Bio-Individuality

Bio-individuality is pretty simple. It says that each person is biologically different with different needs for the body.

Knowing that you are an individual can alleviate the stress felt to always be able to react to suggestions that seem to work for others concerning health and wellness.

What works for one person may not work for you. Of course you need macronutrients and micronutrients for the body to function properly. You also have to exercise, get sunshine, drink water and rest. Leave some of these out and you won't experience good health. But the particular types of foods you eat might be very diferent from what others eat.

Some foods can put weight right on your hips while other food take it off. That's why some people can be vegetarians or vegan and feel great while others can't feel any energy without consuming large amounts of red meat.

So you first need to stop and become aware of the type of eater your are. What digests well in your body? What type of foods and food combinations make sense to you, make you feel energetic, make you feel relaxed after eating? It's possible to never take time to figure this out. Sit down right now and ask yourself what foods always "agree" with you? Which foods make you feel gassy, bloated, lethargic? You might be surprised at the responses.

Seasoned Woman Weight Loss

I have no choice - the weight needs to come off. Not just to look better, but to live. I just can't get my cholesterol levels down any other way. Plus, there's the problem of low Vitamin D and osteopenia to deal with now. Add that to High Blood Pressure and it's time to get serious.

Losing weight over 40 has always sounded like a mystery. But it doesn't have to be. Anyone can lose excess fat from their bodies. The secret is learning about your body. Each person is an individual and no one "diet" works for everyone. That's the problem with trying to follow a strict diet.

While the food levels might have worked for the writer of the diet (maybe), that doesn't mean it's going to work for you or your family member. The necessary thing to do is find what works for your body.

I did try to use a diet suggested by Curves Complete. For the first two weeks I tried to follow the diet suggestions. These weren’t too bad actually but meant adding in a lot of foods that I normally don't eat. There were some pretty good vegetarian ideas which I really appreciated. However, lots contained cheeses, which I needed to start eliminating from my diet due to the cholesterol issue.

I dutifully took my menu planner to the store and stocked up on the suggested food items. I even went so far as to purchase some frozen dinners, something I couldn't believe I would ever do. But the idea of needing to increase the amount of times that I ate during the day made me leery about being able to prepare and have the foods on hand that I needed.

Here are the main ideas that I incorporated that started to work for me although not all at once:

1. Increase natural metabolism by feeding the body instead of starving the body.

2. Monitor water intake to assure being hydrated.

3. Keep a food journal to measure how much food is eaten each day. This keeps you on track to put enough calories in each day to alleviate the starvation idea and keeps you on track to eat healthy, whole foods.

4. Increase exercise times.

5. Get sleep

These simple mandates were supported wtih diet suggestions. That's where bio-individuality really came into play as I'll explain in the next post.

Is There Hope for Cancer Problems?

Cancer is a disease that has no respect for persons. That means it strikes anyone. I know, as I've recently experience this in my immediate family with great sadness. Baby Boomers are totally concerned with the ravages of this disease.

The question continues to be, can cancer be cured?

More than that, the concern could be, can cancer be prevented? Here are a few articles that give some new information and thoughts on this question. Note the relevance of nutrition and healthy eating and healthy foods as wel as an active lifestyle as preventative measures.

Click the titles to go to the articles:

Proof that Cancer is a Man-Made Disease

The Coming Cancer Explosion

Fast Gluten Free Banana Bread

I decided to try some gluten free recipes to see how that affected my stomach. Wheat flour is the usual culprit for creating that bloated, gassy feeling that comes after eating bread products.

I also wanted to find something to do with bananas that get ripe before I get to them. Since drinking smoothies is slowing down during the cold winter mornings, I'm not getting to my bananas as quickly. To keep from throwing those bananas out, try freezing them as they start to get over ripe. Then pull out this banana bread recipe. The only thing I want to try differently is the sugar source. Right now it calls for raw sugar; but I want to try it with Stevia or applesauce to cut down on the sugar.

I adapted this from Bethany Frankel's receipe from The Skinnygirl Dish cookbook.

My adjustments included adding the coconut flakes, nuts, less raw sugar and more butter! I left out the semisweet chocolate chips.


Gluten-Free Banana Bread

Heat oven to 350 degrees F.

Prepare 1 loaf pan: Cut some bakers paper an line the bottom of a loaf pan. Spray lightly with cooking oil or use a bit of coconut oil on a paper towel and oil the bottom and sides of the pan.

