Posts
Breakfast: smoothie with kefir, frozen peaches, banana, raw egg, raw honey
Lunch: leftover ham and cheese quiche, organic goldfish crackers
Dinner: homemade chicken noodle soup
Snack: more soup
Analysis: I staved off the sugar today...I still had some white flour with the crackers and the noodles in the soup... I would like to say I feel proud of myself for avoiding sugar today, but I am really just suffering with the cravings, and still feeling guilty from the donuts...
Wednesday, March 11, 2009
Tuesday, March 10, 2009
Tues March 10th - What I'm Eating
Breakfast: smoothie - kefir, frozen peaches, banana, raw egg, raw honey
Lunch: leftover bison roast, buttered peas
Dinner: ham and cheese quiche with whole wheat crust, braised vegetables - carrots, cabbage, and cauliflower
Sin: an entire bag of powdered donuts, snacked upon throughout the day...
Analysis: need I say more? I feel sick. You would think I would learn my lesson one of these days, but it was a rough day, and they were in the house...I couldn't stop myself. Now they're gone, and I'll be warning hubby to never ever bring those kind of things into the house again! Yes, its all his fault...
Lunch: leftover bison roast, buttered peas
Dinner: ham and cheese quiche with whole wheat crust, braised vegetables - carrots, cabbage, and cauliflower
Sin: an entire bag of powdered donuts, snacked upon throughout the day...
Analysis: need I say more? I feel sick. You would think I would learn my lesson one of these days, but it was a rough day, and they were in the house...I couldn't stop myself. Now they're gone, and I'll be warning hubby to never ever bring those kind of things into the house again! Yes, its all his fault...
What's Wrong with "Politically Correct" Nutrition?
A new way of thinking about nutrition
(or should I say an old way)
from the Weston A. Price Foundation
PC DIETARY GUIDELINES
PC DIETARY DANGERS
Avoid saturated fats Saturated fats play many important roles in the body. They provide integrity to the cell membrane, enhance the body's use of essential fatty acids, enhance the immune system, protect the liver and contribute to strong bones. Saturated fats do not cause heart disease. In fact, saturated fats are the preferred food for the heart. Your body makes saturated fats out of carbohydrates.
Limit cholesterol Dietary cholesterol contributes to the strength of the intestinal wall and helps babies and children develop a healthy brain and nervous system. Foods that contain cholesterol also provide many other important nutrients. Only oxidized cholesterol, found in powdered milk and eggs, contributes to heart disease. Powdered milk is added to 1% and 2% milk.
Use more polyunsaturated oils Polyunsaturates in more than small amounts contribute to cancer, heart disease, autoimmune diseases, learning disabilities, intestinal problems and premature aging. Large amounts of polyunsaturated fats are new to the human diet, due to the modern use of commercial liquid vegetable oils.
Avoid red meat Red meat is a rich source of nutrients that protect the heart and nervous system including vitamins B12 and B6, zinc, phosphorus, carnitine and Coenzyme Q10.
Cut back on eggs Eggs are nature's perfect food, providing excellent protein, the gamut of nutrients and important fatty acids that contribute to the health of the brain and nervous system. Americans had less heart disease when they ate more eggs. Egg substitutes cause rapid death in test animals.
Eat lean meat and drink lowfat milk Lean meat and lowfat milk lack fat soluble vitamins needed to assimilate protein and minerals in meat and milk. Consumption of low-fat foods can lead to depletion of vitamin A and D reserves.
Limit fat consumption to 30% of calories 30% calories as fat is too low for most people, leading to low blood sugar and fatigue. Traditional diets contained 40% to 80% of calories as healthy fats, mostly of animal origin.
Eat 6-11 servings of grains per day Most grain products are made from white flour, which is devoid of nutrients. Additives in white flour can cause vitamin deficiencies. Whole grain products can cause mineral deficiencies and intestinal problems unless properly prepared.
Restrict salt Salt is crucial to digestion and assimilation. Salt is also necessary for the development and functioning of the nervous system.
At least 5 servings of fruits and vegetables per day Fruits and vegetables receive an average of 10 applications of pesticides, from seed to storage. Consumers should seek out organic produce. Quality counts!
Eat more soy foods Modern soy foods block mineral absorption, inhibit protein digestion, depress thyroid function and contain potent carcinogens.
thanks to my friend J for putting this up on her blog...there are so many great articles on the Weston A. Price site, I could post them all!
(or should I say an old way)
from the Weston A. Price Foundation
PC DIETARY GUIDELINES
PC DIETARY DANGERS
Avoid saturated fats Saturated fats play many important roles in the body. They provide integrity to the cell membrane, enhance the body's use of essential fatty acids, enhance the immune system, protect the liver and contribute to strong bones. Saturated fats do not cause heart disease. In fact, saturated fats are the preferred food for the heart. Your body makes saturated fats out of carbohydrates.
Limit cholesterol Dietary cholesterol contributes to the strength of the intestinal wall and helps babies and children develop a healthy brain and nervous system. Foods that contain cholesterol also provide many other important nutrients. Only oxidized cholesterol, found in powdered milk and eggs, contributes to heart disease. Powdered milk is added to 1% and 2% milk.
Use more polyunsaturated oils Polyunsaturates in more than small amounts contribute to cancer, heart disease, autoimmune diseases, learning disabilities, intestinal problems and premature aging. Large amounts of polyunsaturated fats are new to the human diet, due to the modern use of commercial liquid vegetable oils.
Avoid red meat Red meat is a rich source of nutrients that protect the heart and nervous system including vitamins B12 and B6, zinc, phosphorus, carnitine and Coenzyme Q10.
Cut back on eggs Eggs are nature's perfect food, providing excellent protein, the gamut of nutrients and important fatty acids that contribute to the health of the brain and nervous system. Americans had less heart disease when they ate more eggs. Egg substitutes cause rapid death in test animals.
Eat lean meat and drink lowfat milk Lean meat and lowfat milk lack fat soluble vitamins needed to assimilate protein and minerals in meat and milk. Consumption of low-fat foods can lead to depletion of vitamin A and D reserves.
Limit fat consumption to 30% of calories 30% calories as fat is too low for most people, leading to low blood sugar and fatigue. Traditional diets contained 40% to 80% of calories as healthy fats, mostly of animal origin.
Eat 6-11 servings of grains per day Most grain products are made from white flour, which is devoid of nutrients. Additives in white flour can cause vitamin deficiencies. Whole grain products can cause mineral deficiencies and intestinal problems unless properly prepared.
Restrict salt Salt is crucial to digestion and assimilation. Salt is also necessary for the development and functioning of the nervous system.
At least 5 servings of fruits and vegetables per day Fruits and vegetables receive an average of 10 applications of pesticides, from seed to storage. Consumers should seek out organic produce. Quality counts!
Eat more soy foods Modern soy foods block mineral absorption, inhibit protein digestion, depress thyroid function and contain potent carcinogens.
thanks to my friend J for putting this up on her blog...there are so many great articles on the Weston A. Price site, I could post them all!
Mon March 9th - What I'm Eating
Sorry this is a little late...
Breakfast: smoothie with kefir, frozen mixed berries, banana, raw egg, raw honey
Lunch: leftover kale soup - its finally gone now!
Dinner: Roasted chicken and leftover vegetable trio - that is finally gone now too!
Snack: 4 fruit snacks made with 100% real fruit and no added sugar, small scoop of Mocha gelato from Whole Foods
Snack: 1 piece whole wheat crust hawaiian pizza
Analysis: I have to stop this late night eating! I am loving the breakfast smoothies, though - they hit my craving for sweet, but have plenty of protein, and I am so excited about all the extra vitamins and enzymes that I am getting from the kefir and the raw egg. I decided it didn't need the extra regular milk...
Breakfast: smoothie with kefir, frozen mixed berries, banana, raw egg, raw honey
Lunch: leftover kale soup - its finally gone now!
