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!

Asparagus overload

This time of the year one of the few locally grown fresh produce items you can get is asparagus. I've been buying some every week at the farmer's market and have been trying to come up with ways to use it other than grilling or roasting it.

One of my most favorite recipes I came up with- by combing two recipes that I had- was for asparagus and Boston bibb lettuce risotto. It tasted like spring. I added a little bit of lemon zest for some extra freshness and it was delicious. Next time I need to tweak the recipe a bit to use more olive oil and less butter- the dish was quite rich and didn't make my GB too happy, no matter how small the portion.

Last weekend, after having already picked up two pounds of asparagus at the farmer's market, my mother-in-law came by and brought us another two pounds of fresh picked asparagus from the family farm! I needed a recipe to use up massive quantities of it quickly, so I found a recipe for asparagus soup that used up most of it. The soup is chilled, though you can eat it hot. I found that I preferred it cold as it was quite refreshing that way. It was also quite filling with just some crackers to go with it.

When my mother-in-law was over I had already planned and making a dish with asparagus on the grill. It was a huge hit with her. Simple recipe of white fish- in this case we used sole, though I had done it earlier in the week with halibut- asparagus, mushrooms, a little EVOO, and white wine cooked en pappillote (in a package) on the grill. Everything steams together in the package and you have a super tasty and healthy dinner. Extremely satisfying a light meal. This picture is from the first time I made it with halibut and shittake mushrooms. The second time I used button mushrooms and sole.

Also in season right now is rhubarb, so for the past two weeks I have made a strawberry rhubarb crisp. Quite good. Strawberries are in season now too, so I will have to make a 100% fresh and local crisp soon. You couldn't ask for a better dessert!

Waiting for relief

I've been a bit delinquent in my blogging lately, my apologies for three of you who read my blog. :)

Truth is I've not been feeling well. It's spring again and that means a complete lack of energy as my body attempts to ward off the tree pollens and grasses and all those other things to come back to life this time of year. Not fun at all for me. Spring is my least favorite time of the year. Sinus headaches abound and never ending quantities of snot and postnasal drip and itchy, watery eyes. Loads of fun.

On top of that, around the last time I blogged I had a gallbladder attack. After consuming so much wine the weekend before it was pretty much inevitable, especially if I didn't follow a strict detox diet. Which I didn't. The day of the attack I consumed Aleve and Allegra to try to combat the raging sinus headache I had, and then had a full-caffeine cappuccino (with skim milk) to attempt to stimulate my liver to process the meds quicker (which does sometimes help, not that day, though), and finished it off with a Twix bar (because it sounded good). Had I eliminated just the Twix bar or just the cappuccino I think I would have been fine, but good judgement was not a quality I possessed that day. So, by the time I got to dinner, it was an inevitability. Had I skipped dinner, I might have made it out okay, too, who knows. But after just a few bites I could feel my liver and gallbladder start to swell and the nausea kicked in hard core. For the next five hours the lower right quadrant of my back was inflamed and wreaking havoc on my body. Luckily it didn't last all night and by just after midnight I was able to lay down and sleep.

One of the recommended relief tools for a GB attack is to sip on flaxseed tea. You make it by boiling flaxseeds in water for five minutes and then letting them steep for another ten. What the tea comes out to be is essentially a flaxoil, from what I can tell. The tastes isn't bad, it actually tastes kind of fresh, but sometimes the tea can make you vomit. For a some gallbladder attacks, it's actually the best solution. Then your gallbladder doesn't have to try to process the offending foods anymore. Other times I just gets things moving so that if a stone or sludge is blocking the GB duct, it slips out of place. At least, that is how I believe it works. Thankfully, I didn't have to vomit after drinking the tea this time.

Acupuncture the next day helped to finish calming things down, though I was exhausted the whole rest of the week. GB attacks are physically grueling things. For me, it can take up to a full week to completely recover.

Baking Bread

Last week I was really in to making homemade bread. I made two separate batches, in fact. Early in the week I made Celiac-safe lemon poppy seed bread with the leftover Toro flour that I had. No joke, it is the best lemon poppy seed bread ever and you would never know it was gluten-free. My husband and I ate two loaves worth in two days. Yup, it was that good. To up the quality factor of the recipe I used fresh grated lemon peel and lemon juice in lieu of lemon extract. Why spend $4 to get a bottle of something that isn't lemon at all and is really just flavored sugar water (read the label, that's pretty much what it is) when for 50cents I can use the real thing and get just as much if not more flavor. So that's what I did and it was great.



Look at how moist it is!



Since that bread baking experience went over so well I decided I would be spend my day off on Thursday making Cinnamon Raisin Bread. I've been craving the cinnamon rolls over at Panera lately, so homemade cinnamon raisin bread seemed like the logical thing to make. The recipe made three loaves and we had the first two finished off by Saturday morning. The third loaf still remains, but we are slowly chipping away at it. :) Next time I'm going to add more raisins, I think.



Next time more raisins and hopefully whole wheat flour to up the health quotient. This was a great start though!

