Eat. Stop. Eat. Update and Questions

Okay y'all.  So, I got a lot of different responses from you all when I announced my participation in Eat. Stop. Eat.  I'm talking WIDE variety of opinions.  It was pretty amazing to see how many of you were supportive, curious and also how many of you are already on the program, or some other eating style where you incorporate fasts.

On the other hand, there were a few readers who were skeptical, unsure, and some of you were downright against the idea.

I want to talk about a few things today.  First, I'm gonna give you a little update on the program and how it's working for me.  Secondly, I want to talk about restriction in eating plans, and what's the deal with that?

So.  Update.

I started out really well with the "Eat" part of Eat. Stop. Eat.  I mean, I kicked ass at it.  I ate and did it well.  Big salads, a hot dog, some delicious ice cream, chicken, milk, cereal, whole wheat bread.  I didn't restrict my eating and it was amazing.  But then I realized I'd forgotten something crucial after a few days.  The "Stop." part.  I was enjoying eating freely, and forgot I was supposed to schedule in my stops.  HA!  So.  I did my first 24-hour fast on Tuesday and it was amazing.  9pm-9pm, y'all.  (I have a really late schedule, so for most of you normal people that'd be more like 6pm-6pm, dinner hour.) 

I didn't feel cranky, light headed, or shaky.  I felt sort of hungry after being awake for three or four hours, but the feeling passed.  I got another slight wave of hunger another four or so hours later, but for the most part it wasn't bad.  I drank water and diet soda and I was fine.  Then, 9pm came and it was time for dinner, and I had chicken, a little bread and some mashed potatoes.  (Had no salad in the house and it was too late to go to the salad bar at the grocery store.  I'll be better prepared next time.)

So!  Overall I'm looking forward to my next fast (which is right now, actually.  No food until 10pm tonight.)  It feels amazing.  I feel empowered and freed.  Which leads me to my next topic:  Restriction.

Here are some of the comments I got on the post I did:

Fasting two days a week is not sustainable.  Why?  Lots of people do it.  Dan's grandfather has been doing it for 30 years.  I have stacks of books on the subject.  It might just not be sustainable for some people, and that's cool. 

It seems like a modified version of anorexic behavior.  Anorexia is not a behavior, it is a sickness.  This program is specifically for healthy adults, and is not for anyone who has eating disorder issues.  Fasting has been practiced for centuries.  We're just not used to it here because we think we are supposed to eat three to five times a day. Breakfast (break-fast) breaks the fast after we sleep, right?  Well, the word dinner actually ALSO means "break fast."  And lunch?  Didn't even exist until ladies tea became "luncheon," became a full meal we eat sitting down.

I wasn't aware that restricting your food was criteria for a healthy diet.  It absolutely is.  It's scientific, actually.  Eat less, lose weight.  I don't get why people are so freaked out by the idea of food restriction.  It's not a BAD thing.  (If you have eating disorder issues or tendencies, obviously I'm not talking to or about you.)  But for those of us who struggle with weight... restricting food (and exercise for those who exercise) is the only way to lose weight.

Not fasting to allow us to make poorer choices on the days we can eat. It just doesn't sound healthy to me.  For me, it's not about "poorer" choices.  It's about freedom from food psychotic behavior (which is a term I apply to myself and my obsession with numbers, calories, carbs, and the guilt and head issues I get about food.)  This week for the first time I actually felt GOOD.  I didn't feel guilty when I ate mashed potatoes.  I had a Subway sandwich and didn't feel like crap afterward because I ate bread.  I made Dan banana bread, and I actually had some of it myself.  This program is about allowing me freedom to enjoy food, instead of feeling guilty if I "mess up."  It frees me to live my life and not worry about what I'm going to order at a restaurant, and if there's a dry chicken breast and steamed broccoli available or not.  It allows me to not sit and loathe and be jealous while I drink a bottle of water at a baseball game as my friends have hot dogs.


