What She Eats

I forgot to listen to music

2012-02-21T08:21:00.006-06:00

So I'm home from work covered in hives and pretty miserable when I read Heather's post where she mentions that lately she's been listening to The Civil Wars and Snow Patrol. I pulled up my beloved Grooveshark, found my favorite Snow Patrol song.

I forgot that music can make you feel so much better.

Here's the song, Snow Patrol's Hands Open - so I know the song is about an ex-girlfriend or something but the lyrics just sound so uplifting to me right now.

"It's not as easy as willing it all to be right
Gotta be more than hoping it's right
I wanna hear you laugh like you really mean it
Collapse into me tired with joy"

I imagine this is my mind talking to my body right now.

And I freakin' love the Scotland shout out.

Which then reminded me of another Scottish band I love, Frightened Rabbit. These are my two absolute favorite sounds of theirs.

Frightened Rabbit - Good Arms Vs. Bad Arms

Frightened Rabbit - My Backwards Walk

And then it started to snowball...you know how one song reminds you of another and another and another?

So since I have nothing else to do today and my mental capacity is not even high enough to read a book I'm going to probably make this post way too long....

Beirut - Elephant Gun. Gah, the dancing in this video just floors me. I think I just watched this one three times in a row.

So The Civil Wars are pretty awesome too so here's some love for these two:

And now a crazy cover version of one of my favorite songs of all time:

And somehow with any music search I always end up listening to the next songs....

Neutral Milk Hotel - In the Aeroplane Over the Sea. One of my happiest songs ever. Reminds me grad school (and really really fun times).

Okkervil River - The President's Dead. Guys voice is annoying and so I'm not a big fan of other stuff from this band but I LOVE this song. I love the little part in the middle where he describes what he was doing the morning he heard the president's dead...

The Frames - Star Star (I always love the live version of this song so much better than the 'clean' version on their album)

Jet to Brazil - Sweet Avenue. This song make me smile.

Enough for now I suppose :)

Let me know, what song cheers you up (aka, what should I listen to next)?

Thyroid cancer

2012-02-20T08:16:00.001-06:00

My mom sent this to me and I'd like to share....

On Wednesday, Dr. Oz had a show on the fastest growing cancer in women, thyroid cancer. It was a very interesting program and he mentioned that the increase could possibly be related to the use of dental x-rays and mammograms. He demonstrated that on the apron the dentist puts on you for your dental x-rays there is a little flap that can be lifted up and wrapped around your neck. Many dentists don't bother to use it. Also, there is something called a "thyroid guard" for use during mammograms.

By coincidence, I had my yearly mammogram yesterday. I felt a little silly, but I asked about the guard and sure enough, the technician had one in a drawer. I asked why it wasn't routinely used. Answer: "I don't know. You have to ask for it ."

Well, if I hadn't seen the show, how would I have known to ask?

We need to pass this on to our daughters, nieces, mothers and all our female friends and husbands tell your wives !!

The Power of the Animal

2012-02-17T09:01:00.006-06:00

Recently, my friend and fellow blogger Kath, has been struggling quite a bit with the moral and ethical aspects of meat consumption. Like me, Kath feels best when consuming meat on a daily basis but struggles with the idea of the way in which these animals must give their life for us.

I've written about meat consumption before and apparently it is something you all care very much about as it has always been one of my most popular blog entries (although I think half the people find it by googling "cute farm animals" but I'll still claim it).

In a related matter, I have been reading a transcript of a conversation between Joseph Campbell and Bill Moyers that PBS filmed back in the 1980s. The book is entitled, The Power of the Myth, and it is quickly becoming my favorite books of all time.

Here is a clip from The Job, a documentary by KUED-TV in Salt Lake City, Utah where David Kulder, publishing director of the Joseph Campbell Foundation, discusses the phenomenon of The Power of the Myth. It contains actual clips of Joseph Campbell from The Power of the Myth.

In the transcipt, Campbell and Moyers talk about hunting cultures and animal powers, specifically the Crow Indian story of The Buffalo's Wife. Reading this passage made my think of you Kath.

Crow Indian Warrior (source)

This passage is from the wikipedia website, all bolded emphasis added is mine:

The Way of the Animal Powers: Hunting and gathering societies

At this stage of evolution religion was animistic, as all of nature was seen as being infused with a spirit or divine presence. At center stage was the main hunting animal of that culture, whether the buffalo for Native Americans or the eland for South African tribes, and a large part of religion focused on dealing with the psychological tension that came from the reality of the necessity to kill versus the divinity of the animal. This was done by presenting the animals as springing from an eternal archetypal source and coming to this world as willing victims, with the understanding that their lives would be returned to the soil or to the Mother through a ritual of restoration.^[28] The act of slaughter then becomes a ritual where both parties, animal and mankind, are equal participants. In Mythosand The Power of Myth,^[29] Campbell recounts the story he calls "The Buffalo's Wife" as told by the Blackfoot tribe of North America. The story tells of a time when the buffalos stopped coming to the hunting plains, leaving the tribe to starve. The chief's daughter promises to marry the buffalo chief in return for their reappearance, but is eventually spared and taught the buffalo dance by the animals themselves, through which the spirits of their dead will return to their eternal life source. Indeed, Campbell taught that throughout history mankind has held a belief that all life comes from and returns to another dimension which transcends temporality, but which can be reached through ritual.

How to get the mercury out

2012-02-16T08:36:00.008-06:00

I've been doing a lot of research about mercury trying to find the best, most comprehensive and qualified information. I have also been trying to figure out the best way to explain to you all the exact protocol I am following to remove the metals and support my system. I want to explain what I'm doing without giving too much detail because every person is different and I encourage you to work with a qualified professional if you suspect any of these issues.

Luckily, I killed these two birds with one stone when I found Dr Hyman's website.

Here's a little exerpt from his biography:

Dr. Hyman is Chairman of the Institute for Functional Medicine, and was awarded its 2009 linus Pauling Award for Leadership in Functional medicine. He is on the Board of Directors of the Center for Mind-Body Medicine, and a faculty member of its Food As Medicine training program. he is also on the Board of Advisors of Memhet Oz's HealthCorps, which tackles the obseity epidemic by 'educating the student body' in America high schools about nutrition, fitness and mental resilience.

He has also been featured in recent months on The Dr. Oz Show, 60 Minutes, Larry King Live, CNN and MSNBC.

He has also suffered from and cured himself of a toxic overload of mercury. Yes, this can be treated and your body will function again!

If you would rather hear him talk about how to get the mercury out, you can watch/listen to a video here. He talks a lot about austim, vaccines and dental fillings in the first part but then gets into what can be done after about minute 5.

"I want people to know that just because this topic is mostly ignored by conventional medicine and dentistry, it isn't any less critical or relevant to our health or our children's health".

If you feel like reading some great, comprehensive articles he's written, here are a few that explain a lot:

Mercury: Get this Heavy Metal Poison Out of your Body
(this one is great...for instance, did you know that they used to put mercury perservatives in contact solution? I've been wearing contacts since I was 10. Also, did you know there's mercury in red tattoo ink? I've got a stupid red tattoo on my arm...I've been trying to get it removed by lasers but the doctor is remarking how slowly it is going...perhaps it's because my body it protecting itself by trying to make the ink stay where it is instead of entering my body's elimination channels? )

Why Lead Poisoning May be Causing you Health Problems

How to Rid Your Body of Mercury and Other Heavy Metals: A 3-Step Detoxification Plan

At the end of this article, How to Rid Your Body of Mercury and Other Heavy Metals, Dr. Hyman explains almost exactly what I'll be doing over the next six months to 2 years to get the heavy metals out. From the article:

Step 3: The Metal Detoxification Period

Find a biological dentist to evaluate the extent of your mercury fillings and options for replacing them. This can be done slowly over time, but must be done VERy carefully and only under a trained biological dentist's supervision to avoid burdening yourself with more mercury during the removal process.

