Second Try, Day Three

Well I am happy to report that I have now had three successful days returning to veganism!
Very exciting indeed. I can feel my energy level/alertness level increasing daily and my level of fatigue/tiredness going away. Even foggy brain syndrom seems to slip away when I eat primarily vegetables!

There was a couple of important steps that I needed to take to get here. I kept up with my steamed vegetable breakfast - I love that. Then on the weekend I made a bean stew for the week - which fills me up at lunch time. I now carry my Garcinia Cambogia with me and pop one if I need to ward of hunger pangs. While at Zehrs on the weekend, I bought single servings of a few meats for Arthur, one for each night of the week - so that keeps him happy so that he doesnt start talking about pizza. Finally, I created a veggie ground round "hash" that I am able to quickly heat up at night time. I've been eating that with a big salad that has avocado and lots of greens on it. That has actually kept me full until it is time for bed. The last piece of the equation was that I put some baby carrots and chopped celery into a container - and as soon as I get home from work - I put that into a bowl and just snack on it as I'm cooking, or if I do get hungry at night time.

It seem to be working so far!

My goal is to be back down to where I was this spring - and to get there by Christmas.
My real goal is to get into our Tshirts for Halifax. I've found some awesome bamboo tshirts
and I don't want to have to buy myself something different - that would be disappointing!

So - wish me luck!

I am ready to crack down again!

My body is telling me - Annette - it's time to get going with this again!

I am prepared. I have some broccoli and rapini chopped up and brown rice made
for my breakfasts. I made a stew with black beans, tomatoes, carrots, celery and onions,
flavoured with a chipotle. I have bought the fixings for some really gourmet salads which I will
be having at night time. The most important thing that I need to do for the next few weeks
is

1 - not eat at night time. After dinner - that's it. So I've cut up a huge bowl of carrots, celery and peppers for chewing on at night time.

2 - not eat out!!! No matter how hard a person tries, if we go out and eat a big wad of food - all
our losses will be gained!

Cross your fingers for me!

One Year Later

Well hello everyone!
I am back and have decided to not only post to this blog when the going is good - but
also when the going is not so good.
This is one such moment!

I have gained back 23 pounds out of the total of 48 that I lost in 2007. The main
reason is that I have simply started and kept on eating lots of sugar, dairy, wheat
and, more and more - meat again.

My general feeling is one of tiredness all the time, a lack of energy, a lack of inspiration.
I can feel the weight in places I don't want it and I am about ready to try to get back to it.

Last week was a perfect opportunity to get back on track - I had my veggies in the morning,
a salad at lunch time with either hummous or vegetarian chili - worked out great. Dinners
were not too bad either, I had my vegetables a couple of nights, but made pizza one night
with the usual cheese, yeast, wheat. The problem is that I am totally in craving mode, and
so I have been snacking every night. I've been drinking lots of cups of tea with sugar and cream
in them. Also maybe a peanut butter and banana sandwich, or popcorn or anything I can find in the house.

I know in my head that it only takes ONE NIGHT of me NOT EATING to start to break the craving cycle - but MAN - I have not been able to crack it since.

I would love to lose those 23 pounds and more before Christmas. Tonight I went on to read
this blog of mine because I knew it has some good stories that will remind me of how happy, energetic and craving - free I felt when I was doing the full vegan diet.

I want to do that again. I want to be free of these cravings, headaches and lack of energy!

Tomorrow night we are having a friend over for dinner. I am not sure but I think I am ready
to get back on track with this. I always do it at a weird time. So I may or may not have what I am planning on preparing for them. Maybe I shouldn't. That way it will leave some dinners for Arthur for next week so that I can try to get on track again.

I will keep you posted!

Check all of your Soaps, Shampoos and Household Cleaners

SPREAD THE WORD!

