I have been heavy all my life….ok I have been obese for most of my life.  There I said it.  It is in black and white print for all to see.  I started on diets at age 12.  I took thyroid pills that made me sick when I was very active…not a good way to live, but I lost 30 pounds and that was good.  But I put them back on plus a few more in 4 years and thus started an up/down cycle that would go on for 45 years.

Jan M.

I have been on the grapefruit diet, apple cider/lecithin, Nutri System, Atkins, South Beach, 500 calorie a day liquid diet(like Oprah back in the 80s), 6 week makeover , LA Weightloss, just to name a few.  I signed up for the “Biggest Loser online program” but then didn’t follow it because it seemed so impersonal.  I was getting ready to try Jenny Craig but I really didn’t want another packaged food program. I knew I needed to lose weight but I also wanted to just get healthy.  I have a little problem with atrial fibrillation, my lower back hurts and my feet are killing me with plantar fasciitis.  I know I am getting old but I don’t like “feeling” old.  I knew I needed to change my lifestyle but didn’t know how to start.

My husband and I live in Arizona and travel in our RV each summer around the US and we were in Kalispell in August.  We stopped at the brewery in Lakeside and they had Montana Women’s Magazine.  So while eating a delicious lunch, I leafed through the magazine and saw the ad for Genesis Transformation COD Retreat.  It sounded interesting and I went on the website.  I was really intrigued now and I wrote Sheri.  She wrote back and I signed up for the Retreat at COD Ranch.

I feel very fortunate that I could start my transformation with a total immersion into the program.  I got educated.  I found out why that old theory of calories in and calories out doesn’t work.  I found out why my cycle of dieting didn’t work.  I found out why my metabolism was “dead”. Being a process-oriented person, I needed an explanation of why I had such a problem.  Why could my brother eat everything in sight and never gain weight?  Sheri explained everything.  And she had a step-by-step proven process on how to get healthy.  She made sense!  And her passion was infectious! The Yoga every day with Samantha was great!  And the food!  I couldn’t believe how much food everyone was eating!  I remarked to everyone that I had never been in a room with 9 women with so much food on everyone’s plates…and they even went back for seconds!  This was amazing!   It was also very helpful to meet other women and hear their stories that were similar to mine.  And meeting Lisa, who lost 100 pounds, made it all real for me.   Maybe I could do this!  Maybe if I treated my body right for a change, it would react the way I wanted and drop the pounds.  Maybe at the age of 59 I could finally get healthy!

So one month has passed since I arrived at the COD Ranch.  I have dropped over 11 pounds.  My blood pressure has dropped from 140/85 (last spring) to 101/68.  Isn’t that amazing?  I realized I was addicted to salt and I have dropped my sodium intake from over 3000 mg a day to 300-600 mg a day.  I think that is why my blood pressure has dropped.  I feel great and I am eating all the time.  My husband says the food I am cooking now has so much more flavor than my old style of cooking.  That is because we are eating real healthy food with natural spices and NO added salt! (how I love salsa!) I take a Yoga/Pilates class 3 times a week and I find that I can do more and more of the exercises each day.

I feel blessed to have found Genesis Transformation.  I feel blessed that I have Samantha as my coach.  I feel like I am finally on my way to getting healthy and leading a more active life.  This time I plan to get rid of the “fat” clothes that I have always kept in reserve when I have gone on a diet, knowing in the back of my mind that I will probably need them again.  This time I am doing it right, thanks to Sheri and Genesis Transformation!

A low-carb ketogenic diet in patients with type 2 diabetes was so effective that diabetes medications were reduced or discontinued in most patients, according to U.S. researchers.  The 2005 report recommends that similar dieters be under close medical supervision or capable of adjusting their own medication, because the diet lowers blood sugar  dramatically. 

Methodology

Twenty-eight overweight people with type 2 diabetes were placed on the study diet and followed for 16 weeks.  Seven people dropped out, so the analysis involved 21, of which 20 were men—the study was done at a Veterans Administration clinic.  Thirteen were caucasian, eight were black.  Average age was 56; average body mass index was 42.  The seven dropouts were unable to come to the scheduled meetings or couldn’t follow the diet.  No dropout complained of adverse effects of the diet.

Results

Participants were instructed on the Atkins Induction Phase diet, which daily includes:

• under 20 g carbohydrate
• one cup of low-carb vegetables
• two cups of salad greens
• four ounces of hard cheese
• unlimited meat, poultry, fish, eggs, shellfish
• a multivitamin

At the outset, diabetes medication dosages were reduced in this general fashion: insulin was halved, sulfonyureas were halved or discontinued.  If the participant were taking a diuretic (fluid pill), low doses were discontinued; high doses were halved.

Study subjects returned every two weeks for diet counseling and medication adjustment (based on twice daily glucose readings and episodes of hypoglycemia).  Food cravings and/or good progress on weight goals triggered a 5-gram (per day) weekly increase in carbohydrate allowance.  In other words, if a participant’s weight loss goal was 20 pounds and he’d already lost 10, he could increase his daily carbs during the next week from 20 to 25 g.  Carbs could be increased weekly by five gram increments as long as weight loss progressed.  [This is typical Atkins.]   Food records were analyzed periodically.   

Results

• hemoglobin A1c decreased from an average baseline of 7.5% down to 6.3% (a 1.2% absolute decrease and 16% relative drop)
• the absolute hemoglobin A1c decrease was at least 1.0% in half of the participants
• diabetic drugs were reduced in 10 patients, discontinued in seven, and unchanged in four
• average body weight decreased by 6.6%, from 131 kg (288 lb) to 122 kg (268 lb)
• triglycerides decreased 42%, while cholesterols (total, HDL, and LDL) didn’t change significantly
• no change in blood pressures
• average fasting glucose decreased by 17% (by week 16)
• uric acid decreased by 10%
• no serious adverse effects occurred
• one hypoglycemic event involved EMS but was treated without transport
• only 27 of 151 urine ketone measurements  were greater than trace

My Comments

The degree of improvement in hemoglobin A1c—our primary gauge of diabetes control—is equivalent to that seen with many diabetic medications.  I see many overweight diabetics on two or three drugs and a standard “diabetic diet,” and they’re still poorly controlled.  This diet could replace the expense and potential adverse effects of an additional drug.   

In August this year I blogged about a study comparing the Atkins diet with a traditional low-fat diet in overweight diabetic black women in the U.S.  As measured at three months, the Atkins diet proved superior for weight loss and glucose control.

