Tuesday

Feeling good today! 🙂

Golden beet greens and garlic omelet and spiralized sautéed sweet potato. My omelets never come out looking like omelets, so I’m very proud of this one.

Healthy chocolate shake: handful of macadamia nuts, frozen banana, almond milk, sexy hot chocolate mix (raw cacao, carob, and maca), and a few drops of stevia. Yum!

Veggie sushi for lunch: red peppers, roasted golden beet, avocado, baked tofu squares, spiralized jicama, herbs from the garden (basil, oregano, mint, thyme), sesame oil, and bragg’s liquid aminos. And sprinkled with chia seeds.

Organic carrot almond soup with a dollop of yogurt.

Red juice: beets, bell pepper, apples. Sweet!

Also had some raw “cookies” for a snack. Just processed nuts, dates, and coconut oil. These are a MUST to always have on hand. Totally satisfy a sweet craving and make you feel like you just ate a cookie. Delicious with almond milk.

Dinner. Quinoa pasta with edamame, broccoli, garlic, tofu squares, lemon zest, basil, and Himalayan sea salt.

Green alkalizer. There’s fennel in there, under the kale and parsley. Lemon for detox and alkalizing properties. Cucumber and apple.

So grateful to have had a good day today. Hopefully will continue to improve overnight. Meeting with my infectious disease doctor tomorrow. Going to get his perspective on this Lyme diagnosis. He was one of the 2 main doctors involved in my care during the hospitalization 4 months ago, and he is the one who diagnosed me with Behcet’s 3 years ago (after months of misdiagnoses from other doctors). So I trust his opinion and am hoping he will agree with my integrative doc’s course of action.

Update: infectious disease doc doesn’t think I have Lyme. Thinks it’s a false positive on the test due to cross reaction of the multitude of antibodies my body makes because of the autoimmune responses. Said if I had symptoms or risk factors, it’d require a closer look, but without those, he’s confident that I don’t have it. Not sure what I’m going to do from here. Waiting to hear back from integrative doc.

Monday

Ugh. I’m on a little bit of a roller coaster with this flare. Not too bad today, but definitely not feeling great. Had gf toast with butter before my doc appointment this morning. And a cup of green tea. Still dragging and not really thinking clearly. It’s hard to be patient with baby girl on day like this, but thankfully, she’s feeling mellow and giving me a break. Great behavior at the doctor’s office. And everyone loved her, as usual.

Came home and had this soup. And two eggs.

Not feeling good this afternoon, and it was either give up and stay on the couch all afternoon, or take a pain pill. I went with the pain pill. And within half an hour, I was fine. Finally got some stuff done around here.

And made this super delicious nori wrap. Used my new spiralizer for the first time on a jicama. Threw in some baked tofu, sesame oil, and dillweed. Soooo surprisingly good. I ate this one, wanted more, made another one, and scarfed that one down, too. The seaweed is not easy to eat with my tongue the way it is right now. And the initial bites were rough because of my lip. So you know it was good if I was motivated to push through and make the effort anyway. The jicama was raw and crisp, the tofu was peppery and creamy, the sesame and dill gave it great flavor. It felt clean and alkalizing. Just what I needed.

And a green juice to balance out my pH for the day, and maybe help my liver process that pain pill. It’s cucumber, celery, yellow bell pepper, kale, and lemon.

I’ve been taking strong, expensive probiotics every night before bed. The bottle says you can take up to 9 capsules per day, but suggests dividing them up and taking with meals. My doctor said that’s ridiculous because you don’t want the bacteria to be digested. If you eat it with food, your digestive juices are flowing and less of the bacteria will make it to the small intestine, which is where you want them to go and colonize. Taking them at night, just before bed, and at least 2 hours after dinner, gives them the optimal chance of getting where they need to go alive and ready to colonize. You also don’t want to take them at the same time as an antibiotic or antifungal medication, or those will just kill them off. Since I can’t take pills without food, I’ve started breaking open the capsules into water and drinking them. I’m up to 7 capsules at this point. Those little buggers better be colonizing.

Sunday

Feeling soooo much better today!!! :)))))

Still look like a freak with my swollen lip, but I don’t care about that. The lip causes minimal interference with eating, so it’s not an issue. The tongue is significantly better, and overall pain/fatigue is pretty much gone. I’ll need to be mindful not to wear myself out today, but I’m super excited to be on the mend (again). Thank you, God! Prayers were answered with a “Sure- I can take care of that!” 🙂

For breakfast today, I made Tropical Quinoa Muffins with extra chia seeds for an omega 3 boost. It’s a variation on this recipe from the box of quinoa flakes.

