sorta-detox day one

Yesterday's dinner was the first meal on the "sorta-detox" - After a busy Sunday, the four of us went to Sam's Club to look for what we could (fruits and veggies not on the dirty dozen and some organic greens) and then to Martin's (our local grocery) for the rest. It was somewhat expensive, (especially organic cheese!) but not as bad as we expected. Looking at every label did make the shopping experience a long one, even with dividing and conquering . okay boys, you go get chicken and steak. We're going to go get seeds, cheese, and beans!

Then we got to my place and started making dinner and lunches for the next day. One of our sorta-detox cronnies had a bible study the next evening so we assembled the prep for her dinner too. Actually cooking, even a simple meal of a london broil, microwaved sweet potato, and sauteed green beans, takes a long time on a school night! I knew that already, I mean I cook more complicated menus than that for guests, but I guess it just seemed super long because I realized we'd be doing that every night for 10 days. I was pooped after we finally got my kitchen clean.

But the fruit of our labor was something that reminded me of home. I had a colorful plate that had been made with the food groups in mind and was meant to nourish us, not just fill us. It was great, and it made me appreciate my mom. Years and years she had worked full time and came home to cook me a balanced dinner. She rarely picked something up from a fast food resturant and always made sure that there was a meat, a fruit, and a veggie on my plate. That took time, that took sacrifice, and that took love. And it made me want to read this.

Alas, I forgot my prepared steak salad and delicious homemade balsamic vinaigrette in my fridge this morning! Grumble grumble. I guess I have my lunch for tomorrow on deck. So I had to track down a meal in this city an hour from my apartment. It was harder than I thought. I ended up going to a restaurant that toted itself online as being organic, but once I got in there, I didn't see any mention of organics. I tried to get something safe, I asked for the veggie veggie sandwich but on a salad. I suspect the pepper jack cheese in it was not organic, but I made the best out of what I had available and didn't veer too far off of the diet plan. It was just frustrating to have to go off the plan before 24 hours had past.

Anywhosal, below I've posted my shopping list and menu plan. (Which we've already adjusted because the grocery store ran out of broccoli- have you ever heard of such a thing?) The main idea of planning it out was to have a grocery list with minimal waste, limited amounts of sugar, and the other food groups balanced. I highlighted things like wheat, dairy, meat, and sugar to keep a visual of what each day looked like. I wanted to be sure that I didn't fall into my usual ruts of eating too many carbs, etc. I'll post some of the recipes as we go.  :)

P.S. Did you know how delicious a baked sweet potato is?! I didn't! I'd only ever tried to make them as fries and this was wayyyy better! They just came out of the microwave and we sprinkled cinnamon on them and boom. Freakin' like candy.

PROTEIN

ÿ        Eggs

ÿ        Chickpeas

ÿ        Red Kidney Beans

ÿ        Ground Turkey

ÿ        Chicken

ÿ        3 steaks

VEGGIES

ÿ        Onion

ÿ        Red Onion

ÿ        Carrots

ÿ        Peppers (Red)

