little breakthrough

A few weeks ago we went down south to Villa Park to visit Todd's family for some down time. It was nice to get away from regular life but I had underestimated the amount of time I spend in the kitchen preparing and eating food! Plus being on vacation with a little one is a lot different than when it was just the two of us. We had some sorting out to do as far as letting each-other have times of rest while one would take Noah. We had some good communicating about all that :). 
It's so weird to think of life before The Noodle, I can hardly remember, and it was only eight months ago...well kind of ;) I wouldn't change a thing though, we are very blessed.
Anyhow, I had a little breakthrough while we were there with the diet. Todd's parents offered to stay home with Noah while she napped so that Todd and I could go for a little hike together. I've been so weak lately Todd promised to walk slow if I needed him to. As we were going up the hill I felt a burn in all my muscles. Of course I've felt "the burn" before but this time it really felt good. You always hear that "feel the burn!" well, I would always push through that feeling because it wasn't a good one, but I had nothing to compare it to. This time, it felt so good to just keep moving onward upward faster and faster. I could hear Todd next to me struggling for breath, I told him "I could go faster!" he encouraged me to do so and I speed walked up the rest of the hill. It felt so good and when I got to the top I got a high. I couldn't believe how good I felt, I was a bit shaky because I hadn't been used to that kind of exercise in a long time, but man, it felt good. I haven't felt like that in years! Even when I was running very regularly for a year or so I didn't feel that good. I think the last time I felt like that was when I was a little kid, I can't wait to be able to feel that way a lot more often!

new direction

I am encouraged because I feel like this second half of the diet is going to be focused more on getting stronger. It's cool to see for myself that when I put my mind to something I really can do it. My used-to-be flabby will is being strengthened and gaining momentum. :)
     As I was doing my almost daily ritual of looking at yummy desserts that I can't have. I was kind of getting sick of it. And instead started looking at some fitness stuff. Different sayings and also pictures of women who are physically fit and it really helped me. I feel like my focus really changed. I started walking and doing a bit of cardio and I already feel better. I think that it helps push the toxins through my muscles. And it's nice to feel tired at night because I was doing something not because I feel achy and gross.
     One thing I've learned from that, though I've heard it all my life, is: What you focus on will change you. I never really believed that that was true. I didn't think that we could really be that weak. I can see though that things (life movies) that I knew had no real relevance to my life did in fact tweak the way I thought about things. It wasn't until today that I realized that, because of the shift with my focus on exercise. It's exciting and yet daunting. It makes me really want to focus on the right things more and more.
     I think that the symptoms are gone from my nipples, completely. That feels like such a relief. So now I just need to start feeling really good, which shows I am really on the way to recovery!! That feels sooooooo nice!
     It's kind of hard figuring out what to give Noah because she can't have the usual mashed banana or fruit anything. I've given her avocado and she still doesn't like it. She is so funny, she'll give me this huge grin and start gagging. :) But she's still gaining weight and doing great so that's good.
     I am so glad to be able to write a happier blog, last week felt so hard and uphill, but this week is feeling so great! Praise the Lord!
    Thanks for your encouragement and cheering me on, it really helps.
loves!
    

amendment

The last post I wrote turned out to not be so bad. I made the cauliflower fritters the next day but just made them like pancakes and Todd liked them and I loved them. So, I was quite happy with them. I just finished the last one tonight...yummy!

bombed!

tonight I tried making this recipe...

 don't they look so yummy?

so inviting...."eat me!", they say.

Well, I made this

Hmmm, you see I can tell the difference. 

and I used my precious ingredients, that are even more precious now that I am trying to stay on a budget. The reason they turned out bad is because I used something to replace the eggs (arrowroot just didn't cut it!)...and didn't have cardamom, or mint.....I used coconut flour (that might not have been that bad though) and didn't use enough oil to fry them. Because like I told you before, my ingredients are quite presh. :) To top it all off I have lots more of the "batter" in my fridge. probably waiting to go bad so that I can throw it away because I can't throw it away right now.

But, instead of crying I laughed....so that's good. That is my story for the day!

over half way there!

     I guess this is the hard part of the diet (for a blog anyhow). Just the day-in, day-out eating and going on with life. Recently I've given up fats for a time. I think that my liver is congested so I am trying this to see if I feel better and my liver will de-congest. ;) I get tired after I eat and have some other not nice things going on.
     Man, it just feels like I am giving up more and more things. And I've been wondering if I've been eating too much again. It can be disheartening trying to make sure I am doing everything the right way. This week has been a bit trying. I thought I was detoxing (once again) but in fact I was just dehydrated.     
     So I am downing the water and hoping it doesn't come out of my eyeballs :).
      I just realized that this is my 49th day of the diet. Lord willing, only 41 days to go! That is very exciting. On the other hand, I hate when I know exactly what day I'm on because that seems to make it go by slower, but in reality it feels like it's going by pretty swiftly. PTL!!
     I understand that I needed to walk this out so that my lifestyle would change but, God, can I be healed now?? :) I want my energy back. The diet is supposed to make you have LOTS of energy so I'm just waiting on that!!
     Perhaps I need to exercise, I do, but it's kind of hit or miss. I haven't been able to push myself to do it when I am feeling lousy.
      Ok, ok, this shouldn't be a downer blog. I just made brussels sprouts and absolutely love them!! I've never made them before but I tried this recipe off of pinterest and duuuuude, they are sooooo good. I made two pounds of them for dinner. Todd loved them too and I polished the rest off for lunch. I want to make them again soon! You should too!
     Noah is doing great, teething and also climbing on everything and anything she can get her hands on. Todd is working a lot, like usual and we are almost ready for the school year to start.
     We just started looking at our finances and trying to kind of live on a budget....oh boy. I'm excited about the challenge and "gulp" at it as well :)
     Well my peeps. I think I'm signing off. Thanks for tuning in. Love you!
   