I doubled the recipe, omitted the honey, replacing it with a combination of stevia and very little agave. I added crushed macadamia nuts and finely shredded coconut (hence the “tropical”). I only had 2 bananas, so I added in some applesauce to make up for lost moisture from the missing 2 bananas and the honey. And then sprinkled in some chia seeds for added nutrition. Plus vanilla extract and pie spices. I mean, every muffin needs vanilla and cinnamon, right? No matter what the flavor.

They were delicious! I have to say I don’t typically love the flavor of quinoa, but I don’t notice it in these muffins. Either that or I’m getting used to it.

Served ’em with apple slices and a dollop of organic full-fat yogurt and a smidge of honey. And a mug of green tea.

Lots left over to freeze and have later on rushed mornings when we have no time to cook.

Freezer meal from last month. Still good.

“Cookie” snack with a mug of almond milk, pie spice, and stevia.

Dinner was roasted golden beet salad and leftover stuffed cabbage. Though I’m feeling better, I’m still having issues, so I was only able to eat one of the cabbage rolls, and I couldn’t eat much of the leaves in the salad. But I finished off the beets and pumpkin seeds, which were delicious with an orange vinaigrette (oj, walnut oil, balsamic vinegar).

And an alkalizing green juice. Also added in a lemon at the last minute, for its alkalizing and detoxing properties.

Saturday

So, I guess this qualifies as a set back. Not feeling well again today. Exhausted and not thinking straight. Lip is swollen around a lesion, tongue doesn’t seem any worse, but its definitely swollen, and there is clearly thrush lining up behind that lesion. My cheek isn’t swollen anymore, but the offending area inside my mouth is still sensitive and sticks out a bit, so it’s difficult to avoid biting it when I eat. I’m tired, and emotional, and frustrated. I thought I was mentally prepared if I got sick again. And I’m not THAT sick. It’s just disappointing to have a setback.

I couldn’t think straight to put a proper breakfast together, so I just had gf cinnamon raisin toast with organic butter and a cup of warm almond milk with stevia a pie spices. Took me a long time to eat it, but I did finish it all.

Was super excited to juice these golden beets I got during my last trip to Whole Foods. Never had golden beets before.

Juiced them with the greens, so the color’s not real pretty.

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And… it made me throw up. Several minutes after I drank the juice, I got nauseas and vomited every bit of what I drank. Not sure if my body’s just way out of whack today, if there was something wrong with the beets and my body was doing a good job of protecting me from it, or if I just will never be able to eat golden beets. I drank part of a club soda and some peppermint tea (from the garden) and was feeling significantly better within an hour or so.

Ate leftover cabbage and marinara with daiya cheese for lunch. It was good, but hard to eat, so I only ate about half before giving up.

I also ate another piece of raw vegan cheesecake with strawberries.

My doctor asked about sugar cravings at my last visit. I never thought of that as a symptom of anything being wrong, I just figured I’ve always had a sweet tooth, and that’s just something I’ll always want. But I think he saw it as a sign that I still had a lot of fungus in my system. I don’t know, but I’ve definitely been craving it these last few days. And it’s almost like an addiction-craving.

My cheesecake satisfied the craving, but I’m wondering if the agave in it is actually feeding the candida in my system and if I should not be eating it.

Obviously needing some encouragement today, and my daily devotional delivered. From Joyce Meyer, titled Let the Storm Subside.

“I have faced so many storms in my life, some like the quick afternoon storms that are common in the summertime and some that seemed like category four hurricanes!

If I have learned anything about weathering those storms, it has been that they don’t last forever, and I don’t need to make major decisions in the midst of them.

Thoughts and feelings run wild in the midst of crises, but those are exactly the times we need to be careful about making decisions. I often say to myself, “Let emotions subside before you decide.”

We must remain calm and discipline ourselves to focus on doing what we can do and trust God to do what we can’t do.
Instead of drowning in worry and fear, get in touch with God, who sees past the storm and orchestrates the big picture.

He makes sure everything that needs to happen in our lives happens at the right time, moves at the appropriate speed, and causes us to arrive safely at the destinations He has planned for us.

Prayer Starter: God, I know that I can’t control everything, so I will do what I can and trust You to do what I can’t do. The storms of life do not control me. I trust Your plans for me.”

