Nine Month Healthy Eating Update

It’s been nine months since I started my healthy eating plan and I’m still going strong. For those that are just reading about my new eating plan, I was diagnosed with non-alcoholic fatty liver disease last July. Instead of going on a “diet plan” I came up with my own healthy eating plan. This is my nine month healthy eating update and I’m feeling great! I wrote a blog after six months of healthy eating.
http://themarthareview.com/six-month-healthy-eating-update/

Can you believe I have not had any sweet tea since July??? I use to live on McDonald’s extra large sized sweet tea (which was actually just a HUGE cup of sugar!) I haven’t even had a CRAVING for sweet tea. My favorite “sweet” drink now is water with fresh or frozen berries, it flavors the water and gives it a delicious taste. I also make fruit smoothies with nothing but fruit! Since starting my healthy eating plan, I cut out extra sugars, lots of sugary sweets plus white potatoes, rice and bread. I love rice and potatoes but going to sweet potatoes and brown rice was no problem.

Now I’m the one that would always have a “share-a-bag” of M&M’s in my desk at work or next to my computer at home. I would always be nice and share the bag with myself. LOL But like no sweet tea, I quite all the candy too. I switched to protein bars and KIND bars, my favorite being the dark chocolate, cherry and cashew bar. It’s so good and it’s gluten free, low glycemic index, dairy free, very low sodium and sugars plus loaded with antioxidants and each bar has only 170 calories. I also love trail mix and have started making my own from a variety of nuts and dried fruits. By making my own, I know exactly what is in it. This is one of my recipes, it’s so delicious and makes a great snack.
http://themarthareview.com/delicious-trail-mix-recipe/

I also found a few yummy recipes, one for organic almond joy bars and another for chocolate cookies! These almond joy bars are SOOOOO good!
http://themarthareview.com/organic-almond-joy-bars/ This chocolate cookie recipe is made with avocado and they are so moist!
http://themarthareview.com/chocolate-avocado-cookie-recipe/

When I started my healthy eating plan, I really didn’t have a clue as to what to look for in a diet plan. I researched the different foods that were best to help with my fatty liver and once I started I enjoyed becoming healthier. I had my last lab work in March and my liver was almost back to normal! But the other thing they found when I had my liver ultra sound last July was I had gall stones. Now I know why I was always in so much pain when eating certain foods. Well those too are gone! My foods go down through my “flapper” valve much easier now (they would get stuck since I had a stroke in my esophagus in 2009) and I don’t have that bloated feeling. My secret is eating slower, smaller amounts at a time and eating healthier foods.

I didn’t plan to lose weight but I dropped about 24 pounds within the first two months and have lost about 4″ in my waist. I’ve gone from size 13 to 7 or 8 without even trying! Obviously it was partly from cutting out the sugar but also from eating healthy foods along with lots of fruits and vegetables. Nine months later, I have kept the weight off and I’m feeling healthy both inside and out. As I mentioned in one of my updates, I hoped to start an exercise program into my plan but so far that hasn’t worked out. I just can’t seem to set time aside to workout even 15 minutes a day. I have to be busy and that doesn’t sound like being busy to me. However, I am active with everyday activities so I’m thinking for now that will have to do. Someday, I will get a 15 minute plan a day to workout on my cardio bike, yup someday!

I just turned 70 years old last month and I feel so good. I’m not sure if I would have started my healthy eating plan if it wasn’t for the fatty liver problem but I’m glad I did and I have no worries about sticking to healthy eating not only for me but for my great granddaughter who I need to be healthy so I keep up with her on the playground!

These are a few blogs I wrote from the beginning of when I was diagnosed with non-alcoholic fatty liver. FATTY LIVER DISEASE:
http://themarthareview.com/fatty-liver-disease/ FATTY LIVER HEALTHY EATING:
http://themarthareview.com/fatty-liver-healthy-eating/ HEALTHY ALTERNATIVES TO SUGAR:
http://themarthareview.com/healthier-alternatives-to-sugar/ HEALTHY LIFE PLAN: (this one didn’t work out yet)
http://themarthareview.com/healthy-life-plan/ HEALTHY EATING PLAN UPDATE:
http://themarthareview.com/healthy-eating-plan-update/ THREE MONTH HEALTHY EATING PLAN UPDATE:
http://themarthareview.com/three-month-healthy-eating-plan-update/ SIX MONTH HEALTHY EATING UPDATE:
http://themarthareview.com/six-month-healthy-eating-update/ QUICK HEALTHY BREAKFASTS:
http://themarthareview.com/quick-healthy-breakfasts/

Here are a few blogs with smoothies and delicious breakfasts for healthy eating. You also should try my faux mashed potatoes!
http://themarthareview.com/delicious-fruit-smoothies/
http://themarthareview.com/faux-mashed-potatoes/
http://themarthareview.com/quick-healthy-breakfasts/