21 day fast.

Look what I found... I'm researching it a bit because I am planning on doing this, If I can get my self to doing it. I don't know, it could be a little bit complex since i'm a coffee junkie. But take a look at it and tell me what you think, and if i should try it. ;) DOING LESS AND ACCOMPLISHING MORE: A TECHNIQUE FOR SUCCESSFUL FASTING "One quarter of what you eat keeps you alive; the other three-quarters keeps your doctor alive." Americans eat way too much fat, way too much sugar, and way too much protein. In fact, Americans simply eat too much of everything. The way out of this dilemma is so easy that we usually miss it: consider occasionally fasting. I can almost hear the sound of yet another one of my books being slammed down, being put back on the shelf, or being quietly incinerated. While you are warming your hands from the imaginary glow that these pages would doubtlessly produce, may I continue? Look: nothing succeeds like success. We could spend all day talking about the value of fasting, but only you can find out for yourself what it can do for you. Experience is your best teacher, and improved health is always the best proof. A fast will cost very little money, and may well be one of the best things you've ever done for yourself The following is one approach to safe, comfortable fasting. 21-DAY CYCLE FOR CLEANSING AND GOOD HEALTH A "cycle" is made up of an eight day juice fast, three days to come off the fast, and then ten days on a three-quarters raw food diet. (8 + 3 + 10 = 21 days.) This really works. FASTING First, fast. Eight days may seem like a very long time to go without food. Actually, for the first day or two of a fast, your body uses up the food remaining in your digestive tract from previous meals. For the next couple of days, your body uses stored food reserves from your liver. This means that a fast doesn't really begin until about the fifth day. Now an eight day fast is closer to a three day fast, and attainable by nearly everyone. (Diabetics and persons on medication requiring meals should check with their physician, of course. Fasting is not for children, pregnant women or nursing women. If there is a medical reason why you should not fast, then don't. Check with your doctor first.) Since "fasting" conjures up visions of starvation, it is important to realize that we are talking about JUICE fasting here. Freshly made vegetable juices, taken in quantity, are not a beverage. They are a raw, highly digestible food. It is ideal to have all the juice you want, without forcing yourself to drink it. The rules: "When you are hungry, drink juice. When you are thirsty, drink juice also." JUICING It is generally a good idea to dilute your juice 50/50 with water. If you can afford filtered water, use it. If not, don't worry... the goodness of the juices will carry you. Some people, including me, do not like the taste of diluted juice. An alternative is to drink a glass of water, then drink a glass of juice. This gives the same effect, and tastes better. Be sure to drink the water first, for after the juice you may not want the water as much. When we say "juice", we generally are referring to vegetable juice, freshly prepared. Fruit juice tends to be too sweet for comfortable fasting. However, there is nothing to stop you from experimenting and coming up with your own best regimen. As long as you get good results, HOW you get them is secondary. You cannot buy freshly prepared vegetable juice in any store at any price... unless they literally juice the vegetables right in front of your eyes and you drink it down before they make you pay for it! Any juice in a carton, can or bottle has been heat treated and was certainly packaged at least a few hours ago. Even frozen juice is not fresh, then, is it? This means that you will need one essential and somewhat expensive appliance: your own juicer. JUICERS A juicer is not a blender. A juicer makes juice; a blender makes raw baby food. There is nothing wrong with blending your foods. If you found such food to your liking, it would actually be very digestible. However, to make juice you need to extract the fluid part of the vegetable along with the vitamins, minerals and enzymes it contains. Therefore, you need a juice extractor. We are also not referring to a whirl-top orange juicer, either. Be sure to get a really good juicer. Good juicers make tastier juices, faster. Good juicers also clean up more quickly than cheap juicers. I have no financial connection whatsoever with anyone who makes or sells a juicer. I do not sell juicers; I only recommend owning one. I personally like the "Champion" brand juicer. It costs under $300 and might last you 30 years. Basically a motor with teeth, a Champion will virtually juice a two-by-four. Quick and easy to use and to clean. I’ve had mine for 15 years now and it is used daily. I did buy for an extra blade assembly, but haven’t really needed it yet. There are many cheaper juicers and also many dissatisfied folks who thought they'd save a buck and now regret that they bought a "bargain" juicer. If you spend under $150, you are likely to be disappointed with your purchase within weeks. Clean-up is easy. The moment you have finished making (and drinking!) your juice, just rinse the cleanable parts with water and set them in a dish-drainer rack until the next use. Soap will rarely be necessary as long as you don't mind the plastic parts of the juicer gradually becoming the same color as your favorite vegetables. WHAT TO JUICE You can juice almost anything you can eat raw. Vegetables are best, especially carrots, cucumbers, beets, tomatoes, zucchini squash, romaine lettuce, sprouts, celery and cabbage. You may juice fruits also, naturally. Freshly