Detox Diet- Day 2 and 3

I came to a realization yesterday. This detox diet will not go like the last one. When I started my detox diet last year I was starting at a very sickly place. I wasn't digesting, I had serious gastrointestinal issues that needed addressing, and my body was in a complete and total state of toxicity. Well, my body has come a long way and I don't need that level of cleansing anymore. Don't get me wrong, I need some cleansing and a good dose of refocusing (ie stop eating those darned cupcakes from Kroger), but I can't do it the way I did last time.

That being said I decided that this go round I need to include much more protein than I did last time. Last time I was borderline vegan for three full months before I started eating meat consistently again. And most of my protein came from fish once or twice a week, tofu in my miso soup, or the occassional lamb stuffed veggies that I would make. The rest of the diet was vegan. And at that time my body needed to cleanse at that level, but now, I need the protein to keep me going. So I hit the grocery store yesterday and bought some organic, all natural, turkey breakfast sausages (yummy!), my favorite chicken and fennel dinner sausages, and a new high protein breakfast option: puffed millet cereal and hempmilk. The millet cereal with hempmilk and strawberries is officially my new favorite food. I was really surprised by how creamy the hempmilk is, I am so glad my vegan girlfriend recommended it!

I might not keep up the high protein thing, but at least for this week I need it. I'm still detoxing by cutting out processed sugars, gluten (though I did eat some whole wheat bread yesterday in desperation), and eating whole foods again. And even though I've had to derail slightly a few times already- the chocolate on Monday (and again today... but I limited myself to the portion size on the box of three pieces) and meatballs with bbq sauce at last night's work event (the only healthy food available at the event had things I was allergic to so I didn't have much option in the matter), and the bread with peanut butter last night- I am lightyears better than I was last week. And I think we are moving in the right direction again.

Detox Diet- Day1

Yesterday was NOT a good day. I did great on eating healthy, but my body wanted nothing to do with it as it was too focused on making me feel miserable. For the past two weeks I have been getting excruciating headaches, doubled with a sinus headache from allergies (usually), and bloating. I tried everything to make that headache go away yesterday to no avail. First I tried a chiropractic adjustment... the headache subsided and lessened for about 30 minutes. Then I tried a massage during my lunch break... the headache went away with the exception of some sinus pain above my left eye for about an hour and a half. And when it came back, it came back hard. I couldn't hear right, I couldn't see straight, I felt confused, and started to even feel a bit nauseous from it. I had the hubs drop off some Sudafed after taking some Aleve hadn't helped at all. The Sudafed got things down to a more bearable level and that helped me to feel safe enough to drive home.

Went to bed by 9:30 and woke up throughout the night with the headache still mildly bothering me. Around 5:00 am I woke up and it was finally gone. Thank goodness for small miracles! After eating a snack and drinking some water (I was hungry from not eating much for dinner), I went back to bed until about 8am. Still headache free, but I can tell by the pinching nerve in my back that it's threatening to flair up again.

Based on how the headache withstood any medication I could take and looking back at the last two weeks of headaches and bloating, I believe I have determined this to all be related to PMS. TMI, I know, but we are chronically my health struggles so we have to document this stuff, people! I have not had PMS this bad since I can remember... maybe a year or two. But what got me thinking was all of the bad food I ate in May. I ate a lot of overly processed cupcakes, so much so that the food coloring from the frosting was altering the color of both my husband and my bowel movement (we compared notes because we both thought it was funny). Though I tell you what, nothing says "you shouldn't eat this" than food coloring dyed poo. :)

So, this detox diet is definitely due. With the exception of the three pieces of chocolate I ate last night to see if a smidgen of caffeine would help the headache (it did, believe it or not) I ate very healthy. Not sure I got quite enough calories in, so I am reevaluating a few things to ensure that doesn't happen again, but otherwise the eating part of day 1 went very well.

Day2 is starting out much better. Fingers crossed it remains headache free. Time to go ice my neck to help out with the cause...

Detox Diet Challenge, Day 0

Tomorrow is the big day. I'm starting on a detox diet and will stick to it 100% through the month of June.

Ok, so it's not really rocket science, this diet. It's the same thing I did last year when I was diagnosed with gallstones. I know I can follow the diet since I did it before and I can't wait to see what kind of differences there are (or aren't) in my digestion.

So how did I spend my last day of (relative) food freedom? Over eating a bit, and eating some sugary stuff, but still with plenty of healthy veggies and fats. Breakfast today was the last of my gluten-free poppyseed bread covered in lemon icing (to make up for the fact that I forgot the lemon in the recipe). Lunch was a leftover natural chicken sausage from the night before and a garden fresh salad with my own homegrown lettuces. And dinner was my favorite tuna recipe with avocado with a splurge at the end of two slices of homemade whole wheat bread with my mother-in-laws grape jelly and some butter. Definitely overate a bit, especially at dinner, but if I'm not going to be stuffing my face with processed cupcakes at least I could do something bad.

I can't wait for tomorrow. I can't wait to feel great again and get my energy back. I can't wait to discover new things about my body and foods and test my own personal resolve for the sake of my continued improved health. These things are important, and as I refocus I plan to make this refocusing effort a lifelong commitment. Who need processed cupcakes anyway?

STRAWBERRIES!!!!

Local strawberries are in season! Ok, well not completely local, but within my state an hour or two south, which is close enough for me. Heck, it's infinitely closer than California which is a four hour plane ride.

Now, I'm not sure if these strawberries are organic, but since I've had plenty of them the last two weeks with no reactions I have to guess they are at least pretty close to organic if not completely organic. I will double check next time. All I know is that they are the sweetest, juiciest strawberries I've ever had. My favorite way to eat them? On a spinach salad with homemade balsamic vinaigrette. Delicious!

