Dr. Perricone's 3-Day Facelift Diet (After)

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.)

Me Nutella, You ?

cookie by Mari Pheiffer

From: Mari
To: Linda

Did you notice? Marilyn's back. Yeah! Love her. I found you through her.

Have an okay day. ~ mari

From: Linda
To: Mary

I didn't know you found me through Marilyn! I know you and she were friends before I found either of you. I love it that you're using iWeb--I've been so curious about it.

xxxxx's & ooooo's, Linda

From: Mari
To: Linda

I can't remember exactly how we "met." But Marilyn was the connector. That chick has a big heart. OMG. Love her. She's like butta. You're like Nutella. And I LOVE Nutella.

hugs, mari

•••••••••••••••••

I love Mari's cookies and I love the way Mari compares people to food. As well as being a supremely talented baker, Mari is a writer. Her new blog is The M Report.

What foods are your friends like? At dinner I asked Tom what food I was most like.

Tom: Is this a trick question?

Me: No.

Tom: Raspberries. They're beautiful. And there's nothing else like them. (He had had a glass of wine at this point.)

I told him he was caramel corn.

Sweet Tooth

Dr. Perricone's 3-Day Facelift (Before)

Michael is a great designer who lives in my old hometown. I was always too shy to get to know anyone in my old hometown until I moved away. Now I'm getting to know lots of people from my old home town via Facebook! If you ever would like to get to know people around you but you happen to be too shy, just move away and join Facebook.

Today on Facebook Michael said he had just made a batch of hummus. I asked what recipe he used. He pointed me to Dr. Perricone's web site. Before I could even get to the hummus, my eye fell upon Dr. Perricone's 3-Day Nutritional Facelift over in the left hand margin.

I decided to forget about the hummus and try the facelift. Come back in three days to see if Dr. Perricone's Facelift works. Here's the plan in case you'd like to try it with me:

Breakfast

• 3 egg omelet and/or 4-6 oz. grilled salmon. I do not recommend smoked salmon or lox on the three-day diet because of the salt intake.

• ½ cup cooked oatmeal (not instant). Cooked oatmeal is a great source of fiber, low glycemic carbohydrates

• 2” wedge of cantaloupe or 1/3 cup fresh berries. Cantaloupe is very hydrating to the skin and contains important antioxidants - blueberries, blackberries, raspberries, strawberries are high in antioxidants

• No Juice, No Coffee or Toast. If you normally drink large amounts of coffee, drink black or green tea to prevent caffeine withdrawal.

• 8 - 12 oz. spring water

Lunch

• 4-6 oz. grilled salmon. Option: you can also use canned salmon and mix a little mayo and fresh squeezed lemon

• 2 cups green salad made with romaine lettuce or other dark leafy greens. Dressing: extra virgin olive oil and fresh squeezed lemon to taste

• 1 kiwi fruit or cantaloupe and berries as above

• 8 – 12 oz. spring water

Snack

• 1 apple

• 2 oz. slice of turkey breast or 6 oz. plain yogurt

• Small handful of hazelnuts, walnuts or almonds. Great source of fatty acids and folic acid

Dinner

• 4-6 oz. grilled salmon

• green salad as described above

• ½ cup steamed veggies. Especially asparagus, broccoli, spinach, etc. NO root vegetables, such as potatoes, carrots, beets, parsnips, etc

• Cantaloupe and berries

• 8 – 12 oz. spring water

Before Bedtime Snack

• 1 pear or apple

• 2 oz. slice chicken or turkey breast or 6 oz. plain yogurt

• Small handful of hazelnuts, walnuts or almonds. Great source of fatty acids and folic acid

Love at First Sight

I had a doctor's appointment at 8:00 this morning. Tom warned me that he would be in a meeting when I got back. But when I got back and unlocked the door I was totally unprepared to be greeted by such a handsome brute. His name is Leo and he brought his own blanket.

Researching T-Shirt Printers

I've tried Cafe Press and Printfection. The sample above is from Cafe Press, printed on their "value" (least expensive) t-shirt. I like it better than the Printfection sample which is printed more squarely, but whose colors aren't so bright.

I'll let you know when I'm happy with the printing and the designs. (Do you think this design is a little much? I'm wondering about printing one little image as opposed to 6 or 8 or 12 images.)

New Friend

At an inauguration party back in January, I saw this woman across the room. She had a great haircut and wore running shoes. Rays of life emanated from her. I wanted to get to know her.

But slow person that I am, it took me six months to cajol her into meeting me for lunch. Her name is Lucille Cuttler.

She moved here five years ago from New York. She's pushing with all her might to get a reading program for kids with dyslexia–one that works!–into the school system.

She's smart. She's charming. But how could she not be charming? Growing up during the depression, her father worked in a candy store. Her mother was a teacher, but preferred organizing poker games to teaching. Her husband Harry was a perfumer. (He invented Charlie; the last one he worked on was Giorgio.)

Lucille tutors little kids starting 4th grade who need an introduction to Latin roots, prefixes and suffixes - and has a great time making up games to play with them to help their learning. She's a member of the Y. What little spare time she has is spent in the art museums around town. She loves libraries, books, paintings ... As far as movies go, Jim Jarmusch is her newest discovery. I drove away from lunch exhilarated and overwhelmed.