made raw apple, grape, and melon juices are delicious. It is not generally a good idea to juice potatoes, eggplant or Lima beans (not that you'd want to.) It is wise to peel vegetables that have been sprayed or waxed, such as cucumbers. Sprayed fruits are also good to peel before juicing. Carrots and other underground vegetables often do not need peeling. Instead, give them a good scrubbing with a nylon-bristle vegetable brush while rinsing under tap water. Beets are the exception. Since beet skins are very bitter, it is wise to peel beets before juicing. A hint to save time: dip the beets for about 20 seconds in boiling water and then peel them... it's much easier. Your juice will taste the best if you drink it right after preparing it. I mean within moments! Fresh juice contains a great amount of raw food enzymes and vitamins, many of which are easily lost as the juice sits. So don't let it sit! Drink it right down, with the thought that this is unbelievably good for you. HOW MUCH JUICE TO DRINK Drink as much juice as you wish. Remember that it is a food, not a beverage and that you can have as much as you want. There is little fear of over doing it. It is, after all, hard to hurt yourself with vegetables! A good rule of thumb is to drink three or four eight-ounce glasses of fresh juice a day (for an adult). The best time is right before a meal, or between meals. Absorption of and benefit from the juice is highest then. You will probably find that you will be urinating more as you drink more juices. That figures, doesn't it? You are taking in more liquid. You may also notice that you have more bowel movements now than you were previously accustomed to. This, too, is to be expected. Your body may well respond to all this nourishment by "cleaning house" a bit. More excretory symptoms would be the result. Ever notice how many trash cans you fill when you clean out the attic, basement or garage? Why, you hardly noticed all the rubbish you had stored in there until you went to clean it out. The same is true, by analogy, with your body. WHAT JUICES ARE BEST FOR YOU You may drink those juices that appeal to you the most. To find out your favorites, try each of them! CARROT juice is tasty and popular, and two glasses of carrot juice per day are highly beneficial. There is no need to peel your carrots if you first scrub them well with a tough brush. I recommend a vegetable brush with nylon bristles for this purpose. Brush the daylights out of the carrots while rinsing them under water. This is quicker than peeling, and is less wasteful. Carrot juice is very high in vitamin A. The vitamin A in carrots is actually "provitamin A" or carotene. Carotene is completely non-toxic, no matter how much you consume. The worst thing that can happen if you drink a huge amount of carrot juice is that you will turn orange. No, really. You see, beta carotene is a natural pigment, a natural coloring. Excess carotene is stored in your skin until your body wants it and then turns it into active vitamin A as needed. An abundance of carotene in your skin makes you look orange. This condition is called "carotenosis" and is harmless. Okay, it looks odd to visit the folks (or the doctor) when you are orange. I know: when my son was little, he LOVED sweet potatoes, carrots and butternut squash to the point of orange skin. The relatives got a bit worried, but the coloration disappeared after we limited his orange veggies for a week or two. So, to get rid of the color, simply back off the carrot juice (and other orange vegetables) for a while and it will go away. If someone thinks you are not well, tell them what you are doing. A doctor who thinks you have jaundice could then understand right away that you don't. Liver function tests would also confirm your good health. Naturally, you don't have to turn orange to enjoy the goodness of carrot juice. You can drink just enough to feel great ...without looking like a pumpkin! Some folks have tried canned or bottled carrot juice and they didn't like it. No wonder! Fresh juice tastes SO much better that there isn't really any comparison. I have two teenagers who WILL drink freshly-made carrot juice. Could there possibly be any higher recommendation than that? CELERY juice is very tasty, but a bit high in sodium. Use small amounts of this juice to flavor the others. Juice celery leaves and all for the most benefit. CUCUMBER juice is remarkably tasty. It tastes rather different than a cucumber itself. Perhaps you will find that the taste reminds you of watermelon. Peel cucumbers before juicing to avoid the waxes applied to their skins to enhance their shelf life in supermarkets. ROMAINE LETTUCE or BEAN SPROUTS will make an especially nutritious juice with a taste that is well worth acquiring. This "green drink" is loaded with minerals and chlorophyll. ZUCCHINI SQUASH juiced up tastes better than you'd ever imagine. Peel first, and enjoy. You may well be the first on your block to be a zucchini-juice fan. It also keeps the juicer from clogging on higher-fiber vegetables. BEET juice is, traditionally, a blood-builder. In days past, herbalists looked at the blood-red beet as a tonic more so because it worked, rather than any color similarity. Beets must be peeled before juicing. Beet skins are very bitter. The beets, on the other hand, are quite sweet and make great juice. They will also permanently stain your juicer, so don't try to remove that color by washing. More important, beet juice will color your bowel movements. That lovely red color of fresh beets can cause genuine alarm when it is seen in the toilet water. I know someone who had forgotten that he'd had beet juice the day before. He could only figure that he had a terrible case