Cleanse: Days 10-14

My apologies to my readers. I knew I was behind but didn't realize just how behind! We'll try to catch up in several posts today! (Hopefully!)

For the first ten days, you are pretty much a vegan. You only eats fruits and vegetables and your protein is from rice and lentils. I ate a lot of lentils as I found I needed more protein than what the rice would offer. Sometimes, I would mix the rice and lentils which gave them both a new flavor and texture. I also mixed rice and lentils with veggies into a stir-fry.

I made lots of veggie stir fries during the entire length of the cleanse. I also used a lot of coconut oil for the stir fry. Coconut oil is very, very healthy and great for your hair and skin.

On Day eleven, I could add chicken and fish to my meals! I was more than thrilled. I didn't do anything fancy with it since I am still limited on my ingredients. I made salmon on days eleven and twelve. I bought packages of four frozen salmon patties from Wal-Mart. They are from deep sea but not organic. My budget can only stretch so far. They are about 3-4 ounces and quick and easy to thaw out. I then put a tablespoon of coconut oil in a skillet and browned the fish on each side. If you wait for you oil to get hot, the fish will brown on the outside before cooking in the center. The secret to fish is not to overcook it, but you still want a nice browning on the outside.

I thoroughly enjoyed my fish. The first day, I cut the four-ounce portion in half and also at rice with it. So, I ate two ounces of fish and about a third of a cup of rice. It worked out to a nice amount of protein for the meal. I wasn't hungry all afternoon!

When I cooked chicken, I cooked it in olive oil with a little bit of seasoning and some salt. I ate it either with three servings of vegetables or as a salad topper. I tried to stick to 2 ounces of meat because any more than that and you don't get enough vegetables. On average I ate three cups of vegetables at each meal. I literally piled my plate high with food! My husband found it quite amusing that I was eating as much as I was and still losing weight. The effect of vegetables on the body is absolutely amazing!!

Day fifteen presented some interesting challenges so I'll leave it as it's own blog post...

To be continued...

Cleanse: Days 6-9

I have successfully made it a full week on my cleanse. To be honest, I am craving pizza and steak. This surprises me since I don't really eat that much pizza and steak. It is an ever once in a long while thing for me. On the other hand, we eat a lot of hamburgers and not once have I craved a burger. I don't know what that means about my current diet, but I expected all cravings to fade by this point.

Days six and seven fell on the weekend. I have a rule about not cooking on Sundays. In fact, I try not to do anything or go anywhere other than church on Sunday. Sundays are meant to rest and rejuvenate. So, that's exactly what I strive to do. with all the leftovers eaten, I ate salads for both lunch and dinner with my vinegar and olive oil dressing. Eating raw was a nice break from all the cooked vegies. I thoroughly enjoyed eating raw broccoli.

Saturday, I did cook. I steamed mostly: cauliflower, green beans, and broccoli. I am having trouble finding recipes for cauliflower and broccoli that aren't full of non-cleanse ingredients like cheese or canned soups. So, I just eat them plain or with a pat of butter. The green beans I tossed in a skillet with a tablespoon of oil from a can of sun dried tomatoes. Then added a couple of tablespoons of sliced sun dried tomatoes. I tossed them a few times till they started brown. This is my favorite way to eat green beans! The combination of the sweet green beans and the tart tomatoes is such a perfect combo.

Both days, I consumed 1200-1300 calories. I have lost a total of five pounds over the course of the first week and lost an inch and a half at the small of my waist and an inch at the belly button. I'm pleased with that. I feel I have detoxed all the extra water weight from all those breathing treatments over the summer. But, I still have two more weeks to go!

Monday was day eight and the beginning of week two. I have less fiber and cleanse pills to take, and I have gotten used to them, so I can swallow them two capsules at a time.

My sweet hubby was down in his back so I spent the afternoon taking him to the chiropractor. So, no time to cook today. I am noticing an interesting trend. Without my crock pots to aid my meals, I am completely hopeless in the kitchen.

Day nine was better. Tuesday, I steamed cauliflower, cooked some more lentils, baked a sweet potato, and washed some broccoli. I ate the latter raw. I like having something in the meal with a different texture. The sweet potato is such a sweet treat. It needs nothing more than butter.

Day ten brought out a crock pot. Yes, my friend helped me cook dinner on the busiest day of our week. I cooked lentil soup with sweet potato and carrots. It also had a lot of chili powder in it. I am not a huge fan of quite so much spice courtesy of acid reflux. Overall, the soup was good and nourishing, just spicy. I also polished off the steamed cauliflower and had some more raw broccoli.

Only twelve more days to go! If you have any good recipes for lentils, broccoli or cauliflower, please share them in the comments section. I'll be happy to give them a try!

