The 3 day diet, and a general update

Absolutely gorgeous day here in North Carolina. While it's not as warm as I would like, I am reminded that my Maine friends are still under several feet of snow and I am looking at these:

So, what's going on at the Cliff house? Life has been fairly routine lately, and who can complain about that? We did have a little scare a few weeks back. Lee, my youngest, fell and cut his leg, requiring 10 stitches on his left shin. That wasn't the scary part, however. When they x-rayed the leg to make sure there was no chip in the bone, they discovered a "suspicious lesion/tumor." Thankfully, it turned out to be a non ossifying fibroma...which is benign and generally causes no problems. What a blessing!

On the frugal front there is too much to report, so let me just tell you what is planned for today:

1. Planting tomato, cuke and pepper seeds inside that will be transplanted outside in less than a month.
2. Hanging 3 loads of laundry on the clothesline.
3. Baking homemade cupcakes and cookies.
4. Making a crockpot of homemade granola.
5. Going for a 2 mile run.
6. Making a menu and grocery list for the coming week and checking out the deals at http://www.southersavers.com/ (not just for southerners!!)
7. Cleaning out one closet to get ready for a yard sale.
8. And last but not least, ending my 3 day diet. There are many variations of this out there and it's been around a long time. It's time to get the winter weight off and this is how I jump start. I'll follow it by a cleansing soup routine (more on that later). Here are the basics:

3 Day Diet Menu:

Each meal (3 meals a day only) for three days eat:

One of these: medium apple, orange, kiwi, grapefruit or cup of melon
One of these: regular size can of tuna, hard-boiled egg, 1/2 cup of cottage cheese, one ounce of hard cheese, Tbsp peanut butter
One of these: slice of toast, 5 saltines, half a bagel
4 cups of these, raw or cooked: carrots, broccoli, cauliflower, green beans, lettuce, cabbage, celery, onions, any greens (I don't usually have these at breakfast, although you can)

Only condiments are herbs, vinegar, lemon juice, hot sauce and salt (minimal)and pepper.

Drink 8 glasses of water.

You may also have 1 cup of black coffee or tea with every meal, no sugar or creamer, but you may use sweetener.

You may have a half cup of vanilla ice cream or vanilla or plain yogurt (frozen or regular) with supper.

When I did this the first time I was in college. I guess my metabolism was much higher then, because I was hungry a lot and I would easily loose 6-7 pounds. Now, I do this and am never hungry and I only loose 2-3 pounds. As you can see from the menu, this is hardly a starvation diet and it always gets me motivated. I absolutely love the soup cleanse, my own version of a cross between the cabbage soup diet and the Mimosa/Leek soup that Mireille Guilano uses in her best seller French Women Don't Get Fat. Stay tuned...I will tell all.

"the diet" edward mckay, laundry #3

As I suspected, I'm catching a bit of flack for my diet posts. So allow me to explain myself a little. As I mentioned, the 1000 calories a day comes from Amy Dacyzyn's Tightwad Gazette. She explains how many people buy into the pills, special foods, gym memberships, yada yada....when we all know that the key is to burn more calories than we take in. She makes a point -and rightly so- of going into all the "consult your doctor,(which she did, and he agreed that, while it was on the low end of needed calories, it was OK for the short term)," "don't do this long-term," "consider your frame size"etc. I didn't go into it because I assume most people know this. I don't like to use the word "diet." I'm a small person, so most people I know give me a hard time if I cut back at all. But you know what? Most of us don't stay small by accident. It takes work. If I add 5#s on every winter-which I easily do-before I know it, I'm 30#s overweight. So about this time every year, I really work on maintaining my healthy weight, which for my frame is about 105-110 pounds. I feel good at that weight. When I start gaining more than that, I feel unhealthy and my clothes don't fit. Why do I just not maintain it year round? Lazy I guess. I like to run for exercise and I really hate the cold, so I don't get out so much. I also tend to munch more during the winter months. So, come spring, I reeveluate. Typically, like today, I drink a protein shake in the am. Skim milk, fruit, yogurt and protein powder. At 320 calories, it gives me 30 grams of protein and lots of vitamins and calcium. It also keeps me full until lunch. Then I eat small portions of whatever the rest of the family is eating. I also, as I mentioned a few posts back, eat unlimited low cal veggies all day...on top of the 1000 calories, so I really don't even get hungry. When I reach the goal weight...which doesn't take long-maybe 3 weeks- I up the calories and just try to maintain. That's the basic plan. I also run 3 days a week and walk almost every day.

As a nurse, I see the damage that obesity causes every day that I work. These people didn't get to be 200 pounds too heavy overnight. It happened a few pounds at a time with no maintenance plan. Most overweight people are not happy with themselves, esp. when it puts them in the hospital. 1000 calories a day isn't about being frugal. It's just an option that works for me! What do you do to maintain healthy weight?

The kids are off school today...teacher work day. We're going to Edward McKay booksellers (a used bookstore chain) in G'boro later and I'm going to trade in a few bags of books for credit. I highly recommend this. I've learned to look for newer text books at yard sales. Last year I bought a like new art text book for a buck and got a $20.00 credit for it at the bookstore!

Just started the first of 5 loads of laundry (doing some blankets this week). I should mention that my kids wear uniforms (most schools in our area, public and private have a "standard mode of dress") Our kids wear Khaki pants and polos. It's great! They change shirts every day, but uniform pants can be worn for several days if they change when they get home. I also wash most everything in cold water, which saves energy.

And finally, going to the dollar theater tonight to watch "The Blind Side." Been waiting for it to get there!!
Happy Spring!!