Hello! It's been so long! The last month has been INSANE! I kid you not! We moved at the end of September. The first week of October, Jairus got sick and I was about three days behind him. Then Juriah ended up with croup and spent two nights in the hospital and a week later, Jessenya was hospitalized for one night for croup. This last week we have been recuperating.
Okay, so that aside, I have joined a gym! Yay! It's right across the street and so far I've been able to go after the kids go to sleep. It's AWESOME! The first day I did some cardio and focused on my legs and today I did more cardio and focused on upper body. I'm having a lot of fun and really enjoying the time to myself.
As far as diet goes, I haven't been doing so well--when everyone's sick, you eat what is easy to get to. There's been a lot of fast-food chicken, pizza, and junk food in general. But I'm super excited because I made a fantastic vegan meal for Halloween! Butternut Squash & Pear soup, Cumin & Cayenne Mashed Potatoes, Citrus Collard Greens, and Chocolate-Pecan Pudding Pie. Sooooooooooooooooooooooo good! The left over pie makes it easier to pass up my brother-in-law's cheese cake! I have decided to go back to focusing on eating healthy first and vegetarian/vegan second. Thing are just now settling down so focusing on getting back to eating real food is more important right now.
I've been incredibly inspired by the show The Biggest Loser! I know I'm right on the edge of being obese (The last Dr appointment I had I weighed in around 195!) and watching people who have decided to change their lives made me realize that if they could do it, so could I! I'm super excited because I finally have the motivation to take care of myself and get healthy! Well, at least to the point that I'm doing something about it! I'm only going to be able to afford 2 months at the gym at $30 a month--our income is going to be going bye-bye soon--so I have to make them count. It's going to be fantastic though! And who knows, maybe I'll find a way to make some more money!
I really do have to thank my friend, Becca Sue! She's been working so hard to get healthy and has done such an amazing job! Knowing someone who has changed their own life so much has made it easier to believe that I can do the same for myself!
Oh! Also, I can now share who's getting married!!! My bestest friend in the whole world, Jillian Kellett, is getting married to her boyfriend, Jason Ackley, in August (the date changed when they made the engagement official). Woot!
Well, that's it for me today! Here's to tomorrow!
It's been nearly a month since I blogged last. The depression really got to me and I had to get back on the Prozac. Man, being open about it is rough but it worked well the last time. I'm going try being on it for a year so I can be stable while I set myself up on the new diet: vegan/gluten-free, an exercise routine, and (with our big move coming up) making friends/getting to know Jairus' family better. So here I go, jumping into the next chapter of my life. Woot! The fact that I stepped up and went to the dr yesterday gave me a nice boost and actually feeling sleepy instead of tired all the time. Yay! Well, goodnight all and here's to the next chapter!
My good friend, Becca Sue, was asking me some specifics about juicing today and I realized that I should finally post more about the process we go through for juicing! So, here it is!
Step 1: Prep the produce!Washing the greens is fairly easy, I fill the sink with 2-3 inches of water toss each leaf in and essentially stir them in the water. This knocks most of the dirt and such off and conserves water because the faucet isn't running the whole time!
The apples and lemons we clean with a neat washing agent called Environne. (Washing instructions are on the bottles) Then each is cut into chunks that will fit into the juicer.
Step 2: Juice the produce!
We like to prep the juicer with a few leaves of Romain fist because, of all the ingredients, it is the cheapest. Then push two pieces of apple, one or two leaves of kale, one lemon wedge, and a few leaves of Romain. Repeat until you run out of produce but always try to end with Romain to push all the good stuff through!
Step 3: Strain out the pulp!
The reason a person juices is to get all the fantastic goodness that plants hold for us but there's so much fiber that it's hard to eat all of it. The juicer does a good job of removing most of the fiber, but there's still a lot left over. We use two different sizes of strainers. The first has a mesh with larger holes and the second has smaller holes. The first we only use once but the second we will use three or four times.
Step 4: Enjoy your Green Lemonade! Let me know if you have any questions!
Here's to your tomorrow!