Dinner: Roasted chicken and leftover vegetable trio - that is finally gone now too!
Snack: 4 fruit snacks made with 100% real fruit and no added sugar, small scoop of Mocha gelato from Whole Foods
Snack: 1 piece whole wheat crust hawaiian pizza
Analysis: I have to stop this late night eating! I am loving the breakfast smoothies, though - they hit my craving for sweet, but have plenty of protein, and I am so excited about all the extra vitamins and enzymes that I am getting from the kefir and the raw egg. I decided it didn't need the extra regular milk...
Sunday, March 8, 2009
Sun March 8th - What I'm Eating
Breakfast: smoothie with homemade kefir, whole milk, frozen mixed berries, banana, raw egg, and agave syrup
Lunch: leftover kale soup
Snack: 1 cube of cheese, some ritz-type crackers with some unknown cream cheese-based dips, a couple of strawberries, and 3 bites of cake
Dinner: Famous Dave's chopped pork, green beans, apples, corn, cornbread
Beverage: Panera Chai Tea Latte - it said it was sweetened with honey...
Snack: leftover whole wheat crust hawaiian pizza
Analysis: Breakfast was SO AWESOME!!!! I was afraid with the egg in it, it would taste weird or have a gross texture, but it was actually one of the best smoothies I've ever had! I swear you could have gotten it at Orange Julius! We went to a baby shower after lunch, hence the strange snack and the cake. I was able to employ the 3 bite rule quite successfully, but I probably should have abstained from the ritz-type crackers...there weren't really any better options though, besides eating nothing, and what fun is that? At dinner I shouldn't have eaten the cornbread, and probably not the apples either, but... I still need to get more veggies in all around, and we have got to stop eating out so much! Its hard when company is in town. On the up-side, I did give away the gluten/soy/dairy (but not sugar) free cookies I had made for the girls night out on Fri...so I'm not eating those! Honestly they weren't even that good - a little underdone - but I would have eaten them all anyway if they had been here! Tomorrow I'm roasting the chicken that had been meant for yesterday - its been in the fridge - hopefully it's thawed by then!
Lunch: leftover kale soup
Snack: 1 cube of cheese, some ritz-type crackers with some unknown cream cheese-based dips, a couple of strawberries, and 3 bites of cake
Dinner: Famous Dave's chopped pork, green beans, apples, corn, cornbread
Beverage: Panera Chai Tea Latte - it said it was sweetened with honey...
Snack: leftover whole wheat crust hawaiian pizza
Analysis: Breakfast was SO AWESOME!!!! I was afraid with the egg in it, it would taste weird or have a gross texture, but it was actually one of the best smoothies I've ever had! I swear you could have gotten it at Orange Julius! We went to a baby shower after lunch, hence the strange snack and the cake. I was able to employ the 3 bite rule quite successfully, but I probably should have abstained from the ritz-type crackers...there weren't really any better options though, besides eating nothing, and what fun is that? At dinner I shouldn't have eaten the cornbread, and probably not the apples either, but... I still need to get more veggies in all around, and we have got to stop eating out so much! Its hard when company is in town. On the up-side, I did give away the gluten/soy/dairy (but not sugar) free cookies I had made for the girls night out on Fri...so I'm not eating those! Honestly they weren't even that good - a little underdone - but I would have eaten them all anyway if they had been here! Tomorrow I'm roasting the chicken that had been meant for yesterday - its been in the fridge - hopefully it's thawed by then!
Saturday, March 7, 2009
Sat March 7th - What I'm Eating
Breakfast: leftover kale soup
Lunch: McDonald's McChicken sandwich - and a cheeseburger
Dinner: Papa John's whole wheat crust pizza with ham and pineapple
Analysis: I am embarrassed by today's forage...my mother-in-law is in town, whom I adore, but we were out all day shopping. The place we went, I thought had a place to get deli sandwiches, but it was closed and the only other thing was McD's. I got the McChicken off the dollar menu, thinking it was grilled, but it was fried. At that point I was still hungry, and was disenchanted because I had already blown it so bad, so I got a cheeseburger too. Then we came home and I went to prepare the chicken I had taken out to thaw this morning that I was going to roast. It was still frozen solid. So we ordered pizza - at least the crust was 100% whole wheat. Ugh! So much for buckling down on my diet...
Part of this blog is to function as a deterrent to me, motivating me to make better choices, knowing that I'll have to fess up to them later. And of course, since I know I'll still end up making bad choices sometimes, its also to prove that its a process, not an easy one in this world, and to show whoever might be reading this that it is indeed very hard, and theoretically that you can't beat yourself up over every transgression. That being said, I still do! Well, tomorrow is another day...
Lunch: McDonald's McChicken sandwich - and a cheeseburger
Dinner: Papa John's whole wheat crust pizza with ham and pineapple
Analysis: I am embarrassed by today's forage...my mother-in-law is in town, whom I adore, but we were out all day shopping. The place we went, I thought had a place to get deli sandwiches, but it was closed and the only other thing was McD's. I got the McChicken off the dollar menu, thinking it was grilled, but it was fried. At that point I was still hungry, and was disenchanted because I had already blown it so bad, so I got a cheeseburger too. Then we came home and I went to prepare the chicken I had taken out to thaw this morning that I was going to roast. It was still frozen solid. So we ordered pizza - at least the crust was 100% whole wheat. Ugh! So much for buckling down on my diet...
Part of this blog is to function as a deterrent to me, motivating me to make better choices, knowing that I'll have to fess up to them later. And of course, since I know I'll still end up making bad choices sometimes, its also to prove that its a process, not an easy one in this world, and to show whoever might be reading this that it is indeed very hard, and theoretically that you can't beat yourself up over every transgression. That being said, I still do! Well, tomorrow is another day...
Friday, March 6, 2009
Friday March 6th - What I'm Eating
Breakfast: leftover kale soup
Lunch: Ezekiel corn tortilla quesadilla with raw milk cheese, leftover vegetable trio
Dinner: fish fry - baked fish, green & kidney bean salad, mac and cheese, bread and butter, jello, a couple bites of a really nasty cherry cream cheese pie...
Dessert: a gluten/soy/dairy free sugar cookie, a bite of brownie, a piece of sushi, an orange slice, a few chocolate covered almonds, iced tea
Analysis - tonight we had a girl's night out, so I enjoyed some of the delicious things that people had brought to share... I think I did better on veggies today, but still too much sugar and white flour...I should have skipped the mac and cheese and bread at the fish fry. If I am going to be off my medication, I really need to start being much more strict on my diet. No joke. Its just so hard when you are out and about, and when seasonal things come along like fish frys... Doesn't matter - must stay focused or will become diabetic in the near future!
I had another round of acupuncture today just to follow through with what we did on Tues, and I have to tell you, my lungs feel back to normal. I haven't used the inhaler at all today, or felt like I needed it! I guess we'll see how long that lasts... I still do not know if it was merely asthma, if it was related to the medication I was taking, or what. I guess in a couple weeks I will be retested to make sure I still really need the medication, and then I will decide whether to go back on it or not. I don't really want to be on a daily asthma treatment, esp not a steroid, so I am hoping that whatever the problem was, it doesn't come back! Hopefully it was the liver stagnation and the acupuncture just cleared that up - assuming that going back on the meds wouldn't aggravate that again, I think we'd be in the clear. Regardless, if my insulin is still too high, I will go back on it, and I guess I will just have to get acupuncture more regularly to keep myself in better balance. Like I said, I really need to buckle down on my diet. I am constantly faced with times where my willpower is tested, and I have been giving in every time lately! I've got to get it together!
By the way, I asked the acupuncturist again today about her education, and she actually did 4 years of undergrad plus 4 years of acupuncture school - that is as much as an MD! I am SO impressed and cannot understand why they have such restrictive practice laws - well actually, I can. Its the drs trying to protect their monopoly again - if people found out that acupuncture could help them without expensive drugs and surgery, they might do that instead!
