Day 1 of ‘Live to Eat’ plan!

Everything is nicely measured! About 500 calories!

I had lost a lot of weight last year, but unfortunately, I have gained some back. I keep a scale in the house and fret about my weight often. I can’t allow myself to gain it all back and have to lose what I’ve put back on. I would say I’ve gained back about half. That’s not good. Having a spinal cord injury can make it easier to gain weight, and it does nothing to help with joint pain, back pain etc. Thus, there are many reasons why I have to keep my weight down.

This is the only meal I’ve had today so far. I am back on a 1.310 calorie per day only plan. You can see I carefully measured an 8 oz. cup of coffee and an ‘ounce’ of Colby Jack cheese. Unfortunately, this tedious work is necessary when you have an eating disorder of any sort. My problem is I’ll do well for a while, but my emotions can stop me up and cause me to eat more. I need to stop that.

I naturally follow a Mediterranean diet plan and mainly use extra virgin olive oil. I am sure to get in two to four 2-4 oz. meat/poultry/fish per day, usually. But today I’m fasting from meat due to my Catholic heritage and that’s ok. But I realize how good meat is for you and that we’ve basically been lied to about what to eat for years. I will share a podcast made by some food experts at the end of this article that will help you. Better yet, here is the link right here: https://youtu.be/OeajV1O2320.

Nina Teicholz teaching on Saturated fat.

This is a low calorie breakfast I had, and I more than likely will have two fish fillets for dinner. I had a banana as a snack and some wheat crisps. On a 1,310 calorie plan per day, I can’t afford to eat much. One thing I have learned about food is you cannot let it choose you, you have to choose it. A lot of the idea that we ‘need’ a pizza or need to eat right now is psychological.

Don’t get me wrong. We can be truly hungry. It’s important to realize when we are not hungry and just think we need to eat. I am mastering that. Going into a supermarket these days can seem anything but heathy with a majority of it having processed foods. But everything in moderation. It’s ok to snack or have dessert but we are not to over do it. Once I stopped using the My Fitness Pal app and stopped measuring I got myself into trouble.

I have a doctor’s appointment in mid May, and around this time last year my doctor had set me up with a dietician because he said I needed to lose weight. I took off about 40 pounds, but now I have gained some back. Well only half of it, anyway. But I am still not too happy with myself right now. If I don’t get my weight down by mid May I know my doctor will set me up with s dietician again. So I am going to be my own dietician starting now. I’ve learned so much!

As a matter of fact, the food pyramid needs to be flipped upside down. We are told to eat six grains per day and the least amount of animal food that we can. Just look at the food in our schools:orange juice, greasy pizza, fried chicken strips. This has all been FDA approved.

Dietary cholesterol in egg yolk is actually good for you. You need the protein. There are vitamins and nutrients in eggs you cannot get anywhere else. Apparently there’s a medicine that has ‘statins’ that supposedly gets your cholesterol down. I believe we are to eat real food, though. Cheese is dairy and an animal meal, also. Rather than snacking on chips or sugar, we should try to snack on something cheesy or even something like a slim Jim (meat instead). I think they call them a carnivore strip nowadays.

There have been ‘experts’ in the past who have taught and are still teaching that animal fat is bad for you, meat, eggs, and cheese can cause heart attacks, they say. Not true. On the contrary.

Think vegetables, low carbs, and meat/poultry/fish. Snack as little as possible. Do not eat every two hours. It is also a myth that it speeds up your metabolism it actually just keeps your insulin levels higher. Not good at all. Don’t believe that all low fat, fat free, sugarless products are better. Some are OK, but skinny meals, hmm… Not my thing. The alternatives to some of those ingredients can be worse.

