The Belly Fat Cure by Jorge Cruise

The basic thing to remember when starting out a new weight loss plan is to keep it simple, so you can work it, and it doesn't get tossed to the side, and neglected.   The Belly Fat Cure by Jorge Cruise is a very simple lifestyle plan when you follow it, and more importantly stay with it! 

The basic thing to learn is this:   S Value = SUGAR.  15 grams daily.  Yes, it's that simple for sugar, and now if you're following me and you drank a soda today you will be  amazed to know one can of Pepsi has 41 grams of  sugar in it!  POG (a beloved Hawaiian juice)  has 38 grams of sugar.  Too lose the Belly Fat soda's must go!

The second basic thing to learn is this:  C Value =  CARBOHYDRATE.   6  servings daily or 120 grams allowed per day.    One serving has 5 to 20 grams.  Two servings has 21 to 40 grams.  Three servings has 41 to 60 grams, and so on.  A food item that has under 5 grams count as 0.

Do away with the "cheat" foods.   By this I mean no Maple Scone from Starbucks in the mornings, and forget the Latte's!   Diet Sodas too,  have become taboo, even when  you think you're drinking a can with  zero calories  because of the Aspartame, or Splenda added to them, along with  other harmful chemicals.


Let's start with SUGAR: 15 grams of sugar is allowed per day. The Belly Fat Cure book has the Fruit listed on page 307. You eat one serving (1/4 cup) of Blueberries in the morning.  You've used 4 grams of sugar, and have 11 grams remaining for the day.    Our daily total is 15 grams, and even better to stay under that!
 
Let's not forget the CARBOHYDRATE in the Blueberry serving of 1/4 cup.  The Blueberry's have a  4/1 value,   4 sugars/1 carb.  You now have 5 Carbohydrate "servings"  left for the day.  Our daily total is 6 servings, or 120 grams allowed daily.

I am writing this today so it sinks into my thick skull as a refresher course for me, since I began with a bang, and now I am sinking, but still trying to swim, and stay afloat.  I've been reading other diet books, health plans, call it what you will,  and I've been taking all the good points and information from them.  Basically everyone who has studied OBESITY in America is saying the same thing.   That Belly Fat is dangerous to one's health, and it effects all of our organs, and it needs to go!   Lucky you if you don't have a problem with it.  I never did when I was young, active,  and had a stress free life, and I never thought I'd become obese either. 
Two areas I am working on this week are: drinking 64 oz. of water a day.
Walking or doing something active for one hour a day outdoors.   I've been on my feet since 4:30 a.m. this morning, either standing or walking for my full time job,  and it's the last thing I want to do when I come home.  But walking is also a great way to lose belly fat, and my doggies agree, so off we go for an hour.

Making Healthy Choices Everyday

Hey rapture people, don't look so sad, it's not the end of the world.  My cousin married a funny guy, and this is what he'd written on his F.B. page today.  Just had to borrow it for your viewing pleasure, because  it made me laugh today.  There is always one person, usually a man, claiming to know the day the world will come to an end.  Even when I was a kid, my next door neighbor had us all  digging a hole in his backyard so he could make a Fallout Shelter, because he believed,  along with his five kids, their was going to be a nuclear war in the late 60's.  By the way, he was a NASA engineer, and no dummy.   Needless to say, we dug the hole 15 wide,  2 feet deep before all construction stopped. We all got back to our lives of  riding  bikes, and rollerskating, and almost always tripped in that big gigantic  hole  whenever we played  in their backyard. 

Looking back in history I have never heard a women make such a claim that the world was going to end.  I wonder why?  And why we're on this subject,  why are all the cults in the world lead by middle aged, or old men?  Why are young women falling for their charismatic (sick) personalities, and joining them in their tripped out philosophy's.  Thank goodness I have a mother, and a father who gave me a sturdy foundation not to go off and follow every Tom, Dick, and Harry who came along with their ego loving, free love, world end's today freedom of speech!  They suck!

Awe, apparently just had to get that off my chest today!

Back to my original topic...I will be following the Fat Flush Plan for a time. I bought author Ann Louise Gittleman book awhile back, and recently picked it up, and read it again    It lines up with the BFC idea's, and possibly Fast Track (but I don't have Jorge Cruise book yet, so I am starting on  this plan for the time being. Her Fat Flush approach is to simply clean out your liver, and clean out your lymphatic system in order to get things moving again.  She claims the signs of a toxic liver are:

Weight gain, especially around the abdomen.