This study at hand is small, but certainly points to the effectiveness of an Atkins-style very low-carb ketogenic diet in overweight men with type 2 diabetes.

Steve Parker, M.D.

Yancy, William, et al.  A low-carbohydrate, ketogenic diet to treat type 2 diabetes [in men].  Nutrition and Metabolism, 2:34 (2005).   doi: 10.1186/1743-7075-2-34

At the beginning of this summer (2009) I weighed 238 lbs and could barely run a couple hundred feet.  Being 23 y/o and getting winded going up 2 flights of stairs is not good, so I decided that I needed to change my life.  I came across Atkins and have been following that ever since.

Currently I am at 170 lbs and am in the better shape than I was in high school.

Atkins saved my butt…actually Atkins helped me lose my butt.  I have lost 68 lbs and went from an obese BMI to a normal BMI.  To those naysayers out there…IT WORKS.

- I have lost 68 lbs in
- My blood pressure has dropped to a normal range
- I feel incredible and full of energy.
- I have kept it off..

Read the book, Follow the plan, Don’t cheat, and you will lose weight and improve your health.
Doctor Atkin’s New Diet Revolution 2002 edition
Also check out the Atkin’s Diet Bulletin Board for any help or advice.  I wouldn’t have done it without them.

    Thanksgiving is only a week away! It is one of my favorite days, not because of the food, but it is one of the few holidays that seems to ward off the commercialism. You’ll notice that the stores have gone from “Back to School,” to “Halloween,” then directly to “Christmas.” These are the money-makers in the last half of the year.
    But, what about Thanksgiving? Uh… if we talk about that, we must assume that there is a God who provides for us, and to Him we should be thankful. Society has decided that we need to leave God out of the equation, even for Christmas.
    Recently, I bought Hillsong’s new DVD, “Faith + Hope + Love.” Wow! Very moving! Not just the music, but particularly some comments made by Darlene Zschech about Psalm 103. I read it this morning, and was prompted to make some comments.
    The very first verse encourages us to “bless the LORD.” Not only “my soul,” but every fiber of my being. We should be in a continual mode of thanksgiving, not just on the third Thursday of November, but in our every waking moment!
    In 1 Thessalonians 5:18, Paul said we should give thanks in “everything.” Oooo… that’s tough! That means that we should remain thankful even in the situations that seem directly in opposition to what we want. It has taken me six months to work through something like that. Those of you who know me, know what I am talking about. But, today, I can thank God for that situation because I know that I love Him, and He will work ALL things for my good (Rom. 8:28).
    We are not to dwell on the bad things that have happened to us. Philippians 4:8 encourages us to think on positive things: “Whatever things that are true… noble… just… pure… lovely… good report… meditate on these things.”
    What are some of His benefits? According to Psalm 103, we have a partial list: For His forgiveness, healing and redemption. For His lovingkindness and tendermercies. For His provision and strength. We need to meditate on these things, and praise Him for them.
I encourage you to read the entire Psalm. Allow it to fill you with His presence.
    The old hymn says, “Count your blessings, name them one by one, count your many blessings, see what God has done!” The original language of this Psalm encourages us to do just that.
    I hope you have a wonderful Thanksgiving!

Meringues

I topped a bowl of Chobani Greek yogurt with several crunched up meringues and a crumbled Atkins caramel double chocolate crunch bar.

Chocolate Crunch

I served my yogurt with a hot cup of Yogi Mayan cocoa spice tea to keep the chocolate theme goin’.

Mayan Cocoa Spice

Wednesday's Breakfast

What are your favorite yogurt mix-ins?

I just loooove the taste of chocolate in the morning. Adding several chocolate mix-ins really kicked my yogurt up a notch.

Miss Sniffles

This week my morning walks with Sadie have been saturated with sniffing. A food and wine festival took place last weekend around the lake we circle daily, and I think the remnants from the event are providing Sadie with a sensory field day.

Miss Sniffles Herself

Sadie has even managed to pick up some of the smelly treasures to show me. Usually she’ll just pick up a stick or two to hold in her mouth on our walks, but this week I’ve had the pleasure of removing several stinky goodies (like a half-eaten roast beef sandwich) from her mouth… all before 7:30 a.m. Yummy!

I’ve found myself quoting How to Lose a Guy in Ten Days (great movie!) to little Sadie numerous times: “Nobody likes a Mister Sniffles!” (Except I actually do love my little Miss Sniffles. She’s pretty darn cute.)

Green tea is actually a combination of hundreds of diverse compounds, including caffeine. Green tea also has a mild fat burner effect. Green tea has been found to promote weight loss in obese people. Supplements that contain green tea usually list it as EGCG which stands for a compound called Epigallo Catechin Gallate. People drink hot or cold green tea than using isolated compound like EGCG.

Green Tea Fat Burners are a powerful blend of natural herbal boosters and nutrients. It is available as dry liquid softgel tablets or capsules. When it is used with a healthy atkins diet plan, it offers a dual action effect on weight loss in obese people. Green tea fat burner helps you in losing weight by controlling your appetite and speeding up your fat burning ability.

Green tea fat burner capsules or tablets must be taken in addition to your daily diet and exercise. The recommended dose of Green tea fat burner is usually 1 or 2 capsules in the morning and 1 or 2 capsules in the afternoon with a full glass of water. The liquid softgel green tea fat burner capsules allow nutrients to be quickly absorbed up to 200% better than dry tablets or capsules.

The main ingredients contained in green tea fat burner Green Tea Extract, Natural Caffeine and Chromium. The other ingredients are Gelatin , Glycerin , Vegetable Oil , Water , Lecithin , Beeswax , Sodium Copper Chlorophyllin All Natural Coloring Agent , Xenedrol Blend , Advantra Z , Citrus Aurantium Extract Fruit , Betaine , Bladderwrack Root and Leaf , Cayenne Fruit , Eleuthero Root Formerly known as Siberian Ginseng , Ginger Root , Gotu Kola Root , Guarana Seed , Licorice Root , Yerba Mate Leaf.   are

Green tea fat burner must not be used by persons under 18 years of age. The recommended daily dosage must not be exceeded. It must not be used by pregnant or lactating women. People, who are under the care of a physician, must necessarily consult their physician before using green tea fat burners. Especially people who have heart disease or high blood pressure must consult their physician or better avoid taking it.