If you want to have a real impact on the world's water supply, the environment and your personal health and that of your family - check all of your household cleaners, handsoap, bar soap, shampoo, conditioner, makeup and hand lotions for these ingredients. If they have them - get rid of these products and make a vow to stop using them:

sodium lauryl sulfate
sodium laureth sulfate
bleach
petroleum derivatives
alcohol and other surfactants
parabens

Do a google search and learn more about the toxic effects of these additives.

I have a friend that suffers from extreme eczema - the skin on her hands is just falling off and broken and very painful. She eats a healthy diet and has gone so far as to try several prescription medications to try to get better, but nothing has worked for her. Today I wondered - what if she is having a reaction to all the chemicals that she's using on her body on a daily basis - like handsoap! Do the doctors explore these options with their patients before prescribing heavy duty drugs and steroids? Sometimes I wonder.

You know it is hard for us to really take stock of all the products we use and replace them with healthy alternatives - but I think it needs to be done - not only for allergies, eczema and other skin conditions that some of us suffer from - but also for our general health, the health of our children and the health of our water supply.

Here's what Wikopedia says about Sodium Laureth Sulfate (which appears in most soaps, even some of the ones that say they're "organic"):

Effects on sensitive skin

Products containing these substances can affect those prone to eczema and other irritants. These substances provide a foaming quality to the product, allowing for better distribution of the product while washing hair or skin and while brushing teeth. When rinsed off, the product will have cleaned the area but will have taken moisture from the top layers of skin. In people with sensitive skin (prone to dermatitis, acne, eczema, psoriasis and chemical sensitivity), the drying property of these type of detergents can cause flare-ups of skin conditions or may worsen existing conditions.

Toxicology

The Cosmetic, Toiletry, and Fragrance Association (CTFA) and the American Cancer Society have stated that the common belief that SLES is a carcinogen is an urban legend, a view confirmed by toxicology research by the OSHA, NTP, and IARC. SLES and SLS, and subsequently the products containing them, have been found to contain parts-per-thousand to parts-per-million levels of 1,4-dioxane, with the recommendation that these levels be monitored. The U.S. Environmental Protection Agency considers 1,4-dioxane to be a probable human carcinogen (having observed an increased incidence of cancer in controlled animal studies, but not in epidemiological studies of workers using the compound), and a known irritant (with a no-observed-adverse-effects level of 400 milligrams per cubic metre). While the U.S. Food and Drug Administration encourages manufacturers to remove this contaminant, it is not currently required by federal law.


I don't know what kind of handsoap you are using for daily washing, but I suspect it contains at least one of these sulfates, if not alcohol. Similarly your bar soaps and shampoos are suspect. Most of our hand lotions are derived from petroleum products, and most of our household cleaners have bleach, alcohol or sulfates in them. These can be bad for our health and every ounce we send into the water supply is harmful.

It is possible to make an easy health change to the products we use!

There are lots of lovely alternatives! For example, (in Canada) the Bulk Food Store has an alternative soaps section, and similarly Zehrs organics section has a whole aisle that has very fun biodegradable soaps, shampoos, body lotions, cleaning products, and even laundry detergent! The hand soaps are often herbal mixtures that contain naturally occuring enzymes or fruit acids, or ingredients with natural anitiseptic properties (like tea tree oil), and best of all, no sulfates. (You still have to read the labels- there is at least one brand in Zehrs organics section that still has some bad stuff in it). Most of the body lotions in these areas are based on herbs, fruit derivatives, vegetable oils and nut butters - which are so lovely to use!

I find it sad that you cannot go into the regular soap/shampoo section of Shopper's Drug Mart or Zehrs or other stores and find any of these products - but hopefully if enough people wise up about this issue - we'll be able to find them on all store shelves soon!

If you want to read more about sodium lauryl sulfate and sodium laureth sulfate, read this website:

http://www.healthy-communications.com/slsmostdangerousirritant.html

which shows a typical chemical information sheet provided by law for those who routinely work with sodium lauryl sulfate. If you look at your ingredient list on most soaps - these two sulfates are almost always at the top of the ingredient list. I also noticed today that the packaging on my Ivory soap bars, does not provide any list of ingredients at all and that is ground enough for me to switch.

