"Thirty in Ninety"

I've been debating all day about posting on this subject. MBH encouraged me this morning to do so. "It's food related", he said. The subject I've been debating about all day is in the title of this post; which refers to how many pounds I have to lose in how many days on doctor's orders or face being put on medication to lower my blood pressure and cholesterol.

I basically figured I would get read the riot act when I went in for my full workup this year. Both sides of my family have histories of hypertension, diabetes, strokes and heart attacks and after my mother's heart attack around this time last year, I had already determined I needed to lose weight, watch what I eat more carefully and get back to exercising more vigorously than I do. But, it was the threat of medication that finally kicked me into high gear. I hate taking prescribed medicine unless I absolutely have no choice. "How much do I need to lose in order to NOT be put on the medicine", I asked. My doctor did some quick calculation, consulted a chart on the wall, then she turned to me and said, "You have ninety days to lose thirty pounds. We'll see where you are in April and if I'm not satisfied you are going on those meds." Basically, this all boils down to ten pounds a month or 2.5 pounds a week. Pretty sensible and achievable if you ask me.

When I got home and told MBH what my doctor had told me, he just gave me one of his "told you so" looks and promptly found a few nifty tools on the web for me to help track my progress (Calorie King's food guide, Jeremy Zawodny's weight/calorie spreadsheet). I am glad I renewed my subscription to Cooking Light. I have a feeling I'm going to be scouring the issues for ideas and menus. I also picked up two GAIAM "Quick Start" DVDs from Borders (Pilates and Yoga). I'd always wanted to try both and figure now is my chance.

Now reader, I'm not going go on some whacky "eat four dozen eggs a day" diet. I'm just going to do some sensible changes in my daily routine, the meals I cook, and keep closer track on what I eat (I'm journaling every little thing I eat and the calories...sigh). More importantly, I am MOST DEFINITELY not going to turn The Sour Dough into an all "30/90" blog that goes into minute detail on my day to day progress. I'm just going to play around with some of my favourite foods and see if I can lighten them up without losing the flavour and tell you about my adventures in the kitchen while I try all sorts of new things out. Consider this a chance for you and I to share a tasty and good for you recipe or two.

Oh and don't worry, there will be all the normal buttery and rich baking and not so good for you cooking going on here too! The only difference is most of it is going to work with MBH....