ÿ        Tomatoes

ÿ        Avocado

ÿ        Green Beans

ÿ        Salad

ÿ        Garlic

ÿ        Mushrooms

FRUITS

ÿ        Apples

ÿ        Pears

ÿ        Oranges

ÿ        Lemon

DAIRY

ÿ        Feta

ÿ        Parmesan

ÿ        Cheddar

ÿ        Plain yogurt

OTHER FOOD

ÿ        Cilantro

ÿ        Flat leaf parsley

ÿ        Beef broth

ÿ        salsa

OTHER OTHER

ÿ        Disposable dressing containers

ÿ        nut milk bag

	Breakfast	Lunch	Dinner	Snacks or Dessert
Sunday	X	X	Salad, Sweet Potato, Broccoli, Steak
Monday	Yogurt, granola, almond, fruit parfait	Roasted Veggies Tomato Soup w mozz and a side salad with cucumbers, broccoli, red onion, chick peas	Mediterranean veggies and chicken w side of steamed broccoli	Oatmeal and raisin stuffed apples
Tuesday	Oatmeal with nuts, cranberries, and maple syrup	Salad w Grilled Chicken, black beans,  avocado	Red Kidney Bean and Curry over brown rice
Wednesday	2 Soft boiled eggs and a piece of cheese	Brown rice, chicken, black bean, avocado, salsa bowl	Warming lentil and sweet potato salad	Pumpkin granola
Thursday	Green smoothie with protein powder	Peanut butter on  apple slices, Tomato Soup	Salad, 100% Whole wheat bread (from my 5 minute a day book) Panini’s  (caramelized onion, roasted red peppers, cheese, Chicken)	Vanilla roasted pears
Friday	Pumpkin spiced oatmeal	Greek chicken salad	Bulgur Salad w Chickpeas, Roasted Red Peppers ,Spiced Cumin Dressing	Almonds and dried cranberries
Saturday	2 Soft boiled eggs and a piece of cheese	Pesto Salad Tomatoes and Mozzarella Some protein?	Quinoa and lemon chicken
Sunday	Yogurt, granola, almond, cranberry parfait	Curried apple chicken salad over salad	Roasted veggies and turkey meatballs	Peanut butter on whole wheat English muffin
Monday	1 orange 1 egg	Pear, cranberry, feta, balsamic salad w leftover Quinoa	Turkey Chili	Cherry, walnut, cocoa cookie
Tuesday	Apple Chia seeds and yogurt	Curried apple chicken salad over salad	Salad with Pears and Gorz and bals. Mushroom Bourguignon Sautéed Green beans
Wednesday!	2 Soft boiled eggs and a piece of cheese	Turkey Chili	Chicken m’room marsala  with Green beans

sorta detox, t-minus 3 days.

I gotta text from a good friend last night. A friend that I grew up thisclose with, a friend I got to stand behind at her wedding, and a friend who's daughter is the cutest thing since puppies were invented.

pal:

"Read your blog. You need to read it starts with food. I did a whole 30 challenge in October. Lost 10 pounds. Was hard but worth it. You can do this."

First off: Yay! Someone read my post! lol.
Secondly: How sweet to send me some encouragment!
Third of all: Wow. Can't wait to hear more about it. She gave me the okay to post our convo, so here's the email thread that ensued. (Is that a thing, an email thread? Whatever, you get the picture.)  It contains some of those documentaries I promised and even a recipe that sounds pretty tasty!

pal:

here's the websitehttp://whole9life.com/category/whole-30/

I read the book - and was inspired - mostly for my MS and trying to reduce a lot of inflammation - so i challenged myself and did it for 30 days
it was hard - and sometimes my stomach was pissed off b/c I was detoxing but it was so worth it
I'm doing it again right now - well sort of - until after I get over this terrible cold or whatever I have - but I don't eat dairy, sugar, grains, or even vegetable oils just everything in true form
so meat, veggies, and some fruit. You sleep better at the end of it and you feel better i also perform better at yoga when I do it.

moi':

Has it helped your inflamation any?  Is whole 30 just this inspirational newsletter or do they give you a meal plan?
Was it difficult to plan all these meals? Did the hubs do it with you?
Did you have a specific imbalance that needed to cut dairy and sugars (in grains and sugar form)? Do you eat legumes?

I watch these documentaries and have read these type of books in the past- I think they can get a little conspiracy theory, or a little extreme, but really, I do think we eat to much crap. And I'm on board for watching/reading this stuff if it gets us thinking and fired up to make a change. (That Jamie Oliver can grind on your gears because he gets overly theatrical and seems to exploit people, but hey- a wake up call, is a wake up call) I don't think it's necessary to juice everything that goes into your mouth, but I do eat WAY too much crap. And for people trying to figure out what's going on with their bodies (like Joe Cross from Fat, Sick, and Nearly Dead), I think it's such a common sense approach to cut out everything, see if you feel better, and then slowly add stuff in. I know like 3 people that have discovered their gluten intolerance by doing that.

I went to the grocery store last night and bought some "health" foods: chia seeds, apples, spinach, organic milk, bulgar, real maple syrup (for sugar replacement), whole wheat english muffins and maybe a couple other things. It ran me like $50. It was just a few small bags and I was like, what's wrong with our food system that it costs way more to eat foods that have less done to them.  ... Well actually I know why because I took a course on farm policies in law school, but it's no wonder we're all overweight and sick.  I know that most of those things are cut from Paleo methods- I might do that sort of cleanse for lent. But right now I'm mostly concerned about isolated nutrients, preventative antibiotics, and added hormones... the hormones really freak me out.

What kind of yoga do you get into? With a group or at home?
 
... can I post our convo on my blog?

Miss you, hope the family is well.

 

See, told you I asked permission.

pal:

Yes, it has helped my inflammation. Between watching mostly my gluten intake (i rarely eat breads etc) I haven't had an epsisode in a long, long while. In fact, I can say that I have a nasty cold right now and my legs haven't went numb - usually I'll go numb while I"m sick so something is going right. I know its partially conspiracy theory too - but I honestly believe wheat is a huge problem in this country. Another very fantastic read is Wheat Belly - give it a shot too - it talks about how wheat of the 1950's is not the wheat we eat today and has been genetically modified as well. So the wheat is affecting people differently.

