Day 84: Tranformation pics alert. But no undies. :)

The problem with ataulfo mangos is that you can't just stop at one! WF had them on sale for 99 cents a piece and I picked the largest ones I could find, but wow, my dinner just cost me at least $5. Oh well, a treat, right? Some days I really wish I could move right back to Malaysia. I want to cry sometimes thinking of all the wonderful tropical fruit I miss that was pretty much as cheap as dirt.

The Banana Diet and Your Budget
Okay. We bought a 40lb box of bananas from Walmart today for about $15. Since I'm such a huge nerd and all, I counted them. There were 104 bananas in there. Lets say the average person (who was eating a fruit based diet, haha) might eat 20 a day (some less, some more) - about 2000 calories. That would make the 40 lb box last about 5.2 days. Lets just say 5 days to be on the safe side. So that would make it approximately $3 a day to live on bananas. As cheap as McDonald's only a zillion x 2 trillion times better. If you did this for 30 days, your grocery bill would cost a WHOPPING $90/month AND you would get a lot more healthy. How about them bananas? :) And by the way, adding in some lettuce and celery on top of that $90 bill would still make for a pretty cheap budget. The end.

Today I did 2 different workouts from the dance video I got yesterday. One was an abs workout, it was really good actually! I'm really feeling it. And the other was the shorter cardio one, which I didn't finish all of because I got interrupted. I also went through some of the move explanations on the dvd so that took some time as well.

By the way, you may have noticed that I took down my "transformation" pic album from this blog's links. I think those particular pics will stay away for good. Although I'd be happy to share them via email by request depending on who asks. 'Cos I've been finding out that quite a few people I know IRL check in on this blog, which is fine if they're girls but I realized I really was uncomfortable with real life guy friends seeing me in my undies. Plus there was that one (positive but) suggestive comment I got from someone I don't know, that kinda ticked DH off. But don't go looking for it, I deleted it long ago.

I do wish I could post DH's before and after 30 days pic though, it's incredible. Although, he did have a set back today but he said he really wanted to blog about it tonight, so I'll let him tell you all about it. (Update: His post is below this one).

As for the new picture on the top right, well, I was fully clothed, which was a good thing, and to be very honest, that is one of the best pics I've taken of me in a long time. I'll have to find another face shot from a few months ago and post it here soon because I was pleasantly surprised at how different I looked in this pic which was taken a couple of days ago. (Hopefully you agree, otherwise I just sound stupid right now).

I honestly don't know if I've ever looked this healthy and young, even when I WAS young(er). I'm not wearing a stitch of make-up in this current pic, and usually I hate having pictures taken when I'm not wearing make-up. Actually, usually I hate having pictures taken, at all. These days I feel better without make-up. Plus, it makes me realize how puffy and well, fat, my face was before on cooked food.

Anyway, now I have something physical to look at when I'm struggling. I can look at this picture and realize how happy and healthy I feel and look after only almost 90 days on 80/10/10, and then make my choices from there. Good motivation, no? If 90 days can do this for me, then what about a year? Or 5? Or 10? Hope that didn't sound too vain, but honestly, I've always thought I was ugly, like all through my teen years and stuff, so for me to feel like I look better than normal is a big deal. You may be thinking, "Sure, every teenager thinks they're ugly..." but I really did always feel like I was an extremely unattractive person. And when you see the pics below, you'll no doubt agree with me. Hehe :) Don't worry though, it was character building and I learned early in life that it matters more how beautiful people are on the inside than on the outside. :)

Food:
Breakfast: None
Lunch: 3/4ths watermelon
Dinner: 4? 5? (lost count) ataulfo mangos and a veggie bowl with lots of diced celery, red and yellow bell pepper, a few cherry tomatoes (not really craving tomatoes lately, mostly craving sweet fruit), a very small zucchini spiralized into noodles, 4 mushrooms and a pinch of alfafa sprouts. Light on the last 3 items because they're harder to digest and not optimal foods.

Okay, here are some before and after pics. Embarassing but oh well. I'll live.

Here I am at 16 or 17 years old. I was puffy all over even back then. Lots of acne problems too. I cried at night over my acne and generally felt gross, overweight and unattractive. Who knew my Dad was right...chocolate was bad for me!

Here I am in November '06 at a wedding. Just 5 months ago. I was yo-yo-ing wildly back and forth on raw then, and very unhappy with the way I felt and looked. I was around 110 lbs then. Makeup did not do much for me.

Here I am two days ago, April '07, almost 90 days on high fruit/low fat raw, no makeup. I currently at 97 lbs (and still losing) and an all time low of 17% body fat. I'm fitter than I've ever been, which truthfully isn't saying much but still! I am happier, healthier, lost the puffy look, generally have loads of energy...and dare I say it...look younger? I almost think I look younger in some ways than when I was 16. If (almost) 90 days can do this for me, what can several years do for my health, physique and athletic prowess (hahaha)? At this point I have some real motivation not to go back to my old diet.