Feeling fruity

Saturday, July 21, 2012

Hi SparkFriends!
I shopped for groceries yesterday at Ward's grocery store. It is a small family-owned store with plenty of good produce. I buy most of my fruits, vegetables and meats there. I like Ward's because it has a friendly atmosphere, and the cashiers are friendly. I have been shopping at Ward's for several years.

I usually don't buy cherries because they are expensive, but Ward's had some for just $1.97 a pound, so I got two pounds. I also bought a cantaloupe, a papaya, a mango and a 4-pound bag of Valencia oranges. I now have a lot of fruit at home! I love to eat fruits. They are so sweet and delicious! I would rather have a nice serving of papaya than a chocolate bar or an ice cream.

To my disappointment, the cherries I got were a little old. Some of them have spots with mold starting. I picked out the bad ones and am eating the good ones. I was tempted to just throw out the whole bunch, but some of the cherries are still good. It requires a discriminating eye to distinguish the good from the bad cherries. If a cherry has even a little mold or the skin is broken, it goes in the garbage. Also, the ones that are a little too soft are overripe and don't taste good, so they go in the garbage too. I discovered that I really don't like cherries that much compared to other fruits.

One of my most favorite fruits is fresh strawberries. Here are some photos I took a while back of some very photogenic strawberries.

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Doing well without tracking: Magnesium supplements

Thursday, July 19, 2012

I am trying to maintain my goal weight without tracking my food. I tried several times before to stop tracking and gained weight by overeating. I returned to tracking again. This time I am determined to make the transition to a less obsessive way of eating!

It has been eight days since I stopped tracking. I am weighing myself only once a week instead of every day. I weighed myself this morning and was happy to find that my weight was 139.2 pounds, which is up a pound from eight days ago, but not significantly different. I am very pleased!

I am eating more fresh fruits, which I love--strawberries, cherries, papayas, honeydew melons and oranges. The fruit satisfies my desire for sweets in a healthy way and makes my meals a pleasure.

I have given up nuts. I don't digest them well. Nuts are a trigger food that causes me to binge. I don't miss nuts because of the delicious fruits I am eating!

I started taking magnesium citrate supplements (800 mg; the DRI is 400 mg). I believe that I was deficient in magnesium. As soon as I started taking the magnesium, a mental fog lifted. I am thinking more clearly and handling stress better. If you take only one supplement, it should probably be magnesium.

Magnesium oxide is not absorbed well. It has only a 4% bioavailability. The bioavailablity of magnesium citrate is 90%. If you are taking a magnesium supplement that is magnesium oxide, you aren't getting the magnesium you need. Magnesium also helps with constipation, since it is a laxative. If you decide to take magnesium, start with 400 mg. If you begin to have loose stools, then decrease dosage until they are normal. Here is a link to a short article about magnesium:

www.vitamindcouncil.org/about-vitami
n-d/vitamin-d-cofactors/magnesium/

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Coffee at Starbucks

Tuesday, July 17, 2012

This afternoon I had a small cup of coffee at Starbucks, which is a block from the Villa Ravine Apartments where I live. I had such a good time relaxing while I listened to the eclectic music, and watched people buying their lattes. Some people were fat and some were thin. There were old and young, even a mother with her baby. I saw a black lady at the register buying coffee who was the largest person I have ever seen! I admired her determination to participate in life despite her great weight. She was beautiful! I am inspired by her example.

I have been hiding in my apartment and not participating in life by socializing for fear of gaining weight. This has got to stop! I need to get out to restaurants with friends and not selfishly guard my weight loss by refusing to eat with others.

I stopped tracking my food and have not tracked for six days. It is wonderful not to weigh every little piece of food! Meals are much simpler to prepare and more enjoyable.

Your food is meant to be enjoyed. Eat what you enjoy! I enjoy fresh strawberries and papayas. I love fruits and eat a fruit at every meal. I don't know if this will cause weight gain. I haven't weighed myself since I stopped tracking.

My tracking and weighing was obsessive! It is not healthy to live in fear that you might gain a few pounds. In fact, I believe I may actually be too thin and could benefit from gaining five or ten pounds! I plan to weigh myself once a week instead of every day and not let my life be ruled by the scale! I am determined to make the transition to eating without tracking.

Good luck to all my SparkFriends with achieving your health and fitness goals!

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Recent photos

Monday, July 02, 2012

Here are two photos of me taken by my friend Mark in my apartment, so you can see how I look. People are telling me I am too thin, but I don't feel thin. I still have some abdominal fat around my middle!

Six-pack abs are a unrealistic goal. I lose weight last from my abdominal area. I don't want to go much lower with my weight. It would be unhealthy. I will have to be content with weighing 135 to 140 pounds and be happy to maintain. But I miss the positive feedback of seeing my weight steadily decreasing!

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Cheese causes constipation

Saturday, June 30, 2012

I tried to start eating cheese again after several years of avoiding it. I ate one ounce (28 g) of medium Cheddar cheese with my salad at lunch every day for a week. In the beginning, it caused a mild upset stomach. Then after a few days, I got constipated! I'm okay now because I took some magnesium supplements, but that sure was scary!

When I searched the internet, I discovered that cheese is well known to cause constipation, as does dairy. I knew there was a reason that the Paleo Diet I follow doesn't allow dairy. It wasn't the lactose because the Cheddar cheese I ate has almost no lactose. I now consider cheese to be a junk food to be avoided at all costs.

Dairy is a common source of calcium and many people consume dairy for the calcium. I found an informative article that tells the truth about calcium intake. From what the author says, there is a con game being played by the dairy lobby to sell calcium-containing dairy. Eating extra calcium doesn't prevent bone fractures. The DRI that has been set is much too high because the dairy lobby misled government officials who set the daily recommended intake for calcium. You can read this article at the following site:

www.drmcdougall.com/misc/2007nl/feb/
whenfriendsask.htm

My experience with the Cheddar cheese was a learning experience. I will just not eat it any more!

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