I am a Mesomorph
No, not an animorph…
I’m a mesomorph. Apparently, it’s a body type.
The mesomorph body type is naturally athletic and both gains and loses weight relatively easily. I took this quiz and it told me all that. The test is obviously imprecise, unscientific, and mostly meant to be a guideline in weight loss. In truth, I think I’m somewhere between a mesomorph and an endomorph.
I had a doctor’s appointment the other day and I found out I lost 8 pounds. Huzzah! Clothes that were previously tight are now very comfortable or even loose now. However, like most women, I still have “problem areas” that refuse to budge. For me, these areas are my arms and tummy. So while other parts of my body have become leaner and toned, there are still some parts that remain stubbornly squishy.
Well, after reading up on mesomorphs, I found out that its hard for me to get skinny due to a large amount of dense muscle. Interesting. I have actually always wondered about that. In order to lose weight, mesomorphs are advised to:
- Eat three meals per day. They should be smaller than usual. Check.
- Avoid fatty foods such as red meat and of course, white carbohydrates (sugar and flour). Check.
- Consume balanced meals consisting of lean proteins (chicken, eggs) and complex carbohydrates (vegetables). Check (though admittedly I could eat more veggies).
- Snacks such as fruit, almonds, and yogurt are appropriate. Check.
It’s funny how I figured all this stuff out on my own. Validation is always a good thing, I guess.
Anyway, since I have a low tolerance for the repetition of no- and low-carb recipes, I am constantly searching for new ideas. Flax meal bread, no crust pizza, miracle noodles, and ricotta pie got old quick.
If you’re like me, I’d recommend stocking the following items at all times since they are the building blocks of interesting no- and low-carb meals:
- Avocados
- Eggs
- Mozzarella cheese
- Plain Greek yogurt
- Grape tomatoes
- A sweet fruit such as watermelon or red seedless grapes
- Lean proteins such as chicken
- Olive oil
- Low fat milk
- Cereal (I prefer Honey Bunches of Oats)
- Onions
- Mushrooms
Currently, my favorite meals are:
- Baked eggs and salsa. So quick, delicious, and satisfying. This recipe is extremely versatile. I put ham in the ramekins today and made ham and eggs cups. ST ate it all up.
I was inspired by Chrissy Teigen’s recipe here.
- Roast chicken with avocados and hot sauce. ST and I picked up a whole roast chicken from a local Peruvian restaurant for $9 during one of our long walks. We also got some avocados (the perfect side dish) and bananas (the perfect dessert). Put it all together and you have one very filling meal. I’m going to try this recipe and cook a whole chicken in the crock pot.
- Cereal and milk. A good standby for a sweet fix. This is perhaps the one thing I can eat over and over again.
At week four of the diet, I have lots of energy and have been pretty active. ST and I have been going to the gym at least twice per week and I’ve been going on long walks with both ST and Helene. I could maximize my weight loss by cutting out all carbs (fruits and cereal) and increasing my gym time to 4-5 times per week. I don’t think that would be manageable for me though. I have a fierce sweet tooth that is nigh on impossible to ignore. I need fruits and cereal, as they are my only form of sweets. As for increasing gym time, I’m working on it. Aren’t we all? 
How’s your summer going?
DIY Blueprint Cleanse
It’s cleanse season! This time around, I’ve ditched the nasty powdery mix and have tried to reproduce the popular and expensive Blueprint Cleanse.
The main purpose of the Blueprint Cleanse isn’t losing weight, it’s detoxification. However, since I don’t smoke, drink alcohol, or use drugs, I think I’m more or less a toxin-free zone. What I do need help with are some PCOS-related symptoms that make me very uncomfortable. Additionally, I also have the desire to develop more self-control when it comes to food. Don’t we all?
Luckily for frugalistas everywhere, BPC lists the ingredients of each part of their cleanse on their bottles:
After procuring some recipes, I got started on my three-day DIY BPC minus the red juice because I forgot to buy the ingredients for it.
Side note: It’s tough to get an exact measurement of ingredients when a recipe calls for “a handful of romaine” and I ended up getting a bit more than I needed. I also made double of the green juice to compensate for the forgotten red juice.