Dry Ingredients
1/2 cup raw sugar
1 cup oat flour
3/4 teaspoon baking powder
1/2 teaspoon baking soda
1/4 teaspoon sea salt
1/2 cup coconut flakes
1/2 crumbled nuts (walnuts/pecans)

Wet Ingredients
1 1/2 tablespoon butter (regular, not margarine)
2 overripe bananas (makes about 2 cups)
1 egg
1-2 teaspoons real vanilla extract


*Mix dry ingredients
*Mix wet ingredients (I melt the butter in microwave or get it to room temperature).
*Pour wet ingredients into the dry and mix well.

Pour batter into the prepared loaf pan and cover loosely with foil

Bake for 30 minutes. Remove the foil, then bake another 20 minutes or until a toothpick inserted in the middle comes out almost clean. The bread is very moist. I ususally just check that the top is done.

Cool completely, then slick and serve.

This bread is great with herb tea.

If this is your first gluten free bread, see how it settles in your stomach compared to a bread made with wheat flour. Leave a comment to let me know how you like this. If you try another source of sweeterner be sure to add that too.

Beginning Green Smoothies

The idea of a "green smoothie" may not sound appealing at first. But it won't be long before you're addicted to these vitamin/mineral power-packed drinks.

Juicing fruits and vegetables gets the pure essense of the vitamins and minerals from the fruits and vegetables into your system. That is a reason why the smoothie should be consumed within 30 minutes. It's great to start the day as breakfast. You can take it with you in your travel cup in the car.

Here's an easy start:

Banana
Favorite two fruits (cut up to easily blend)
Spinach ( handful, washed and put in blender)

I put the whole peeled banana in the blender. Peel and roughly chop fruit as necessary. You can put strawbeerys, blueberries, etc in whole. Add some filtered water. I also add crushed ice. Blend and drink. How easy is that.

Be sure to use your freshest fruits and veggies. I'm also starting to experiement wtih frozen veggies as these are also next to fresh because they are usually flash frozen fresh.

To start, get one of those large bags of spinach. Get bananas which are full of potassium. I don't like bananas too much by themselves but they add the smooth quality to the smoothie that makes it like a milkshake. Get used to these combinations, finding out your desired fruit to veggie ratio. Then experiment using an additional vegetable. Next, try new fruits and veggies!

Let me know how it goes!

Big Belly Syndrome

I read an interesting article today about the dangers of having a big belly. It's particularly dangerous the older you get. Apparently, having a large waist will take up to 10 years off of your life. That's pretty sobering as a majority of Americans are considered to be obese.

I don't happen to have a tape measure right now or I'd do a quick measurement of my waistline. Of course I wouldn't post the results on this blog, but I would share if I was "worried" or not at the results. I realize that I'd be in good company if I was. However, as I continue to develop more conscious eating habits, the problem is quickly fading away.

Too many people that have the Big Belly Syndrome and don't know what to do about it. Let me give you a hint about why stomach fat occurs. (By the way, let me put in the disclaimer that I don't know if there is such as thing as a "Big Belly Syndrome"; I just made it up. But that stomach that sticks out past your breast is what I'm referring to).

Let me give you an example of why this could happen. I just went through a 7 day raw foods cleanse and detox of coffee. In that time, my digestion improved, taste buds became more sensitive, food became a new excitement. It also helped me to get over the cravings for white sugar.

Well, I had company over the weekend and they wanted to try the cakes at the famous Madonna Inn in San Luis Obispo, so off we go, four of us ordering a slice apiece of the type we each wanted. I thought I was being good because I ate my slice over two days. Well tonight, I have a first hand knowledge of what brings on big belly syndrome - white sugar.

As of tonight my stomach is growing bigger again and I'm so disappointed. All of that hard work seems to have gone down the drain. I guess I have to confess to sneaking some baked potato chips too. Even though baked, it was too much sodium.

All of this white sugar and artificial seasonings is death to a flat stomach. Don't eat these - I tell you, if there's any motivation to get off of white sugar it's to keep a flat stomach.

Well, I immediately went back to watching my eating and getting off of the white sugar with great results. This is an example of why it really pays to be attentive and think "health" prior to stuffing anything into your mouth.

The questions to ask are:
* Is it worth dying 10 years early just to eat sweets?
* Is it worth being sick?
* Is the temporary taste of white sugar worth a big belly?

Now, I know there's more to the problem than just white sugar. Stress plays an big role in the situation along with increasing the cravings for sugary foods. Managing stress is an important part of managing the cravings for sweets. Being aware of stress is a step towards managing it and the effects it has on your eating. For instance, start charting what makes you go for that piece of cake. It's not just because it was Sunday and everyone was around. It was because of the conversations happening that day, the stress of what was coming on Monday and the result of feeling out of control. Right?