Yikes! It's been awhile! Sure I've been busy, but really, I think I'm avoiding you all. See, I haven't been doing so great--emotionally speaking--these last couple of weeks and I've let things slip. Not as horribly as I could have, but they have slipped and I fell ashamed to admit it. But I know that if I don't, it will only get harder to regain my footing. So, here I am, confessing that I went 6 days without my green lemonade. I don't remember the last time I had my vitamins one day after the next. I am cheating horribly on my "no sugar" rule. I have slipped up by eating chicken at least twice and desperately wanted bacon the other night--so much so that I actually used the excuse that it would be in memory of my late father. *Sigh* There. It's out, and I'm ashamed but I'm moving on. Jairus and I have decided that we're going to try juicing only on days that he has off. (Getting up at 4:30a is really tough on a couple of night owls like us.) I'm going to change my goal concerning sugar from "I will not have sugar" to "I will refrain from sugar." (Not sure why but that helped in the past.) As for vitamins, I don't have a plan for that yet. And my plan for refraining from chicken: I must met some chickens. I'm finding that it is easier to not eat something if I can imagine it dead because the thought makes me sad. Please note, my original intention behind this diet switch was not because of the animals per say! It just kinda happened that I started having sympathy for them. I was giving my dog a bone that we got him as a special treat and as I handed it to him, all I could think about was this poor cow's leg sticking straight up from her mangled body and the flesh -- I'll stop there. It was gross. So, I figure, if I meet some chickens and maybe find out their names or give them names, I'll start feeling more sympathy for the species in general.
Well, I think that's all for tonight.
Here's to tomorrow!
I've been thinking: if I'm making this diet change for my emotional health, then I better change my out look on this diet change! Sure, I messed up this weekend! But at least I caught it! And today, I didn't juice again and I was being really lazy, but around 11a, I picked myself up and cleaned the upstairs and a lot more! I'm doing so much better than I've been paying attention to, and now I'm going to pay more attention to the positivists. It's been a few days since I've weighed myself, but I had lost some weight! At Yoga class last week, I was able to move a lot better and didn't feel like my gut was in the way! As gross as this may be, my bowel movements are becoming more frequent! (Rose talks about this being the most important part of weight loss because if the garbage gets stuck, it'll just add on the pounds!) All in all, I'm doing so well--I never actually believed that I could be this emotionally stable! I'm on freaking cloud 9! (By the way, what is it about cloud 9 that's so awesome? Mr Tate never assigned that term for us in high school!) Alright folks! I'm off to bed now so that tomorrow I can juice and get my day started the way it aught to!
Here's to tomorrow!
Stats:
Weight - (a few days ago) 179-3/4!
Green Lemonades - 21
Being a mom of two young kids is crazy busy! Also, I've been traveling so things are extra hectic! I continued juicing while I was away--thanks Grandma for letting me borrow your juicer! This morning, however, was the second time I haven't juiced! I was so tired this morning I opted to not worry about it. As far as my vegetarian diet went this weekend: I did so well, until we stopped at the dreaded Micky D's to let the kids run out their wiggles. Without a second thought, I ordered chicken. *Sigh* But that's it! Well, okay, I did allow for one day for sweets because there was an fabulous ladies party! I'm quite proud of myself! Well, I'll get back on the horse and let you know how it goes!
Here's to tomorrow!
Stats:
Eh, yea, I'll let you know later!
I have a new recipe! Woot! I got it from Vive le Vegan! by Dreena Burton.
EASY PLEASIN' OAT BARS
Makes 10-14 bars (depending on how they're cut)
Brackets [] are mine
2 cups ground oats (can be made in a blender with whole oats)
1 cup quick oats
1/4 tsp sea salt
1/4 tsp cinnamon
1/4 cup pure maple syrup
1/3 cup fruit sweetener or other thick honey alternative [I used Agave Nectar]
1/4 cup vanilla or plain non-dairy milk
1 1/2 - 2 Tbsp canola oil [I used coconut oil! SOOOOO GOOD!]
[1- 1/2 tsp vanilla extract]
1) Pre-heat oven to 350 degrees F.
2) In a large bowl, combine all the dry ingredients.
3) Add the wet ingredients into the dry mixture, stirring until well combined. [I think it would work better to mix all the wet ingredients separately and then mix them into the dry mixture--the dry tends to suck up the liquid really fast!]
4) Transfer the mixture to a lightly oiled 8"x8" or 8"x12" baking dish and press it down until evenly distributed.
