Since we got home last weekend I've been spending hours on the couch or bed, my foot elevated on a pile of pillows, reading, dozing and pondering issues like finances, health and aging. Far too much thinking time is available when you're laid up with an injury. And lurking in the back of the mind is the knowledge that I haven't had any exercise in almost two weeks, and nightmare visions of myself as Jabba the Hutt are haunting me.
So when a friend we hadn't seen in a few months came by and told us about the diet he adopted this year, I paid attention. Fit for Life, by Harvey and Marilyn Diamond, is a somewhat dated book with an approach that has quite a few detractors, but our friend JB has just about made me a believer. He has lost more than 30 pounds and has considerably more energy than last year, when he looked somewhat bloated, drank too much and had a scary cholesterol count. The Capt is interested, in hopes he can beat the sinusitis that has been plaguing him for the past few years, making him feel like he has a perpetual cold.
The ground rules are:Eat nothing but fruit before noon. This rules out coffee, too, although we haven't been able to live up to that restriction yet.
Concentrate on fruit, vegetables, whole grains
No dairy. Dairy, says Harvey, is for baby cows. (Although, curiously, a small amount of butter is allowed.)
No sugar or refined flour (hard to avoid in Mexico)
There are also quite a few guidelines about combinations of food, which I'm still learning about.
JB stressed that the rules don't have to be followed religiously, and in fact the book itself has at least one recipe calling for a little heavy cream (aha!) but he says after a while he lost the craving for the foods he used to think he couldn't live without.
We've only been doing this for a couple of days. JB and the book both warn that the first month we will be processing and discharging toxins. I'll spare you the disgusting signs we'll be experiencing, but I've got extra incense and mouthwash in the bathroom.
All my pondering hasn't resulted in a single solution to my financial crisis, beyond getting out of debt, on which I'm making headway. So I've been applying the Serenity Prayer a lot lately. And how I feed myself and the Capt is one thing I have the courage to change.
God, grant me the serenity
To accept the things I cannot change
The courage to change the things I can
And the wisdom to know the difference
6 comments:
My Aunt had that prayer on the wall of her kitchen in Ardmore, OK.
I think I've read that book before. I couldn't get past the coffee and at the time I was feeding kids who don't adjust well to any diet, good, bad or ugly. Everything about it makes sense. Some of the things I used to be addicted to I no longer crave just because I managed to omit them from my diet long enough for the craving to stop. Like milk chocolate and sodas. I can barely stand it now, and I was raised on Hershey Bars and Cokes. And I quit Cokes 23 years ago.
Jomamma - Good for you! You've made some real progress, compared to the millions who are still guzzling sugar water and sweetening or salting everything they consume.
From what I understand, coffee is just supposed to be consumed after noon, so I'm trying to have my second cup an hour later each day, and then start shifting the first cup.
Having given up sugar and white flour in January I'm finding that most desserts are just too sweet now, almost disgusting. Raisins and dried bananas will be my new sweet treat.
When I got whooping cough I dropped dairy because it causes mucus. That was three month's ago and I don't even care any more. I'm eating fruits, veggies and fish. Could eat fish daily and never care if I eat another thing!
Never have been a carbonated beverage person and there are so many great (B-Lite) flavored waters on the market - it's easy.
So, 40 pounds gone since January! Not much more to go.......I'll be back to my 47 year old body soon...now for the toning at the gym. Oy vey.
I si often think of the Serenity Prayer in my life - both personal and at work.
Wise and comforting words to live by.
Babs - 40 lbs. is impressive! Maybe the illness kicked it off, but if you're maintaining it, you're doing something right. I'm not wild about fish, always a little suspicious of it, but I probably should just get over it, living in a seaport.
We love B-Light, especially the mango, grapefruit and limon! Who needs Coke?
If you can follow St. Francis's prayer (or Frank, as I call him), you won't need the fat IRAs. I have stopped looking at mine. I will se it if I need it, otherwise it will be treated as the crazy aunt in the attic.
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