Climbing Off the Plateau--Stepping up Exercise and Retooling Nutrition

Ah no! I reached 32 pounds of weight loss and am now on that dreaded plateau! I've been sitting here for about two or three weeks. I lose some, go back up some. I've sloughed off a bit with the walking and yoga--I'm sure that has contributed to this plateau. I keep reminding myself that my cholesterol has dropped 22 points--it is one point away from being the "normal range"; I am now taking half of my metaformin dose I have been taking for pre-diabetes; in addition, I have gone down one dress size and no longer have to shop in "women's plus-sizes".

So what am I going to do about this plateau? I really don't want to stay here! The health goals I want to reach are just to important to my quality of life in the long-term.

So here's what I know I need to do:

* Step up the cardio. Walking every other day isn't enough anymore. It is helpful, but I need to go farther. Treadmill, here I come. When the weather warms up, I'll be walking/jogging outside. I don't know how far I can  go into jogging because of my knees. I won't know until I try!

*  Start strength training. Lifting weights--which I've done in the past and enjoyed immensely. Building up muscle tissue will help me burn calories more efficiently. I've got a DVD from the South Beach Diet Recharged that has a weight-lifting routine for those who haven't been physically active for a while. I hope that starting off on yoga first--stretching and loosening my muscles--will prove beneficial as a precursor to weight-lifting.

* Re-examine some of my eating habits. Yup, soda. I don't drink the enormous amounts I used to, but I still have too much of it. I feel better drinking water, teas, and vegetable juices.

* Retool my nutrition. I've been listening to lectures and reading up on nutrition the past two months. Increasingly,  I have come to believe that for me and my particular health issues that eating a primarily plant-based diet with a high portion of raw foods would be best. (I am not saying that everyone should eat this way; this is a highly personal decision.) My best friend told me about a book, Eat to Live, by Dr. Fuhrman. This book makes sense to me and tied up many loose ends in my research.

Dr. Furhman advocates a basically vegan diet--free of  not just meat, but dairy as well. His food pyramid has  meat and sweets at the top, to eaten "rarely." At the base are vegetables, half of which should  be raw. The next layer up is fruits and beans and legumes. Above that are fat sources--seeds, nuts, and avocados, and starches such as potatoes and whole-grains. The top two layers are dairy, meet, poultry, fish, and sweets. Dr. Furhman recommends getting your protein primarily from legumes, beans, nuts, and seeds.

When I follow this nutritional pyramid, I feel better, have more energy, and lose weight. My daily menu will look like this:

Breakfast:  Oatmeal cooked in almond or soy milk, topped with fruit, some nuts, ground flaxseed, a dash of maple syrup and cinnamon. Or, it might be a green smoothie or a bowl of fresh fruit and nuts with a dollop of plain yogurt.

Lunch: A big salad with a homemade vegan dressing made from nuts or a plate of vegetables with homemade dip made with beans.

Dinner: Vegetarian or regular dinner with some meat.

 In his book, Dr. Fuhrman claims that patients who follow his eating plan not only lose weight, but are able to come off medications for diabetes, cholesterol, high blood pressure, and heart disease. I hope to see how I will do following this eating plan. I'd really like to get off my expensive medications and reach a point at which food and exercise is the only medicine I need to keep me safe from diseases. I also found extremely helpful books and YouTube lectures by Dr. John McDougall and Neil D. Barnard. The Vegetarian Society of Hawaii has an excellent YouTube channel of its monthly lectures that I found extremely helpful.

There is a spiritual and environmental benefit to eating primarily plant-based diets as well--but that is a subject for another blog post of by those much better educated in these matters than I am.