5) Using a sharp knife, cut to mark out the bars before you bake them to make it easier to fully cut and remove the bars once baked. (I usually mark out 12 rectangular bars, but you can make whatever size you like.) [I cut them into tiny little bite size squares for Juriah!]
6) Bake for 19-21 minutes, then remove and let cool in the pan.7) Once cool, use a sharp knife to fully cut the bars, then remove with a spatula.
My first batch came out really dense! But that was because I kept having to add soy milk. Juriah and I absolutely love them and Jairus really enjoyed the taste but not the dense texture. I'm sure that would be fixed by mixing the liquid ingredients on their own and then to the dry ones! Burton (I love her last name--it always makes me think of snowboarding! Which is another reason I need to get in shape! We've got a trip planned for Dec!) mentions in a side note that 1/4 cup of dried fruits or toasted nuts can be added! I told Jairus about that and (being the Coast Guard chief that he is) he mentioned that I would want to soak the fruit in water for an hour or so to keep the bars from drying out! He said that it works wonders for oatmeal cookies! I'll have to let you know what I find out when I try it! I love this recipe because I can have maple syrup and agave! So it's a nice sweet treat without adding so much to my weight issue!
As for the diet, all is well! Okay, except for the break down I had at Home Depot today. It was the third errand today that took longer than I expected it to and Juriah was cranky because we skipped his nap--I know, I know, bad idea! Anyway, I've had my green lemonade--OH! and so did Juriah! I have a picture!
He even asked me for more! Well, that's it for today! Here's to tomorrow!
Stats:
Weight - Probably the same!
Green Lemonades - 16! Woot!
I love the Farmer's Market. We watched Curt (curtshow.com) juggle--absolutely hilarious! We walked around and enjoyed the atmosphere. We bought two flowering maple trees and a little wheel of sheep cheese. A couple people are starting to recognize us--of course, today was the third week of us buying 12-14 heads of romaine and 5-6 bunches of kale. It's pretty hard to miss a young couple pushing a double stroller walking a rare breed of dog (Shiba Inu) and hauling 5 or 6 bags of greens! We didn't think through how much to buy--we're going out of town and we weren't going to take our juicer. But now it looks like I'll be packing up the juicer and produce!
As for the vegetarian transition, it's really easy to not eat chicken! Of course, that comes in part because I have done the vegetarian diet before. Because of this, I have decided that I'm going to cut out chicken and turkey! I'll reserve fish for twice a month (sushi is awesome!) I got the sheep cheese today because I think I'm going to start gearing up for the transition to veganism! My logic in that is this: I LOVE cheese! even though I don't eat it much right now, if it's available, I'm all over it! If I switch to goat and sheep cheese, it will be easier on my body and, hopefully I won't miss giving it up so much. Of course this may back fire on me. I'm head-over-heels for the sheep cheese I picked up today! *Deep sigh* If nothing else, at least I'm trying!
Here's to tomorrow!
Stats:
Weight - 183, bummer for the extra 2 pounds!
Green Lemonades - 13
I've been forgetting things lately--a lot. I forgot my supplements two days in a row! The most important of which was the St John's Wart, 5-HTP, Evening Primrose and Vitamin D. All of which are for my depression. I didn't realize exactly how important those were! I'm way more tired, my passion for proper diet is waning, I'm not feeling confident--it's amazing how that can all slip away so fast! Because of all this, I started my day off with the Green Lemonade, like usual, and 5-HTP! I got the rest of my vitamins in at lunch.
Changing the subject: My milk is coming in much better! I was a little concerned about how my milk production would be if I was eating even less meat than before. I skipped ahead in the Raw Food Detox Diet to where Rose talks about nursing, kids, and teens. She shared her experience with her waning milk supply. After being told to eat stake, ice cream and other foods like those, she realized that cows make milk without eating all of that! They eat tons of grass! She started consuming 2 lbs of greens every day! And her supply came in better! I was very encouraged to read that. It has been even more encouraging to experience it for myself! I have also noticed that my daughter, Jessenya, doesn't seem so ... picky? Things had to be just so--granted, girls just seem to be that way--but she isn't so finicky. She really seems to have calmed down! I'm sure it has to do with the nutrition she's getting from the Green Lemonade! Oh, Green Lemonade; as a wise man once said, "You are loved like a fat man loves his cake!"
Stats:
Weight - Probably around the same.