Get a test to assess you total load of mercury. This is called a challenge or a provocation test. This is donw with a doctor's prescription and under a docotor's supervision. The easiest and safest way to do this is to take 500mg of DMPS in one dose first thing in the merning after emptying your bladder, followed by a six-hour urine collection. DMPS is a prescription drug and is not FDA-approved in the US, although it has been approced and used for decades in Europe.

The other option is to use DMSA< which is FDA-approved. It pulls out a
lot less mercury and needs to be taken at a dose of 30mg/kg for the challenge
test. I find this is not as effective to get a true reading on what is in the
body. (Rufus note: I took the DMSA...and to think my mercury levels were still 34! Imagine what it would have been if I had taken the DMPS!!!)

Use binding agents to pull the mercury out of your body. There is a lot of
controversy about the best wat to do this. But after helping people detox from
heavy metals for 10 years, I've found the safest and most effective treatment is oral DMSA....(Rufus note, I am following a slight different schedule than described on his website, we're doing 5 days on and 9 days off). Then recheck your level of mercury through the challenge test.

Do saunas daily - expecially on those days when doing DMSA (Rufus note: Dr. Campbell does not recommend saunas for me at the beginning because my levels are so high and she thinks this would be too much of a shock to my system. Instead I am advised to do other complementary treatments).

Consider geting intravenous vitamins and antioxidents for three months while
indergoing this process...to boost detoxification....(Rufus note: I am not getting intravenous vits and antioxidents but I am taking a BOAT LOAD of supplements supplied by the Naturopath, Dr. Campbell, to support my body during this process.)

Drink enough filtered water and fluids to make urine clear (Rufus note: to optimize my recovery, my husband and I have decided to get Moutain Valley brand Sring Water delivered. Expensive but we consider it worth it. AMAC Water, located in Spring Texas, delivers to the Houston area.

Make sure you have bowel movements twice a day. This is very important or you will reabsorb mercury from the gut. You can add ground flax seeds to shakes or foods, or take one ot two 150-mg magnesium citrate capules twice a day if you are not going regularly. (Rufus note: I am taking magnesium as this is also helping with the leg cramping I am experiencing on the days I am taking DMSA. I also am taking a large dose of fiber at night, per direction of my Naturopath).

One thing I have not mentioned yet: yes, this is very expensive. For example, the bottle of DMSA that I am taking that will last for about 1 month is over $100. Add to that the other 13 or so bottles of support supplements, Naturopath visits, alternative treatments, air purifier and filterred water and you get an idea of what this is costing us on a monthly basis. This is a huge part of the reason I have put off seeing a Naturopath for the past two years and tried to do it on my own.

And no, my health insurance will not cover any part of this (although Dr. Campbell did get me a medicial discount on the air purifier). Insurance will only pay downstream when (not if) this turned onto a debilatating illness or cancer.

But my husband and I agree that it is 100 percent worth it and if it means postponing buy a house, so be it. Having a healthy wife, healthy babies and being healthy mother in the future is well worth the hugh sum of money we are spending today.

Again, regardless of the cost, I recommend working with a trained professional! You health is invaluable!

If you are in the Houston area, I highly recommend Dr. Erica Campbell. Visit her website at: http://www.sakuranaturalhealth.com/.

She Ate Heavy Metals

2012-02-14T08:30:00.011-06:00

UPDATE: I wrote about how I am getting these metals out of my body here.

WARNING. There are people who have written things on the internet that try to discredit what I'm about to say. Keep in mind that it is illegal to use anything these people write as evidence in a court of law.

Moving on.

I got my heavy metals test results back from my Naturopath yesterday. And, damn. I've got some heavy storage going on.

There are ten heavy metals showing up stored in my body. The Naturopath said that if there are more then 6, this is an indication that you are actively storing metals.

Why is this happening? It could be exposure levels. Yet, many people can be exposed to the same levels and while some people have no problem, others can store them like they're going out of style. This is because you can be genetically predisposed to storing heavy metals:

Most people can excrete toxic heavy metals from the body successfully. However, some people—especially those who suffer from chronic conditions—cannot excrete them efficiently enough and a build-up occurs. Recent research also reveals that those who cannot excrete heavy metals efficiently appear to be genetically predisposed to this condition. Research has shown that the APO-E 4/3 and 4/4 genotypes are the worst excretors of heavy metals. Those with this version of APO-E protein—abundant in the cerebral spinal fluid surrounding the brain—will have the highest affinity for becoming ill from exposure to neuro-toxic heavy metals, especially mercury when it is present in combination with others.

Why I could store mercury for so long but have such a reaction when taking the provoking agents:

Freed methyl mercury rapidly reabsorbs back into the human. If you take a large dose of chelator, you will excrete a large dose of mercury into the bile. You will then receive a large dose back in through the GI.

Such a large scale activity will redistribute mercury, which can be quite bad. Small daily accumulations over a long time gives your body opportunity to direct storage of the poison it can't excrete. As much as possible is placed in less disruptive places. A large dose has high potential to be much more disruptive, with little body influence over storage location

If you can't read the types of metals listed, basically my lead levels are 12. An upper acceptable limit should be 2.

I also have high levels of cesium and thallium and, given my current exposure test results (not shown), she believes I have building levels of arsenic. The Thallium she says comes from fruits and vegetables (which I eat A LOT of) and is not as much of a concern as she thinks my body will probably be able to get rid of it as soon as my mercury and lead levels are lower.

The cesium?

The EPA has this on their website:

Nuclear reactor waste and accidental releases such as the Chernobyl accident in the Ukraine release some cesium-137 to the environment.

They also write this:

Compared to some other radionuclides, cesium-137 remains in the body for a relatively short time. It is eliminated through the urine.

Although "short" is relative:

The half-life of cesium-137 is 30.17 years. Because of the chemical nature of cesium, it moves easily through the environment. This makes the cleanup of cesium-137 difficult.

I lived in Norway less than thirty years ago, 'relatively' soon after the Chernobyl disaster occurred.

Also, my current exposure test (not show here), shows that I am currently being exposed to relatively relatively high levels of cesium. And arsenic. I blame the very old office building built in the 1960s that I currently spend 9 hours everyday but this is just speculation.

The EPA says this:

They may unwittingly encounter an industrial instrument containing a sealed cesium-137 radiation source.

It's the best answer I can come up. My husband thinks its at least feasible. If you can think of a better explanation, let me know...

Last but the opposite of least - Mercury.

My levels should come in at 4 or less. My level?

34.

thirty freaking four.

The naturopath explained that these are not ABSOLUTE numbers. They need to be taken with a grain of salt as these are just what the particular dose of provoking agent removed at that time. Although, what this definitely indicates is there is A LOT of mercury in my body and that my body WANTS to get rid of it.

It's funny (sort of) - the day I took this test, about 30 minutes after I took the provoking agent, there were sharp and severe shooting pains in my leg, arm and teeth. It felt like it was in my bones. The same feelings I use to get in my early teens that I attributed to 'growing pains'.

My naturopath explained that the body will often times store heavy metals in your bones.

Retrospective analysis of the various specimens showed intracellular heavy metal nanoparticles within lymph node, bone marrow, and liver samples by field emission gun environmental scanning electron microscopy and energy dispersive spectroscopy. Heavy metals from environmental pollution may accumulate in sites far from the entry route and, in genetically conditioned individuals with tissue specificity, may act as cofactors for chronic inflammation or even malignant transformation.