of hemorrhoids when he looked into the toilet and saw that red, red water. It was the beets, of course. When you have beet juice, remember not to be alarmed. Beet juice is widely used in the food industry as a natural coloring agent. You can (literally) see why! A hint: you will save time if you first carefully dip beets in boiling water before peeling them. CABBAGE juice was used by Garnett Cheney, M.D. to cure bleeding peptic ulcers back in the 1950's. (Cheney, G. (1952) "Vitamin U therapy of peptic ulcer." California Medicine, 77:4, 248-252) Dr. Cheney's patients drank a quart of cabbage juice a day and were cured in less than half the usual time... with no drugs whatsoever. Since then, cabbage juice has successfully been used for a variety of gastrointestinal illnesses. Colitis, spastic colon, indigestion, chronic constipation, certain forms of rectal bleeding and other conditions seem to respond well to the nutrients in cabbage juice. Dr. Cheney called its healing factor "Vitamin U" (for unknown). More recently, the American Cancer Society has urged people to eat more of the cabbage/broccoli family of vegetables because of their protective effects against cancer. There may be something to this cabbage juice idea. It certainly couldn't hurt to try it. TOMATOES are easily juiced. Do not juice the leaves, vines, or green tomatoes. Only the red, ripened fruit is good for you. Yes, the tomato is a fruit. A fruit of a plant is essentially a seed-containing structure that can be picked without killing the plant. Hmm. This means that cucumbers, squash and even green beans are all fruits. That's true. Think of the fun you will have at your next Thanksgiving dinner when you ask Aunt Xanthippe to "Please pass the fruits" when the only foods near her are squash and green beans. This may help ease the minds of those who question whether you should have fruits and vegetables together at a meal. Since few people are aware that pumpkin pie, tomato soup, and zucchini bread are all made out of fruits, why split hairs? JUICE AT WORK? Sam writes: “I was reading a lot about juice fasting and how it might help. You’ve written that it has to be all fresh juice, so what should I do on working days? I cannot possibly carry a juicer and a box of veggies to the office. Any suggestions?” Sure. 1) Juice at home and carry it in a Thermos. Not ideal for taste, but people have done it. I’d add a little vitamin C (crush up any size tablet) to retard oxidation. Fill the vacuum bottle all the way to the top so when you close it, a little juice overflows. This also helps to reduce oxidation, insuring that there is little or no air inside to spoil the goodness. Of course you can juice as soon as you get home, too. 2) Bring a ton of little cans or bottles of “V-8” vegetable juice with you. Be sure to get the “low-salt” variety. And I do NOT refer to so-called “V-8 Splash,” which is NOT “vegetable juice.” Read the label. 3) Simply eat your vegetables. Have a salad-bar lunch. Also eat lots of fruit; great snack. (They do let you have lunch and snacks and breaks, don’t they?) Fresh fruit and veggies are as easy to pack for your lunch as they are to put in your kids’ lunches. Still more hints at http://www.doctoryourself.com/juicing_2.html A TIMETABLE At the beginning of this section we were talking about a 21-day "cycle" beginning with eight days just on fresh juices, three days to come off the juice "fast," and then ten days of a 75% raw food diet. This makes a total cycle duration of three weeks (21 days). Now that you have a better idea about the juicing segment, let's take a look at the next steps. Coming off the juice "fast" is best done by eating lightly for a while. Fruit, fruit salads, vegetable soups, cottage cheese and other light foods are appropriate at this point. A good rule of thumb here is to eat only half as much as you want to at any one time... but eat twice as often. This is for about three days. For the ten day 75% raw food diet, you can eat all you want as long as three-quarters of it is uncooked. For the uncooked part of the diet, eat fresh, raw vegetables and fruits. Don't forget nuts, too. If they are raw, they count. Begin each meal with a large salad, perhaps a fruit salad for breakfast. Then, when you've finished the salad, have whatever you want within reason. The 25% cooked portion could include whole grain breads and pasta, brown rice, cooked beans, lentils, cooked vegetables including potatoes, sweet potatoes, yams, squash and other foods that you like. Meat is not recommended, nor is chicken or turkey. One of the best sources of flesh protein is seafood. Fish is a major source of important oils and other nutrients in addition to protein. Enjoy it as often as you wish, but avoid breaded or fried seafood. Shrimp and shellfish are good foods. Generally, it is wise to avoid eating a catch from questionably polluted waters, such as the Great Lakes. This is one statement that I look forward to striking from this writing when our fresh waters are cleaner. If you don't want to eat seafood, you do not have to. Eggs in moderation, cheese, unsweetened yogurt, raw cow's milk, goat's milk, tofu, miso, tempeh, nuts, and especially beans and bean sprouts are all good protein sources. The issue is not WHERE you get your protein but ARE YOU getting your protein. If you are not yet a vegetarian, now is the time to move in that direction. If you currently don't eat meat, good for you... and remember: get plenty of protein. When you go out to eat, it's easy to stay right on this program by eating at salad bars. Remember, try to make the other three-quarters of your diet fresh and raw. All the strongest and longest-lived animals on earth are vegetarians, or close to it.