Green Tea Fat Burners are a great energy booster. Green Tea Fat Burners works well with diet and exercise. People who have used green tea fat burner for two days have found to lose 5-8 lbs. Chromium present in green tea fat burner might help stabilize blood sugar in some diabetics. Green Tea Fat Burners gives energy without negative side effects for some people.

Some people develop back pain due to inflamed kidneys when they take green tea fat burners continuously. Some may feel sleepy all the time and may feel energy-less. Some did not lose any weight even taking it for 4 days. The recommended dosage may make you feel very hyper and anxious. There may be other side effects such as panic attacks, suffocation, shakes and nausea.

Basically, this pill works really well, based on most of the reviews by people who have used it. However, the side effects vary from person to person. On the whole, it works differently on different people. In general, if you want to lose weight fast the green tea fat burners works well but in long run they don’t.

Hi everyone! I’m excited to report that I was notified by one of my publishers, The Wild Rose Press, that print copies of SKELETON BAYOU are now available from their website here. The book will be up at Amazon and other online sources in mid-December. Yay! I’ve already ordered my author copies. Can’t wait to hold that book–an emotional romantic suspense–in my hot little hands.

Blurb: Savannah Love is emotionally and physically battered, but is determined to survive after escaping the hellish imprisonment imposed on her by her psychotic cop-husband. After seven months in hiding, she resurfaces at Mossy Oak, her ramshackle family home on a Louisiana bayou, and attempts to restart her life. The empty house provides shelter, but isn’t the fortress she needs when her cruel ex comes calling.

Mack O’Malley, former cop turned handyman conflicted over a bad shoot on the job, comes to Savannah’s rescue when the psychopath draws them into a deadly game of cat and mouse. Fearful of Mack at first, she soon discovers that beneath his steely exterior lies a resolute defender with a heart hungry for love. Will their alliance save them, or will they fall victim to the Legend of Skeleton Bayou?

Hope you’ll check it out! I’m thrilled to finally have another book available. This one is dear to my heart. You can review all my titles on my website here.

I Search for ‘Simple’ and Got This

Simplicity is the name of the game here. It’s meant to be a recipe for when you don’t want to cook.

• 3 or 4 chicken thighs – I get mine ‘IQF’ – ‘Individually Quick Frozen’, which means I pull a bag out of the freezer, grab some thighs, and I’m done. Trader Joe’s has great thighs.
• Olive oil
• Poultry seasoning – this is a pre-mixed seasoning that prevent you from having to think about it. I used a Trader Joes no-salt version of the stuff
• Salt

Preheat oven to 400. Place thighs on a cookie sheet that’s been sprayed with non-stick spray. Drizzle olive oil over the thighs, sprinkle a liberal amount of the seasoning over the olive-oil-covered thighs, then add a bit of salt.

Place in oven for 25 minutes. Optional: set oven to broil for 5-7 additional minutes.

Chicken thighs have more flavor than breasts because of the higher fat content. They also tend to be less dry. They are also typically cheaper, since the average person’s fear of fat keeps the cost of thighs down.

The flavor can sometimes be a bit…strong, for lack of a better word, but this way of preparing them gave them a terrific flavor.

Safe for induction, a great meal for folks just starting Atkins, and a nearly idiot-proof recipe. The only thing that can go wrong is that you forget to turn off the oven and burn down the house.

I can’t help you there.

Some people dream in black and white.  Amanda however, dreams in blue dogs.

]]> http://cooktobang.com/2009/11/12/spaghetti-squash-shocker-salad/ Thu, 12 Nov 2009 07:31:46 +0000 cooktobang http://cooktobang.com/2009/11/12/spaghetti-squash-shocker-salad/ http://gettohappy.wordpress.com/2009/11/10/remaking-the-body/ Tue, 10 Nov 2009 07:05:48 +0000 In Search of Happy http://gettohappy.wordpress.com/2009/11/10/remaking-the-body/

Wow. I’ve been doing a lot of reading and making changes these past few weeks. I’ve falling far behind on what I planned for this site, but it is time to take a breather and try to catch up, and set the stage for what is coming next.

The “Good Calories, Bad Calories” book set off a tidal wave of change, along with the book “Born to Run”, which has been a recent bestseller. Both my diet and my exercise habits have changed in the process – and more than once! Born to Run got me running for the first time in 15 years, but a different book has since made me question the wisdom of doing so. Still, its the journey, not the destination, right? And so I will try to share the journey so far.

In this post I’ll summarize the last few weeks activity, and in subsequent posts I’ll expand on various themes I visited along the way.

Some time back I bought the book “The New Rules of Lifting”. I don’t remember why exactly I decided on this book, but I had seen some recommendations and I bought and read it. It advocated against aerobic exercise in favor of weight lifting. I’ve always believed both are good and necessary, although I’ve always done a poor job of aerobic exercise and been utterly useless at getting to the gym to do weights. I bought a Total Trainer at some point to redress this, and used it for a couple of months quite regularly, but it too gathers dust now, along with the treadmill in the garage.

I should mention that I am reasonably fit as I cycle regularly during the warmer 8 months of the year, but I am overweight. A month ago I was at about 28% body fat, and by my estimation about 15% heavier than I should be.

Anyway, “The New Rules of Lifting” prompted me to purchase a workout tracking app for my iPhone but I never actually went to the gym! I’m great at theory but awful at practice!

Going back even further, about six months ago I read about Total Immersion swimming on Tim Ferris’ blog.  This was fascinating to me; I used to scuba dive in my twenties and thirties (too cold where I live now) but was never a good swimmer. I’ve always wanted to be a better swimmer so I started teaching myself the technique in the book. It definitely works and my swimming started improving – however I got frustrated by never being able to get a lane to myself at the gym and eventually gave up trying. But around the same time I heard people talk about Chi Running. Again this sounded interesting; I used to do Tai Chi in my twenties and thirties (yeah, I seem to have given up a lot since coming to the USA and becoming a parent), and used to run (badly) when a grad student until I got unrelenting shin splints, so an injury free approach to running seemed appealing. I mentioned this to a friend who was a runner, and he told me to read “Born to Run”, which I’d seen around but hadn’t looked at closely. In the end I devoured it; it was a great book, and I liked the idea of running barefoot. I had heard of the Vibram Five Fingers shoes before; inspired, I bought myself a pair and started to run. By the 5th run I had reached 5km and was quite pleased with myself. I had no shin splint pain either!