The entire time he was knocking other diets and counting calories and such saying that "they wont work."  I'm pretty sure he wasn't.  In fact, I'm pretty sure he said any of those ways can be good ways to lose the weight, and that there's not a "right way" or a "wrong way."  He DID point out how frustrating those other programs can be, and I personally agree.  I do not want to be counting points for the rest of my life.

Not once in the video you linked did it say "how" it is supposed to work, only that it will.  That's because if he explained all of the how, he wouldn't be able to sell the program.  I bought the e-book and I have all the information I need.  Can't fault him for not giving it away, can we?

I think you will be upset if it doesnt work and/or you come off of it, and gain it all back.  Absolutely!  Just like I've been disappointed when I've gained weight back after Atkins, counting calories, doing Weight Watchers, and being a Vegetarian.  But all of those options are also fully valid, fantastic eating programs that are totally sustainable and life-changing for some people.  It's all about finding the program that works for you as an individual.

I hope this is an april fools joke. Of course a diet like this will work since basically you will eat less, a lot less.  ... No, not an April Fool's joke.  And yes, diets where you eat less, are the ones that will work.  That's the point.  Eat less, lose weight.  Calories in, calories out.  If you think the formula is different from that, you're mistaken.  It really is that simple.

I sincerely hope I am wrong in thinking this diet is a great way to start a serious eating disorder.  This has actually given me freedom from food issues, and I've seen that feedback from several people who fast.  Fasting does not equal anorexia.  Seriously.

If you don't like calorie counting then try weight watchers?   Weight Watchers IS calorie counting.  It's just modified into points.  The numbers are smaller but it's the same idea.  It's great for some folks, but it just didn't work for me personally.  :)


Umm.... why not just eat what you want to eat in moderation and exercise??  I did that for five months and lost five pounds.  Literally, was under 1700 calories a day and worked out for an hour three to five days a week.  My body needs a little extra boost.  Oh, and I hate working out.  That too. :)


So for me, here's the thing.

I don't understand why someone who counts calories or points all week, digs into their little bags of celery or noshes on their delicious rice cakes... can say they're not on a restrictive diet.  Ummm, you are.  In fact, you're restricting your eating all week.  AND you're counting numbers while you're doing it.  In fact, it doesn't even have to be that kind of an example.  Do you sometimes want to eat chocolate cake at a restaurant after your dinner?  Do you sometimes say, "Nah, I probably shouldn't." ?  That's restricting your intake.  That's saying, "Yeah, this probably isn't the best choice for me." 

This is just a different approach.  It's more flexible so I do NOT have to count points or calories or carbs.  I simply cut two days out.  So instead of watching my intake all week, counting calories, skipping desserts, staying away from bread, and at the end, having cut 30% of my calories for weight loss... I'm eating what I feel like eating when I feel like eating it (yes, still in moderation,) skipping food for two 24-hour periods, and coming away with a 30% deficit of calories at the end of the week.

Personally, I like option 2 the best.



On another note, I'm going to be in Denver for the next week but I'll try to do a few updates while I'm there!

~J

Bridal Bootcamp

Hey everyone!

I wanted to take a quick minute to let all of you know about this great new program Fitness Magazine is putting out.  It's been dubbed a "Bridal Bootcamp."  Honestly, it's a great idea if you're a Bride to be, but ANYONE can take advantage of the program.

For many women, their wedding day is one of the of the most important events in their life.  To help with this momentous occasion FitnessMagazine.com has developed a six-week fitness boot camp perfectly timed for spring and early summer brides.

The highlights of the program are:

Bridal boot camp workout videos - everything from specific toning exercises, such as the balance arm curl, to nutrition tips. Most of them about one minute in length

Extra moves for specific dress types -  targeted workouts for brides with strapless, backless, form-fitting, or short styles.

Finally, because brides tend to be extremely busy, Fitnessmagazine.com has created a 20-minute circuit workout for buff brides. Between dealing with caterers, booking the florist and attending dress fittings, now any bride will be able to fit in cardio, strength training, and interval training in just over two hours a week.

I'll be back later this week with some updates on the studio.  Tomorrow:  Paint!

