Days 1-10 of My Health Month

One of my goals this year is to be as healthy as possible for a period of one month...no junk food, exercising every day, watching what I eat, etc. A second goal is to make a doctor's appointment for my annual physical which I have skipped for the past few years. These two seemed to be quite compatible so I decided to schedule my doctor's appointment 45 days out from July 1st and do my "health month" right up until my doctor's appointment. Ideally this will mean I end up with good results from my medical exam and it gives me a really good reason to stick to my goal of being healthy for a month. Here's my update from days 1-10.

Start date: July 1, 2010. End date: August 16, 2010.
Starting stats:
--take start and end photo (I will post these together at the end of this experiment)
--weight: 155!!! :( I'm only 5'3"!
--Fasting blood sugar: 101 (could be better)
--Blood pressure: 119/78 (good!)
--Hips 39", waist 32", chest 34" (I think I measured correctly...I'm not sure...)

Rules:
--take vitamins daily (iron, B complex, D, C, fish oil)
--exercise two hours a day
--no: chocolate, caffeine, wheat, Starbucks, refined sugar, dairy (except cheese and yogurt)
--have a fruit or vegetable and protein with each meal

Day 1
--took all vitamins
--breakfast: big handful of cherries, half apple, two hard boiled eggs
--snack: dried apricots, handful of sunflower seeds
--lunch: pot roast, potatoes, gravy, tomato slices
--snack: strawberry/banana smoothie
--dinner: chili
--dessert: yogurt and granola
--exercise: 1 hour treadmill, 1/2 hour dance, 1/2 hour weights and yoga
--motto: only 46 more days to go, I can do this

Day 2
--took all vitamins
--breakfast: big handful of cherries, three pieces swiss cheese, three pieces of turkey
--snack: popcorn
--lunch: steak, salad, french fries
--snack: grazing at Costco
--dinner: dried apricots, baked beans, coleslaw
--dessert: yogurt and granola
--exercise: none :(
--motto: I want a frap, I want a frap NOW

Day 3
--took all vitamins
--breakfast: 1/2 apple, yogurt and granola
--lunch: side salad and chili at Wendy's
--snack: trail mix and watermelon
--dinner: shrimp pancit
--dessert: watermelon smoothie
--exercise: 10k volksmarch (walk)
--motto: I can zip my pants without sucking in first!

Day 4
--took all vitamins
--brunch: watermelon, cheese and onion omelet
--lunch: baked beans, coleslaw, pancit
--snack: watermelon, trail mix, rice chips
--dinner: cucumber slices, roast beef with mustard
--dessert: yogurt and granola
--exercise: moving furniture ALL DAY
--motto: I hate moving furniture!

Day 5
--took all vitamins
--breakfast: 1/2 apple, granola with milk and raisins (I wasn't supposed to have milk but cereal and milk is a quick breakfast)
--lunch: pancit, cold roast beef
--snack: watermelon, rice chips, cucumbers, granola and peanut butter
--dinner: baked beans
--dessert: dried dates, handful of potato chips
--exercise: shopping all day for home renovation stuff
--motto: lack of impulse control, milk wasn't in the plan but I couldn't resist

Day 6
--took all vitamins
--grazing all day (all kitchen appliances have been removed and we won't have new ones for two days, installing kitchen floor, and doing other renovation work): two tacos from Taco Bell, watermelon, granola with raisins and milk, Burger King side salad and french fries
--exercise: moving appliances, runner for stuff at the home store, helping with new floor install
--motto: I dislike moving appliances too

Day 7
--took all vitamins
--breakfast: watermelon, granola with milk and raisins
--lunch: hummus with mixed raw vegies, rice crackers, banana
--dinner: carne asada, shrimp, rice, beans, corn chips and salsa
--exercise: two hours kayaking
--motto: hubby said I am losing weight and my body is looking fine! :)

Day 8
--took all vitamins
--breakfast: granola with raisins and milk
--snack: watermelon, trail mix
--dinner: green chili chicken, rice, tomato salad
--exercise: thoroughly cleaned house, installed appliances, runner to store (about 5 times)
--motto: it's too HOT to eat

Day 9
--took all vitamins
--lunch: piece of fried cod, french fries, coleslaw, big bite of cheesecake, big bite of creme brulee
--snack: 1/3 raspberry frap (no caffeine; a friend gave it to me so I was polite and drank 1/3 of it before throwing it away...she didn't know I was on this diet and I didn't want to be rude)
--snack: watermelon
--dinner: shrimp foo yung, gravy, rice
--dessert: granola and yogurt
--exercise: none :(
--motto: divorce makes you sad. When you are sad, you want to eat dessert all day long

Day 10
--took all vitamins
--lunch: salmon, rice, salad
--snack: watermelon smoothie, handful of potato chips, pecan granola bar
--dinner: phad thai
--dessert: granola and yogurt
--exercise: cleaning, errands
--motto: I can't believe my period came on without all the usual bitchiness, bloating, nausea, cramps, and headache...could it be the new diet?

Overall this experiment has been pretty successful so far. I haven't exercised as much as I wanted to but I have stuck to the dieting part pretty well. Day 9 was a bit challenging because I went with my friend and another friend to her divorce hearing and after that she wanted to EAT. Usually this is what we do...we go to a coffee shop and have dessert, then a frap...and it is hard to change habits in the middle of a crisis. I think something as simple as not eating wheat (and all of the junk food that has wheat in it that I love--cookies, crackers, etc) along with not having a Frap/ice cream everyday has really made a difference. The last ten days of my challenge I may try to take all fried foods off the list of food I eat as well.