At the same time I started exploring low carb diets after reading Good Calories Bad Calories. I first latched on to Atkins and did about 4 days of Atkins style “induction”, before I decided it was too extreme for me. I liked the Protein Power diet better, and read the book by the Eades’. Then I found and read the “Living the Low Carb Life” book, and am currently interested in the Go! diet. Regardless, I have cut my carbs back considerably, although not nearly enough to be in a serious “induction” phase anymore – despite this, in the past twenty days I’ve lost about 5 pounds and my body fat percentage has dropped to 25%.

About the time of the 5km run, I read the book “Body by Science”, which like “The New Rules of Lifting” argued against aerobic exercise and in favor of weights. I liked the program it suggested – here it seemed was a gym based program that I could actually handle in terms of frequency (once a week) and I did the first session. I found it very effective, but have since injured my hand and gym is out for me for about a week. But I’m actually looking forward to going! I expect I will still run, but very moderately; 5km is probably about as far as I need to take it. And so the journey continues; I will continue reporting on my results and actions, and what I have learned about low-carb dieting and food along the way (the “low-carb” label is not FDA regulated and subject to a lot of abuse I have discovered).

So that is the big picture of the past month; in the next few posts I will go into more detail on each of the books I mentioned and what I learned from each one.

The first week after diagnosis was tough, real tough. I’m not gonna lie, but I tried to not let it get the best of me.

I hit the bookstore and bought all the Type 1 cooking and reference books I could find.  I was determined to understand everything about the disease and how to keep my life the same – or as similar as I could. I read them all, took notes, and fully grasped what it meant to be diabetic and what lay ahead for me.

My mom arrived from Canada and set to work clearning out my cupboards throwing out the junk food – all of my favorites c’s – chips, cookies, crackers, and candy bars. Gone. Just like that.  Left in their place was, well, not that much, but I soon filled the shelves with whole wheat pasta and nuts and packed the fridge with veggies and meat.

The doctor gave me specific instructions to buy a blood sugar monitor (um, ok, which one?), to give myself one injection of 24 hour basal insulin a day and to inject myself with fast-acting insulin everytime I ate. In case you missed it, insulin is delivered with a syringe.  So yes, that added to 5 or 6 injections a day.

For every 10 grams of carbs I ate I was to give myself 1 unit of insulin. The doc put me on a diet of 30 grams of carbs per meal, or the equivalent of two pieces of sliced bread.  That’s right, two slices of bread. I was quickly thrown into an “Atkins” diet and only weighed 105 pounds. Kinda didn’t help that I wasn’t  big on cooking… but… I was still determined to make the most of life.

My colleagues were mystified at my diagnosis and offered their “Oh well, so you can’t have sugar” comments. “Um, yeah, that’s what I thought but turns out I can’t have any carbs…” See, that’s the problem, the stigma of diabetes is that you can’t eat sweets. Pretty much everything, it turns out, except meat and veggies and some nuts have carbs. Fruit – yes, carbs. Juice – yes, carbs. Pasta, potatoes, yes, and double yes. It’s obvious that sweets are not good for diabetics, but in all honesty, processed white foods are equally as harmful. Believe it or not, but I think a piece of home-made whole wheat crusted apple pie is probably a little bit better for us than a big bowl of white pasta.

I started studying food labels and concentrated on learning the carb counts for each food. Because I’m a dork I even went so far as making flash cards to help myself memorize the counts and further adapt to my new ‘diet’.

Strawberries – 6 – medium – 15 grams of carbs

An apple – one – small? medium? large?  55 grams, 70 grams, 110 grams of carbs

Cough syrup – regular – with alcohol – 1 tbsp – 46 grams!

Slice of black forest cake – 3 oz – 230 grams of carbs…

Thirty grams of carbs per meal didn’t leave me with that many options. I hated beans and most foods high in protein or low in carbs. Those that know me know I’m not an overly grainy or legumy type of girl. I don’t eat eggs and as much as I tried to choke down the right foods I knew I wouldn’t be able to live my life like that. I accepted a few new foods and worked them into the rotation, but for the beginning months I pretty much ate the same thing every day.

Surprisingly in 2004 there weren’t as many low carb options and food labels weren’t on every box at that point. There were a few products boasting they were sugar free or low in carbs but those alternatives were full of sugar alcohol – which, and here’s a GIANT RED FLAG – sugar alcohols cause you to bloat and give you alot of gas. After I figured that out I stayed away - much to the happiness of the subway riders sitting next to me.

I fell into my new routine and tried not to dwell on my life changing diagnosis. I packed my lunch covering all the food groups, stayed away from the bad foods and got used to all the shots I had to give myself daily. This was my new life. I could do it. It was about time I grew up and ate healthy. Right?

After a week of my mother’s counsel, I sent her on her way back to Canada – promised to call daily and to take it easy. I knew what I had to do and it was up to me, and me alone to do it.

Lesson 1: Do not let the disease get the best of you.

Lesson 2: Reward yourself once or twice a week with a treat.

Lesson 3: Stay away from sugar alcohols.

Lesson 4: Try new foods, even if you think they’ll be yuck.

Lesson 5: Look for alternatives.

Lesson 6: Never give up.

That’s the real deal with diabetes, one sugar cube at a time.

I arrived in Phoenix yesterday half an hour early! My flight left Orlando close to 3 p.m. and after Ryan dropped me off, I had a good hour to kill before my plane took off. I explored the airport a little bit and enjoyed a makeshift lunch of a light Starbucks Frappuccino and an Atkins caramel double chocolate crunch protein bar.

Yummm

Chocolatey

Of course the Frappuccino was fantastic as always. I also enjoyed my protein bar. This flavor is my ultimate favorite bar… ever! It is so rich and chocolately and tastes more like a candy bar. Though I’m not crazy about the slew of ingredients, it’s wonderful on occasion.

I flew Southwest which meant I got to pick my own seat when I boarded. Fortunately I got the very last aisle seat. Phew! I get minorly claustrophobic on planes and an aisle seat is a savior for me. The couple I sat next two was very friendly and I enjoyed chatting with them on the flight.

I have never been on a flight where they’ve offered so many different snacks! The flight attendants came around multiple times offering Ritz chips, 100 calorie packs of Chips Ahoy! cookies, crackers with cheese, peanuts and pretzels! I enjoyed a pack of the Ritz chips while reading the lastest issue of Health magazine.

Ritz Chips

The flight was a little bumpy, but I slept for a bit, got through three different magazines and played Sudoko. Not too bad!

