Food Journey

I gained around 20 pounds during the covid pandemic. I haven’t been worried because I know I will lose it. I just have to get more active and eat healthier. But there is a competition in October and my teacher wants me to lose the weight soonish. I told him that long term weight lose works better. He suggested juicing. He and his wife do it. I guess it works for them. It doesn’t for me. To start with, I have a sensitive stomach and a strong metabolism. My bowel is great. I go to the bathroom everyday (sometimes more than once if I eat something spicy or more fiber). I did have some issues mid pandemic but that was due to the stress. I wasn’t sleeping. It was the first and only time I have ever had such issues. The moment I started sleeping properly again and working less, I got better. Now I accept that I am human and I don’t have to kill myself for work. After a certain time I switch off. I give myself time. So I am me again. Happy and healthy as a clam with a happy gut. Anyways my teacher suggested juicing so I said ok let’s try once. The program I did had huge morning fruit juices, afternoon fruit juices and evening green juices. I only did the morning and evening juices with a salad or sushi or soup for lunch. The fruit juices gave me a sugar crash and a bad case of diarrhea. Legit diarrhea. On more than one occasion, I was stuck in the bathroom for a while. It was a waste of time and my butt was very unhappy. It made me cranky. You may think I was hungry. I wasn’t. The juices were so large that I felt full. I was eating lunch so I got some protein but I don’t think I got enough. Besides if you spend so much time on a toilet seat, you won’t feel like eating. I did feel more energized day 2 onwards overall. But I still don’t think juicing is good meal replacement. You don’t get proteins or fats. I don’t like losing weight by muscle atrophy. That said I realized something about myself. Since I was full, I wasn’t looking for snacks as much. I only needed tea and after second day I didn’t need it as much. I realized that since I was following a plan and someone else’s recipes I didn’t have to think. I just followed the instructions and drank the juice. It’s so much easier to cook and eat when someone else has already made a good meal plan. In future I wouldn’t mind buying healthy meal plans. Just so I don’t have to think of a shopping list or what to eat. It also gives me more ideas of what consists of healthy food. E.g. this is the first time ever I have bought celery. I have also started reading a book on soups and made lentil soup. Which was cool. I love it when I grow. In the end, I decided to not use the juicing program. I don’t mind making small quantities of juice from time to time, especially the green juices are good. But I will still eat actual food. And I will use my own plan to lose weight in a healthy way. I have also tried things like intermittent fasting and getting a nutritionist. Both taught me things about my hunger and in general needs. But neither worked well. What worked was when I added small changes gradually to my diet. The last time I did this, I ended up giving up some unhealthy habits and I haven’t gone back. And this is why I believe in slow and steady. In fact I realized why I crave ice cream so much. I crave ice cream when I am extremely hungry. So if I crave ice cream, it means I need to feed myself filling healthy food right away. From the nutritionist, I learned the importance of eating 20-25g protein every meal and to use natural foods. And she is right. But I need to eat natural foods that work for me, like lentils or yogurt. Cause that’s what I grew up eating. I don’t need to eat cheese. I didn’t grow up eating it and I think my body is not meant for so much cheese. So now I am looking for more plant-based diet recipe books. I don’t care that it’s a fad. The truth is I grew up vegetarian. So that’s what my body and genes are used to. And that’s what I choose to stick to. I will eat chicken or fish at David’s place cause I don’t want to inconvenience him. But I cook veggie food for me. :) I am excited as I continue this journey. To eat healthy and be stronger!

Before the whole juicing experience, I read Nate Miyaki’s book on six pack abs because I want them. He says that you gotta fix your diet. If you don’t fix it then the rest of your efforts are waste. 80% of weight lose and ab building happens in the kitchen. So now I have to make gradual slow changes in my food habits and eat healthier. I gotta search recipes and custom build a meal plan for me. I am looking for simple recipes.  Nothing fancy. Just functional food. 

Second, I have started going for walks and running. I walk 1.6 miles every day and I am slowly building up my running limit to 2miles. I started at 0.3 miles. Right now I am at 0.9 miles. I wouldn’t mind increasing it to 3miles and running a 5k marathon as a milestone. Just being more active calms me down. I am already down 4 pounds in the last 2weeks. That said I am okay losing 0.5 to 1 pounds per week. I like slow and steady. Any how, wish me luck!