NEWSTART

[armywife]

Monday, July 25.

No better day than today to make a committment to begin the journey to become the best me I can possibly be.

Hi Rebecca! I am a firm believer in approaching my health wholistically. I entitled this thread "NEWSTART" because it means the following:
N - Nutrition
E - Exercise
W - Water
S - Sunshine
T - Temperance/Self control
A - Fresh Air
R - Rest
T - Trust in God

If I include improving all these aspects into my health quest I believe I will achieve physical, mental, emotional and spiritual health.

My nutrition goal is to follow the McDougall plan faithfully as well as eliminate flour products and sugar.

My husband is in the army (duh) and he has suggested I aim for passing the army fitness test because that way I have someting definite to shoot for. I think he's right. The test only has three components and they are perfect measures of physical fitness; push-ups (upper body strength, core strengthening, endurance), sit-ups (core strength) and a 2 mile run. No fancy workout necessary, all you need is shoes, space and time. The army has standards appropriate for varying ages. My goal is to achieve 65% on all three components. If you are interested you can check out the standards at: www.apft-standards.com

I will begin by just walking 2 miles as fast as I can and improve on the time from week to week. I will do modified push-ups (on my knees and hands, keeping back straight) and modified sit-ups (crunches, not full range of motion - yet ) and track my progress

Rebecca, please let me know your goals so that I can know what exactly you're shooting for and encourage you as you do it! Can't wait to hear from you!

[rebecca]

Yeah! What a great start. I love what NEWSTART stands for. As for your exercises it seems like a very doable plan. I am so excited for you!
My journal is titled Rebecca's Fresh Start.

Rebecca

[mrfpratt]

LOVE IT!!!! New start has a new meaning for me!!!

[Loveskale]

Welcome!!!

[armywife]

So, Monday went well! Stuck to the eating plan.

Bfast - 1/2 cup bran flakes, 1/4 cup uncooked oats, 2tbsp raisins, 1 small banana and 1/2 cup unsweetened almond milk.

Lunch - 1 1/2 cups polenta, 1 cup collard greens, 1 cup stewed navy beans.

Supper - 1 1/2 cup watermelon. 1/2 cup collards

Sit ups - 20
Modified push ups - 20
2 miles in 29:33

Great day! I did what I set out to do = success!!

Thanks for the "welcome"s! Have a successful day everyone.

[rebecca]

Yippee! Day one down! Hows it going today?
20 sit ups and push ups is AWESOME! I think I could do about 7 now.
Keep up the good work!

[armywife]

Tuesday went very well. Did my miles, sit ups and push ups and ate well too. My hip joints hurt a bit from the walking so today I am going to do a workout DVD instead. I didn't warmup or stretch before my walk yesterday so that may have something to do with the pain in my joints. Have to stick to this way of eating if it's going to get me free of joint pain.

Focusing on one day at a time; building one successful day after another. As they say Rome wasn't built in a day....

[armywife]

Yesterday was a really great day. I fasted yesterday, partly to help me focus which I find fasting does, and because I had read that fasting can help in easing joint pain. The info sited studies done with arthritis patients who were placed on a 7-10 day fruit and veg juice fast with dramatic results. I don't know if I have the courage to do that yet, but I also read through the reasons for the Elimination Diet and I think I would like to try it to find out once and for all what food sensitivities I may or may not have. I'm giving myself the rest of this week to prepare for that and will embark on it beginning Monday. Even while writing this I feel quite a bit of trepidation but it will be good to lay the matter to rest.

Exercise went quite well too. I only did my push ups and sit ups because I didn't have the energy to do my 2 miles since I was fasting.

So far so good.

[rebecca]

Hi Armywife,
I hope that the fasting is going well for you. I hope that you have some relief in your joints today.
The Elimination Diet sounds like a good idea.

[armywife]

Thursday went...well it went. Had a breakfast meeting and ate half a small bagel and...about 1 tsp of cream cheese! Not good. Then later that evening I chose not to resist eating some wholewheat bread (2 slices) with smart balance on it. Then today I made little spinach pies for lunch for my family and joined them. Definitely feeling a lot of gastric upset, I haven't eaten refined flour in a long time (store bought puff pastry which had been in the freezer a couple of weeks)

So that's that. Onwards and forwards! Just figuring out what I will eat next week on the Elimination Diet before heading to the store.

3 steps forward, 1 step back. At least that leaves 2 steps forward right?

[rebecca]

Hi Armywife,
I think just being honest about our slip ups is a great way to move forward. I am in the same boat as you. I am the only person in my family that is doing this way of eating. I make large pots of soups and stews but somehow all of my family members plus my sister's roommate eat it! So now they are McDougalling without knowing it!

[armywife]

The start of another week...

Rebecca, your family sounds amusing! Who knows after chowing down your food perhaps they will feel so good that they join you! That would be great! After being vegetarian for so long I don't miss meat at all and I used to be a serious carnivore back in the day. in fact a few months ago I had some chicken and it didn't taste as good as I remembered and I felt a little sick and was so happy to eat "clean" food the next day. Won't do it again.

I went for a longish walk this morning, rather gentle walk because of my hip pain but it felt good to be out and about. I'm feeling torn about starting this elimination diet this week. My husband (a life-long vegetarian, practically vegan) thinks it's a little extreme and he can be very convincing He has always been as healthy as a horse and has no food issues at all, he eats for strength first and pleasure dead last. I think I am going to just try eating carefully for another week and see if I feel more improvement. It's not so much the limited food list, it's the cooked fruit that I am just dreading. I love fruit, but in its natural state. Hmm....what to do....

I think I will continue eating the regular meals but focus on eliminating all processed food.

Oh, by the way I've lost 3 pounds this week. YAY!

[rebecca]

Yes, my family can be a hoot! For me, just sticking with the regular McDougall eating plan is hard enough. I think that staying McDougall legal is a great start. I would say in a couple of months if you want to do more with diet re-evaluate.
Great new about saying good-bye to 3 lbs!

[Rosey]

The start of another week...
It's not so much the limited food list, it's the cooked fruit that I am just dreading. I love fruit, but in its natural state. Hmm....what to do....

You don't have to cook your fruit. I've read all his books and I've never read anything saying we had to cook it.

[Rosey]

The start of another week...
It's not so much the limited food list, it's the cooked fruit that I am just dreading. I love fruit, but in its natural state. Hmm....what to do....

You don't have to cook your fruit. I've read all his books and I've never read anything saying we had to cook it.

For the elimination diet Dr. McDougall says to eat fruit cooked. Look up the elimination diet, I think it's on this site.

Ahhh ok I haven't done that diet though I have thought about it.