Calories in snacks

SNACK CALORIE CHART

BEVERAGES: Carbonated (per 8-ounce glass): Cola-type-95 calories, Fruit
flavors(10-13% sugar)-115 calories, Ginger Ale-75 calories, Fruit drinks (per 1/2
cup): Apricot nectar-70 calories, Cranberry juice-80 calories, Grape
drink-70 calories, Lemonade (frozen)-55 calories, Fruit juices (per 1/2
cup): Apple juice, canned-60 calories, Grape juice, bottled-80 calories,
Grapefruit juice, canned, unsweetened-50 calories, Orange juice, canned,
unsweetened-55 calories, Pineapple juice, canned, unsweetened-70 calories,
Prune juice, canned-100 calories, Vegetable juices (per 1/2 cup): Tomato
juice-25 calories,Vegetable juice cocktail-20 calories
Coffee and tea: Coffee, black-3-5 calories, with 1 tsp. Sugar-18-20
calories, with 1 tsp. Cream-13-15 calories, Tea, plain-0-1 calories, with
1 tsp. Sugar-15-16 calories.

CANDY, CHIPS, AND PRETZELS:Candy (per ounce): Hard candy-110 calories,
Jelly beans-105 calories,Marshmallows-90 calories, Gumdrops-100 calories, Chips (per cup), Corn
chips-230 calories, Potato chips-115 calories, Popcorn: (air-popped,
without butter)-25 calories, Pretzels: Dutch, 1 twisted-60 calories,
Stick, 5 regular-10 calories

CHEESE (per ounce): American, processed-105 calories, Cottage, creamed-30
calories, Cottage, low-fat (2%)-25 calories, Swiss, natural-105 calories,

CRACKERS: Butter, 2-inch diameter-15 calories, Graham, 2 1/2 inches
square, 2- 55 calories, Matzoh, 6-inch diameter-80 calories, Rye-45
calories, Saltine-50 calories.

FRUITS (raw): Apple, 1 medium:80 calories, Apricots(fresh, 3 medium):50
calories, Apricots (dried, 5 halves): 40 calories, Banana (1 medium):105
calories, Blackberries (1/2 cup):35 calories, Blueberries(1/2 cup):40
calories, Cantaloupe (1/4 melon): 50 calories, Cherries(10): 50 calories,
Dates (dried,3):70 calories
Fig, dried(1 medium):50 calories, Grapefruit(1/2):40 calories, Grapes
(20): 30 calories, Orange (1medium): 60 calories, Peach ( 1 medium):35
calories, Pear (1 medium):100 calories, Pineapple(1/2 cup): 40 calories
Prunes (dried, 3): 60 calories, Raisins (1/4 cup):110 calories,
Strawberries(1 cup): 45 calories, Watermelon (1 cup):50 calories.

