Desperate

I'm seriously getting desperate. While not worrying about my weight, it has slowly creeped up to a size that I have not been in almost 8 years. What had helped me lose weight and maintain before is not something that I now have as an option (2 pregnancies & a divorce).

And every single magazine at the checkout counter seems to have tips on losing weight. I've picked up a few and HOLY MOO! Yeah, there are SO not realistic. I mean, maybe if I was independently wealthy, had someone to cook for me and a personal trainger I might actually have the TIME to do what they suggest. But I don't.

Now - I have known for awhile that my body hasn't been making enough digestive enzymes, hence producing lots of gas. I found a great suppliment at Walmart and it really, really helps (and my husband is forever grateful)! So when an article on the cover for First for Women on the go had a HUGE lable that said, "Drop 27 lbs this month - enzyme miracle" it caught my eye.

I have always liked this magazine because they have a variety of sizes of models - yeah for real women!

Apparently there are many types of enzymes, the two I'm looking at are Digestive and Metabolic. These are produced by our pancreas and liver. When they don't produce the right enzymes we have problems breaking down our food for proper digestion as and being able to convert our fat to energy.

So, how do you get these wonderful enzymes (woohoo - a quick pill, I"m thinking.)

No. You eat better. Duh.

But not just better, it's HOW you eat and how you combine your food. Did you know that mixing protein w/ starch actually is BAD for digestion??? The biggest thing for increasing enzymes natrually is to eat more raw foods. Ok, good - we have a garden. LOTS of zuccini, squash, broccoli, peppers, beans, etc.

Here's what the article said, "As we age, our enzymes wear out and at the same time our pancreas and liver lose their capacity for manufacturing new enzymes. That double-whammy creates "enzyme exhaustion," which affects 80 percent of women over the age of 35."

They gave a couple of good tips:
1) Chew each bite 20 times
2) Fill up on fresh fruit in the morning
3) Eat a raw salad before cooked meals
4) sip veggie juice in the afternoon

Wow - I can actually DO this, and it sounds realistic. The article even referenced this site http://www.alissacohen.com/ by a raw food guru that looks VERY doable.

Now, I'll never be able to give up cooked food completely. I just love my meat and stuff WAY too much. But this looks like a very good way to alter my eating habbits, eat healthier, FEEL healthier and still enjoy the things I like!

I'll be sure to keep you updated. I'm adding a ticker for my weight loss goal here to my blog, and will update monthly on my progress.

Here we go!

Oh, and if you're interested. It's in the July 30, 2007 issue of First magazine and on page 30