It's Not Just Physical

How we see ourselves plays a huge role in what we become. It's important to rationally understand that while we are a work in progress, our worth is beyond measure.

If we truly value ourselves as we should, we must seek for the very best for ourselves and loved ones, so with no regret whatsoever, I have ditched the fat lifestyle for a happier, more fit and healthier one.

little girls photo / fat vs muscle photo

Dr. Joel Fuhrman's Nutritarian Food Pyramid

Let's compare food pyramids for just a few minutes.
The University of Michigan was on the right track with their Healing Foods Pyramid, and I do like that they include water, but I think this new one by Dr. Fuhrman is better.
What do you think?
For more information on The Nutritarian Food Pyramid,
click here.

Cream of Potato Soup

When I come off a fast of more than 3-4 days I like to ease my body into it. (I've tried eating heavier foods and meat right after a fast and it's not worth the belly ache!) So, for breakfast I have a smoothie to reintroduce fiber. For lunch I like to have a nice cream soup, bringing back cooked foods and some soy protein. Then for dinner I'll have a big green salad. I use a little apple cider vinegar as a dressing usually, because avocado or olives serve as the oil.
This is today's cream soup.
1 sm. Red Onion
1 Stalk Celery
1 Carrot
1 chunk Sweet Potato
2 sm. White Potatoes
Opt. A couple of Mushrooms
Bouillon Cubes enough to flavor 2C. liquid
Water
2 C. Soymilk

Spray a frying pan with Olive Oil nonstick spray. Add Veggies (about 2 C. total) and about 1/2 C. Water. Cook til veggies are barely soft, adding enough water to the pan to keep the juices liquid. This will save both flavor and nutrients for the soup instead of leaving them stuck on the bottom of the pan.

Pour 2 C. Unsweetened Soymilk into a blender. Add the veggies and juices. Blend til smooth and serve in a nice big mug. Makes about 4 C., enough for 2, 2 C. servings. Garnish with Parsley and Black Pepper.

5 + 8 = -18.5

Well, after 5 days at the beginning of October and now 8 days more of juicing only, I have lost 18 and a half pounds. David and I are enjoying trips to local farmer's markets for fresh organic produce. This last Saturday after shopping for fruits and veggies we found ourselves in a department store buying David some smaller clothes! This combined with what he was doing before has added up to some great changes for him, too! Good things are happening here at our house. Hope they are at yours, too.
Have a happy, healthy day!!
Food photo

I Coulda Had A V-8 ...wait a minute, I DID Have A V-8!

Here is my recipe for fresh V-8 Juice:

3 Tomatoes
2 Celery Stalks
1-2 Carrots
1-2 Kale Leaves
1 sm. Green Onion
1 handfull of Spinach
1/2 sm. Beet
1/3-1/2 lg. Cucumber
1/4 Red or Yellow Bell Pepper

Actually, I guess it's V-9 Juice. I added a green onion.
Sooo good!! Ya gotta try it!

(This great photo came from... www.v8vegetablejuice.blogspot.com )

Juice. Ya Gotta Like It!

With 13 days under my belt and a few more to go, I've got to be able to prepare juices that I can handle on order to keep going. When I started it was a bit difficult because I was so new at it that I had no idea what fruits and veggies to combine, so I just picked out what sounded good and boy was I disappointed! For 3 days in a row I made myself drink juices that were terrible. I even made it a matter of prayer to try to figure out how in the world I could make this work for me. Anyway, as I thought through it I realized that I really like my citrus smoothie so maybe I should try using those fruits for juice. I did and it became a base for doing a little mix and match. This is my basic breakfast recipe with a few variations included:
First I gather my fruit and veggies.

I include:
1 Grapefruit
3 Oranges
2 Carrots
a 3" chunk of Cucumber
2-3 Kale leaves

Then maybe some
Strawberries
Or Cranberries
Or an Apple
Remember that grapefruit and cranberries are a bit sour so you want to combine them with something sweet. It also helps to think the other way around when making up your own recipes. You don't want juices that are too full of sugars, even if they are natural :) Before I finish my batch of juice I taste it to see if I like it. I usually do because I start with a tried and true combination but sometimes I need to adjust for the sweetness level. With the strong flavor of the oranges and grapefruit I can get away with adding things like Kale and Cucumber. After the juice is deposited in the collection pitcher, stir the juices together before serving. I especially like to dilute my juice with some ice.
If you line the pulp bucket with a produce bag it will make clean up easy! Also, you can recycle your pulp and peelings by blending them in your blender and making a lovely garden smoothie for composting the garden!

Juicing

Fourteen pounds ago I started juicing. Five days at the beginning of October, and now again, only this time I'm going for 2 weeks. This is day 4 and I'm really happy about how good I feel! I have increased energy and my thinking is better. I've been able to feel the happy ache of cleansing lungs and liver and head, so I know I'm getting good results already.
I've done cleanses in the past with water only, but it's more difficult both to do and to work into your regular daily life style. The plan is to become primarily plant-based in order to make the changes permanent in the most healthy way possible!
I guess you might say I've made a new lifetime friend, my juicer.
The one I have now is a Jack LaLanne, but I see a more powerful Breville on the horizon!

"Let Food Be Your Medicine", Hippocrates

Netflix is running several documentaries regarding eating and health, which I have watched with great interest. So much so that I am on a juice fast after seeing the results that Joe Cross had in his quest for improved health that he journals in "Fat, Sick and Nearly Dead". In two days I have lost 5 1/2 pounds and I feel great.

But I just finished watching Frontline's "The Medicated Child" (also on Netflix) and I could hardly believe what I saw! Well, actually, I can believe it, but it breaks my heart and makes me angry at this "system" that most of us have been taught to trustingly and innocently follow trying to take good care of ourselves and our families.
I don't profess to be any kind of an expert but as a thinking individual who has been reading alternative health care books for decades I am so very saddened by the fact that America's children are paying such a huge price.
It is my hope that anyone who reads this little piece will consider the insight of Hippocrates who said "Let food be your medicine", and may I add that in doing this we should also consider removing the non-foods, like chemicals, the over-processed and artificial substances from our diet at the same time... or sooner! In "The Medicated Child" not one word is ever mentioned about diet or eating more fruits and veggies. Instead children are filmed eating ice cream and corn dogs and they don't know why they're sick!!
Many thanks again to you Netflix and film producers and yes, some doctors too, :) who put forth time, money and effort to educate individuals and parents on this vital issue, through programs like "Food Matters", "Fat, Sick and Nearly Dead" and " Forks Over Knives". At some point we may hopefully come to realize that our medical profession is wonderful when we need help after we've been injured but most know very little about how to get and keep people truly healthy.
In my humble, albeit emphatic opinion, why not try cleaning up our diets and doing a bit of reading in order to know for ourselves how to cure what ails us. Better yet, how about preventing those ailments altogether.