day-to-day

     Yesterday I woke up with a rash on my arms and stomach. It kind of freaked me out a bit, but I re-read the chapter in the book about cleansing and rash is listed in there, so that is good. :) I still have it today and it's kind of lessened (not so pronounced) but is covering more of my body. I hope this means that it's nearing the end.
     Who really knows how long cleansing will take?...as it is different for every person.
     I've started exercising again. That shows me that I am really feeling better, wonderful! :) I'm still looking at desserts a lot on Pinterest. They are really losing their appeal to me and I am quite grossed out at how much food coloring is in food.
     I am so hungry these days, and it's hard to keep the rule that you can only eat till you are 80% full so that you will have room to digest.
     It's been pretty weird emotionally. It's really easy for me to take offense at Todd(sorry babe!), but at the same time I feel more peaceful and satisfied as a whole. Although more mellow, I guess that makes sense, I'm not really having any kind of highs and lows because of food/coffee/sugar.
     Noah has been doing great. I think she must be over the cleansing part herself. She makes me so proud. She scoots everywhere, swimmer style. She smiles for the camera and has started to understand about things she can't have. We left her with Amanda Evans for my birthday so that we could go to the lake and do stand-up longboarding and she did so well! She played and was happy the whole time and went to sleep like a champ. This morning on her seventh month birthday she said "Dada" for the first time! And when Todd clapped and said "yay" she clapped too. She makes this momma's heart happy. :)
     I feel like I have lots of good momentum and feel stronger internally every day. A question I still have is, "Do I really have it in me to completely change our eating lifestyle forever?". It won't be The Body Ecology Diet but I really want to be making a lot more of our food instead of buying boxed things. I want us to be a very healthy family and live long disease-free lives. I'm only just over a third of the way there, so perhaps I will be feeling stronger and stronger in this decision as the days go by...I hope ;)
     Love you all, thanks for reading!
   

thus far

So it's been some time since I've posted. Time just has a way of flying by.
     Well, let's see, the diet has been going fine. I've just been plugging away at it. I did cheat once (a couple weeks ago), I ate popcorn (that I could have) all by itself. I should have eaten it with 80% veggies.
     I had somehow tricked myself into thinking that I could do it without adverse effect(that maybe I was healed?). Well, the next day I felt the burning shooting across my boob. And not to mention the fact that when I fessed up to Todd we had "words" :).
     But it was actually pretty cool, I processed a lot about it and feel like I came out more committed than I had been before. And more determined to be able to walk out my healing with the Lord.
     I also read in the book that I need to be symptom free for three straight months in order to be off the diet. I called the BED people and really it's at your discretion(PHHHHEEW!!). It could be one more month, could be ten.....needless to say, I am praying that in three months I will be healed!
     It is so interesting doing this because I started to feel wonderful. With that I started working out again, going for walks, cleaning the house, cooking more creatively. Then bam!, I started cleansing again. Lots of wonderful symptoms popped up and I felt like dooky. It lasted about five days. I feel better now but it's just crazy all the layers of healing.
     I am encouraged though, when I can get in the right frame of mind. Sometimes It's hard to remember during the cleansing times that this is actually making me better. :)
       I've has some requests for what I've been eating, So here are some pics I've taken to share.

 

"vanilla pudding"

made with agar flakes, stevia, yellow, squash, lecithin and some other stuff?? :)

 

sauerkraut

 

curried onions, polenta and sauerkraut 

this was actually SO good!

 

"carrot cake oatmeal"

made with carrots, xanthan gum(to hold it together),  cinnamon and stevia

I love eating this for breakfast!

 

kefir ice-cream

made with a culture starter, raw milk and some flavored stevia

 

green juice

don't remember what was in this 

probably some leafy green veggie, cucumber, green apple and something else :)

 

basil salad

made with soaked almonds and olive oil, no cheese

 

kale and carrot chips

 

amaranth pizza

made with onions, quinoa, spinach and amaranth flour dough

 

sauted garlic, carrot, zucchini with an egg

 This is just of couple things that I've made up or gotten from the recipe book. It's fun to explore new things and learn how to use different spices. :)
     Love you all, hope all is well in your lives. :) Until next time