Green Lemonades - 10... wait... I messed up my counting... I'm at 12! Woot!
My son drank Green Lemonade yesterday! And he liked it! Woohoo! I cannot fully express to you all how excited I am! He barely tolerates veggies and there he was yesterday, sipping on his grandma's Green Lemonade! Talk about awesome "whole food" baby vitamin!
Aside from that, the diet has been going well! Last Sunday was the only time I've had meat since the sushi incident and it was only turkey. I would have been able to make myself a veggie sandwich, but I waited too long to go make it. As for "sugar-free," I'm doing well with that also--it has been hard though! I keep forgetting what that I can't have things: soda, lattes, chai lattes, most chocolate--I'm even giving up stuff with evaporated cane juice in it! That limits things even more! Thankfully Jairus has been helping me keep an eye on things. Yesterday we went to Dutch Bros and I brought my own cup with some vanilla extract and agave nectar. Unfortunately, the gentleman making my order dumped dirty water in it and I had to have a plain iced latte instead--which it didn't taste too bad! He was incredibly sorry and gave us the drink for free and extra punches on our punch card! It could have been worse.
Overall, I'm feeling very empowered by this diet change--even if I'm only doing baby steps! I'm feeling more alive and ... functional? I feel like I'm actually interacting with my spouse and children! I'm enjoying the activities of day to day life! I'm taking a yoga class and I went out on my own to run an errand! I am healthy! There have been so many times in the last week where I could have given into the depression and I didn't! Every one of those opportunities, I have met head on with honesty and determination. I caught myself spiraling, took action and dealt with the real issue in a healthy manner. My mind may be slippery, but it's awake! Yesterday, I weighed myself and I have lost 4 pounds! I'm feeling more mobile and a tiny bit more trim! The results are fantastic and it's only the second week! I'm so excited!
Stats:
Weight - 181!
Green Lemonades - 9
Jairus and I juiced our Green Lemonade again this morning! It had been sorely missed yesterday! Last night, as we were preparing the produce for this morning, I realized how nice it was to be doing this with my husband. It has become an activity that we enjoy together! We now have something besides TV to connect on! Jairus has tried to get me interested in juicing before, but I would only humor him and try his crazy drinks so I felt less guilty about not liking the idea in the slightest. It was a blessing that I didn't expect to come from this experiment. Deep down, I can feel the effects of this diet change already and it isn't necessarily from the food itself. Jairus and I are interacting over something that had interested him at one point and has now become a common interest! I feel healthy all over!
Stats:
Weight - I don't know what my deal is--I forgot to weigh myself again!
Green Lemonades - 7
Properly Combined Meals - 11
Chicken, oh, chicken, I'm through with you. Well, except for special occasions--holidays and the like. I gave it a lot of thought last night and I realized that going cold turkey on all forms of meat is going to drive me crazy. Therefore, because I have already stopped eating beef and pork all together, I'm going to start by refraining from chicken. Holidays and special events will only be an exception because I firmly believe that my choice of eating habits should not come between myself and the relationships of those I spend time with. Chicken is one of the easiest meats for me to digest and one of the more common foods that people prepare, so I figure allowing for chicken on rare occasions will be the most... diplomatic?
Aside from that, tonight is the last time I will get to have sugar. *Sigh* But the results are going to be awesome! I'm going to have to remember how to replace sugar with natural sweeteners. I'm really excited to share the results!
Speaking of results, I've been feeling lighter and noticing that my skin is looking firmer! The Green Lemonade seems to be giving me an awesome kick start to getting healthy! Woo hoo! Unfortunately, we didn't have all the necessary ingredients so I didn't get my Green Lemonade in today. It was very sad. Also, I didn't properly combine my meals. Jairus and I decided that Sunday's are "Family Breakfast" days--you know, pancakes and the like! So after that, it's easy to let the rest of the day get away. But tomorrow is a new day! Here it comes!
Stats:
Weight - Yea, I forgot to weigh myself....
Green Lemonades - 6
Properly Combined Meals - 9
Well, I'm one day away from reaching my goal of having Green Lemonade every morning for a week! Woot! This morning, though, Jairus had to pull me out of bed so we could juice! I got a nasty bug bite that became swollen and my entire foot ached so last night I had to take a Benadryl. Oh Benadryl, my arch nemesis! I fought it's hypnotic pull to keep me in bed and had my Green Lemonade, swept the floor and tidied the kitchen a bit. But the Benadryl still won out and I went and took a fantastic nap. Except for the dream that I had... a strange mix of Harry Potter and the summer Bible camp I went to as a kid.