Lunch: Ezekiel corn tortilla quesadilla with raw milk cheese, leftover vegetable trio
Dinner: fish fry - baked fish, green & kidney bean salad, mac and cheese, bread and butter, jello, a couple bites of a really nasty cherry cream cheese pie...
Dessert: a gluten/soy/dairy free sugar cookie, a bite of brownie, a piece of sushi, an orange slice, a few chocolate covered almonds, iced tea
Analysis - tonight we had a girl's night out, so I enjoyed some of the delicious things that people had brought to share... I think I did better on veggies today, but still too much sugar and white flour...I should have skipped the mac and cheese and bread at the fish fry. If I am going to be off my medication, I really need to start being much more strict on my diet. No joke. Its just so hard when you are out and about, and when seasonal things come along like fish frys... Doesn't matter - must stay focused or will become diabetic in the near future!
I had another round of acupuncture today just to follow through with what we did on Tues, and I have to tell you, my lungs feel back to normal. I haven't used the inhaler at all today, or felt like I needed it! I guess we'll see how long that lasts... I still do not know if it was merely asthma, if it was related to the medication I was taking, or what. I guess in a couple weeks I will be retested to make sure I still really need the medication, and then I will decide whether to go back on it or not. I don't really want to be on a daily asthma treatment, esp not a steroid, so I am hoping that whatever the problem was, it doesn't come back! Hopefully it was the liver stagnation and the acupuncture just cleared that up - assuming that going back on the meds wouldn't aggravate that again, I think we'd be in the clear. Regardless, if my insulin is still too high, I will go back on it, and I guess I will just have to get acupuncture more regularly to keep myself in better balance. Like I said, I really need to buckle down on my diet. I am constantly faced with times where my willpower is tested, and I have been giving in every time lately! I've got to get it together!
By the way, I asked the acupuncturist again today about her education, and she actually did 4 years of undergrad plus 4 years of acupuncture school - that is as much as an MD! I am SO impressed and cannot understand why they have such restrictive practice laws - well actually, I can. Its the drs trying to protect their monopoly again - if people found out that acupuncture could help them without expensive drugs and surgery, they might do that instead!
Thursday, March 5, 2009
Thurs March 5th - What I'm Eating
Yesterday:
Breakfast: french toast with real maple syrup, blueberries
Lunch: Ezekiel corn tortilla quesadilla with raw milk cheese, banana
Dinner: Poached salmon with sun-dried tomato sauce, vegetable trio (zucchini, eggplant, tomato)
Dessert: a few bites of leftover Maggie Moo ice cream
Today:
Breakfast: scrambled eggs with raw milk cheese, apple
Lunch: grilled chicken breast, wild rice pilaf, cauliflower, broccoli, carrot veggie mix, and a dinner roll.
Dinner: Paradise Cafe meatball panini, ceasar salad, chocolate chip cookie
Analysis: Too much dessert, but otherwise not bad. I do justify french toast because its made with good bread and each piece includes basically a half an egg. If you go easy on the syrup, really, its no worse than any kind of egg and toast.
Today was an insanely busy moment in my life - I was at the Capitol most of the day for our committee hearing for our bills, which was exciting and scary, and I wasn't even testifying! Everyone who did was fantastic though! So its back to the business of lobbying now, trying to pressure them to pass our bills out of committee to the floor. However, this is a pretty routine type of process, so as I ease out of work mode and back into domestic mode, my house is already getting cleaner and I am increasingly able to cook. It doesn't help anything that I nearly cut off two of my fingers on my left hand the other day (when preparing the squash, did I mention that?) But they are on the mend so I should be able to do the dishes again soon. Don't tell hubby, but I probably could just get some rubber gloves in the meantime. I really hate dishes, so I'm content to let him at least wash the things that don't go in the dishwasher for now! He's such a great hubby! ;)
Breakfast: french toast with real maple syrup, blueberries
Lunch: Ezekiel corn tortilla quesadilla with raw milk cheese, banana
Dinner: Poached salmon with sun-dried tomato sauce, vegetable trio (zucchini, eggplant, tomato)
Dessert: a few bites of leftover Maggie Moo ice cream
Today:
Breakfast: scrambled eggs with raw milk cheese, apple
Lunch: grilled chicken breast, wild rice pilaf, cauliflower, broccoli, carrot veggie mix, and a dinner roll.
Dinner: Paradise Cafe meatball panini, ceasar salad, chocolate chip cookie
Analysis: Too much dessert, but otherwise not bad. I do justify french toast because its made with good bread and each piece includes basically a half an egg. If you go easy on the syrup, really, its no worse than any kind of egg and toast.
Today was an insanely busy moment in my life - I was at the Capitol most of the day for our committee hearing for our bills, which was exciting and scary, and I wasn't even testifying! Everyone who did was fantastic though! So its back to the business of lobbying now, trying to pressure them to pass our bills out of committee to the floor. However, this is a pretty routine type of process, so as I ease out of work mode and back into domestic mode, my house is already getting cleaner and I am increasingly able to cook. It doesn't help anything that I nearly cut off two of my fingers on my left hand the other day (when preparing the squash, did I mention that?) But they are on the mend so I should be able to do the dishes again soon. Don't tell hubby, but I probably could just get some rubber gloves in the meantime. I really hate dishes, so I'm content to let him at least wash the things that don't go in the dishwasher for now! He's such a great hubby! ;)
Wednesday, March 4, 2009
Tues March 3rd - What I'm Eating
Breakfast: scrambled eggs, Ezekiel toast with cultured pasture butter and cherry preserves, a little bit of leftover bison roast
Lunch: leftover Portuguese Kale Soup
Snack: banana and some raw milk cheese
Dinner: leftover kale soup and more bison roast, with a little A-1 sauce
Dessert: Maggie Moo's ice cream - single scoop
Analysis: I was doing so well until the evening, then the sugar craving hit and the willpower caved to the ice cream... Ice cream is actually not the worst cheat in the world (in great moderation) because at least it has some fat and protein with it to slow down the sugar a little. But if I am going to have it, I really should be having the all-natural stuff, not a brand of which I do not know the ingredients, because more likely than not, it probably contains the dreaded high fructose corn syrup.
I got acupuncture today for the second time ever, and it was lovely. The acupuncturist said that according to chinese medicine, when you are stressed, even just normal life stress, it can be tough on your liver, and that in combination with my medication, might have caused my liver to attack my lungs of sorts. I am not very well-versed in chinese medicine, so I can't explain it any better than that, but when I told her the story, that is what immediately came to her mind. I do think there is a lot of wisdom in that healing modality - it is a system that has existed for over 3000 years, so there must be something to it! I asked her how long acupuncturists go to school and she said 4 years - I was actually surprised it was that long - it must be a very extensive training! Anyway, she did overall energy balancing, lung support, relaxation, and also a little help for my reproductive system... Just like the first time I tried it, I have been feeling better and better as the day went on. I am excited for tomorrow because I suspect I will be feeling quite great. Tonight I already did a lot of cleaning that I hadn't been able to keep up with before.
Some people will want to say that its all psychosomatic, and for one thing, in my experience, I really do not think it is because I experienced benefits I never anticipated, and for another thing, so what if it is? If it makes people better, it has achieved its purpose, right? That's what MDs do when they hand out antibiotics for viral infections, which they do all the time... The ER doctors wanted to give me Ativan or Zoloft...no thanks - I'd rather have needles stuck in me all day than take drugs with potentially toxic side effects, when I do not even feel that I have an anxiety issue! I am sure those medications truly help a lot of people who really do need them, but I know I do not fall in that category - at least not right now! And even if I did, I certainly would want to try more wholistic (read: non-pharmaceutical) forms of treatment first... Acupuncture not only helps relieve stress, it also helps balance energy and can support your body in healing itself! Why just mask the symptoms when I can do something to potentially actually heal the deeper problem, whatever that may be? Anyway, I've gotten into a rant here, and I know when you start talking about anti-depressants some people get a little ruffled. So please understand that I am simply talking about my personal experience with this situation at the moment, and that I would never hold anything against someone who used those medications when they felt they needed it. That being said, I am exploring alternative therapies to those, and want to share the knowledge that I am gaining about it so that maybe others will think of trying it for themselves if they are looking for some sort of solutions... I will update as to the further developments!
