I have recently started putting into practice all the things I have learned about eating healthy and living healthy. Since the beginning of this year I have lost 31 #'s. No diets, no drugs, no herbs, no special potions! I would love to be able to share this with others.

I made several permenant changes in my life style. Each day starts off with about 5 minutes of stretching exercises. This is great because it gets out all those kinks I wake up with. Then before the morning gets to far gone I exercise to a low impact arobic video for 1 hour. There are many different opinions on how many times per week to exercise, but I have chosen 7 days per week. If something comes up and I need to drop a day, no biggie, I just be sure not to make a habit out of skipping days.

The biggest change had been that I have totally eliminated all processed flour and refined sugar! It is more work, but well worth it. The only other step is amaller portions at meals.

Any questions and I would love to answer them. For some people 31# doesn't tell them much, so I will put it a different way. January 7,2002 size 22 height 5'3" weight 200# February 7,2002 size 18 " " weight 179# March 7, 2002 size 16 " " weight 169#

-- Stacy Jo in Michigan (dsparsons@lakeshore.net), March 18, 2002

Answers

Wow, I'm impressed!

I've been more or less following the Weight Watchers Point System, which for me has resulted in much healthier eating. I've also cut down the portion size somewhat, but credit what I'm eating more than how much I'm eating with the weight loss. I've been losing an average of a pound a week. If I could just figure out a way to exercise without further injuring myself I know I could lose much more rapidly, but for now I'll just have to be inactive and be satisfied with what I am losing. I've cut out most forms of sweets, am eating lots of fruits and vegies, mostly eat only high fiber breads, and really watch the spreads, cream gravies, mayo and such. It doesn't feel like a "diet". I would love to hear more about what you're doing.

-- Lenette (kigervixen@webtv.net), March 18, 2002.

I am on the road to weight loss myself. I am combining the subway diet with weight watchers. I figured if I put the two together I will lose faster. On Fridays I eat nothing but fruit and vegies to cleanse my body I am also laying off the reg. soda and limiting the diet soda. I am drinking more water. I prefer Fruit 2 0 because it breaks the monotony of plain ol' water. I know Melissa does weekly weigh ins and I think I will start checking in. I need all the support I can get.

-- Melinda (speciallady104@hotmail.com), March 18, 2002.

Good going Stacy Jo and others. I lost 100#"s six years ago by changing what I ate and excersizing. I went from 242 to (my lowest) 136, but I looked like a dead woman walking, so now I like to stay around 145. I eat (normally) 2 meals a day, walk about 3-5 miles a day and am a vegetarian. I have been a vegetarian for 10 years, so please note, I was a very FAT vegetarian! I'm not equating that with my weight loss. Lots of veggies and grains, olive oil for fat and I go easy on the fruit for my hypoglycemia. Keep up the good work ladies!

-- Lynelle SOwestVA (X2ldp@aol.com), March 18, 2002.

Stacy Jo, that is wonderful! Please do share more with us. My husband and I have been eating mostly entirely vegetarian for about 4 weeks now. We have allowed ourselves 1 meat meal a week but honestly we are about to give that up now. We did total vegetarian several years ago but got off of it when I had major surgery and was in the hospital 4 weeks. This time we are doing even different. We are really limiting our grains and legumes and mostly eating fruits and veggies. We are eating a more alkaline diet and we both feel so much better. Fruit tastes so good to me now, I'd rather have an orange than a piece of cake or candy. My weight loss is slow because I am having a hard time with the exercise because of severe back problems. I was walking 1/2 hour a day on my tread mill but had to quit because it was aggravating my back problem and causing terrible leg pain. I have lost 9# since about the middle of January so I am happy with that if I can keep losing at that rate. I would appreciate any hints you may have!

-- Barb in Ky. (bjconthefarm@yahoo.com), March 18, 2002.