Learning to take control of your health means learning to chart behaviors, recognize them and change them. You'll be more aware although it might take some time to realize that real behavioral changes. More later.

Three Ways to Serve One Roasted Chicken

Busy people don't always have a lot of time to cook but eating healthy is even more important when you live a stressful life. To help with this problem, create a few meals using one roasted chicken you can buy at the store or deli. This is an economical way to eat well for one to two people depending on the appetities involved.

Here's the way to get three meals from that one roasted chicken.

First find a supermarket or deli that sells roasted chickens. These are usually about the same cost as an uncooked chicken. Each place seems to do theirs a bit differently. There's only one market in my area that cooks the chickens well enough to not have to keep cooking them once you get them home. You'll have to experiement to find your right source. If you can't find a cooked chicken, you'll have to roast one yourself. This is a simple process but we'll cover that in another post.

Take the cooked chicken home. Usually, I find the chicken still needs some "doctoring" to be ready to eat. Many stores don't cook the chicken well and some of them are very fatty. So I always season and finish cooking the chicken at home.

First, skin the chicken. I've been skinning all of my poultry for decades so the first thing I do is remove the skin. When the chicken is already cooked that's very simple to do. I do this to cut back on the fat and toxins which are held under the skin. If you enjoy the skin, take off the majority and give yourself one bite of skin so you won't feel deprived and end up eating more than you should.

After making the skin decision, you're going to cut the chicken into pieces with the breast, wing, thigh and leg. Season with herbs and spices and put into a baking tray. Use what you have and what you enjoy as flavor. You can also use some marinade such as a barbeque sauce, curry sauce or other sauce or dressing. Using a sauce adds an additional dimension of providing a type of gravy to use if you want to add a starch such as rice. You can spoon the sauce over the rice or potatoes and pull the dish togehter.

Cover the chicken with foil to hold in the moisture and place the dish in the stove at about 350 Degrees. Cook for about 15 to 30 minutes depending on the doneness of the bird. If it was well cooked already, you only need a few minutes to get it warmed up well. If it was still rather raw, cook longer. You might even need more than 30 minutes if it was really raw.

Now you're ready to create your meals.

1. The first meal can be the full pieces. Use one thigh and leg for one serving and one breast and wing for another for a meal for two people If it's only you, that's two meals already. If you created a sauce, spoon this over rice or another starch. Add a green salad and you have a full meal.

2. The second meal will use one breast and the wing meat. Roughly chop the chicken or pull the meat from the bone to put into your salad for the day. Create your Humongous Vegetable Salad (see the prior post for the recipe) and top with the chopped chicken. Sprinkle some nuts and cheese on top if you want. Sprinkle with your favorite dressing. I suggest olive oil and balsamic vinegar or a splash of fresh lemon.

3. Your third meal will be a chicken salad. Take meat from the leg and a thigh and chop well. Add chopped celery, some green onions, parsley and other herbs to taste such as fresh cilantro. Don't worry about being exact. The use of additional vegetables stretches the meal and keeps it from being just asolid protein dish, so use the vegetables and other ingredients that you enjoy. I've also added green or black olives, paparika, and other seasonsings depending on my mood that day. So use what you have and season to taste. Mix everything in a bowl with a low-fat mayonaise or non-fat plain yogurt. Serve as-is, make a sandwich or put into a salad.

There you have it. Three meals from one roasted chicken. Do you have left-overs still because you're cooking for one instead of two people? Here's a few more ideas.

1. Try a chicken omelette. Scamble two eggs, add salt and pepper, fresh herbs. Add chopped chicken, chopped onions or scallions (green onions)and cheese if you want. Feel free to include other fresh veggies if you are so inclinded. Serve this as a breakfast, lunch or dinner. Add a salad or toast.

2. Create a chicken vegetable chili. Open a can of your favorite beans. Rinse the water off which helps take out the sodium and drain the beans in a colander. Heat a bit of olive oil in a skillet. Add onions, chili powder, and other seasonings and spices depending on what you like. You can also add chopped celery and green peppers. Saute until the veggies are a bit soft but not too done. Chop the chicken and add it in so it absorbs the flavors. Add the beans, mix everything in the skillet and heat until the beans are warmed. Adjust spices as needed. Serve while warm in a bowl, add to a corn tortilla as a taco, or use a flour tortilla as a burrito.

3. Just heat up the extra pieces and eat as is!

Keep working with your roasted chicken and you'll start coming up wtih your own ideas about how to use one low-fat roasted chicken to create loads of dishes.

Sneaking Sugar at the Fair

We went to the local Fair this evening. I've been wanting to go and sneak a cotton candy ever since I saw Bethany Frankel have some on her show, "Bethany Getting Married?" (Yes, I watch it; it's an enjoyable distracton).