My friend Michaela was flying into Phoenix from Arizona and both of our flights were on the ground within 20 minutes of each other. Great timing! Our friend Ryan picked us up and drove us back the house he shares with our other good friend Steve.

We enjoyed a tour of the house, played with Ryan’s super-friendly dog Fiona and sat out in the backyard for a bit before heading off to dinner.

I don’t remember the name of the place we went to for dinner (and everyone’s still sleeping so I can’t ask at the moment), but it was AMAZING. The place was an outdoor restaurant with two bars, multiple fire pits, white Christmas lights, a live band and the most delicious burgers and BBQ sandwiches.

I ordered the BBQ pulled pork sandwich and devoured the entire thing. It was HUGE but so, so tasty and I was very hungry.

BBQ Pulled Pork

(Sorry for the icky picture, but it was dark outside and I had to use my flash.)

We had a great time catching up and laughing over a few beers. I really want to go back to this place! It was so unique.

Michaela and Ryan

Me and Steve

It was so nice to spend quality time with such wonderful friends. I used to live across the street from Michaela and have known her since we were in elementary school and we’ve been friends with Ryan and Steve since junior high. I miss old friends!!

Today I’m not sure what the plan is… since I cannot seem to sleep in, I’m happy I had a chance to blog for a bit! I am missing Ryan and Sadie but it sounds like they’re having fun without me and spent some quality time together at the dog park yesterday.

I hope everyone is enjoying the weekend!

A brief update. For the first time in ages, I’ve been in ketosis for almost three weeks. I don’t think I’ve had such a long, unbroken run since I lost my weight originally – 6 years ago.

Maybe – just maybe - this time might be the one that I peel off the extra pounds and get to my goal weight?

We’ll have to see.

The first question I have is ‘why now’? I’ve tried and failed so many times – why am I in the groove now? I personally think it’s not that I am doing anything all that different – it was just a combination of trying (and failing) every day, and finally finding that one day where it finally connects.

I think of it like a train that arrives at a station, but there’s no schedule. You get there and wait and wait.

It never comes.

But instead of being discouraged, you keep coming back – beyond the point where most sensible people would have given up – and eventually – eventually – the train comes.

Maybe the keys are patience, persistance – and forgiveness of one’s own weakness. I’m not an advocate of teeth-clenching ‘willpower’ – I just don’t think it sustainable for a lifetime. Humans just aren’t made that way – at least most of us. I’m no Superman.

As to weight, it’s trending lower, but slower now. I expected that – it’s OK – rapid weight loss is not healthy. If I’m eating good, then my weight should eventually come off. I’ve given myself the month of November to get below 200. It’s a realistic goal – and would be a welcome achievement just because I’d have a whole bunch of clothes that would fit again.

I feel OK, though maybe a little headachey. More energetic, mostly. Less heartburn. Little desire for sweets. Halloween came and went without a single piece of candy. In fact, I brought a whole bunch in to work and left it on my desk for coworkers – and didn’t have a piece.

Also avoided the pizza that got ordered last night. Had some of the wings and tuna salad instead.

This routine is pretty much what I’d call ‘punching the clock’ – there’s a daily routine, you show up, and go with it. Maybe a little boring, but ‘dramatic weight loss’ is not sustainable. The ketosis reduces hunger – and my craving for sweets. I have been eating a lot of the same thing  - which I have found – for me – helps.

I have found a correlation between these sorts of posts crowing about some success usually are followed by some backsliding – let’s see if that happens again.

Hi everyone. Just FYI, I have one title currently available in ebook form (in a variety of formats) at Desert Breeze Publishing, with five more books to follow through June 2011. CHERISHED WITNESS is also available at Amazon for the Kindle, at ebookreader.com, and B&N.com. Barnes & Nobles is about to come out with the Nook, a new ereader that looks fantastic and uses the new Android operating system. I’m going to get one.

CHERISHED WITNESS is the first book in my New Orleans Detective series. In it, Kelly Watson, aka Teresa Pastral, threw the Fifth Amendment out the window when she testified against her mob boss husband at his murder trial. Now divorced, she has begun a new life in the Witness Security Program. Only–the mob finds her, thanks to handsome lawman J.T. Romano, who uses her as bait to lure the man who murdered his wife and unborn child to town. To ensure her safety, she is forced to trust J.T., the man who has betrayed her to the mob. But can she also protect her heart?

Hope you’ll check it out here. In addition to that book, I have six ebook titles out at Cobblestone Press. They are available here. All but one are suspense, and a few are hotter than others. In addition to those, SKELETON BAYOU will be released in December from The Wild Rose Press in both ebook and print. You can read more about it here.

On another note, last week at the Citizen’s Police Academy, we toured the Hinds County Detention Center, a facility that houses 594 male inmates. Next door to it is the Hinds County Joint State-County Work Center, a facility for misdemeanor offenders that houses 200. Another jail downtown houses 200 mostly female inmates. I was amazed at the size of the detention center and now know that I never want to go to jail. Not. Ever. To say I felt claustrophobic in there was an understatement. I admire the men and women who work there. They’ve got to be tough just to walk in the door. Kudos to all of them!!

This week we’ll hear from investigators. I’ll do my best to report back on that session on Friday. Should be a good one. Then Saturday night I have my ride-along. Can’t wait!!

You can check out all my titles on my website here. Hope you drop by!

The new crossing at Oxford Circus has just been opened by the Mayor of London, Boris Johnson. It is apparently based on the Shibuya station crossing in Tokyo by Atkins. London is a very busy place and there aren’t many more places in the country, if any, that needed attention on its pedestrian usage but is the cultural difference between the two cities small enough for the new crossing to be a success in the west? Only time will tell.

Here is the Guardian article I read earlier and stole the photo from.

“One of the symptoms of an approaching nervous breakdown is the belief that one’s work is terribly important.”

- Bertrand Russell

The following video is of a lecture given in January 2008 by Christopher Gardner, PhD, assistant professor of medicine at the Stanford Prevention Research Center, and focuses on the largest and longest-ever comparison (as of that time) of a selection of  four popular diets studied under real-world conditions.  The diets in question were the Ornish, Zone, LEARN (i.e., the diet recommended by most academics and the USDA — the food pyramid we all know and love), and, last but not least, the Atkins diet.  The 311 participants, (all pre-menopausal, overweight women) were divided into 4 groups, with each group having been provided 8 weeks of  “in-depth” nutritional training using the representative flagship book for each diet.  Training was led by a dietitian who preached the magnificence and utter superiority of each group’s assigned diet.  All of this makes for an interesting study because of the real-worldliness of having these participants attempt to “follow the book” for themselves (subsequent to the 8 weeks of brainwashing, that is).

