Hi, some of you could care less about this and others have asked me for it, so that’s why you are getting it.\u00a0 I got great news last night.\u00a0 I’m incredibly healthy!\u00a0 In February of this year, I changed my eating habits to dramatically reduce fats and processed foods.\u00a0 Sixty days ago, I got tested with the Pharmanex\u00ae BioPhotonic Scanner.\u00a0 The scanner is the only non-invasive device that claims to measure carotenoid levels in human tissue at the skin surface using optical signals. Carotenoids are members of the antioxidant family.<\/p>\n
The signals generated from the scanning process identify the unique molecular structure of carotenoids, allowing their measurement without interference by other molecular substances and providing the person being measured with a Skin Carotenoid Score (SCS).\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0 The technology of the biophotonic SCANNER is based on an optical method known as Resonance Raman Spectroscopy. This technology has been used for many years in Research Laboratories and more recently for carotenoid investigations in biological systems.<\/p>\n
My “score” was 51,000.\u00a0 This was much higher than everyone else’s, whose scores ranged from 12,000 to 15,000.\u00a0 That let me know that by eating more fruits and vegetables, and less meat, fats and processed food, I was getting better nutrition.\u00a0 I also during this time was taking Young Living’s Essentialzyme (3 caplets 3x day to enhance absorption of nutrients) and Detoxzyme (2 capsules 3x day as a digestive enzyme) as well as a Centrum Silver tablet every day.<\/p>\n
When I saw what a high score I already had, I was excited to try the Pharmanex Lifepak Nano, which is basically 7 vitamin capsules you take twice a day, and a month’s supply is $107.\u00a0\u00a0 Since these 7 capules contained at least what the Centrum Silver contained, I stopped taking the Centrum and began taking the Lifepak Nano.\u00a0 I did nothing else differently, my diet was the same, exercise was the same, stress level was the same.<\/p>\n
So last night I got rescanned after 60 days taking the supplements, and my score went from 51,000 to 63,000.\u00a0 Yay!\u00a0 So many people ask me what my diet is now, so I’m sharing that here.\u00a0 It evolved gradually over the past year, with the big change in February after my last hospital stay.\u00a0 Here is my secret:<\/p>\n
First, what I do not eat: <\/span><\/strong> Fried anything, beef, butter, mayo, sausage, hot dogs, processed meats, cookies, crackers, chips, cakes, pies, pastries, chocolate, sweets, ice cream, no caffeine, no nuts, no soda, no diet drinks, no carbonation, no alcohol.<\/p>\n So what do I eat???<\/strong> <\/span> I may eat cheese once or twice a month and an egg a few times a month.\u00a0 I eat shrimp maybe once a week and fish once a week.\u00a0 Once a month or so I may eat some pork in a wonton soup.\u00a0 My meat and fish portions are 2-3 ounces, or 4 shrimp.\u00a0 I may eat tofu once a week as a protein source.<\/p>\n I eat turkey<\/span> maybe 3 meals a week, mostly in the form of turkey sandwiches \u00a0No mayo, no cheese.\u00a0 Mustard has no fat.<\/p>\n I don’t count calories<\/span><\/strong> but I keep my fat grams to 20-30 per day.\u00a0 A tablespoon of oil has 18-20 grams of fat.\u00a0 I do about 1200-1500 calories a day, but if I watch the fat grams, the calories stay low by themselves. I don’t like sweets or alcohol, so I don’t miss them and don’t hafta count their calories.<\/p>\n In the morning<\/strong>,<\/span> I may make a smoothie using Vanilla Spirutein protein powder added to orange juice with ice for an Orange Julius type drink, or I may mix the Vanilla Spirutein with nonfat dry milk, instant decaf coffee, cinnamon and ice for a morning frappuccino.\u00a0 I don’t drink coffee anymore except in this drink.\u00a0 As a coffee substitute, I have used Postum (coffee flavored) for years and I like it.\u00a0I don’t take in liquid calories.<\/p>\n About midmorning<\/span> <\/strong>I may eat a banana or a handful (5) of dates or calymyrna figs *yum*\u00a0 For lunch, lately I have two favorite places:\u00a0 One is Mid Eastern Aromas<\/strong> on Babcock St.\u00a0 I’ll have a Meditterrean Salad and a vegetarian (eggplant with veggies) sandwich rolled up in flatbread.\u00a0 There is about 2 tablespoons of olive oil in that meal.<\/p>\n My next favorite place is Asian Gourmet<\/strong> on US1 and Ballard.\u00a0 I’ll have a giant bowl of soup with rice noodles and I may get shrimp in the soup, or no carcass at all, or tofu.\u00a0 Their Spicy Noodle Soup is basically a tom yum soup and has mushrooms, tomatoes, basil, cilantro, lemon grass, lime.\u00a0 I love this soup and eat it with chopsticks.\u00a0 That’s one of my delay tactics to keep me from eating too fast and too much *hehe* The broth is delicious and it’s fun eating with chopsticks.\u00a0 (I like eating salad with chopsticks also.)\u00a0 I may also get one of their summer rolls, which is like a not-fried eggroll, but is fresh veggies and herbs wrapped in rice parchment paper.