~Jenn

Updates!

Hey everyone!

I wanted to stop in really quickly and update you guys.  Things have been super busy... I'm moving into the new photography studio and there is SO much work to be done.  Be sure I'm burning about ten thousand calories this week with all the cleaning, sweeping, mopping, painting and moving stuff.

Here are some pics I snapped while we were working today:

I'm tellin' ya, my hands are hurting me today.  It's a real mop.  Heavy, mannish.  And I'm girlie.  The person who was in this space before me was a potter, so that first photo is what's COVERING the entire studio.  Walls, floors, everything.  Dust, clay, crumbled crud.  It's like... when you're doing hard-core spring cleaning in your garage and you blow your nose and it's all dirty?  Yeah.  It's gross.

So all my stuff is quarantined in the side rooms for now... we're doing half, then moving stuff, then doing the other half.  And despite that, things are totally getting dusty and dirty.  I'm going to have to clean everything.  It would have been ideal to clean, then move... but it didn't work out that way.  Too bad for "as-is" spaces.  Why couldn't they have just cleaned it themselves, the lazy bastards!?  -- I'm telling you guys, I don't think these potter people cleaned EVER while they were in this space.  Eeeww.

No fear, I will be updating you guys on the Eat Stop Eat program, and I'll also be posting a few thought provoking things in the next few weeks.

So, anyone wanna come help clean? ;)

~Jenn

Eat. Stop. Eat.

Alrighty then.

So, way back when, I told you guys that I was researching a new eating plan.  I wasn't sure, but now I'm pretty much POSITIVE this is going to be amazing.  I found this plan called Eat Stop Eat.  Yes, I know, the website totally looks like a gimmick-y, rip-off type of site.  But I'm telling you, it isn't.

It was developed by Brad Pilon (Nutritionist, Supplement Analyst, and other awesome things) - and it's really simple.  It's backed by hard-core, bottom-line, scientific facts.  You don't change how you eat, in fact, the plan works for anyone.  You can eat low carb, low sugar, high in whole grains, vegetarian, vegan, whatever.  All you do is fast two times per week, for 24 hours at a time.  And don't worry about the whole "starvation mode" thing.  That is a line of bull pucky invented by the food and diet industries.  (Your metabolic rate doesn't change even with 24, 32 or even up to 72 hours of fasting, so 24 hours is NOT going to change your metabolism a bit.)

Intermittent fasting.  For example, you start fasting at 6pm, and then begin eating again at 6pm the next day.  There's the beauty of it.  You don't go any day without eating... just a 24-hour period.

Now, it won't work if I decide to go nuts and gorge myself the following day, or if I decide I can eat every horrible thing for me on the days I'm not fasting.  It's a way to mimic the eating patterns of our ancestors.  Eat.  Then there's no more food, so it's fasting time.  Then, eat again later.  I could try to cut my calories (which I've done, and it was successful but not so maintainable) and eat tons of salad and skip desserts, and cut my sugar intake by 30% by feeling deprived... or I could do Eat Stop Eat, and still be able to eat what I enjoy, and cut my intake by the same amount.  It's intuitive and simple.

I can't go too much more into it because it wouldn't be fair to Brad.  What I can say is this:

I'll be doing this for the next 60 days.  It just so happens that the book comes with a 60-day guarantee, so that should be enough time to figure out if it works for me.  The research I've done, reviews I've read and testimonials I've seen are all pointing in a really positive direction.  I'll let you guys know how it goes.

~J

Back and new hair.

Hi everyone!

So, I'm back home and still at 170-ish as of this morning.  But, I'm on my period, so I'm thinking I might actually be a bit lower than that. :)

I found low carb bread at the grocery store today... it's 5 grams of net carbs, and that makes me insanely happy.  I had a turkey sandwich today for the first time in a long time.  Mmmmm, good!  So... the only thing now is to still make sure I stay under my grams per day and I'll see if this being incorporated into my diet is going to make me stall or not.  I found this great website with tons of low carb bread products.  I hesitate because it's so ingrained in me to not eat bread-like products, but I really, REALLY miss bagels.  I want to order some.

