Pounds lost since February 19: 25.5# (includes 6 weeks of relaxed dieting due to work obligations.)
Pounds lost since May 5: 3.4
Menu, 5/8: Pre-Breakfast: Coffee and 2 cuties; Breakfast: 1/2 Chocolate Cherry Banacado Lunch: Ceviche Dinner: 1/2 Chocolate Cherry Banacado; Evening Snack: air-popped popcorn
Menu, 5/9: Pre-Breakfast: Coffee; Breakfast: 12 ounces cottage cheese with 1 cup blueberries and 1 banana; Lunch: chicken quesadilla from Taco Bell; Dinner: I was too exhausted to think about food. 12 ounces of almond milk and a red bell pepper; Evening snack: 2 bananas
Thursday was busy and I was grabbing food on the go. I didn’t do too badly, considering.
I want, want, want to get back to writing Maximum Security. Life is interfering with art again. Now that the audiobook is in the pipeline, I’ve got a pile of flutes to polish for Pat and a number of practical matters that need attending. Plus, Zipper, the amazing paraplegic schnauzer has just been diagnosed with cancer. Pat and Anna are needing extra TLC. They’ll find out this afternoon about his treatment options and prognosis. As Brent says, “Life is messy.”
Now that I’m talking about Phase II and solid food, I thought I’d talk about beans.
Beans are a terrific and often un-sung diet food. Cheap, filling, nutritious, packed with fiber. On paper they have more carbs than are desirable, but beans have a high percentage of “resistant starch,” meaning they do not break down quickly like typical carbs and thus, don’t spike blood sugar.
Beans are one of the best sources of resistant starch. Green bananas are another. Other stars are whole grains, such as rolled oats and long-grain brown rice. You can amp-up the effects of your Aztec Diet by choosing resistant starches whenever possible. (Get more info on resistant starch here)
You can further increase the nutritional value by sprouting the beans before you cook them. Sprouting your beans first has the added benefit of reducing gas.
I usually make a pot of Curried Black Beans every week. I get four 12 ounce or six 8 ounce servings per pound of beans. Nuke a bowl and top with grated cheese and yogurt (a great substitute for sour cream). Stir in a scrambled egg or some sauteed veggies. Toss them on a low-carb tortilla with hot sauce.
Today I’m starting a pot. It’ll be done some time Sunday. Don’t let that scare you, the prep is super-simple and can be tailored around any schedule.
Curried Black Beans
-
Soak 1 pound dried Black Beans in your crock-pot for at least eight hours (overnight works well). If you see tiny bubbles forming on top, drain, rinse and replace the water. Otherwise, the beans might sour.
Rinse the beans, then let the damp beans sit for 24 hours or so (if the beans dry out, rinse them and drain again). By this time, you should be seeing little “tails” on some of the beans.
Rinse again, then cover with an inch of water
Add 2 – 3 rounded TBSP curry and 2 bay leaves
Cook in your crock pot until soft, around 5 hours on high. If you’re going to be gone all day, put them on low and they’ll be done for dinner.
Add 1 TSP Real Salt or other whole salt in the last 10 minutes before serving (Don’t add salt in the beginning, it prevents the skins from softening)
Lia Anderson Dog Park Mysteries by C.A. Newsome 
Hi, this diet is interesting, but I don’t want to lose weight (I cant’ afford to lose weight)> However I do need structured eating and I need need to fix my digestive/constipation issues. Would this diet be too much fiber though (fiber REALLy screws me over). Plus I can’t afford to lose and it needs to be simple (no special equipment or fancy cooking…I need SIMPLE…thoughts? YOur meal plans look so nice! Congrats on your successes so far!
LikeLike
Dang it, I wrote a long response to your question and accidentally clicked the wrong button and lost it. I don’t have time to rewrite it now, but I’ll get back to it this weekend.
What is you issue with ‘fancy equipment’? A couple of good pieces of equipment can make or break a diet when you are looking at ease of preparation. In your case I would absolutely recommend a juicer, which needn’t be expensive
LikeLike
Hey, Oh my finances are rock bottom so buying equipment would not be possible. Maybe a magic bullet next month….I’m also living with roommates/moving, etc and extremely limited kitchen space/time. Thanks for any tips.