An additional interesting twist here is that Professor Gardner is (was?) a twenty-five year vegetarian, who, having come into the study with a heavy, pre-conceived bias, admits (and you have to give him kudos for this), that his long-standing notions of the efficacy of a vegetarian diet may have been completely unfounded.

Of course, we in the Paleo community would’ve loved to have seen the Paleo way represented in this study — but hey, the fact that Atkins was included is a monumental step in itself.  In fact, Dr Gardner does bring up the subject of the Paleo diet toward the end of the lecture — to the hoots of snorts and laughter from what I can only assume was a very learned and open-minded audience (really, no sarcasm intended).  Whatever; I’m in the pharmaceutical business — all those snorts and all that laughter sounds like job security to me.

Anyway, I do think this lecture is well worth the time investment.  You may not learn anything new about diet, per se, but you’ll certainly pick up quit a bit in the way of diet psychology.  Keep in mind as you watch just how well a Paleo diet would have fared in this trial.  Remember, you’d have had 8 weeks to teach someone the whys and hows of the Paleo way; 8 weeks to stage for, and transition through, the carb Jones; 8 weeks of social re-conditioning and n=1 individualization tinkering.  What book would I have “preached”?  Well, personally I’d have opted for Primal Body, Primal Mind, by Nora Gedgaudas.  For homework, I’d have assigned selections from Taubes’s GCBC.

A few interesting things to keep in mind as you watch:

Dr. Gardner’s chart presentation on the spread of obesity throughout he US is powerful.  We all know these facts, yes — seeing it presented in this fashion, though, brings this static information “alive” in a profound way.

Notice as well all the maddening, tunnel-visioned viewing of the study’s statistical results data through the old “calories in, calories out” prism.  It’ll make you want to jump through the screen and remove the good doctor’s blinders.  It reminds me of the story of the two fish, wherein one fish asks the other, “what’s this stuff water I keep hearing about?”

Interesting, too, is the behind the scenes view of what it required to land a study grant, and how painfully long the wait is between grant acquisition and the release of actual study findings.  And add to this all of the Political wrangling — both in academia and in the government realm — that must be traversed.  It’s mind numbing.   If it were not for the internet allowing the immediate connection of like-minded folks, all of whom are actively engaged in n=1 studies of “Paleo science”, Paleo would yet to even have a fair hearing in the world of nutritional science.

Kudos, then, to us — for actively advancing the Paleo science.

And a big round of thanks are in order to the Balanced Existence website for having re-excavated this find.   You can read their interesting commentary on the lecture, here.

Sit back and enjoy.

In health,

Keith

My Perception of Your Standard Low-Calorie Diet

I’ve been lax in journaling – I promised I would do so some time back.

Apparently I lied.

Anywho, I have been quite adherent to an Atkins induction-style diet, and have been in ketosis for about 8 days straight. When I started this, about 10 days ago, I had puffed up to 218.6 due to a ‘what-the-hell’ attitude, which I find I sometimes have to indulge to an extreme to exorcise it.

I believe: if you give in to ‘what-the-hell’, don’t do it half-hearted – go for it!

You will probably feel like crap the next day – a great way to steel one’s resolve and get back to your diet.

Last night I got on the scale and was 207.8 – nearly 11 lbs. down. Yesterday I was able to actually fit into a pair of pants that 2 weeks ago were cutting off circulation to my lower extremities – a nice indicator of progress.

So what have I been doing?

First things first, as I’ve mentioned before, I can’t lose weight and drink alcohol, so I’ve ditched the wine. When I reach my goal, I can have wine, because I can maintain, but I cannot lose if I drink wine regularly. It’s a simple equation: if I have wine, my diet will stall, so deferring this pleasure will provide me the larger gratification of fitting in a pile of clothes that I’ve had to abandon ’cause I can’t jam my fat ass in them anymore.

If I look back on what I have been eating, there’s been a lot of organic beef and eggplant – both my pseudo chili and my Italian stew included it. I’ve also made some cod in a mayo/parm/butter sauce, which was great. See this recipe for the details (I just used cod instead of tilapia).

I’ve still had some low carb bread, and maybe a tad bit more cheese than Atkins recommends, but again, I’m 10 lbs. down in 10 days – maybe not as rapid a weight loss as I’ve had in the past, but I’m getting older and my body is pretty used to low carb, so I can’t expect the same kind of rapid weight loss I had when I started as was going from a diet with over 200 grams of carbs per day.

I’ve also had bologna, what I consider to be a ‘crap’ food, but it is acceptable on a low carb diet. I’ve found foods like this help me transition to healthier eating – call them crutches, but since when are crutches a bad thing? If your legs are weak, they help you get where you want to go. When your legs strengthen, you don’t need them anymore.

So why are crutches a bad thing?

I’ve also been having an Atkins shake and my vitamins every day about 9am. I had experimented with life without vitamins – big mistake – I felt worse.

I have also been drinking a pot or more of coffee with heavy cream – maybe up to 8 tablespoons a day.

And – I am still using the nicotine lozenges to reduce hunger, with focus on the evening, when I have the most potential to become truly gluttonous.

I have not:

• Eaten regular bread or other refined starches
• Exercised at all
• Drank water other than for thirst

I have also been watching my blood glucose – not that I am diabetic, but my doctor’s prediction is, with my family history, I will be.

I’d like to prove him wrong.

Well, each morning, it is just a few digits above 100 – at least 20 points lower than when I eat a lot of carbs. This is considered normal by both American Diabetes Association, the American Association of Clinical Endocrinologists and the American College of Endocrinology – at least according to this article.

Now here’s an interesting thing: there were 2 days where it was below 100 – once it was 93 and once 87.

On both days, I had carbs the previous evening. Grapes one time and store-bought whipped cream in a can the other. Neither time pulled me out of ketosis – the amount of carbs was small, but it was not the slow-absorption carbs – it was the high impact carbs of sugar.

Now – two events don’t make for much of a pattern, but it does seem odd that a small amount of carbs before bed appears to make my blood sugar go down the next morning. Actually, I have noticed this in the past.

Geez – Matt Stone mentioned in a comment on this post something about carbs helping insulin response – is there something there? I’ll have to continue to keep tabs on this one.