Cellulite

Abdominal bloating

Indigestion

High Blood Pressure

Elevated cholesterol

Fatigue

Mood Swings, Depression, and Skin rashes.  When your liver is sluggish, every organ in your body is affected, and your weight loss efforts are blocked.  Unable to carry out its activities to control glucose, a toxic liver can lead to hypoglycemia, which can produce sugar cravings, weight gain, and sabotage your weight loss efforts.   This being said, I am starting on Phase 1:  The Two Week Fat Flush.  Phase 1includes increasing oil (in the form of flax seed oil),  fiber, water, and exercise.  I noticed eating on Phase 1 is almost exactly like Fast Track is, no unhealthy carbs.

Phase 1

Oil intake:   1 tbls. twice daily of organic high-lignan flaxseed oil.  Omega 3 fat-fighting and insulin-regulating.
Lean Protein:  Up to 2 whey servings,  up to 2 eggs, and a minimum of 8 ounces of cooked lean protein. Protein raises metabolism by 25%, and activates the liver's detoxifying enzymes.
Eggs:  Up to 2 per day.  Support your liver's cleansing process. Omega 3 enriched.
Vegetables:  Unlimited, raw or steamed. These fibrous and colorful phytonutrient-rich vegetables will help speed your liver's cleansing and provide valuable carotenoids.
Fruits:  2 whole portions daily.  Choose from 1 sm. apple, 1/2 grapefruit, 1 small orange, 2 medium plums, 6 large strawberries, 10 large cherries, 1 nectarine, 1 peach. 1 pear, and 1 cup berries ( blue, black, rasp) Natures's natural cleansers are high in enzymes and minerals potassium, and low on the glycemic index.
Cranberry Water:  8 glasses a day.  Purpose: The unsweetened cranberry juice-water mixture eliminates water retention, cleanses accumulated wastes from the lymphatic system, and also helps to clean up cellulite. Mixture:  Fill two 32oz. water bottles with 4 ounces of unsweetened cranberry juice and 28 ounces of water.
Long Life Cocktail:  Taken two times daily: on arising and before bed.  Purpose: to  increase elimination and balance hormones.  How to: In 8 ounces of the cranberry water, add either 1 full teaspoon of powdered psyllium husks or 1 tbs of ground flaxseeds.  Drink it quickly before it clumps!
Legal Cheat:   1 cup of organic coffee in the morning.
Supplements:  GLA  breakfast and dinner, and a daily balanced Multivitamin.
Before Breakfast:  Drink an 8 ounce cup of hot water with the juice of 1/2 lemon to assist your kidneys and liver.
Okay, this is week one and two in a nut shell.    I think it sounds like a good plan to help my liver out since it does so much work for my body.   So I will be in detox for a few weeks, and hopefully my liver will continue to love it!    Has anyone ever tried the Fat Flush Plan by Ann Louise Gittleman?  Love to hear from you if you have given it a go.   Keep striving to live healthy everyone!

 I  read an article today in the  newspaper  about the oldest living person in the world, and she's now 114 years old.  This Brazilian women, Grandma Quinta,  tributes her long life to eating a daily roll with fruit for breakfast.  She has a fondness for Feijoada - Brazil's national dish, a hearty bean stew with various cuts of salted pork meat - and Chicken Empada pastries, with a lot of hot sauce!   She also indulges in a nip of wine on occasion ( I would too for my aches and pains).  She also says she's stubborn, has taken care of her own life, and not the life of others.  In essence, she minded her own business for most of her life.  Go figure!

Trying to Stay in Control

Yesterday (Saturday morning) I woke up early at 5:30 a.m., put  on my walking shoes, and of course, shorts, blouse, and my  hat, and  flew out the door. I was participating in one of the biggest fundraisers Maui county puts on,  the 31st Annual Visitor Industry Charity Walk.  This year  2,100 plus people show up to  walk (or run) the 3 mile course.  We all contributed, and  raised an amazing total of 460,524.00 dollars!   My fellow employee's and I walked  three miles for Maui's non profit organization,  the Habitat of Humanity.  Other Non Profit organizations represented, like the Humane Society,  and the Hotel and Resort Industry of course brought in the most money, and basically any business who wanted to  contribute to this huge fundraiser could. They all did it together, and boy, did they ever deliver!   The Aloha Spirit is alive and well on Maui in these tough times!  

Afterwards we met back on the soccer field, listened to Hawaiian music, watched the hula dancers, and ate breakfast.  I had the Belgium Waffles, along with the bacon that the Grand Wailea Chef's provided,   then along comes the  Frappe's from the Royal Lahaina Resort,  and almost immediately I regretted  all that junk that went down the hatch, and getting caught up in all the festivities!  

So today I am on the wagon... and feeling good about the walk, but  trying again to stay in control... 