Aside from that, the day went well! I stuck to the all fruit breakfast and had a fantastic, well combined meal for lunch; SW Black Bean Gardenburgers, 1 1/2 avocados (I'm really craving avocados!), and sliced tomatoes--oh! and I finished off my son's lunch of fake "chicken nuggets" that are made with corn instead of soy or gluten protein! So yummy! All in all, I did AWESOME! Although I did have sushi for dinner... dang it! I forgot about the fish! I'm so used to allowing that one! Fish is easier to digest so I haven't given it much thought. Bummer. I didn't realize that I was going to have to make that choice about fish. Chicken was obvious for me to realize that I need to stop eating. Pork and beef actually make me sick now when I eat it so that's not hard to stay away from. Turkey is going to be another hard one for me to give up!
I've got some thinking to do.
Stats:
Weight - I'll check on that tomorrow and get back to ya.
Green Lemonades - 6
Properly Combined Meals - 9
Ok. I did really well today! I juiced and had an all fruit breakfast. My lunch was ridiculous, but properly combined and I had a fairly good dinner! I have decided that on Monday I'm going to cut out all processed sugar and use sweeteners like agave and xylitol and, very occasionally, sucanat. I know this has very little to do with becoming a full vegetarian, but the last time I was this over weight, this method helped me out so much! With this new goal in mind, I had my last Starbucks vanilla, soy, light-ice chai and my last bit of chocolate covered blueberries. As far as actually saying "goodbye" to meat goes, when we went to our favorite Chinese restaurant, I was able to abstain from their amazing sweet & sour chicken. It was hard but I stayed away from my main excuse: "Juriah (my son) likes it too and eats a ton!" I was quite proud of myself!
That's it for today!
Stats:
Weight - the same
Green Lemonades - 5
Properly Combined Meals - 7
So I skipped blogging yesterday because I didn't do much of anything healthy. I did get up early with Jairus and drink my Green Lemonade. But let me back up and share how my night went.
I took a detox bath --late, but I got it in! The recipe (for those who are interested) is:
-16oz lemon juice
-1 box baking soda
-2 scoops Arbonne Unwind Bath Salts (optional)
And before that I used a natural bristle body brush for a detox method that Natalia Rose suggests on page 58 in The Raw Food Detox Diet. I felt great after! And I noticed the next day that my stretch marks didn't look as pronounced! It was awesome!
We got to sleep late but I was feeling great! We went to bed around 11:30 and an hour later I woke up thinking that the detoxing was working--it turns out that I had food poisoning. How cool is that. *Sigh* So I got even less sleep then I would have and I was really weak when I got up in the morning. So the whole day I did virtually nothing. I didn't eat right, I didn't do anything around the house--it sucked. And it sucked because at some point I was feeling better physically but emotionally I was checked out. It's probably because--despite the good start that I had--I didn't follow through with the "goodness." I fell into old habits and didn't listen to the promptings from within to do something healthy, mostly turn off the TV. And again I didn't go to sleep when I should have! Grrr.
But today I forced myself to do stuff around the house! And eventually I started to feel better! I ate right (maybe not enough to eat, but I ate right!) and I got stuff done and (more importantly) I spent 45 solid minutes reading to my son! And then 15 minutes playing with my daughter! It was amazing! Yay!
So not so much about diet for the last couple days, but one day at a time! See you tomorrow!
Stats:
Weight - Low 180s
Green Lemonades - 4
Properly combined meals - 5
Today was one of those mornings where the thought of waking up repulsed me. I was so incredibly tired and it's my own fault! Harry Potter really isn't THAT awesome; I shouldn't be giving it the precious hours I have to sleep. The lack of sleep is messing with the results of my experiment! *Sigh* Not to mention my interactions with my family. I was able to see with deafening clarity (yes, the sight was such that I could hear it) that dieting alone is not going to give me the results that I want as far as my mental & emotional health goes. I'm going to have to throw myself into all aspects of self -care if I'm going to beat out the Postpartum Depression without medication. A good night's sleep every night, a refreshing shower every evening, an early start to my day so I can have "me-time" before the kids wake up, and a healthy diet are all necessary for my health. So, I am now committing myself to taking my shower between 8:30p-9:00p, being in bed by 10:00p, and waking up at 6:00a.