NUTS (per 2 tablespoons): Almonds: 105 calories, Brazil nuts: 115
calories, Cashews:100 calories,Peanuts:105 calories, Pecans(halves): 95 calories

VEGETABLES (raw): Carrots(1/2 cup grated):35 calories, Celery (5-inch
stalks, 3):10 calories, Pickle ( 1): 15-20 calories. Source:NIH
Sreenivasarao Vepachedu,06/22/98

I'm still 135...

Ugh, still 135, but hey that's way better than 141, huh?

So.... today I'm gonna do an all fruit day. Possibly sneak a non-fat yoghurt. This is to prepare me for an all liquid day tomorrow. I just got to be down 3 pounds by Saturday. Please God, just be merciful and help me through this.

xoxoxo Love you,

Fat ME

Speed UP Your Metabolism!

I get AOL updates on things like beauty, health and news. So this morning It was on how to speed up your metabolism, which I thought was very neat because when we diet (most of our lives, uhem, Ana's) our metabolism tends to slow down, leading to slower weight loss. So here it is lovelies:

1. When you roll out of bed

Eat (a good) breakfast Every. Single. Day.

If you don't, your body goes into starvation mode (it's paranoid like that), so your metabolism slows to a crawl to conserve energy, Berardi says. And the heartier your first meal is, the better. In one study published in the American Journal of Epidemiology, volunteers who got 22 to 55 percent of their total calories at breakfast gained only 1.7 pounds on average over four years. Those who ate zero to 11 percent of their calories in the morning gained nearly three pounds. In another study published in the same journal, volunteers who reported regularly skipping breakfast had 4.5 times the risk of obesity as those who took the time to eat.

What should you be having? Morning munchies that are slow to digest and leave you feeling fuller longer. Try a mix of lean protein with complex carbohydrates and healthy fats, like this power breakfast, recommended by Berardi: an omelet made from one egg and two egg whites and a half cup of mixed peppers and onions, plus a half cup of cooked steel-cut oats mixed with a quarter cup of frozen berries and a teaspoon of omega-3-loaded fish oil.

Sip java

Sisterhood of the traveling spill-proof mugs, rejoice! A study published in the journal Physiology & Behavior found that the average metabolic rate of people who drank caffeinated coffee increased 16 percent over that of those who drank decaf. Caffeine stimulates your central nervous system by increasing your heart rate and breathing, says Robert Kenefick, Ph.D., a research physiologist at the U.S. Army Research Institute of Environmental Medicine. Honestly, could there be a more perfect beverage?

Guzzle your water cold

Chase your morning joe with an ice-cold glass of H2O. Researchers at the University of Utah found that volunteers who drank eight to 12 eight-ounce glasses of water per day had higher metabolic rates than those who quaffed only four glasses. Your body may burn a few calories heating the cold water to your core temperature, says Madelyn Fernstrom, Ph.D., founder and director of the University of Pittsburgh Medical Center Weight Management Center. Though the extra calories you burn drinking a single glass doesn't amount to much, making it a habit can add up to pounds lost with essentially zero additional effort.

2. When you're at work

Pick protein for lunch

Cramming protein into every meal helps build and maintain lean muscle mass. Muscle burns more calories than fat does, even at rest, says Donald Layman, Ph.D., professor of nutrition at the University of Illinois. Aim for about 30 grams of protein -- the equivalent of about one cup of low-fat cottage cheese or a four-ounce boneless chicken breast-at each meal.

Brew up some green tea

"It's the closest thing to a metabolism potion," says Tammy Lakatos Shames, R.D., author of Fire Up Your Metabolism: 9 Proven Principles for Burning Fat and Losing Weight Forever. The brew contains a plant compound called ECGC, which promotes fat burning. In one study, people who consumed the equivalent of three to five cups a day for 12 weeks decreased their body weight by 4.6 percent. According to other studies, consuming two to four cups of green tea per day may torch an extra 50 calories. That translates into about five pounds per year. Not bad for a few bags of leaves, eh? For maximum effect, let your tea steep for three minutes and drink it while it's still hot.

Undo damage with dairy

Hey, it happens. There are days when no salad on earth can possibly overcome the seductive power of French fries. But you can make up for it with a calcium-rich afternoon snack, like eight ounces of milk or six ounces of low-fat yogurt. Calcium helps your body metabolize fat more efficiently by increasing the rate at which it gets rid of fat as waste (yes, that kind), reports a study from the University of Copenhagen. Sorry, supplements don't have the same effect.