I hope you will all read this, try to learn more and make some lasting changes as a result!

Please pass on this email so that more people can start learning for themselves and making the change!

Cheers!
Annette Demers

Ideas + Action = Change
http://www.innerlightinc.com/makeithappen

Brookhaven Rehabilitation & Health Care Center
250 Beach 17th Street
Far Rockaway, NY 11691
Phone 718-471-7500
Fax 718-327-9074

November 26, 2007

Hello Doctor Robert Coleman,

I’ve seen the show about Brookhaven on TLC and on tonight’s episode, you stated that you are still looking for the “missing link” for your patients’ addiction to food. I believe I’ve found that link.

I have been obese all my life. The lowest I ever weighed was after a stint with Weight Watchers when I was in grade 8 – at that time I got down to 135. Then, in high school – in grade 10 I went up to 210 because I had quick access to french fries everyday. I have never been under 210 in my entire adult life. Every 5 years I seem to gain another good 25 pounds.

My entire adult life, I have been a pretty healthful eater – I’ve always eaten lots of veggies, only whole grains, only lean meats, little butter, low fat milk, no desserts and used olive oil in most of my cooking – everything they say you are supposed to do. My weakness was a pizza once a week. Other than that, I very rarely ever eat fast food, I’ve bought frozen french fries once in my life, we have maybe 2 boxes of ice cream in our house over an entire summer, and I don’t have any addictions to drugs, candy, chocolate, soda, cigarettes or even coffee. In fact for most of my life, I’ve had green tea in the morning at work while everyone else is having coffee and donuts, and I usually have water with lunch and 1% milk with dinner.

I also have always walked to school or work – a minimum 30 minute walk twice daily, five days a week for the past 15 years. For one of my jobs, I had a 50 minute walk each way to work. For another I had a 23 block walk to work. I currently have a 30 minute walk to work and back each day.

Despite all of these things – last year I weighed my highest weight ever - 325 pounds. I am well-educated, I am professionally employed, have tried the gym – and have refused to use unhealthy, unbalanced approaches to weight loss in the past.

You know from your experience what happens to patients at 325. Our health starts to decline.

This year, on February 20, I discovered two swollen lymph nodes in my neck, and started to get scared – I’m only 35 years old. My dad had invested in a set of CDs by Anthony Robbins, who interviews Dr. Robert Young – a microbiologist and nutritionist from Utah.

In February, I went for a doctor’s appointment to see my GP and my blood pressure was 140/90. It had been that high consistently for the past year, and my doctor tried to put me on the water pill for it in the fall. I refuse to take prescription drugs. That same day, I started to follow a vegan diet as proposed by Dr. Young. I also removed wheat and sugar from my diet. One week later, at my specialist appointment – my blood pressure was down to 128/78 and has stayed there ever since.

I lost 30 pounds in the first 3 months of this year, and then moved from a vegan diet to a vegetarian diet during the summer. I was eating no meat, but I reintroduced dairy, eggs, cheese and wheat. I gained 10 pounds back.

In September I started having steamed vegetables for breakfast and lunch again – as I had been doing in the spring time. I still didn’t lose any weight. Then in October, I found Innerlight Inc., which markets Dr. Young’s books and products. The week of October 22, I received my package from Innerlight, read his book, “Ph Miracle for Weight Loss”, went completely vegan again, introduced healthy fats into my diet, and started drinking his green drink and taking his supplements.

In the past 4 weeks, I’ve lost a total of 20 pounds. Doing this also solved my acid reflux and sugar sensitivity. I’ve eliminated sugar and most carbs (which includes dairy products). The only real carbs I’m taking in are a quarter cup or so of cooked whole grains like millet, barley, quinoa or brown rice. I’ve also eliminated fermented foods, alcohol, vinegar, molds (cheese and mushrooms) and yeast from my diet. I’ve replaced everything with a huge increase in vegetable intake and I’ve added healthy fats, including flax seed oil and a few nuts. As a result of making these seemingly radical changes (although they are 100% completely back to nature and back to basics!) I can honestly say that my actual physical addiction to food is gone.