Here’s what I got:
- 24 small Granny Smith apples – $10
- 1 box of romaine lettuce – $4
- 3 bags of celery – $7.50
- 6 English cucumbers (these are longer than the normal ones and was all they had) – $15
- 1 bunch of kale – $1.50
- 1 bunch of parsley – $3
- 2 bags of spinach leaves – $6
- 1 pineapple – $2
- A few sprigs of mint – $1.75
- 8 large lemons – $6
- 16 ounce box of cashews – $10
- Small bottle of vanilla extract – $6
- Cayenne pepper $5
- 24-pack of Nestle bottled water – $4
I bought the cheapest of everything. There’s a reason why this cleanse is $70 per day – the ingredients are pricey.
Here’s what that all looks like after your husband hauls it out of the car for you. Minus the bottled water – he had to go back for that. Thank you, ST.
Making these juices was a DEBACLE. First of all, you don’t need a fancy juicer. I used our non-fancy Cuisinart blender and a strainer. The strainer is key.
Before Juicing
- Prep your cashews. Before you start doing anything, dump the cashews into a large bowl. Pour enough bottled water into the bowl so that all the nuts are covered by at least an inch of water. This prepares the cashews for the cashew milk. Some people recommend soaking for 8-10 hours. I soaked mine for about 2 hours and they turned out just fine.
- Line your sink. Get one or two large trash bags and place them in your sink. Doing so will prevent from having to unclog and clean up this result:
Begin with the green juice. It’s the most labor-intensive and messy.
Green Juice
Each 16 ounce bottle of green juice requires:
- 5 stalks of celery
- 1 cucumber
- 2 green apples
- 3 kale leaves
- 1 ounce of lemon juice
- 1 handful of parsley
- 3 romaine leaves
- 1 handful of spinach
- 1 bottle of water
You can adjust the ingredients depending on your reference. I will scale back on the celery next time.
Directions
- Wash and cut up the celery and apples. Don’t bother peeling the apples – it just wastes time. The strainer will take care of the skins.
- Peel, wash, and cut up the cucumber.
- Wash and tear up the kale, parsley, romaine, and spinach.
- Add these to your blender – the order does not matter.
- Add lemon juice and bottle of water.
- Puree for a minute.
- Put your strainer over a large bowl and pour the contents of the blender into it. If you have a small bowl, you will have to do this in stages. The straining takes a while, so prep your next ingredients while you wait.
- Press out the last bit of juices with a spoon. Discard the pulp and pour the juice into the empty water bottle.
I was pleasantly surprised when our blender combined the ingredients so smoothly.
Pour out the contents in batches into your strainer. There was such a large quantity of green juice that I eventually had to fill our crock pot, which is the largest pot we have.
Straining takes f-o-r-e-v-e-r… Expedite the process by pressing on the pulp with a spoon.
Repeat, repeat, repeat.
The green juice was the most time-consuming part. The other juices are actually kind of fun.
Pineapple Apple Mint
This one is delicious! Here’s what you need for three 16 ounce bottles:
- 1 pineapple
- 5 Granny Smith apples
- Juice from half a lemon
- 2-3 sprigs of mint, depending on how much you like
- About 2 bottles of water
Spicy Lemonade
This drink is just a filler. It does its job. Here’s what you need for three 16 ounce bottles:
- 3-4 lemons, depending on how sour your like your lemonade
- 4 tablespoons Agave nectar (or less, depending on how sweet you like your drinks). Side note: I didn’t add this to the grocery list because I already had it.
- 2 dashes of cayenne pepper
- About 2 bottles of water
Next time, I will pick up a citrus hand press for this part. Poor ST had to squeeze all the lemons for me. They make everything smell so fresh and clean though – even the trash.
Cashew Milk
Yum! This looks, smells, and tastes delicious. Here’s what you need for three 16 ounce bottles:
- 16 ounces of cashew nuts
- 3 tablespoons of Agave nectar
- 1 tablespoon of ground cinnamon
- 2 teaspoons of vanilla extract
- About 2 bottles of water. I used 3 and found that my cashew milk was a bit on the thin side.
Its amazing how creamy it looks without any milk in it.
Four hours of juicing and here’s what I have to show for it:
Three bottles each of pineapple apple mint, spicy lemonade, and cashew milk. Six bottles of green juice + a bunch more I made for a friend. I’m set for the next three days. Hopefully, the results will be worth all the juicing. In a way, all the blood, sweat, and tears motivates me more.
Update
You guys have been asking some really good clarifying questions! I drank the juices in this order: green juice, pineapple apple mint, spicy lemonade, and cashew milk. I didn’t really have a set time for each juice, but rather a time frame. Green juice for breakfast, PAM, green juice, lemonade, and cashew milk. It felt awesome to complete it!