The Best Day of Her Life

Mom's been having her ups and downs (lots of downs) lately, but here's one unforgettable conversation that took place a couple of weeks ago. She called and announced: "I just had the best day of my life."

"Mom! What did you do?"

"Journey took me to Walmart. They have little motorized carts up front that I had never noticed before. They let you drive them around the store! I drove one all over. It wasn't crowded. I didn't have much difficulty driving, and I didn't seem to run into too many people."

Thanks for the photo, Journey!

What Do You Look Like?

Here's what my URL looks like in Data Matrix Code. (QR Code: QR stands for quick read.)



And here I am in Blotcode:

Fuelafire left me a nice comment yesterday so I thought I'd visit her blog. I was absolutely blown away by this post. Read it! She explains what's going on these days with Data Matrix Code. It's fascinating and lots of fun. (Ever wonder what those beautiful little graphics on UPS boxes are?)

p.s. You can generate your own code here.

28 Days

Back Home

Note to Blogmaid in case she stops by: We live on a steep hill and this image cannot be straightened no matter how hard I try.

Mom and Me

Mom and I rode on the Tennessee River Gorge Explorer yesterday, and what a class act that is. It was incredibly fun. We saw gorgeous scenery, a bald eagle, blue herons galore, turtles piled up in the sun.

We went to the Big Table for dinner. It's a homey little restaurant that we love, and it's right down the road from the Terrace where she lives.

We order and take a few photos of each other.
Then it starts again. "Are you my daughter?"
"Yes, Mom! I'm Linda."
"You're Linda? Are you sure?"
"Yes, Mom, who did you think I was?" (I'm very curious about that.)

For the past two nights, around dinner time or right after dinner time, Mom can't place exactly who I am. She can believe that Aggles and I are sisters, but not that we're her daughters.

"I wish I had known you were my daughters when you were growing up!" This goes on and on. At first it was shocking and it hurt. But it's fascinating, too, and now I'm just trying to find out as much as I can about how her mind is working.

"Did you know my dog, Ling?" she'll ask.
"No, Mom. Ling died before I was born."
"He had the thickest, reddest-orange fur."
"I know! And a purple tongue."
"Yes!"

At one point I look over and notice a little announcement on the table in a plastic frame. The Big Table will be having Sunday brunch next weekend. Aggles will be here and I bet she'll want to take Mom. I point it out to Mom. "I've got to remember to tell Aggles about it." I struggle to find a pen but can't, so I dig out my phone to type the info into it. Mom looks at the camera and pipes up: "Can't you just take a picture?"

"Mom. You're a genius." I snap the photo in one second. This is what I mean by fascinating. I always thought when one part of the mind gets dim, all the other parts go along with it. This is one of the things that makes it so hard for her to be living in the memory wing. Her memory is the worst, but other parts of her mind are sharp as a tack. Here you go, Aggles:

Waves

Waving goodbye!

See you in Chattanooga tomorrow morning bright and early. I thought I had made my reservation for a 10:50 am flight but discovered a few days ago that I had made it for 10:50 pm.

iPhone Finger Paint

When I found out the June 1st cover of the New Yorker was done on an iPhone (by Jorge Columbo), you can probably guess what software I had to download immediately. Yes, Brushes, for $4.99.

I'm displaying my first piece of Brushes art below for you to see before the New Yorker gets its hands on it:

Fascinating! You can actually watch the playback of Jorge drawing here.

Found in the Sand This Evening

artist unknown

Don't Look a Gift Horse in the Mouth

This movie is a gift.

Why are the reviews so negative? OK, OK, so the original screenplay was written in the 70's for Zero Mostel. And yes, Boris Yellnikoff does turn and address the audience a few times.

This wonderful story/fairytale is the essence of what I'm after when I go to the movies. It's transforming and magical and smart.

If you're scared by the reviews criticizing Larry David's abrasiveness, don't be. He's the perfect Boris. And buckets of humanity, humor, and good will spill in on him from every direction.

When it was over I grabbed Tom's arm and said, "I loved that movie." Thank you, Woody Allen.

Wash and Dry

Here are two things that went through the washer and dryer this week:

1. My earbuds–the standard ones that come with i-pods and phones from Apple–earbuds that everyone including me complains about, because they don't fit any human ear.

2. A precious pair of Bjørn Borg underwear.

The earbuds, which were in my jeans pocket, survived not only the wash and rinse cycle perfectly fine–they also emerged unscathed from the dryer (only one setting: Blast Furnace). Music sounds as wonderful as ever, and both the mic and the off/on switch work without a hiccup.

The underwear is another story, but I have a plan. Tomorrow I'm going down the street to the Bridge to see the movie Food, Inc. I'm going to buy a large popcorn, because I figure it will be the last bag of popcorn I ever buy after seeing this movie. (I usually finish my popcorn before the feature starts anyway.) After seeing Food, Inc. I'm sure I will never want to eat food again, and the xxxSmall underwear will work fine, too.

Meow