Eat to Live not Live to Eat Day 2

Day number two of my eating to live lifestyle. I lost 2.5 pounds! Overnight! YEAH! I had to get that off my chest. So today I decided to try something new for breakfast that I found on Pinterest. It's called overnight oats. Here's what they look like. (I borrowed this photo from Pinterest and I added the link just under the picture. The blog is called Organize Yourself Skinny.)

Blueberry Banana Overnight Oats

According to Dr. Fuhrman, I can have 1/2 a cup of rolled oats a day so this follows the plan. I changed mine up a bit though. All I did was add 1/2 a cup of rolled oats, 1/2 a cup of unsweetened vanilla almond milk, 1/2 a cup of blueberries, and 1/2 a sliced banana. That's it! I sealed it up and placed it in the fridge. I actually didn't wait overnight. I only waited about two hours. They were really good. If you count smart points on Weight Watchers it added up to 5 points for the oats. The rest were zero. I don't think that's too bad for a breakfast. And it stuck with me. I actually had to remind myself to eat later. Tonight I'm going to make one for my breakfast tomorrow and see if there's a difference.

Tuesdays are my hubby's day off and it was extremely HOT both outside and inside the house. We really need to think about air conditioning. Anyway, we decided to head to the beach. Just the two of us, our chairs, towels, sunscreen, and suits. Notice I didn't say food. I was still feeling satisfied from my overnight oats and didn't think to take anything with me. Later that afternoon I realized I hadn't eaten anything since breakfast. We stopped to get bottled water for the drive home and hubby grabbed me a Kind Nuts & Spices bar.  If you haven't tried these they are amazing. However, they are 7 Weight Watchers points. I decided that would be my lunch. No salad. 

For dinner that night hubby wanted to go to Panera. I ordered a Pick Two: a cup of black bean soup (there's my beans for the day) and a southwest salad without the tortilla chips or cheese. I did have the salad dressing though. Ooops! I haven't been getting in my cup of beans a day.

At home, we watched some TV and I was still hot so I made a blueberry and banana smoothie. YUM! It's 1 cup of unsweetened vanilla almond milk, 1 cup of blueberries, and 1 banana. Weight Watchers points 1. I need to get more variety in my fruit. 

I didn't really stick to the plan today. I only had the one salad and no cooked vegies. I wonder how that's going to affect me tomorrow. I guess I'll find out. Oddly enough what I did eat was enough to keep me satisfied for the day. 

Eating to Live not Living to Eat

I finished reading Dr. Fuhrman's book called Eat to Live on Friday. There was a ton of information. It took me about three days to finish reading it, in between everything else going on in my life. This book made sense to me. It was like someone turned on the light switch. I told my hubby that back when I was eating less meat and more veggies (5 years ago) I felt better. Then I took a nose dive and began eating whatever I wanted whenever I wanted. So I joined Weight Watchers. It has really helped me stay on track. I love our leader, Lynn. However, the stress from this past year at school made me lose track of myself again. So I wanted to do something to recommit myself to getting healthier. That's why I picked up the book Eat to Live. After reading this book I'm ready to eat healthy once again. Not to say I won't have a cheat day NOW and THEN. And it's okay to have a cheat day as long as I get back to eating healthy the next day or sooner.

In a nutshell, the Eat to Live plan says I can have all of the raw and cooked vegetables that I want. Dr. Fuhrman wants me to shoot for a goal of one pound of each a day. As far as fruit goes . . . wait for it . . . I can have as much fruit as I want each day, a minimum of four servings. I've never been told I can have as much fruit as I want. Usually, diets say to limit the fruit intake. Following the Eat to Live plan is what's known as being a nutritarian, getting all the nutrients my body needs from nutrient rich foods. 

Here are the Daily Guidelines:

Eat these as much as I want:

• all raw vegetables (goal 1 lb.)
• cooked green and non-green nutrient-rich vegetables (goal: 1 lb.)
• beans, legumes, bean sprouts, and tofu (goal: 1 cup)
• fresh fruit (min. 4 daily)

Limit:

• cooked starchy vegetables and whole grains (max. 1 cup)
• raw nuts and seeds (max 1 oz.)
• avocado (max 2 oz.)
• dried fruit (max 2 tbsp.)
• ground flaxseeds (max 1 tbsp.)

Do Not Eat:

• dairy
• meat / Animal products
• between-meal snacks
• fruit juice
• oils
• added salt

Yesterday was the beginning of eating to live for me. I have to admit I was a little nervous. Could I stick with it? Would I want to snack in the afternoon? If so how would I handle it? 

I began my day as I normally would with my cup of coffee and sitting on my back porch. I'm not usually a breakfast eater. By the way, Dr. Fuhrman says if I'm not hungry I don't have to eat. All though I do want to try making overnight oats in a jar. I'll talk about that later. 

For lunch, I fixed an enormous salad: a mix of greens, carrots, cucumbers, celery, sunflower seeds, and poppy seed dressing from Panera Bread. I'm not supposed to have the dressing, but according to Weight Watchers, it is only 1 point for 2 tablespoons. The sunflower seeds were 6 points. It was difficult to get through the entire salad. However, I did feel full afterward. Not stuffed - satisfied. 

For a snack, I made a smoothie in my blender. I had been outside weeding in my flower garden and thought an icy drink would hit the spot. In my mind, this replaced my breakfast since I'm not supposed to be snacking. I blended one cup of frozen blueberries, one medium banana, and one cup of unsweetened vanilla almond milk. I sipped my smoothie while I sat in my chair enjoying the sunshine. I wonder if I got ANY vitamin D since I was covered in SPF 30. My smoothie was delicious! As far as Weight Watchers points go I only counted the almond milk. One cup is 1 point. So far so good. The hardest part of my day was yet to come.

Sitting in front of the television is a trigger for me. In other words sitting on my couch mindlessly watching my show is when I want to snack on a whole bag of chips carrot sticks. Seriously, I watch an afternoon soap, General Hospital. I usually watch my show right when I come home from school where I teach ninth graders. Today, I watched my show and nibbled on some delicious cherries. It wasn't easy. I so wanted some a whole bag of tortilla chips with hummus. I had one cup of cherries. So far I've had a banana, blueberries, and cherries. One more fruit to go for the day and I hit my minimum. Notice I haven't had any cooked veggies yet.

For dinner, I cooked some green beans and fixed another huge salad. Pretty much the same salad as lunch minus the sunflower seeds and celery. My hubby had pizza. The turd! I ate all of my green beans and most of my salad. I was feeling kind of stuffed. So I stopped eating. What a concept. 

While watching the Cavs game I wanted something to munch on so I had my fourth and final fruit of the day, cantaloupe. Yum! 

I made it! I actually did it! I know. I know. It's only the FIRST day. But I feel good. Not as nervous as I did when I first began this morning. I only used 9 WW points for the day. 

P.S. When I weighed myself this morning I lost 2.1 pounds!!! WOOT!

This Week in My Erin Condren Life Planner

I know when I hit August my life picks up speed again. My summer days, slow-moving and restful, are coming to a close. Football two-a-days and marching band practice begin in earnest. In fact, as of Monday we only have 24 days of summer left before school begins.

The first half of my week so far.

The second half of my week.

I hope everyone has a beautiful week. It looks like we might finally get some rain in Vermilion this week. I hope so. My flowers and yard need it. 

Shops tagged on Instagram. 

If you would like to purchase your own Erin Condren Life Planner here is my code for $10 off your first purchase.

Hugs,

HopeAnn