The Calcium Diet

On March 15th I started a diet called The Calcium Diet. But I better back up a bit. For the previous two weeks I had been reading a book with the catchy title "How the Rich Get Thin" by Dr. Jana Klauer who specializes in helping people with obesity issues in New York city.

Yes, I was hooked by the title but while I was reading it (for free at Chapters) I KNEW that this was a lifestyle eating program that was directed at me and women like me.

Women like me are: over 50, going through menopause, work at fairly sedentary jobs and having been putting on a pound or two a year since their metabolism slowed down since hitting 40. Sound familiar??

The Calcium Diet has five non-negotiables: an hour of daily exercise (yes, housework and walking count - just get MOVING), calcium-rich foods, high-quality protein at every meal, conquering food cravings by eating "filling" as opposed to "fattening" foods, and eliminating all processed foods.

The keys are calcium-rich foods (all low-fat dairy products, fish and dark-green veggies) and lots and lots of protein with the best sources being: egg-whites, fish, shellfish, turkey and chicken.

Finding a diet that emphasizes dairy was like finding a pot of gold! I love cheese, yogurt, milk and cottage cheese. Finding low fat (0 - 1%) was easy. As my partner knows I could live on plain yogurt smothered in fresh fruit, cereal and nuts, seeds and raisins. All of those add-ons though add a lot of calories. I have now come to love my plain 0% yogurt with just fresh fruit and a teaspoon of flax seeds, ground or whole.

I get to add cheese to my egg-white omelets and to spice things up I add hot peppers, cayenne pepper, bits of chicken, sauted sweet peppers and onions. Delicious!

Four weeks later I still feel totally satisfied with what I am eating on a daily basis. Never have I stuck to an eating plan for longer than one week. And I have lost 11.6 pounds. So far. I have more energy and fit back into clothing I haven't worn for quite a while.

Stay tuned for more info about this diet, my progress and tips for revving up your metabolism to increase FAT loss.

The Calcium Diet: Phase Two

Now that I am getting used to my slimmer shape and am happily receiving positive reinforcement from my friends..."I've notice how skinny you're getting!"...I have moved on to Phase Two of the diet. AND I've allowed myself (because I feel in control - wow, that's a great feeling let me tell you!) and have treated myself (twice over the past 3 weeks) to Dairy Queen!



Woops! Probably shouldn't have mentioned THAT part, but hey, we're all human in fact, I think I am especially human :)



And the truth of the matter is that the next day I'm right back on track and the occasional slip...or REWARD as I like to call it...actually HELPS me stay on track since I know I can have something once in awhile and still be in control. Neither time have I felt like getting back on the "icecream train" with a gallon of Heavenly Hash and a big spoon.



In Phase Two (back to the alleged topic of this post) a new food gets added back into my diet each week. I will still continue to lose weight though not as quickly but I am pretty much at my goal anyway.



The first addition was to alternate "chicken" with the enormous amounts of fish I'd been eating - yummy! Grilled chicken in my salad!



The second week I added a second serving of fruit - an apple - to my afternoon snack along with my yogurt. It was wonderful to sink my teeth into that crisp, juicy apple, let me tell you! (IF, like me you have sluggish bowels, you can alternate that apple with a 125ml glass of prune juice - it does the trick! P.S. - this is called "personalizing your diet :)!)



I stuck with that for a couple of weeks and just this past weekend cooked up a big pot of White Bean Soup in order to add one daily serving of legumes. I used white "navy" beans (couldn't find cannellini beans) and it also contains shallots and zucchini and seasoned diced tomatoes. It weights in at only around 135 calories and is SOOOOOOOOO delicious! I used canned beans which really speeds up preparation time - the whole thing only took me about 30 minutes to prepare AND cook! The recipe can be found HERE.



Next week I get to add sweet potatoes to my diet - 1/2 a baked sweet potato two to three times a week - mmmmmmmmmmmmmmmm!



Stayed tuned for that mouth-watering addition!

PASTA

My sister sent me the following diet - I guess she saw my post about wanting to lose a few pounds. I am wondering if it's legit...

Italian Pasta Diet....It Really Works



1. You walka pasta da bakery.


2. You walka pasta da candy store.


3. You walka pasta da ice cream shop.


4. You walka pasta da table and fridge.


You loosa da weight!

Hmmmm...so I'm guessing that the key ingredient (tee hee) of the Pasta Diet is the "walking"...they may be onto something here...

I, um, am definitely in need of more exercise so will clamber onto my stationary bike while I watch a rerun of Criminal Minds. Nothing like a good serial killer to get one pedalling faster, faster ahhhhhhh!

Seriously though (yeah right), I am attempting to follow the Calcium Diet which is aimed at women my age (over 40, away over 40!, menopausal) whose metabolism has slowed down allowing the pounds to creep on slowly over time.

I've set up my goal in the sidebar and will post any progress on Mondays - I think once a week is frequent enough though I will weigh myself everyday. 444 is on board for the weight loss challenge and hopefully Sharon if she can stop baking cookies lol!

Stay tuned!

Revving up Your Metabolism

You may or may not have noticed but I emptied out my closet of all of my "fat" clothes. These are the items I resort to when my "regular-sized" (its all relative isn't it - who am I trying to kid?) clothing gets to be a wee bit or a whoa holy smokes bit too tight.