2-3 meals per day, each well under 1,000 calories with protein, some veggies, eggs, etc. is part of my plan. Unsalted almonds or nuts are a healthier snack. I use unsalted butter also. Yogurt, Greek Yogurt is superb! Low fat cheese is ok. But it does not have to be ‘low fat.’ Don’t use vegetable or canola oil. If you’re going to have chocolate, go dark chocolate with cocoa. That’s all for now. I hope this helped you all!⚕️👩‍⚕️👩‍🍳

About Zina

Zina Hermez has authored the best-selling book(s), Not Without God: A Story of Survival and Not Without God: Hope In the Storm. She’s been featured in numerous articles, guest posts, podcasts, websites, newsletters, and magazines. She’s also been featured on The Neil Haley (media giant’s) Show, The Intuitive Edge podcast, and on ESPN’s ‘Solutions from the Huddle’broadcast as well as Grace and Truth Radio World!

Zina’s written several hundred articles and has taught thousands of students from all over the world from many different backgrounds and parts of the world. She’s appeared in Christianity Today, the Suite T blog, and the Southern Writers magazine among many other places. Last August she created the “Writing Because I Can’t Not Write Group” meetings and workshops where aspiring and seasoned authors can network and learn together.

Zina writes on faith, science, and overcoming adversity. She also likes to write about health and diet and loves to help others. Her latest book was just published last year.

This is a healthy breakfast 🍳🍅🥩

What people don’t realize is how healthy eggs are. The myth is that eggs are not good for you because of the cholesterol. But dietary cholesterol is not the same as cholesterol in your heart. On the contrary, eggs are super good for you. My dietitian had told me that I should have two eggs every morning for enough protein intake. This is a very healthy breakfast, although the sausage is processed, ground beef would’ve been the better choice. Nonetheless, this is still a healthy breakfast. Eggs are good for you, meat is a ‘healthy fat’ and whole wheat bread with a cup of coffee is the way to go.🍳🥚🥩🍖🍗🌾☕️ #paleo #paleorecipes #mediterraneanfood #mediterraneandiet #paleodiet #health⚕️🍅🫒☕️

About Zina

Zina Hermez has authored the best-selling book, Not Without God: A Story of Survival. She’s been featured in numerous articles, guest posts, podcasts, websites, newsletters, and magazines. She’s also been featured on the Intuitive Edge podcast as well as ESPN’s “Solutions from the Huddle” broadcast and on Grace and Truth Radio World! Zina’s written several hundred articles and has taught thousands of students of all ages from many different backgrounds and cultures. She’s appeared in Christianity Today, the Suite T blog, and the Southern Writers magazine among other places. She writes on faith, science, and overcoming adversity. She also writes on health and diet and loves to help others. Her latest book, Not Without God: Hope In the Storm is live and for sale! You can order your copy here: https://www.amazon.com/Not-Without-God-Hope-Storm-ebook/dp/B09P9T2DLT

Jimmy Tuman — National Youth Speaker and Mentor💕

Today I had the pleasure of meeting some special friends for breakfast🍳. Jim Tuman, his wife, Jan, and my longtime friend, Ginger, and I met for breakfast at a local resteraunt.

Jim Tuman is a sociologist, educator, and has been a radio and TV personality who has spoken to millions of people in more than 1,500 schools nationwide.

He has asked kids to examine their motives, goals, feelings, and wants them to make meaningful decisions about their futures. He has helped prevent teen suicide across the country.

Jim wants to create school environments where students and teachers feel ‘safe, valued, and loved,’ he says. Here is a PBS documentary that was done on Jim it is very moving! People are in tears over Jim’s unique compassion!

https://youtu.be/JN7gCRPJBHc

Continue reading “Jimmy Tuman — National Youth Speaker and Mentor💕”

Intermittent Fasting (benefits) & Calorie restriction! #health⚕️


I have been decreasing my amount of breakfast lately: for example, instead of having two eggs for breakfast, I am only having one. I don’t add ground beef every day, as a matter of fact, sometimes I skip breakfast altogether. Some of this is to continue to maintain my low calorie intake of 1,440 calories or less per day. Some of the reasons I’m decreasing is also because of the benefits of fasting or reducing food. Fasting has been proven to improve our health greatly. After eight hours of fasting, your body naturally goes into “ketosis,” so intermittent fasting is like doing “keto” without following a keto diet.

