But, I have a reason to be back - I've started doing the Dr. Oz diet (based on the program in his book "YOU On a Diet") along with several of my co-workers, and thought I'd blog about my progress. I started the diet back in December right before the holidays, and so far, so good. Although I really shouldn't call it a diet, since I'm really trying to change my eating habits and improve the quality of the foods I'm eating.
In a nutshell, Dr. Oz promotes eating more "whole foods" - no processed junk and packaged foods that contain ingredients you can't pronounce. And as my good friend (and fearless leader of our group) Loriana always tells me, if you can't pronounce it, your body doesn't know what to do with it and you have no business eating it. It's been an eye-opening experience to say the least. I never really paid much attention to the ingredients of the foods I ate, but I certainly do now.The biggest offenders were the "diet" foods I was eating - fat-free yogurt, low-fat cookies, frozen "diet" entrees, packaged cereals - pretty much anything that comes out of a box. I also had no concept of how much sodium I was taking in on a daily basis. All those packaged foods are loaded with sodium, along with extremely long lists of ingredients that are not pronounceable and look a lot like chemical names.
I have to say, I'm feeling a lot better since I've changed my "diet." The downside is that convenience is something that does not go hand in hand with this. So, I spend a lot of time preparing my meals. But in the end I know it will all be worth it.
And I can't say enough of how much I love the fact my little lunch group is also doing the Dr. Oz program - it is so much easier to stay on track when everyone around you is eating the same. Plus we share a lot of ideas on foods and strategies and will soon start doing some workouts together. So I'm sending a shout-out to Christina, Leigh, and Patrick, who (along with Loriana) keep me honest.
Loriana featured several of us in one of her health stories as we kicked off the plan. Check it out here: http://bit.ly/5dt4er
Stay tuned for updates!
