I'm new and starting tomorrow. ;) (whfoods book?)
 

Ok, first of all..
I'm 23..5'5" and I weigh like 142 right now.. I want to be at least 134 when my hubby gets home from Iraq in a month or so...
I had cancer when I was 15. I have autoimmune hypothyroidism (hashimoto's) and I am sensitive to gluten (meaning no bread/pastries/pasta- wheat, barley, etc.)

I am also exhausted. So, I think its SO overwhelming, trying to discover exactly what to do with myself and my diet. I have tried a million things and I find everything leading to whole foods so here is why I am excited right now(and here because of it ;D).

I bought this GIANT book call The Worlds Healthiest Foods by George Mateljan. It lists SO MANY of the "worlds healthiest foods".. The way he decides what gets put in here is like this: It had to have a high rate of nutrients per serving, has to be all natural and has to be easily found in most grocery stores for a decent price.
He describes each item, the best ways to cook it, how to store it and choose it and then gives ideas for different meals and also recipes. He has a two week menu to get you started and I went out and bought every item I needed for the first five days.. It seems very varied, so in five days I am trying LF cottage cheese, goat cheese, buttermilk, yogurts, tons of different fruits including papaya, kiwi, pear, cantoloupe (plus the usuals), honey as a sweetener on my fruit n yogurt desserts. different kinds of nuts, lots of seasonsing and fresh herbs, all kinds of veggies (even bruseel sprouts which ive heard bad things about but I am totally willing to give them a shot). I also got some miso, rice wine, sherry wine for cooking you know.. balsamic vinegar.. anchovies, capers, figs, green tea, honey... all kind sof random stuff. My bill was almost $200, but a lot of this stuff is just staples in my cupboard that will last me quite a while. (my bagger said he hasnt ever seen an order like mine hahaha)


I'm not so sure how im going to do without my usual, like, 5 cups of coffee a day, and I may have to do this same diet for ten days just to use up all the food by myself!
I know you all know this stuff probably, but I am just so excited.. Anyone else have this book?

I love that book!! It's wonderful. If you like that book, you might like the following websites:

http://www.wholehealthmd.com/ME2/dir...ds&mid=&tier=1
http://www.whfoods.com/foodstoc.php

And Marion Nestle's What to Eat
And Johnny Bowden's 150 Healthiest Foods

Brussel sprouts can be very bitter, if I get them, I try to buy the little itty bitty baby ones which tend to be less bitter to me. I like to roast them! Thanks for making me think of them, I haven't made them in ages :)

I still drink the occasional cup of coffee!

You are so close to your goal weight - 8 lbs in one month is a very challenging goal!

You'll have fun trying all those things. I haven't seen the sample diet you're following, but do keep in mind that sample diet menus almost always have tons of variety. They think it looks good, or they're trying to show that you can meet the diet in various ways. But in real life, a single person (or even a small family) isn't going to go shopping for 5 different types of bread, 5 different nuts, 5 different forms of dairy products, 5 different cuts of meat, 5 unusual fruits/veggies, etc, etc, etc. It's makes for overwhelming planning, overwhelming shopping, overwhelming prep & cooking time, and you can't use all that stuff up.

I find it very helpful to just have a few options for at least one meal. For me, that's breakfast, for someone else it might be lunch (say, sandwiches, or a substantial salad). I also make different things for dinner most nights, but then I usually have or modify the leftovers for lunch the next day. I love this, but others might not.

I aim to introduce more variety on a week to week basis (to try a new bread or new veggie or new grain, etc, or try a new recipe, on my weekly shopping trip), rather than new stuff every day. But my staples are the bulk of what I use.

But we all have different needs for variety. The whole foods approach has some much enticing food to offer and try :-) You just don't want to overwhelm yourself. You always gotta have options for when you get home and you're tired and you just don't care anymore about that neat, new recipe anymore, and you're tempted to eat junk instead because it's easy.