... starting off on a good foot ...

Posted on Saturday, February 2, 2008 at 01:19 in eating

Last night, I got out my books by Jorge Cruise ... 8 Minutes in the Morning and his 3-Hour Diet book and Cookbook. What he proposes makes a lot of sense to me, just as it did last year when I bought the books. I'm still having issues with 3 of my joints (elbow, hip and ankle) so am not sure that I'll be able to continue on the treadmill at this time. I may have to switch over to a couple days of swimming at the gym. I'm going to have my daughter get up and do the morning exercises with me each day.

I did my big grocery shopping trip today and took a lot of time reading labels ... it's totally unbelievable how many items have high fructose corn syrup in them. It was also surprising to me how many are going back to using plain ole sugar! I'd rather eat sugar than the corn syrup, even with my insulin resistance. The 3-Hour Diet consists of 3 smaller meals of about 400-500 calories each and 3 snacks of about 50-100 calories each, all spaced out at regular intervals throughout the day to keep the blood sugars level. He even allows us a small treat each day ... my daughter and I like to munch on a small handful of these dark chocolate covered plum pieces by Sunsweet. They are yummy and healthier than a Reese's cup or other candy.

I was pretty happy with all of the great choices I made for our family today. I bought grain-fed eggs, organic brown rice and whole grain pastas. We love yogurt in our house and, while I can make my own and probably will start again soon, I bought a bunch of it for us for snacks. We eat a lot of fresh fruits and veggies, too. I bought these inexpensive divided plates so that my daughter and I can work at eating more of what we should be eating and less of what we shouldn't. We've also got our own 1/2-gallon containers to track our water intake.

I think we are ready to finally do this!! I'm feeling a lot more positive about everything than I was last month. I'll post some menus throughout the month to give you an idea of what we are eating. I am not keeping track of calories at this point, but just trying to get into the habit of eating every 3 hours. Today's menu is this:

BREAKFAST 8:30am - Smoothie made of 8 oz. skim milk, 1 cup frozen raspberries, 2 Tbls. ground flaxseed and 1 LA Weight Loss vanilla shake mix (left over from when I tried their program last year)

LUNCH 12:30pm (late due to morning grocery shopping) - ham & cheese sandwich w/lettuce & tomato on pumpernickel bread, 1 apple, water

SNACK 3:30pm - yogurt and 1 cup grapes, water

DINNER 6:30pm - chicken stirfry w/veggies over brown rice, water

SNACK 9:30pm - chocolate-covered plum pieces, sm. glass of milk

Of course, I'll have drunk more water in between all of this. Guess we'll see how this all turns out in another week or so! Wish me luck as I try to get my 14 yo daughter to accept these changes.