Alright, now that I have that out of my system!
I stuck to my Green Lemonade for this morning! A whole 32 oz! It tasted much better this time--we put in more ginger and it helped even the flavor out a lot more. We ate a breakfast of Rainer Cherries, blueberries, and gooseberries. After our last midwife appointment, we swung by Chipotle and cheated on the properly combined lunch. My lunch time philosophy has become as such: If I have the drive to eat a properly combined meal, I will do so, if not, I will eat a healthy meal! And it's worked out okay so far. Of course it's only day two. Rose explains the "Quick Exit Combinations" on pages 34 and 35:
"The first thing you want to do is eat foods that are the easiest to digest and move out of the body. (Please refer to the Quick Exit Hierarchy of Food on page 27.) The second thing to do is eat these foods in "quick exit combinations." This means that when you make a meal out of high-quality, quick exit foods, the combinations of the foods in your meal should also be as easy as possible to digest. As you've learned, the quicker the food is digested, the less waste matter it will leave."
So the categories for foods that she lists are:
1) Starches
2) Fleshes
3) Nuts/Seeds/Dried Fruit
4) Fresh Fruit
Rose explains that none of these should mixed together because doing so causes putrefaction in the stomach leading to the body spending more time digesting and less time with waste management throughout the entire body. Raw veggies, however, can be mixed with any of these categories! However, mixing anything with fresh fruit isn't suggested. She shares that cooked veggies combine well with the first two categories to make a good solid meal. Some where else (regrettably I cannot remember exactly where) Rose explains that ideally we should wait 30 minute after consuming fresh fruit before continuing on to the next meal or snack and that approximately 3 hours should be given after eating a properly combined meal before having a snack.
All of this to briefly explain what I'm talking about when I say "properly combined meals." Alright! So now it's time for me to move on with the rest of my day! Here's to tomorrow!
Stats:
Weight - 185 (I got to use a scale today.... I wept inside!)
Green Lemonades: 2
Properly combined meals: 3
In January, I have the pleasure of standing next to a dear friend of mine on the day she gets married! I am so excited for her and her fiance but I'm nervous too because I REALLY don't want to be a frumpy matron of honor who has just let herself go. Therefore, I have decided to try a detox method that's safe for nursing mommies and their babies. It's called the Raw Food Detox Diet (the book is by Natalia Rose) and it's safe because it's a life style change rather than a traditional diet. My husband, Jairus, and I have decided to start off small. On page 48, Rose presents the Green Lemonade recipe and suggests drinking it on an empty stomach a half hour before eating a breakfast of fresh fruits. We have decided to try this for one week and see how we feel! Here's the recipe for those of you who are interested in trying it (as from The Raw Food Detox Diet--brackets [ ] are my addition):GREEN LEMONADEMakes one serving1 head of romaine lettuce or celery [we're sticking to romaine for this experiment]5 to 6 stalks of kale (any type)1 to 2 apples (as needed for sweetness--I recommend organic Fuji)1 whole organic lemon (you don't have to peel it)1 to 2 inches fresh ginger (optional)I know, it's a lot of lettuce! You should have seen the looks on people's faces when we bought 6 days worth for 2 people!This morning was our first day trying it out--well, Jairus has had it before, but that's besides the point. It really didn't taste too bad! Mine was about 24 oz and I drank all but 4! To get the most enzymes, we have to drink it within the first 15 minutes of juicing so I was gulping it down as fast as I could. I actually felt tingling in my extremities when I was about half way through, it was very strange. Half an hour later I had half a plum and about an hour after that I had about two cups of cherries. I'm really proud of myself! I was able to stick to the fresh fruit breakfast and wait the recommended 30 minutes before moving on to a lunch of yummy tofu and brown rice! It was an awesome experience and I'm sure I would have more to say about having more energy but I stayed up WAY too late last night watching Harry Potter. As a side note, I've noticed that my milk production has been doing better today after having the Green Lemonade!Stats:Weight - 170ish (I don't currently own a scale)Days of drinking Green Lemonade: 1Properly combined meals: 2
