As you can see from the photo above, my face has been transformed by Dr. Perricone's 3-Day Facelift Diet.
I started the diet as a clever before and after joke that I could post on my blog. But the joke was on me. Maybe it just shows how bad my usual eating habits really are, but the diet gave me a good feeling almost immediately. After the first day I felt lighter and my skin seemed less dry, and this at the same time I'm cutting HRT. It makes all the sense in the world that what you eat–in my case, it's probably more what I don't eat–can have a big effect on how you feel, but I'm still astonished by it.
Things I learned while on Dr. Perricone's 3-Day diet:
• How to make a perfect omelet
For breakfast I've always eaten (every single day) a bowl of Barbara's shredded oats, almonds, soy milk or yogurt, and a thermos of Major Dickason's black coffee. I was under the impression that eggs were bad for you. I thought eating a 3-egg omelet for breakfast (along with a bowl of oatmeal) would be terribly heavy. But I felt good after the doctor's breakfast, and even continued it today on the 4th day (though today I added a little cheese to the omelet.) I also remembered some basil out on the back porch so I added a leaf or two of that. It didn't hurt to have a few buckets of fresh salsa on the side, either.
• As far as canned wild salmon (pink) goes, the can of Starkist was much better than Chicken of the Sea.
I got tired of eating salmon, but it did seem to help my skin feel not so dry. I take Omega 3 (1,800 mg. a day) but maybe the real thing makes a difference.
• Believe it or not, it is hard eating only a half cup of vegetables. That's how much I like to eat food, any food, even vegetables. And on this diet I couldn't even eat the good ones, like potatoes.
• The arugula and spinach with a simple dressing actually tasted great with the salmon and turkey. I thought you had to put 16 ingredients into a salad to get any flavor out of it.
• It was hard eating only a third cup of berries, but the doctor's afternoon and bedtime snacks helped.
• Surprise! It was not so hard to forgo coffee.
• No surprise: It was hard to forgo wine. I added a small glass of red wine on the 2nd night, and I had one glass last night.
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My mom was feeling better this week, and that probably has had a good effect on everything about me the past few days. Now I'm going to veer off onto our phone call this morning:
Mom: Honey, I think I missed Margaret's birthday!
Me: Oh, Mom. I would never let you miss it. It's August 16th.
Mom: But today is ... I just called time and temperature ... let me find it ...
Me: Today is July 30.
Mom: So I did miss it!
Me: No, Mom. August is next month. We have 2 weeks to plan something.
Mom: You're sure about that.
This went on for quite some time, and then I told Mom about my diet.
Me: I think it really did work, because the skin on my arms and legs is softer. But I'm not sure my face moved.
Mom: WHAT!?
Me: Mom, it was supposed to be a 3 day face-lift diet! But I don't think my face moved at all.
Mom: It didn't move around to the back?
Me: (big laugh) No! I don't think it moved at all.
Mom: Well, it'll probably take it a few days to catch up.
(Whether you think it's funny or not, I admire the confidence Mom has to make jokes when she can't remember a thing in the world around her.)