I am not trying to lose weight but due to heart troubles have to limit my salt and fat intake. I have found about the only way to do this is to cook everything from scratch so I know what is in it. I bake still eat some cakes but use apple sauce instead of oils in it and only use no salt added tomato products. I have gotten to where I like the food I make and don't miss the fat or salt. I think one thing that helps is being a single male (I think single anything would work) as no one else has to change their diet to what I have to eat. I am taking over twenty pills a day that are prescription drugs and that doesn't count the pain pills and muscle relaxants so as I don't want to get worse but only better I really watch my diet as it is the one thing I do have control over. I would suggest to all that haven't started a more healthy diet do it now so you can have the diet without the pills and other problems. If I had only done this years ago how much better off I would be now but then too if I had only started an IRA years ago think how I might be. But forget money let me have my little spot of land in the country and a more simple live style. gail

-- gail missouri ozarks (gefozarks@centurytel.net), March 18, 2002.

Wow!!! It's great to get so many responses.

I can't stress enough how important it is to change your entire lifestyle!! I know that for myself as well as many others, our old lifestyle it what got us where we currently are. It use to drive me nuts. I didn't change anything, I exercised the same, ate the same, got the same ammount of sleep.....But I kept gaining weight. Up until I was 27 years old I weighed 125#, give or take 2-3 #'s. Then all the sudden the weight started coming on like a freight train. While still doing all those same old things I gained 40#'s in one year. I went to the doctor, they did tests, and proceeded to tell me that my motabalism had slowed down to the rate of an 85 year old. For pete's sake, I was only 28!!!

Anyway over the years I have tried counting calories, staying under 1200. Walking 3 miles, 5 days per week. Cutting out the fat, going on the Zone diet, and many other things. All were useless. I ate 1200 calories a day, measured everything I ate and walked 3 miles for 5 days per week. I did this for 6 months. I was very faithful!!!! At the end of the 6 months I had not lost 1 pound!!

All this is to say that although I tried many things, I had to keep trying until I found the right one. I believe that the combo that finally worked is one that will work for most people. There is a diet program out(I really hate the word diet!) that is called the Prism Diet. In their plan they cut out all refined sugars and processed flours! There are other aspects, but this is one that I follow based on what knowledge I have on these areas. I also eat smaller portions and so not clean my childrens plates anymore! Exercising 7 days a week is also a key ingredient! I realize that not everyone can do the exercises I do but everyone can exercise! It can be as much as I do(Richard Simmons Sweaten to the Oldies) or as little as resistance exercises while sitting in a wheel chair. Ask if you would like to know more about this!

I wanted to touch again on the flour/sugar thing again. A wheat kernel contains life! If this were not so, it could not sprout and become a wheat plant. When that kernel is milled the flour from it contains life! There are many things in that flour that most people have never seen. There is oil, germ, bran, and many other things. Well if the flour was left whole and in tack it would start to go rancid in 72 hours. So the milling companies take out the live parts of the flour and leave a powder that most Americans believe is "flour". These companies then sell this bran, germ and oil for big bucks! What is left they dump a bunch of vitemins into and call it enriched. This really burns me. Anyway, it is not good for people to eat. ANY PERSON AT ALL!!! If you don't have access to fresh milled flour, then I would urge you to stop eatting things made with flour! I realize that is a very strong statement, but a necessary one. I know what that flour does in the human body and it is not pretty!!!

Likewise, refined sugars are not at all good for anyone! The main ones include white sugar, brown sugar, powdered sugar and corn syrup. These should be replaced with honey (requires 1/2 the amount of sugar in a receipe), pure maple syrup or others you could read about in health books.

By taking the refined sugar and processed flour out of your diet your body will work so much better. And it will amaze you how great you will feel!!!!!!!!

More later!

-- Stacy in Michigan (dsparsons@lakeshore.net), March 20, 2002.

Melinda, you know better than to drink diet drinks. Love, Mom

-- Cindy (SE. IN) (atilrthehony_1@yahoo.com), March 20, 2002.