In the evenings, now I do not get any serious uncontrollable physical urges to eat – AT ALL, EVER. My mental ability to choose a different course of action has returned, now that the physical addiction to food is gone. Last week, I made a vegetarian lasagna (my all-time favorite food) for my husband’s dinners for the week, and I had a *mental* urge to have some, but I was able to *make the decision* to control that urge, and was able to choose not to have any.

Most of your patients are unable to choose their course of action, because they are physically addicted to their food.

This is the missing link that you are looking for in battling these peoples’ addictions – they are actually physically addicted to food, partially because they are not getting enough nutrition, but mostly because they are addicted to sugar and carbs, which creates an acid overload in the body. The acids, yeast, fungus, mold and parasites in their bodies are demanding sugar and nutrients, robbing them of nutrients and energy, and turning their bodies into a junk yard of waste byproducts. Take a look at the live blood samples from Dr. Robert Young’s book and website (I’ve given you the links below) to see these yeast, fungus, parasites, molds and acids at work in the blood stream.

I am sending you my own copy, (my only copy!) of Dr. Young’s book so that you can see for yourself what his theories are, it is fascinating reading, and I think you will find the missing link that you are looking for.

I believe so strongly in his scientific theories that I decided to become a distributor of his books and products. I guess I am hoping to turn my fat into cash! If you are interested in further reading, there is much more literature available.

Images of blood samples: http://www.phmiracleliving.com/microscopy-analysis.htm

Testimonials: http://www.phmiracleliving.com/search/index.php?category=Testimonies

Articles: http://www.phmiracleliving.com/search/index.php?category=Articles

His blog: http://articlesofhealth.blogspot.com/2007/10/powerful-interview-of-dr-robert-o-young.html

More literature and other products: http://www.innerlightinc.com/makeithappen

Click on Products, Literature to see what other books he has written, there is some fun reading here!

I hope you’ll take a moment to read more about this approach, and I hope you’ll be as intrigued by it as I am. Maybe it will help some of your patients. Please feel free to contact me at any time if you want to talk more about this – but Dr. Young’s book really explains things well.

Thank you sincerely for the great work you are doing.

I'm now an InnerLight Distributor!

Visit my website!

http://www.innerlightinc.com/makeithappen

A Very Successful Week

Well I haven't posted anything on here in quite awhile!
I must admit that for most of the summer I had fallen off the bandwagon
and I ultimately gained about 10 pounds back of the 36 pounds I had lost from January to March of this year.




This made me really realize that it shouldn't be too torturous to lose weight - if we can do it
little by litte. For example, eating 100% vegan/flour and sugar free just makes the pounds melt off, and at the end of 3 weeks, I could lose 15 pounds. Since I've been able to keep off 26 pounds over the past 4 months, it really made me realize that eating vegetarian is helping me keep the weight off, and it will only take several short bursts each year to bring the weight down even more.



So what I've been doing for the past week and a half, is to have a plate of steamed vegetables with olive oil, hemp seed nut and 1 tablespoon of beans for breakfast. Surprisingly enough, I've found that starting my day out this way really helps to ward off cravings throughout the rest of the day. I think it is a combination of getting the nutrition the body needs, as well as cutting out flour and sugar, which I find really cause sugar/craving response in me for the whole day after I've eaten them.



For lunch, I eat my usual bowl of chili (homemade vegetarian chili which I keep in my freezer).
For supper I've been making my usual suppers, but one trick I've done a couple of times is to leave some of my supper on my plate and have it later instead of a snack. I do think I've lost some weight this past week - I feel a little lighter - but the scale will tell ultimately.



Wish me luck!