I’ve also been checking my blood pressure and it’s fine for a guy who has hypertension and drinks a pot of coffee every day. Even after a lot of coffee and 2 hours sucking on a nicotine lozenge, my BP the other day was 116/72 with a pulse rate of 80. As your body supposedly acclimates itself to caffeine, and low carb brings on a tendency toward hypotension (or so I’ve heard – I have no sources for this), the resultant blood pressure numbers might not be all that odd.

I have noticed some unexpected bursts of energy, which usually come during ketosis periods – as well as mild headaches, which I don’t treat (I don’t take aspirin, Tylenol, or NSAIDS). I’ve also noticed my Tums usage drop to near zero. In the past, both a low carb diet and being under 200 make heartburn completely disappear.

I’d like to think if I can keep this up through November, I can pass through that dreaded 30.0 BMI – I HATE the word ‘obese’ – and just be ‘overweight’ – and actually see a number under 200.

With the Halloween candy Orgyfest on Saturday and the holiday season approaching, it ain’t gonna be easy, but what am I going to do – give up?

Til tross for myndighetenes kostholdsråd blir vi fetere og fetere. Og hva går så myndightenes råd ut på? Jo spis magert i betydningen lettprodukter, unngå fett, spis grovbrød, og så mye som fem frukter om dagen… Likevel, pila peker bare oppover. Sammenlikning av vektall fra flere tiår tilbake viser at vi blir tyngre og tyngre. Det er en økning i svært fete personer – de som veier 100 kilo og mye mer.

Fedme fører til lav aktivitet som igjen fører til økt vekt og flere typer sykdommer som diabetes, hjerte- og karsykdommer, høyt blodtrykk osv. Særlig diabetes 2 er i sterk økning, og stadig flere mennesker må ta medisiner for denne sykdommen. Det merkelige er at det finnes en metode for å gå ned i vekt og for å begrense bruk av medisiner og insulin. En metode som ble oppdaget allerede på 1930-tallet av en lege i Østerrike. Han behandlet sine pasienter med dette og skrev en bok om temaet. Det handlet om en spesiell sammensetning av kosten som førte til vektreduksjon og reduksjon av høyt blodsukker, ja den førte til at folk kunne leve videre uten å bruke så mange medikamenter bl.a. mot sukkersyke.

Metoden er enkel og faktisk veldig behagelig. Hovedprinsippet er at man reduserer antall gram karbohydrat til et minimum, og øker tilsvarende med fett. Ved å holde karbohydratinntaket på ca 20 gram per dag og spise en god mengde proteiner og desto mer fett så kommer kroppen i en tilstand som kalles for ketose. Den starter med å forbrenne lagret fett. Når man spiser på denne måten er man behagelig mett, det er antakelig fettet som gjør at man er mett, man får mye mindre behov og lengsel etter søtsaker.  Folk som har slitt for å redusere vekta opplever plutselig at de går mye ned i vekt, og de får etterhvert bedre helse. Mange kan til og med kaste medisinene de bruker mot f.eks. diabetes.

Denne metoden har som sagt vært kjent svært lenge, og det er flere leger som har funnet ut at et slikt kosthold fører til bedre helse, og har behandlet mange pasienter etter disse prinsippene. Likevel fortsetter såkalte kostholdseksperter og myndigheter å råde folk til et kosthold som til syvende og sist tar knekken på dem med overvekt og høyt medisinforbruk. Det er veldig rart! Jeg skulle ønske noen kunne forklare meg hvorfor det er slik. 

Lavkarbodietter virker, det er det utallige eksempler på med utrolige historer fortalt av mennesker som har slitt med et stort overvektsproblem, og prøvd de fleste slankekurer uten å klare å gå ned. Og har de gått noe ned, går de fort opp igjen, fordi kurene de prøver er stort sett sultekurer som det er et slit å gjennomføre, og som oftest – om ikke alltid – fører til at kiloene kommer på igjen når man begynner å spise normalt. Dersom du legger om kostholdet til et lavt inntak av karbohydrater og høyt fettinnhold vil du klare å slanke deg, og beholde vekten etterpå. Det handler om å ta et valg, og prøve å følge nye prinsipper for hvordan kroppen din skal ernæres. 

For meg ble det et livsviktig valg: skulle jeg akseptere at kroppen min var i ferd med å bli syk av diabetes og derfor starte med medisinering, eller skulle jeg prøve en siste utvei – legge om til lavkarbokosthold? Valget var egentlig ikke vanskelig i det hele tatt. Det var en stor overraskelse at det faktisk var så lett å spise etter de nye kostholdsreglene, og at vekta endelig beveget seg nedover. Legebesøket etter noen uker på nytt kosthold overbeviste meg om at det var et riktig og viktig valg!

Kosthold med lavt innhold av karbohydrater – lavkarbokosthold – kan gjennomføres på ulike måter, og det finnes flere kostholdsfilosofier som gjelder, bl.a. Atkins-dietten, Fedon Lindberg, m.fl. Det er også skrevet flere bøker om temaet, men dersom du vil starte med lavkarbo for i første rekke å slanke deg, vil jeg anbefale å skaffe “Slank med ketolysekuren” av Torkil P. Andersen. Det er en veldig enkel og oversiktlig bok som forklarer kostholdsprinsippene på en lettfattelig  måte. Den har også oppskrifter som er enkle å følge. Torkil P. Andersen er lege og har selv brukt kostholdsprinsippene for å gå ned i vekt og forbedre helsen sin.

En riktigt Svensk Klassiker

Det är inte så ofta vi äter rött kött, men ibland blir jag sugen på en lättstekt biff. Hittade en fin sådan hos slaktaren, köpte en hel bit på 600 gram. Den räckte till en ordentlig lunch och så frös jag in en bit till en annan dag.

Atkins

För några år sen försökte vi oss på Atkins när vi var här, då blev det en hel del stora köttmåltider. Men det fungerade inte så bra, saknade grönsakerna för mycket. Det är bättre att äta en köttbit på ca 120-150 gram och lägga till lite sallad och kokta grönsaker.

Anna Hallén har beskrivit det bra, att man mår gott av att äta en köttbit stor som sin handflata, lika mycket grönsaker och 1-1½ dl sås. Det fungerar riktigt bra för oss. Det är inte ofta jag äter potatis heller, men idag gjorde jag ett undantag. Biff med lök och stekpotatis är en klassiker.

