Prepping for Day One...Physically and Mentally

Here we are, a few hours before I officially start my new food plan…and I’m incredibly glad I waited until now to begin. I was able to fully enjoy the holidays (and my birthday!) without the stress that can come from dramatically changing your diet. I was also able to gather memories from several experiences that can serve as motivation, because on more than one occasion I ate foods that weren’t great for me…and I felt terrible subsequently. But most importantly, I had time to prepare for this big change – because I’ve learned from past failed attempts that if you don’t prepare and plan, it’s significantly harder to change your diet and it often doesn’t stick. That doesn’t mean I won’t have challenges and potential setbacks, but hopefully careful planning and preparation might minimize them.

To recap, here are the parameters for my new food plan: No gluten, dairy, eggs, soy, corn, refined sugar, or alcohol; the allowed animal proteins are poultry, fish and lamb; and all foods must be organic and free of hormones, antibiotics, chemicals, and all things artificial. And because of the results of my food allergy test, I also can't have tomatoes, peanuts, cashews, walnuts, sesame or safflower. So for those of you who are interested, here are some of the things I’ve been doing for the past few weeks to prepare for the start of my new food plan…both physically and mentally. And also some things I’ll be doing on an ongoing basis to increase my chances for success long-term…

Physical Preparation:

·         GATHER RECIPES.

I’ve been building a collection of recipes and will continue to, so as to keep variety in my menus and meals. The recipe books I’ve been using so far are: Ultrametabolism by Mark Hyman, MD, The Hip Chick’s Guide to Macrobiotics by Jessica Porter, and Jump Start Cookbook by Jeff Woodward. However, the most valuable resource I’ve found for recipes is Pinterest (www.pinterest.com). This social networking site allows users to create virtual bulletin boards to organize and save all of their favorite websites. It’s like bookmarking, but infinitely cooler because you can follow other users bulletin boards to learn about new sites. So I’ll be posting all of the online recipes I find on my Pinterest boards, and will continuously look at my friends’ and followees’ boards for new recipes. If you create a Pinterest account, you can see all of my recipes too!

·         AUDIOBOOKS FOR EXERCISE.

Because of the chaos in my pelvis, a lot of exercises have been painful for me recently…so I’ve basically been avoiding it entirely for the past few months. This, unfortunately, has left me incredibly out of shape – more so than I’ve ever been. So my plan is to start out by just walking for the first month…45 – 60 minutes of walking, 4 – 6 times a week. But it’s January…in Maine…so walking outdoors is out of the question right now. That leaves me with a treadmill. But since I have a tendency to get bored while walking on treadmills, I’ve decided to listen to audiobooks to ward against the boredom and I just loaded the first one on my iPod. Starting tomorrow, I’ll be listening to Extremely Loud and Incredibly Close by Jonathan Safran Foer while walking! (I have to read it before the movie comes out!)

·         CLEAN OUT CUPBOARDS.

The best way to deal with the cravings that will inevitably come and to not be tempted to eat the wrong foods, is to simply not have any of it in your house. So for the past two weeks, I’ve finished off what was left of the foods on the “no list.” I still have half a box of truffles, some pretzels, and a box of graham crackers that will be given to my boyfriend tomorrow.

·         CREATE BASELINE MEASUREMENTS.

I find it important to measure progress…and you can’t do that without a starting point. So I have taken all of my measurements, weighed myself, and scored my various symptoms on a scale from 1-10. I will do these three things every Monday.

·         PLAN MENU FOR FIRST WEEK.

There are three big reasons it’s important to plan your menu out ahead of time: 1.) To ensure that your three meals and two snacks are balanced and cover all the food groups throughout the day, 2.) You can save money on groceries, because you’ll only buy the food you need for the week, and (most importantly) 3.) It will protect you from the number one failure trap: coming home hungry with no idea of what to eat…which just makes you want to binge and devour anything in your kitchen that isn’t nailed down.

Mental Preparation:

·         POSITIVE AFFIRMATIONS.

The most important thing I’ve done over the past few weeks is to repeatedly tell myself I can do this. And whenever I’ve had a thought about how hard it will be to stick to this plan, I’ve forced myself to think positively instead. Belief in my strength, willpower and determination is key. And surrounding myself with supportive people who also believe I can do this is equally important.

·         MOTIVATING REMINDERS.

