gearing up for a change

I'm getting ready to make a change in my diet again.

I've recently figured out a few things, and they need to get better.  I hope food can be my medicine.

1. I can remineralize my teeth.  I cannot afford a dentist, but I can afford to make my own tooth paste, take specific supplements and eat the proper foods.  I know I have cavities, and I've read a few articles/blog posts saying they can be healed (x-rays-cavities, remineralize, 6 months later, no cavities)  That sounds so woowoo writing it down!  But I just can't afford to get drilled!

2. My hormones are messed.  I knew this before getting pregnant.  I guess they where on track enough TOO get pregnant, so that's good.  But I've started feeling yucky again.  Anxiety, PMS, mood swings.  No period yet, but it's coming.

3.  My platelets are low again.  Not dangerous, but I'm bruising.  Pregnancy stabilized them.  ITP is an auto immune disorder.  I need to think about an autoimmune diet.

4.  IBS!  that too was settled while pregnant.  I'm cheesed that all the good stuff just didn't stay.  Anti inflammatory feeds please.

5. I just feel cruddy.  Fatigued, foggy brain, sore joints.


The first thing I'm going to look at is autoimmune diet.  It's been a long time since my body has been attacking itself.  I found an online seminar that is actually geared towards weight loss for women, but the description spoke about auto immune, anti inflammatory stuff so I thought I'd check it out.  I have some good resources from them.  It's mostly paleo.  I've done 'the paleo diet' before for about a month.  it's HARD, but I did feel pretty great.  I'll need J's help so I can do a lot more food prep. 

I'm planning on starting with no gluten (I should be staying away from wheat anyway as it bothers me), no added sugar and no cow dairy.  For this part of the transition I'm going to allow myself goat cheese and yogurt. 
Soon I'd like to start full paleo for breakfast and lunch, and 'just' good healthy whole foods for dinner.

I'm also not sure I should be going full out paleo/autoimmune while I'm still breastfeeding Bunny almost full time.  He's still getting 90% of his nutrition from me, and I don't want to detox too hard while that's happening.  I think that even if the toxins don't go into my breast milk, it will be hard on me to do that filtering.
So, baby steps. 
I need to make some sort of chart and see if all these special diets even can work together!

But I think for now, no gluten, no added sugar, low dairy, way more vegetables will help.

"hunger month" soup, or apple cider squash soup

HEH?  Hunger month?  The Green Pigeon explains, and has some good suggestions on how to survive better next year.

I literally just read that post.  Right after I had finished eating my own bowl of my soup.  I had been thinking today that it would be a perfect recipe for this time of year.

Indeed.

Ingredients:
1 squash, peeled, seeded, and cubed
3 small, 2 medium or 1 large sweet potato, peeled and cubed
2 mall or 1 medium cooking onion, chopped
Enough stock (vegetable or chicken) to cover vegetables (that way you can use any sized squash)
1 tbsp fresh grated ginger
salt and pepper to taste
1 tsp ground, or 1 stick cinnamon
2-3 tbsp apple cider vinegar (unfiltered is best, and yummiest)
2 cups apple cider
1/2-1 cup coconut milk

 -Tumble squash, sweet potato and onion into pot.  Cover with stock.

-Bring to a boil, and turn heat down to simmer.  Add cinnamon, ginger, salt and pepper, stir.

-Cook for 5 or whatever minutes.  Before the squash is soft, toss in vinegar and cider.  Turn down heat more.  To just buppa buping  (as my mommy would say)

-Stir on occasion, and turn off once squash is soft.  Don't over cook.  Take off stove and wiz up with a hand blender.  Be so careful.  Don't lift the hand blender and make it fly all over and burn yourself.  If you don't have a hand blender, let cool some and blend in blender.  Add in coconut milk and stir until blended.

-Ladle out and eat with bread and butter (I sorely miss white rye and butter with my soup!)

up date

you may be wondering about:
project make baby
the great paleo experiment
and other things I've talked about in my life here.

Baby making:
still trying.  Well, unofficially.  Because my wee lizard brain stresses out when I try too hard, so I am aware when I ovulate, and attempt to have sex on the appropriate dates, but that's it.  We're just having unprotected sex.  No fuss.  No temperature taking, no mucus monitoring.  I slid a little after the miscarriage, sexually.  I just didn't want to do it.  So right now, we're just getting back on the horse and having fun being with each other. 
I'm committed to eating healthy (no sugar, few grains and dairy) and, well, exercise is just. blerg.  I'll get there.  We're re-joining the Y in Feb, so I'll get back to tai chi, and other stuff as well.


Eating paleo:

I've put that on the back burner for now.  I'm staying away from sugar and gluten.  I find no grains during the winter extremely hard.  I'm eating steel cut oats, and buckwheat mostly.  I was doing pretty well, and then I had a whole wheat wrap at work, and was SO grumpy. 