Min variant av lågkolhydratkost med en hel del grönt och lite frukt eller bär, passar oss mycket bättre. Midjemåttet har minskat redan på oss båda. Vi är mätta och belåtna och har ork till långa promenader, även fast temperaturen stadigt ligger på närmare 30.

Biff med Lök och stekt Klyftpotatis

2 Biffar à ca 150 gr

2 gula Lökar

Smör

Havssalt och nymald Vitpeppar

1 Potatis

Senapssmör

50gr rumsvarmt Smör

1 tsk grovkorning, Fransk Senap

Havssalt

Rör ihop smör och senap, smaka av med salt. Ställ in i kylen en liten stund. Skär potatisen i 8-10 tunna klyftor, förväll i saltat vatten och låt kallna. Skär löken i tunna klyftor. Bryn 2 msk smör och låt löken fräsa i det, utan att ta för mycket färg. Salta och peppra och rör ner en halv tesked honung, den lyfter fram löksmaken fint.

Bryn smör i en annan panna och stek potatisen gyllenbrun. Häll upp löken i en skål och håll varm, medan Du steker biffen i nytt smör. Bryn dem ca 2 min, så de får ordentlig färg. Vänd och dra pannan från plattan om Du vill ha biffen lättstekt. Låt den då ligga kvar nån minut och dra på eftervärmen.

Vill Du ha köttet mer stekt så låt den stå kvar på plattan några minuter till. Servera med Gurka, Bladpersilja och Cocktailtomat.

Kiwikompott med Grädde

Riv 4 Kiwifrukter grovt och koka försiktigt till en kompott i fem minuter. Smaksätt kompotten med lite ekologiskt Vaniljpulver, när den svalnat. Kyl och servera med ovispad grädde.

Den här desserten smakade nästan som krusbärskräm, riktiga hemlandstoner i hela middagen.

You may have guessed from the title of my blog, Fat Kid Suit, that I have struggled with my weight in the past.  True, and good guess!

In fact, yo-yo dieting is tradition in my family.  A tradition that sadly, they seem to relish.

My father is a lifetime free member of Weight Watchers because back in the 80’s he lost over 100 lbs getting weighed at “meetings” and having little gold stars put on his goal sheet each week he met his target.  My father is currently scary obese & looks like he might pop if you poked him with a needle.  He frequently does the Atkin’s diet and then, when he “goes off” his diet, gorges on food and gains back more than he lost.

When my mother was a girl, she was poor and beautiful. She ate mostly pinto beans and potatoes, and during summer breaks picked tomatoes in the fields.  She was tan, long-legged, and sinewy.  Now mom is obese.  And worse, badly malnourished.  How can that be?  She had gastric bypass surgery (her stomach was stapled in order to “shrink” it) a couple years ago and it didn’t work.  She manages to overeat despite pain and discomfort, and most of the nutrients “bypass” her system and are never absorbed.  The result is that she is aging very quickly, her body is holding on to fat in large pockets, she is chronically exhausted and miserable. My mother is almost always “dieting,” usually some attempt at calorie restriction eating bland colorless foods.

The oldest of five children, all my siblings have struggled with weight fluctuations as well.  Each of us went on diets at very young ages, my first diet was in the seventh grade, and I remember feeling it was both a fun game and a right of passage.

Now for me.  My weight has been Helter Skelter since age twelve.  One day in the locker room after seventh grade P.E. class a much larger alpha male kind of kid took the tip off his aerosol deodorant can and thew the can at me.  Because the spray tip was off, it stuck in my back like an arrowhead, creating a nasty puncture wound.  As he threw the can he yelled out my name so everyone would turn, and then screamed “Where did you get that body?  K-mart?”  This is back when nothing was more insulting and embarrassing than K-Mart.  Naked and humiliated I felt fat and stupid for being the object of so much disgust and laughter.  Since then I’ve been insect thin a few times and I’ve been as much as 80lbs overweight.  As I type this tonight I am frustrated to admit that when I weighed myself at the health food store today on a doctors type scale it read 254lbs.  That’s approx 64lbs overweight for me (I look and feel great and healthy at 190).

A few quick stats so you know where I am at now:  I am a 36 year old male, 5′11″, and very dense whether I’m fat or thin.  I drink approx 30-40 alcoholic beverages a week (I have worked as a bartender for the past three years), and start each day with a Venti Iced Coffee at Starbucks.  Not surprisingly I struggle with acid reflux.  I don’t like pills and am very suspicious of the pharmaceutical approach to living, so I offset my drinking and poor eating as best I can with natural treatments (cold-pressed aloe juice and papaya chewables). I try to eat decently, but often binge on frozen pizzas or Mexican food, especially when I am drinking heavily.  I feel really dehydrated and toxic.  I look like one of those twins from Alice In Wonderland with clothes on, and like a horror movie you can’t watch with them off.  No pool parties for me.

When I was 18 I became a vegan for almost 2 years.  I gained weight, and felt awful, probably because a lot of vegan foods are concentrated wheat gluten and because I didn’t eat enough vegetables. Technically a McDonald’s french fry is Vegan. I know there are healthy vegans, I just wasn’t one of them.  The one positive from that experience however was that I became very comfortable with the idea of not having to eat meat all the time. Off and on over the years I’ve lost a lot of weight doing the Atkins diet but felt disgusting the entire time I was doing it and rapidly gained the weight back.  I’ve also done severe caloric restriction; once one of my brother’s and I only ate one El Pollo Loco BRC burrito per day, and one Lean Cuisine frozen dinner each night.  We washed it down with cases of Diet Dr. Pepper and yes, we lost a ton.  I also did the Eat Right For Your Blood Type diet (I’m a type O so it was mostly red meat and vegetables).  Weight loss wasn’t as drastic but I did feel good.

Two years ago when I was living in San Francisco, I got a weird impulse.  Eat 100% raw for one month. Which I did.  It was the best I ever felt in my life.  I had ridiculous, almost crackhead levels of energy, needed little sleep, was super productive, felt some kind of euphoric magnanimous benevolence,  lost over twenty pounds in one month, 100% of my food/caffeine/alcohol cravings disappeared, and most importantly I was really happy even though my mouth hurt from smiling so much.

Soon after that month spent raw, some serious personal shit happened in my life, and since being fat & unhealthy is really about being out of control and is 99% a mental-emotional-head thing, I fell back into the yo-yo unhealthy world I was born into.  Long story short, here I am back at a starting point.  Realizing that I need to re-visit eating raw live foods, and see where that takes me…