Just what I needed to hear.

I ended up taking a pain pill tonight (hydrocodone/acetaminophen). Hated to take it since I’m generally trying to get OFF prescription meds, but it works VERY well and really helped me get through dinner, and my daughter’s bedtime routine.

Dinner was leftovers. Stuffed cabbage and steamed broccoli. I split the broccoli with baby girl, and only ate one of the cabbage rolls, but I was able to take all my supplements and meds.

Praying for a healing night’s rest and progress in the right direction when I wake up. Regardless, it will be the “right” direction, because it’s in God’s hands and I’ve done all I know to do at this point.

Friday

Still feeling pretty good. Lots of cleaning going on around here today, so I know my energy level must be up if I’m motivated to clean. Either that, or my house is REALLY dirty.

Breakfast…

Lunch…
Applegate Farms turkey and hummus on gf bread. And chia pudding.

Carrot-Orange-Ginger Juice.

So far (I’m on page 17) this seems like one of the most promising books I’ve read during this process of trying to heal myself. My integrative doctor was in the middle of it at my last appointment, so I’m thinking this will likely influence my treatment plan moving forward after my next follow-up in 8 weeks.

Green juice: cucumber, celery, kale, bell pepper, apples. Oh- and that’s my new spiralizer in the background. Going to try to incorporate more raw foods into our diet, and that thing is supposed to turn zucchini, carrots, etc. into “noodles”. We’ll see…

Was craving a warm, sweet drink. This is almond milk with stevia and pie spices. And a raw cookie ball. Delicious combination. The “cookie” is cashews, walnuts, and almonds blended up in the food processor with dates and coconut oil. And my research material in the background…

My raw vegan cheesecake is complete! Crust is Brazil nuts blended in the same way that I mentioned above about the raw cookie. The “cheesecake” is soaked almonds, lemon juice and zest, and agave. And I topped it off with strawberries sweetened with agave.

My actual serving size. This is definitely healthi-er, but it’s pretty sweet with all that agave, so moderation is still important. Especially with my candida issues.

Somehow my pics got jumbled, but what follows are the various ingredients and stages of preparation of stuffed cabbage. I sautéed grass-finished beef with garlic and onions, then threw in chunks of carrots and greens leftover from juicing to boost the nutrition, then threw in some brown rice to stretch this very expensive meat a bit further. Put the mixture in the cabbage “cups” and baked them, covered with a little extra water in the bottom of the pan to help with steaming, until the cabbage was tender.

Never got to eat them, because my timing was off. I also made mini gluten free/dairy free pizzas, which were ready and eaten long before the cabbage was done. So we weren’t hungry anymore. Upside: lunch or dinner for tomorrow is done.

Thursday

Was not feeling well most of the day today. Woke up with a swollen tongue (one big, deep lesion causing a big mess) and feeling achy and exhausted. Speech and eating both definitely being affected at this point.

Couldn’t take all my supplements since some of the pills were too big to get past my swollen tongue. But I was able to take all my prescription meds.

Breakfast needed to be soft and easy. Enter quinoa flakes.

Started feeling marginally better in the afternoon. Swelling went down a bit, so I was able to eat better. But was feeling some pretty severe fatigue and having that sensitivity in my skin that makes everything hurt more than it should.

Lunch was steamed cabbage “pasta” with jarred marinara dressed up with daiya cheese and herbs from the garden- basil, oregano, and rosemary. I was nervous that I wouldn’t be able to eat it, but I did, though it was slow going. It was delicious, and was a hit with the hubs and kid.

And my daily greens: cabbage, celery, cucumber, bell pepper, apple.

By evening, I was feeling significantly better. Even got out to a workshop on gluten-free/dairy-free cooking. Energy level was back up, and overall pain/sensitivity subsided. Lesion was still painful, but less so.

On the way to the workshop, I drank a big glass of unsweetened almond milk. And at the workshop, they served (and I ate) a yummy raw vegan ranch dip with crudités and gf crackers, a quinoa cabbage roll-up with spicy tomato jam, homemade gf and egg-free bread, and chocolate chip cookies made with pumpkin seed flour.

Sweet husband made this for dinner (some kind of whitefish). It was delicious and I ate every bit with minimal problems.

It’s interesting that I started feeling better as the day went on. Typically, when I’m flaring, I get worse during the day, but may heal quite a bit overnight and wake up feeling better the next morning. Today was a total deviation from that pattern. Praying for more healing overnight so I wake up feeling great tomorrow! 🙂

Wednesday

Breakfast was kashi indigo morning cereal and kefir. Sorry no pic.