My (almost) sister in law (sister wife??  like baby daddy?  lol) gave me her old mandolin, and I've been making zucchini noodles!  I've had them with pesto.  Delish.  So my noodle problem is solved. 

I've been eating cheese and yoghurt and butter.  Nothing bad seems to be happening.  Staying away from milk though.

I've been trying to bake with coconut flour.  I don't really like it though.  I'm going to look back into almond flour and arrowroot flour.  And ground oats.

I'm also allowing myself a sugar cheat every day.  Esp. at work.  Lemonade, or chai or chocolate.

Oh, and eating potatoes, but limiting them too.  And pop corn.  Organic pop corn.


The delema:

Still trying to figure that out.  Just letting it sit. 

ice cream and anniversaries

Tomorrow is J and my 6th year wedding anniversary.

I'm working both tomorrow and Monday night, so I thought I'd stay home and celebrate tonight.
The only downfall?  J had to go to bed at 8pm!  ha ha.  His job as an occasional part time nurse means he gets stuck with some not great shifts, like the whole long weekend.  These 3 days where planned in advance (I guess people where good and actually booked the time off).  Unfortunately not everyone books the time off and calls in sick so Friday he got a last minute call to go in for the evening shift, 3-11pm.  And the long weekend shifts, 7am-3pm.  He got home last night and got 5 hours of sleep then worked.  Poor guy.  Money is a wee bit tight so he's feeling the pressure to take everything that is offered. 


For our anniversary I made us ice cream.  In the maker my cousin gave us for a wedding present no less!

I made coconut almond chocolate chip.  PALEO ICE CREAM!

I modified The Unrefined Kitchens vanilla ice cream recipe with canned coconut milk, home made chocolate chips and almonds.

my modified vanilla ice cream:

1 can coconut milk (not milk-like coconut beverage!!!)
3-4 tbsp honey (agave would work too I'm sure...use less)
1 tbsp vanilla
1/4 cup chocolate chips
1/4 cup slivered and blanched almonds (or finely chopped raw almonds would be even better!!)

-whip up coconut milk, honey and vanilla
-chill until...chilled
-pop into ice cream maker (following their instructions)
-put in chocolate chips and almonds when ice cream is soft serve consistancy
-eat when you can't handle waiting any more!

serves 2-3 (or more if you are topping another dessert)


I really liked the home made chocolate chips.  They are chewy and not all crumbly when frozen.
I also really liked that it can be so much less inexpensive than store bought!  a pint of store bought coconut ice cream is like $8.  This was SO good and cost maybe $2 to make.  I'd guess half the price for a whole pint...maybe.

food and family

Today we had a party for my mom (she recently turned 60! oh...sorry mom, although you have been saying that 60 is the new 40...) and for Owen.  It's really nice seeing my family more that 3 times a year!!  This is the first time I've been around a baby since the miscarriage, and I was SO fine.  I got to hold him for a bit.  he's such a sweetie.  I didn't bring my camera, but I'm sure his grandpa will be posting photos soon!

I brought Miracle Pie and was glad everyone enjoyed it!  It's my new favourite treat.  Raw cashew cream pie.
Filling
1/3 cup water
1/2 cup coconut oil
1 cup raw cashew
sweetened to taste with agave syrup
add cocoa powder for chocolate and vanilla for...vanilla
Blend/food process until smooth

Crust
1 cup walnits
1 cup dates
blended to a constancy you like

pat down crust into pie plate (I used flat soup bowls!)
pour/glop filling in
refrigerate.
My friend Pwylla also added a layer of blueberries on the bottom and raspberries on the top, I used mango instead of rasp.


I told my Uncle Art (aka Owen's grandpa) that it is vegan, gluten and sugar free.  He made a face, and I forced him to eat it anyway.  He told me it was good!  next time I only tell the people who need to know that it's 'healthy'.

Next party is up in Peterborough at Mommy's and Cousin Sean's new house.  (separate houses!)
Sean has a pool.  huzzah!!

getting healthy (again...more?)

So it's been almost 3 weeks on paleo.  I know I need to eat more.  I don't want to starve myself!  so more veggies at every meal!  UGH.  I'm not a big veg fan.  I did re discover I like raw peas yesterday.  I'm going to try chard again.  And there is a purple cabbage in the fridge. 

I did have a customer comment on my mood and weight loss.  It was part embarrassing and part confirming.  Did I talk about PMS in the last post?   ZILCH.  I think two more cycles will confirm if it was a fluke or because of the diet.

My sister (the holistic nutritionist) was talking about sugar and inflammation, and how carbs and starch turn into sugar that triggers inflammation, and since that is my main issue, I'm pleased that I am doing this.  I still have pain sometimes, but it's much less. 

I did a detox yoga today, and will *try* to do it a few times a week to help with getting rid of the crud in my body.

I again started 100 pushups and 200 'situps'.  I am SO weak.  I could barely do one knee push up.  I'll be keeping a log here to keep track.  Maybe on a different page. 

