Category Archives: Uncategorized

Day 39-Dena Doesn’t Eat Cheese…

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Drunk Dena, However…That’s another story. Everyone has their weaknesses and temptations when it comes to food.  By now, it is very easy for me to avoid my food allergies of gluten, dairy, and eggs under normal circumstances. I have had enough experiences over the years where I have eaten food containing these ingredients and have felt the negative effects. Logic kicks in and I know to avoid it. On the other hand, give me too many drinks and I need cheese immediately…and I mean immediately. Exhibit A: 30th Birthday,October 2014. Exhibit B: New Years Eve 2015.  I do not know what it is about cheese, but for me…It was what I lived for as a child.  My earliest memories of food obsession was visiting my grandparents’ house. After dinner, my grandma would tell me that I had enough macaroni and cheese and would put the tupperware away in the fridge.  I recall sneaking into the fridge quietly and would help myself to additional noodles.

I guess what I am trying to say is: know your temptations.  Is it a specific food? Is it situational?  Try to be aware of what they are so you can do your best to control the situation.  Do not keep these items in the house if you can avoid doing so. If you are going to a party, eat something small before hand and do not be afraid to pack your own snacks. My favorites are mixed nuts and cut up vegetables like celery and carrots. Last week, we went to a super bowl party and Cliff had to remind me that it would be weird to bring left over pork so I refrained from doing so.

In addition to cheese, I learned that another weakness of mine is desserts that I can technically eat because they do not contain ingredients that I am allergic to. This past Saturday, Cliff and I had some people over to our apartment and I wanted to make some dessert.  I found this amazing Paleo friendly 7-Layer Bar recipe as well as a Paleo Egg-Free Chocolate Coconut Macaroon recipe online that I decided to try.  Now remember, just because something is Paleo or gluten free, does not make it healthy!  It had been over a month since I had sugar and various items like alcohol and grains so I wanted to treat myself and see how my body reacted off the detox.

Between Saturday and going to a friend’s house warming on Sunday, I consumed a few drinks, grains (quinoa), starchy vegetables (sweet potato), chips, soft corn tortillas for homemade tacos, and my Paleo friendly desserts sweetened with honey. The most noticeable reaction that I had was in response to the sugar.  There was a lot of honey in the desserts that I made and as I got shaky after tasting them for the first time!  I decided that Monday I would get back on track. To do this, I knew that I could not have any left overs Paleo desserts in our apartment.  I had to give all the leftovers to Cliff to bring in to give out to his co-workers.  If I brought them into my own work, I would gravitate towards them throughout the day. Interestingly, the past couple of days has been harder at night for me. Monday I had the worse headache.  It’s crazy how my body was feeling withdrawal just from indulging during the weekend. Also interestingly, I  have been craving something sweet at night and I have been snacking on grapes after dinner to try and satisfy my cravings.  In hindsight, the smart thing to do would have been to introduce one item at a time to see how it made me feel. Maybe next time!

-Dena

Day 34- Phase 2- Getting Over That Plateau Of Mine

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Sooo… It is safe to say that I have hit a plateau…I have been hovering around 129 lbs for the past 20 days which brings my weight loss to around 6.4 lbs in the past month. It is a bit hard not to get discouraged after seeing a consistent weight loss.  After doing the detox last March, I got down to around 123/124 lbs. However, I was slightly lighter at the beginning when compared to this time around.  Moving forward, I need to record my body measurements to see how my body is changing as time passes.

It is so easy for me to focus on the negative (weight staying the same).  What am I doing wrong? Am I eating too much? Exercising too little? Is stress contributing? Not enough sleep? Is my new medication making it harder from me to drop the last 5/10 pounds?  Etc Etc. It takes effort, however, for me to focus on the positive and I have to remind myself of my accomplishments.  It truly is quite amazing how good I feel from eating this way and I rarely have cravings. Jillian Michaels has a post on breaking through weight loss plateaus which offered me some reassurance that plateaus do exist and I need to just keep on my healthy life style. Please refer to the link below.  I plan on sticking to eating this way but I will allow myself some alcohol and added sugar on occasion.  My main fear for me is that the introduction of sugar will bring back those cravings I had.  The best I can do is to remain conscious of how my body is feeling after eating certain foods.  I will keep you posted on that!