3. When you go food shopping

Choose organic produce

You wouldn't fill your car engine with pesticides, right? Hell, no. Researchers in Canada found that dieters with the most organochlorides (chemicals found in pesticides) stored in their fat cells were the most susceptible to disruptions in mitochondrial activity and thyroid function. Translation: Their metabolism stalled. Can't afford a full organic swap? Go to foodnews.org/fulllist for the most (and the least) contaminated foods, then adjust your shopping list accordingly.

Seek heat

It turns out capsaicin, the compound that gives chili peppers their mouth-searing quality, can also fire up your metabolism. Eating about one tablespoon of chopped red or green chilies boosts your body's production of heat and the activity of your sympathetic nervous system (responsible for our fight-or-flight response), according to a study published in the Journal of Nutritional Science and Vitaminology. The result: a temporary metabolism spike of about 23 percent. Stock up on chilies to add to salsas, and keep a jar of red pepper flakes on hand for topping pizzas, pastas, and stir-fries.

Grab some metal

Women lose iron during their period every month. That can throw a wrench into your metabolic machine, because iron helps carry oxygen to your muscles. If your levels run low, muscles don't get enough O2, your energy tanks, and your metabolism sputters, Shames says. Stock up on iron-fortified cereals, beans, and dark leafy greens like spinach, bok choy, and broccoli.

4. When you work out

Mix things up with intervals

You're always looking for a way to shorten your workout, right? Well, step up your intensity and you'll burn the same number of calories or more in less time. In one Australian study, female volunteers either rode a stationary bike for 40 minutes at a steady pace or for 20 minutes of intervals, alternating eight seconds of sprints and 12 seconds of easy pedaling. After 15 weeks, those who incorporated the sprints into their cardio workouts had lost three times as much body fat -- including thigh and core flab --compared with those who exercised at a steady pace. Bursts of speed may stimulate a fat-burning response within the muscles, says lead researcher Ethlyn Gail Trapp, Ph.D. Whether you ride, run, or row, try ramping things up to rev your burn: Start by doing three eight-second all-out, can't-talk sprints with 12 seconds at an easy pace between each effort. Work your way up until you can do 10 sprints over 20 minutes.

Take it slow

This isn't easy, but when you strength train, count to three as you lower the weight back to the start position. Slowing things down increases the breakdown of muscle tissue -- yeah, it sounds bad, but all that damage you're incurring is actually a good thing. The repair process pumps up your metabolism for as long as 72 hours after your session, according to researchers at Wayne State University. But pass on those featherweight dumbbells -- you need to use weights that are heavy enough that you struggle to complete the final few reps.

Pop pills

Combining regular exercise with fish-oil supplements increases the activity of your fat-burning enzymes, reports a study published in the American Journal of Clinical Nutrition. Volunteers took six grams of fish oil daily and worked out three times a week. After 12 weeks, they'd lost an average of 3.4 pounds, while those who exercised exclusively saw minimal shrinkage. Look for brands containing at least 300 milligrams of the fatty acid EPA and 200 milligrams of the fatty acid DHA per capsule. Pop two of these two hours before your workout.

5. When you get home

Eat Nemo's pals

Fatty fish like salmon, tuna, and sardines are loaded with hunger-quashing omega-3 fatty acids. These healthy fats help trigger the rapid transfer of "I'm full" signals to your brain, according to the National Institutes of Health. Bonus: A 3.5-ounce serving of salmon nets you 90 percent of your recommended daily value of vitamin D, which will help preserve your precious calorie-craving, metabolism-stoking muscle tissue.

Skip the second mojito

Another reason not to overimbibe: Knocking back the equivalent of just two mixed drinks (or two glasses of wine or two bottles of beer) puts the brakes on fat burning by a whopping 73 percent. That's because your liver converts the alcohol into acetate and starts using that as fuel instead of your fat stores, report researchers from the University of California, Berkeley.

Hit the sack -- early

When you sleep less than you should, you throw off the amounts of leptin and ghrelin-hormones that help regulate energy use and appetite-that your body produces. Researchers at Stanford University found that people who snoozed fewer than 7.5 hours per night experienced an increase in their body mass index. So make sure you get at least eight hours of rest.