After walking the entire fair, I couldn't find one cotton candy vendor. Maybe they don't make it anymore, or maybe they just don't sell it at our local Fair. Well, I found a moment to get off on my own in the Commerce Display Building and lo and behold, there it was. A candy display with vanilla fudge.

I always think things go better with fudge; so I ordered a 1/4 pound piece for $3.50. The amount really was too much to pay the amount given I was desparate; or so I thought. I walked around the corner while my husband was deeply entrenched in learning about some item from another vendor. Hiding the fudge in my purse, I pulled off bits and pieces, savoring them as I walked. However, I did notice something distinct.

I'd figured the fudge was fresh but it just didn't taste as good as I remembered. I could taste the artificial flavorings and it was too sweet. I kept thinking of the headache I expected to get and wondered how many calories I was consuming with that one piece of unnecessary candy.

Things had really changed. After that, nothing looked good. I shared a few bites of a Jalepeno and Cheese Pretzel fresh out of the oven that my husband got and left it at that. By the time I got home, the stomach ache started, the gurgling deep inside and reality hit. Guess my stomach didn't want to house a so-called treat that was full of white sugar and artificial flavorings. The pretzel probably didn't help either.

But I learned a painful yet needful lesson. I've gone through steps to start changing my body dynamics. I don't like going backwards in life so I have to move forward. What was noticably obvious was that there was little to nothing to eat for a person who is seeking to be healthy at the Fair. Sweets, salt, sugar, syrup were the main fare. All I found was roasted corn on the cob and the pretzels but that was about it. Some vendors had a few items; a bag of natural almounds among the sugar coated, salted ones. Even the roasted peanuts are gone.

There's a great opportunity to explore for the food entrepreneur.

The Humungous Veggie Salad

Here's the vegetable salad I keep around constantly. It goes with absolutely everything.

The quantities of each vegetable are not exact.

I list the vegetables that I use in the standard salad then list others you can use to "lighten" it up, change the dominant tastes, or create a full meal according to your tastes.

Experiment with the amounts of the various vegetables to get the quantities that work for you.

Basic HVS
These vegetables make up the basic salad. This can last for 5 to 7 days in the refrigerator without getting wilted.

Green cabbage
Red Cabbage
Red Pepper
Green Pepper
Celery
Tomato
Fresh Herbs (Cilantro, basil, thyme,


Additional vegetables
These vegetables can get soft or discolored quicker. That mean you have to eat the salad quicker. You can add these on any day to change the taste of the basic mix.

Lettuce/Spinach
shredded broccoli
cauliflower
zucchini
avocado

Toppings
Toppings are optional. This is what makes this salad versatile enough to be the base of a fully meal, 7 days a week.

Nuts or seeds
Raisons
Left-over meat, fish, chicken
Roasted vegetables
Rice
Cheese
Cooked vegetables
Whatever else you have.

Dressings
These go from simple to complex. The tastes are so good, you can eat this salad with no dressings. I started with bottled dressings and now use a simple squeeze of fresh lemon. Sometimes I add some Olive Oil. Another alternative is a great balsamic vinegar. Of course, you can use your favorite low fat dressing.

Directions:
Wash all of the vegetables and thinly shred them with a knife. This lets them come out in thin layers that are fun to eat. You can also shred by hand, chop in chunks or "break" some of the vegetables.

Use more or your favorites and change things up a bit. Try new tastes by adding other favorite vegetables I've forgotten here. If it's something you eat raw, it can go into the basic salad. If it's cooked, add as a topping for a special meal.

As a Side Dish
I serve a version of this salad almost everyday. You can add anything else in your meal. To make it a side dish, serve a portion with your cooked protein (meat, fish, chicken, beans). It goes with ethnic foods and vegetarian delights.

Keep this around on a regular basis. It's crunchy and satisfying. Depending on other meals, you can use this and start to naturally lose weight by making it your staple meal of the day or by eating more of this than other, higher calorie foods.

Let me know how you like it.

