R1P3D21

Today is the last day of phase 3 for me. Whoohoo!
Tomorrow I begin phase 4, and slowly introduce sugar and starch back into my diet. Phase 4 is the rest of my life.

I weighed in at .75 lb less than my first weigh-in at the beginning of phase 3. So kewl beans there. You can see on the chart [only shows phase 3] just how much my weight bounced around. But the trend [green line] stayed pretty level and that is the main goal in this phase. So apparently my hypothalamus is all set. I still will weigh in every morning to stay on track.

My cravings are gone. I don't care if a miss a meal. My hunger signals are barely a whisper. No shakes from low blood sugar. If I skip a meal to bring my weight back in check, I get immediate results the next morning when I weigh in. I get to jump back into fruits, veggies, whole grains, nuts and seeds. [The last three of these are starches, and I have not had any since the very beginning of this diet.]

And yes, I have sprouts already matured: mung sprouts. Yum. And the dehydrated flax crackers are almost ready.

Sigh. Life is good! :D

How kewl it this?

http://www.greenbang.com/virtually-waterless-washer-could-hit-market-in-2010_10276.html

Spinach!

Popeye had it half right; spinach is a great food, but not from a can puleez!

Did you know that spinach is not only a rich source of vitamins and minerals, but researchers have identified carotenoids and at least 13 different flavonoid phytonutrients in spinach that act as powerful antioxidants? Antioxidants combat the free radicals that cause oxidative damage to our cells, including their DNA. When the researchers at the USDA Agricultural Research Service's Human Nutrition Research Center on Aging at Tufts University tested various fruits and vegetables for their antioxidant capabilities, spinach ranked second only to kale among the vegetables tested. The various flavonoids in spinach have been shown to possess anti-inflammatory, anti-mutagenic, and anti-carcinogenic properties, while its carotenoids, such as zeaxanthin and lutein, help fight prostate cancer and protect against eye diseases, such as age-related macular degeneration and cataracts. Since carotenoids are fat-soluble, they are not well absorbed unless consumed with a little fat — one more good reason to add extra flavor and nutrition to spinach by dressing it with antioxidant and phenol-rich extra virgin olive oil.

R1P3D14

Okay, it's two weeks into phase 3, and I've simplified this a bit. I stopped counting calories. I pretty much eat how I was taught in phase 2. Counting calories to be sure I was right at 1500 cal/day was a real hassle. Now I gauge what I eat by the scale. The scale keeps bouncing around, but pretty much stays within a 1 lb. variance. When I go up a bit, the next day I skip a fruit or eat more veggies. The next day the scale goes down. I love how what I eat during the day now has an immediate effect on the next morning's weigh-in.

As of today, I am going back to more juicing, and almost no meats. Water is the key to keeping the weight lower, so I try to drink/gulp it as often as I can remember to.

It is still amazing to me that my hunger now is minimal at best; slight tummy growls are the only clues I get. I eat A LOT less food now. I don't think of getting something to eat near as much as I used to. That is really amazing to me. Because I am an emotional eater. Not anymore. It's as if a switch has been turned off.

You Go Hypothalamus! :D

Does cold smoked salmon have the same nutrient value as fresh or frozen salmon?

No, smoked salmon does not have the same nutrient value as fresh or frozen salmon. There are several reasons that smoked salmon is less healthy than salmon that has been cooked using methods that help to retain the maximum amounts of its nutrients.

Perhaps the most important reason involves omega-3 fatty acids. Salmon is one of the richest sources of omega-3 essential fatty acids, which have been associated with the reduction of inflammation and protection against many different types of degenerative diseases.

Smoking salmon has been found to substantially reduce its omega-3 content. For example, three ounces of baked Chinook salmon contain about two grams of omega-3 fatty acids. This same three-ounce portion of Chinook salmon, when smoked, contains less than one-half gram of omega-3s. This reduction in total omega-3 fatty acids is even greater when we look at one particularly important omega-3-EPA, or eicosapentaenoic acid. Smoked salmon contains about 20% as much EPA as non-smoked salmon on an ounce-for-ounce basis.

George Mateljan

R1P3D7

This is the end of my first week in phase 3, and boy does the scale bounce around on this.

The idea is to NEVER gain or lose more than 2 lbs from what you weighed on the last morning of phase 2. If you do go over or under 2 lbs, even if it's only in ounces, you have to do a 'steak day', which is eat nothing until dinner - a huge steak plus either a tomato or an apple. The next day you should drop 1 to 4 lbs, from what I read. [This most likely depends on how much you went overboard in eating the day before.]

I have dropped .25 lbs from my last weigh-in on phase 2, and got within a 1/2 lb from being over. My graph reads, up-down-over-down-up-down....LOL. But it is pretty easy to bring my weight down a bit when I need to. As a matter of fact, there most definitely is something to your hypothalamus being reset, because I hardly feel hungry at all any more! I can't wait for phase 4 - eat whatever - so that I can work on losing the few extra pounds left.