HAPPY MOTHER'S DAY

I actually began celebrating Mother's Day yesterday by going with my very dear friend of 32 years, to a yearly event called the Seabury Fair.  It takes place in Makawao each year at  Seabury Hall High School.  It's a private high school, and  foreign exchange students come and live in dorms, and also kids that grow up in the islands can also attend if they have parents who make a good living, to offset the cost of  their kids tuition,  almost near college level expenses.  

The morning started out with dark sky's, and  heavy showers as we stopped in Casanova's for a breakfast.  I ordered  a Gouda, Sunriped Tomato Omelet, with a slice of Seven Grain toast, and a coffee with cream.  We waited for the sun to come out, drank another cup of coffee, and finally the sun arrived, and with it a strong breeze.  Good for us, but the breeze made some of the vendors tents pull out of the ground, and flipped a few before they could fetch larger stakes.  My friend loves her jewelry, and bought several pair of handcrafted earrings, while I looked around walked out of the Thrift Store with a two dollar top, great for summer weather.   I usually am on the lookout for plants, and a bit disappointed that this year's selection was slim pickings, and the plants they were selling were overpriced, and not the type I wanted.   Last year I bought several variety of Bromiliads, and Catspaw.  After we shopped awhile longer and hit all the vendor's  booth,  we scoped out the live auction (I'm always outbid),   we were hungry for lunch.  We choose a booth that was serving salad with Sesame dressing, and on top of it had a nice piece of grilled Salmon.  Boy, was it ever tasty, and healthy, and both of us said we normally didn't care for Salmon because of the fishy taste, but this dish was so delicious. 

Afterwords, we went to town, literally, and we treated ourselves to our Mother's Day present.  I had a seventy minute body work treatment, and my friend got her toes done,  and got a facial with a Gold collagen face mask.   We are living the pampered life for a day, and it works because we were very relaxed for the rest of the day.  
Today is Mother's Day (again).   Our beautiful 23 year old son called  from his digs in San Fran to wish me a Happy Mother's Day.  He had already put in a call his Grandma (my Mom), so I am happy to hear that.  Afterwords, my husband took me out to lunch, and I ordered a Taco Salad.   It was very tasty and it was served with only 7 chips,   very healthy ingredients made up the rest of it too, so I am still in the May Challenge! 
Now I sit here with dye on my head to get rid of my little ol'  gray hairs that seem to only want to sprout up around the front of my head :)  Oh my.  But it is what it is, and one of these days I will go all natural, but not today!
I hope you are all having a wonderful weekend, and Happy Mother's Day to you beautiful women everywhere. 

MAY WEIGHT LOSS CHALLENGE

Sometimes it takes a recommitted attitude to challenge us as a group to get back on track, and Amber has set the bar this month.  She's challenging our BFC, FT, and just about anybody that wants to lose 5 lb. during the month of May to join in.   Please let her know you are up to tackling the May Challenge by logging onto her site at http://www.meandjorge.com or just simply click on her site to the right of my page, listed under my BFC Overachievers Blog Role.    Amber just finished a relay race this past weekend that had her running her thin legs off,  like she never  imagined she could do in her life!    Thank you Amber for running for a worthy charity, Organs R Us,  and having a great time doing it!  

My plan is to live the BFC (Belly Fat Cure)  lifestyle up to 3:00 pm, and then try F.T. (Fast Track)  until my head hits the pillow each night for this month of May.  My four pounds have a way of coming and going, and I need to recommit and breakthrough by losing five pounds, so I can continue to my goal, and break this wretched curse!  Thirty pounds to go after May baby!

BREAKFAST:   Protein Shake = Protein Powder,  Strawberries,  Almond Milk, 2 Tbls. Cream, Greek Yogurt, Super Seed, and Xylitol.  Coffee,  1 cup with cream.

LUNCH:  Chili, 1 scoop white rice. (I know, I know).  Iced tea.

SNACK:  Deviled egg, w/ olive oil/mayo,  Mojo Chips.

DINNER:  Steamed Broccoli, Cauliflower, and Zucchini with Feta Cheese.

SUPPLEMENT:  2 Cinnamon capsules  (410mg each).   1 Bone Builder Vitamin D3  (2,000IU),  1 capsule of a Probiotic (8strains).

Okay enough said.   My motto for the May Challenge will be:  JUST DO IT!  Nike you owe me a billion bucks for coming up with that slogan - (smile). We are in this together through our ups and our downs, and I hope May brings not only May flowers, but some downs as far as inches & numbers go!  Good Luck for this May Weight Loss Challenge to becoming a healthier YOU!  Please visit the rest of my  friends blogs to the right of my page, and  read about their amazing transformations, and journey as they strive to live in the moment!  I'd love to hear your story, and add your blog to my list, so others can get to know you. Please leave a comment if you are wondering about anything, or just contemplating on the meaning of life!