29 Benefits of Better Nutrition

1. Waking up without having to be dependent on a drug called caffeine.

2. Waking up and knowing where you are because your mind in clear.

3. Waking up without blurry eyes because your natural tears are in order.

4. Seeing your stomach get flatter.

5. Being able to go to the bathroom with ease!

6. Watching your skin clear up and look smoother.

7. Having a better, deeper sleep.

8. Naturally eating less.

9. Naturally wanting to eat better, healthier foods.

10. Sores, wounds, healing quicker, faster.

11. Fingernails getting stronger.

12. Watching your hair grow out and get thicker.

13. Having enough energy to exercise each day.

14. Trying new recipes because you want to try new vegetables.

15. Ready to try new ideas and concepts.

16. Feeling the effects of drinking more water

17. Naturally being attracted to foods that digest better in your body.

18. Having a better disposition.

19. Getting along better with others.

20. Realizing that the stress levels are going down.

21. Feeling that you CAN do what you want.

22. Going more places without feeling so tired.

23. Starting to feel emotionally balanced.

24. Able to make a decision and stick to it.

25. Cleaning up.

26. Smiling more.

27. Being more calm.

28. Accomplishing things and finishing what's undone.

29. Being present in the now instead of being stuck in the past.

Pickles and Stomach Aches

This afternoon I just got really hungry. I started to snack on a fruit and nut trail mix, knowing it had too many calories. Snacking has always been a problem; that was my worse way of gaining excess weight. It's so easy to have a jar of peanuts or a few candy bars at your desk during the day.

It seems that those snacks would be used up with the energy it takes to do your work. But they go to the hips or stomach like anything else. Well, I was also very tired today from not having slept long enough last night. Only got about 6 hours of sleep and I was dragging. So I didn't feel like making any food and was bored with eating plain, unadorned fruits and veggies.

Going healthy doesn't mean starving yourself; it means paying attention to what you put in your mouth. So I decided to just eat. Somewhere in the food selection I made a really bad mistake because hours later I'm still having bad stomach aches.

I ate a Boca burger, a fake burger patty. I added mustard, pickle and ketchup then put it between two pieces of lettuce. Well, I know it wasn't the lettuce, but I don't know if it was the condiments or the Boca burger. Guess I should have just started wtih the burger, taken a check on the reaction, then tried one condiment at a time.

After a cleanse, its not easy to keep making the same food choice mistakes. I'm learnig a lot about my body and what makes it healthy. Until I learn some new recipes for raw and vegetarian foods, I need to be very careful about what I put in my mouth. I certainly pay the price when I don't.

Food and Dental Health

Today I had my regular check up with my Dental Hygenist. She kept looking at me as if something was wrong. The problem was that something was very right. The week before, I went to the Dentist to get a new set of X-Rays. He found nothing wrong with anything in my mouth. You expect to have at least a build up of plague somewhere; but there was nothing.

The hygenist also was surprised. My gums were strong and tight. No plague to dig off and no cavities. She asked what was going on and I told her I had gotten off coffee, drinking smoothies and eating more raw fruits and vegetables.

She told me that dental research confirms that a change in nutrition can affect dental health significantly. This was the first cleaning that didn't hurt. To me it verifies that food is a healer.

Determining What Works

A result of doing a cleanse is the ability to find out what works and what doesn't when it comes to eating certain foods. I'm still on a natural cleanse with high fiber, but not on the veggie, fruit raw cleanse. A few days ago, I made a Shrimp Scampi. Within a few minutes I felt muscle soreness and a tightening in my throat. I had never felt this before. It showed that shrimp is probably a problem for me.

I've never liked shell fish too much. What surprised me was that realize that it is possible to be eating foods that cause problems in the body on a regular basis. Because we get accustomed to being a bit under the weather on a regular basis, the feelings of being sick don't strike us so much. When a food is isolated and results in a reaction, it becomes more apparent. Fortunately, I confirmed that I need to be leery of shell fish and shrimp in particular.

The next day, I decided to venture out to eat and ended up at a new restaurant in my city that was rather like a deli. I ordered a Cobb salad, feeling it wouldn't be too bad. It was my first taste of chicken since coming off the fasts. The salad was alright; I had it with balsamic dressing.

Today, I created another chicken salad. Habit took over and I made two chicken meals in one day. It's a habit to think we have to have animal protein at each meal. It is not sitting well on my stomach late at night. In fact, sitting on my stomach is the problem. I need to get up and do some exercise. Focusing on a vegetable based diet is definitely what is going to work for me.

Relearning Tastes

Probably the hardest thing to do when changing how you eat is to learn to change tastes. Taste is a learned behavior. Think about it; some people can eat things that make you gag while you do the same. Consider raw oysters. With a heritage from New Orleans, oysters should be something I can understand. But I've never developed a taste for anything raw that used to be alive and walking. The distinction is made because raw veggies are totally one of my greatest joys. But raw slimy oysters are something I don't think I'll ever willingly eat. That goes along with other raw meats or fish. However, I certainly respect that some people adore these foods. That's what diversity is all about. It also illustrates my point that tastes are learned behaviors.