Melinda,

Mom's right! Diet drinks, especially ones such as Slim Fast, are mostly sugar! Also diet soft drinks are made with a chemical to sweeten them. And we really don't want to fill our bodies with chemials, do we? The sugar substitute, Nutrisweet or aspertaime, is also a very questionable sugar substitute. It has been documented to produce a number of side effect ranging from gastro intestional aliments to links to alhesmeizers. Stick with fruit juice, but only 8oz per day. Also water is the best and is a great tool for weight loss. A little tip, keep drinking water in the fridge. When you drink the cold water, your body has to heat it up when it enters you and that burns calories! Pretty cool :)

-- Stacy in Michigan (dsparsons@lakeshore.net), March 20, 2002.

Stacy, I can feel your enthusiasm coming over the internet and this is great! I agree, white flour and white sugar are deadly. We have not eaten either except for very little for several years. But I think we need to take it a little further than just eliminating white flour and sugar. I think we also need to eliminate dairy and meat and most salt and eat more raw foods - especially fruits and veggies. When you cook food you kill most of the nutrition. When a lot of people go off white flour and sugar they just substitute whole wheat and honey or another natural sugar and don't cut these items down. I think we should eat less of these things and more fruit and veggies, especially as we get older and we get more chronic diseases and our metabolism slows down. I'm glad your diet has worked so well for you, congratulations, and you are right to call it a lifestyle change, not a diet!

-- Barb in Ky (bjconthefarm@yahoo.com), March 20, 2002.

Barb has a good point about the fresh fruits and veggies. Cooking them/ preparing them in any way other than raw delites many of the benefits from eating fruits and veggies in the first place. In a progressive order, raw is the most healthy and you loose nothing when you eat them this way. If you peal an apple, you are loosing the benefits that are found in the layer directly beneith the skin. No one can peal an apple so close as to not get this layer. Also it is so important to wash all fruits and veggies very well before eating them fresh or cooking them. There are way to many airborn invironmental hazards, even on organic foods!

Next, is steaming your veggies. They loose the least amount of nutrients when cooked this way. Be sure to invest in a good steamer, one that uses the least amount of water and seals well. After steaming your veggies, stirfrying in a very light oil or water is best.

In buying veggies, the progressing is also important. Fresh, I.Q. F. frozen, frozen, vacuum packed, & canned.

As for going strictly with veggies, I do not agree! There are benefits from animal products that are not comtained in veggies & fruits. Although nuts contain a host of healthy goodies, they are not a supliment for a balanced diet. Grain and fowl are what the Isrealities lived on for 40 years in the dessert, and I certainly believe that the God who provided it knew more about what our bodies needed than I ever will!

More later, God Bless!

-- Stacy in Michigan (dsparsons@lakeshore.net), March 21, 2002.

Stacy, I just know when we eat animal products, we feel bad. When one becomes really attuned to how you feel after eating certain things you will be amazed. I'm not saying animal products are bad for everyone but most people eat way too many. Personally, I feel we can get all the nutrition we need from fruits, veggies, some grains and nuts and legumes in small amounts. Actually we don't need near as much protein as we think. Man lived 100's of years in the garden and before the flood not eating meat! God did not say meat was sinful but after the flood there weren't many veggies to eat for a while! I do eat a few eggs however, although not many. We have our own fresh eggs or I probably wouldn't eat them either. I enjoy studying about nutrition and can always learn something. I'm not closed to discussion!

-- Barb in Ky. (bjconthefarm@yahoo.com), March 21, 2002.

Regarding a vegetarian diet vs. one with meat or eggs, I think it really depends on the person and their unique body chemistry(?). I have a friend who does very well on a completely vegetarian diet. I wish I could..I believe in eating lower on the food chain, etc.