The same time I was experiencing the 'growing pains' was the same time that my mental issues and depression started to really surface. Know also that mercury is lipophilic, meaning it loves to attach to fat. The brain is fat and mercury loves to cross the blood brain barrier. This is why about 90 percent of mercury symptoms are displayed mentally:

anxiety and nervousness

weepiness

depression

irritability

mental fog

poor decision-making and delayed reaction time

Sometimes manic behavior (tattoos much?)

impaired cognitive function

I thought this was an interesting tidbit:

Mercury has been known as a powerful neurotoxin since the time of Caesar. In old Rome it was common that if you ran for office and lost, you opponent could banish you to the mercury mines in Almadén Spain. After a 4-year stint in the cinnabar mines no one would trust your judgment any more.

Additionally, the provoking agent made me very congested in my head and I felt very drunk and began having difficulty talking and I was slurring my words. This apparently can be explained by the pathway that mercury, especially METHYL-mercury acts upon. I am not a scientist in the least but I will try to give a few comments. Basically mercury works on the same pathways where sugars are oxidized into alcohols. If you have high levels of mercury in your system, when you eat sugar (or drink alcohol), the drunken effects are magnified. The Gut and Psychology Syndrome book explains this better than I can type it but I don't have that resource with me right now. I'll insert that quote soon.

Here's one for now that kind of explains what I'm talking about:

Heavy metals such as mercury, cadmium, lead and thallium poison the glucose metabolizing catalysts, thus reducing the flow of energy throughout the body. It is interesting to note that the symptoms of heavy metal poisoning are similar to symptoms associated with hypoglycemia i.e. hyperactivity, mood swings, manic depressive behavior, poor concentration and impulsive and unpredictable behavior.

This one does a pretty good job:

Sugar activates candida metabolism and some of its by-products are neurotoxins such as formaldehyde, alcohol and acetlyaldehyde. One's nervous system can become confused during candida infestation due to specific neurotoxins. Candida converts the element mercury to methyl mercury which is 100 times more toxic. Mercury chelation might deliver more mercury to the system temporarily allowing the candida-methyl mercury conversion. Mercury is an antibacterial, yet, in concentrations lower than fatal to humans, bacteria are often encouraged. Your symptoms may get worse before they improve

This effect is know enough that poor rats have been made to be heavy metal toxic and then fed alcohol. Here were the results:

Alcohol seemed to influence the effect of the metals. Combined exposure to heavy metals and regular alcohol consumption may result in more severe central and/or peripheral neurotoxic outcomes.

This explains why I feel SO BAD and have such mental fallout after even a tiny bit of alcohol.

I'm not really sure if there is one particular source that I can pinpoint as to where the mercury came from other than maybe eating a lot of fish growing up and as an adult. It's not like I was sucking on thermometers or something.

But there is mercury in almost every single waterway and 1 in 4 fish.

The agency examined mercury in fish, sediment and water drawn from 291 rivers and streams between 1998 and 2005, finding 25 percent carried mercury at levels above the safe standard for human consumption (0.3 parts per million wet weight), while all of the fish had detectable mercury levels.

"This study shows just how widespread mercury pollution has become in our air, watersheds, and many of our fish in freshwater streams," Interior Secretary Ken Salazar said in a statement. "This science sends a clear message that our country must continue to confront pollution, restore our nation's waterways, and protect the public from potential health dangers."

There is also mercury in compact fluorescent light bulbs. NPR's CFL Bulbs have One Hitch: Toxic Mercury

"The problem with the bulbs is that they'll break before they get to the landfill. They'll break in containers, or they'll break in a dumpster or they'll break in the trucks. Workers may be exposed to very high levels of mercury when that happens," says John Skinner, executive director of the Solid Waste Association of North America, the trade group for the people who handle trash and recycling.

I have broken two of these in the past few years and cleaned up the pieces - perhaps I was exposed then?

So what now?

I'm starting on a process to get rid of the metals and plenty of supplements to support this process. I'm in for the long haul. It will probably take 6 months to 2 years to get the levels down in a safe and prudent way.

I am SO GLAD that I am working with a professional to do this instead of trying to take care of it on my own which could have led me to repeating what I did to myself about two years ago.

Two years ago was around my breaking point when everything was getting so bad I was willing to do ANYTHING to feel better. I read a bunch on the internet about 'cleansing' diets of tones of raw fruits, vegetable and juices. Almost overnight I went from eating meat, processed foods, alcohol and sugars, etc to eating only raw fruits and vegetables and some nuts, seeds and algae. About two weeks after starting this I was stricken with a REALLY high fever and severe kidney pain. I went to the emergency room and they did ultrasound scans, analyzed blood and urine samples, and did in depth pelvic exam. They couldn't find anything wrong with me and couldn't explain what was going on. Looking back now, I'm almost certain I was having a severe detox reaction or a Herxheimer reaction. I remember crying for three days straight, severe fatigue and pain in the kidney area.

Regarding kidneys:

For many reasons the kidney is a key point of heavy metal accumulation within the body and an important site of mercury toxicity. The kidney is a mechanical and chemical filtration system that completely filters all extracellular water of the body 16 times a day. Each beat of the heart sends blood first to the kidneys with the highest pressure to be found anywhere in the circulatory system.

And from the EPA:

The major systems impacted by human inhalation of elemental mercury are the kidneys and central nervous system (CNS). Acute exposure to high levels of elemental mercury in humans results in CNS effects, such as tremors, irritability, insomnia, memory loss, neuromuscular changes, headaches, slowed sensory and motor nerve function, and reduction in cognitive function. (1,2)

Let me repeat, I am SO GRATEFUL to have found a professional with experience in these matters that can help me overcome this.

My naturopath even told me that I remind her a lot of herself 15 years earlier.

She says that it will get better. That I will no longer break into tears randomly at the strangest and slightest provocations. That I will be able to have a glass of wine once in a while. That my food sensitivities will clear up considerably. That I will be able to remember things without writing them down. And most importantly, that I will be able to have healthy babies. And for that, I am extremely grateful.

This post is a part of Food Renegades Fight Back Friday . Check out the link for more blog posts by other food renegades.

Yanamamo!

2012-02-07T09:23:00.002-06:00

Hey mom, remember this?

For all of you who have no idea what I'm talking about...

In 5th grade our school put on this musical.

And I still remember all of this word :)

Be the change you want to see.

2012-02-02T12:18:00.003-06:00

Television . . .is an anti-experience and an anti-knowledge machine because it separates individuals from themselves and from the environment and makes them believe they are living while they are only observing passively what other people decide to make them see.

—Dr. Silvana Montanaro, MD, psychiatrist, pediatrician, international director of the Montessori Assistants to Infancy courses

source

You have very truly remarked that if we are to reach real peace in this world, and if we are to carry on a real war against war, we shall have to begin with children and if they will grow up in their natural innocence, we won't have to struggle, we won't have to pass fruitless idle resolutions, but we shall go from love to love and peace to peace, until at last all the corners of the world are covered with that peace and love for which, consciously or unconsciously, the whole world is hungering.

—M. Gandhi, 1943

artwork of Nate Williams

She eats the Naturopathic way

2012-02-01T10:07:00.012-06:00

I recently spent 2-and-a-half-mind-opening hours with a wonderful Naturopath.

Contrast that with the MAYBE 5 minutes my Ob-gyn spent in the room with me during my well woman appointment the next day.

I've neglected the blog this past week as I though it was important to take the time to enact her suggestions like taking a heavy metal toxicity test (lead exposure as a child and heavy fish consumption and buying a really expensive home air purifier (new carpet in our rental house), instead of just writing about them.