Lunch: leftover Portuguese Kale Soup
Snack: banana and some raw milk cheese
Dinner: leftover kale soup and more bison roast, with a little A-1 sauce
Dessert: Maggie Moo's ice cream - single scoop
Analysis: I was doing so well until the evening, then the sugar craving hit and the willpower caved to the ice cream... Ice cream is actually not the worst cheat in the world (in great moderation) because at least it has some fat and protein with it to slow down the sugar a little. But if I am going to have it, I really should be having the all-natural stuff, not a brand of which I do not know the ingredients, because more likely than not, it probably contains the dreaded high fructose corn syrup.
I got acupuncture today for the second time ever, and it was lovely. The acupuncturist said that according to chinese medicine, when you are stressed, even just normal life stress, it can be tough on your liver, and that in combination with my medication, might have caused my liver to attack my lungs of sorts. I am not very well-versed in chinese medicine, so I can't explain it any better than that, but when I told her the story, that is what immediately came to her mind. I do think there is a lot of wisdom in that healing modality - it is a system that has existed for over 3000 years, so there must be something to it! I asked her how long acupuncturists go to school and she said 4 years - I was actually surprised it was that long - it must be a very extensive training! Anyway, she did overall energy balancing, lung support, relaxation, and also a little help for my reproductive system... Just like the first time I tried it, I have been feeling better and better as the day went on. I am excited for tomorrow because I suspect I will be feeling quite great. Tonight I already did a lot of cleaning that I hadn't been able to keep up with before.
Some people will want to say that its all psychosomatic, and for one thing, in my experience, I really do not think it is because I experienced benefits I never anticipated, and for another thing, so what if it is? If it makes people better, it has achieved its purpose, right? That's what MDs do when they hand out antibiotics for viral infections, which they do all the time... The ER doctors wanted to give me Ativan or Zoloft...no thanks - I'd rather have needles stuck in me all day than take drugs with potentially toxic side effects, when I do not even feel that I have an anxiety issue! I am sure those medications truly help a lot of people who really do need them, but I know I do not fall in that category - at least not right now! And even if I did, I certainly would want to try more wholistic (read: non-pharmaceutical) forms of treatment first... Acupuncture not only helps relieve stress, it also helps balance energy and can support your body in healing itself! Why just mask the symptoms when I can do something to potentially actually heal the deeper problem, whatever that may be? Anyway, I've gotten into a rant here, and I know when you start talking about anti-depressants some people get a little ruffled. So please understand that I am simply talking about my personal experience with this situation at the moment, and that I would never hold anything against someone who used those medications when they felt they needed it. That being said, I am exploring alternative therapies to those, and want to share the knowledge that I am gaining about it so that maybe others will think of trying it for themselves if they are looking for some sort of solutions... I will update as to the further developments!
Tuesday, March 3, 2009
Mon March 2nd - What I'm Eating
Breakfast: scrambled eggs with raw milk cheese
Lunch: the rest of the scrambled eggs with raw milk cheese, and blueberries
Dinner: Portuguese Kale Soup - onions, carrots, garlic, parsnips, white beans, tomatoes, italian sausage, kale
Analysis: The soup was SO good! And the recipe made a huge amount, so we will be eating it for a while... I should have had some kind of carbs for breakfast. The raw cheese on the eggs was great, though - I will have to get used to going without my usual colby jack and cheddar, but I know its the best thing to do. That being said, there is still some of that in the fridge I will need to use up - no reason to waste it!
Lunch: the rest of the scrambled eggs with raw milk cheese, and blueberries
Dinner: Portuguese Kale Soup - onions, carrots, garlic, parsnips, white beans, tomatoes, italian sausage, kale
Analysis: The soup was SO good! And the recipe made a huge amount, so we will be eating it for a while... I should have had some kind of carbs for breakfast. The raw cheese on the eggs was great, though - I will have to get used to going without my usual colby jack and cheddar, but I know its the best thing to do. That being said, there is still some of that in the fridge I will need to use up - no reason to waste it!
Monday, March 2, 2009
Sun March 1st - What I'm Eating
Breakfast: yogurt with frozen berries and agave syrup
Lunch: Burger King Crispy Chicken Sandwich, one or two onion rings
Dinner: Bison roast, asparagus, acorn squash with cultured pasture butter and raw honey. dried cranberries
Snack: dark chocolate raisins, and a little cherry chip gelato...shared with the little guy...
Analysis: so today was up and down. Or should I say down and up? Lunch was embarrassing. We were waiting for something and Burger King was the only thing around, but still, I should have chosen better. But dinner was ecstasy! The bison roast came out perfect - like prime rib! (I put it in a roasting bag with some chicken broth at 250-275ish degrees for 2 hours...) The squash was great - the little guy was begging for more! And I always like asparagus... The best part is that there is plenty of roast left over to eat later!
At the grocery store I looked around for raw cheeses - they had a bunch! I got two to try - they are expensive, but that will just mean that we will have to eat less of it, and/or learn to make our own. I wonder how hard that is???
I am excited about our meal plan this week - I'll be roasting a chicken again, and also cooking with fish stock for the first time. I'm not making it myself - the store didn't have any fish bones, but they did carry the fish stock already frozen. I thought, hey, for $3.99, its not worth the trouble to make my own! That is, of course, assuming they have not somehow screwed it up by, for example, pasteurizing it...I didn't check. I'm ordering my kefir grains and I can't wait to go to the farm and get some raw milk!
Lunch: Burger King Crispy Chicken Sandwich, one or two onion rings
Dinner: Bison roast, asparagus, acorn squash with cultured pasture butter and raw honey. dried cranberries
Snack: dark chocolate raisins, and a little cherry chip gelato...shared with the little guy...
Analysis: so today was up and down. Or should I say down and up? Lunch was embarrassing. We were waiting for something and Burger King was the only thing around, but still, I should have chosen better. But dinner was ecstasy! The bison roast came out perfect - like prime rib! (I put it in a roasting bag with some chicken broth at 250-275ish degrees for 2 hours...) The squash was great - the little guy was begging for more! And I always like asparagus... The best part is that there is plenty of roast left over to eat later!
At the grocery store I looked around for raw cheeses - they had a bunch! I got two to try - they are expensive, but that will just mean that we will have to eat less of it, and/or learn to make our own. I wonder how hard that is???
I am excited about our meal plan this week - I'll be roasting a chicken again, and also cooking with fish stock for the first time. I'm not making it myself - the store didn't have any fish bones, but they did carry the fish stock already frozen. I thought, hey, for $3.99, its not worth the trouble to make my own! That is, of course, assuming they have not somehow screwed it up by, for example, pasteurizing it...I didn't check. I'm ordering my kefir grains and I can't wait to go to the farm and get some raw milk!
Saturday, February 28, 2009
Without Futher Ado - The Dairy Post!!!
OK, a tiny bit more ado - thank you everyone for all your well-wishes! I have been using the inhaler regularly today and I am feeling quite a lot better. So I guess it was probably the asthma after all, though I guess we will never be able to rule out anxiety...or medication issues either since I did stop taking it. We'll see what to do about that later I guess...all the more reason I need to stick to my good diet. That being said, I'm not even going to post my food intake today, but suffice to say, it involved Wendy's for lunch, and Boston Market for dinner. <<>>
OK, so here it is - I hope you learn a lot, and I welcome questions! I can definitely point you to more resources, if desired. :)
The Dairy Post
OK folks, I’ve been thinking about this for a long time! And I also went to an amazing seminar about dairy today, hosted by our local Weston A. Price Foundation Chapter, which reconfirmed everything I’ve been thinking about milk.
