The Ultimate Tea Diet, (Week #4)

Mark Urka's book on tea is both fascinating and inspirational as I've indicated in my previous book review and follow-ups, but the diet was the main reason I wanted to read it. This is the last of the four weekly installments I committed to do as a follow-up on my success with the diet.

In years past I used to diet quite 'successfully' by drinking a six-pack of diet rite cola daily, chewing sugarless gum until my jaws ached, eating only raw foods or eating only fruit or beef jerky for six weeks, extreme exercising (dancing) and food deprivation. I'm not vain enough to do that anymore; nor am I stupid enough to risk my heath by getting so crazy. On the other hand, I am somewhat vain and want to be healthier as a first priority, so I want to get down to a trimmer size.

Four weeks ago when I started drinking tea throughout the day, both caffeinated and re-steeped several times, I noticed I was a lot less anxious than I usually am when I eat less food. I have no idea why other people eat more than they can burn off, but I know why I do. I am an anxious, high-strung person who is intensely emotional and creative and I live in a modern society where I must function. I'm not alone. Modern life is stressful for everybody, even when it's a great life.

Hence, sometimes it is too much for me and I want to anesthesize myself. Drugs and alcohol don't appeal to me, excess exercise doesn't appeal to my joints, and frittering away my time doing something meaningless merely to distract myself is another place I don't want to go. I realized that food had become too important to me and a wickedly deviant opponent of my common sense. Walking the tiger daily complicates it as well, as many of you will agree. One can't just give food up.

Moderation and portion control are the key, but who really wants to obsess about your obsession all day and then measure and weigh? Okay, so all you Weight Watcher guys do that well, but what about the rest of us? On the other hand, when I was thin, one piece of pizza was considered a reasonable dinner. There were seven of us in the family and the extra piece went to my father who was 6'4". I am 5'8" and it was hard to make a case that I needed it more. I also got hours of exercise as I was a gymnast, dancer and had chores my parents demanded of me. I also walked everywhere, as my parents were not the catering kind.

Okay, so fast forward. I do yard work on our five acres on occasion, but it is mostly light stuff like pruning or weeding as all the trees and shrubs are already in the ground. I walk four to six miles a day at least six times a week, and I try for seven. I also started learning Tai Chi, which I love and I used to do yoga, but have let that fall by the wayside. I am getting older, and I don't burn that many calories, so... I am getting realistic about consumption.

Certain types of food do wonderful things for calming the nerves as they shoot glucose into the blood stream. The insulin receptors pull this into the cells for energy and the more one's bloodstream is overloaded with glucose, the more our brains are flooded with hormones and feel-good chemicals and the calmer we feel. This is not necessarily the best thing for our bodies, but it feels great at the time.

All things must come to an end, however, and over-eating is unhealthy for our bodies, and ultimately disrespectful to ourselves.

I am one of those people who if given too much sugar (or any kind of refined carbohydrate) will actually feel like taking a nap. Normally I am too busy to relax quite that much, so I avoid sugar and napping isn't my forte. Yet I have always wanted to feel calmer without the extra calories. The ingredients in tea, as promised by Dr. Tea, seem to do the trick for me. I cannot imagine why I never made the connection, or why when drinking tea with friends I always felt so... cozy with life.

I never drank it on my own until recently, by the way, as I didn't think I liked it. A girlfriend kept introducing me to new teas until one day I had a Chai and I loved it. It was so wonderfully spiced that it tasted like pumpkin pie to me. Little did I realize how many other hundreds of flavored teas there are and how many different brews are possible! And then there is always honey, sugar, Splenda, lemon and milk.

Had I not read some science on the subject of tea before I read his book, perhaps I would not have been so impressed with its Appendix B. It contains 12 pages of sources on studies completed on the health benefits and non-benefits of tea, coffee and many other issues. I might have been less enthused about giving the diet a try if I weren't trying to promote better health overall. On the other hand, if drinking tea helps one lose weight, prevent or delay cancer and clear the arteries of triglycerides and cholesterol among many other benefits... why not drink it?

So... here are my preliminary results. I have been eating a low-carbohydrate, low-calorie diet of about 1300 calories a day, and I have lost four pounds over four weeks. This is an average result for me when I diet, actually, but this time I have been eating well and felt much less deprived. Here is a sample daily menu below:

Breakfast: 2 cups milk and 2 shots espresso

Lunch: 2 eggs fried in 1 teaspoon butter with 6 green onions sauteed as well

Snack: Packaged hot and sour soup, 2.5 cups, with 2 oz. of tofu

Dinner: 1.5 cups homemade spaghetti sauce with 2 TB of grated cheese

2 cups steamed broccolini (this baby broccoli has a sweet taste)

1 teaspoon butter

I might have an apple at night if I am starving, but that is the only thing I allow myself other than tea after dinner. Today I ate less than yesterday, and I feel hungry, but I am delaying my dinner because I went hiking this afternoon and drank a lot of water when I got back. I like to space water and food, as I am trying to teach my body to accept and appreciate smaller amounts.

