NEW WAY OF THINKING

It is very important that you are mindful of all portion sizes.  If you are making portions for a family and you are a lady your size should be a little smaller than your husband's.  You are smaller therefore you eat a little less.  If you are starting with a base of a cup of "protein" he might get a little more, and then a little more fruit and then a little more vegetables.  It isn't to say either of you can't have more.  It is to say be mindful of your portion sizes.  If you happen to be in a house where the lady is a six foot tall body builder and the man is a five foot tall business man the rules might be different.  In general, be mindful of your sizes.

One other thing,  just because other "diets" have claimed that a vegetable is a "free" food does not mean we should scarf them down.  No, we want to be mindful and respectful of each item that we eat.  Somebody made the food that we are eating, If you believe it truly God made that food, at the very least the cook made the food appreciate each item that you are eating.  Try chewing each bite 15-20 times, slow down and appreciate what it is that you are doing.  Love life!!

SAMPLE MENU

Breakfast

Plain Greek Yogurt one portion

Fruit

Hot tea with Honey and Almond Milk


Snack

Carrots

Lunch

Colorful Salad - Kale, spinach, arugula, carrots, tomatoes, celery etc. (The more color the better)
Balsamic vinegar and a small amount of olive oil
Two organic hard boiled eggs

Orange and mango salad

Dinner

Whole Organic Lemon Chicken with Carrots, Parsnips, Celery and Onions

Salad

Dessert

Mangoes and plain yogurt

Hot green tea

So the big question has been, "How did you lose 60 pounds?".....

My answer, "Mindfully.."  I no long eat things with words I cannot pronounce.  If I can't pronounce it I typically do not eat it.

I first started getting sick with migraines (http://www.mayoclinic.com/health/migraine-headache/DS00120) and something called pseudo-tumor cerebri (http://www.mayoclinic.com/health/pseudotumor-cerebri/DS00851 ) . Both were coming from eating bad food, both from stress, and both were coming from being VERY over weight..

 BOTH WERE COMING FROM NOT EATING CLEAN!!!

As much as I did not want to admit it, being over 240 pounds was no way to live.  I wasn't ever a Coca-Cola drinker, we always drank Crystal light or Diet Coke as an adult I preferred the "heft" of Coke Zero. When it came to eating sure did I have poor eating habits, yes but did I "pig out" 24/7 no I did not. Why was I constantly battling my weight?  I have no idea.  I have been on a diet since I was 12.

Back to the weight loss...  In October I made the conscious decision to remove all chemicals from our diet. That is step one...

STEP ONE - Forgive yourself and start removing the chemicals from your diet.  ALL CHEMICALS NEED TO GO, your prescriptions are even going to start reducing.  Think of your ancestors, or Jesus they didn't go to Walgreens for every little thing now did they?  We can do better that going to Walgreens, CVS, ETC...

It is harder than it sounds, we will start with what you are drinking.  You are going to go through varying amounts of withdrawal.  Coffee and Tea can stay as long at it isn't something that is a vessel for donuts and cigarettes.  I have a cup of coffee from time to time and tea has a lot of benefits, especially green tea.  Listed below are the items that HAVE TO GO:

Soda - All soda, diet soda, sprite, everything anything with a word you can't pronounce GOES!
Splenda - Yellow stuff
Aspartame - Nutra Sweet
Saccharine - Sweet and Low
and for that matter Sugar Twin for anyone who remembers the original fake Yellow stuff
WHITE SUGAR - It rots your teeth, your body, your mind and probably your SOUL
Fruit Juice - Tropicana is not your friend - Eat and orange, don't drink it.  Our portion sizes are WAY TOO BIG
Milk does not do a body good - Cow's milk isn't your friend either. We might have milk, Organic milk, sparingly. Honestly Almond milk is a much better alternative.


What am I drinking?

Brewed Teas - Hot or cold 
Filtered water
Unsweetened Almond milk
Club Soda unflavored no chemicals
Seltzer unflavored no chemicals
S. Pellegrino (San Pellegrino) "Mineral Water"

Coffee - 2-4 cups per week with almond milk or whole organic cows milk
Hot Tea 2-5 cups per day with 1 teaspoon of honey.  If I drink black tea I will add "milk" and I vary the "milk"

It is very important that anything that you drink has ZERO CHEMICALS.

Alcohol Beverages

If I drink it is rare, and this is for a few reasons:

Alcohol has become a huge migraine trigger
Empty calories
The more you drink the more you will eat... They go hand in hand..

So drink carefully

A nice Vodka Martini (Dirty) or Vodka and Club Soda is always a pleasant way to close an evening.

I will cook with wine (Jesus drank wine), and probably have a Sangria recipe when it gets warm out.  I am not a SAINT, I am GINA... :-)

Until we meet again, EAT CLEAN.... if I can do it, we can do it together.... its a lifestyle!!!

March 6, 2013

Why Did I Decide To BLOG?

Hello and welcome to my BLOG!!  I am a new CLEAN EATER since OCTOBER 2012 and I am finding my new way of life fantastic!  My husband and I no longer crave PASTA or SWEETS and we very much were down a bad path.  We didn't mean to be but we lead hectic lives, we own our own business so our lives very much are not our own.  I am sure many folks with hectic lives, can relate.

CLEAN EATING has to become a priority because making sure your body is being taken care of is the number one thing you can do for everyone.  EVERYONE including YOU!!!  Your body is a temple,  If you believe it, it is from GOD, you need homeostasis.  In any type of religon or pratice being in tune with your body is the core number one principle.

I am not here to give you a new ISM, I am sure I could create my own GINAISM, and give you the 5 core reasons or who, what and where mine is better than the last girls but I am really not going to bother.  My $19.95 fifteen minutes of fame isn't beckoning at the moment, I am looking to tell you a story and to help you, not sell you something.  Maybe when I am successful in losing all of my weight I can be an authority, right now I am searching just like you.

For now lets see if this blog thing actually works....