\u00a0 They serve it with a homemade peanut sauce, which I do not eat.\u00a0 Although they are high in fat, nuts are good for you but right now I am not attracted to eating them.<\/p>\n I also go to the Pho Cali Vietnamese Rice Noodle<\/strong> restaurant for their soup and summer rolls.\u00a0 About once a month I go to Texas Roadhouse<\/strong> and have grilled chicken with a plain baked potato and a ceasar salad with the dressing on the side.\u00a0 I dip about every 3rd leaf in the dressing \ud83d\ude42\u00a0 I might have a virgin bloody mary for an appetizer.<\/p>\n At home for dinner<\/span><\/strong> I may make some rice and beans, which is a favorite protein and fiber source for me, and I may wrap it in a fat free burrito.\u00a0 If it is the end of the day and I haven’t had enough fat grams or protein, I may add some cheddar cheese.\u00a0 Doing less than 30g of fat a day will cause nerve ending problems, so I make it up at night if I missed it during the day.\u00a0 That cracks me up.\u00a0 Now I hafta remind myself to eat enough fat – what a riot.<\/p>\n I eat a giant chopped salad every night.<\/span>\u00a0<\/strong> Or for dinner I might eat a 6″ turkey sub with my salad.\u00a0 Or some pasta with fresh veggies and fish, or maybe the vegetarian meatballs I get in the Publix<\/strong> produce section, or a lean cuisine meal with less than 6g of fat.<\/p>\n I have stopped using the microwave.<\/strong>\u00a0<\/span> I now thaw the Lean Cuisine<\/strong> meals and heat them on the stove.\u00a0 Sheesh, I have changed almost everything about my eating habits in the last year.\u00a0 As I write this, I realize how enormous a change this was.\u00a0 I’m glad I did it step by step and little by little.\u00a0 If someone told me ahead of time that I’d have to make these changes, I would have freaked right out and been overwhelmed with it all.\u00a0 But, as Abraham <\/a>says, we can eat an elephant one bite at a time \ud83d\ude42<\/p>\n I used the Lifepak Nano<\/strong> vitamins for 6 months before reverting back to Centrum Silver<\/strong>, then later began using the Rainbow Light Women\u2019s One Multivitamin\/Mineral tablets<\/a> as a daily vitamin.\u00a0 Further research suggested to me that the BioPhotonic Scanner was not measuring exactly what it claimed to measure.\u00a0 Their vitamins were good but I felt they were way overpriced and not necessarily so.<\/em><\/p>\n For me, the key was not only eating a healthy diet, but taking digestive enzymes so that what I ate could be assimilated by my system.\u00a0 Now the digestive enzymes I take with each meal are the Twinlab Pancreatin<\/a> and the Rainbow Light Plant-Source Advanced Enzyme Vegetarian Capsules<\/a>.<\/p>\n Although I eat less meat, rice and beans now than I did when I wrote the above, I still take the Rainbow Light Women\u2019s One Multivitamin\/Mineral tablets<\/a> every day and the Twinlab Pancreatin<\/a> and the Rainbow Light Plant-Source Advanced Enzyme Vegetarian Capsules<\/a> My health has stayed tip top, my labwork levels are still good and I have had no problems for years.\u00a0 Keeping my fat grams at 50 or less per day has kept my weight consistent for 3 years with zero effort.<\/p>\n I now eat chicken and turkey every few days and my fat grams are sometimes 60 grams a day.\u00a0 I still have no health problems and dropped 8 pounds this year without trying.<\/p>\n My diet has been consistently the same since 2010, chicken and turkey and eggs every few days, fat grams under 60 a day. I drop 5 pounds a year because I want less and less food. \u00a0I occasionally eat bread and pasta or canned soups now\u00a0 but not often and not much of it. I eat very little rice and beans. Potatoes sometimes. I do yoga daily and go to the gym several times a week. I began cooking for a friend and little by little eating things I’d not eaten in years, including rice, bread, popcorn, potatoes, dried milk and artificial sweetener since I began drinking coffee again.\u00a0 I gained 15 pounds. I still do yoga daily, I go to the gym several times a week and I’ve begun walking. I stopped eating bread, popcorn, dried milk and stopped coffee again. I oversquatted in poor form at the gym and injured my right leg<\/a>, then I kept walking on it, making it worse. I went about 6 months not in the gym and not walking.\u00a0 I still do yoga daily but nothing aerobic except yard work. I have an extra 10 since I’d begun bread and rice again, mayo and more potatoes. My eating habits have changed, what I want to eat has changed. I’ve still got the extra 25 bcz — bread! — but at least 90% of what I eat is healthy. The occasional chips, Chex mix, frozen yogurt or Zero bar (maybe 3x a year each) I don’t fret over. If I want to drop weight I’d cut the bread and mayo and watch my portions. It’s that easy.<\/span><\/span><\/p>\n2007 update:<\/span><\/strong><\/h2>\n
2009 update:<\/span><\/h2>\n
2010 update: <\/span><\/h2>\n
2013 update: \u00a0<\/span><\/h2>\n
\n<\/span><\/span><\/p>\n2014 update: <\/span><\/h2>\n
\n<\/span><\/span><\/p>\n2015 update:<\/span> <\/span><\/span><\/h2>\n
\n<\/span><\/span><\/p>\n2021 update: <\/span><\/h2>\n