Health Goal Update for February 9, 2009 (Blog)

[Erin Pavlina]

Use this thread to discuss the following entry from Erin Pavlina's blog:

Health Goal Update for February 9, 2009

[neotsu]

You mentioned yummy broccoli. One of my favorite things is broccoli steamed with a bit of sliced ginger and garlic. Another way I really like is tossing it with a miso/tahini paste. I'm not sure what all your food restrictions are, but broccoli is delicious and wonderful to work with. Do you have any favorite broccoli recipes?

[gingerbaker]

I have an INSANELY yummy Spicy Sour Chickpeas recipe from Madhur Jaffrey's cookbook which is super delish, easy, and incredibly addictive. I will post it for you if you like. :-)

Sounds like you are doing great!

[Erin Pavlina]

I like to combine broccoli and butternut squash in the steamer basket, and sprinkle with a little tamari sauce and ginger. boy I haven't done that in years. I gotta do that today!

Post your home made recipes. I don't like putting copyrighted recipes on the forums. That doesn't seem right to me. Or you can PM me the copyrighted recipe because sharing person to person is okay.

[gingerbaker]

Originally Posted by Erin Pavlina

Post your home made recipes. I don't like putting copyrighted recipes on the forums. That doesn't seem right to me. Or you can PM me the copyrighted recipe because sharing person to person is okay.

Excellent, I will do that. I'll actually wait till tmrw or so as I want to check the book - I tend to do it off the top of my head at this point, but when you're first trying a new recipe it's always nice to have some idea what measurements were intended LOL.

Do you like hummus? The one trick which finally worked for me with homemade hummus was to use *roasted* garlic instead of raw - it made a huge difference!

OH what about kale sauteed with oil (mustard oil is great if you have it) and garlic? My kids especially go nuts for it.

[lacinato]

I really like your posts on this. It sounds like you're doing something healthy and sustainable, great for you I don't get the sense you're doing a diet, where you can't wait to lose weight, get off it and eat the way you really want to. Instead, it's something you're playing with and enjoying the process of, and will be able to keep doing (with tweaks as needed).

Your LOA method sounds interesting, too. I love your blog entries.

[StarieEyed]

Thanks for the post erin, you are right and this is something I just realized, is that I havent been able to even IMAGINE myself as being thin an tonned. I seriously think this has been my problem for a few years! Can you believe it? How silly I feel. This is what I am going to work on hard core. Fake it till you make it right?

[Rachelle]

Keep it up Erin! Yay!

I am doing really well for my own health goals, too.
I did a 30 day raw trial for January and lost about 8lbs or so!
But then it was my birthday and I've been gorging on vegan goodies. lol.
I came away from the raw trial realizing how I feel so much better and energetic on a raw diet, and non-raw food tends to make me feel grossly bloated now. :P

I don't know if I have a goal-weight in mind, more like a body shape and image - because it's the shape I'm after, and not a number on the scale. Ok, ok, I want a really hawt ass - there I said it. haha.

I think hot yoga is amazing. You should try it, Erin!

[Rachelle]

I made a delicious curry the other day and it was fat free!

ingredients i used (mostly organic):

1 potato
half a head of cauliflower (cauliflower is a good source of veggie-protein)
zucchini
i would have added sliced mushrooms if i had some at the time
1 can chic peas
celery
1 onion

curry sauce:
1 large can tomatoes (16 oz)
fresh cilantro (a handful?)
fresh ginger to taste
1 or 2 green onions (the white parts. set the green parts aside for garnish)
2-3 cloves garlic
curry powders to taste (i think i used gharam masala and tumeric. i'm not even sure because my spices are unlabeled.)

so here's what i did:
- put a shallow amount of water in a pot and bring to boil
- chop up your potato (leave the skin on because it's good for you) and add to the water/pot
- chop up cauliflower and add to pot
- dice your onion and chop celery, add to pot
- if you like mushrooms you can throw those in too.
- rinse your can of chic peas before adding to the pot.

for sauce:
i put all the ingredients in a blender and just blended it. it was amazing! since the garlic and ginger and green onion and cilantro is raw, it's extra flavourful and the flavours aren't muted from being cooked.

you can either add the delicious sauce to your pot of cooked veggies, or just keep it aside and add to your individual serving.

either serve it the curry sauce and veggies like a stew, or atop brown basmati rice - whatever floats your boat. i personally love it just as is without rice. garnish with fresh chopped cilantro, green onion, fresh diced tomato, and a sprinkle of cashews if desired. i also added fresh organic spinach. yuuummmmmy!