I feel super evangelical about (good) naturopaths now. If you're serious about preventative medicine or you have little nagging health issues that doctor's just want to give you a pill to treat the symptoms I say GO TO A NATUROPATH NOW. I feel like she's catching things and we will take care of them NOW while still relatively minor and before they progress into major health issues (infertility, cancer, autoimmune, arthritis, Parkinson's, etc.). After walking out of the appointment I thought to myself: this is what general practice medicine SHOULD be today.

From the Naturopathic Doctor's News and Review website (What is Naturopathic Medicine?):

The naturopathic physician seeks to treat the causes of disease, rather than to merely eliminate or suppress symptoms.

I trust her and her treatment suggestions because she's running tests to confirm any suspicions she has given my symptoms and health and medical history. In addition to the heavy metals and concern about the new carpet, she is running a food intolerance test as she's almost 100% sure I've got a major dairy intolerance. She also see signs of a yeast overgrowth and adrenal fatigue and possible signs of reproductive hormonal imbalance. Given my family history with thyroid issues, we will also probably be running a thyroid panel and working on ways to support this vital organ in the coming months. All will hopefully be tested and revealed in the coming months.

And here I just thought she was going to help me overcome my food sensitivities.

Ear infections as a child.

Hive breakouts.

Depression.

Uncontrollable/Unexplained crying.

Acne.

Fatigue.

Joint Pain.

Allergies.

And A LOT of other symptoms....

...All symptoms that indicate deeper issues. All symptoms most doctor's have just given me a pill for (headaches are not caused by an asprin deficiency folks).

She basically equate me to a clogged kitchen sink that over the years has filled up with pesticides, PCBs, VOCs, etc, etc, and is now over-spilling (as the increasing food intolerance are evidence of).

ewwwwwwwwwwwww

The thing clogging this sink is most often times heavy metals that are REALLY hard to get out of your body once they collect. If it's true that I have high levels of heavy metals, the theory is that by safely detoxing me of these, my body should be able to detox or, using the sink analogy, "drain out" the rest of the crap in me. At that point I apparently could starting do crazy things again like eating quinoa without my body freaking out.

That would be nice.

I have a follow up appointment on the 13th so should have a few more answers then. In the meantime she adjusted my supplements and put me on a few new ones and I'm feeling SO much better just from that little change although I can totally feel there's a long way to go. She also suggested I read the book Clean, Green and Lean by one of her mentor's Dr. Crinnon.

Seriously, I keep asking myself why I didn't go see her earlier.

And here I started this post saying I was going to write more later :)

Now on to sumpfing lighter...

I leave you with this picture taken last weekend of me and the husband....

my husband is hot :)(:

...wearing the same dress my grandmother wore to my uncle's wedding 41 years earlier.

She drinks green juice

2012-01-20T08:48:00.004-06:00

Courtesy of the The Last Organic Outpost's brand new CSA coop share program :)

This week included:

Large bag of spinach
Large bag of lettuce
Bunch of Kale
Parsley
Cilantro
Carrots
Balsamic Vinaigrette dressing made with honey from the farm.

Try to get all that locally grown at Whole Foods for only $15 (and freshly picked in the last 24 hours to boot!).

Pick ups are Thursdays between10am and 7pm.

Email me if you want more information!

She eats.

2012-01-19T12:53:00.010-06:00

Randomly popping in to say hello quickly as I have been very busy this week ;) If you're curious, yoga teacher training went really well, my mom even let me practice on her. Realized how far I have to go. I'll write more soon.

Now, on to random thoughts and musings!

Someone found my blog by searching "panties on lamb chops"

strange...but all are welcome I suppose...

Anyone want to offer insight as to why someone would want to see panties on lamb chops?

Moving on...

Did you know that I have a standing desk at work? Does this surprise you?

I'm listening to this right now.

I've been reading this lately.

Living Buddha, Living Christ by Thich Nhat Hanh. Every word I read makes me feel peaceful and right with the world. Religious or not, I highly recommend it.

I ate this for breakfast and then again for lunch (and will probably eat it for dinner).

sorry for crappy phone photo, my camera is on the fritz...again...

I made chicken feet stock and after straining, added it back to my crockpot with chunked up carrots, onions and aduki beans (soaked overnight). Forgot to add ginger but hopefully I will remember it next time...and there will be a next time as this was really good.

I left this all day and when I got home last night I added:

Box (no BPA!) of pumpkin from Fig Food Company
Chicken breasts
Almond milk
Curry powder

Right before I went to bed I turned off the crockpot and added:

Bag of frozen chopped kale
really roughly chopped cilantro (cuz I'm lazy)
lemon juice
crushed garlic cloves

I then packaged it up into 2 cup ball jars so it's pre-portioned to take for meals at work. Made of foods to help dry out spleen dampness (writing more about this soon).

Sorry I don't have measurements but I cook without them (again, sheer laziness). Not measuring has resulted in some disasters but it has also given me a lot of confidence in the kitchen. I know how I like my food and so I add or subtract the ingredients and proportions accordingly. It has also helped me to critically think about each ingredient in a recipe and the purpose it is serving (binder, brightener, etc.). Also, because I have so many idiosyncratic food sensitivities, I can rarely follow a recipe exactly anyways so this gives me the confidence to modify.

Besides, I'm not the only one...I'm pretty sure Grandmas did this for centuries.

What Buddha Eats

2012-01-16T22:37:00.003-06:00

I cooked 4+ hours today and took loads of pictures. BUT...I'm having technical difficulties. SO...in the meantime I bring you this....

Buddha says:

"There are nine causes for the premature, unexpected end to human life".

The first five of these are related to ones diet:

1. Eating what should not be eaten - food which are out of season or bad for you as an individual

2. Immoderate Eating - consumption in excess of one's need.

3. Eating contrary to custom - eating at odd hours and eating a variety of foods which are new to your body without adjusting.

4. Failure to discharge the old before the arrival of the new - eating before you have finished digesting the previous meal, eating when you are not hungry.

5. Intentional retention of digested foods - basically this means suppressing natural processes (such as belching, vomiting, gas, urination, bowel movements).

She eats fear for breakfast.

2012-01-12T16:16:00.005-06:00

Fear: a distressing emotion aroused by impending danger, evil, pain, etc., whether the threat is real or imagined.

Or at least I don't let it eat my lunch.

Last night in our small group, we were talking about building relationships and how it often comes down to initiating conversations. One of the teenagers in my small group, a girl who has compromised hearing and wears hearing aids as well as approaches social interaction differently than most, brought up the fact that she is very shy around most people because she is so afraid of being laughed and judged. I wish you could have heard the way she phrased it because she really made it sound like this was something unique to her – like other people don’t have these fears. The other small group leader and I adamantly told her that we feel this way all the time. In fact, I think most people have this underlying fear of rejection when they put themselves out there….speaking of which (high five for unintentional segways :)…

source

I was later talking to one of my very close friends (who lives manymany States away in South Dakota) about her latest adventures into online dating. She described to me how they had emailed back and forth and talked on the phone for many weeks before deciding to meet for a date at a local bookstore. She mentioned how nervous and afraid she was going to say something stupid J She then went on to say what a wonderful date they had and how their relationship has been building into something extremely wonderful.

(sorry, couldn’t help myself :) source

My friend is an amazing person – she recognizes her fear and confronts it – on first dates or moving half way across the world. What if she had let the fear control her and she had missed the date? Sure, in the grand scheme of things, first date jitters is not that big of a deal but I think it’s something that would resonate well with a teenage girl. I wish she could have listened in.