This week I also introduced working out at home for those days I do not want to trek through snow and ice to the gym.  I picked up a couple light weight dumbbells from the drug store and follow the “Sparticus” circuit based workout by watching a youtube video that takes you through each exercise. Link Below. This work out is one of my favorites because it is challenging and does not require a lot of machines or weights.  There are ten exercises you perform for 60 seconds each, 15 seconds of rest in between.  In total there are three rounds with two minutes of recovery between each round.  The entire workout takes 41 minutes.  I am working up to completing all three rounds.  So far, I can tell you that two rounds left me glutes sore for days. The ten exercises are as follows:

  • 1. Goblet Squats- 60 seconds, 15 seconds of recovery
  • 2. Mountain Climbers-60 seconds, 15 seconds of recover
  • 3. Single Arm Dumbbell Swings-60 seconds, 15 seconds of recovery
  • 4. T Pushups with Weights-60 seconds, 15 seconds of recovery
  • 5. Split Jumps- 60 seconds, 15 seconds of recovery
  • 6. Dumbbell Rows-60 seconds, 15 seconds of recovery
  • 7. Dumbbell Side Lounges and Touch- 60 seconds, 15 seconds of recovery
  • 8. Push-Up Position Row-60 seconds, 15 seconds of recovery
  • 9. Dumbbell Lunge and Rotation-60 seconds, 15 seconds of recovery
  • 10. Dumbbell Push Press-60 seconds, 15 seconds of recovery

This completes 1 round! Rest for 2 minutes and repeat for three rounds total

Jillian Michaels On Weight Loss Plateaus:

http://www.jillianmichaels.com/fit/lose-weight/break-through-weight-loss-plateau

Sparticus Workout:

Cliff Day Almost Finished: The hardest part of cooking right…

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is cleaning all your stuffff.  If we did not have a dishwasher, this whole detox would have gone a much different direction. I’d like to apologize for going MIA for a little bit there, life got busy.  We are still doing the detox (albeit with a slip up or two, ie super bowl) and it is still going great.  Dena has finished up her 30 days and she will be continuing it into the foreseeable future.  I will be done on February 6 and I will be continuing for the most part.  Any meals out will be anything goes and all meals at home/lunch will be sticking to the diet.  Alcohol will be consumed responsibly.

So, I know youre dying to know how much weight we’ve lost, how great we now look, and all about the great things we’ve been cooking.  Ill let Dena dive further into her stats when she posts, but for me now I am around 138, down over 8 pounds!  I’m considering this as low as I want to go and will be increasing calories to above 2000 each day (at least trying to).  Before/after pictures will be posted.  I can definitely see my face looking less inflamed and the abs are back.  Dena most certainly did not catch me checking myself out in the mirror.. As expected, I have been struggling most with the going to bed on time, as many nights I have to stay up past midnight to do work.  I feel so old wanting to go to bed before 11.

As for the gym, my elbow has healed, just got the all clear from the doctor, and I am ramping up my weightlifting.  Unfortunately, I have started getting awful shin splints, and I will be starting physical therapy on those.  As for the morning shake, it is time to start adding amino acids, and maybe a touch of creatine.  I have decided that it is a must to go in the morning to the gym.  In fact I decided this last week when I started a blog post but never posted.

“I also need to get my ass in gear in the AM and hit the gym then. This after work at 7 is not cutting it.  Just like I couldn’t do the shake in the morning without protein, I just can’t seem to get a groove going to the gym at night.  Cannot emphasize this enough, remember it all about adjustment and what works for you.”Going at 7 or 8 at night is just not sustainable.  Your energy is completely gone from working all day, you are either hungry or full depending on if you ate dinner, and the euphoric feelings you get from working out in the morning are glorious.  My most productive days at work are after I work out.

All pictures of the food we have been eating can be found on our instagram, and we will be posting recipes later this week,  Get ready to be hungry my friends.

Dena Day 19- Dining and Going Out

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While doing this month long detox, Cliff and I have taken the extreme by cooking and preparing all of our meals at home. It definitely requires some effort on our part but I think we have finally figured out a rhythm that works for us.  Since many social engagements revolve around food and drinks, I have to admit, I decided to make some adjustments like sticking to drinking only water at birthday parties or going to a museum instead of brunch. Look at that, I am staying hydrated and being more cultured!

I am not saying one can not go out to eat and order something healthy that is on the detox plan, but it is much harder to control what restaurants are putting in the food that you order.    Since I have food sensitivities to gluten, dairy, eggs, and yeast, at this point of the detox, I rather make my own food so I can avoid cross contamination.  However, this will not always be the case!  I absolutely love going out with friends to grab brunch or dinner. Whether you also have food sensitivities or have chosen not to eat certain ingredients, I thought I would share a few things that I have learned over the years and share some stories.