The bottom line: pasteurized dairy products are all really bad for you. Raw milk from pasture-fed cows is much better. Cultured dairy products made from raw milk from pasture-fed cows is the best.
I know, its blasphemy to some of you, I’m sure. Give me a chance to explain…
So here’s a little background on pasteurization that will tell you a) why virtually everyone in America thinks it’s a lifesaving miracle, and b) why its not.
Before the Industrial Revolution, most people either lived in the country and had their own milk cows, or had a dairyman deliver farm fresh milk to their doorstep every day. These people were very healthy and heart disease and cancer were virtually unheard of. Once people started moving into the cities to work in factories and such, it was no longer possible for the dairy farmers to produce enough milk for everyone in the city with the traditional methods of letting their cattle graze the pasture, etc. To solve this problem, they began to create mass-dairying farms where the cows were kept indoors in tiny stalls with concrete floors, fed grain instead of fresh grass, and milked very aggressively and continuously. Cows were bred to make more and more milk, which occurs because of an overactive pituitary gland that secretes extra growth hormone. So basically they were breeding a pituitary disease into the cows on purpose. Well, as you can imagine, the cows didn’t do so well being constantly confined, overmilked, fed poor quality, unnatural-for-them food, and having severe hormone imbalances. They got sick…among other things, they got tuberculosis and mastitis. Their milk would have infectious bacteria and pus and TB in it…and obviously it made people sick! Then people discovered that if you pasteurize the milk (heat it up really hot) you killed the bacteria and people could drink it and not get sick. TA-DA! "Raw milk can kill you, and pasteurization is a life-saving miracle!" (P.S. Louis Pasteur actually invented this process for preserving beer and wine, not milk!)
Today’s modern commercial Holstein cow is a daughter of these lines – she makes up to three times as much milk as the “old-fashioned” cows, and she depends on doctored feed and daily antibiotics to keep her alive because her immune system is genetically shot. Her pituitary is so whacked out that her milk contains high levels of growth hormone even if she isn’t injected with additional synthetic Bovine Growth Hormone (rBGH). She lives on average only 42 months, compared to 12-15 years for a pastured cow. You do not even want to know what they feed these cows – I am so serious! But if you really really do, you can look here.
You would think by now the dairy industry would have figured out that this is not good for cows. Well, they haven’t changed a darn thing since the Industrial Revolution, except make bigger, more crowded factory farms, and use every fabulous new antibiotic and synthetic hormone treatment that has been invented, to make those cows produce more and more milk! And they have continued to pasteurize, because hey, it covers up all their sins. In fact, now they even ULTRA-pasteurize, hotter and longer, because the bacteria have become resistant to the regular methods! That and it makes the shelf-life of the milk longer…
OK, so dairy cows lead a miserable existence and their milk is full of hormones, but why is pasteurization so bad? Heating the milk kills off the bad bacteria, to be sure, but it also kills off all the good bacteria! Did you know you have about 90 trillion bacteria in your intestinal tract, all working hard to help you digest your food, absorb nutrients, and fight off pathogens? We get that good bacteria from the food we eat – well, we’re supposed to, anyway… Pasteurization also denatures almost all the enzymes found in milk, like lipase, which breaks down fat and helps us absorb vitamin A and D. Lastly, it destroys most, if not all, of the vitamins and minerals found in fresh milk: A, D, E, C, B6 and B12. But milk still has all that good calcium in it right? Pasteurization not only destroys the vitamin D you need to absorb it, it also destroys the phosphatase enzyme, which is essential to the absorption of calcium. Have you ever wondered by the U.S. has one of the worst osteoporosis rates in the world, when we drink the most milk of any country in the world? Its true… What about homogenization? It speeds spoilage and has been linked to atherosclerosis and heart disease.
OH NO! We should all stop drinking milk and eating pasteurized dairy products right now! No, there is a better answer. Raw milk from pasture-fed healthy cows (ideally from older genetic lines) is truly a life-sustaining food, full of valuable nutrients, enzymes, and beneficial bacteria. Guess what, in places where they still eat only unpasteurized dairy products, the people actually are still free of heart disease - that is, until they begin to Westernize their diet – look it up in the anthropology journals. In our country, refrigeration, stainless steel, and an excellent understanding of hygiene ensures that today’s raw milk from farmers who treat their cows right will not be contaminated or make you sick.
With a tiny bit of extra effort (I mean really tiny, like pouring-milk-in-a-jar tiny), you can also make your own yogurt (kefir), sour cream, cream cheese, cottage cheese, butter, whey, and even ice cream, from your raw milk. This is what I learned to do today in the seminar. Apparently with a bit more effort you can even make your own cheeses, though I do not know how (yet!), but you can buy some cheeses made from raw milk from better cheese counters. Culturing your dairy products actually increases the nutritional value two to three fold – enzymes, vitamins, and beneficial bacteria! Not to mention, with raw dairy, you absorb the good stuff, like calcium, much better as well. Apparently almost all people who cannot tolerate conventional milk can drink fresh raw milk without difficulty, or at least can handle the cultured raw dairy products.
So, how do I find raw milk? You will want to make sure that you are buying raw milk that is being produced with the intention of drinking it raw. Don't just go get raw regular dairy milk that the farmer usually sells to the conventional dairy. If you are in CA, CT, or NM, you can buy it at Whole Foods Market or another natural foods store, but you still want to check out the source to make sure it’s the good quality stuff (see what to look for). Otherwise, check out this site to find local producers, or local groups that can help you find local producers. You can also check out your local farmer’s market and see if anyone there knows anything – sometimes these farmers will have their produce, eggs, or cheeses at the market, but you usually will have to go out to their farm to get their milk. Laws in different states may vary. There are also co-ops and cow-share programs. There are options if you are willing to look for them.
On a personal note, if you read my blog, you know that I love my cheese and other dairy. I don’t drink much milk because I usually have lactose intolerance problems. I have bought raw milk a couple of times in the past, but I haven’t fully committed, though you can bet I will now! I have been buying organic, unhomogenized whole milk. I don’t usually go through it all, though, because it still bothers my stomach a bit. I buy yogurt that is pasteurized but at least it is from a biodynamic dairy, and because its cultured, it does have some of its enzyme content restored. That never gives my stomach any issues. I buy organic cheese, but its definitely not raw… I buy organic butter and sour cream, but again, not raw. But since I went to this seminar today and saw how easy (and how much cheaper and more nutritious) it would be to get the raw milk and make all these other products myself, I am a changed woman. I’ll be darned if I ever buy pasteurized milk or dairy again. Except maybe some cheese – it might be a while before I figure out how to replace that, but until then, I’m going to be cutting back! I am really looking forward to the increased health my new raw milk habit is going to bring!
And if you are one of my dear loved ones, family, or friends, I am really begging you…please stop eating all the fake food I know you eat – the margarine, the skim milk, the fat-free stuff, the fake-sugar stuff, the Eggbeaters… It is killing you. I don’t care if your doctor said you have to eat that because of your cholesterol. I swear, it is making your problems worse. You need to quit all that fake stuff and eat real, undamaged food. I’m only saying this because I love you and I want to you live a long, healthy life! If I could, I would come and live with you for a month or two and cook for you and clean out your pantries and fridges! Unfortunately, I can't really do that for everyone, so I want you to go and find a smart doctor, chiropractor, naturopath, or nutritionist, who is well-versed in traditional diets, to help you change how you eat. Even if your insurance doesn't cover it. Go buy a copy of Nourishing Traditions by Sally Fallon. I will be writing more about heart disease and things soon...so stay tuned!