So in her fragile teenage state’s honor( and partially to strengthen my resolve to begin something this weekend that I am fighting fear with myself) I have collected a few ‘overcoming fear’ quotes from Eleanor Roosevelt, a person eloquent than myself. Cue the cheesy inspirational music (all of these are lifted…erm…borrowed from here:

We gain strength, and courage, and confidence by each experience in which we really stop to look fear in the face... we must do that which we think we cannot.

You gain strength, courage, and confidence by every experience in which you really stop to look fear in the face. You are able to say to yourself, 'I lived through this horror. I can take the next thing that comes along.'

I believe that anyone can conquer fear by doing the things he fears to do, provided he keeps doing them until he gets a record of successful experience behind him.

And one from one of my favorite writers….

Advance, and never halt, for advancing is perfection. Advance and do not fear the thorns in the path, for they draw only corrupt blood.
Khalil Gibran

When do you confront fear? How do you overcome it?

2012 - The year that could be

2012-01-09T10:30:00.000-06:00

I am excited for 2012 if not mainly because I now get to leave 2011 behind (did I mention I also lost my wedding ring last year? Moving on….). I know there is a mere hours difference between 2011 and 2012 but psychologically when the clock struck midnight I felt a huge weight life off my shoulders. I have never felt such a mental difference between two years. I am glad I stayed up to welcome in the new year J

source

2011 was a very energy intensive and draining year for me. My goal for 2012? To build back up my energy stores by focusing on the people and activities that fill me up. I don't expect to accomplish all these things and execute them all perfectly. This is more a list for me to reflect back on during the year to inspire and refocus me.

Without further ad0...

Spend lots of time with my family. It is SO good to have my mother feeling better again. For the first year and a half that my (now) husband knew her, she was in pain, low energy, etc. Starting in October or so she began to perk up. I am so grateful that my husband gets the opportunity to get to know her like this - and I don’t want to take it for granted. I not only love my family but I actually LIKE spending time with them. In the coming year it is very important for me to spend as much time as possible with them.

Continue to learn and practice having a successful and loving marriage. You can read and research all you want but nothing prepares you for actually doing it. It has been one of the most fascinating, challenging and rewarding things I have ever done.

Spend time with Radar. Never realized you could love an animal so much.

Spend time with my group of teenage girls. They teach me so much. They also help remind me of what it’s like being a teenager and how grateful I am that I made it past that stage J

Spend time at the Last Organic Outpost. This place was there for me when I first returned to Houston broken and alone in 2009. I owe them so much and really want to do everything I can to see them succeed.

Continue to heal my body. I feel like I have made A LOT of progress in 2011 (especially once I started acupuncture) but as it took me a long time to damage myself, it’s going to take a long time to heal. I heard the liver can take 18 months to completely regenerate. I may want to have children someday and I want to be as healthy as possible when this happens. I’m not there yet but it is the thing I focus on when I just want to eat that cookie… similarly…

Take care of myself. Beyond just the physical aspects I want to continue to practice understanding and communicating my needs, being my own friend and listening to my intuition.

Begin to look into alternative career options…that do not require staring at a computer for 8+ hours a day. You see, I have a Masters Degree in Public Policy which leads me to a career in research and analysis….aka, a lot of reading and computer time. I have noticed over the past 8 months that vision in my left eye is getting less and less optimal (to put it mildly). Focusing on text in books and staring at computer screens seems to exacerbate the problem of fuzzy, unfocused and clouded vision which is starting to lead to headaches by the end of the day. This all zaps my energy and is very distracting. As a result, I’ve noticed the quality of my work product has diminished. This is a long way to explain why I have decided that I cannot continue with my current career (which mandates face to face time with the computer) for the 30+ years. I’ve been floating a bunch of ideas in my head (yoga instructor? Preschool teacher?) but if anyone has any low cost solutions of career changes that do not require intense , focused vision I’m all ears.

Ballet/Modern classes. Dance is so many things. It is my meditation and my centering. It calms me and creates focus. It energizes me. It allows be to be connected with my body and the space I inhabit. It is my creative outlet of choice. It can also be my emotional outlet. I do love yoga but sometimes I can feel like I’m fighting it. The rhythm of dance eases this resistance in me and allows the flow to naturally occur. I am so grateful that my body is healthy enough to dance.

source

Save for a trip back to Norway and Germany. I really want to show my husband my childhood home as well as have him meet my third cousins in Germany. Both of our families have descended from German ancestry so I know he is interested in seeing the place he is partially from. Germany is also a very fun place to visit – I think it will be my fourth time? We are planning for May 2013.

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Start learning German (or relearn Norwegian). This way I can try and impress my relatives in Pullach when we visit them J

Ride my bike to work more. I did this a few times last year but have help off since it has gotten dark in the evenings. Come Spring I hope to do this more (which can also help save money for our trips!).

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Play my trumpet. It is fun and relaxing in many of the same ways as dance and a whole lot cheaper since I already own the trumpet. It’s also more convenient since I can do it from home.

source

Laugh more, play more and complain and worry less. I tend to be quite serious and fretful about the future. Also, when I don’t feel good, I start to become quite negative without realizing it. Having a husband to point this out without criticism has been huge for me. He calls it ‘spiraling’. I would like to start recognizing this for myself and focus on the positives in the world and my life. I am a true believer that if you put energy into thoughts they are more likely to come to fruition - whether positive or negative. If it’s more likely to happen, I’d rather it be a positive than a negative J

What She Eats in a Pinch (or I heart animals)

2012-01-07T14:56:00.000-06:00

Made bean soup this week and decided that although I can eat beans and grains again, they really don’t come close to satiating me like meat does. Case in point – it was lunch time and I was a little hungry but not much. I had a large breakfast with healthy fats. Usually I put some kind of meat in the soup but as it was a busy holiday week and I was trying to save money, I decided to make it without the meat this time and just add extra beans. Yeah, that didn’t work. About an hour after eating the soup, I started not feeling hungry per say but…well, munchie. Like I needed to fill a craving. Like I wanted bread or cookies or a granola bar.

I debated what to do for a while. Past experience has taught me that eating anything high in carbs at this point sends me into a downward spiral of carbs, carbs and then more carbs.

I thought about trying to find a high protein something to eat in the sea of SAD food options that surround me. I decided this would be too frustrating a given previous attempts at this. I wish there was somewhere I could just go buy a plain chicken breast or something. Regardless, I didn’t really want to spend the money if I wasn’t genuinely hungry.

I thought about drinking some tea but knew that wasn’t going to cut it.

I had decided just to drink the tea anyways and try to focus on something else for the last three hours of work…sucky option as it was making me feel anxious but decided it was better than the alternative of compulsively raiding one of my coworker’s desks for chocolate when they weren’t looking (yeah, most people in my office have what I like to refer to as their stash).

Then, I remembered my emergency stash of tinned sardines I keep in my office.

I don’t necessarily enjoy eating them plain, but I was pretty sure it was a lack of animal protein (in proportion to the amount of carbs I ate) that was causing me to feel all out of sorts.

So I ate them. Plain.

They were delicious.

And *poof*…all sorts of cravings and munchie-feelings were gone.

I think I have just discovered my threshold for ‘too many’ carbs.

I have also discovered that although I can now eat beans and rice again, I should always include a little meat while eating them.

Always further, never straight!

Does this ever happen to you? What do you do when you’re in a pinch food wise?

Because I Needed a laugh today.

2012-01-05T20:31:00.002-06:00

I share this with you.

2011 - The year that was

2012-01-03T14:21:00.011-06:00

2011 was a very full year for me. The highs were super high and the lows were pretty low (but luckily could have been worse and weren’t).