Here are some of the tastes I have the most struggles with as I change my consumption patterns.

1. Coffee. What I miss is the rich, full taste of coffee. However, after the experience of the withdrawal the desire has definitely diminished. Will I ever enjoy it as much again? Probably not because of what I know it did to my body. Something with that powerful of a hold on my life has no place in it. Instead, I have a new box of Oolong tea on my kitchen counter that I'm going to try. I can tell there's a fear of caffeine addiction. I was informed by the nutritionist at the health food store that one cup of caffeinated herb tea has about 30 mg. of caffeine compared to 150 mg. in one cup of coffee. That's a lot to consume.

2. Chai Tea. I also miss chai tea. That's because the brands I use have a lot of sugar and I don't want to get back on so much is that white sugar. Unfortunately, artificial white sugar is found in almost all prepared foods in the US. That is a taste that a lot of people are developing and small children are bribed with a sweet taste. That's a taste that needs to be unlearned. I'm sure I can find a way to enjoy a god tea without having to aldd any sugar. A splash of soymilk could do the trick.

3. Fried Fish. Living on the Central Coast makes fish and chips a normal meal. You get spoiled having fish straight off the fishing boats to eat along with freshly fried garlic fries. A new thing is sweet potato fries too. This fried meal is probably the most difficult thing to change at this time, but my health dictates that move. I have been working on some good recipes for oven baked fried foods that have the same crispy, crunchy tastes and flavor without any of the calories and fats. Even though I use olive oil for frying my food, that’s not the best thing for me either. I'm going to perfect the oven baked recipe and share it with you.

4. Fries. I have to go back to the fries. The classic French fry is one of my favorite comfort foods. Why I don't really know whey I can easily eat a baked potato and be happy. I think I just enjoy fried foods. The reason is that I only trusted fried foods in restaurants for a long time. I felt that nothing could be "messed" with and that the food was well cooked. So I would eat fried foods when out. Plus, my comfort food is crunchy. Therefore, the other hard potato is of course the potato chip or other fried snack such as Cheetos. Baking fries is an option. Also, using Jicama, a root vegetable often found in Mexican foods. It's sweet with a character like potato. I'm going to work on substituting this vegetable for the potato and fries.

5. Oatmeal cookies. I am a true Cookie Monster with no excuses. Give me a bag of cookies and it is impossible for me to eat just one. I can eat fewer potatoes than cookies and oatmeal raisons are my favorites. I like the crispy one of course. Crunch again; comfort food for me. Another difficult to resist cookie is the shortbread. Not all shortbread cookies are good. The really buttery ones that are flaky and light are the best. I love Pecan Sandies; can eat the whole bag unfortunately. .

6. Good Cake. I have to emphasize, the "good" with the cake. There's nothing like a light, fluffy cake that makes you feel like you're to really cheating on your calories. The other is a just sweet enough and very dense, perfect pound cake. My favorite cake is a great carrot cake. I used to be a carrot cake queen in college and kept cake baked and on my table in my college apartment. Anyone could come by and get a hunk of cake. Of course there was the great crème cheese icing too, all home made from scratch. There was nothing like it. I have to find that recipe. I'm grateful for places that sell one slice of cake instead of making you buy the whole thing. I found only one place in Los Angeles that has the perfect red velvet cake. I'll also work on that recipe. The question is can you really create a real low-fat cake without losing the texture and taste? I'll let you know.

I'm sure I'll think of several more foods as soon as I sign off. That will have to be another post.
tge

Day 7 - Coffee Detox and Cleanse

CI can hardly believe a week has passed since I decided to make a drastic change in my life. Finally, I'm reaching the goals I've always wanted to reach by just saying "Yes" to my desire to be healthier and to help other reach their desires to be healthier.

Today, Day 7, I finally, finally, have relief in this coffee detox experience. My body is "sore" as if I've been on a long climb that used every muscle. But for the internal pain, it's essentially gone. I guess it was so bad that this relief is something that I am just thrilled to experience now.

I still realize that I'm a bit dehydrated. I always thought I was drinking a lot of water, but now I realize that the caffeine masked a lot of dehydration in the body. That certainly had a lot to do with the cramps. Also, I'm going to look for a high quality vitamin mineral supplement. Magnesium, calcium and zinc are three essential minerals that are depleted with high level caffeine intake.

As for the Raw Foods Cleanse, I'm happy to say that I really enjoyed going through that process too. I don't think I'll go completely raw in my life but I'm definitely adding more raw foods to my diet on a regular basis. I've learned that it's possible to exist with uncooked foods and feel satisfied. I missed hot foods. I know that foods can be heated to around 140 degrees without destroying their enzymes and all. But I really enjoy really hot foods; probably from my Peace Corps years in Africa where hot foods were all I knew.

