Super Smoothie!

So a couple years back we found this book called "thrive" by Brendan Brazier.


He is a vegan tri-athlete and the creator of vega. Anyway in this his first book he describes how to make your own whole foods Super Smoothie, a thing that is left out of his best seller "The thrive diet" I think because he came out with "vega" which is basically the same thing but I can tell you is no where as tasty as the homemade one. Anyway we love this recipe and have been having super smoothies for years. Of course while I was on the Bernstein Diet I could not have them so today actually as I write this I am having a delicious Super Smoothie for breaky!

2 tbs hemp seeds
1 ts gelatinized maca powder
1/2 ts Chlorella Powder
1 ts ground flax seeds
1/2 banana
3/4 cup blueberries (can use other fruit/berries)
1.25 cups unsweetened Almond Milk

Blend together and enjoy:)
This smoothie has all the minerals and vitamins you need along with great easy to digest protien and omega oils. Not to mention the Chlorella cleans heavy metals from your blood, like those found in seafoods. The Maca balances hormone and adrenal levels in the body. And it tasted like a milkshake! At least to me;)

This recipe is:

329 calories
39 carbs
15 grams fat (omega oils)
10 grams protein

Homemade Ricotta

A super easy, delicious and healthy protein. I have taken to making this about once every week, it takes a few hours total which sounds like a long time but mostly that's with the milk sitting alone. I always use organic milk as I don't enjoy supporting non organic dairy, but regular milk will work just as well.

2 liters organic skim milk
4 tbs white vinegar
meat or candy thermometer

Simply heat milk in a non reactive pot ie: glass or ceramic etc... to 180' stirring so it doesn't burn. When milk has reached 180' remove it from the heat and add in 4 tbs of vinegar. Stir gently and then let it sit out for 2-12 hours covered in a cloth. Grab a colander and pour the curdled cheese into the strainer. Using your hands break up the clumps and press out some of the liquid. I like to keep the curds a bit moist as if they are too dry it tends to be rubbery. Use as you would cottage cheese or ricotta. (This is an unsalted recipe you can salt if you desire it that way)

This recipe makes about 2 cups of cheese.
1/2cup unpacked =

55 calories
4 grams of carbs
0.2 grams of fat
6 grams of protein

Enjoy!

One week in to phase 2!

Well it's been a week today since I started my 1200 calorie diet plan:) Today I had 56 g (dry weight) of pasta with tomatoes, mushrooms and zuchinni it was wonderful. It has been interesting adding foods back into my diet, it seems that I may actually have a sensitivity to rice! Crazy I always thought it was the tofu that upset my belly but then I always ate rice and tofu together so... I will have to try rice again to see if it really was that. Otherwise things are moving along I'm down a little over 2 pounds since last Monday which is wonderful! I hope this continues on I realize that it may be a bit more this first week as I have been transitioning off of the Bernstein diet but I should be losing 1.5 pounds a week from here on out. We'll see where I am at next monday.

Still Losing

We'll it's been 4 days now since I officially stopped the Bernstein Diet and started my 1200 calorie diet. So far so good. The first day I had a carrot along with my regular foods. Day two I had 1/2 a banana and about 1/2 a cup of roasted acorn squash, yesterday was the same. And today I had 1 small potato, some shredded carrots and some dried mango slices (sugar free). So far I am still burning keytones and my weight seems to be going down so I'm happy. It was kind of anti-climatic when I left the clinic. I said that I really couldn't afford to continue on with the program and the nurse just shrugged and said well don't go back to eating what you were eating before then she gave me a sheet with instructions for temporary maintence. I guess when you are not near your goal weight you can't go on maintence which gives you one b vitamin shot a week instead of 3 and instructions on how to get off of the diet. For me I got a sheet that basically looked like the strict diet with the add on of unlimited veggies and being allowed squash, avacado, peas and plain fat free yogurt. She also said that as long as you are not eating other foods to stay on the potassium twice a day. I have been adding in other foods not on the list and have been cutting back my potassium but I am still taking it. I am also taking some whole food vitamins. 1 daily multi, 1 B complex, and my 2 fish omega pills. I think that it is important for me not to go to quickly into other foods and that my body is so use to soo many vitamins it would be dumb to stop taking them. I do not want my body going into shock coming off of this.

And so phase two will begin

So this is my last weekend on the Bernstein diet. It has given a lot more then I would have realized. I still am about 45 pounds away from my goal, I currently weigh 171 pounds and am working towards 125 pounds. I can tell you that it doesn't seem unattainable anymore. In fact I can't see how I can't reach my goal:) I have to say that although this diet has been very difficult at times I am happy I did it. It is a bit hard to step away from it as it does work, and I know that I have struggled to lose weight for years. But things are different now, I am armed with the right tools for the job at hand and I know I can do it! For crying out loud if I can survive off of 800 calories a day for 3 months I can do anything! So here comes phase 2....

Check ins

Well it's been a little while since my last post. At the Bernstein clinic they got me to start taking 3 k-lite potassium tablets a day as my weight was not moving. Since I started taking the extra k-lite my weight has been melting away, I'm down 3 pounds this last week much better then the 1.5 I was doing before. We will see what my weight in is tomorrow. This diet should really not be done without some kind of doctor supervision. It's a rapid weight loss diet and you could hurt yourself if you just winged it on your own. I am surprised at the amount of vitamins I need to take to keep my body functioning like this. I am so excited about eating just a normal whole foods diet. I am getting soo bored of the few veggies I can eat, I really really want to eat a potato. But my weight is changing I can fit into jeans 2-3 sizes smaller then I use to fit into and I have started a give away bin of my too big clothes. That feels good. I am almost done this portion of my weight loss program, in a couple of weeks I will start weaning myself off of it and will up my calorie intake to 1200-1300 calories a day. I will start a workout program as well. On the Bernstein diet I am just soo tired all the time, last night I went to bed at 9pm and didn't get up today till 8:30 I was just soo tired. I am really looking forward to a more balanced diet with energy giving foods. I don't want to be taking potassium and crazy amounts of b vitamins to get through the day I don't like it.

But hey it does work and I know that I needed it. It gave me the kick in the ass I was looking for and now that I am free of the dreaded sugar and can eat a meal without some kind of starch/carb I know that I can have the body I have always wanted. I can be healthy and feel good about myself. I no longer feel that I can't do it, how can I fail.

The Bernstein Guaranty

So today marked the end of my second month on the Bernstein Diet. As my weight had stalled and I was only burning 1-1.5 pounds a week I did not make the monthly guaranty of 10 pounds I fell short by 1.4 pounds. Now that's not a huge difference but still I wanted to see if they would honor their policy and treat me for free. The answer to that was no. As I had more then 2 processed proteins per week. I stated that as I am mostly vegetarian I had asked a nurse if I could eat more then the alloted "proteins" she had told me yes I could. But it seems that I couldn't I was "cheating" on the diet... Haha I love that only being able to eat 600 calories a day and having to eat the same foods day in and day out is "cheating". I can tell you if I was going to cheat it wouldn't have been with a yves veggie dog. I would have had a slice of pizza. Alas what do you do, I am not going to bother fighting it this is my last few weeks on this diet then I will be free FREE! But no I am not going to run out and eat pizza that would defeat the point I am in this to lose the pounds and am loving the new me that's emerging:)