I didn’t blog a lot in the second half of 2011. I felt it was more important for me to focus on being totally in the present moment. I suppose this became my resolution half way through the yearJ You see, I have a tendency to reflect and live in the past while simultaneously fretting or anticipating the future. I promised myself when I first started blogging that there would be no *shoulds* attached to it so I just let it go and did not give myself permission to fret about it. I was going to let myself return when I was ready. So, here I am :)

source

I think it has worked. I now feel that I focus more on what IS happening as oppose to was HAS or WILL. Also, I am happy to say I was fully present the day of my wedding and as a result, feel like I remember and savored all the wonderful moments that happened that day.

I think the best way to sum up 2011 is to say it was very energy consumptive. Consumptive of my energy and, as I learned over the course of the year, I am more akin to a fossil fuel than a renewable resource solar power. That’s really not fair…perhaps a lithium battery instead of coal? Ack…bad comparisons abound…the point is that I expended energy this year at a faster rate than I was able to build up my stores.

source

Things that needed /required/I wanted to put energy into during 2011 (in semi-chronological order):

Loved one’s chemo. It is hard to watch the people you love go through hard times. You really wish you could live the pain for them, you know? Remission became my favorite word of the year.

Loved one’s struggles with fostering/adoption. See comment above.

Engaged in April :D

Moved homes in June. 30 days before our wedding, I moved from my tiny studio to a house. A week before the wedding, my husband began slowly moving his stuff over (yes, we waited to live together until we were properly marriage…so old-fashioned…and un-Norwegian).

source

Married in July J Best.Decision.Ever. Wonderful, wonderful (hot) day and even better that I get to live with the consequences J I LOVE the marriage but know I did not become a party planner for a reason. In order not to spend an arm and a leg on your wedding, you really have to plan it yourself. Yes, we contemplated just going to the justice of the peace or something very, very small and quiet like that but at the end of the day, it was more important for me to have my brother and his family there (he lives out of State). So in the end we compromised and waited 6 weeks (instead of two) and ended up having about 60 guests. We still kept it as low key as possible, mainly so my head wouldn’t explode. I’ll write more about it soon. Excitement or anything that involves a lot of emotion tends to exhaust me and send me into a tailspin and weddings (as they should be) are emotional. Wonderful, but emotional.

Work chaos. Job reshuffling at work and a very stressful period of working for someone I did not mesh well with (right after our wedding no less).

I changed my name. I took my husbands last name and changed my middle name to my maiden name. Never before have I had to spent so much energy remembering my own name - is this what menopause feels like?

Learned to cohabitate. Challenging, rewarding and at times exhausting. As my mother calls it, my home has always been my ‘sanctuary’ - where I go to recharge. I have never been one to host parties and the like. I go out to see my friends and come home to fill back up again (I suppose I’m an introvert in that way). Therefore, having my home environment change so drastically (I have lived alone basically since 2006) was a big learning process for me and brought me out of my comfort zone frequently. Please understand I am not complaining. I believe human’s have a finite amount of energy to expend on any given day and learning to live with another person takes more energy than just living by yourself. I am happy to expend my energy this way and wouldn’t trade it for the world. Just realize if energy is going towards this, it had to come from somewhere.

Health challenges. Posterior ventricular detachment in February (due to my really, really bad eyesight...yeah, usually people don't get this until they're in their 70s...and perhaps the car accident from 2009?) and nine cavities filled (symptoms of my poor internal health) as well as some other stuff I’m not going to write about since I know my dad reads my blog J

Healing my body. I put a lot of energy in 2011 towards diet experimentations, GAPS protocol, juicing, etc.

Trip to Vegas. Las Vegas is not somewhere I would choose to vacation out of my own volition but it turned out to be really fun. I was there work a work conference M-F and then the husband came and joined me for the weekend. It was nice to get away from Texas for a little bit. As I grew up traveling extensively, I get to feeling kind of stuck and uninspired if I don’t see new places sometime. This was the only out of State traveling I got to do in 2011.

Adopting our dog Radar. (Second)Best.Decision.Ever. J

Funerals. Two different childhood friends around my age each lost one of their parents to the same cancer that my mother has. See note above about emotional events in my life.

I got rear-ended. Not TOO big of a deal but it was stressful and it did just recently happen (my car is still in the shop). Just another thing to add to the pile. Owning a car can really suck sometimes but it is my reality as long as I live in Houston. Oh well.

I made a few resolutions last year but 2011 turned out much different than I expected. Come April, I dropped those resolutions like a high school boy drops his date for a chance with the Prom Queen – moving on to bigger and better things folks. (Sorry for that, it was the best I could do right now…). So with these new developments (Engagement! Marriage!) my goals and focus morphed and shifted.

Still, let’s see how those resolutions worked out shall we?

Build my emergency fund to 1/3 of annual income – doing really good actually although the number is now higher due to now having a dual-income household. BUT, we’re on track to finish this one in June :)

No buying cheap clothes – I actually did really well with this one. I bought expensive clothes instead J I wear them a lot, wash them a lot and they still look nice. I would call this one a success.

No buying books – EPIC FAIL. I laugh at my old self even thinking this was possible. …and yes, I bought and finished the fifth book already.

Reduce my monthly grocery budget – yeah, also a pretty big face plant. I have just accepted that this is inevitable and have taken other steps to help mitigate its effects on the budget such as not eating out, biking to work when possible, and reading by candle light (juuuust kidding about the candles..although…)

This is getting entirely too long so I will save my focus for 2012 until next time ;)

Such a perfect day.

2012-01-02T19:42:00.014-06:00

Today, I had a day off of work.

I awoke when I wanted to.

Radar helped.

"Radar - I'm glad I spent it with you"

I drank tea, kombucha, beef broth and made green juice. When I wanted to.

I drank a green smoothie. When I wanted to.

I read my book on my sunny couch.

I jarred the ginger carrots that have been fermenting for a week or so. I also made bone broth and split pea soup for the week ahead.

I sat in the sun and finished up a rug-repair job that I've been wanting to take care of for weeks.

Radar helped.

Even though I have a black thumb, I planted things.

Herbs and kale. The basil and chives are already looking a little sad :)

Radar helped.

Max came to help too.

Acting camera shy :)

I looked at my wedding photos taken by my extremely talent sister-in-law .

I thought about how grateful I am to have such an incredible man by my side to share this life with.

Now, I share this day with you :)

What's a perfect day for you?

Typisk Norsk

2011-12-27T14:20:00.002-06:00

You know you've been in Norway too long when...

1. You think there is no such thing as bad weather, only bad clothing
2. You associate warm rice porridge with Saturday and Xmas eve
3. It seems nice to spend a week in a small wooden cottage up in the mountains, with no running water and no electricity
4. You think cross-country skiing is the only "real" skiing
5. You know at least five different words describing different kinds of snow
6. A sharp intake of breath ("jah") has become part of your active vocabulary
7. You associate Friday afternoon with a trip to Vinmonopolet (The Wine Monopoly)
8. It's acceptable to eat lunch at 11.00 and dinner at 15.00
9. Your front door step is beginning to resemble a shoe shop
10. Silence is fun

11. The reason you take the ferry to Denmark is:
a. duty free vodka
b. duty free beer
c. to party
12. It no longer seems excessive to spend 800 kr. on alcohol in a single night
13. Your old habit of being "fashionably late" is no longer acceptable. You are always on time.
14. You enjoy the taste of lutefisk and/or pinnekjott
15. You use "Mmmm" as a conversation filler
16. An outside temperature of 9 degrees Celsius is mild (in mid June)
17. You wear sandals with socks
18. You think riding a racing bike in the snow is a perfectly sensible thing to do (with or without snowtires)
19. You think it's acceptable to wrap your hotdog in a cold pancake
20. Can't remember when to say "please" and "excuse me"