LikeLike
It’s hard for me to advise you without knowing more about your condition. All plant foods have some fiber in it, it’s a matter of how much you can tolerate. I’ve always promoted high fiber options in my recipes, but they can be tweaked for your needs.
The most important thing (if you have not already done this) is to create a list of foods that you do an don’t tolerate well. That gives you a place to start. In the Aztec Diet, you would want to cut out the chia seed and the beans as most likely culprits.
Plant foods are absolutely necessary for maintaining health. If you don’t tolerate fiber well, juicing will strip out the fiber and leave you with the nutrition and the calories. Much nutrition is lost in commercially processed juices. There is something about commercial juices that makes me queasy, so I can’t drink them.
I prefer less expensive juicers, as they are much faster and take little muscle compared with masticating juicers. You do lose some nutrition, but the trade off is worth it for me due to the ease of use. I occasionally pick up second-hand juicers in good condition for the purpose of passing them on. I have one I can send you, if you want to give this a shot.
You can beef up the calorie count in my smoothie recipes by preparing them with almond milk or fruit juice. If you are not familiar with avocados, make them your new best friend, they have healthy fats and high nutrition. Eggs are also a good option for ease of preparation, high nutrition and no fiber.
As far as your digestive issues go, fiber is one of the biggest tools to eliminating constipation. Without fiber, I would look at your fluid intake, which is necessary good intestinal function. I would also research the health benefits of various spices. Many ethnic cuisines ‘move’ better than the Standard American Diet. I’m sure the spices have something to do with it.
Ginger is a fantastic tonic for general digestive health, I take 1/2 TSP ground ginger every day. I toss it into a smoothie or into my coffee.
My goal is nutritious, super-easy food for one. Perhaps not all of my recipes will work for you, but there will be much you can use, especially now that I am focusing on solid foods in Phase II of the Aztec Diet.
LikeLike
Thanks for the kind and intelligent reply.
Well, I’m actually underweight, in 30’s…yet constipated or unhealthy bowel movements…a lot of fatigue and achiness (used to be a runner LONG ago, now I take daily slow walks, sit a lot, and do some bodyweight exercises occasionally…I need a “plan”. Oye…are there are other books, websites, plans that you see that could be a good preliminary “cleanse” for a few days (i literally feel impacted with crap since foricng in a lot of foods the last few years in order to gain weight, but not really digestiing them right…a good SIMPLE meal plan for one is what I need…I tend to eat a lot of same foods every single day (fruits, veggies, coconut and olive oil, whole eggs, yogurt, occasionally goat cheese, nuts/nut butters, dark chocolate, rice cakes, ezekiel bread occasionally, protein powder occasionally…recommendations for powders?….avocado a lot!, salsa, chicken, a lot of fish, etc etc….i once tried a vega shake and got so cramped and nauseous (fiber? or the grassines of it? ) I don’t know. Also have an issue with starting to “binge” nightly 😦 Seriously …too shamedd to talk about it…lots of times…so I really really need a “cleanse” cause of the heavy binging (on “safe” foods like fruit, yogurt, nuts, peanut granola bars, and dark chocolate, etc etc…all together…eep)…Like I’m underweight, but in 30’s’ and short short and barely move physically, so not sure….the GI issues are the big factor and doctors are so….unhelpful!
So nice of you to offer to send a juicer. But I live in Canada and the shipping would be horrendous for you. But sweet of you to offer. Must be costly to juice though no? And noisy if living with others? and the clean up….I have roommates and am in transition between moving here to there and kitchen space/time is limited and cramped and not cool….
My GI issues have lead me to anxiety or almost orthorexic view on food if that makes sense…not sure what will worsen me or not. Frustrating. I agree with your food views though…need a book, website, meal plans to see to start off right and somehow reclaim my body and brain fogged fatigue and mind…so many competing opinions between vegan, paleo, SCD, the new healing book “Undiet” or the “sass diet” or “aztec” or just plain ole Joy Bauer who has pretty simple plans, etc…so many competing opinions and blogs that it can be overwhelmingly time consuming 🙂
Oye….anyway, super admire your chronicles of things..YOU make it seem simple and all good food, plus you don’t overeat at night…I wish I could get there…
I used to follow this blog at http://www.katheats.com and you might like some of her listings of daily meals, etc…anyway, congrats on your successes so far…so impressive.