Book Review: How To Write a Book Proposal

I put off writing this review because I was more than a little bit disappointed. As I got passed the first chapter, I was thinking, I've read this book before. And the truth is, I have. This is a 3rd edition. I didn't catch that before.

In the preface, the author lists 14 additions. None of them stand out as worthy of buying another edition if you already have an older edition.

If you are an aspiring writer and have never read this book before, you should read it at least once. I don't know that it matters which edition you read. The first one I read was on the local library's shelves. I'm quite sure this one will be too.

If you have already read this book or purchased a previous edition, don't worry about getting the newest version. It won't help you that much.

Cleanse--Days 3-5

Wednesday and Thursday were crazy busy days. I barely had time to eat let alone blog. Such is typical. I raced from one appointment to another and from one item on the to-do list to another.

Thursday, I did take some time to sit for a few hours and visit with a good friend. There's nothing like nourishing conversation!

My meals on Wednesday were basically whatever veggies were leftover from previous days. It was pretty much a dab of this and a dab of that with some rice on the side. I wolfed down a few veggies before heading out the door to church on Wednesday night and was hungry when I got home. So, while making a shake for the next morning, I made one for the evening.

Thursday was a dose of salads all day. Not that I mind. I do love a good mixture of veggies! I used the previously mentioned dressing mixture of Bragg's Apple Cider Vinegar and Olive Oil. I used pretty much all the veggies I had on my salad including a whole avocado, a whole tomato, carrots, broccoli, and spinach.

Friday, I tried Lentils. I have been putting off lentils because I just don't like them. Or at least the one time I tried them, I didn't like them. I boiled them according to package directions, but then mashed them and added a little bit of butter. They tasted almost like refried beans. I also ate some roasted cauliflower, and a delicious asparagus stir fry.

Stir fries are another thing I do a lot because you can toss so many veggies into one pan. Here's the recipe for the Asparagus Stir Fry:

Ingredients (Makes 3 servings)
1 tbsp Coconut Oil, Refined, Organic

2 cups Asparagus, chopped.

2 medium whole (2-3/5" dia) Tomatoes, Red, Ripe, diced

2 tbsp chopped Onions

0.5 medium raw Bell Pepper Red

2 cloves, raw Garlic

Directions
1.Heat coconut oil.

2.Mince garlic and add to oil. Saute garlic for two minutes.

3.Add onions and bell peppers. Cook for 5 minutes.

4.Add asparagus. Place a lid on the skillet and cook until desired tenderness.

5.Add tomatoes. Thoroughly distribute the tomatoes but don't allow them to cook. They may be a bit warm but still raw and firm.

6.Remove from stove and serve.

You can toss pretty much anything you want into a pan for a stir fry. If it sounds good, toss it in.

I snacked on grapes and an apple during the day, bringing my calorie total to 1300 calories. I've already lost a 1/2 inch in my waste which was gained largely from breathing treatments, steroid shots, and antibiotics. I've also lost about 3 pounds.

Cleanse--Day 2

The fiber in my new diet caught up to me on day two. If you aren't used to eating a lot of fiber, then you switch to double the amount of recommended fiber, you are going to spend a little extra time in the bathroom. In addition, to the 55 grams of fiber I ate over the course of the day (recommended daily allowance is 25), I am also taking fiber and green veggie supplements as part of the cleanse. If you order the entire package from Standard Process or Amazon, you'll get the capsules in your package. They amount to 10-15 per meal. That's a lot of capsules! I drank at least half my water during the day taking the pills. It is recommended that you take them away from meals. I didn't the first day, but did on day two, and it makes a big difference. My meals were simple but a little more diverse. I hope to get better at this vegetable plate planning as the weeks go on. I had a strawberry-banana-blueberry shake for breakfast with protein powder. I like this much better than the previous day's blackberry. In fact, I like eating a shake for breakfast. It saves time having to actually cook breakfast, and it is ready as soon as I get up. Lunch was a spinach salad. One of my favorites! I eat salads a lot because of the veggie mixture and the ability to get the perfect bite! (see the movie The Mirror Has Two Faces) My salad had cucumber, carrots, tomato and of course spinach. I had avocado but decided to save it for later. My dressing was a tablespoon of Bragg's Apple Cider Vinegar and a a tablespoon of olive oil and a dash or garlic. Mix and pour over the salad. It gives it a nice flavor and makes for a great light dressing. Bragg's is also supposed to raise the body's PH, helping it to re-balance intestinal flora. For a snack and to help wash down my pills, I had a small sweet potato early in the afternoon before we headed out to our weekly therapy appointments. The sweet potato stuck with me all afternoon. I didn't get hungry till around 6:00 which is our drive home. I was quite thrilled about that. Dinner was another sweet potato, left over spaghetti squash (no tomatoes today), rice, and avocado. I wasn't able to clean my plate but was completely full! According to Calorie Count I ate 1600 calories but 400 of that was the olive oil from my salad and the butter from my potatoes. Weight loss isn't my goal so fat isn't a bad thing at this time. If you are looking to lose weight, watch those fat grams and make sure your fat comes from good food like avocados and not butter.