21. You will leave a pub if you can't find a seat
22. You believe that having no choice of products in a supermarket makes it easier to shop
23. You don't mind paying the same for a 200 metre bus ride as you do for going 10 kms
24. You have more than one scarf
25. You have more than one hat and at least one of them has earflaps
26. You know the difference between Blue and Red ski wax
27. You don't fall over when walking on ice
28. Always prepare to catch the closing door if following too closely behind somebody
29. You know the rules to handball
30. You can prepare fish in five different ways without cooking it
31. You know Norway's results the last three years in the "Eurovision Song Contest"
32. You start to believe that if it wasn't for Norway's efforts the world would probably collapse soon
33. You find yourself speaking halfway Swedish with Swedes
34. You don't question the habit of always making "matpakke"
35. You can only buy your own drink at the bar even when you are with a group of people.
36. You get scared when a stranger randomly starts up a conversation with you
37. It feels natural to wear sport clothes and backpack in the cinema as everywhere else.
38. The first thing you do on entering a bank/post office/pharmacy etc. is look for the queue number machine.
39. You have only two facial expressions, smiling or blank.
40. You start believe that if it wasn't for Norway's efforts the world would collapse

Found this here.

Randomness

2011-12-23T13:44:00.011-06:00

Dance class is the highlight of my week. Especially modern. One and half hours fly by in a blink of an eye.

"My dearest dance - you complete me". source

Dance is making me realize how much my body has changed since I was 18.

I think people who truly love the process of executing ballet choreography have a certain underlying seriousness to their personalities that most people don't get. Perhaps it's a shy earnestness. I don't know - the proper adjective eludes me. All I know is I really like the women in the classes and I want to get to know them better.

I threw the cookies away. My will power sucks.

My acupuncturist commented that my blood is weak right now. I can pin point why this is the case so no worries there but I do want to build it back up again. So I'm back to juicing green vegetables, green smoothies and eating lots of salads and kale again. I've really been eating a lot more squash, sweet potatoes and oatmeal lately so I probably should balance it back out again. I made a cup of green juice this morning and figured out that if I put a crap ton of stevia in it, it's not so bad.

She also mentioned B-12 can help tremendously. As this has been a suggested almost every doctor I've been to has made to me, I've procured B-12 sub-lingual tablets. She mentioned injections would be the most effective for me so I'm going to talk to my doctor about that at my annual check up next month but in the meantime these should help some.

On the flip side, my digestion - the primary focus of my treatments for the past three months - is getting better. And stronger. I've still got a long way to go but it's nice to finally have found something that helps.

I've started adding ginger juice to my kombucha. IT.IS.AWESOME.

My puppy is a 6-year old boy. I get home from work this week and he has a huge gash on his leg. It's not slowing him down - he wasn't paying a lick of attention to it (see what I did there? I'm so punny...). So we took him to the emergency vet, got two staples and all doped up. There's not much funnier in the world than watching a drugged-up dog trying to pee. Don't worry, I asked - he doesn't mind when I make fun of him. Really.

My dog is tougher than I am. I would have cried like a baby.

Radar is finally living up to his name :)

Decided not to send out Christmas cards this year. A wedding is enough for one year for this non-Martha-Stewart thankyouverymuch.

In my attempt this make up for this, here is a gift for you dear reader:

Have you returned to any of your childhood hobbies after an extended break?

Gratitude

2011-12-20T10:34:00.002-06:00

Things I am grateful for from 2011 (in no particular order):

1. My husband
2. My family (old and new :)
3. My rescued puppy
4. My health
5. My friends
6. My friends who flew across country to hang out with me for my wedding
7. Patience
8. Seat belts
9. Good neighbors
10. My acupuncturist and the improvements to my health she has helped me achieve
11. The Heights
12. Clean water
13. Running, hot water
14. Trip to Las Vegas
15. Trips to Austin
16. Salado, Texas
17. My boss
18. My landlord
19. My group of high school girls
20. A safe, warm home
21. Joe/Marcella and the Last Organic Outpost
22. The ability to see
23. The ability to read and write
24. Being debt free
25. The freedom of being an American woman
26. Being sensitive
27. Farmer's Markets
28. Mrs. Heathcock
29. Learning new things
30. Not having to worry if I will be able to eat today
31. My sister's strength
32. My mother's strength
33. Everyone who smiled, shared a kind word or was patient with me
34. Rain
35. Adult ballet classes
36. A gym within walking distance of our home
37. My crockpot
38. Invitations - even when I can't accept them
39. Beautiful music
40. Teachers
41. Good books
42. Skype
43. Sunsets and sun rises
44. Watching my nieces and nephews grow up
45. Opportunities to play games with my family
46. Life's challenges making me stronger, wiser and the good times even better
47. Sense of wonderment
48. Having an exciting future to look forward to.

WHAT ARE YOU GRATEFUL FOR FROM 2011?

Loss of words & accountability

2011-12-19T10:14:00.007-06:00

I've been thinking about starting to write more regularly again for a while but I've been feeling quite uninspired lately. My camera was also in the shop and after a (very) expensive fix, it has returned to me. So perhaps I'll be adding more stuff soon. And those damn wedding photos...

In the meantime, I'm about to use this blog to hold me accountable. You see, this weekend my very sweet neighbor brought by a tray of Satan in the form of aromatic, enticing and delectable (I assume) Christmas cookies. Little did she know her actions were like showing up to an alcoholic's door with a keg and a handle of Jose. Or a heroine addict with a baggie, lighter and spoon. LET'S HAVE FUN!

I did not eat one.

I was really hard.

Really really hard.

I fought the urge to either 1)shoveeverysingleoneinmyface or throw them directly into the trash can next to me (which would have been very rude considering she was standing right there...).

Yes, I continue to have a love/hate relationship with the Carl Smithers of the food-substance world.

So we brought them inside and the husband monitored...ahem, assisted...me as we put the cookies in freezers bags.

He said he counted them all.

Bless his heart.

I swear they know my name and call it out with mocking anguish every time I walk by the refrigerator. They cheer when I open the freezer door and boo loudly when I pull out the bag of kale.

We plan to bring them with us to our family Christmas Eve get together. Just 126.5 more hours and they will be gone from my life.

So, dear reader, dear husband, dear world. I shout this from the proverbial blog-mountain.

I WILL NOT EAT A COOKIE.

This sucks.

A story for you.

2011-12-14T10:13:00.003-06:00

After a 10 year hiatus I am starting ballet classes again tonight...

(source)

ALWAYS FURTHER NEVER STRAIGHT!

Now, a story for you:

Bert always wanted a pair of authentic cowboy boots, so,

seeing some on sale, he bought them and wore them home.

Walking proudly, he sauntered into the kitchen and

said to his wife, "Notice anything different about me?"

Margaret looked him over. "Nope."

Frustrated, Bert stormed off into the bathroom, undressed and

walked back into the kitchen completely naked except for the boots.

Again he asked Margaret, a little louder this time, "Notice anything different NOW?"

Margaret looked up and said in her best deadpan, "Bert, what's different? It's hanging

down today, it was hanging down yesterday, it'll be hanging down again tomorrow."

Furious, Bert yelled, "AND DO YOU KNOW

WHY IT'S HANGING DOWN, MARGARET?"

"Nope. Not a clue", she replied.

"IT'S HANGING DOWN, BECAUSE IT'S LOOKING AT MY NEW BOOTS!!!!"

Without missing a beat Margaret replied,

"Shoulda bought a hat, Bert. Shoulda bought a hat."

Random musings and taste bud changes.

2011-11-23T15:29:00.004-06:00

Open Letter to Crap Pushers. Love it.