OK, so here it is - I hope you learn a lot, and I welcome questions! I can definitely point you to more resources, if desired. :)
The Dairy Post
OK folks, I’ve been thinking about this for a long time! And I also went to an amazing seminar about dairy today, hosted by our local Weston A. Price Foundation Chapter, which reconfirmed everything I’ve been thinking about milk.
The bottom line: pasteurized dairy products are all really bad for you. Raw milk from pasture-fed cows is much better. Cultured dairy products made from raw milk from pasture-fed cows is the best.
I know, its blasphemy to some of you, I’m sure. Give me a chance to explain…
So here’s a little background on pasteurization that will tell you a) why virtually everyone in America thinks it’s a lifesaving miracle, and b) why its not.
Before the Industrial Revolution, most people either lived in the country and had their own milk cows, or had a dairyman deliver farm fresh milk to their doorstep every day. These people were very healthy and heart disease and cancer were virtually unheard of. Once people started moving into the cities to work in factories and such, it was no longer possible for the dairy farmers to produce enough milk for everyone in the city with the traditional methods of letting their cattle graze the pasture, etc. To solve this problem, they began to create mass-dairying farms where the cows were kept indoors in tiny stalls with concrete floors, fed grain instead of fresh grass, and milked very aggressively and continuously. Cows were bred to make more and more milk, which occurs because of an overactive pituitary gland that secretes extra growth hormone. So basically they were breeding a pituitary disease into the cows on purpose. Well, as you can imagine, the cows didn’t do so well being constantly confined, overmilked, fed poor quality, unnatural-for-them food, and having severe hormone imbalances. They got sick…among other things, they got tuberculosis and mastitis. Their milk would have infectious bacteria and pus and TB in it…and obviously it made people sick! Then people discovered that if you pasteurize the milk (heat it up really hot) you killed the bacteria and people could drink it and not get sick. TA-DA! "Raw milk can kill you, and pasteurization is a life-saving miracle!" (P.S. Louis Pasteur actually invented this process for preserving beer and wine, not milk!)
Today’s modern commercial Holstein cow is a daughter of these lines – she makes up to three times as much milk as the “old-fashioned” cows, and she depends on doctored feed and daily antibiotics to keep her alive because her immune system is genetically shot. Her pituitary is so whacked out that her milk contains high levels of growth hormone even if she isn’t injected with additional synthetic Bovine Growth Hormone (rBGH). She lives on average only 42 months, compared to 12-15 years for a pastured cow. You do not even want to know what they feed these cows – I am so serious! But if you really really do, you can look here.
You would think by now the dairy industry would have figured out that this is not good for cows. Well, they haven’t changed a darn thing since the Industrial Revolution, except make bigger, more crowded factory farms, and use every fabulous new antibiotic and synthetic hormone treatment that has been invented, to make those cows produce more and more milk! And they have continued to pasteurize, because hey, it covers up all their sins. In fact, now they even ULTRA-pasteurize, hotter and longer, because the bacteria have become resistant to the regular methods! That and it makes the shelf-life of the milk longer…
OK, so dairy cows lead a miserable existence and their milk is full of hormones, but why is pasteurization so bad? Heating the milk kills off the bad bacteria, to be sure, but it also kills off all the good bacteria! Did you know you have about 90 trillion bacteria in your intestinal tract, all working hard to help you digest your food, absorb nutrients, and fight off pathogens? We get that good bacteria from the food we eat – well, we’re supposed to, anyway… Pasteurization also denatures almost all the enzymes found in milk, like lipase, which breaks down fat and helps us absorb vitamin A and D. Lastly, it destroys most, if not all, of the vitamins and minerals found in fresh milk: A, D, E, C, B6 and B12. But milk still has all that good calcium in it right? Pasteurization not only destroys the vitamin D you need to absorb it, it also destroys the phosphatase enzyme, which is essential to the absorption of calcium. Have you ever wondered by the U.S. has one of the worst osteoporosis rates in the world, when we drink the most milk of any country in the world? Its true… What about homogenization? It speeds spoilage and has been linked to atherosclerosis and heart disease.
OH NO! We should all stop drinking milk and eating pasteurized dairy products right now! No, there is a better answer. Raw milk from pasture-fed healthy cows (ideally from older genetic lines) is truly a life-sustaining food, full of valuable nutrients, enzymes, and beneficial bacteria. Guess what, in places where they still eat only unpasteurized dairy products, the people actually are still free of heart disease - that is, until they begin to Westernize their diet – look it up in the anthropology journals. In our country, refrigeration, stainless steel, and an excellent understanding of hygiene ensures that today’s raw milk from farmers who treat their cows right will not be contaminated or make you sick.
With a tiny bit of extra effort (I mean really tiny, like pouring-milk-in-a-jar tiny), you can also make your own yogurt (kefir), sour cream, cream cheese, cottage cheese, butter, whey, and even ice cream, from your raw milk. This is what I learned to do today in the seminar. Apparently with a bit more effort you can even make your own cheeses, though I do not know how (yet!), but you can buy some cheeses made from raw milk from better cheese counters. Culturing your dairy products actually increases the nutritional value two to three fold – enzymes, vitamins, and beneficial bacteria! Not to mention, with raw dairy, you absorb the good stuff, like calcium, much better as well. Apparently almost all people who cannot tolerate conventional milk can drink fresh raw milk without difficulty, or at least can handle the cultured raw dairy products.
So, how do I find raw milk? You will want to make sure that you are buying raw milk that is being produced with the intention of drinking it raw. Don't just go get raw regular dairy milk that the farmer usually sells to the conventional dairy. If you are in CA, CT, or NM, you can buy it at Whole Foods Market or another natural foods store, but you still want to check out the source to make sure it’s the good quality stuff (see what to look for). Otherwise, check out this site to find local producers, or local groups that can help you find local producers. You can also check out your local farmer’s market and see if anyone there knows anything – sometimes these farmers will have their produce, eggs, or cheeses at the market, but you usually will have to go out to their farm to get their milk. Laws in different states may vary. There are also co-ops and cow-share programs. There are options if you are willing to look for them.
On a personal note, if you read my blog, you know that I love my cheese and other dairy. I don’t drink much milk because I usually have lactose intolerance problems. I have bought raw milk a couple of times in the past, but I haven’t fully committed, though you can bet I will now! I have been buying organic, unhomogenized whole milk. I don’t usually go through it all, though, because it still bothers my stomach a bit. I buy yogurt that is pasteurized but at least it is from a biodynamic dairy, and because its cultured, it does have some of its enzyme content restored. That never gives my stomach any issues. I buy organic cheese, but its definitely not raw… I buy organic butter and sour cream, but again, not raw. But since I went to this seminar today and saw how easy (and how much cheaper and more nutritious) it would be to get the raw milk and make all these other products myself, I am a changed woman. I’ll be darned if I ever buy pasteurized milk or dairy again. Except maybe some cheese – it might be a while before I figure out how to replace that, but until then, I’m going to be cutting back! I am really looking forward to the increased health my new raw milk habit is going to bring!
And if you are one of my dear loved ones, family, or friends, I am really begging you…please stop eating all the fake food I know you eat – the margarine, the skim milk, the fat-free stuff, the fake-sugar stuff, the Eggbeaters… It is killing you. I don’t care if your doctor said you have to eat that because of your cholesterol. I swear, it is making your problems worse. You need to quit all that fake stuff and eat real, undamaged food. I’m only saying this because I love you and I want to you live a long, healthy life! If I could, I would come and live with you for a month or two and cook for you and clean out your pantries and fridges! Unfortunately, I can't really do that for everyone, so I want you to go and find a smart doctor, chiropractor, naturopath, or nutritionist, who is well-versed in traditional diets, to help you change how you eat. Even if your insurance doesn't cover it. Go buy a copy of Nourishing Traditions by Sally Fallon. I will be writing more about heart disease and things soon...so stay tuned!