Recovery

Last night I had a wonderful night with two of our closest friends, Stevi and Jason. We went to June for dinner (see previous blog) and shared great conversation and, perhaps, a bit too much wine. The food was to die for and the wine was amazing, and since my gallbladder did not complain once the whole time I kept drinking away. Self control was not one of my strong suits last night. :)

So today I am in recovery. While there were no GB complaints from the wine yesterday, this morning my liver definitely is giving me some payback. Nausea is present, but, thankfully, manageable. To get things back on track and let my liver recover I am eating small meals and keeping things vegetarian this next week. Lots of water is in order as well. I'm listening to my body, which can be really hard sometimes! I tried ignoring it at dinner tonight when it told me to stop eating all the yummy food I prepared and ended up nauseous for about 30 minutes afterwards.

I think one of the greatest challenges for anyone following a restricted diet/lifestyle is managing social outings, such as the one I had last night. And of course once you've had a few drinks you let your guard down even more and those strict dietary guidelines you were following go to the wayside. For me, I did excellent on not overeating last night, which I think prevented the GB complaints I usually get. However, I did overindulge in the wine and am dealing with the consequences thereof today. It's a delicate balance and I think that finding a happy medium on "having a good time" and paying attention to your health is doable. While I may have erred a bit on the side of "having a good time" last night, I am refocusing on the health now and am thankful that I didn't go so far to make myself really sick like I have in the past. I consider that a victory.

Going Local

After waiting and waiting for the start of the season, I finally made it the local farmer's market today! Perhaps I was a bit overexcited, but I am really enthused about starting my "local" eating efforts and by the farmer's market opening I can finally do that!

Because of the crazy rain we have had here in Central Illinois the farmer's don't have a ton to offer yet, but I did manage to snag some beautiful asparagus and rhubarb. Look at that color! I can not wait to eat the asparagus tomorrow; I plan on making asparagus risotto! The rhubarb I am saving for Mother's Day this Sunday to make a Strawberry Rhubarb dessert for my Mother-in-law. It will be so good!

My inspiration for wanting to eat locally when possible is a result of reading Barbara Kingsolver's book Animal, Vegetable, Miracle. Following her year long journey of only eating locally produced foods was life changing for me. She got me to think about the food I eat differently; how every item I buy that is not locally produced and not sustainable has an impact on the environment and my health. The amount of fossil fuel used to transport a banana- which does not grow locally here in the Midwest- from South America (or elsewhere) when they are out of season even here in the states has a real global impact on the environment for having that fruit available to me. In addition, the longer it is for the produce to hit my plate from when it is picked in the field the less nutrients available in the food. And non-organically grown foods actually have less nutrients to begin with since the pesticides and herbicides prevent the plants from producing their own natural "icides" in the form of nutrients. Those same antioxidants in the plant that help me fight off infection and disease are the same ones used in the plant to help it survive. By using chemicals on the plants less of those protective antioxidants and nutrients are produced.

The book fascinated me and I am committed to taking whatever steps I can towards eating a more local diet, both for my health and the health of the planet.

"Take a minute to study this creation – an imaginary plant that bears over the course of one growing season a cornucopia of all the different vegetable products we can harvest. We’ll call it a vegetannual ..."

Homemade cupcakes

For the past few weeks I've been having cravings for cupcakes. While I think I'm over it (finally) as of today, I still want to take a quick minute to share the best of the cupcakes I've had. Homemade cupcakes using a wonderful "celiac safe" flour mixture that I discovered at the Food Allergy Expo I went to a few weeks ago.

I never got around to blogging about the expo which is due in part to the fact that I didn't take any pictures. I had my camera with me, but didn't quite get the gumption up to take pictures as the show like I thought I would. I think part of that is due to the lack of attendance, both by attendees and exhibitors at the show. My girlfriend Jen and I had a great time sampling all the allergy free food and talking with other exhibitors, as well, about products that would help us live our lives healthier. Jen has more food sensitivities than I do, so it was great to go with her! I was sad to see the expo so poorly attended, but I know that everyone who attended came away with a lot of great resources for food and other allergy friendly services. Hopefully next year they do a better job of getting more exhibitors and advertising in the food sensitive communities better-- my friend with Celiac didn't even know about it a week ahead of time and she is very active in the community!

Anyway, while at the expo I found this fantastic company that makes Celiac-safe flour mixtures. Jen and I could not stop sampling their foods! They were moist and delicious and light just like you would expect a non-celiac-safe bread to be. The company is Toro who is part of the Swedish company Tastes Like Real Food. Lucky me, I was able to find the flour mixture at my local health and wellness store! I was ecstatic.

I decided to make the vanilla cupcake recipe from their website and it was quite good. From the Jello pudding mix in it I thought I got a bit firm, but I may have put a bit too much in or the fact that I was using rice milk instead of regular milk might have been what altered the texture. Nonetheless, they were excellent and my hubby and I couldn't stop eating them.

Looking at them you would never guess they were Celiac-safe, would you? They look like any other cupcake mix!

Of course, my favorite part was the homemade frosting on top. Sooooo good!