Sending Sticks Up The River

For this week's Dr. Oz elimination challenge, I'm going to give up food items with the word "sticks" attached to the end of them. Allow me to describe why I chose this with a story.

Earlier this week I went to Olive Garden. I've not been here in a while, so I just ordered something safe and waited for it to arrive. The waitress first brought out the salad, then sat down a basket of breadsticks.

I thought to myself, "This salad has croutons in it, why would I need breadsticks?" Then I stated thinking about all the times we, as Americans, typically eat breadsticks. We only really have a side of breadsticks with a meal that is already really carb-y. Think about it, pasta, pizza and salad loaded with croutons.

When did this happen? When did people decide that bread as a side with a main course as filling as bread was a good idea? Why is this a thing?

Thus, I've decided my next food item will be all bread-y side dishes with carb-loaded meals. No breadsticks, no cheesesticks, no biscuits and no rolls.

I want to be clear here. I'm not giving up carbs. I don't really want to ever do that. Carbs are good for you provided you can use up the energy the produce. And we all need energy to function.

Farewell Fried Foods

Today I went to Buffalo Wild Wings and ordered 12 boneless wings. I know this seems like a lot, but it was necessary. I was saying goodbye to an old friend. That's right, for this week's Dr. Oz challenge, I'm giving up fried foods.

The truth is, my personal diet has involved some level of fried foods for as long as I can remember. Its hard to remember my childhood without Happy Meals and mozzarella sticks. I've always known they were bad for me, but its almost like they've always been a part of me.

I get that it seems like I'm building this up way too much, but I'm pretty sure that if I don't treat this like a big deal, I'm going to be overwhelmed. This is a pretty huge lifestyle change. The easily eliminates probably about half of the unhealthy foods that I eat.

I'm ready to take on this challenge, its like I'm entering a new stage in this training. This diet just got real.

Getting Off the Gravy Train

Its been a challenge coming up with my next Dr. Oz food item to eliminate. This week is Thanksgiving, so I don't want to give up anything too crazy that I won't enjoy this Holiday season, but I do want to give up something big that will make my diet healthier overall.

After raking my mind, I thought of something that, honestly, I should have given up a long time ago. Something that is a staple in southern cooking that I eat at least three times a month. Something that's ingredient list alone makes you feel like you're gaining weight. This week, I'm giving up Gravy.



For those of you that didn't grow up in the southern part of the country, you may not be plagued by this white devil, but trust me, once you've tasted it, it is impossible to let go. Country gravy is made with grease from whatever you happen to be cooking, could be anything from bacon to sasuage and even chicken. Once you've secured your grease, you put in some flour. After browning this mixture, you then add cream. That's right, this dish is essentials grease and flour, with a little bit of dairy thrown in. Someone should never eat this. The problem? It tastes amazing!

Although I have went through periods of eating well, I've never given up gravy. It is time. I don't know if I'm ever going to eat gravy again, but I do know that when you're training to be a super hero, sacrifices need to be made. Goodbye gravy, I knew you well.

The Dr. Oz Strategy

About a year ago I worked at Autism Services. Even though it was a really fulfilling job that allowed me to really feel like I was helping people, about 50 percent of the job consisted of watching T.V. Whenever I worked the 3-11 shift, it was pretty normal for us to watch Oprah, then clients really seemed to like it.

This is where I saw an interesting way to start eating healthier. For a few months, every week Dr. Oz would come on and recommend changing one thing in your diet. Nothing huge, just something small that could make a huge difference. The logic behind it is if you keep up with all these little things, eventually you'd be eating really healthy, without really realizing it.

I really like this idea and it seems completely doable, thus, I'm going to tell all of you what I'll be changing in my diet, but I encourage all of you to do the same, if you don't already.

This week, I'm going to stop drinking anything that isn't water. It is recommended that we all drink at least eight glasses a day, and many people hardly even drink one. Before you ask, the Dixie cup after you brush your teeth doesn't count. It is important for us to drink water because it can flush out all the other bad things we put into our bodies, among other amazing things it does that make our body function better.




Although training yourself to drink eight glasses a day may be a few months away for some of us, think about if you would replace every other thing you drink in a day with water. I'm sure that would be at least three glasses a day more then you're drinking now, probably four or five if we're being honest with ourselves.

I know that drinking water won't make us lose weight overnight, but it is a huge first step. If you ask any doctor, one of the best ways to lose weight is to drink more water, and its really easy. I know it seems like a huge hurdle to you soda addicts out there, but after you get over the caffeine headaches, you'll be a lot better for it.