Yeaster

Whenever I go on a road-trip to the good ole USA, I have to try out the very latest flavor of Doritos. I look for something that will tantalize ever single one of my taste buds and this time I was not disappointed. I like the spark of buffalo wings and the sourness of ranch - putting them together in a chip is an excellent idea. The above bag was gone in seconds.
Can you believe it - six artificial colors!!! Thank you Frito-Lay for keeping North Americans nice and plump. We could not do it without you!

Phew what a rant!! I’m obviously bitter because I gained weight over the Yeaster weekend
although I have no-one but myself to blame.

We love the Willamette valley, land of some of the best Pinot Noirs known to man. In fact my break through Pinot Noir was made by Ken Wright who is known for putting Oregon Pinots on the map. I had high hopes to purchase another bottle from Ken Wright Cellars - that was not meant to be, but we did taste some lovely wines.

We spent Saturday afternoon with my cousin Tara and her husband Glen. We went to four wineries in all- starting in Dundee at the Ponzi wine Bar. We had the most delicious sandwiches, made at the adjoining Dundee Bistro, which is owned by the Ponzi family. The sandwiches are simple - freshly baked ciabatta breads with gorgeous meats and cheeses. Accompanied by a flight of Oregon Syrahs, there could be no better option for lunch. Adam and I enjoyed these sandwiches a year ago at the start of our Oregon/Californian vacation. We’ve talked about them a lot since then. It may seem odd that we would discuss sandwiches for a year, but we love food and they were memorable. As it turns out the cured meats came from somewhere in Vancouver BC.

Our next designation was Domaine Serene, a fairly new winery which is putting out stellar Pinot Noirs. The April 2007 edition of the Wine Spectator did an article on Ken and Grace Evenstand; a couple from Minnesota who came out west with the intention of making Pinot Noirs that would be in the same league as French Burgundies. The fact that they owned a pharmaceutical firm in Minnesota helped them to finance their Oregon Winery. Interestingly enough Ken Wright was their first wine maker. Their wines are now being made by Tony Rynders and can fetch up to $200.00 for a bottle - the most expensive price for a bottle of Oregon wine. We were not tasting wines of this caliber, but they were mighty good just the same. We did purchase a bottle of 2003 Rockblock Syrah for $48.00- this is going to be a smashing bottle of wine - in a year or two. Since 1998, Domaine Serene has produced over two dozen wines scoring 90 points or higher on Wine Spectator’s 100 point rating scale.

The tasting room at Domaine Serene is the best part of the winery. The huge room, complete with fireplace and big tables has massive beautiful wooden beams running across the ceilings - very cool. Unfortunately the rest of the mansion/winery is done in that faux - Italian look - so cheesy! If you had millions of dollars to buy vineyards and build a grand estate why go gaudy? All of us agreed that a beautifully designed west - coast cedar estate would have been a better choice. The canary-yellow castle stands out like an eyesore from several miles away, as it is at the top of the hill- it left a bad taste in my mouth- but the wines did not.

more on Yeaster weekend next time

25lbs lost- a gain of 3 lbs.. actually it was a gain of 5 lbs because before the weekend I was actually down 30lbs....GRRRRRR!!!!!

The Body Sense Natural Diet

The Body Sense Natural Diet

Last week I started this diet . It begins with three days of very limited carbs and then you start adding complex carbohydrates such as brown rice, legumes, whole grain breads.

The book itself, written by Lorna R. Vanderhaeghe contains a lot of information. By the time I had finished reading it (the first time), I was convinced that my liver and adrenal glands were failing- thus keeping me fat. In fact I ran out and purchased some of Ms Vanderhaghe’s Adrenal support supplements, which I took religiously but nothing about my health seemed to improve at that time. Of coarse it didn’t help that I was eating and drinking too much of the wrong foods.