[Hubs] didn't do it when me the first time- ther ewasn't really a meal plan but usually my day would go breakfast: eggs and avocado, lunch would be a salad with protein and homemade dressing and nuts. dinner would be steak, sweet potato, and a green veggie  - rinse and repeat  - it got a bit old - I know that this whole30 thing is HUGE in the crossfit world - so I'm not as hardcore as some people.

I do agree it's insane about prices - we do try to stick to organic milk - as for organic fruits and veggies - I try to buy only organic from the dirty dozen - organic bananas aren't necessary, but organic strawberries are better to buy.

Fun fact about organic milk - it stays fresh longer - i know its weird, but it does. Organic strawberries do too in the fridge. Also I feel you on the real maple syrup - ITS FREAKING INSANE how expensive some stuff is.

For a nice yummy breakfast I make this as a cereal replacement - http://paleomg.com/pumpkin-granola/ IT'S DELICIOUS.

I watched Fat Sick and Nearly Dead too - made me want to juice everything!!!

I honestly think staying away from processed foods in general is the best form - ive been looking at ingredients more and when I can't pronounce something its probably not a good idea.

I go to a yoga studio 4 times a week for an hour or hour and a half at a time. Keeps my anxiety at bay and you can post what you want. :)

Did you read that? Her diet is helping her control her Multiple Sclerosis, an autoimmune disease that affects the brain and spinal cord (central nervous system). WOW!

moi':

That's awesome! I'm so glad you aren't having episodes. That right there is amazing, and like you said, something is going right. 

Yea, I watched King Corn, read the Omnivore's Delima and just some other articles and so forth in my Agriculture and Rural Lands Law class- so have a little bit of an understanding of the modified wheat thing. I mean, all that stuff seems like a good idea at first- more food, less $, more people eat. But now we are realizing that this stuff is having unintended side effects. I have a friend who's involved in the agricultural world and she get's upset when people attack modern farming practices because it's necessary to feed everyone at the prices we're accustomed too. And she's partially right I think, we have to realize that we as consumers have somewhat chosen these practices, and most American's cannot afford to eat whole foods like we're suggesting. What really gets me up in arms is when food companies use science to trick and mislead consumers. So like, MSG making us fat, or using addictive isolates.  As an aside, did you know one of the reasons corn is used in everything is because we subsidize it so much that big farmers are pretty much forced into using/growing it. And one of the reasons we subsidize it is because we are using leftover fertilizer (nitrogen) from the second world war. That stuff is pretty interesting.

Yea; the organics lasting longer thing is wild! Why that is!? I feel like it sets off the cost a little bit- I never have to throw organic milk away before I get to use it. I didn't realize that organic fruits lasted longer. I guess that makes sense though- there's no poison on them. I wonder about rasberries... I never buy rasberries because they go bad so quickly, especially for the price. 

Pal:

That makes a ton of sense about the industry and feeding everyone.
Next summer maybe think about joining a CSA with [future hubs]- i'm sure your area has them.
I do mine all year round it just depends, but for example = for the summer - I pay a flat fee and go pick up fresh vegetables at a farm about 3 miles from my house. It's great - CSA - community shared agriculture. I get some delicious local foods and don't worry about pesticides etc b/c she's an organic farm. http://www.localharvest.org/

sorta detox

So if you read this blog, you likely know me in real life, and may have heard my relatively recent understanding about how all sin is a perversion of something that was originally good and how such perversions are intrinsically harmful to our health (whether it be physically, emotionally, or as a society), often in ways that we don't recognize. So when God instructs us not to do something, it usually is for our own benefit. For example, sex outside of marriage and masturbation is a perversion of the sexuality God gifts us and harms our current or future spouse, ourselves, and harms society as a whole, messing with an individual's or society's ability to commit and creates families that have the odds stacked against them.

I also think that the root of most of our food/weight issues follow this same framework. Gluttony is a perversion of enjoying the bounty God provides for us. And it makes us fat, sick, and sad. God gave us diligence to work for his Glory, or 'stick-with-it-ness' to overcome difficulties in life. The human body is perfectly made for labor, but when we move away from that we embrace sloth. Sloth is a perversion and it makes us fat, sick, unsuccessful, and sad. On this note, I have also been more aware of the theory that when we mess with the make up of our food, we are treading this line of perversion that may harm us in ways we don't know. 

