CathyM Weight Loss & Health Blog

It was bliss! An energetic and feel good two days. I wish we could have stayed all three days. It rained on the drive from Los Angeles but by the time we arrived - no more rain. The sun played with us all day, in and out of the clouds.

The first session at noon was yoga with Megan Cannon from the Big Island. She has studied with BKS Iyengar as well as Geeta and Prashant. She taught a wonderful basic Iyengar class focusing on warriors, triangles, and twists with alignment.

The opening ceremonies were next with Samantha Sweetwater, Dreaming Bear and their group. The sign on the stage read, “The Grandest Raw Vegan Eco Peace Celebration in Creation.” The music was fantastic and Samantha facilitated some great interaction within the crowd and her specialty, dancing freedom. I met a friend from Brazil - there was definitely an international crowd at the festival. During the ceremony, an incredible ring formed around the sun, looking like a circular rainbow. Quite spectacular.

Time for lunch, a delicious Mediterranean plate that was enough to feed two of us. I wish I remembered the vendor’s name, I’ll come back and plug it in if I can find it. It was very good and I went back later in the day for a yummy fruit salad and more.

More yoga, yea! Next is Elemental Flow Yoga with Ninaya from Santa Barbara. I loved the way she incorporated the fluid body with sufi rolls and warrior poses. Ninaya is a beautiful young women expecting her second child and with her young toddler close by.

A short break and then it is time for Kirtan with Eostar and her group. Eostar is from Eugene, Oregon and lives in the house that my daughter and her boyfriend had looked to join. Small world. The kirtan was magnificant. Eostar has written her own music and incorporates both vedic chanting and English. I could have stayed all night.

We spend some time walking about the vendors and then to the small doctors tent which has become a dance pavilion. Later, we move back to the main stage for singing and dancing and music from Fantuzzi, Singing Bear, and The Luminaries. We wished we were camping so that we could stay all night but we had to head to our hotel for some sleep.

Saturday is a new day. I start with yoga with Nandhi. I forgot to mention that all of the yoga was in the Sacred Exercise tent. A large purple open air tent. So nice to be outside with the cool Santa Barbara breezes. Nandhi starts by taking us outside of the tent to appreciate the sun and the earth. As we do our yoga, we explore our left Mother side and right Father side and give gratitude to both. Nandhi has a beautiful way of incorporating chanting with yoga in a traditional way. Nandhi is from India and promises a beautiful ceremony tonight for the full moon, too bad I can’t stay. I do go by and pick up both cds for some chanting and meditation at home.

Next on the schedule is Drew Rouse with Bikram Yoga. He introduces himself and explains that his style is command driven yoga. He seems aware that some don’t like that style. I wouldn’t want to hear it all the time but did enjoy his class and felt good that I could do most of it.

Time for lunch, another Mediteranean style meal, this time from Lydia’s Lovin Foods. It was good and I also picked up some crackers to take home.

Samantha Sweetwater from the opening ceremonies now provides an hour of dancing freedom taking us through the elements of earth, water, fire, air, and ether. She is a wonderful facilitator.

A break to explore the yoga swing, didgeridoo sound healing and other parts of the festival with Lucy and Zach.

The last yoga class for me is with Ardas Wright. She leads a Kundalini Yoga class. Ardas has taught at Golden Bridge and I do recognize her style. It has been several years but I have taken a couple of classes with Gurmukh at Golden Bridge.

After all the yoga, I am a bit tired and head over to the massage healing tables. I am approached by Sya Warfield of urban oasis. Sya lists several massage specialties including Swedish, deep tissue, thai massage, cranio sacral, and reiki. I say that I want something relaxing and healing for my shoulder and she suggests cranio sacral with reiki. It is quite relaxing and my shoulder does feel good afterwards. I would definitely do it again and have her card in case I get a chance to look her up in San Francisco.

The day is over for us. Lucy and Zach are tired and ready to head home. I would have liked to stay longer but it would have made driving at night difficult and so it was best that we head back to Torrance. With little traffic, we make it home in just over 2 hours.

I am totally looking forward to attending the Raw Spirit Festival tomorrow in Santa Barbara. My daughter, her fiance, and myself will drive up Friday morning for a noon start. If all goes as planned, we will arrive in time for the opening yoga session followed by the opening ceremony at 1pm. The rest of Friday there will be opportunities for a couple more yoga sessions, kirtan, music, dance, and of course raw food demonstrations. My daughter and fiance are both vegetarians. I am not but I do love healthy, fresh food. We will also spend a full day there on Saturday with even more opportunities for yoga, meditation, music and food! It is sure to be bliss! I plan to report back with some of the highlights as will my daughter at Living Foods Life.