LikeLike
For a cleanser, I recommend The Master Cleanser by Stanley Burroughs. This is an inexpensive cleanse: lemons, maple syrup and cayenne pepper. Be sure to do the morning salt water flush. One thing he does not mention: all that lemon juice can damage the enamel on your teeth. I recommend rinsing your mouth with baking soda and water after each glass of lemonade.
I would be careful about slavishly following any diet. I have several points of contention with Dr. Bob about the Aztec Diet. Knowledge is power, but along with that, it’s important to listen to your body. Everyone is individual. I can’t say that strongly enough.
Digestive and eating issues are so often emotional. I find that when I want to binge, it’s not because I’m hungry, it’s because I’m nervous, lonely or upset. With a little discipline, it’s possible to discern emotional eating from true hunger.
Doctors are often not helpful when there’s no obvious illness. A therapist could be useful in helping you work out what does and does not work for you, food-wise. I see a therapist weekly for my TBI. We discuss how I managed my limited energy for the week, and how I plan to manage the next week. At first I thought it was a stupid waste of time because I’m emotionally stable and very smart. Now I don’t know what I’d do without Jessica. It’s not that she tells me what to do, because she doesn’t. She manages to stay cognizant of the “forest” of my condition while I’m lost in the trees. It helps me stay on track.
I find lots of powders/supplements make me queasy. I would worry less about supplements or magic bullets and focus on whole foods. Most low-fiber diets also limit fats. In your case I would eat full fat everything. Healthy fats are very important to brain function. Nuts, olive and coconut oils, butter, avocados, oily fish. Sugar creates brain fog. Have you read my post on Brain Food? You might find some good tips there. In your place, I would carry around a can of mixed nuts to snack on. Walnuts are especially good for brain health, so include them when you can.
I love Ezekiel bread. This is a whole grain bread with a fair amount of fiber. I’m wondering how you would react to oatmeal? Beans? These are my two go-to foods for bowel health. Humus is also helpful.
As long as you are getting plenty of fluids, you don’t necessarily need a blender. You can eat the same foods whole. My blender blew up while I was doing the Chia Challenge, so I ate fruit and yogurt or cottage cheese for breakfast instead.
One last thought: Have you had a head injury? Fatigue and fog have ruled my life since I had mine. It doesn’t take much. Simply slamming your head on concrete from a fall can do it. Doctors in the US don’t talk about it because so few people respond so severely to a knock on the head.
Keep talking. Let me know how you are doing.
LikeLike
Hi, you are quite intelligent (I’m an aspiring writer also…but at 31 and financially/physically rock bottom and brain fogged I am literally a mess…I regret the years wasted and the fact that every day is still a looming challenge). No injury that i know of…but “IBS” (or something 😦 ), low weight (I’m 5 feet 1.5 and 85ish lbs), lethargic, no energy, brain fogged, etc….that is why master cleanses etc are not something I entertain…fear of losing more weight or worsening things…but I do need a “clean out”. Since I only walk lazily and sit a lot I worry about eating grains…but would like to have them…confusing…I need structured meal plans to stop the insane binging and waking up hit by truck (adrenal fatigue I suspect among other things). I do need a meal plan and am trying to hunt one down. I think my over-reliance on whole eggs + dairy (and other stuff) has made me sensitive to it and i ought to elminate..but NO willpower, plus eggs and dairy are “easy” if that makes sense…its confusing. I dunno…feel like I’m always on the “search”…need to somehow break free from this mess. Just wish I wasn’t so constipated…or if I do go, its filthy, little pieces, dirty water, “explosive” like…TMI alert, sorry. Anyway, thanks for your thoughts.
LikeLike
IBS is a different animal, something I know little about. I do know that I should not be encouraging you to eat fats if IBS is the issue, sorry about that. Even if you don’t do the Master Cleanser, you can still do the salt water flush. I did a post about this in March, I think, or late February, “Delicately Put.” Less invasive than enemas.
It’s unfortunate that certain conditions fall through the cracks of traditional medicine. Some of us have to find our own way out of the dark. Ongoing support is important. There must be some online forums devoted to IBS, have you had any luck there?
LikeLike