This is going to be a long post, but I hope it's useful for anyone looking to switch up their eating habits. (By the way,
Amazon has already credited my refund. Love those guys!)
Now that I've experienced the Miracle Tea and found that it just doesn't work for me, I figure this is a good time to resort back to a proven method for cleansing my body (colon and all). The tea might be fine for most people, but I am going to get back to basics with my situation.
I've gone through many
changes and challenges with food. I've done
well and not so well. And I am going back over and taking a look at
some of those situations. To give myself, some credit, I haven't done so badly with my nutrition in the past few years - at least when I'm actually thinking about what I eat.
For me, right now, back to basics means just eating right. If I do that, I shouldn't have to do any kind of cleanse, right? And I know that changing up my diet actually does work. So, I have changed it up. Or, rather, gotten back to some of the basics.
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| Pretty basic, right? |
When I was getting back into shape post-prednisone, I indulged in lots of fruits and vegetables. I love almost any kind of fruit, but I'm picky about vegetables. I had to learn to get a good intake of all kinds of veggies in a way that I could enjoy them. Also, eating healthy is stressful unless you do enjoy it.
You might remember my trusty blender. You know, from the first time
I was on a detox. Even after I finished losing most of the weight I wanted to, until a few months ago, I still enjoyed doing what I call a veggie binge on a regular basis.
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| Still trusty, after all these ye- uh, months |
A "veggie binge" is what I do for a few weeks when my body is feeling out of sorts. I will do nothing but a massive amount of vegetables (via smoothies and salads) for three or four days of a week and, for the rest of the week, eat just about anything but bread and other starches.
This binge seems to re-regulate my body and boost my energy levels. If I was smart (or disciplined) enough, I would never go off the binge. That's what I'm going to try to work up to this time: adopting the binge as a lifestyle.
The key to this kind of diet is to shop smart. Here in Alaska, fruits and vegetables can be pricey (especially during the winter months) so you have to
always stick to a really defined food budget. You have to cut out those "treats" of cafe-bought coffee and any food bought through a drive-through window. Also, you have to spend a little more time planning food prep.
This is not all as tricky as it might sound. At least not for me. I just have to not be lazy about my food needs. And there are so many benefits to eating better - especially for someone with health problems. Me.
First, let's look at some of those benefits:
- You can handle a lot of common physical complaints with changing up your diet: fatigue, constipation, mental sluggishness, skin and hair issues, etc.
- Even with my more serious health issues, I can get some relief from changing my diet. I lost weight which helped SO much as far as my joint pain; eating right cleared out some of the toxic feeling I got from being on different medications; drinking more water and eating certain things certainly helped my kidney function.
- In my opinion, eating healthier helped my mental state. Instead of taking anti-depressants, I looked to natural sources of vitamins and minerals to help me. Depression is a big problem when you have a chronic illness - just because of the way a disease affects every other aspect of your life. I still have my moments, but those moments are worse when I'm not eating well.
- Controlling your weight is easier when you are satisfying your hunger correctly. If I'm going to overeat, I guess it's better to overindulge with foods that are giving me good nutrients instead of empty calories.
Common sense tells you that things like better nutrition, good rest, and less stress equal better overall health. Before I was diagnosed with my sarcoidosis, I was smoking like a house on fire, rarely eating right, not resting very well and, Lord knows, I had a bunch of stress to deal with. I always wonder if the sarc would have remained dormant if I had treated my body better.
My health is still nowhere near where I'd like it to be but, if I hadn't listened to my doctors and changed up my nutrition for several months, there's no telling how much worse off I'd be now. And, trust me, I don't want to get worse.
Anyway, Amazon has agreed to refund my money for the tea, so I was able to hit the stores and stock up for at least a two weeks of a veggie binge. You saw what I've been eating/blending for the past couple days. Here's what I got from the store:
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| It's actually dark PURPLE |
- Collard greens
- Turnip greens
- Red Cabbage
- Broccoli crowns
- Apples
- Beets
- Raw almonds
- Soy milk (vanilla flavored)
- Vine tomatoes
Luckily, I already had on hand some things that I can use:
- Chaga nectar
- Green tea powder
- Raw spinach
- Raw ginger
By the way, I don't care what anyone says, I don't count tomato as a fruit. I'm going to use the apples and soy as my sweetening agents to mask all those veggies.
Having just enough fruit to sweeten the blend is my trick for getting all those veggies ingested. Sometimes, I will add a tablespoon of frozen OJ (no water added) into the mix, but I forgot to get some.
I will do a approximately 20-ounce smoothie to get me through the main part of the day. Sometimes, that's enough but, if I'm still hungry for something, I will do salads the rest of the day. By "salad" I mean all veggies, no mixed dressing. My favorite salad is to drizzle extra virgin olive oil over some of the green veggies, add some sliced tomatoes and onion, then hit with a little salt and pepper. The tomatoes and olive oil make a kind of dressing of their own. Since we still have a bunch of eggs around, I might boil one to throw on top.
For the non-binge days, I will eat a really well-seasoned pork chop or piece of chicken that's baked or fried (yes, fried - but in olive oil) or I will snack on summer sausage and cheese. I can do without bread if my meat is good enough. Also, I can be satisfied with a snack of canned smoked clams or fish. By the way, I really have to watch my calcium intake, which is another reason I have to alternate my binge days with non-binge days.
If I do get tempted to snack on something not so nutritious, I just do it and move on. My biggest weakness is if someone comes home with pizza. I love pizza. Luckily, we hardly ever do pizza without a salad, so...
Anyway, I'm attempting to use the app that came with my latest phone. You know - the one I got to replace one went blizto right in the middle of a family crisis. Well, the app is pretty cool and not that hard. Just takes discipline to actually use it and pay attention to it. It's Samsung's
S Health. The food tracking part of the app is a little bit annoying. Inputting is tricky and sometimes requires converting things. I hate math.
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| Looks like a lot of food, doesn't it? |
I want to stick with this healthy eating plan - not for months at a time like I've previously done, but for life. For life. Hmmm.
If you are thinking of changing up your nutrition, maybe this will help:
And this is what I imagine most people eat.
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(And for the folks who claim it's how many calories and not where you get those calories, I disagree. That might work for weight loss, but we have to eat healthy food for better health.)
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Which one more closely resembles yours?
This is some comparative information -
The bottom line is that there are plenty of ways to eat healthy, every individual has to make the choice. Making good choices when there are so many bad alternatives around takes discipline and commitment.
I'm ready.
Peace
--Free
P.S.: I recently heard about and tried the
Smoocing (lite) app. It's for people who do juices & smoothies. My review is the only one up on Google Play as of today, if you care what I think about it.
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