Either way, my intention is to stay more vegetarian in my diet. I don't think this is best for everyone.

In fact, I have a client at this time that is studying to be a Personal Trainer and he is very interested in a high protein, meat based diet. Every body requires a different diet. That's the point of working with a professionally trained nutrition and health counselor. I certainly would love to be your health counselor and will continue to let you in my adventure this year as I become healthier.

Day 6 Coffee Detox - Evening

Since it's July 3rd, my husband and I went to one of our favorite restaurants for lunch this afternoon. I choose to break the cleanse and ordered a roasted vegetable sandwich on Fortini bread with sweet potato fries. Probably should have ordered a simple salad but the food was getting boring to me with just veggies and fruits and nothing else. I miss various tastes. Still I realize that the best health comes with no fried foods and sweet potato fries are not the best to have. The common idea at this time is that sweet potato fries are healthier than regular fries, but oil is oil.

Before leaving I tried to find a raw food or vegetarian reswtaurant in the area. Being along the coast I was surprised to not find a lot of choices. Guess I never looked before. It was surprising to me that the choices weren't much more than deli's, Thai restaurants or other sandwich shops with vegeatable sandwich choices. It made me wonder how people that eat raw or strictly vegan or vegetarian ennjoy a family meal out in th earea? Do they have to bring their own foods?

The coffee temptation wasn't too much fortunately. I usually get coffee at this restaurant for lunch. After my week of detoxing from coffee, there was no temptation. I skipped it without a second thought and stuck with water.

Fortunately, the fries were shared so I didn't eat all of them. I also removed about 90% of the bread from the sandwich, eating it with a fork. I just wanted to get the fresh basil sauce from the bread which was actually quite delicious. The sandwich was simple; portabello mushroom, tomato, pesto sauce, roasted on the bread. It was good.

We usually go for a long walk along the shoreline after eating but neither of us was feeling up to it today so we just drove along the shore and came home. Something about the ocean is always refreshing and stress relieving. My legs are sore this evening but I'm praying the cramping is gone. It really hits when I try to rest so I'll find out in a little while. So far today has been much better. I'm having hope.

It's been a good day. I think the worse is over - I'll let you know.

Day 6 Coffee Detox

Woke up this morning feeling a bit better. Some cramping was still there. The chills came and went yesterday by the way which I forgot to mention. Right now at 11:00 a.m. on day 6, my legs are still sore but feeling better. Mentally and emotionally, I need some relief from the pain.

I'm going to drink water like crazy today. I cleaned the water filter yesterday. I had put lemon in the tank but found they get rather funky. So don't take that step, just add lemon to the glass of water instead.

Today is also day 6 of my raw food cleanse. That's going pretty well. I have to admit that I cheated a bit on that. I started putting some raw cashews in my veggie salad about two days ago which set up eating the raw cashews. I guess I'm just really feeling hungry at times. Last night for dinner I fixed a piece of salmon for my husband and had a small piece in my veggie salad. Adding that small piece of protein probably wasn't too bad.

Overall I'm really pleased with the cleanse and detox. I feel much lighter in one week and it's obvious that some weight is coming off. That is a great reward for this "jump-start" program. No doubt I'll keep going on that. I doubt that I'll go back to coffee after this, even for a small amount. It just doesn't seem worth it right now; I'll see how I feel afterwards.

Getting through today will be the problem. It's the 4th of July holiday weekend so I expect my husband will want to go do something. I'm usually the one talking about getting bar-b-que ribs. I can't see doing that after a week of raw foods without tearing up my stomach. But I might fall for a bit of fish.

Everything on the coast will be fish and chips I know. We leave by the Pacfific Ocean where the smaller towns always have some type of festival or something on holidays. It's really a fun thing to enjoy.

I still need to get my green smoothie for the day. That's a part of this adventure that's going very well and I'll start letting you know about that soon.

Day 5 - Coffee Detox

Yesterday, Friday, was Day 5 of the detox. I was too busy then too tired to write even though I lay in bed thinking about getting up to make at least this one post. The leg cramps really got to me yesterday. One reason was that I had a business meeting all morning; was out of the house by 9:00 and got back around 1:00 p.m. in the afternoon.

The meeting was to scout out a new place for an event so it involved a lot of walking up and down stairs, hills, and on trails. The place is gorgeous and will make a lovely setting for a health retreat. I drank a fabulous herb tea from Africa and sipped water all morning.

I was famished on the way home but that was my fault for not thinking ahead to bring some fruit or a veggie mix to munch on until I got to really eat.