When we shove all our beef into concentrated animal feeding operations ("CAFOs") the cows stand in their own excrement, therefore we have to prevent them from getting sick and passing that sickness onto other animals and to us by using preventative antibiotics. That paired with growth hormones or steroids makes for some pretty altered food. I'm not saying that doctoring sick animals is bad, and I'm not saying that you're going to Hell for eating McDonald's. However, what I am saying is that this dramatic alteration of our food may be harming us in ways we don't understand. We're building tolerances to antibiotics, we're finding more and more people with endocrinology problems (raises hand), and even fish in our water supply are showing the effects of our country's dependence on medicinal hormones. http://www.lifesitenews.com/news/what-the-pill-is-doing-to-our-water-supply/

So, I'm swearing off soda, foods that have been genetically modified, and foods that have been so broken down that they only have one nutrient (white sugar, high fructose corn syrup, artificial sugar, bleached flour)for 10 days. I'm also skipping any artificial preservatives (sodium nitrate, that means no deli meats), picking organic fruits and veggies when able ($), and most importantly, avoiding any animal, or animal product, that has been raised with steroids, other hormones, or preventive antibiotics.

source: smitten kitchen

I'm only doing this for 10 days for a few reasons. #1. I'm expecting it will be expensive. #2 It's going to take a lot of meal planning, beyond what I usually do. #3 I'm addicted to carbs, breads, and cookies and to find/bake without processed flour and sugar is going to be very difficult for yours truly.  Fortunately though, I have two buddies willing to take the plunge with me to spur me on and to help absorb some of the duties of cooking and the cost of the groceries. I really shouldn't call it a detox because we're still going to eat a small amount of : complex carbs, sugar in the form of honey, meat, and dairy. Really, we're just trying to eat the way we should be already and searching for food in its original form without excessive poking and prodding from the food industry.

Here's an example of what a day will likely look like:

  Breakfast                                    Lunch                                        Dinner

Pumpkin spiced oatmeal

Greek chicken salad

Bulgur Salad with Chickpeas, Roasted Red Peppers and Spiced Cumin Dressing

See, no deprivation. But none of the foods are instant and they are in their original form.

If this is a success and isn't as difficult as we thought, I'm planning on doing a longer diet for lent.

I'll post my whole 10-day meal plan with some of the recipes here in a few days in case you want to do it with us. We start the 6th and go until the 16th.

I'll also post some of the names of documentaries that are great motivation for changing your diet. They are better at explaining how the body works with processed foods than I can explain. Sometimes they can get a little preachy and conspiracy laden, but they'll inspire you to forgo the 3pm diet coke and cheetos.......... Jesus help me; I love me some cheetos.

Getting over a Cold

Home Remedies:

Pap's Remedy: Shot or two of Burbon and then go to bed and stay hot.
To make Pap's remedy a little more palitable: Hot Toddy
although others say that alcohol supresses the immune system.
What I've been sucking down to get through work and Christmas carols: tea, tea, and tea

What Science Tells us to Eat:

Fish, chicken and turkey can help the organs that make your cold-destroying white blood cells. Just don't eat fried stuff, when you're sick you don't need to put your body through the extra riggors of digesting processed, fatty foods.

garlic eaters seem to fight off colds, possibly because of the compound allicin's ability to block infections, the New York Times reported.

What to Skip:

While OJ has some immunity boosting benefit, its a lot of sugar and not much substance. Going straight to an orange (or kale or a red pepper) would serve the cold bearer better. "However, before you run out for a week's worth of grapefruit, keep in mind that the jury is still out on vitamin C's real cold-busting benefit. A 2007 study that followed more than 11,000 people over several decades found that the average person isn't benefitted all that much by a daily dose of vitamin C." Sarah Kline at http://www.huffingtonpost.com/sarah-klein/foods-for-cold_b_1885300.html#slide=1525245.

The jury is also out on whether to avoid dairy products when you have a cold.  Some say it increases mucus, while others say nay. Dairy products can be good sources of protein and vitamin D, which can both help fight infections, so pick your poison.