My main criticism about the book is that it seems poorly laid out and edited. There is overlapping and conflicting information. For instance on page 30 under Starches, Breads Crackers and Chips Ms Vanderhaege states that unsweetened, protein enriched, whole-grained rye and pumpernickel breads are only allowed after two weeks on the diet.
On her 42 day diet plan however she has pumpernickel bread on day #4!! I’m a stickler for detail and in this case it is important.

If you read this book and only followed half of the recommended supplements and vitamins you’d probably be in the poor house. Plus I’m not sure about combining all of this stuff. In fact in one section of the book Lorna does say that you should pick and choose your supplements- a multivitamin with minerals and essential fatty acids is probably enough. If you want to lose weight -her clients swear by thermogenics(too many to list- CLA is one of them) and 5-HTP which is a nutrient helps with cravings.

Ms Vanderhaege has been researching and writing on the subject of nutrition and medicine for many years. Those that read Alive magazine will recognize her name as she writes for them frequently and was an associate editor. She does know a lot about nutrition and despite the fact that the book is choppy-there is still a lot of good information. The question is - Is the protein focused diet better for losing weight?

I am supposed to be testing this diet and I did follow it for ten days but then my father came for a planned visit for which meals were a big focus. There was another dinner out at Brio. There was an early Easter dinner of lobster risotto, rib-eye steak, tiramisu cake and espresso ice-cream. Chef Adam was at it again the next evening - serving up a Gumbo that had us all weeping. By the time dad left Adam and I were fist-fighting over the last piece of tiramisu cake .Amazing how addictive that white substance- sugar - can be.

I really should have started this diet at a time when I knew there would be no upcoming events that would call for alcohol or desserts. I just can’t have beautiful meal without at least one good glass of wine and a nice desert- I don’t want to!

So the end of the week was a write off but I still did lose weight.Ten days is not nearly long enough to test a diet of this nature. Since we are heading down to Oregon wine country for next weekend I am hesitant to continue with a strict protein focus. My main aim is to keep eating under control during the week and try not to go bonkers once we hit the road.



28 lbs - 12 weeks

Ketosis

When I was in grade eleven,I went on the Dr.Atkins diet and lost a great deal of weight in a short period of time. I was so proud to squeeze myself into a pair of Howick jeans, and received lots of compliments, even from my teachers. I probably only wore the Howicks once or twice before I became reacquainted with Peanut-Butter Cups. The water weight that I had lost came swiftly back on - by graduation I was 260 lbs.

So why would I want to try it again? Well, I read a book by Lorna Vanderhaeghe. The Body Sense Natural Diet is sort of high protein but certainly different than Dr. Atkins.

The focus of Dr. Atkins was that you can eat all of the meat, eggs, cheese that you want as long as you cut out the carbohydrates. Eggs, bacon, fatty steaks- no problem- as long as you limit yourself to a couple of small salads and nothing else as a form of carb to accompany your massive rib-eye.

Ms Vanderhaeghe is a local (Whiterock) wellness pioneer who specializes in alternative means to hormone replacement pharmaceuticals. She has her own talk show and line of vitamins. Her diet is based on organic whole foods- she believes that eating several proteins based meals keeps your fat -burning engienes running all day long. We’re not talking about big meals- sensible sized portions of lean, organic meats, eggs, fish-lots of opportunity for whey-soy protein shakes.

I was surprised to see a health-food chick advocating the much maligned Ketosis.Her suggestion is that you jump-start your fat burning engines by doing three full days of ketosis and then you can slowly add back in some complex, low-glycemic carbohydrates.

Three days, what the hell- I had to try, after all- I’ve owned this book for a year and not really had the gumption to do it. Until now!!

So, I cooked up a big salmon, hauled a free-range hen out of the freezer and happily bought some extra-old cheddar( first cheese purchase since January). Veggies are allowed- just not fruits or grains.