So, in other news, I stuck to my diet 100% while I was in Denver.  Woo-hoo!

Also, got some red hair.  Now, it's not... exactly the color I wanted... but it's still pretty.

What I wanted:

What I have:

But, I think my hair stylist out there might have thought it'd be a really bold transition to go straight for the crazy red, so I'm going to ride this color out and then I'll switch to the bright red in a month or two. :)

Aside from that, I'm dealing with some family crap and some issues with a friend of mine, and I just am feeling stressed and annoyed with people.  If things seem few and far between here, I apologize.  I'm really going to make more of an effort to update my blog more.  I enjoy doing it and reading your blogs, and I think it'll make me feel better!

On a related note, I've started a new blog where I'll be recording my dreams.  They'll be 100% honest, and uncensored, so if you're interested in (or good at) dream interpretation, or you just want a voyeuristic look inside my sleeping brain, click here to check it out, and follow it! :)

SO, how have all y'all been?

~Jenn

Scale Obsessed.

Hello everyone!

Today I want to talk about scale obsession.  I'm going to be honest and admit that I'm totally, TOTALLY obsessed with the scale.  I think it's something that we don't like to talk about.  We all know we should only weigh once a week, or even only once a month.  We post about our weight loss journeys and our eating, and working out and we are bold and up front with our numbers about those things.  "I ate 1650 calories today, and here's the breakdown."  "I ran for 20 minutes and then did weight training, and then did work on the bosu ball, and I burned 478 calories!"  "I ate 10.2 grams of figs today."

But for me, the numbers I get most obsessed with are the ones on the scale.  My scale.  The scale at my brother's house.  My parent's scale (it's the same scale as mine, so I always enjoy weighing in on that one.)  The scale at the gym.  The doctor's office scale.

I weigh myself at least twice a day, sometimes three to four times a day.  I weigh in my underwear in the morning after I go to the bathroom.  That is my "weigh-in" weight any time I update you guys.  Today that number is 169.4!  (hurrah!)

I then weigh at some point in the evening, just to see what effect the food I've eaten thus far has had on my body.  I feel like it gives me a handle on how much I've been eating and what kind of sodium I'm consuming.  Of course, if I tracked my food and all those numbers I would KNOW what those actual numbers are, but I don't do that.  And then I weigh myself before I go to bed when I'm in my pajamas.  I like to see the difference between night-time weight and morning weight.

I've heard lots of advice from people in their blogs or on forums about weighing in.  Weight fluctuates so much that you really can't get a good grip on your overall weight loss week to week when you're weighing in every day.  It can be discouraging.  It's not a good thing, because it can make you really obsessed with the number on the scale instead of how your clothes fit, how you feel and how much more you can work out than you used to be able to.  But for me, I find that constantly keeping my ass on the scale is the biggest thing that keeps me motivated to stay on track.  It's the series of days that I don't weigh in that makes me slack off.  When I feel "okay" in my jeans, or when I feel pretty, or my face doesn't feel bloated... those are the times I tend to slip and cheat just because I'm not face to face with the digital box that says "170" on it.

For me, I love the weighing in.  It keeps me focused.  But that's just me.

I'm pretty sure I'm not the only person who does it, so what about you?

~J

John Mayer Blew my Mind. Again.

John Mayer
Pepsi Center, Denver CO
3/23/2010

If you've been living under a music-less, joyless rock and didn't know, John came out with a new album called Battle Studies.  For me, it's the best album of his career.  (I can't really include the Trio in that statement, because for me the Trio was a totally different animal than Solo John.)  So.  John has been on tour for a month now, and after my short time bliss-listening to Battle Studies, it was show time.

I went to the Milwaukee show in early March, and it was fantastic.  I posted the photos from that show here.  Now, let me tell you, although I'm a photographer, sometimes it really is better to not bring a camera to a show.  As John said in his song 3x5, "Today I finally overcame trying to fit the world inside a picture frame."  Going to a show and not worrying about what song I might capture on video, or if the picture I take with my iPhone will be good enough to look at later, or what f-stop I need to use for this particular lighting setup... it's amazing.  The show goes from something I'm documenting, to something that I am experiencing.