So, back at it.  And back at the chore list!  sheesh.  I'm so bad at keeping on track.  BUT  I *think* this diet is beginning to help with motivation...but part of it is habit, so we'll see.

a kitchen sink post

1.  It's been 2 weeks eating (mosly) paleo.  I've had a few cheats, but I've done really really well I think.
Some things I've noticed so far:  I have not crashed!  As in, when I get hungry, I feel hungry, my tummy rumbles some, but I don't feel faint or shaky.  I don't have to EAT RIGHT NOW.  I know this because I was involved in the Toronto Festival of Clowns this weekend and didn't eat regularly.  (more on that in a moment!)  I have to be more organised with food, but that is coming along.  There is *nothing* in a corner store that I can eat.  No, wait, nuts.  I can buy nuts or sunflower seeds.  I haven't gone to a restaurant yet, so I don't know what that will be like.  I'm sure it will be along the lines of  "Can I get extra salad/veggies in place of the potatoes?"
I *think* my moods have been more stable, but this weekend was a crappy sleeping weekend, late nights, not being able to sleep in, so I'm a wee bit grumpy.  I also just got my period, so there was some pms, *but* looking back to the last week, it wasn't nearly as bad as it could have been, and I didn't get cramps.  Day one is *always* crampy.  AND there was very little food cravings, and when I have eaten chocolate, it was just kinda ok.  My stomach pain was worse than ever, but it seems to have calmed down some.  I'm giving myself a month to see how things progress.  Or, let's say, to the end of June. 

2.  CLOWNS!  I just spent the weekend with a bunch of clowns and it was rad.  It's fun to dance (to a DJ) with fellow clowns (in or out of nose) because they have NO inhibitions!  SO FUN.  It was nice to see a few people who I met last year, and just to be in the same place more with friends.  I was up late and slept little, but it was worth it.

3. There is someone I don't like.  This is an awkward thing to write on a public blog, because although you may speak to friends 'in private', you don't announce to a whole room that "HEY!  there is someone I don't like...and well, since I'm announcing it to *everyone* I won't tell you who it is!".  Regardless, I'm going to continue on and assure you it's is not you (I think...).  I find not liking this person (X) frustrating, not just because they annoy the heck out of me, but because in general they are a caring, nice, generous person.  I want to yell "SHUT THE FUCK UP!" when X talks.  So it's all me.  So what the HELL can I do about it?  I don't know, because X is part of the community, and as much as I try to distance myself from them, X seems to *always* be there.  I feel sad for myself.  I know that I'm not going to like everyone I come in contact with, but the absolute RAGE I feel when X is around astounds me.

4.  J got a job!  yay!  he started today with an orientation.  I've been working 2 jobs, and am in a bit of a conundrum as to whether I will keep them both.  I don't really want to.  I'm feeling pretty drained, but we still need to bring our savings back.  I figure I'll stay with the gardening until the end of the season (Oct.) and pack away the $.

oh the discomfort!

My midsection is in a fairly decent amount of pain.  I believe it has to do with inflammation in my bowels.  (YAY!  more bowel talk!)  It is referring into mainly my right hip and lower back, but lately my whole leg and into my left side too.  My joints hurt.  My mom has been going through something similar (but more complex I think)  A major change in her diet helped a lot. 

I've been thinking about going off refined sugar (yea, I said I was, I didn't!), and grains.  A lot has to do with random bits of information gleaned for different places, including my moms success.  There is This article about the sun and avoiding sunburn. (I'm planning on not wearing sunscreen this year!  maybe I'll write about that soon)

SO I want to go for the paleo diet. 

Basically, the Paleo Diet consists of eating meats, veggies, healthy fats (coconut oil, avocados, nuts, eggs), and fruit. It eliminates grains (especially ones that contain gluten, but also rice and corn), refined sugars, dairy, vegetable oils, legumes (including peanuts), potatoes, and soy. The diet encourages organic foods as much as possible and grass-fed meats that are antibiotic and hormone-free.

(This woman is a wee bit...Christian-preachy for my taste, but it doesn't come through in her blog posts/recipes)

*deep breath*  I always seem to FAIL at these kind of things.  I'm *hoping* that I can stick it out long enough to see the benefits.  Ms. Unrefined (from above link) talks about the benefits she sees: 

Here are some of the things I have noticed in my life as a result of switching to the Paleo Diet:
1. Hormonal stability/balance 
2. More energy
3. More motivation
4. Clarity of thought/less spacey
5. Increased memory
6. Less sleepy
7. Less headaches
8. Increased circulation (I’m not as cold as I used to be though this winter will be an excellent test for that.)

I would LOVE LOVE LOVE for all that to happen for me.  She doesn't talk about her guts, but a lot of other stuff I've read talks about it helping with that too.

J pointed out that I need to up my abdominal strength too.  They aid in digestion as well.  This will help with back stability.

I need to start my weekly menu planning again.  That is always a help.

I'm so tired of feeling like shit!  I want to talk more about my mental health too, but that is for another day.