Lunch was brown rice pasta with olive oil, sun dried tomatoes and basil from the garden.

Greens for the day: kale, celery, pepper, cucumber, and lemon.

Dinner was microwaved shepherd’s pie.

And warmed roasted beet salad with walnuts and goat cheese. Having some issues with my mouth (2 sizable lesions) so I ended up throwing away most of the walnuts. Just hurt too much to chew them.

But I ingested lots of walnuts today because I made raw “cookies” with cashews, almonds, walnuts, dates, coconut oil, and sea salt- all blended up in the food processor and formed into balls.

Tuesday

Scrambled eggs with olive oil, garlic, spinach, turkey (Applegate Farms brand), tomatoes, and daiya cheese. Cuties and grapes. And chamomile tea.

Making the filling for my cheesecakes (made and froze the crust the other day). This stuff is soooo delicious. I ate too much and got slightly nauseas. It has a lot of agave in it, so I think my blood sugar shot up more than it has in a long time. I’ve been kinda cranky and craving sugar all day, hence the dessert-making. But I overdid the sampling. At least it’s healthier than real cheesecake. This is soaked almonds, agave, lemon juice, zest, vanilla, and a pinch of Himalayan sea salt. So good.

Microwave meal for lunch.

Daily alkalizing greens… kale, parsley, celery, green pepper, cucumbers, and lemons.

Leftover roasted cauliflower with pesto for dinner, along with some light research from my doc.

Was in a much better mood after getting my greens in for the day. I need to remember to try to drink them in the morning so I can reap the benefits all day. Also had a big mug of peppermint tea from the garden.

And a glass of kefir to take my nightly probiotics. I started the antibiotic (doxycycline) yesterday, to treat the Lyme infection, so I’ve got to keep up efforts to maintain intestinal flora balance.

Monday

A little late getting this post up… we had a busy day.

GF cinnamon raisin toast with organic butter and several cuties (clementines).

“Cheetah” pudding. (Actually chia pudding, but my daughter calls it cheetah because of the “spots”).

Stopped at Whole Foods after doc appointment for lunch. Chicken salad, grape leaves, and sweet potato.

Cauliflower steaks with pesto and roasted beet salad (greens, goat cheese, walnuts, tomatoes, citrus vinaigrette).

Also had 2 Larabars as snacks during the day. Really need to make my own. Seems like it would be easy.

Felt really great all day today. Lots of energy. Then early in the evening, I just started dragging. Felt tired and irritable. Noticed a new, rather large and already deep lesion. And I can now see the reason for my swollen cheek- another lesion. Neither of these are big issues right now, and are only slightly affecting my eating (chewing and manipulating leaves is possible, but hard, and tiring). Didn’t quite finish my salad for that reason.

There are some changes to my treatment plan based on my meeting with my doctor today, but I’ll post that separately.

Sunday

My favorite pancake recipe. 1 egg + 1 banana. Done.

I added pie spices and vanilla, but its totally unnecessary. We’ve made the switch to organic eggs, despite the cost. In the past, I’ve only purchased them when they were on sale (which is almost never). But I’ll be getting the public greenwise brand until I can figure out how to get them straight from a local farm.

Did a Zumba class today. Always so fun and liberating. Sweated like crazy, so I’ve been craving coconut water all afternoon. Downed at least 32 ounces. And had a Larabar as a snack before class.

Lunch was a humongous, delicious salad. Love it when my mouth is healthy enough to handle crunchy leaves and citrus based dressing.

There’s about four cups of organic spring mix greens in there. With goat cheese, walnuts, avocado, tomatoes, and a big ol’ roasted beet. And everything is drizzled with a citrus vinaigrette: olive oil and hemp seed oil, lemon juice, raw apple cider vinegar and balsamic vinegar, Himalayan sea salt and fresh ground pepper.

And today’s juices… Alkalizing green: cucumber, celery, and parsley. And the orange is carrot-ginger. Very gingery.

Dinner was a microwaved burrito, dressed up with vegan sour cream and chopped culantro. It’s Amy’s brand. Gluten free and dairy free. Basically just rice and beans inside a gluten free tortilla. Simple, but good. And quick. And easy.

Had another Larabar as a snack before bed. It was the peanut butter cookie flavor. Delicious. And I totally think I can recreate it. It’s just peanuts, dates, and salt. How hard can that be?