  • Don’t assume a dish is safe and free of your allergies. Make your waiter aware of your food allergies.  They can often guide you to what you can eat on the menu or tell you what changes need to be made to a meal you are interested in. I used to think if I ordered grilled chicken and vegetables, I would be safe. But unfortunately, they may use flour as a thickening agent or cook their vegetables in butter.  Also, I love Thai food and especially love curry. Years of ordering curry and feeling sick afterwards (I contributed this to overeating) but turns out, curry may be used with fish sauce or soy sauce that contains gluten.  The good news is not all curry has gluten in them. You have to ask though!
  • Some restaurants are more understanding of food allergies than others. It is such a treat when a restaurant has a menu that marks food allergies like gluten, dairy, what’s vegan or vegetarian, etc. I have had both positive experiences and negative experiences at restaurants.  My favorite was when I was ordering a salad at Chipotle and asked if their meats were gluten free and the woman immediately threw out my lettuce and changed her gloves as she sternly explained to me: “We take food allergies VERY seriously here. EVERYONE in here has touched a tortilla. EVERYONE!” Even though I was ordering ingredients that were themselves gluten free and dairy free, she was concerned with cross contamination. Her gloves had been handling flour tortillas and then were handling my lettuce.  I know you may think that this is crazy and that it’s probably such a small trace, but if you are sensitive to something, your body sure does react!  On the contrary, I once went to a restaurant in Brooklyn and told them my allergies and the waitress seemed annoyed with me as she responded,  ” weeeell, how allergic are you?”
  • Not all waiters understand what gluten is in or what has dairy. I once went out for a friend’s birthday brunch and let the waiter know my allergies. He was the nicest guy but thought that French Toast would be okay for me to eat.
  • Be “that” guy. Be picky! It’s perfectly okay to be picky and change your order to accommodate your personal needs.  My friends may be sick of me when we go out (hopefully not), but it’s my body and I do not want to feel ill from a meal.  An example of this:  “Hi.  I am allergic to gluten, dairy, and eggs. I would like the Chicken Cobb Salad, but without the blue cheese and the eggs.  Also, instead of the dressing, can I please have olive oil and lemon on the side?”
  • Check the menu ahead of time/Call ahead.  For me, If I am trying a new place out and I know where I am going, I check out the menu first. Also, I often call ahead to inquire about the menu to make sure there is something I can eat there.
  • Do the best you can. That is all you can do. The good news: It seems that more and more restaurants are getting on board with acknowledging food sensitivities and food allergies.  When I first found out I had these sensitivities in 2006, I had no idea what gluten was and I never heard it being talked about!

Below is an image of a menu where the waiter kindly told me what I could and could not have on their menu by crossing out everything but three items. I could have the oysters, pickles, or the Roasted Mackerel.  I had the Mackerel and it was delicious 🙂

IMG_5507 (1)

-Dena

 

Cliff Day 16: Green Curry Shrimp

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I have been craving Green Curry since we started this detox.  I also see everyone else making it so I thought why can’t I?  I had the day off, and I had the apartment all to myself.  Normally, this means a day of couch lounging and video games, but in the spirit of being less lazy, I went on a journey to create an amazing green curry sauce and overload it with shrimp.

I used the following recipe with a few minor tweaks:

http://www.foodnetwork.com/recipes/emeril-lagasse/thai-green-curry-shrimp-recipe.html

I cut out the Eggplant, Shrimp Stock (replaced with extra coconut milk), and added some jalepeno.

After journeying to 4 different stores to find everything I needed, I began cooking.  A short 20 minutes, a can I had to stab with a knife to open, and a huge mess later, my masterpiece was finished. I may not be as eloquent a cooker as Dena, I managed to keep her from seeing the mess I made, but we end up in the same place.  You can pretty much use whatever vegetables you want and make sure to get gluten free/wheat free fish sauce (I used Thai Kitchen).  Dena came to the rescue with what we should eat this over, as she made her wonderfully delicious cauliflower rice.

I want to add I recently purchased an amazing knife that made cutting the vegetables a hell of a lot easier (my hand disagrees) :

Try it out.  Best knife I have ever used.

We have some more Pork Loin in the fridge, along with some lamb loin, so I am excited to see what we do with it next.

As for my weight progress, I have steadied off and I am now 140 even.  I feel and look skinnier, and my former gut is calling me every day upset that every day we drift apart more and more.

mmmm Green Curry
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Dena Day 17- Well isn’t that sweet…

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DID YOU KNOW…

  •  In a 2009 study by Dr. Serge H. Ahmed it was proved that sugar was eight times as addictive as cocaine?
  • Brain imaging studies in humans find that eating-or even seeing pictures of-junk and processed food lights up the brain like heroin?
  • Calorie for calorie, sugar is different from other calories that come from protein, fat, or non-starchy carbs such as greens? It scrambles all of your normal appetite controls. As a result, you consume more and more, driving your metabolism to convert it into belly fat.
  • Artificial sweeteners trick your metabolism into thinking sugar is on its way?  This causes your body to pump out insulin, the fat-storage hormone, which leads to more body fat.