That about sums it up skinny'. Unless.... of course you want to add more, please comment below, and i shall add it. I cold totally apply those to my daily dose of healthy everthing. Especially the going to bed early. I'm a procrastinator in just about everything... except breakfast. LOL

LoVe Ya!!!!!

Yay! Down 1 pound!!!

So... I'm down 1 pound from thursday. I'm hoping to loose 3 more before 4th of July. Is that too much to ask or hope? We will see. I was eating little meals throughout the day. Actually I wouldn't even call them meals, more like snacks. Like an apple or a cup of cherries or fiber cereal and yoghurt or homemade smoothies. Oh, and speaking of smoothies, my dad got the coolest smoothie machine. It's called Vita-mix. They use those at Jamba Juice, it was like $400 bucks. ;) So..... that brings me to the next idea, I'm planning on going on a juice/smoothie fast. I will be a brides maid once more on August 22nd and I want to loose AT LEAST 15 pounds by then. What do you think? Will I be able to do it? Anyone wanna join or at least encourage me? I'm down to 135 (from 141 ewwwwww) and need to go down to 132 before Saturday.

Can anyone say HELL YA to the the new fiber oatmeal???

I was shopping for some health foods over at Fred Meyer's and stumbled upon a new oatmeal in a box which contains single packets of either cinnamon or maple. MMMMMMmmmm, I love it and it has 10 friggin grams of fiber per packet and 160 calories. That's good for a meal, like break feast or lunch or heak, even dinner. So ya, anyhow juat wanted to let you know. Oooo, and my father picked fresh cherries yesterday from our backyard, yum yum! Cherries are good for ya and have like 75 calories per cup!

I LOST 5 POUNDS IN A WEEK!!!

OK! So I guess it's true, it's the small changes that make a BIG difference. Kind of like when you go shopping... you buy one expensive thing say like a lamp that cost $99 bucks. Then you go and buy small things like a tooth brush $3 and hairspray $4 and undies $10 and so on and so fourth. Then, you reach the check out stand and the cashier slowely scans the items your purchasing: beep beep beep...... then rings it all up," That will be one hundred fifty three dollars and eighty six cents." WTF? Um..... can I see my reciept please ma'am?

Yep, it's kind of the same with dieting. So, this week I tried these small things that made a HUGE difference that I noticed at the end of the week:

1.) I drank tons of water. Cold water every 15 minutes. About 70 ounces a day. ( I peed hell-a lot, which is good because it removes all toxins and impurities).

2.) I chewed sugar free gum constantly. It killed cravings, kept my mouth full so I couldn't binge, and the peppermint flavor suppressed my appetite somewhat.

3.) Along with the water I drank tea and coffee each time I felt hungry. Of course I didn't add sugar or milk. Sometimes before bed, I'd add a teaspoon of honey into peppermint tea, which makes me drowsy and helped me fall asleep faster so I wouldn't think of food.

4.) I cut my food into little tiny pieces instead of devouring it like I would do. I also put my spoon/fork down in between bites.

5.) I took a sip of calorie free liquids between each bite to fill me up faster. ( This kind of includes #'s 1 & 3. ; )

6.) If I craved something really badly, I went to the kitchen and made/got it. Then I chewed it untill I got the full flavor and spit it out. No swallowing a single drop! Then I ran upstairs and brushed me teeth of rinced with mouthwash, and threw in a pice of gum. Whola! I'm pretty much satisfied without consuming a single calorie!!!

7.) When I was onthe verge of a binge, I quickly grabbed a "safe food" and ate it non-stop till I was full, preferably a negative calori food (pickles in which the water fills you up fast, celery, apples) I also would take a sip of water in between bites.

So.... I hope this works for you. Meanwhile I'll be thinking of more things to do to become a SKINNY BITCH>
LOve Ya!!!!!

This calls for a drastic change!

Shit shit shit!!!!!!!!! I wanna scream so hard so I could blow off my throat and not be able to eat for a week, or hell, why not make that a month! AAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAA!!!! Why me?????? WHy do I gain all that shitty weight? Why not my flippin scary skinny sister who eats 3x more than me??????? No more than 1,000 calories today... tomorow is another story.... I'm freakin 139??????? WTF???????? Shoot me now please.... coffee, salads, grapefruit, soy-milk, and apples are calling my name..... I'm baaaaaaack, say's ana, I'm back. Well welcome ana, I've waited for you! Start cleaning please!