I’ve had an odd pain in my cheek the last 24 hours or so. I thought it was a lesion at first, but it seems to be inflammation inside my cheek, rather than in the lining of my cheek inside my mouth. Totally not a big deal at this point, but just making note of it in the event that it happens to progress.

Otherwise, I’m feeling great! Lesions are healing, no thrush (super-excited about that since I’m not taking the anti-fungal medication anymore!), and energy level is good. Gonna talk to my doc tomorrow about attempting a prednisone taper. Hopefully my adrenals are working again and my hormones are more balanced than before, so I should be in a better position to tackle this. There may be some setbacks, but I’m heading in the right direction. And hey- maybe there won’t be setbacks.

Saturday

GF cinnamon raisin toast with organic butter, grapes, and chamomile tea.

Well, this isn’t a devotional, but I’m categorizing it as such because this song has given me so much encouragement in the past, particularly in the past four months. So I just thought I’d share.

http://m.youtube.com/#/watch?v=WFY2Hdh7cvA&desktop_uri=%2Fwatch%3Fv%3DWFY2Hdh7cvA

Lunch was refried beans on a corn tortilla with tomatoes, avocado, and culantro. Apparently, cilantro has chelating properties (helps rid your body of toxic heavy metals) so I’m wondering if culantro does the same thing. They taste so similar.

Red beet elixir. So sweet and yummy.

I’m going to attempt raw cheesecake in the near future. These are my crusts. Brazil nuts, medjool dates, coconut oil, pie spices, pinch of salt. All blended up in the food processor and pressed into these mini springform pans. I’m pretty sure this would be indistinguishable from your typical graham cracker crust. It’s even better because it won’t get soggy when you add moist ingredients.

And the alkalizing green juice of the day. Gotta have at least one!

Snacks…

And dinner.

Friday

Sautéed sweet potatoes and beet greens with garlic and avocado, topped with an egg.

And a big refreshing jar of red beet elixir. Perfect after a morning of gardening outside.

This year, I’m attempting zucchini, spaghetti squash, tomatillos, various tomatoes and peppers, Swiss chard, onions, poblanos, honeydew melon, scuppernong muscadine and Concord grapes. All from seeds that were acquired from our actual food (except the onions and Swiss chard). I’ll be happy if half of those actually produce something edible. We already have blueberry bushes, mini pepper plants, various citrus trees, and an avocado tree. All very young plants.

I’m super excited about our Meyer lemon tree. It’s already got quite a bit of fruit started. I see lots of ginger lemonade in our future this summer.

For lunch: Romaine scoopers and chicken salad, with capers, kimchi, grapeseed vegenaise, and cucumbers marinated in raw apple cider vinegar, all drizzled with hempseed oil and sprinkled with Himalayan sea salt and black pepper.

And a sweet, protein packed smoothie: frozen kale, frozen blueberries, banana, medjool dates, soy milk, hemp protein powder, chia seeds.

And dinner is fettuccini alfredo. Completely vegan and grain-free. Used shirataki tofu noodles, tofutti cream cheese and sour cream, olive oil, basil, garlic, nutmeg, pine nuts, broccoli, and lemon zest. Other than a slight difference in the texture of the noodles, I don’t think this is distinguishable from the classic dish. It got clear approvals from the kid and husband. Clean plates all around.

Got a late night headache and sweets craving. Alkalizing greens to the rescue. Works every time.

Thursday

Greens, eggs, and ham for breakfast.

Plus strawberries with bee pollen. My husband does not like the bee pollen- says he’d rather eat live bees. Lol. Oh well, more for me.

After a very restful evening, I’m feeling much better this morning than I did yesterday.

Off to a natural health seminar this evening on women and hormones. Stopped off at whole foods on the way for a late lunch.

Had leftover beans to take my nighttime meds. Didn’t take a picture.

Lesions are slightly affecting my ability to eat certain things now. Raw leaves and crunchy things that require a lot of chewing are pretty painful. I wasn’t able to finish the kale or broccoli at lunch for that reason.

And I started taking grapefruit seed extract today as a natural replacement for the prescription antifungal. My tongue has seemed on the verge of a fungus flare for a while, so I’m hesitant to have high hopes, but it would be great if my healthy eating and detox efforts show results here and allow me to get off the antifungal. If this doesn’t work, I’m going to talk to the doctor about a candida cleanse.

