Veggies Now?

I give you a picture in lieu of a long post. This is left over corned beef and cabbage - the remains of which I had for dinner this evening. Before this diet, I'd never eaten the cabbage served with corned beef every St. Patrick's Day at mom's house. I can't say I LOVE it, but it doesn't make me gag the way I thought it would. Not in the least.

My friend Vet asked me if something has changed because a few years ago I said I really disliked vegetables...and I did. I don't know what's different now. Maybe that I like fresher foods? We were raised on (mostly) canned veggies and those are kind of yuck. Whatever has changed, I'm glad it has because I have to eat a lot of them!

Bolognese Lunch with Mehmet Oz

Yeah, I decided to finish the leftover bolognese sauce for lunch this afternoon. I had broccoli, too. No pasta was a -little- difficult, but I felt good about what I had when it was over. At this moment I am awaiting that old corned beef and cabbage meal my mother insists on every St. Patrick's Day. It's what's for dinner.

I know I food logged more specifically before I joined the group at Yourishment...but I decided not to do so while I'm using the program. I don't think that would be fair to Ivana or her business - however! I can tell you things I am making and share recipes occasionally and cry a little when I tell you things like there are no carrots, no potatoes in that pot on the stove. It's just mean old cabbage bubbling up with the corned beef. Boo. Hoo.

I do miss potatoes. And did you catch Dr. Oz this morning on Elvis Duran's show? He totally dissed skim milk and recommended the diet I'm following (roughly). Since he has a lot of pull, I imagine a lot more people will be joining me in this undertaking. What irks me quite a bit about Dr. Oz is that his branding company stamps his name on ideas - as if he came up with them. Take this article in TIME magazine, for instance. In it, the writer shares what's now good vs. evil in the food industry...according to "The Oz Diet." Uhm. That diet has only been around for thousands of years. Genius.

So, while I like that Dr. Oz is drawing more Americans away from unhealthy processed "white" foods, I dislike that he essentially cops the credit. Be nicer, Doc!

And I feel kind of cool being ahead of the Oz curve on this one. It is a similar feeling to when you like an "unheard of" band and they suddenly become celebrity and you're like "Pff...I've been their fan since they were sharing one pack of ramen noodles." I just hope I'm not going to see the possible tail end of this. You know: "Uhm. (insert name of band that everybody is really really sick of, and you "found" them first.) They are SO. LAME." Total disassociation. Hah!! Don't let me down, crazy diet.

P.S. The foods I'm cutting make my diet a little more extreme than what Oz suggests, but I feel safer this way. As a carbs addict, it is easier to abstain than try a little for right now. With me, you have to think like this: Would you offer a recovering alcoholic a glass of wine? No? Then don't offer Wendy anything with a big carb count. OKAY? THANKS!

On Being "Mostly Beautiful"

You already know what I'm talking about. I've spent a lot of my life being "gorgeous" and "really pretty" and all things attractive with that big IF word following right along. "Wendy, you're gorgeous. If only you could lose the weight." "You know, you're really pretty. If you lost weight, you'd be AMAZING."

Today, I feel mostly beautiful all of the time.

Maybe it would help to stop telling little girls they are pretty with the IF word or the BUT word attached. It's hard to feel attractive...only this much. That "You would be even more if..." just sinks like a rock to the bottom of your soul.

I'm still struggling with who I see in the mirror.

Less of that, please.

Down WHAT?!

I weighed in at the gym today. I started the Yourishment plan on Monday and completely cut out simple carbs and increased fat in my diet. I'm down FOURTEEN pounds since last week's weigh-in. I don't know that this great a loss is going to happen again, so I thought I'd jot it here. I need someone to gape at it with me. I haven't stopped gaping since I stepped on the scale about an hour ago.

Lately, I have felt like I've lost weight, but I haven't been able to tell where the weight may have been lost from... and yet I remained skeptical that I'd lost any weight at all because I'm eating fattier meats and using real butter and stuff. So, I got on the scale today hoping whatever number showed up was going to help me feel sane and more grounded in whatever reality turned out to be. If I did lose, I figured it would have been a pound or two like I've been doing on my own before Yourishment with Ivana started. If I'd gained, I thought it would be at least 5, maybe 10 for all the bacon I cooked up this week.

I feel pretty good, though. I still get tired a little bit during the day, but not as desperately. I can eat lunch and skip a nap if I want to without any cost to the rest of my day. Something's working out right here on week one. I hope the remaining weeks will be as kind. I'm still fretting over blood work, but I don't get that again until a 3 month period is over. We'll see if this fat is kicking my cholesterol around or not. I sure eat eggs a lot. We'll see.

Okay, gape with me. :o I am full of wonder at this occurrence.