Just when I was starting to get back on track...
Well I decided to go to the dr yesterday, being that it was Friday and I was still feeling weird, you know, just to check it out. Well the dr sent me to the emergency room. After 10 hours in there, they still aren't sure what the problem is! The ER docs thought it was a metabolic reaction to a medication I take that was making my blood pH too low, therefore I was needing to breathe like that to try to compensate. The family practice docs who came to admit me thought it wasn't that, it was just hyperventilation from anxiety. Kind of a post-stress delayed reaction (oh-kaayyy....)
I think it was mainly asthma. So after 10 hours, about 40 ounces of blood drawn, a bag of IV fluids, and finally a nebulizer treatment, they let me come home - at midnight, in a snowstorm! LOL! I did feel a fair bit better after the nebulizer, but not 100%. Today I'm about the same as last night, which is a slight improvement over the last 4 days... So who knows? I am using an inhaler, and I'm going to call around and see if I can get in with an acupuncturist soon. I guess I'll follow up with my regular dr on Monday...
And you don't even want to know what I ate yesterday! :)
I think it was mainly asthma. So after 10 hours, about 40 ounces of blood drawn, a bag of IV fluids, and finally a nebulizer treatment, they let me come home - at midnight, in a snowstorm! LOL! I did feel a fair bit better after the nebulizer, but not 100%. Today I'm about the same as last night, which is a slight improvement over the last 4 days... So who knows? I am using an inhaler, and I'm going to call around and see if I can get in with an acupuncturist soon. I guess I'll follow up with my regular dr on Monday...
And you don't even want to know what I ate yesterday! :)
Thursday, February 26, 2009
Uh-Oh! Thurs Feb 26th!!
Well I have slipped for almost 2 weeks on this blog now. That doesn't mean I've been completely slipping on my diet, though! I have been sticking to the main themes, but I will admit I have cheated a bit here and there. Sometimes grievously! But being that it is now Lent, I suppose I am feeling guilty enough to pick it up again. Not to mention, tonight was my last class of the quarter. Now to just get the exams graded by Monday, and I will be completely free of all that! So that means I will be having a lot more time to not only keep up with my food journal, but actually finish some of the special posts I want to do... and read books and things...
So today I ate:
Breakfast: a handful of blueberries, half a banana, and some leftover tuna noodle casserole (with whole wheat macaroni).
Lunch: Blue Planet Grill BLT with all natural bacon, spring greens, real mayo, organic tomato, on a whole wheat bun, with baked onion rings, and one or two small pieces of pineapple.
Dinner: a bowl of Ezekiel cereal with raisins, almonds, honey and whole milk.
Snack: Stretch Island Fruit Snacks - like fruit leather, 100% fruit, no added sugar, but I ate 5 of them <<>>
Analysis: no wonder I binged on sweets tonight! I barely ate any dinner! That was poor planning and a big lack of self control! I wasn't really very hungry at dinner, didn't have a lot of time, hubby and the little guy were eating leftovers and nothing looked appealing, so cereal it was.
I also have not been feeling very well since Tues evening - it seems I can't breathe! Its not like I feel like I am suffocating immediately, its more like just a lot of pressure in my chest so that I feel I need to take a very deep breath to get enough air, and even that is sometimes not quite enough to make me feel well-oxygenated. It is a rather disconcerting and distracting feeling. I had a cold a couple weeks ago but I was feeling better for quite a while from that before this started... Yesterday I went to the urgent care clinic and they found nothing wrong with me, and suggested it might be anxiety. First, I am not a typically anxious person - probably about the opposite. Second, though my life has been pretty demanding lately, one of the biggest things that has been stressing me out just got finished, so it doesn't really add up. Lastly, if it were a panic attack of sorts, would it really go on for over 2 days with no other symptoms other than shortness of breath? I am going to call my regular doctor tomorrow and see if they will write me a prescription for acupuncture (so insurance will cover)...if it really is stress, that should help a lot! I really hate not feeling right and not knowing what it is! Anyone out there have any better ideas?
So today I ate:
Breakfast: a handful of blueberries, half a banana, and some leftover tuna noodle casserole (with whole wheat macaroni).
Lunch: Blue Planet Grill BLT with all natural bacon, spring greens, real mayo, organic tomato, on a whole wheat bun, with baked onion rings, and one or two small pieces of pineapple.
Dinner: a bowl of Ezekiel cereal with raisins, almonds, honey and whole milk.
Snack: Stretch Island Fruit Snacks - like fruit leather, 100% fruit, no added sugar, but I ate 5 of them <<
Analysis: no wonder I binged on sweets tonight! I barely ate any dinner! That was poor planning and a big lack of self control! I wasn't really very hungry at dinner, didn't have a lot of time, hubby and the little guy were eating leftovers and nothing looked appealing, so cereal it was.
I also have not been feeling very well since Tues evening - it seems I can't breathe! Its not like I feel like I am suffocating immediately, its more like just a lot of pressure in my chest so that I feel I need to take a very deep breath to get enough air, and even that is sometimes not quite enough to make me feel well-oxygenated. It is a rather disconcerting and distracting feeling. I had a cold a couple weeks ago but I was feeling better for quite a while from that before this started... Yesterday I went to the urgent care clinic and they found nothing wrong with me, and suggested it might be anxiety. First, I am not a typically anxious person - probably about the opposite. Second, though my life has been pretty demanding lately, one of the biggest things that has been stressing me out just got finished, so it doesn't really add up. Lastly, if it were a panic attack of sorts, would it really go on for over 2 days with no other symptoms other than shortness of breath? I am going to call my regular doctor tomorrow and see if they will write me a prescription for acupuncture (so insurance will cover)...if it really is stress, that should help a lot! I really hate not feeling right and not knowing what it is! Anyone out there have any better ideas?
Sunday, February 15, 2009
Sun Feb 15th - What I'm Eating
Brunch: yogurt with raisins, almonds & honey
Dinner: Ezekiel tortillas with black beans and cheese
Snack: all natural strawberry popsicle
Analysis: I know I said I learned my lesson, but the popsicles are not the same as ice cream - they're not near as rich and they are a lot smaller quantity. That being said, I'm not going to be making them a habit either. My eating today has definitely stunk, though! No proper veggies... This weekend has really been kicking my booty - between being sick and having to overhaul a couple of lectures at the last minute, I have been staying up too late and feeling bad all the time. When I am exhausted, I don't have the energy or motivation to take decent care of myself and it becomes a vicious cycle. Only one more week, then I'll be done with a lot of my work commitments and should be able to get a grip again...I just need to try to be focused and keep my head above water until then - and snacking on sugary snacks is probably not the best way to do that!
Dinner: Ezekiel tortillas with black beans and cheese
Snack: all natural strawberry popsicle
Analysis: I know I said I learned my lesson, but the popsicles are not the same as ice cream - they're not near as rich and they are a lot smaller quantity. That being said, I'm not going to be making them a habit either. My eating today has definitely stunk, though! No proper veggies... This weekend has really been kicking my booty - between being sick and having to overhaul a couple of lectures at the last minute, I have been staying up too late and feeling bad all the time. When I am exhausted, I don't have the energy or motivation to take decent care of myself and it becomes a vicious cycle. Only one more week, then I'll be done with a lot of my work commitments and should be able to get a grip again...I just need to try to be focused and keep my head above water until then - and snacking on sugary snacks is probably not the best way to do that!
Sat Feb 14th - What I'm Eating
I know this one is a bit late - but I hope everyone had a nice Valentine's Day! Gosh its hard to remember what I ate yesterday - won't be making the mistake of putting it off again...
Brunch: (I slept in) mushroom and black olive pizza on cornmeal crust, made by my hubby (the pizza, not the crust...)
Dinner: Grilled salmon on a bed of jeweled pearled barley, with grilled asparagus and steamed carrots and parsnips.
