1) No artificial sweeteners. No diet soda, no sucralose, no aspartame.
2) Dairy elimination trial. Saying goodbye to cheese, HWC, cottage cheese, and even butter for a while.
3) Track food daily and keep calories under 2200 and net carbs < 35 on average for the duration of this challenge.

I'm half way though the challenge. I've stuck to the goals of this challenge since the "strikes" I reported in my last post. I've had no dairy and no AS. My food tracking has been good.

Eating has been a little all over the place with 'bonus' hunger generated from longer and harder workouts. I think I'm doing OK as a whole. The scale is up one day and down the next. I'm feeling more physically fit. Soft and flabby places (particularly my thighs) are firming up nicely. As other fairly recent "maintainers" have reported, the body seems to be continuing to reshape even without much difference on the scale. I believe that I look better at 202 pounds today than I did at 195 pounds last summer. More muscle, less flab. Even my loose skin continues to tighten up. Yep - this WOE does a body good.

I like gelatin. I used to have SF Jello fairly often. Going AS free nixed that. But I've since leaned to make unflavored gelatin mixed with natural sweeteners and water 'enhancers'. It's turned out good. I actually like it better than Jello. I've recently been reading up on the potential benefits of getting enough collagen in the diet. Maybe there is a reason that I liked Jello. Anyway - I'm glad that I came up with a work-around on this.

1. only 1 ounce of sunflower seeds a day (for the vitamin e)
2. meditate twice a day (morning and evening)
3. strength training (dumb bells) 3 times a week)
4. strength training (ankle weights) 3 times a week.

Day 45 accomplished
2 morning meditation missed
2 evening meditation missed
12 ankle weights missed
8 day eating more than 1 ounce sunflower seeds
8 day dumb bells missed

The week of nasty weather which kept me mostly confined indoors played havoc with my establishment of good habits. I found myself hungry and snacking on the only thing I really keep around that lends itself to snacking, sunflower seeds, plus I stopped strength training. I'm not sure why I just threw in the towel for a week but I am hoping I am back in the groove. Only my twice daily meditation survived the bad weather slump. Today is a new day.

Alright Jean! Weather comes and goes but meditation is always available to us. I think the most important part survived I think meditation would be a good habit for me to brush up on soon as my daily practice is suffering. I'm listening to many more talks but not walking the walk if you catch my drift (snow drift pun not intended) Have a great weekend and thank you for the observations

1. only 1 ounce of sunflower seeds a day (for the vitamin e)
2. meditate twice a day (morning and evening)
3. strength training (dumb bells) 3 times a week)
4. strength training (ankle weights) 3 times a week.

Day 46 accomplished
2 morning meditation missed
2 evening meditation missed
12 ankle weights missed
8 day eating more than 1 ounce sunflower seeds
8 day dumb bells missed

Back in the groove (I hope).

1. only 1 ounce of sunflower seeds a day (for the vitamin e)
2. meditate twice a day (morning and evening)
3. strength training (dumb bells) 3 times a week)
4. strength training (ankle weights) 3 times a week.

Day 47 accomplished
2 morning meditation missed
2 evening meditation missed
12 ankle weights missed
8 day eating more than 1 ounce sunflower seeds
8 day dumb bells missed

I think the practice is helping. I had a small internal struggle yesterday over blue cheese dressing at a breakfast buffet with one of my brothers. There was a naked salad on my plate of salad on my plate and a beautiful Blue Cheese dressing. I didn't want to be one of "those people" that ask what's in everything so I didn't know if it was PUFA based. I thought to myself, "well, you said after this 90 day experiment you'll probably eat stuff like this on occasion - what harm is it having some now an marking up a miss in the thread with your buddies?"

I was able to acknowledge I was thinking that thought and accept that I thought it and "...move away from the dressing" I found that 5-6 slices of bacon cut into the vegetables is a good substitute.

Will I have some PUFA in the future? I don't know. Did I have any yesterday? Not to my knowledge. Thanks thread people, I'm not sure what decision I would have made without the help of you guys exploring too.

Had to drive up to Massachusetts (the old country for me) from Northern Virginia last Thursday, as my son is moving from SF to the South Shore with a new job in Boston. Since I'm from the South Shore, I have family and close friends there, and I, too, don't make a big deal about my WOE. Well, my brother and his family had us over for dinner Friday night, and the food was pizza. In the past, I've nibbled at the toppings, but no dairy kind of put the damper on that. I said nothing, as the hospitality was borne out of love. Fortunately, I was able to focus on the local seafood and get back on track immediately with a resolve to continue this no dairy program for even longer. Speed bumps occasionally happen, and I refuse to sweat the minor stuff by just staying consistent at all other times.

1. only 1 ounce of sunflower seeds a day (for the vitamin e)
2. meditate twice a day (morning and evening)
3. strength training (dumb bells) 3 times a week)
4. strength training (ankle weights) 3 times a week.

Day 48 accomplished
2 morning meditation missed
2 evening meditation missed
12 ankle weights missed
8 day eating more than 1 ounce sunflower seeds
9 day dumb bells missed

My plan will be to practice these 2 habits for 3 months or so. I began January 2, 2017 and will see how I feel and consider the benefits April 1 , 2017. I'll post observations and or struggles when they occur.

1) Avoid Sweeteners: This includes natural as well as lab made.

2) Avoid "un-healthier" Oils: ( http://www.marksdailyapple.com/healthy-oils/ ) In particular oils high in PUFA and/or over processed.

Observations:

Smooth sailing this last week. Can't think of one time when the thought of sweet drinks crossed my mind. I think it helps really limiting the eating window, at least for me. Thoughts of eat and drink are easily met with the message; Not now.