Dr. Hyman’s book” The Blood Sugar Solution-10 Day Detox Diet addresses the above facts and further explains just how addictive sugar really is. Unfortunately, it is practically impossible to find packaged foods without sugar in it! The bottom of this post has a list of names for sugar that you can look for on labels and should avoid while detoxing. Even items that you would never expect to have sugar in them, have it! During this detox, Cliff and I searched high and low for chicken broth, as well as diced or crushed tomatoes without sugar added. We finally found what we needed! For chicken broth, Imagine has an organic free range chicken broth and Muir Glen has organic diced tomatoes. Your best luck is to find these items in the organic or health section of your grocery store.

The good news is that once you eliminate sugar from your diet, you no longer crave it.  I used to have cravings for something sweet after every meal–especially at night.  The first day where I attempted not to have sugar was the hardest. The cravings were so intense that at night I used my yonanas machine to make “ice cream” with a frozen banana and nut butter! I just needed something sweet. For me, I would say it took 3 days for the cravings to go away.  The best part of this detox has been that I now feel in control on my eating!

Today, Dr. Hyman posted on his blog “10 Ways To Ditch Your Cravings for Sugar, Salt, and Fats”  Check it out! http://drhyman.com/blog/2013/08/10/10-ways-to-ditch-your-cravings-for-sugar-salt-and-fats/

-Dena

List of Names of Sugar

1. Barley malt
2. Barbados sugar
3. Beet sugar
4. Brown sugar
5. Buttered syrup
6. Cane juice
7. Cane sugar
8. Caramel
9. Corn syrup
10. Corn syrup solids
11. Confectioner’s sugar
12. Carob syrup
13. Castor sugar
14. Date sugar
15. Dehydrated cane juice
16. Demerara sugar
17. Dextran
18. Dextrose
19. Diastatic malt
20. Diatase
21. Ethyl maltol
22. Free Flowing Brown Sugars
23. Fructose
24. Fruit juice
25. Fruit juice concentrate
26. Galactose
27. Glucose
28. Glucose solids
29. Golden sugar
30. Golden syrup
31. Grape sugar
32. HFCS (High Frustose Corn Syrup… Very Bad!)
33. Honey
34. Icing sugar
35. Invert sugar
36. Lactose
37. Malt
38. Maltodextrin
39. Maltose
40. Malt syrup
41. Mannitol
42. Maple syrup
43. Molasses
44. Muscovado
45. Panocha
46. Powdered Sugar
47. Raw sugar
48. Refiner’s syrup
49. Rice syrup
50. Sorbitol
51. Sorghum syrup
52. Sucrose
53. Sugar (granulated)
54. Treacle
55. Turbinado sugar
56. Yellow sugar
Bonus (Fake Sugars):
Splenda
Aspartame

Dena Day 15/ Cliff Day 13- Weight is just a number, but…

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I am quite shocked actually just how much weight Cliff and I have lost in such a short period of time.  In about two weeks, I am down 6.2 pounds and Cliff is down 7 pounds.  I mean, I can more understand Cliff losing weight because he loves his sugar, triple espressos, bagels, and sandwiches.  So, if he is eliminating added sugar, processed foods, caffeine, gluten, grains, and dairy, it makes sense for the scale to move, right? The good news is he’s been eating real food and is not hungry. We will see what he introduces back after this month and see how it affects the way he feels.  Me on the other hand, I was already avoiding gluten and dairy (my allergies) and aware of my added sugar…Maybe I was eating too many grains and complex starches for my body? Maybe I was eating too late at night? Maybe I was getting cross contamination of gluten from eating out which was causing inflammation?  Everyone is unique and reacts to foods differently and food sensitivities can play a major role in inflammation and weight gain.  I do know that cooking at home for the past couple of weeks has really helped my digestion. I can be 100% sure what is in my food.  Of course, after this detox, real life will continue and I will have to do my best when going out to eat with friends and find a nice balance.  Until then, I am definitely excited to see how far this detox will take me.

-Dena

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By the way, Seamless just sent me an e-mail about how they missed me. HAHA

Cliff Day 2

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Cliff Day 2:

Day 2 of the detox begun with a rough night of sleep, but this is normal as my body is missing all of the things that it used to get every day.  So far, this whole detox is not so bad.  Obviously no results so far, but also not craving any of the sweets.  Although, I am missing the caffeine like woah at work today, and my focus is all over the place.  Hoping this will improve over time.

As for working out I plan on going back to the gym on Thursday.  I have had a bum elbow thanks to tendinitis for some time now and am hoping after this next physical therapy visit, I will be cleared to begin my upper body workouts again.  Worst comes to worst it’ll just be legs and cardio.