Dessert: Maggie Moo's ice cream...
Analysis: It was Valentine's...we splurged and used a coupon that came in the mail for Maggie Moo's - and guess what - it was a big mistake! I felt really gross the rest of the night...which I guess is a good thing, because I learned my lesson and it will be a very long time before I do something like that again! Dinner was great - we went to a place called McFoster's Natural Kind Cafe - which is one of the only organic/vegetarian/natural food friendly restaurants in town. The jeweled pearled barley was interesting - not what I expected, but it was infused with ginger and delicious with the fish.
Brunch: (I slept in) mushroom and black olive pizza on cornmeal crust, made by my hubby (the pizza, not the crust...)
Dinner: Grilled salmon on a bed of jeweled pearled barley, with grilled asparagus and steamed carrots and parsnips.
Dessert: Maggie Moo's ice cream...
Analysis: It was Valentine's...we splurged and used a coupon that came in the mail for Maggie Moo's - and guess what - it was a big mistake! I felt really gross the rest of the night...which I guess is a good thing, because I learned my lesson and it will be a very long time before I do something like that again! Dinner was great - we went to a place called McFoster's Natural Kind Cafe - which is one of the only organic/vegetarian/natural food friendly restaurants in town. The jeweled pearled barley was interesting - not what I expected, but it was infused with ginger and delicious with the fish.
Saturday, February 14, 2009
Fri Feb 13th - What I'm Eating
Breakfast: leftover quiche
Lunch: didn't really happen
Snack: apple and cheese
Dinner: leftover whole wheat pasta with ratatouille
Snack: banana
Snack: sprouted corn tortillas with cheese and black beans
Analysis: when you stay up until 3 AM you end up eating a lot of snacks at night... its 3 AM, I am not much more coherent than that at the moment! I want my life back (read: I'm working way too much and I can't wait for it to be over...)!!!!!!!
Lunch: didn't really happen
Snack: apple and cheese
Dinner: leftover whole wheat pasta with ratatouille
Snack: banana
Snack: sprouted corn tortillas with cheese and black beans
Analysis: when you stay up until 3 AM you end up eating a lot of snacks at night... its 3 AM, I am not much more coherent than that at the moment! I want my life back (read: I'm working way too much and I can't wait for it to be over...)!!!!!!!
Friday, February 13, 2009
Thurs Feb 12th - What I'm Eating
Breakfast: egg scrambled in coconut oil with black beans (yes, the soaked ones...) and cheese
Lunch: orange, Ezekiel corn tortillas with above-mentioned beans and cheese
Dinner: Quiche with ham, asparagus, mushrooms and cheese in a whole wheat crust
Snack: leftover quinoa with feta and spinach stuff...mmm...
Analysis: I definitely could have done better on the veggies again today, but it was hard enough to just think of something I felt like eating in the first place. When I am sick, I get very picky... I was also downing Echinacea tea with honey all day today, and I drank a 27 oz Klean Kanteen's worth of water with 2 packets of EmergenC during class... I have had to pee literally all day long!
To answer a question that was asked regarding how I soaked my beans and quinoa the other day, I did just soak them in water, in separate glass containers out on the counter. I probably should have changed out the water every 12 hours but I didn't... I think they soaked for a bit over 24... The beans took on a lot of water and the quinoa did a bit too but not as much as I might have thought - it still swelled up a little more when I cooked it. Apparently you can also soak grains and things in whey if you make it from raw milk or yogurt but I haven't gotten that far yet. I am signed up for a seminar to learn how on the 28th weekend though...
Lunch: orange, Ezekiel corn tortillas with above-mentioned beans and cheese
Dinner: Quiche with ham, asparagus, mushrooms and cheese in a whole wheat crust
Snack: leftover quinoa with feta and spinach stuff...mmm...
Analysis: I definitely could have done better on the veggies again today, but it was hard enough to just think of something I felt like eating in the first place. When I am sick, I get very picky... I was also downing Echinacea tea with honey all day today, and I drank a 27 oz Klean Kanteen's worth of water with 2 packets of EmergenC during class... I have had to pee literally all day long!
To answer a question that was asked regarding how I soaked my beans and quinoa the other day, I did just soak them in water, in separate glass containers out on the counter. I probably should have changed out the water every 12 hours but I didn't... I think they soaked for a bit over 24... The beans took on a lot of water and the quinoa did a bit too but not as much as I might have thought - it still swelled up a little more when I cooked it. Apparently you can also soak grains and things in whey if you make it from raw milk or yogurt but I haven't gotten that far yet. I am signed up for a seminar to learn how on the 28th weekend though...
Wednesday, February 11, 2009
Weds Feb 11th - What I'm Eating
Its official - I'm sick...boo hoo! I have a sore throat...its been a long time since I've had a sore throat! I think its morphing into a post-nasal thing... ok, too much information...
But all that being said, I didn't have much appetite today...though I did sip Garlic Lemonade all day, which is a ridiculous amount of minced garlic steeped in water, then adding lemon juice and raw honey to taste. So yummy, but really only when you're sick. I drank a quart of it, plus some echinacea tea and a glass of Emergen-C too...
Breakfast: yogurt with raisins, almonds, honey and an orange
Lunch: half a banana
Dinner: whole wheat ziti with ratatouille - eggplant, zucchini, onion, garlic, red & yellow bell peppers, parsley, basil - also added a little grilled chicken in for protein.
I know I promised recipes and the milk post, but I was not feeling up to it today - you know I am not feeling well when I am not even on the computer all day. Maybe if I didn't stay up til all hours every night I wouldn't get sick...
But all that being said, I didn't have much appetite today...though I did sip Garlic Lemonade all day, which is a ridiculous amount of minced garlic steeped in water, then adding lemon juice and raw honey to taste. So yummy, but really only when you're sick. I drank a quart of it, plus some echinacea tea and a glass of Emergen-C too...
Breakfast: yogurt with raisins, almonds, honey and an orange
Lunch: half a banana
Dinner: whole wheat ziti with ratatouille - eggplant, zucchini, onion, garlic, red & yellow bell peppers, parsley, basil - also added a little grilled chicken in for protein.
I know I promised recipes and the milk post, but I was not feeling up to it today - you know I am not feeling well when I am not even on the computer all day. Maybe if I didn't stay up til all hours every night I wouldn't get sick...
Tues Feb 10th - What I'm Eating
Maybe I should not wait until so late at night to do this - I am having a hard time remembering this morning!
Breakfast: leftover enchiladas with sour cream
Lunch: Ezekiel toast with butter and strawberry preserves, cheddar cheese, and broccoli slaw
Dinner: Blue Planet Natural Grill turkey burger on whole wheat bun with mayo, organic baby spinach, tomato, all natural bacon, avocado, with steamed broccoli and one baked onion ring (stolen from my hubby)
Snack: banana and almonds
Analysis: a strange day of eating - no cooking, but I had to work all afternoon and evening... I am coming down with something - I have a sore throat... I hope it doesn't turn into what my little guy has - he is a coughing little snot-spewing mess! Off to take more echinacea and go to bed... I have tomorrow off so maybe I will finally get that milk post finished and put on here!
Breakfast: leftover enchiladas with sour cream
Lunch: Ezekiel toast with butter and strawberry preserves, cheddar cheese, and broccoli slaw
Dinner: Blue Planet Natural Grill turkey burger on whole wheat bun with mayo, organic baby spinach, tomato, all natural bacon, avocado, with steamed broccoli and one baked onion ring (stolen from my hubby)
Snack: banana and almonds
Analysis: a strange day of eating - no cooking, but I had to work all afternoon and evening... I am coming down with something - I have a sore throat... I hope it doesn't turn into what my little guy has - he is a coughing little snot-spewing mess! Off to take more echinacea and go to bed... I have tomorrow off so maybe I will finally get that milk post finished and put on here!
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