According to World's Healthiest Foods, strawberries are really good for you too. Of course, that goes with out saying that they are really good for you, but they are really high in Vitamin C and manganese and good source of all sorts of other nutrients. They are at their peak from April through July so eat them up now while they are their best!

"Clean" eating here I come

Starting June 1st, I am refocusing. Since I started feeling better in the fall my diet has slowly, but surely, gotten off track. Not surprisingly, I've noticed some health issues and I've had some gallbladder flare-ups as well. Got to refocus. Now that the summer is upon us again, I've decided it's time to refocus, especially while fresh, local, healthy produce is so abundant.

Here is the goal of the diet:

1. "Clean" foods only. Whole foods, no processed or genetically modified food. With the exception of a few "clean label" snack or breakfast products I must make everything from scratch.
2. Organic whenever possible. Local as much as possible. This maximizes nutrient availability of the food.
3. Portion control, portion control, portion control. Three small meals and 2-3 small snacks in between.
4. Vegetarian primarily, though fish and small amounts of fresh turkey or chicken are okay a few times a week. Since I can't eat beans, lentils, or nuts (food allergies) I need to have a few protein options.
5. Dairy free.
6. Gluten free.
7. Corn free.
8. No refined sugars. Sugar can only come from agave, honey, or raw organic brown sugar.

While it looks like a lot of rules, it's the diet I followed last summer during the first three months. Shouldn't be hard. Plus I am hoping to test out a few potential food intolerances during the process to see if those might be the culprits to my diseased gallbladder and possibily some of my other allergies and health issues. Hopefully this will lead up to a liver/gallbladder flush, too. I'm warming to the idea and think it's a step I need to take, and it will be much easier to do when following this diet.

I've recruited my coworker Martha to follow the diet with me. Things are always easier when you have a support system and friend to do it with you. My husband isn't willing to go so far, but he loves the homemade whole wheat (high fiber!) bread I made for him the other night (pic to come) so he's agreed to eat that bread for his sandwiches. Now, since it's not gluten free, I won't be eating it but I'm glad he's at least taking a small step toward a healthier diet. His diet is horrendous if I'm not feeding him!

If you want to follow the same diet, let me know. You can be part of the time to eat healthier- which is not only healthier for you but the planet as well! Like usual, I'll be blogging about it right here!

Protein cravings

I don't know what was with yesterday, but I needed protein. That was pretty much all I ate yesterday. I started the day good, eating the snack/meal you see above of spinach, light spreadable cheese, and rye crisps with some deli sliced summer sausage. The day didn't end as healthy though. Protein cravings went haywire! Here is a note I sent to my girlfriend yesterday about it. I figured it was easier to copy and paste this rather than rewrite the story...

Funny thing is, I'm usually not a protein nut at all! Even around that time of the month. This time apparently is different though. I started bloating a week ago (which freaking annoying! I feel like my gut is busting out, it's so uncomfortable!), and now today I started craving some serious meat product! Weirdo! This period is going to be rough, and I still have a week till it gets here!

The craving started after my personal training session this morning. I literally went straight to the grocery store to buy some turkey sausage. It was baaaaad! Ate that and some rye cracker with soft cheese on it (also don't eat cheese cuz of the dairy intolerance issues, right?). For lunch I ate the crackers with cheese again and put some summer sausage Griffin had in the fridge on it with some of my farmer's market spinach. It was soooo good!

Then I'm doing my weekly acupuncture session, and while my mind is wandering and I'm in my zen place I start thinking about how my VEGAN girlfriend had a status update earlier today that she was craving a Big Mac. I started laughing to myself.... and then, I got super hungry for a Big Mac! Ugh! Luckily my co-worker had a piece of chicken in the fridge she wasn't going to eat so I had that for a snack.

The rest of the day went on and by closing I hadn't eaten dinner yet, and that was at 8:30pm. The Big Mac craving was in full swing again... needed protein. So I got the Big Mac once Griffin agreed to share it with me, and picked him up a McFlurry, too. I haven't had ice cream in almost a year but it took all my willpower to NOT eat his McFlurry on the way home. Ice cold dairy sounded soooooo good! One small victory for the day, at least I didn't indulge in that! Anyway, I cut the Big Mac in half intending to give Griffin half of it. I was a good girl and ate my veggies from the dinner I originally planned to eat before eating the Big Mac. They tasted really good and I almost didn't eat the Big Mac, but the smell was too alluring. I couldn't eat just half. I had half of the other half too, and Griffin got mad he wouldn't get his whole half. :)

I'm already drooling about turkey sausage for breakfast tomorrow... can't wait. Yum. Protein.

And PS, I don't eat red meat, or cheese anymore and today that was all I wanted! And my acupuncturist, despite me having eaten these things today, commented on how my tongue looked better- no problem with the liver or gallbladder! What gives!

Needless to say, the Big Mac reminded me why I don't eat them anymore. Thankfully, no GB attacks, but definitely had some serious indigestion. Still proud of myself for not eating the ice cream- almost at the one year mark, don't want to ruin things now!

Just thought I would share some pics of the McDonald's breakdown. First, the calorie and nutrition info of said Big Mac. GROSS!!!! Then, my first attempt at trying to cut the Big Mac in half... yeah, I halved the other half after that. Thankfully no Big Mac cravings today. I don't need that nutritionally deficient overly processed and genetically engineered "food."

My new favorite show

I have a discovered the best cooking show on TV. Emeril Green on the Planet Green Channel. He teaches people recipes- out of a Whole Foods nonetheless- that are "clean," healthy, environmentally friendly, and super tasty and nutritious! I love this show! You must watch it.

This is how people should eat. This is how people should live. LOVE IT! I can't wait to try some of the recipes out!