[gingerbaker]

It just occurred to me that I use the LOA in a way with regards to my health and fitness - I just think of it a little differently. Or at least, I think it's similar LOL. Anyway, I think of it as "reprogramming" my internal soundtrack. We "say" things to ourselves all the time, and many of those things are, shall we say, not constructive. So for me the trick is to recognize those thoughts when they happen "Ugh, I am too tired to take the stairs today." and substitute something that helps me instead (i.e., is a vibrational match for who I want to be) "Taking the escalator makes me so tired!"

A huge part of what I see - in myself, and in others - is how hard we can make things that, really, are easy. Oh so many ways this sneaks up on me LOL! One of the most exciting things to happen to me recently, which has just altered my entire mindset re: fitness, is the plan for my salsa team to go to Puerto Rico in July to compete in the salsa congress there. Having an event to train for has cleared so much fog from my goals it's absurd! I even did something I have never done before - I put together an inspirational poster of three women whose bodies I really admire (strong!) that I printed and posted in my bedroom, kitchen and a copy in my purse. It's way more powerful than I had thought, lo these many years!

[RRR]

I continue to walk or run nearly every day for the past week, I've found I can walk for endless amounts of time, but after jogging for .6 miles I feel awful. I'm working on timeboxing my exercise as per Steve's latest article.

I discovered yesterday that the types of food I eat very strongly influences my mind/body. I decided to eat a few handfuls of peanuts when I was feeling too emotional. The change in my moods was dramatic. I felt very detached. I felt strongly that all physical reality was primitive, I was staring at a cup giggling to myself, I felt very much within a subjective lense..I was just this dream body within physical reality. This was a very foreign perspective for me. My emotional havoc that had been rearing its head seemed much like a physical manifestation, it just seemed to mellow off for a while when I was in this state of detachment. Later on I felt lazy, zonked out, and feeling a lot like lying around and smiling. I got pretty stoned on fats. Its really neat that on this raw diet I start to get emotional and reach out for fats.. They make a pretty effective drug for short term use, but they didn't really solve the emo..just made me stoned. They seem mildly addictive, I desire a big handful of peanuts right now.

Fun detox story: I was having an oddly heated discussion about the worthwhileness of dishwashers with my roommate, I think we overuse them, he thinks an apartment without dishwashers leads to chaos. He had just bought nascar cups a few days before of which I wasn't particularly fond. Later that night the dishwasher broke, got stuck on the heat cycle, and warped the nascar cups. I'm not looking forward to any more geisting, emotional detox around the computers I work with would be expensive. I'm hoping once I get my body in better shape and detoxed I can harness my energy in forms other than random destruction.

[{aspiring_to_clarity}]

I did good and bad this past week. Got two runs in and ate well everyday execpt this weekend. I'm somewhat disappointed I didn't do more, but at the same time I made good progress considering how far I had to reach to do a healthy lifestyle. I don't have a scale so no weight update as of yet (before the trial I weighed at my mom's). Clothes feel the slightest bit looser and bf said yesterday that I look like I've lost weight. That's gotta count for something lol.

Yesterday and today have been good as far as eating, just need to get run in today to kick start my exercise...that's the part that's tough for me.

[StarieEyed]

Thanks for the post erin, you are right and this is something I just realized, is that I havent been able to even IMAGINE myself as being thin an tonned. I seriously think this has been my problem for a few years! Can you believe it? How silly I feel. This is what I am going to work on hard core. Fake it till you make it right?

[Monique7nuns]

Since I too don't wish to hijack the thread or add something that in some ways seems out of place, as the focus is on Erin here, I'm not going to post my own health updates - that's what my health journal is for and if anyone is interested in following it, please do via the link below. I'm going to try and post daily.

Otherwise, I think I read in the last update how you used NLP to begin changing your core motivation for going veg and vegan. I was wondering if you have used it since and/or if you think it's something that you could now benefit from?

[Erin Pavlina]

I would use NLP anytime I need to change how I feel about a bad habit I want to get rid of. NLP is awesome!

[yoscolo]

Erin, I think one of the best things you have going for you in your health project is your unbounded enthusiasm. That's very cool that you're able to feed off the energy of the person you imagine you'll be when you reach your goal weight. The LOA approach you are describing might be the most important part of your entire regime -- great stuff!