Cleanse--Day 1

Day 1 of my cleanse was uneventful. And, except for the lack of protein, my diet wasn't too much different than what it has been for the past few weeks. It turns out protein is a big part of my diet so I supplemented with other foods. I ate a massive amount of vegetables! I had no idea one could eat so many veggies...And I like veggies but there was a LOT of green on my plate! For breakfast, you start out the day with a shake with protein powder. I made my shake with berries: strawberries, blueberries, and blackberries. The latter was a HUGE mistake! Unless you have a blender that will juice the blackberry seeds then your shake will taste like it has a handful of dirt in it. I was barely able to choke it down. I won't make that mistake again! Lunch was less inventive. Steamed green beans were simple with nothing added to them. I stir fried zucchini with mushrooms in coconut oil. Surprisingly, the coconut oil does not taste at all coconutty. Rice made my protein portion and corn on the cob rounded out my plate. The last one is an unapproved veggie for the cleanse. But left over from Sunday, it was so good I couldn't just throw it out! Dinner was delectable! Roasted tomatoes with garlic and sea salt topped spaghetti squash for a vegan spaghetti and sauce. I smashed the tomatoes with a fork and mixed them into the squash. Butternut squash, rice, and green beans, all with nothing fancy, finished off the meal. A few hours later I was hungry again so after making my shake for the next morning, I snuck about a half cup of the delicious strawberry-banana mixture. I also ate an avocado which was not fully ripe and not very good. But, I assume the nutrients are there nonetheless. Overall, I consumed a little over 1200 calories. I read that a headache was normal on day but other than a low blood sugar headache before lunch, I was fine all day. No issues and nothing unusual. I am using Calorie Count to keep track of nutrients as well as calories. It is fairly easy to use and doesn't take long to log a meal. It then gives you an easy to read graph with your nutrient goals and where you are for the day, giving you an idea of what you need to eat and what you don't.

Depression

I love Anne of Green Gables. She is always so dramatic and her words resonate with the reader. One phrase she often used was "I am in the depths of despair." While she was upset over the circumstance, I don't think she was really at the very depth of despair for that is the very definition of depression. The despair wreaks like a pair of gym socks but it is so deep you don't even notice the reason for the despair. Sometimes, you don't even realize that you are at the depths of despair. Depression sneaks up on you and overtakes you like a bad head cold.

I didn't know I was depressed til my doctor told me a low dose of anti-depressant would help me get over a constant battle with various infections and viruses.  I thought she was crazy but I trust her instincts. I have had a long summer and battled asthma, bronchitis, pneumonia, and an upper respiratory infection caused by strep. My stress level is off the charts! I have one sister going through a very bad divorce, and I've stood by her side all summer long. Then, another sister, who is younger than me died suddenly! She left a gaping whole in my heart. . . and more questions than answers in regards to her death.

I've been on the wonder drug of anti-depressants for three weeks, and I feel like I can actually come out of my cave. I reached a point where all I wanted to do was pull the covers over my head. The very thought of leaving the house left me tranquilized with fear. Fear of what I don't know. But, fear gripped me never the less.

I've spent the last 6 weeks since my sister's death on my knees before God. I've pleaded to be healthy again, pleaded for my family to be healthy again, and pleaded to see my son grow into a man of God. I've learned that to truly worship God is to truly appreciate every moment he has given you and everything he has given you no matter how small or insignificant. Worship doesn't mean you have to sing a praise song. I can't sing! But, I can thank him for every breath that I or my family is allowed to take.

After many hours in prayer, God directed me to a nutritionist. Her brilliant deduction summed up my condition as being tired, worn down, and depleted on a cellular level. Yep! That pretty much nailed it.

I've been gradually changing my diet over the last several weeks and now eat so many vegetables and take so many vitamins that it is unbelievable even to me who loves vegies! She has advised me to do a fruit and vegetable cleanse by Standard Process.

I'll start the cleanse today, and for 7 days will only eat vegies and fruits, vitamins, and lots and lots of water. On the 8th day, I can add protein like organic chicken and fish like Salmon. The Quest is to be healthy! So, like all my other quests of motherhood, I'll take you along for the ride. While I am not a recipe blogger, I will try to give you an idea of what I am eating. It'll keep me honest as well!

My posts will be a day behind so I can completely sum up the day.