I purchased the new Earth Pan II cookware last month and they arrived on Earth Day. How appropriate! I had been using a much more expensive non stick set with diamond protection and a lifetime guarantee that well, didn’t come close to lasting a lifetime. I wanted something new and if it didn’t last a lifetime, at least I won’t have to worry about digesting teflon.

I was pleased to find the Earth Pan cookware that had everything I wanted and more - good price, great colors, non stick surface, eco friendly and handles that are not hot to the touch.

Right now the 10 piece Earth Pan II by Farberware is $149.99 at Amazon and $139.96 at Walmart. The 10 piece set includes 6 pans and 4 lids - a stock pot, 2 skillets, 1 saute pan, and 2 saucepans. Walmart only carries the espresso color. Amazon has both espresso and terra cotta. I went with amazon because of the color and free shipping. As you can see from the picture, the terra cotta pans are lovely in my kitchen.

I didn’t just buy this cookware because of the beauty, the eco friendly, healthy non-stick properties are important to me as well. The surface is an innovative SandFlow nonstick surface that contains no PTFEs or PFOAs. I did not research this topic extensively, I took their word for it. Non-stick cooking pans are also healthy because many things can be cooked with less oil.

Another important criteria for me is to have handles that don’t get hot. I don’t know why some expensive cookware does not have this feature. I used Revereware for years and other cookware with plastic handles. The Earth Pans have the newer silicone handles and they are the best. Comfortable to hold and no heat. The pans are also dishwasher safe but that wasn’t a big factor for me. I usually hand wash my pans.

Here’s where to find the best deals the Earth Pans:

Walmart: Earth Pan II

Amazon: Earth Pan II by Farberware 10-Piece Cookware Sets

Happy, healthy cooking!

I am so proud that my almost grown kids are taking an interest in their health! That we can enjoy beautiful healthy food and some exercise on Mother’s Day is a great treat for me. My daughter came over early in the day, we had some beautiful berries from the Farmer’s market. She recently started growing wheat grass and we made a drink with the blender. I was surprised at how sweet the wheat grass drink was and the left over fiber went to our dog - no waste. She also made a homemade vegan salad dressing with cashews, that sure was good. We had it on fresh salad greens with avocado. For dinner, the whole family went to a local tofu restaurant - Korean. They serve lovely salads with seaweed, sprouts, kimchi, and more. The soups are all hot tofu based with the addition of your choice of mushrooms, beef, pork, and seafood. Delcious. My son started the Atkins diet last fall and has lost over 70 pounds. Yes, he had gotten quite heavy. He could eat everything at the Tofu Restaurant except the rice.

Besides the lovely, healthy food, my daughter and I took an aerobic dance class at the local health club. It’s a lot of fun and a great work out. I am trying to increase my exercise levels up to 6 hours per week to see if I can drop a few more pounds. I have been on a plateau for a year. I consider that to be good because I have not gained back any weight. I still follow the Sonoma Diet but probably am not being as strict as I should be particularly in quantity of food and maybe a little too much wine.

After dinner, we all headed out to see the new Star Trek movie. We were full and the theatre did not get any snack money from us. It was a fun movie, I enjoyed the way the new actors played the parts of the familiar characters at a young age.

Ever since visiting New Zealand earlier this year, I have been particularly interested in grass fed beef and free range animals. New Zealand is fortunate, they have lots of land with few people. The tour books all mention that there are more sheep than people in New Zealand. The food there is excellent, not just the meat, the seafood, and the produce is great and mostly organic.

California has Proposition 2 on the ballot which is about confined animals, allowing them more space to move around in their cages (if it passes) by 2015. However, it is not about free range or grass fed, so although initially interested in this measure I think I will vote against it. Instead I intend to vote with my pocket book, I have started to purchase free range and grass fed meat and I will continue to do so.

Free range meat products tend to be very expensive. I have started to look for deals. Ralphs has some ground Buffalo meat that is excellent. Marukai has free range chicken. There is a vendor at the Torrance Farmer’s Market on Saturdays with free range chicken meat and eggs (I’ll get the vendor’s name next time I’m there). Trader Joes has New Zealand lamb. Whole Foods has grass fed beef. The prime cuts are expensive but the stew meat is ok in price. All of the grass fed meats tend to be lean which is of course more healthy. Besides that, I want food products without pesticides and antibiotics. Will my family live longer because of it? No one knows for sure but I think so.