Wednesday

Breakfast of champions…

Also finished off my Mom’s healthy oatmeal cookies on the way to a play date at the zoo this morning. Had mac & cheese, and roasted beets with orange vinaigrette for lunch. Plus another 16 oz of green juice.

Not feeling great this afternoon. Very tired. Lesions are becoming more of a problem. 3 small ones up front and a larger one in the back on the underside of my tongue. The bigger one is actually less painful because of its location. They are slightly affecting my speech at this point, but are not affecting my ability or desire to eat. Today was the last day I was supposed to take the anti fungal that has been controlling the thrush that tends to take over my mouth without it. We’ll see what happens with that over the next few days. If it comes back with a vengeance, I might have to start researching candida cleanse diets.

Anyway, the hubs and I had date night tonight. He took me to a raw foods cafe nearby. I was in heaven! It’s not close enough (or cheap enough) to eat there regularly, but I got some good ideas to try to recreate at home.

Appetizer was a macadamia nut hummus with sundried tomato crackers made in a dehydrator.

Main course was pad thai, made with spiralized zucchini and carrots with a nutty sauce. This is a pic of the last bite. I keep forgetting to take photos BEFORE I eat. It was YUM! My husband liked it, too, so I know it was good.

And dessert was cheesecake. Not quite sure how they did it, but it was the most delicious thing I’ve tasted in a long, long time. Almost tasted like they’d used buttermilk somehow. But it was completely raw and vegan.

Such a perfect date night. And, though I wasn’t feeling my best, I’m grateful that I was feeling well enough to truly enjoy myself and my husband. So much fun. And he really liked all the food. So there IS hope for incorporating more raw foods into our diets, I just need to learn how to prepare them better.

Tuesday

Had an apple pie larabar and 8 oz of ginger lemon aid to take meds before heading to a “juice morning” meet-up with my moms club. 8:00 am is kind of early for us, but I couldn’t pass up the chance to hang with other health-minded moms, and to get some yummy “mean green” juice… that I didn’t have to prepare! The hostesses also served oatmeal cookies that I’m pretty sure are from the exact same recipe my mom used yesterday. I got lots of good info on local co-ops and gardening ideas.

Came home and had this for lunch.

And this. I love using real fruit instead of jelly in a pb&j. It tastes just as good and is so much better for you. This is smuckers natural peanut butter and grapes on gf bread.

And 32 ounces of more green juice! (And there’s no fruit in there to sweeten it up- that’s hardcore greens!) Ahhhh- this stuff is my life force right now. Love, love, love it!

Later in the afternoon, I drank about 20 oz of red beet elixir, 8 oz ginger lemon aid, and 20 oz more greens. I’ve been a little worried because I’ve had 3 small, but painful (just because of where they are) lesions along the edge of my tongue. And my energy level was lower yesterday than it has been. Tonight, though, I’m feeling really good. The lesions are still there, and they’re uncomfortable, but I don’t feel like they’re getting worse. So this was, perhaps, just a tiny wave, and its already receding. Maybe the juices are helping with that.

Dinner was organic steak fajitas with my homemade salsa verde and beans seasoned with vegan bouillon and homemade taco seasoning. Plus I threw a couple of handfuls of this into the beans.

It’s what leftover after juicing, and while its great for my compost, I hate to throw out good, nutritious greens. So I decided to freeze a package of flavoring mix/nutritional boost with kale, parsley, and celery. I also started a package of frozen kale by itself to use in smoothies. And I always keep a package of frozen juiced carrots to add in to ground meat and marinara sauces.

Anyway, here’s dinner. That’s daiyan cheese on top.

And more juicing for tomorrow. Here’s what went into the greens.

I made a few jars of carrot/pineapple/ginger juice that I’ll be sipping on tomorrow, along with a bit of ginger lemon aid still leftover from yesterday.

Monday

Dejavu breakfast… exactly the same as yesterday. I really, really like bee pollen.

Also drank about 24 oz of lemon water to try to finish off this headache I’ve had since yesterday.

Lunch was frozen leftover shrimp stir fry with flax and cashews, and raw broccoli soup (microwaved, so no longer raw, I guess).

Also did quite a bit of juicing today. About 32 ounces of alkalizing greens.

My dad lost 10+ pounds during the 3 day juice cleanse, and he seems to be feeling revitalized and energized. Says he walks with less pain than he’s had in years. And, apparently, there was a dancing incident in the grocery store yesterday. At any rate, he’s hooked and wants more juice.

