April's CR Diary

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August 17, 2006

The Look Great, Feel Great Diet

WARNING: This is probably nothing you don't already know.

[Wow, that was a painful double negative. There is no part of this entry that is not old information.]

The past few weeks, as I've mentioned, have been rough on my CR, and I'm amazed at how much better I look and feel when I'm in my CR groove. Cleary, a weight gain of five pounds, from 103 to 108, is not going to make me look like a beached whale. It's not that I look fat, it's that I look tired, downtrodden, and generally older... in just a few weeks! Just as I miraculously got younger when I started CR, I unfortunately get older as I eat junk. The good news is: this is easily reversable! Here's my thoughts on the look great/feel great diet and lifestyle.

-- Eat an low carb, high protein breakfast with a teaspoon of flax oil. You got it... the religion of eggwhites. You knew that was coming. See, you already know this stuff. I'm just putting it all together.

-- Eat lots of dark leafy green veggies, and a big variety of them. Dress them with olive or flax oil or eat them with pumpkin seeds or hazelnuts/almonds. Fat aids the absorption of their nutrients.

-- Eat lots of tomatoes, both raw and cooked. Just don't eat *my* tomatoes, because I growl at anyone who comes near *my* tomatoes.

-- Eat nonfat dairy in measured portions.

-- Dramatically cut back on salt. This mostly means eliminating processed foods from your diet. Want to look great fast? Completely cut out salt for two days, plus the next step.

-- Drink lots of water. MR thinks I drink too much water, but I find that I am more energetic, less hungry, less moody, and much better looking when I drink a lot of water.

-- Eat some fruit, but make it the high nutrient fruit like citrus or berries. And not too much... the calories add up, and for those of us who are very carb-sensitive, so do the carbs.

-- Don't drink much, and only drink red wine. Nothing makes me look like crap faster than overindulging in alcohol, especially vodka drinks like cosmos. Nothing worse than the combination of vodka and sugar.

-- Don't eat anything with added sugar at all. I think sugar makes my face look pinched, and not in a cute way like a Persian cat. In a "Rescue me from myself!" type of way.

Now on to the non-diet aspects:

-- Sleep. I know, it's hard, but you have to get enough sleep. How much is enough? Don't know. When you don't feel tired during the day, most likely.

-- Get some exercise. I am amazed at how good I look when I step off the treadmill, even if I only worked out for twenty minutes. And how great I feel when I'm lifting, even when I'm lifting tiny amounts.

-- Have sex. Do you ever notice how much better people look when they've just had sex? Try this experiment: look at yourself in the mirror. Go have sex with someone (preferably someone you like, but whatever.) Now look in the mirror again. Don't you look better? Your face is glowing, your eyes are bright, your hair should look less tense. See, it works.

-- Do some kind of concentrating on yourself activity that doesn't involve food or shopping. Like, meditate, swing on the swingset, read, take a long walk, chat on the phone with friends, write. Just don't eat or buy stuff. Every day, take some time to yourself, even if it's fifteen minutes. It's worth it. I find that when I don't do this, it's my immediate ticket to lifestyle free-fall. Even if you just sit and stare out the window for fifteen minutes, it's a break.

Try this for a week, and I promise you will look better. And so will whomever you choose to have sex with, even if he or she refused to eat vegetables. Though why you would have sex with anyone who won't eat vegetables is beyond me.

Posted by april at August 17, 2006 5:28 AM

Comments

Posted by: Lindsay at August 17, 2006 1:57 AM

Posted by: Arturo at August 18, 2006 8:26 PM

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