After researching the local stores, I am also looking for options to purchase online. I think to make sense I need to purchase in large quantities to minimize the shipping costs. I have a large freezer so have space to store some meat. We actually only eat beef and chicken and pork 2 - 3 nights a week so it’s not a huge part of the budget. We eat seafood often and sometimes vegetarian meals.

The first online merchant I am trying is La Cense Beef. They are based in Montana and have Black Angus beef, all grass fed. No grain, no pesticides, no antibiotics, no hormones. The benefits they say are less fat and caleries, higher in Omega 3’s and more antioxidants. I knew about the less fat but surprised to hear about the Omega-3s and antioxidants. Here’s what they say about it, “Grass-fed beef gleans many of its health benefits from the nutrients in the grass. The grass at the La Cense Ranch is high in Omega-3 fatty acids because they act as a natural plant anti-freeze. These Omega-3s are then present in the meat and dairy products of grass-fed beef. ”

The prices at La Cense Beef seemed pretty good until I noticed that in some cases it was not per pound but per 7-8 ounces. Sirloin steak is $9.49 for 7 oz. A pot roast is $18.99 for 3 pounds. I found a deal for free shipping and will try that.
The website mentions standard shipping 6 - 10 days, that can’t be. Then expeditied and overnight. I guess I have to go through the order process to see if my “free shipping” is expedited or overnight. Looking forward to trying this meat.

Update, the free shipping is 6 - 10 days. No way. I’ll go with $25 off. Be sure not to click on free shipping links on the site, or you’ll lose the $25 off.

Yea! I am happy to be migraine free for almost six months now. I have been tracking my migraines for 10 years and during that time never went more than a couple of months without one. The migraines started at the same time that I developed other symptoms of perimenopause. That was a long drawn out 10 years of heavy periods and monthly migraines. I guess I can be thankful that the migraines didn’t start during puberty. After I figured out that my headaches were migraines and convinced my doctor, I was able to keep them under control by taking Imitrex at the onset of the headache. I kepet track of the dates of my migraines and periods and convinced my doctor that these were hormonal migraines. He said I should hope for an early menopause. Well, it wasn’t early, it was a late one but it does seem to have stopped the migraines.

There is one other possibility, I have been on the Sonoma Diet since January and the migraines stopped in February so it could be extrapolated that it was the diet that cured the migraines. But I think not. I ate rather healthy before this diet, including drinking wine and alcohol. The only big change in eating habits is the switch to near 100% whole grains.

I write this to give hope to some of you that suffer with migraines. I suggest charting them on a spreadsheet or calendar with your periods and see if there is a correlation. Hormonal migraines often come a couple of days before the period. If there is a correlation, there is a chance that like me, your migraines will eventually end with menopause.

The Sonoma Diet has 10 power foods that are chosen because they are rich in nutrients with few calories. Strawberries are one of these foods. There are only 45 calories in a cup of strawberries and they have 4 grams of fiber. Strawberries have more vitamin C than citrus fruit and are believed to be anti-inflammatory. They are also high in folate, potassium and antioxidants. They also offer some protection against cancer and heart disease. For more information on the healthful benefits of strawberries, visit the LSU AgCenter News on local strawberries in Louisiana.

I am fortunate to live in California where we also have fresh strawberries. I can get them year round at the local farmer’s market but this time of year is the peak season. I picked up a 3 pack yesterday for $5. The strawberries are incredibly sweet! They are very ripe and should be eaten soon, I will probably finish them up tomorrow. Buying locally is good for the economy and also good for getting the freshest produce.

I heard a snippet of a talk on the early show this week. I would quote the speaker but I just didn’t catch his name. He said something to the effect of, “The speed of weight loss is not important. What is important is the amount of weight loss and the durability of the loss.” I have to agree. When starting on a weight loss program, the weight tends to come off quickly in the initial weeks and then the plateaus and even small weight gains might kick in. These could be because the body has adjusted to the reduced calories by not requiring so many calories. They also can be because we just can’t follow the program religiously and start to cheat a bit here and there. The thing to remember is that there is no quick fix to weight loss. Yes, we can loose 5 - 10 pounds quickly if we try hard but as soon as we stop trying, we’ll gain it back. We all know that it takes a life long dedication to healthy eating to really keep the weight under control. So that’s what I am trying to do. I lost only 2 pounds over the last 3 weeks. I know it is possible to loose 2 pounds in a single week but I just have to remember this is the way it goes sometimes and be ok with it. Actually, I should be very happy with it because it’s all progress in the right direction!