Dinner was a roasted beet salad… spinach greens, goat cheese, walnuts, avocado, and orange balsamic vinaigrette. It was prettier before I dug in, but I forgot and started eating before taking a picture.

And cookies my mom made based on a friend’s recipe (thanks Mrs. V!). Delicious.

And I attempted the flavored water that’s all over Facebook and Pinterest. Blackberry Sage. I think it needs to sit a bit longer. It was only slightly sage-y, and not at all blackberry-y.

Sunday

Breakfast was gf toast with coconut spread and sprinkled with bee pollen.

For lunch, I made a simple, classic, organic, chicken and vegetable soup with carrots, onions, garlic, celery, and seasoned with herbs from the garden (rosemary, oregano, thyme, basil) and himilayan sea salt. My daughter, parents, and I ate about half the pot, and I had a big crew coming over to eat soup for dinner, soooooo, I added more water, vegan bouillon, and some of the pulp from my green juices (kale, parsley, and celery) to stretch it and boost the nutrition.

The green juice also has cucumbers and lime, in addition to the kale, parsley, and celery I mentioned earlier. I drank three of these glasses. I think that would be close to 48 ounces of alkalizing goodness. Ahhhhhh.

This is coconut millet pudding. Almond milk, vanilla, agave, pie spice, millet, coconut flakes. Got the recipe from the millet package.

Topped each serving with vegan whipped cream (the fluffy top layer in a can of coconut milk) and a couple of blackberries. Sometimes I worry when presenting new, strange, healthy dishes to my family and friends. But the pan was completely cleared out. And this would be a great breakfast recipe as well.

Also made some vanilla chia pudding. It’s so easy, and so good.

1 cup almond milk
3 tbsp chia seeds
Vanilla and stevia to taste

Mix it up and let it sit in the fridge until the chia seeds gel up and it “sets”. I think that’s even easier than packaged pudding.

Ate 2 pieces of this ham to take my nighttime meds, since I forgot to take them at dinner.

Fighting off a headache tonight. Don’t think it’s due to dehydration, but I’m drinking more water anyway. Feels like it started in my shoulders, so I did about 30 minute of P90X Stretch to try to relieve tension. It felt really good to stretch, but didn’t get rid of the headache. Going to try to avoid it, but I might have to take something for it tonight. The pain is getting stronger and is right behind my eyeballs. I guess a couple of ibuprofen won’t be a big deal, considering the cocktail of pills I take every day anyway.

Update: I was able to fall asleep without having to take anything for the headache. I did use some frankincense essential oil on my wrists and temples while stretching. When I woke up the next morning, it was nearly gone.

Saturday

Still planning to drink all the usual juices today, but I’m going to eat normally as well. Decided to continue as before for now- including grains (except wheat) but moderating them a bit, and minimizing animal products, with the focus being on finding pastured, grass fed, organic products.

Breakfast was 16oz signature greens, gf toast with coconut spread, and fruit.

Lunch was 12oz ginger lemon aid, 12oz red beet elixir, and Kashi cereal with kefir.

My daughter’s art activity while I was juicing- she painted with leftover juice foam. This stuff is versatile! Nourishes our bodies and our creativity!

Got a massage today (thanks, Mom!) So I’m drinking LOTS of water to flush out any additional toxins that stirred up along with the detox. I feel great. One tiny lesion coming up as the last one fades away. I could totally go the rest of my life with one lesion at a time. Though it lets me know I’m not quite in balance yet.

Had 2 Larabars as a snack while health food shopping with my mom. Coconut cream pie and peanut butter chocolate.

Had frozen leftovers for dinner. I intended to eat all 3, sharing them with my daughter, but she didn’t eat much, so we didn’t eat the shrimp dish. Just the stir-fry and broccoli soup. Plus carrot cake juice and almond delight.

Made my first attempt at homemade toothpaste. Baking soda, xylitol, coconut oil, thieves oil, crushed up calcium/magnesium tablets, and a pinch of himilayan sea salt. From what I’ve read, this should do a good job of remineralizing our teeth. The coconut oil, xylitol, and thieves oil all have antifungal, antibacterial, or otherwise anti microbial properties. The baking soda and sea salt will polish, and the calcium/magnesium tablets and sea salt will remineralize. It tastes pretty good. I didn’t follow an exact recipe. I found a bunch of different recipes on Pinterest and kind of made up my own thing based off of those.