Note: I've been carrying a liter of water on my backpack that my sister in law gifted me at Christmas time. With the warmer weather there is less chance of it turning into a solid in the car

Interesting that I said I couldn't think of a time sweeteners popped into my mind, One very clear one did yesterday when I parked at a gas station to get some coffee and into my minds eye popped one of the sugar free dispensers of flavord liquid sucralose.

I acknowledged the thought, smiled and didn't act on it. The image passed quickly before I got to the convenience store door. Still there but fairly easy to identify. Simple do not act on these thoughts seems to work but I have to recognize them before I can let them go on their way - otherwise I'm tempted to dance with them.

My current 90-day protocol:

1) Tea and water for beverages. No dairy of any kind.
2) Good resistance workout 5x per week = Pilates, walking, hiking, other resistance training,
3) Meditation every day. I alternate meditation either with or without a recording. If I use a recording, it's most always a recording developed for meditation by The Monroe Institute (TMI) that features a recording process called Hemi-Sync.

All is well, and I've come to the conclusion that for me, dairy is something to be avoided including organic HWC, which is what I added to coffee. The difference is noticeable, as I feel lighter, have more energy, and weight is decreasing. I'll weigh in soon to post new numbers, but I'm beginning to think that while I do not immediately react to dairy, it is introducing inflammation over time that is not severe at first but manifests itself later. This challenge was a good way to confirm this. I believe the major culprits are cheese and HWC. Butter does not seem to have as much of an influence. Can I eat dairy at all? I think occasional consumption of dairy won't hurt, but with cheese, I was using that as a LC food group sometimes, and that is something I need to stop.

This elimination challenge has been a good way to separate the wheat from the chaff, so to speak. I've been able to home in on how my metabolism and body react to dairy, and it wouldn't have been possible over a mere 30-day challenge. Thud does things in a big way, so while I did a double take at a 90-day challenge, I now believe it was long enough for me to get results, and hey, it isn't over! When my 90 days are concluded, I'll continue to eliminate dairy as part of my WOE. I'll be able to have occasional indulgences on holidays, etc., as it doesn't trigger binging for me, but will keep it to a strict minimum as I strive toward better health.

Glad it's useful Rob. I can't take credit for the 90 day thing, we adoppeted it from, It think her name is Judy NYC. I've modified it not so much as a challenge (i dislike that idea/word I'd rather think of it as cooperation with your self ) but as a place to practice what ever you want.

I agree that 90 days is significant amount of time. We don't really get that many of them in this life to waste - so why not put them to good use

Sent with love and appreciation to you guys. Thanks for being here!

Challenge parameters:
1) No artificial sweeteners. No diet soda, no sucralose, no aspartame.
2) Dairy elimination trial. Saying goodbye to cheese, HWC, cottage cheese, and even butter for a while.
3) Track food daily and keep calories under 2200 and net carbs < 35 on average for the duration of this challenge.

The AS & dairy parts of this challenge have been a breeze. Giving them up was much easier than I thought it would be. I've had to be mindful of what I'm eating as both AS & dairy were daily fixtures in my WOE. I've had a few minor slip-ups, but I'd say that I am 99% on target for items 1 & 2 for the first 2 months of this challenge. I can't tell if I've received any benefit from it. Nothing major, anyway. Perhaps I will notice something should I choose to reintroduce myself to dairy and the occasional AS after the challenge is over.

The tracking food and keeping carbs/calories down part of this challenge has not gone all that well lately. I've done OK with tracking, but I have not been keeping the eating in check. Some of is it due to increased hunger from ramping up the workouts. Some of it is lack of discipline - pure and simple. When this 90 days is up I plan on doing another 90 day challenge for the sole purpose of working on discipline and building good eating habits.

My plan will be to practice these 2 habits for 3 months or so. I began January 2, 2017 and will see how I feel and consider the benefits April 1 , 2017. I'll post observations and or struggles when they occur.

1) Avoid Sweeteners: This includes natural as well as lab made.

2) Avoid "un-healthier" Oils: ( http://www.marksdailyapple.com/healthy-oils/ ) In particular oils high in PUFA and/or over processed.

Observations:

I like what Rob observed about making observations over a longer time frame. I will note here that I have not had a significant outbreak of eczema in the last few weeks. What can I attest that to? I don't exactly know but here some variables that have recently changed:

- This Sweetener and PUFA avoidance
- Changing my eating pattern (morning Coffatty and late afternoon large meal)
- LESS activity (not by choice, but by weather not cooperating )
- The sun's increasing angle. I'm getting more sun on my face

hmmm. Like I mentioned in teasers journal. This stuff is hard to figure out, like grabbing a fist full of water

Still no slip ups as far as I know in the PUFA department and for certain in the Sweetener department (those are obvious - makes them a simpler thing to manage as you'd know right away if you F'd up)

Keto on!

Had breakfast/brunch at an Asian style buffet yesterday. Lot's of traps there as far as PUFA goes, I'm sure I ingested some along the way, kind of like a contact ingestion from just being there - Very good choices available too and I took advantage of those, This I would normally have tried but suspected oil was deep fried crab (no breading, just crab quarters), stir fried onion/pepper/cabbage beef, salad dressings - That's the one thing I miss is a huge salad drenched in dressing - On Plan but off task for the moment. I'd rather not eat salads and not bring dressing, In those situations I'll probably throw the protein on top of a salad, along with the drippings and call it a day.

So, as far as being mindful on this experiment I'll consider yesterday a day when I ingested some PUFA - Skin is really clear on my fast the last few weeks, I'll keep an eye on it and wait for any delayed reaction - attributable or not