Healthy Cookie: Walnut, Cherry, Chocolate Chip

I am making good on my promise to update you on the baking experiments. The following is a slightly less guilty baking project dotting my holiday season. I still intend on making puppy chow, peanut butter blossoms, and homemade marshmallows to gift, but these little crisp cookies have a little more substance than sugar and are quite tasty. I think they are the perfect mid-afternoon snack to satisfy your 3:30 sweet tooth. Yours may turn out fluffy like the image from self- but mine were somewhat thin and crisp on the edges, making them the perfect companion for a cup of tea. I've made them for my parents, my office mates, the future hubs, and my one confirmed blog reader. [shout out, Jeff!] I really liked the outcome, but you'll have to decide for yourself. Self estimates that each cookie is about 100 calories, contains 6 g fat (3 g saturated), 11 g carbs, 1 g fiber, and 1 g protein. My momma quipped, "you could really even skip the chocolate," but that's just asinine. Just kidding. That's actually a good idea if you aren't a chocolate craver. It would subtract about 28 calories from your one cookie.

Walnut, Cherry, Chocolate Chip Cookie

Source: Self. Makes 20 cookies

• 1/2 cup whole-wheat flour
• 1/4 cup rolled oats
• 1/4 teaspoon baking soda
• 1/8 teaspoon cinnamon

• 6 tablespoons unsalted butter, softened
• 6 tablespoons brown sugar
• 2 tablespoons granulated sugar

• 1 egg
• 1 teaspoon vanilla extract

• 1/2 cup semisweet chocolate chips
• 1/4 cup coarsely chopped walnuts
• 1/4 cup dried cherries

Heat oven to 375°. In a bowl, combine flour, oats, baking soda and cinnamon. In another bowl, cream butter and sugars until fluffy, 3 to 5 minutes. Add egg and vanilla; beat until smooth. Blend flour mixture into butter mixture. Stir in chocolate chips, walnuts and cherries. Drop 20 dough balls (1 tbsp each) onto 2 ungreased cookie sheets, 2 inches apart. Bake until golden brown, 9 minutes.

sugar rut smoothie

Maybe what sparked my confession earlier this week was just the overall yeuch feeling I've been carrying around. I feel sugared-out, processed-food-out, and dare I say it, carbed-out. I just haven't been eating enough fresh food and my body has been actually craving fruits and veggies. weird.

So yesterday, I shunned the lone pop tart in my cupboard and took the extra time to actually make myself a breakfast. It was simple, fresh, and delicious. Orange Juice, a handful of frozen fruit (strawberries, mangos, pineapples), a handful of spinach (trust me, you don't even taste the spinach), a quick spin in my vitamix, a fun straw, and BOOM, healthy breakfast. My morning commute felt so much better. It perked me up, kept me full longer, and get this- I didn't crave sweets later in the day as per usual. I remember reading once upon a time that foregoing sugar in the morning helps with sugar cravings later in the day, but I don't remember the science behind it. I think it must be something beyond simple carbohydrate crashing... maybe it's psychological or maybe by starting healthy you are reminding yourself how good that feels and tastes.

What kind of things do you do to get out of a sugar rut? I'm considering cutting out artificial sugar because it tricks your mind into thinking you are getting sugar, but since your body doesn't- it actually makes you continue to crave real sugar. "The taste of sweet does cause the release of insulin, which lowers blood sugar , and if carbohydrates are not consumed,  it causes a drop in blood sugar which triggers hunger and cravings for sugar." full interview with internist and physician nutrition specialist, Dr. Melina Jampolis available at http://thechart.blogs.cnn.com/2012/04/27/are-sugar-substitutes-worse-than-the-real-thing/

... but more on that, and my comparison between sin and processed foods, another day.

Friends,

Confession: I have fallen off the wagon. It started with one little baking project with pumpkin and escalated until I was making cookies and icing with abandon. You see, I love to cook and especially to bake. Since the last post I've made beautiful, complicated french macaroons, fragrant pumpkin snicker doodles, fabulous beer mug shaped and decorated sugar cookies, and lots of other fun projects. I logged into my fitness pal ("mfp") for the first time in almost two months. My gym membership expired and I have failed to get closer to the 5k than the couch. The good news is that I haven't packed on much, if any weight since my last weigh in. However, I am definitely out of shape and my pants confirm that I'm a bit more pudgy.

However, last night I readjusted my goals on mfp to a modest half pound per week and have set my sights on some running pants for me and a doggie sweater for the pup. I'll allow it if I can simply meet my calorie goal for the week. I'm considering myself back on track even though I consumed a considerable amount of chocolate this afternoon and am planning on frozen yogurt with a gal pal tonight. Baby steps, right?

Anywhosal, I'm going to have to think up some light baking projects to quell my lust for my kitchenaid mixer, and what I find, I will share.

Until next time dearies,

C

source: http://www.aspoonfulofsugardesigns.com/2012/04/pot-holder.html