemons, limes, grapefruit, vinegar -- slow the digestion of carbs and the rate at which the stomach empties. So, lemon juice in the a.m., and vinegar dressing my salads at lunch and dinner.

If I ate like this every day, I would be svelt in no time flat. If -- that little word that always gets in the way.

Arthur Avenue!

Our trip to Arthur Avenue was a resounding success. Lunch at Rigolleto was amazing as always, and although we got there at 2 -- what in most restaurants is an off period -- it was jammed: a bridal shower, a CYO team celebrating a win, cozy tables for two, and large tables filled with multi-generational families.
The latter would be us. This restaurant has been our go-to place for years, the place we go to celebrate all manner of special occassions. And there we were Sunday -- just celebrating life -- with our son, his wife, their darling little baby, Kiley (she's the one in the picture!) and our youngest daughter and her husband.
My food choices could have been worse . Although I decided to skip an appetizer, I ate freely of the complementary hard cheese, bread and bruscetto topping. My lunch -- gnocchi bolognese -- was incredible. But I ate each bite slowly, and in fact, was the last person to finish dinner. And yes, I ate every last bite.
The mandatory stroll down Arthur Avenue came with a stop at a local pastry shop for one small cannoli. I could have eaten a large, not to mention the biscotti that was calling my name, but one little pastry was it.

Our day had started at a track meet in New York City and a stop at the Guggenheim. And of course, our walk through the Arthur Avenue neighborhood, so we were on our feet a lot. On the way home, we drove through my old neighborhood in the Bronx, and when I saw the apartment building I called home for 22 years, a few tears leaked out.

It was a perfect day. And when I got on the scale the next day, I was the exact weight I was the morning before. I would call that a trememdous success!

Here's to omega-3!

We all need essential fatty acids, and Dr. Andrew Weil has come up with some easy ways for us all to add omega-3 fatty acids. He recommends eating several servings of oily fish, such as wild Alaskan salmon, per week as a dietary strategy to help decrease the risk of heart disease, inflammatory conditions, cancer and other health concerns. However, if you find fresh or frozen wild Alaskan salmon is too expensive, he suggests these more economical choices:

1.     Canned salmon. Sockeye salmon is always wild-caught, costs less than fresh or frozen salmon, and has the added benefit of the canning process, which softens the bones, making them an edible source of calcium.

2.     Canned sardines. Another fish-based source of omega-3s, choose sardines packed in water or olive oil.

3.     Walnuts. A good vegetarian source of omega-3 fatty acids that promote cardiovascular health and tone down inflammation, and contain ellagic acid, an antioxidant compound that helps support a healthy immune system and that may help protect against cancer.

4.     Freshly ground flaxseed contains both omega-3s and soluble fiber. Grind flaxseed daily in a coffee grinder at home (buy one specifically for this purpose) and sprinkle one to two tablespoons a day on salads or cereals.

5.     Chia seeds. An important part of the diet of ancient Aztecs and Mayans, chia seed is rich in omega-3 fatty acids, as well as vital minerals including calcium, phosphorus and magnesium.

A week of reflection

At the end of October I spent a week at Kripalu, a glorious yoga retreat in the heart of the Berkshires. While there, I made two decisions:
1. To eat mindfully, relishing each bite that passes my lips and eating slowly.
2. To leave my job in public relations.

No. 2 I accomplished Feb. 28th. It's not that I didn't like public relations. It's just that I enjoy magazine writing so much more, and thankfully, have enough freelance assignments to make this move possible.

It's No. 1 that is a work in progress.

Today, I start Wave 1 of the Sonoma Diet, and today's message that arrived in my email hit a nerve. It was the message I heard over and over again at Kripalu: Slow done, and be mindful of what I am eating and how I am eating it. I feel as if a hammer has just struck my head.

Today, the Sonoma Diet is reinforcing what I learned during that glorious week at Kripalu. That week was life changing for me professionally. Why didn't the eating part of it stick?

Simply put: I was not ready to accept the message. I thought I was, but obviously I wasn't. Today, I am.

I am about to go downstairs to make myself a healthy breakfast: scrambled egg with veggies. I will also set a place for myself at our breakfast bar, complete with placemat, napkin and vitamins. I am going to eat silently (as I did every morning at Kripalu), focusing on each bite and chewing slowly.

And I will repeat this for lunch.

Watch out Jack: Tonight we are eating dinner in the dining room. We will enjoy our dinner, and talk about our day. It's in my power to bring back the family meal, an important part of our day when the kids were growing up. Now, we eat our meals in front of the TV. That's stopping today.

According to the Sonoma Diet, every extra second you take eating any meal makes it that much easier to keep your weight down. Sounds like a plan to me!

I have also made three prints of the photo at the top of this post. It is the view from my window at Kripalu -- that freak October snow that blanketed our region. One photo is going on my fridge. A second in my pantry. The third will go on the side of my printer, so I can look at it many times each day.

What's wrong with the word diet?

Has it really been five months since I even opened this blog? Of course it has, because I've been on a binge. Eating out of control. With no end in sight.

That's why I'm back.

But I have a problem. The name of my blog is Diet Not Again! because when I started it, I was determined to lose weight without dieting. I bought into the concept that the word diet is a bad four-letter word, and that to really succeed at weight loss, my eating had to become a way of life. I get that. But for me, saying the word diet keeps me honest. The truth is my perfect way of life would be eating as many Twizzlers as I wanted without them ever affecting my weight and my health. Ha.

So today, I say: I am starting a DIET Monday morning. Why am I not starting it tomorrow? Because Sunday we are headed to Arthur Avenue, that little slice of Italian heaven in the Bronx, and there is no way I am eating lightly at my favorite restaurant, Rigoletto's. In fact, this weekend, I am eating everything I want to eat because I want to.

Monday morning, Sonoma Diet here I come. It even has the word DIET in the title. I've looked at just about every diet out there, spending hours in the bookstore, and chose this one because -- dare I say it -- the recipes really are how I like to eat. And except for the first two weeks, I can have a glass of wine with dinner, and that works for me.

Will it work? Who knows? But at least I'm still trying. That's my way of life. And if I ever lose the weight I want to, the Sonoma Diet recipes would be a great foundation on which to build my recipes for life.

But first I have to diet.

Spin the wheel!

The last three weeks, I've been the guinea pig in a very unscientific experiment. The results: Definitely nothing new.

When I journal -- writing down all the foods I eat, the exercise I do, and my moods during the day, I make better food choices. Maybe it's because I don't want to write down the Twizzlers that are crossing my lips, because the reality of that would be too much to bear.

Not quite sure, but today I woke up, and the first thing I did was to dust off my journal -- which I didn't keep last week -- a week that was plagued with BAD food choices. Sure, we had lots of social occasions, but that's life. I ate my brother-in-law's birthday cake because it look too damn delicious to pass up. And then there was my niece, Elizabeth's, lemon bars, which I know first-hand are to die for -- literally and figuratively. Eat enough and they really could kill anyone.

And of course, those foods were just the tip of the proverbial iceberg.

So today, a Monday, I am once again determined to journal. I really do relate to the poor hamster who never makes any progress in the wheel. Just like the hamster, I'm stuck. I really hope this changes. Fast.