If we like this toothpaste and use it long term (never to buy conventional toothpaste again?) I’ll find a better container to keep it in. Possibly something that we can squeeze it out of. In the meantime, an old baby food jar will work.

It’s driving me nuts that I spelled thieves wrong on the label. In an exercise against my perfectionist tendencies, I’m purposefully not correcting it. I mean, who cares, right? We’ll see if I make it through the night without fixing it.

Had 2 squares of 70% chocolate and dried apple rings as a late night snack. I’ve had well over 64 oz of water today and I still feel thirsty. I normally have a hard time making myself drink water, so I’m glad it’s been easy today. Wonder if it has anything to do with the detox process and/or the massage. I hope it’s flushing out toxins! I want that crap outta my body!

Friday

Day 2 of juice cleanse. Feeling good. Digestive system seems to be working normally, as though there’s no difference in what I’m eating. That seems weird to me. I wouldn’t think there would be much to “eliminate” since I’m only drinking juices and eating a few bites to take medicine. And I’ve got some thrush going on my tongue. But with only one small, healing lesion, I’m not concerned about a potential flare. I think this is the typical detox tongue and is actually a good sign. Also, as of this morning, I’ve already lost the 3 pounds I gained last week. That makes me a bit nervous, because I desperately want to detox, but I really don’t want to lose weight. And if I keep losing at that rate over the next 2 days, I’m definitely going to need to make an adjustment to my plan and increase calories somehow. Just gotta keep an eye on it, I guess. I need a little cushion in case I get sick and CAN’T eat again.

I posted a pic of the greens juice ingredients yesterday.

Here’s the ingredients for the lemon ginger aid.

And the red beet elixir.

“Carrot Cake” is carrots, pineapple, vanilla, and pie spices (cinnamon, nutmeg, ginger, allspice).

“Almond Delight” is unsweetened vanilla almond milk, stevia, and pie spices, plus extra cinnamon.

I feel like I’m getting a wide range of nutrients, and as long as I don’t have to watch other people eat, I really don’t feel too deprived. I’m confident that this is very good for my body, and it isn’t as hard as I thought it would be. I’ll definitely be doing some version of this on a regular basis going forward. Maybe once a month? Or once a season? Or just when I feel like I need it?

I weighed myself around 7pm and had lost 2 additional pounds. Sooooo, I decided to start eating again. I was hoping to use this as the beginning of a sort of elimination diet, and either go forward without grains OR without meat and dairy. But I can’t decide which direction to go.

So I broke my “fast” with a big bowl of raw cream of broccoli soup (broccoli, celery, cashews, sea salt, dill, nutritional yeast, water). I couldn’t eat the whole thing, though. The juices are really filling.

Thursday

Going to try a juice cleanse today. I’ve modeled it after O2 Living’s juice cleanse. They recommend you start the day with warm lemon water, then drink a juice every 2-3 hours, along with 64 ounces of water throughout the day. There are 6 bottles of 5 different juices for this cleanse, 16 ounces each. I mimicked the juices based on the listed ingredients. My parents are going to try it, too. And we’re aiming for 3 days. This should be interesting.

Here’s what the juices look like. Almost a pretty little rainbow.

You’re supposed to drink them in order from left to right: signature greens, lemon ginger aid, red beet elixir, signature greens again, carrot cake (I had to modify this one since I couldn’t find golden beets), and almond delight.

Here’s what’s in signature greens. Fennel, kale, parsley, cucumbers, lemon, himilayan salt, and celery (not pictured).

Never juiced fennel before. It’s pretty good. And the bulb is full of good liquid.

I’m going to have to eat something today to take my medicines. (I never learned to swallow pills, so I have to trick myself by popping them in my mouth just before I swallow food. Weird, I know.) But I figure if I stick to raw fruits/veggies and avoid nightshade foods and higher glycemic fruits, it shouldn’t affect the detox too much.

As of noon today, I’ve consumed 40 ounces of lemon water, 16 oz signature greens, and close to 20 oz lemon ginger aid. I’m slightly hungry, and have had to pee a lot. I ate dried apples to take my meds, but no more than absolutely necessary. Trying to remind myself that the whole point is to give my digestive system a break, so the hunger is a good thing.

By evening, I was feeling about the same. Still hungry, but only slightly. It was hard to watch other people eating, but the feelings passed as soon as they were finished eating. I used a larabar (cashew cookie- ingredients: dates and cashews) to take my nighttime meds.

Overall, feeling really good. I feel a bit lighter and I think I have just a bit more energy than usual.