And let me tell you, tonight, it was an experience.  John opened with "Heartbreak Warfare", and the feel of the Denver crowd was out of this world.  The arena was full of fans who had driven through a blizzard to get to the show, and everyone was hyped.  The energy was almost a palpable buzz. 

"Crossroads" and "Vultures" satiated our bluesy rock cravings, and then he launched into "No Such Thing", which made my brother look at me with amazement and ask, "What year is this again?  This is awesome!"  Though it's apparent through his entire show, hearing the older tunes really highlights the vocal strides he has made over the course of his career.  If we were to go back and recruit 2001 John Mayer for a show, he wouldn't be able to sing through a set-list from 2010.  Or, he could, but it wouldn't even begin to come close.

Then John entertained us all with his best written self-proclaimed, three-minute lie, "Perfectly Lonely," which also happens to have one of the most perfectly constructed bridges in any song he's written.  Seriously.  Go listen to it again, I'll wait.  See?  Told ya.

"Perfectly Lonely" segued into "Slow Dancing in a Burning Room" which was effectively a musical tranquilizer for me.  Such a great song, and it pretty much crept into my bloodstream and had me swaying with no real concept of time until it ended.  I couldn't tell you how long the song lasted, but if someone told me it was twenty minutes, I wouldn't doubt them.

Then, the best part of the show:  "Assasin".  John singing this song with the guitar slung over his back, spotlight dramatically on him... it blows me away every time.  Blows my mind.  Blows it open and through, over and back, and then I open my eyes, look at him, and it starts over.  There's something about it that is sort of dramatic and a little magical.  The story of the song is delectable, (I still maintain that it's the best song on the album) and the performance is second to none.  Standing on the floor was also pretty badass during this song.  I pressed my hand to my chest during the line, "Good to know it's all a game, disappointment has a name," and I could feel the pounding of the music vibrating through my body.  It was a profoundly special moment for me.

Have I mentioned the light show?  It's phenomenal.  Or as my Dad said tonight, "Top notch."

Moving on.  John then broke into the acoustic section of the show, and surprised the ever loving hell out of us by playing "Comfortable".  God, that one is an oldie but a goodie.  And it was a goodie, indeed.  I've never heard it performed live at a show before, so I felt it was extremely special.  It was special enough, in fact, to merit my brother and I performing our super awesome secret handshake in celebration of the pure awesomeness.

Then, John played "Free Falling", which was his vocal crowning achievement of the night.  Damn.  Will someone tell me when exactly it was that John Mayer grew a voice like that?  Because I don't really remember when it happened.  I'm just really happy that it did.

After that, it was "Waiting on the World to Change," "Half of my Heart," "Bigger than my Body" and "Why Georgia".  Mixed in there was a kick-ass drum solo by Steve Jordan, John leading the entire arena in singing "Happy Birthday" to one of his backup singers, and a swoon-worthy song intro by David Ryan Harris.  (The man has pipes, pitch, skills.)

Tonight John told us, "If you keep coming, I'll keep playing.  I promise."  Well, just as with his Grammy acceptance speech telling us that he promised to catch up... I do believe he'll make good on that promise.

Because of the snow, I regrettably had to leave before the encore.  I'm quite glad to hear that it was "Gravity" and "Who Says"... though I love those two songs... it would have been a far greater tragedy if he broke out a new song, or played some wild awesome unexpected thing.

If it's not clear... if you get the opportunity to see John Mayer live, you should go.  Push aside his social media addictions and the interviews and all the other crap.  'Cause when you strip away his Stupid Mouth, the guy is still an incredible musician.  Seriously.  His music has changed my life, and I'm telling you, it just might change yours too.

~Jenn

PS... I shot a wedding Saturday, and it kicked ass!  Click here for those photos. :)