As of today, I have set my “eating” hours from 10 am to 6 pm. That will put me at a 16:8 plan. Eight hours of eating and 16 hours of no food. Again, after 8 hours of no food, your body naturally goes into ketosis and stops buring carbohydrates for fat. Instead, it burns fat and makes things called ketones, which it can use for fuel. That’s what we weant. Ketosis is a word you’ve probably seen while you’re looking for info. on diabetes or weight loss. Typically I have breakfast and lunch with a snack in the evening. I would like to get to the point where breakfast and lunch are cut by 200-400 calories each time.

I achieved that. The picture I posted above is of my breakfast. I had one egg: 70 calories. I had almost half of a sweet onion: that is about 18 calories in the picture above. I had a third of a Roma tomato: again, only around 8 calories. I also had a slice of split top wheat bread: 8o calories. With coffee (with limited cream and sugar), that is 50 calories. That’s a low 224 calories. As you can see, by taking out the regular 2 oz. beef and extra slice of wheat (or second egg), I have cut my calories significantly. However, I will incorporate ground beef maybe for lunch or tomorrow. The benefits of ground beef are incredible. Red meat provides iron and other nutrition. I have been anemic before and don’t want to get back on iron pills, so having red meat several times per week is important for me.

About Zina

Zina Hermez has authored the best selling book, Not Without God: A Story of Survival. She’s been featured in numerous articles, guest posts, podcasts, websites, newsletters, and magazines. She’s been featured on ESPN’s ‘Solutions from the Huddle’ broadcast and on Grace and Truth Radio World. Zina’s written more than 500 articles and has taught thousands of students from all over the world spanning many different backgrounds and cultures. She’s appeared in Christianity Today, the Suite T blog, and the Southern Writers magazine among other places. She writes on faith, science, and overcoming adversity. She also writes on health and diet and loves to help others. Her latest book, Not Without God: Hope In the Storm is live and for sale! Order your copy here: https://www.amazon.com/Not-Without-God-Hope-Storm-ebook/dp/B09P9T2DLT

The ‘Mediterranean Delight’

I started a 1,200 calorie per day plan accompanied with the Mediterranean Diet recently, and a friend suggested I call it the ‘Mediterranean Delight’ instead of a diet. I hate the word, ‘Diet.’ Lol On this plan you are allowed up to 4 proteins a day. A serving size is considered 3-4 oz. of meat, poultry, etc. and that is the size of a ‘deck of cards.’ I actually was having one egg every morning, but my doctor recommended two eggs for breakfast so this is about 1.5 scrambled eggs here. You are allowed 2 grains/bread per day each consisting of 100 calories, preferably dark (wheat) bread so I added this little bun. Finally, I added these delicious koftas which will put me at about two proteins so far between the eggs and meat. You can see I am having a warm cup of coffee with limited cream and sugar. Obviously, I have not started on fruit servings and vegetables along with nuts, seeds, etc. If you are looking to lose a little weight, I recommend the Mediterranean Delight (diet). Search it on google for a complete guide of servings and how much of each food group you can have per day. You won’t regret it!

About Zina

Zina Hermez has authored the Best-selling book, Not Without God: A Story of Survival. She’s been featured in numerous articles, guest posts, podcasts, websites, newsletters, and magazines. She’s been featured on ESPN’s ‘Solutions from the Huddle’ broadcast and on Grace and Truth Radio World. Zina’s written hundreds of articles and has taught thousands of students. Additionally she’s appeared in Christianity Today, the Suite T blog, and Southern Writers magazine among other places. She writes on faith, science, and overcoming adversity. She is a major foodie and loves to help others. You can connect with her on Instagram, Facebook, Linked In, or Twitter.

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