I’ve also found it helpful to gather a collection of thoughts, images, feelings and memories to remind me why I’m doing this in the first place, and to motivate me to keep going with it. Here are my top four motivating reminders: 1.) I don’t want to get cancer. An excess of estrogen, exposures to synthetic estrogens, and a deficient system for estrogen metabolism all greatly increase my risk of breast and reproductive cancers. So this isn’t just about healing my reproductive system – it’s also about preventing significantly more serious problems. 2.) I feel terrible physically. I’m in pain chronically and am completely tired of it. 3.) This will be great for my overall health. This food plan won’t just (hopefully) improve the health of my reproductive system, but there are an infinite number of other health benefits I could possibly receive from this. And 4.) I’m very unhappy with my body. Yes, some of the weight I’ve gained in my stomach is actually my enlarged uterus…but that doesn’t account for what’s happened to my hips, butt or thighs, or why I have love handles now and a potential double chin. My boyfriend thinks this whole experience has sort of “taken the wind out of my sails” and I think he’s absolutely right. As a result, I’ve been eating terribly, not exercising, and wallowing in my circumstances. I’ve been caught in a vicious cycle, and I am SO ready to break it. Not that weight loss is my primary goal here…but I’m hoping it might be a bonus secondary result!

·         FOCUS ON WHAT I CAN EAT.

Instead of thinking about the limitations of what I can’t eat, I’m focusing on what I can eat. By maintaining that mindset, my menu options appear vast rather than restrictive. I can eat all fruits and veggies, grains, nuts, beans, chicken, turkey, all kinds of fish, lamb…and dark chocolate!

·         MODIFY MY FAVORITES.

Along the same lines, I’m trying not to think about all of my favorite foods that now fall under the “no-no list.” Instead, I’m trying to come up with ways to modify my favorite things so they can be on the “okey dokie list.” An example is my tea. I love English Breakfast tea with half-and-half and honey. But instead of giving that up, I’m modifying. Watery almond milk doesn’t really serve as a substitute for creamy half-and-half…but when I heat and froth the almond milk (with the frother my boyfriend got me for Christmas!) and sweeten the tea with a little agave, it makes a whole new delicious hot beverage!

·         KEEP THINGS IN PERSPECTIVE.

It’s also been really helpful for me to remember that I’m not necessarily going to have to eat like this for the rest of my life. In the grand scheme of things, 3 – 6 months is really just a brief moment of time out of my life…especially when that brief period of time can possibly have such positive effects on the rest of my life. And any time I think about how much I’ll miss red wine (which I LOVE), I remind myself that all of my Mommy friends had to give it up for longer than I’ll have to.

Ongoing Steps:

·         MAKING TIME TO COOK.

I’m undertaking a huge, exciting, and incredibly important project…and it needs to be treated as such. With food at the foundation of this project, the majority of my efforts need to be placed in that area. Therefore, I need to make time in my schedule to cook and prep food.

·         PLANNING MENUS EVERY WEEK.

I will continue to write my menus ahead of time every week, for all of the reasons I listed above. My week will go from Sunday through Saturday, and I’ll be writing the menu on Fridays and posting them on here for any of you who would like to personally follow any or all of my food plan.

·         PREPPING FOOD IN ADVANCE.

Since big changes often don’t stick if they’re complicated and time-consuming, the most important thing to do is simplify as much as possible. A great way to do that is prepping food in advance. Peel and chop veggies so they’re all ready for salads, stirfries and veggie sticks. Cook all of your chicken and divide it into 4 oz portions. Make large amounts of brown rice, quinoa and other grains. Cut fruit and freeze it for smoothies. Prep food as soon as you get home from grocery shopping. Make large meals that can be divided up and frozen, such as soups, bean dishes, casseroles, etc.

·         WEEKLY CHECK-IN.

I will take my measurements, weigh myself, and score my symptoms once a week in order to measure my progress. I’ll post them on here every Monday.

·         GUARD AGAINST SET-BACKS.

Because there are bound to be hurdles, cravings, and potential setbacks, it can be helpful to prepare yourself in order to guard against them. Some treats for sugar cravings to keep on hand or cook: fruit, a couple of squares of organic dark chocolate (at least 70% cocoa), poached pears, cinnamon and vanilla (they actually make things taste sweet!), and frozen berries. And for those salt cravings, try nuts, roasted chick peas, gluten-free crackers, or dehydrated veggies. But most importantly, cut yourself a little slack if you need to indulge in one of these setback preventers!

Obviously, everyone needs to determine their own individual planning tips and strategies for success…but feel free to use some of mine! (And I welcome suggestions for others too!)