My Trip to Sequim and the Eat To Live Six-Week Challenge

Hello all!  I'm back "home" from visiting Kevin in his hometown of Sequim, WA.  During the trip I stayed with his family and had some difficulties with eating plant-strong because I did not want to seem rude or condescending of their food or eating habits (see the post about my frustrations here).  My future in-laws are wonderful people and ended up being very understanding when I made a trip or two to the local health market for supplies to make salads and to have some extra fresh fruit on hand.  Thank you to those who commented on my last post with advice for me in this difficult situation, it was nice to get some words of encouragement from like-eating-minded people.

Of course, food isn't the center of my life... here are some pictures of the adventures Kevin and I went on while I was in town:

On a sunny day we took a trip to Railroad Bridge Park for some hiking, then we biked the Olympic Discovery Trail from there to Port Angeles.

While hiking we found a beautiful stream where we could see young salmon and I found a few trees with evidence of a beaver.  We realized we were in his dam area and decided to leave so we didn't disturb him.  How cool is that though!?

Biking from Sequim to Port Angeles ended up being about an 18 mile bike ride.  By the time we reached the ocean in Port Angeles I had a very tired butt and Kevin's knees were killing him.

Another day we visited Lake Crescent and took a nearby hike up to this beautiful waterfall.  (Of course no one was around to take our picture together, so this is the best I could do.)

The rest of our trip we enjoyed spending time together eating at a few of our favorite places around town, going to trivia night at a local bar, visiting two great breweries, relaxing in their hot tub, and seeing a bit of wildlife like this toad that we found by the outdoor shower.

Overall, visiting Sequim was so much fun, but it gets even harder every time to leave Kevin.  The count down till the Big Day is at 100 today, so not too much longer!

My plans for now are to be applying for jobs like crazy, both part-time for the short term summer, and full-time careers for the long term.  Wish me luck!  Along with applying for jobs I will be, of course, blogging, making new recipes, and reading the books I have planned for summer reading, which I will discuss in a couple of blog posts.  Click here to see my proposed summer reading list.  I am currently halfway through Super Immunity by Dr. Joel Fuhrman and hope to be done with it and post my thoughts about it by next Friday (in case you are reading along and are interested in the discussion).

Food-wise I will be doing the Six-Week Plan Challenge from Eat To Live by Dr. Joel Fuhrman.  Since traveling so much lately, I feel like my cravings for food have gotten out-of-wack and I want to refocus my eating plan to be only nutrient dense foods.  Also, I am feeling sluggish in my energy and in my weight loss progress.  For those of you who would like to join me in this undertaking, here is what is going to be in my daily eating rules:

• Unlimited (relatively)
• raw vegetables
• eat in unlimited quantities
• goal: 1 pound daily
• includes, but not limited to
• green lettuce, kale, collard greens, snow peas, bell peppers, raw peas, cucumbers, sprouts, carrots, tomatoes
• steamed or cooked vegetables
• emphasize green vegetables, as well as non-starchy vegetables
• goal: 1 pound daily
• includes, but not limited to
• string beans, broccoli, artichokes, asparagus, zucchini, kale, collards, cabbage, brussels sprouts, bok choy, okra, swiss chard, turnip greens, escarole, beet greens, spinach, dandelion greens, broccoli raab, cauliflower, eggplant peppers, onions, mushrooms
• especially include onions and mushrooms for their disease preventing and anti-cancer properties (the onion also adds a lot of flavor, and cooked mushrooms have a great texture)
• beans or legumes
• goal: 1 cup daily
• eat some beans with every lunch (it slows digestion to keep you fuller longer)
• includes, but not limited to
• chickpeas, black-eyed peas, black beans, cowpeas, green peas, lima beans, pinto beans, lentils, red kidney beans, soybeans, cannelloni beans, pigeon beans, white beans, navy beans
• Fresh fruit
• goal: at least 4 daily
• no fruit juice (except for salad dressings and cooking)
• frozen fruit is ok, but avoid canned fruit (get unsweetened if you must)
• dried fruits off limits for 6 weeks (dried fruits aren't bad for you, they are just more concentrated calories that can often be overeaten)
• try exotic fruits, and a variety of fruit daily
• includes, but not limited to:
• apples, apricots, bananas, blackberries, blueberries, clementines, dates, figs, grapefruits, grapes, kumquats, mangoes, melons, nectarines, oranges, papayas, peaches, pears, persimmons, pineapples, plums, raspberries, starfruit, strawberries, tangerines, watermelon
• Limited foods
• whole grains and cooked starchy vegetables
• goal: no more than 1 cup (1 serving) daily
• includes, but not limited to
• butternut squash, acorn squash, corn, potatoes, rice, cooked carrots, sweet potatoes, vegetables, cereals, quinoa, barley, oats, brown rice, yams, pumpkins
• Raw nuts and seeds
• goal: no more than 1 oz daily
• eat only raw unroasted and unsalted nuts and seeds
• includes, but not limited to
• almonds, cashews, walnuts, pecans, hickory nuts, macadamias, pistachios, sesame seeds, pumpkin seeds, chia seeds, flaxseeds
• Avocado
• goal: no more than 2 oz daily
• Ground flaxseed
• goal: 1 Tbsp daily
• had many added health benefits
• Off limits
• dairy products
• including low- and non-fat diary
• milk, cheese, yogurt, etc
• animal products
• including lean meats and fish
• eggs, red meats, poultry, fish, shellfish
• between-meal snacks- between meal snacks don't allow your body to leave the food digestive stage and enter the catabolic when toxins are removed from your body and fat is used as an energy source
• no fruit juice or dried fruit
• added oils
• other tips
• spices, herbs, and condiments
• use all spices and herbs, except salt, sugar, and sugar replacements
• pickled foods should be avoided
• try for condiments that are low in sodium (<1 mg sodium per calorie)
• eat only when you are truly hungry and not just feeling crappy from the catabolic detoxification stage
• stop eating when you are no longer hungry
• 10 summary tips for the six-week plan
1. Remember, the salad is the main dish.  Eat it first at lunch and dinner.
2. Eat as much fruit as you want, but at least four fresh fruits daily
3. Variety is the spice of life, particularly when it comes to greens.
4. Beware of the starchy vegetable, but eat starchy vegetables before grains.
5. Eat beans or legumes every day.
6. Eliminate animal and dairy products.
7. Have a tablespoon of ground flaxseed every day.
8. Consume nuts and seeds in limited amounts, no more than 1oz/day.
9. Eat lots of mushrooms (as replacement for meat), and add onions to foods for fast flavor.
10. Keep it simple
• breakfast: fresh fruit
• lunch: salad with beans, more fruit
• dinner: salad with two cooked vegetables, fruit dessert

These are the rules that I wrote for myself when I tried my first 6-week E2L plan over a year ago.  I made it for about 5 weeks that time, but I plant to make it the whole 6 this time!  As another thing to help me, I also made a new background for my computer screen with these rules summarized.  Below is a smaller version, and then the real size version in case you want to drag and copy for your computer screen!

Who is going to do this challenge with me?  If not, what are your goals for becoming healthier over the next month or so?