Cleansing... AGAIN!

I'm at 16.1 lbs down... which is good, no it's GREAT.  But, it's now coming off SLOW.  And I'm impatient, remember? (I know I should be happy with another 1.1 lbs gone in this past week... heck, if I lose a pound a week, that's 52 lbs/year, right... and that rocks. But I want faster results, especially since I am working my butt off, literally!).

I'm doing circuit training 4-5x's week (my goal is 6, but who knows when that's going to actually be a reality) and trying to get walking/swimming/etc... in at least 3 days a week as well.  The good news... I'm already seeing body changes with 2 weeks of regular work outs under my belt... increased muscle tone... ability to get through the circuit easier while maintaining a fat burning cardio rate.

I've changed my diet (low carb, high protein)... in an attempt to hit another spurt of rapid loss... it doesn't seem to be working.

So, I decided to do a heavy cleanse/fast today.  Yuck, I know.

I'm doing Isagenix Cleanse for Life (4oz 4x/day) and lots of water.  The only food I get is... organic apple slices and a few almonds.  Yes, I'm starving.  Someone mentioned that I'll be enjoying headaches today as well... that'll be awesome, especially since I have one very unhappy toddler here today.

The point to this is to detox my body... especially since I've only been off the soda for a couple months (I did a gentle 14 day cleanse already) and I had some cheating going on last week. 

In other news, I spent a good part of yesterday verifying my Naturopathic coverage on our health insurance and booking my annual exam with our ND friend (who rocks, BTW).  I'm excited about this for a couple of reasons...

* No MD means no mention of the dreaded hysterectomy that I've been assured is in  my future
* No MD means not having to fight off (again) prescriptions for Metformin and HRT for PCOS
* No MD means natural thyroid and hormone therapy if needed instead of drugs to mask the problems

Here's an interesting thought... I've been 20-65ish pounds overweight for my entire adult life (since the flare of PCOS and subsequent hormone/fertility treatments).  Not one of my doctors has every addressed my weight as a health concern, because to them, I'm healthy... as in, my cholesterol, BP, sugars, etc... are all just fine.  The only times my weight has been discussed at all was during pregnancy because I was losing weight (also the only time in life my thyroid was over active). 

Even though my docs can say I'm healthy... blah blah blah... I know that I'm on the fast track to diabetes.  How do I know this (and my doctors should as well)?  My family history... EVERY.SINGLE.ADULT.WOMAN on my Mom's side has developed diabetes between late 30's-40's... and most of the men as well.  My father also has diabetes.  I also have PCOS which has been linked to insulin resistance.  I had a 9lb 7oz newborn (in a pregnancy where my blood sugar was not checked).  And the list goes on.

Optimum Health? I think not.

Lifestyle Changes~ Pantry Clean Out

Dr. Oz recommends beginning your journey by eliminating the five main offenders from your pantry.  Thankfully for us, the majority of these are already gone from our cabinets.  (Here's the article on Dr. Oz)

~High Fructose Corn Syrup (We avoid corn syrup of all kinds).  This is nasty stuff.  I keep it out of my kids bodies because it affects their behavior and I know its not good for them. My one personal offender was soda (pop, coke, whatever).  I escaped that one with Lent this year, when I gave up soda.

~Hydrogenated Oils~ Since we are a Nourishing Traditions family, we've already switched to EVOO (extra virgin olive oil), real butter (grass fed preferred), and unrefined coconut oil.  We still use these fats in moderation.

~Sugar~ We are still working on this one, but have made drastic improvement.  We've switched to Sucanat when sugar is needed, otherwise we opt for honey or maple syrup.  We also use stevia or Sun Crystals (blend of sugar and stevia, 5 cals per pack).  My goal is to completely remove refined sugar.

~White foods~ (white flour, pasta, potatoes, white rice).  We already use whole wheat flour in addition to gluten free grains like almond and coconut flours and brown rice (though hubs is a hold out and requires white rice).  We do still eat pasta & potatoes.

~Enriched Flour~  Read labels... anything that says enriched needs to go.

I feel that this is a redundant list... sugar is white, so it goes with the white stuff.  Ditto enriched flour.

In addition, we are preservative free, artificial flavor and color free.  This can be tough if you use any packaged (ahem, frozen meals) foods.