But the leg cramps set in as soon as I got home. They were so bad I was almost crying by 2:00. I did some extra research because of course, the mind starts to go crazy thinking there's all type of diseases going on in the body at this point. What I learned was essential.

A large dose of caffeine can affect various minerals in the body. I knew about the calcium but learned that potassium and magnesium are also affected. It also has a dehydrating effect. So my legs were probably suffering from a lack of essential minerals and possibly dehydration. I did notice that although I've been drinking water like an empty lake I'm always thirsty.

So it's possible my body is regulating the water needs that I never noticed before. I have a wonderful health drink called "Calm." It's a shot of magnesium in powder form. I put it in a cup of hot water and drank a cup of that like tea. The only bad thing is that it contained stevia, a natural sweetener but another trigger for a headache! I took two Aleve and tried to rest. That helped for a while.

So this leads to the theory that the minerals are depleted in some areas of my body as well as a problem of dehydration which causes cramping. I drank water for the rest of the day and tried to rest.

By night time, the legs cramps were back so much I had to get out of bed and took another Aleve and drink another huge glass of water. I hate admitting I took so many tablets but I never expected to hurt getting off my levels of coffee consumption. If I had to do it again, I would probably get off coffee slower instead of cold turkey. I was trying to do raw foods cleanse and cold turkey coffee in the same week. That's a real shock to the system. My way of doing this is to just make up my mind and get something done rather than piece-mealing it. That's why I'm doing the cold turkey thing.

My coffee habit was so severe it really is drastic to get off. Your consumption levels might not be as severe as mine so take a detox problem in a personal way. I am going to develop pa program to start assisting others with this process as it will lead to so many other health benefits too.

Day 4 - Caffeine Detox

Four days into this and I'm still feeling the detox. As a result of this, I've learned that caffeine can affect your levels of calcium in the body which can be serious in women at an older age. According to a Personal Trainer who is just starting to work with me to help me through this, large amounts of caffeine can affect glucose levels in the body. That means metabolizing fat is not normal in a body that is filled with this drug.

I've let you know that I love drinking coffee. It's a social event as well as a good tasting beverage for me. But I've turned into something else. I've allowed it to take over my life and my body.

On this fourth day, my legs are still cramping. I'm doing stretches and getting ready to do a few minutes on my Elliptical machine this afternoon. Keeping up with my workouts seem to help although I couldn't do it yesterday. I took a short nap today and that helped. I'm on my second green smoothie since they are so delicious. I know that keeping my body full of fresh vitamins and minerals will be the biggest help with this.

As you know I'm also doing a one week raw foods cleanse. Yesterday was difficult for that. I wanted to start eating everything in the refrigerator. I did fall a bit in that I act some raw cashews instead of sticking strictly with fruits and veggies. But I don't think that's going to hurt. I am looking forward to getting back on more food however.

I've fasted for up to five days before on just water so this is not a fast at all. Instead, it's a cleanse. If you need to get your body moving (can I be more direct and say, your bowels), this is a great way to do that in a gentle and natural way. If you don't have the detox going at the same time, you will love how you feel as your body starts rejuvenating itself.

Day 3 Coffee Detox Evening

Time for sleep. I took a nap earlier; the leg cramps became too much. I'm trained as a massage therapit so I gave myself some great leg massage that helped somewhat, took a hot shower and now I'm ready to get into a comfortable bed.

I was thinking about this detox. A reason I must do this is because I'm determined to get serious about being a Health and Wellness Coach. It's been something I've desired to do for years, since retruning from the Peace Corps. Natural health has always been my belief. But for integrity sake, I have to live my talk.

This experience is making me think. What's interesting is that our bodies are totally ours to control (except in unusual situations of course). Isn't it a wonder that the first thing most people do when they are stressed is start to do what is harmful to their own body?

I started drinking loads of coffee during times of great stress. Even when the situation started to tune down, the coffee drinking increased; up to eight cups a day.

Probably most addictions start this way; a little bit of dabbling in what brings an artifical relief that really shouldn't be a bad thing. Coffee is a worldwide drink. I enjoyed great coffee in Africa, Mexico, Spain and in all States of the US. It's great to bring people together. But with everything, you can go overboard.

Too much of a good thing soon turns to a bad addiction. Now I need to get control of my life again. How many thousands of professional people are in the same position but haven't taken the steps to control their health? All the money in the world can't make you healty if you don't take control of it yourself.

All the money in the world can't take away the pain of the withdrawals. It's a strong reminder to me that the most important thing is to live longer, healthier.

Going to bed - hope to have a better day tomorrow.