Write the Vision, Write the Plan

I am taking a break from studying for my Nutrition test tomorrow to share with you the "plan" I plan to follow (pun intended). Well, truth be told... I haven't technically started studying. I've printed of the PPT slides and keep getting distracted with sugar research. I can pull an all-nighter, right? No. No I can't.

The more I have determined to change my life for 30 days, I am reminded of a principle that I find so powerful: writing down your goals, writing down your vision. I mentioned it in my post Tulsa "Birthday" Run and I will mention it again, and again, and again. In a way, it's like an outline for an essay. It's like blueprints for a tree house. It's like the recipe for Granny's punkin' bread. And it's kinda like those New Year's Resolutions that never come true. :) All of these things start with a plan; a road map of how to get from here to there. Some folks like to use a vision board; a modern version of this that might be familiar to you would be Pintrest. The concept is rather similar: writing down or pinning down thoughts, goals, images of what you want to accomplish in your life and where you want it to go. But, that's just the first step. That's just Act 1, Scene 1. The rest of the success story involves action steps; movement toward accomplishing that goal.

Step 1- WRITE with fervor. Step 2- ACT with courage. Step 3- REPEAT with diligence. (I am copyrighting that slogan. ;) )

My Plan: I feel content with following Dr. Scott Olson's 30-day sugar free plan that I referenced yesterday. He has a small free booklet that you can download that briefly covers the basis of the plan, which is to avoid foods with a high or medium glycemic index and consume those that have a low glycemic index or are below the glycemic index. So basically, avoid sugar, grains, starchy vegetables or high glycemic index fruits and drinks with calories in them. You can enjoy most veggies, most fruits, most proteins. Ok, so what do I go shopping for??? Here's the list (green list is good, red list is bad):


(Click image to enlarge.)

Ok, so I get the right foods in my pantry and fridge, but then what? This is where I cry out to Rachel Ray for help!!! *sigh.... And I guess this is also where I will learn to become a cook out of necessity since Chic-Fil-A can no longer come to my delicious rescue. If you already have been born with the Good Cook gene, you are several leaps ahead of me (can I come over for dinner?). But if you have not, join me on the journey of learning by trial and error, or trial and fire. My goal for this portion of the adventure is to write down 30 days of meals (breakfasts, lunches & dinners) and prepare my meals in advance a few days at a time. I have no idea if that is practical, but it seems to make sense in my head. I will tackle this task tomorrow so if you have any recipe suggestions, I would love to hear them. I may pull some recipes from the South Beach diet and modify if necessary. I also might pull some recipes from Body For Life. Whatever I choose, I will share with you.

So, there you have it. The plan is written. Tomorrow I will finish my Nutrition 6-chapter test and then shop for food. I will clean out my cupboards (and give to John 3:16 Mission's food pantry) and then develop a month's worth of recipes. Seems simple enough, right? Well, we will see tomorrow. :)