Thanks to the calcium diet that I've been adhering to (except for this past weekend but that's another story) for the past month and which has helped me to lose just over 12 pounds of gross hideous lard. My weight has gone from an all-time high (except when pregnant) of 139 lbs to a much more reasonable 126 lbs. I would like to hover between 123 and 125 lbs which puts my BMI at 22.3. I can live with that (hopefully for a long time!)


Now that my weight has plateaued for a few days I hit the internet looking for ways to rev up my metabolism in order to maximize the calories lost through exercise and diet. Here's what I learned:

• Drink water COLD (yes, it really does work)


• Spice up your food with cayenne (I add it to my omelettes along with jalepeno peppers and crushed red chillies; cinnamon is another great spice which speeds up your metabolism


• Increase intake of green tea (called the "metabolism potion")
  

• Alternate quick sprints with slower intervals while walking, running, biking


• Lift weights up and down slowly


• Take fish oils daily: 6 gms and it needs to contain at least 300EPA and 200DHA and take 2 hours before working out (it enhances fat oxidation during exercise!)


• Eat your larger meal at noon and your lighter meal at night & eat good sources of protein like fish and chicken


• Reduce alcohol


• Try to get 8 hours of sleep at night


• Have several short 10 minute workouts throughout the day vs. 1 long workout to increase the afterburn (length of time your metabolism is working hard to burn calories/fat)


• Eat raw veggies (negative calorie effect - more about that later)


• Gain more muscle (muscle burns off the calories longer and more efficiently than fat)
  

Time will tell if implementing these TIPS will have the hoped-for effect. I am doing as many as I can - the 8 hours of sleep is next to impossible however. Stay tuned...

Woops

Right around when this picture was taken (May 2010) I was at my lowest weight for the past few years. I had been following the Calcium Diet and it had been going quite well. And yes, I was going to a highschool reunion in June:)

What I just realized today when I was getting fall/winter pants washed and pressed for the upcoming cold season (yuck) and hence my post title "Woops" is that I gave away all of my "fat pants"!!!

Hmmmmm...didn't think about that when I made the decision to not buy any clothing for a year.  The reason I gave away all of my "fat pants" (you know you all have them so don't judge me lol) was to give me motivation to stay at the lower, more desirable weight. In retrospect I wonder how I could have been so stupid!

Winter is coming, I need to store up some fat to see me through the cold and flu season (see how useful juicy rationalizations are?) but now I have no cushion, no extra stretchy pants with slightly looser waistbands and baggier butts! What was I thinking? I am sitting on the horns of a dilemma.... either that or I am sitting on a large bag of popcorn from the movies last night after a big bowl full of delicious pad thai a la Michael!!  Not to mention a box of Smarties!!

Big sigh...

So now I not only have a budget to stick to but will need to drop a few pounds so I can stay in my current size-restricted winter wardrobe.

Another big sigh....

Perhaps those two goals can work together: eat less food --> save $$ on the food budget. This is going to be tough people - anyone want to drop a few pounds with me and keep me motivated?

Hip Hip Hoorah Tomorrow's Friday!

That's not really my topic, just my heartfelt feeling at the moment. It has been a long and grueling week of meetings and helping kids transition back into the classroom after two weeks off with their families. One of my boys who is only 15 and about 6'4" (he has be bend waaaaay over to sniff the top of my head and yes I always smell good!) had a great day on Monday but the honeymoon period was over on Tuesday and by 9am wanted to "go home" and "see mom". I got him through to lunchtime by reading to him and acting out the actions to the stories in a very silly way. Yes, I still sit on the floor and have absolutely no dignity left.


Challenge Updates:
1.  The 10 Pound Challenge: click on the link to check out Erika's challenge at Newlyweds on a Budget! It's not too late to join!  I'm really hoping to win one of the great cash prizes - they are a great motivation to keep focused on this weighty challenge (tee hee!) To help me achieve this goal I have cleaned out the fridge, freezer, cupboards and pantry. I've told Michael to stop buying me giant chocolate bars. I'm back on the Calcium Diet AND I'm committed to pedaling 20km 5 times a week for a total of 100km per week. So far I've pedaled 60km this week and I'll be heading for the bike shortly after I finish this post. If I win any money for achieving a weight loss of 10 pounds it will help me with the next challenge...

2.  The Sealed Pot Challenge: thanks to sft for organizing this challenge. Head over HERE if you would like to learn more! If I win any of the cash prizes offered in The 10 Pound Challenge I will put it into my Sealed Pot! I'm doing pretty well putting any spare change I have into the Sealed Pot, but when I'm NOT spending (next challenge;) then there is definitely less for the pot! However I have a lot more time left to get it filled up so I hope to catch up to Carla who weighed hers - 3 pounds already!!!

3. No/Low Spending: I will update my week of No/Low spending on Saturday as well as my own personal $70 challenge. Suffice it to say that this is my 5th no spend day in a row. Tomorrow WILL be a spending day as I plan to go to the Wine and Food show with a friend. I will have to be careful to not eat or drink too much or spend too much either. Luckily my girlfriend has reduced price tickets because she works at Fanshawe College in the culinary dep't and they have a booth at the show. My plan is one or two glasses of wine (they are about 3 ounces - not a full glass of wine) and to eat my dinner there - some chicken or fish and some salad or other veggie dishes - (again, these are sample sizes so very tiny portions). Good luck to me!

And that's all she wrote!!