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)

Day 3 accomplished

I notice I'm drinking less coffee. The last 2 days on the trip too work I've had left over in the parking lot, yesterday It froze in my cup and today I splashed it on the parking ramp floor. That was not a good idea.

I picked up some more olive oil and made another batch of "mayo" with a whisk. First time I've broken it that way and remembered to stop, get a little going again and add back in, slowly the stuff that broke. Made about a cup, avocado and olive oil, egg yolk, salt, red pepper, mustard - cooled down with serving on spoon. Looks weird but it will do.

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)

Day 4 accomplished

I thought i'd write this down before I forget. Driving home this evening I thought of driving around tomorrow and having coffee. I could tell there was a level of excitement because I remembered no sweetener and then had a slight let down. Not sure what this means but sweet makes caffein very palatable.

Thud- thanks for the link from another thread. I'm in. I like the idea of going dairy free for 90 days (inspiration from Ken), daily meditation (something I do, but not consistently enough, thanks, Jean), and supplemental resistance training to bring my exercise frequency to 5x per week. I'll start on Monday the 9th and will report back on a quasi regular basis.

I eliminated dairy last year for 30 days prior to a blood draw for my last NMR Lipid Panel, and I felt great! Why didn't I continue with dairy elimination? Good question. I've become too used to a daily cup of coffee with HWC, and that's become a gateway to regular consumption of cheese as well. This habit is likely causing me to hover at several pounds above what I feel is the right weight for me. So, onward and upward. Excellent thread!

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)

Day 5 accomplished

Welcome to the thread Rob. Something about the act of recording things here really keeps me on the straight and narrow. I've been dairy free for years. I always found cheese really easy to overeat. It has an addictive quality for me.

Jean

Welcome Rob, you are one of the folks who's thoughtful opinions and level headed approach I admire! That and I seem to agree with you makes me like you haha

I recall Ken mentioning your NMR/Dairy observations specifically and I think it will be interesting to watch you converse. I have drastically reduced dariy, mainly because I was curious if it was contributing to some eczema flare ups I have on occasion but Jean astutely pointed out that if I was currious about that I would have to eliminate it COMPLETELY to have a better idea (thanks Jean )

I may do that at some point but now mostly my dairy consists of some butter and sour cream on occasions. Problem with sour cream is that it has a shelf life and I'll make sure I'll eat it before it goes bad, this is no problemo Many months ago I eliminated cheese from my refrigerator and I think that help in reducing overall calroies - also, if I have cheese around I almost aways wanted to eat the "Atkins" suggested limit of 4oz. I will still have it in the wild if I encounter it but that doesn't help with allergy issue if they exist.

Anyway, good to have you here along with Jean and Ken. Also, use this thread anyway you like. 90 days is arbitrary but it's a significant amount of time to practice something and make observations I believe.

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)

Day 6 accomplished

Challenge Goals:

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.

All is going well. Dropping artificial sweeteners has been no problem so far. The natural sweeteners do not seem as sweet. My flax muffins seem more like slightly sweet flax bread. But that's OK. They still taste fine. Toning down the sense and desire for "sweet" can only be a good thing for me. I'm finding it easier to keep my eating reined in. Perhaps the artificial sweeteners had something to do with my increased appetite over the past 6 months. Who knows?

I'm eating flax muffins w/o butter. That works, too. With pumpkin added, they are moist enough without butter. So I've been dairy free for the past week and that includes butter. The no dairy thing has been harder. It is not that I crave anything. It is more of an issue because dairy has been such a big part of my diet. It seems weird not to eat cheese, HWC, sour cream, cream cheese, cottage cheese, etc. But I think I can do this for 90 days.

I have not noticed any specific health improvements since I started this challenge. If I have a dairy sensitivity it doesn't appear to be a significant one. I like Rob's cholesterol results from his no dairy N=1. If I can reproduce that at my next annual checkup my doctor is going to be shaking her head in disbelief. That is my motivation to stick to this.

Month to date nutrition data:

Percent of calories from Carbs: 14%
Percent of calories from Protein: 29%
Percent of calories from Fat: 57%
Average calories: 1732
Daily carbs: 61g
Daily fiber: 35g
Daily Net Carbs: 26g
Daily Protein: 127g
Daily Total Fat: 110g
-- Saturated: 32g
-- Monounsaturated: 44g
-- Polyunsaturated: 23g

That's a fairly significant change in my saturated fat. For much of the past year my saturated fat and monounsaturated fat numbers have been nearly identical (between 45g and 50g). No dairy, no butter clearly makes a difference.

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)

Day 7 accomplished

- Coffee consumption way down with no sweeteners

- Looking for snack yesterday noticed little oz of almonds are fried in vegetable oil, there were many listed on the back. Lots of and/or and/or weird

- the little bags in my vehicals I use to collect trash have not been chnaged as much. The are not overflowing with sportdrink cans

example:



Thats what I"m noticing.

It does. That is why I never drink coffee. I don't drink it often. In fact I rarely drink it but if I do I NEED sugar in it. Tea without sugar is no problem for me though. Just a tablespoon of evaporated milk.

Your home made mayo looks awesome by the way. How does it taste?

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)

Day 8 accomplished

By eliminating the extra sunflower seeds 3 of the 6 pounds I gained have disappeared. Easy peasy.

I drink plenty of coffee, all black, no sweetness required, although it used to be but that was so long ago I find it hard to believe that I once required cream and sugar in my coffee.

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 March 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:

SWEET MAKES ME EAT (or drink)

At least that's my thinking. so far so good on no sweeteners. Oils are avoidable but I need to be a good label reader again. I don't eat lots of stuff with labels on it but the example of almonds with oils used to fry them is an example. Dressings out will be no to and I'll have to bring my own or go without. Not much noticeable improvement in any eczema but they are sporadic anyway. Time will tell. Time wounds all heels. - Hawkeye

PerfectFit - the mayo is good. I add too much salt, red pepper and vinegar so that's what it tastes like with a hint of olive oil. The avacado oil is very flavorless.

Jean - Interesting on the sunflower seeds and weight drop. Your opinion; water, inflamation, fat 3 lbs is significant at your size! Way to go! Happy Meditating too.