Here are my free foods: Tea, tea, tea, tea, tisanes (what we call herb teas), green leafy vegetables, cucumbers, broccoli, cauliflower, cabbage, salsa, tomatoes, onions, Molly McButter and Splenda. I also throw tea into everything and it has become exciting to get these really interesting flavors.

Yesterday when I made my eggs I opened up a holiday spice tea bag and sprinkled the eggs and green onions with the tea. It had a sweet, curry flavor which made it a lot less boring as I kept thinking... hmmmm, this is really good.

Just the way I throw spinach into soups and stews, or make salad rolls with watercress, I now use all kinds of tea leaves to flavor things, or just the tea as 'broth'. I have substituted tea for chicken, vegetable and beef broth, and it gives great flavor to the soup or the stew without adding any fat!

What are my no-no's? NO diet soda no matter what, as the chemicals in it and the acids are so bad for one's teeth, esophagus and stomach. (Give it up and you might not have any acid reflux, folks.) NO white anything, which includes potatoes, rice, bread, wheat, pasta. NO fried foods unless they are sauteed in olive oil or a teaspoon of butter. NO giant portions of anything but salad greens.

If I must have something to satisfy a carbohydrate craving, I eat root vegetables like parsnips, carrots, beets, sweet potatoes or rutabagas, but small amounts and I combine eating them with a protein. I don't understand why, but it seems more satisfying to eat a small amount with the protein curbing excess hunger. I do allow myself some fruit, but not a lot as it has a lot of carbohydrates. These foods will go into my maintenance diet, but apples are it as a fruit for the time being.

What are my crutches? Water. I drink water or tea and it makes me less hungry. Lots of times we are dehydrated and the water or tea will refresh us enough to wait for the next meal without snacking. (Just a tip.) I also use Molly McButter, which tastes like butter but has no calories and is sprinkled on like salt. Of course, a main ingredient in it is salt, so if you have high blood pressure, count it like salt.

Now that I am on this program, using tea as a catalyst to burn more fat, store less and calm my frantic nature... I actually feel great. Of course, the sun has been shining here in the northwest for a full week, I have been out exercising and I have no real stress right now other than normal life, so I should feel good.

The truth is, though, that I do credit the tea as it did two things for me. First, it brought me off my frantic all-day latte habit, and secondly it soothed my anxious brain by increasing the dopamine and seratonin. I also incorporated a 'tea time' in late afternoon for myself in which I think calming thoughts, collect the rest, and deep breathe for a while.

My best friend is also drinking the tea and she is down to the weight she was in high school! I'll get there... well, not quite there... but close enough. It takes a lot more effort on my part to lose weight than most of my girlfriends, but they are all 10 or 15 years younger. It makes a difference how long you wait to lose that blubber. Yeah, call it what it is, 'cause it's going!

If any of you are trying to lose weight, I hope this helps. I started thinking in terms of how much bounty I have in my life instead of thinking what is missing. I cut off the negative people I know who bring me down, or if I cannot avoid them, I minimize the contact. I get plenty of sleep and I am keeping my eyes on myself. I'm letting those I love do their own thing without interference (or responsibility for the result), and guess what? The world is doing just fine without me while I concentrate on really taking care of myself.

Oh, and I am not telling people I'm on a diet. That is always responded to in weird ways like, "Oh, just have one brownie... how could one hurt?" For me it does. If I have one, I am lost for a week, so keeping it honest and real is the key for yours truly. Also, if I have a bad day on my program, which happens, I don't want any outside recrimination. I can do that awfully well by myself.:)

I can't quite give up my morning espresso, but I am having tea immediately after and then all day to counteract the coffee's negative effect on insulin and weight loss. Of course, nobody would believe me that this is working, except my best friend, but if I keep this up they will begin to ask how I did it. I can't wait. Really.:)

Good luck if you're trying to get healthier too. Continued life is SO worth a little sacrifice. I keep thinking if I eat less, there is another person on earth who can eat more. It's only fair that those of us 'blessed' with famine metabolisms learn to share our ration.:)  We don't need it after all.