I've been using a form of LOA too, but I didn't necessarily recognize it as such until I read your most recent blog post. One of my strategies is to reach back and imagine a time when I was younger, stronger, and fitter. I then use that memory to propel me forward into a vision and a feeling of what I want to be and experience again.

Since I started my health and exercise program five weeks ago, I've actually been surprised by the sudden return of those long-lost, but still familiar, physical, mental, and emotional sensations I once had when I ran and worked out regularly. For example, with each successive workout, I'm developing a stronger sense of motivation and determination; every effort I make seems to build on itself. Physically, I'm enjoying re-experiencing muscle fatigue and recovery in my legs – it’s a "good" soreness that tells me I'm appropriately pushing myself.

I've also re-awakened a long-dormant motivating force I call my "internal coach." He challenges me, encourages me, praises me, and gets appropriately gruff with me if I start to whine a bit or get lazy. ;-) Sometimes, when I start to lose focus during a workout, I imagine a crowd of supporters cheering me on. The imagination is a great tool, isn’t it? I'm finding that I can use many of these same techniques to keep me moving throughout the day -- not just when I work out.

Anyways, things are going much better for me this week. Thanks to the suggestions by Monique and aspiring_to_clarity that I spend some extened time warming up before stretching and working out, my legs have been feeling great. Last night, even though it was cold and windy, I managed to run 2 3/4 miles without experiencing a bit of tightness in my legs. Afterwards, I stretched again, and felt great the rest of the evening. My weight is now down to 207-208 (I started at 216).

Best of luck to everybody!

[Monique7nuns]

Originally Posted by Erin Pavlina

I would use NLP anytime I need to change how I feel about a bad habit I want to get rid of. NLP is awesome!

Are there any products or process' you might recommend? I am familiar with what it is although I've never tried it.

[mahreenferdous]

To the chickpea recipe add some fresh coriander and cumin powder- YUM! Especially good with some cucumber and tomato chopped up.

Broccoli is the best veg. Spinach is the next. Broccoli with butter salt and pepper. Cauliflower with melting cheese (I guess you can have vegan cheese?)

Also thai green papaya salad- tons of recipies online.

[openeyes]

Originally Posted by mahreenferdous

Broccoli is the best veg. Spinach is the next. Broccoli with butter salt and pepper.

Broccoli is good. Right now I'm having asparagus in a similar manner, with butter and raw himalayan salt, next to a glass of Argentinian wine, soon to be followed with oysters

[Lucky13]

I regularly read your blog but this is the first time I am posting a comment. From my experience yoga is the best way to achieve a good health. I am even a bit surprised you do not seem to be involved in yoga since you are a psychic and I think it would work wonders for you if you really stick with it. Yoga has a really profound effect on mind, intuition, etc. Ashtanga Yoga changed my life completely. I have been practicing it regularly for over 2 years and I have never been healthier in my life (I am 43). It even cured my asthma and allergies. No gym, no other excercise ever worked for me because it bored me to tears. I always look forward to yoga, it never bores me and it never feels like torture and you can do it at home after you get a hang of it.
As to nutrition, I do not believe that a vegan diet is necessarily the best diet for us humans. We always ate meat whether we like it or not. You may be missing tons of nutriens (essential aminoacids, omega 3 oils, vitamins A, D, E, etc) and that it why it is hard for you to lose weight. Your metabolism may be just messed up due to lack of some nutrients that you just cannot get from plant food. Not all people can stay healthy on vegan diet. I know you are not likely to change back to meat but this is just my thought.
For excellent source of information on health, nutrition, etc there is a website by Dr. Merola: Natural Health Information Articles and Health Newsletter by Dr. Joseph Mercola
I think you are on the right track with eating more fats and avoiding sugar, carbs and any grains, this is what pre-diabetics should do to keep insulin levels down. I would also add virgin organic coconut oil, very good for you and so yummy, it will not make you gain weight.
Also, it is not about sugar in your blood, it is about insuline! Anyone who is owerweight, prediabetic, has high blood pressure and high cholesterol, also likely has high insuline levels and high insuline is deadly. Avoiding all sugars, grain and carbs is probably the only way to keep insuline down.
Good luck with your health!
By the way, I love your blog!

[Creative]

I second the post about Yoga. I've been doing Hatha yoga since December and feel so good. As someone with Lupus I expected to get some extra aches and pains but not so. In fact my body hasn't felt better. It is definitely about mind over matter, once I believed I am a natural healthy person with vigour my diet and exercise plan just kind of fell into place with hardly any effort at all. I look forward to reading Erin's update tomorrow (and everyone elses!)