But I've discovered that I need a little (not tons) of meat or diary protein. We eat venison, moose, lamb (we buy from friends, organic). Eggs from our chickens. I will not eat meat from the grocery store..I've read too much! My husband eats chicken but I don't care for it.

I just watch portion size and try to find the balance between exercise and eating. I think I've hit on a good balance lately.

Elimating the processed stuff is a very good thing. You get so used to this, you stop wanting to eat out, because you know you can make it of better quality at home. (that's a good thing, too!)

-- Cat (catcrazy@somewhere.com), March 21, 2002.

I do agree with the idea that Americans eat way to much meat/animal products. Having said that I also don't believe in throwing the baby out with the proverbal bath water! Moderation is something that our society knows so little about. The mainstream citizen has some major misconceptions when it come to food! It truely amazes me that unless the Dr. specifically tells them that something is unhealthy, they think it is fine. How have Americans gotten so lack in there thinking?

A really good exemple: Several months ago we discovered that our 3 1/2 year old was allergic to dairy. Everyone who we have mentioned this to, who is not into nutrition/herbs, has looked at us like we were crazy! Several even questioned us and said there was no such thing! It makes me ill to think of all the children out there who have cronic ear infections due to allergies. The ENT Doctors are putting tubes in little ears at an alarming rate. Does anyone else see this as being very warped? I was told by an ENT that they often tell the parents of there little patients that they have a 50/50 chance of having allergies and the tubes may not work. It would be best to check into allergies before they do tubes. This ENT told me that only 5% of the parents go this route. My own Dr. has talked with me about the over prescription of antibotics. People demand them and that is how it got so out of hand, and still is today.

If I could have a health wish come true, it would be for all Americans to know more about what they put into their bodies, than they desire to know about all their play time activities!

I often ask myself, "How can what we put into our bodies, and the bodies of our children, mean so little to us. How has food become so unimportant, and fun replaced knowledge?"

More Later!

-- Stacy in Michigan (dsparsons@lakeshore.net), March 21, 2002.

I would personally recommend my very own seafood diet. It keeps me fit and trim and is easy to make. For breakfast, one can of sardines mit soda crakers. Don't buy just any old sardines, get King Oscar or Sons of Norway brand....they're the best!

For lunch, I purchase a tuna salad sandwich. I prefer the ones that come in the plasitc wedge-shaped container from Texaco filling stations. The sammishes from the Standard Oil stations just ain't as good. For my vegetable, I smash potato chips in the sandwich.

Usually, I drink my supper. I visit Sam over at the Legion Hall, he makes a super Bloody Mary. It contains V-8, a cerely stalk, a pickle spear, a couple of giant olives, and a shrimp. I figger that I get all my vitamins and minerals after a couple of Sam's cocktails.

And by the way, I think this diet helps with stress and panic attacks, too. I have no proof of this, but I've never felt stressed or panicky while eating this diet.

-- Cabin Fever (Cabinfever_MN@yahoo.com), March 21, 2002.

Stacy, most doctors know virtually nothing about nutrition, honestly! They only know how to treat disease, not how to stay healthy. Should we continue this on a new thread or perhaps by private email. I find it a very fascinating subject and always love to learn.

-- Barb in Ky. (bjconthefarm@yahoo.com), March 21, 2002.

Hi there Cabin Fever. I was wondering how long before you crept into my tread! Good idea on that seafood diet....NOT! I use to be on a seefood diet. When ever I saw food, I ate it...:) But then again, 200#'s of a 5'3" woman isn't a pretty sight! And by the way those drinks may pickle your liver but they won't preserve it! You sure know how to lighten up the mood!

But seriously, I would rather die happy, healty & wise, ...then unhappy, overweight and foolish!!!

God Bless

-- Stacy in Michigan (dsparsons@lakeshore.net), March 21, 2002.

Starting a new thread, this one is getting really long. Look for "Care to discuss eating healthy2?"

-- Stacy in Michigan (dsparsons@lakeshore.net), March 21, 2002.