I know that the harder challenge for me will be the point when I have reached my goal weight and move into maintenance. But I’m not there yet so will worry about that challenge when I get there.

Ultimately, I think I can make it work because I love the food on the Sonoma Diet.

Wish me luck!

I’ve talked about how much I enjoy the food on the Sonoma Diet, here’s a typical day.

For breakfast I have steel cut oatmeal with strawberries, blue berries, and walnuts. Steel cut oatmeal is wholegrain oats that have only been cut. It takes about 30 minutes to cook but today I have some leftover from earlier in the week so no prep time, I just need to warm it up. I also have coffee with nonfat Half & Half cream. This breakfast is delicious and the oatmeal is very filling. I love strawberries, blueberries and walnuts (can’t have too many though). It’s all good.

The menu for lunch is “Greens with beans and artichoke hearts, wasa and raspberries”. I don’t have raspberries so leave that out since I had fruit for breakfast. The Greens with beans and artichoke hearts is a hearty salad which also includes chicken, red onion, goat cheese, pine nuts, parsley, and a homemade vinaigrette. The beans are supposed to be canned white beans, I happen to have canned soy beans and use those. Prep time is less than half an hour, I have to cook the chicken and prepare the salad and vinaigrette. Wasa is wasa crisp bread. I have been eating wasa since the 1980’s when I was on The Diet Center program. It’s a high fiber cracker, pretty tasty, with no bad ingredients.

For an afternoon snack, I have celery with peanut butter. Again I have to watch the quantity on the peanut butter.

Dinner is “Grilled Moroccan Pork Tenderloin Kabobs with Carrot Salad and Brown Rice”. This meal takes some time to prepare. The pork is marinaded in a sauce of parsley, lemon juice, oil, garlic, oregano (fresh), coriander seeds, paprika, ginger (I started using fresh ginger in a jar to save time and it tastes like fresh), black pepper, kosher salt (I use it all the time now), cayenne pepper, and tumeric. The marianade is prepared about 2 hours in advance and combined with the park. Brown rice takes about an hour to cook so we get that going next. Now we have the time to chop our carrots and prepare ingredients for the Tunisian Carrot Salad. We need garlic, kalamata olives, feta cheese, lemon, Harissa (I’ve never found it in a store so substitute a hot sauce that I have), olive oil, caraway seeds, coriander seeds, and kosher salt. The carrots are cooked for about 5 minutes and then combined with the other ingredients. Instead of doing kabobs on the grill, I stir fry the pork which retains more of the marinade. It’s very good on the brown rice. The whole prep time on this dinner is about an hour and a half. To go with this great meal I can have 6 ounces of wine, I have a red pinot noir. I use very small wine glasses, 4 ounces, and then can have seconds (another half glass). It’s all good.

This is a typical day. I cook quite a bit more than prior to starting the Sonoma Diet particularly because I am cooking a substantial lunch in addition to dinner. It’s so worth it to me to eat this great healthy and filling food and to loose weight with it.

I have now lost 14 pounds on the Sonoma Diet. There are many aspects of the diet that I love and most important is the food is delicious and satisfying. This diet is not low carb or low fat. However, the carbs are unrefined - either fresh fruit and vegetables or whole grains. We’re talking 100% whole wheat or whole grain bread (not wheat bread but whole wheat bread). I currently have the whole grain bread from Milton’s which has 5 grams of fiber in a slice. Cereal also has to be whole grain and typically with 8 grams of fiber in a serving - you really have to read the labels to find cereal with that much fiber. I have also learned to cook with many new whole grains including quinoa, barley, and wheet berries. You mind think that these foods would be bland and tasteless but to the contrary, they have a natural nutty texture and the Sonoma Diet recipes include lots of spices and flavor.

There are so many health benefits to fiber. From a diet perspective, the high fiber foods take a little longer to chew and to digest - that is good - makes you fill up and burn calories eating. From a health perspective, fiber helps with digestion, lowers cholesterol, and stablizes blood sugar. This can help lower the risk of type 2 diabetes and heart disease. The Mayo Clinic has a great write up on the benefits of a high fiber diet.

Is there any downside to this high fiber diet? Yes, there is one, the food takes longer to cook. The Sonoma Diet will be tough to follow if you don’t have time to prepare the food. You’ll have to learn some short cuts, prepare ahead, and use your leftovers. For me, it has been well worth the extra time in the kitchen.

If this sounds like a diet plan for you, visit Sonoma Diet Online to try this wonderful diet.