If you do try this diet- prepare to be constipated!! Within a day the psyillum husks were weeded out of herbal cupboard. Then there was the little unexplained bout of diarrhea. I know, I know- too much information- but this is a blog where I explore different types of diets and I feel that I must give readers all the details of my research. Anyway lets just say that the ole system slows down- a lot . Also- I got hungrier, faster. I timed myself one day after eating a fairly big lunch of some salmon and a big coleslaw- I had a hunger pang 90 minutes later!! You are supposed to eat every three to four hours- but it seems like you’re always hungry and sometimes you just don’t feel like another hunk of flesh.

The cheese was also a focal point- I really like cheese and it was hard to just have a 2 inch piece. It soon became an obsession, which led to the need for more psyillium husks.

I lasted the three days of ketosis- although I’m not sure whether I actually achieved ketosis as I was too cheap to purchase any test-strips.

Surprisingly i lost another 2 lbs but these were off before I started my attempt at Ketosis.

25lbs down

next-week I want to talk more about the Body Sense Diet.

X- Weighed

Last month I went to an open casting call for the television show X-Weighted. This one hour program follows the progress of someone who wants to lose in-between 30-60 lbs in six months. A typical episode goes like this: You are introduced to the candidate and they give you a brief history of themselves. They meet up with the show’s personal trainer who weighs, measures and puts them through a fitness test. Sometimes he comes to your house and finds bad things in your fridge or takes you shopping and scolds you when you try to purchase dip. There is an self-esteem expert who analysis's your wardrobe and other services- trainers, nutritionists, shrinks, doctors. Every show is different .

So I got a call from the casting agent and I made the first cut! That means that I had to go to another interview, this time with higher-ups involved with the show. I was asked to bring along my fiance and a few friends who might also be on camera as part of my weight-loss journey. First I was interviewed - this time on camera. Then the others were brought in and we were all interviewed. It was fun but kind of weird. Adam thought that there was a “fake movie-business feel" to it all. Anyway who knows what happens from here- they now have to narrow it down to three cities from four. Casting calls were done in Toronto, Vancouver, Victoria and Calgary where the series is produced. If they film in Victoria I think that I have a good chance of being a further contender but at this point there will need to be several strong contenders from Victoria in order for Victoria to make the cut. You don’t get paid to do the series but you do get the services paid for. I’m not sure what the dollar limit of those services is. Stuff like that is not cheap. I will find out in early April if I make the next cut and to me it’s fine either way although right now I’m not really supposed to be trying to lose weight as they want big drops for the series. I can’t hold off until May, when the series begins, as I need to lose more weight now. I need to fit into my wedding dress besides I don’t need to be given a reason to go back to bad eating habits- what if I didn’t get on the show?

What I figure is that even if I did drop more weight I would still have at least sixty pounds to lose - realistically I could shed 100 lbs from my present weight and would still be overweight by most standards.

Well finally a drop in the scales- after a looooong time!! I’m not even sure how this happened as the eating has been very decadent since Thursday. The Golden Mile Cellars winemaker’s dinner at Cafe Brio was really good - the fry-stub thief being nowhere in sight. It was quite the protein-fest with scallops, roast duck breast, braised oxtail, roast strip loin and cheeses making up most of the five courses. The wines were delicious! The proprietor was sweet and humble- the nicest winemaker that we’ve met . There were definitely highlights. The 05 Chardonnay served with pancetta wrapped scallop with leek and root veg ragout. Also the 05 ’Black Arts’ Syrah with cheese course and spiced jam, served for desert! Wonderful!

Saturday night I came home after an Improv match and wolfed down three pieces of pizza !! Good god- I wasn’t even hungry- one hour earlier I had crab cakes ( they weren’t very big). Maybe time at the gym is finally paying off or it could be that I’m now on a routine of green tea in the mornings which is supposed to be a fat-fighter. Who the hell knows. I’m not complaining.

23 lbs down.

Correction on last week's entry- it was lunges not squats that I refused to do. I am doing the odd squat but it ain't pretty!