On other news...I've successfully not eaten sugar/honey/dates/dried fruit/blah/blah/SUGAR for long enough now that I get why they're called SWEET potatoes.

I never thought I would think an apple is too sweet but now sometimes I can't finish them.

Score.

I (make shape of heart) stevia.

Seems that after two or so years, I've been able to overcome my dairy allergy too. I *think* I accomplished this by cutting out all diary for over a year and then introducing a small amount of dairy starting with kefir made with raw goat milk. I tried it straight and had some small issues.

Once I strained out a majority of the whey, no problem.

I then branched out into making my own raw goat milk yogurt (straining this too).

No problem.

Then, after about three months of buying the goat milk and making the yogurt (sooo time consuming) I got lazy and said 'what the hell' and bought some store bought, pasteurized goat yogurt.

And had no problems.

Then I tried strained, lactose-free, non-fat cows milk yogurt.

No problem.

Then non-fat greek yogurt, nonfat fromage blanc and sheeps milk yogurt.

no problem, no problem, no problem.

I think four things are a work:

1) I eat only a small serving

2) All have probiotics of some sort

3) All are low in whey

4) The cows milk are fat free.

I might experiment some more but honestly this is good enough for me. Especially since once life get less busy on the weekends, I plan make my own goat yogurt again. Considering I think the raw milk is what has helped the most, I wouldn't want to leave it behind. I still think there are big issues with pasteurized dairy. It's just nice to know I've got substitutes in a pinch and my skin/body/digestion won't completely go haywire over them.

Success! Always further never straight!

Diets to Control Acne.

2011-11-22T10:00:00.002-06:00

"Nuts absolutely kill my skin..."

Me too.

Thought I could get away with a tiny bit of walnuts, cheese and wine but nope...

Like her point that can't be cured, just controlled.

True dat.

2011-07-29T03:28:00.005-05:00

" I feel things quite intensely...I'm either really sad or really happy. I'm tired or completely manic...That's when I'm at my most creative, but it's also dangerous for me. I feel I could creat good, or break some hearts. Or tables. Or glasses."

- Florence Welch

My family is awesome.

2011-07-21T15:08:00.003-05:00

Best.Family.Photo.Ever.

Just a teaser...

2011-07-07T10:24:00.003-05:00

awesome.

What's been on my mind

2011-06-27T11:39:00.002-05:00

How to Talk to Little Girls

This week ABC news reported that nearly half of all three- to six-year-old girls worry about being fat. In my book, Think: Straight Talk for Women to Stay Smart in a Dumbed-Down World, I reveal that fifteen to eighteen percent of girls under twelve now wear mascara, eyeliner and lipstick regularly; eating disorders are up and self-esteem is down; and twenty-five percent of young American women would rather win America's Next Top Model than the Nobel Peace Prize. Even bright, successful college women say they'd rather be hot than smart...

...Try this the next time you meet a little girl. She may be surprised and unsure at first, because few ask her about her mind, but be patient and stick with it. Ask her what she's reading. What does she like and dislike, and why? There are no wrong answers. You're just generating an intelligent conversation that respects her brain. For older girls, ask her about current events issues: pollution, wars, school budgets slashed. What bothers her out there in the world? How would she fix it if she had a magic wand? You may get some intriguing answers. Tell her about your ideas and accomplishments and your favorite books. Model for her what a thinking woman says and does.

What I've Been Up To

2011-06-07T09:24:00.003-05:00

Yeah, I've been M.I.A.

No, I'm not dead.

Two weeks ago, my fiancée and I decided to get married July 2nd...giving ourselves 6 weeks to plan a wedding.

No, I am not pregnant.

I also moved Memorial Day weekend and we are in the process of combining households, painting, Ikeaing, assembling, installing, vacuuming....

I've also been trying to spend as much time as I can muster with my family (my mom's da bomb).

ANNNND....shake ups are going down at my workplace which include a new boss.

What have I NOT been up to?

Blogging.

Still eating as GAPish as possible but a few meals out and the convenience of protein powder smoothies is hard to resist (at least I've been making them with homemade goat milk kefir and unsweetened sprouted brown rice protein. Better than most right? Right?)

I always said that the blog was to entertain me, not others so I've never had the goal of increasing readership, getting free products or anything like that. BUT, I have started commenting with peeps and it's been kind of nice thinking I've got someone who cares about what I think/write/photography/read...can we even say, friends? cyber friends?

So I don't want ya'll to think I've abandoned you. I'll be back prolly mid-July.

Fun Nutrition Quiz

2011-05-04T15:32:00.003-05:00

Ok, at least I thought it was fun :)

New blogger Anastasia, a medical student and author of primalmeded, has posted a quiz that tests your nutritional knowledge:

When it comes to nutrition and weight loss, we are all experts. Thanks to Women’s Day, Men’s Health, body building sites and your Sunday paper, everyone has an opinion. Now is your chance to find out how much you actually know. The questions are based on basic biochemistry of human metabolism and therefore are not somebody’s point of view. They are simple hard facts you can find in any biochemistry or endocrinology textbook. Good luck!

CLICK HERE TO TAKE THE QUIZ!

What She's Been Eating

2011-05-04T11:34:00.005-05:00

rendered pork lard and cracklins'

broth

Wild Antelope (as he handed me the cut, the butcher said "this guy was running around yesterday")

"I ain't the fat people, it ain't the fat"

2011-05-04T07:45:00.019-05:00

From Dr. Lustig's video presentation Sugar: The Bitter Truth

Notes from the lecture:

2 TYPES OF LDL Cholesterol:

Pattern A (large buoyant LDL) - These large particles don't get under the edge of the epithelial cells to start the plaque formation (therefore, if you have these they will not lead to clogged or hardened arteries
Pattern B (small dense LDL) - Start the plaque formation that leads to hardened arteries

Lipid Profiles do not distinguish between these two types of LDL particles when reporting total levels; they are reported together as they are hard to distinguish
So how can you tell what type of LDL particles you have? Look at your triglyceride levels
If your triglyceride levels are low and HDL is high, you have the big, 'pattern A' particles
Dietary fat raises the level of large, buoyant LDL
Carbohydrates raise the level of small, dense LDL
Cholesterol is a precursor to Vitamin D (really a hormone!)

FRUCTOSE & GLUCOSE

Fructose is 7 TIMES more likely than glucose to form Advanced Glycation End-Products (AGEs)
Fructose does not suppress ghrelin (the hunger hormone)
Only way to get glucose-6-phosphate out of the liver is with hormones glucagon (from pancreas) or epinephrine (my speculation...hence the adrenal fatigue from eating sugar?)
de novo lipogensis - converts sugar into fat and a certain amount gets packaged up as Very Low Density Lipoproteins (part of the Pattern B LDL particles)
Fructose is ethanol without the buzz
Ansel Keys was really looking at a high-fructose diet

WHAT WORKED - Clinical Trial

Get rid of all sugary drinks - drink only milk and WATER
Eat CHO with fiber
Wait 20 minutes for second portion
physical movement = screen time

BUT, sugared beverage consumption canceled all benefits (even when followed all the other guidelines)!

EXERCISE

Exercise is NOT important because it burns calories (20mins = one cookie)
Important because it improves insulin sensitivity (bring insulin levels down), single thing that reduces stress (and therefore cortisol) and burns the 'stuff' off before it gets stored as fat (but has nothing to do with burning off excessive calories!).

FIBER

Where ever there is fructose is nature, there is WAY more fiber (my note - what about honey?)
Reduces carbohydrate absorption in gut which allows the bacteria to get to it (which results in...umm....you know...gas :)
Increases transit time to ileum which induces satiety

- a calorie is not a calorie -

"You are not WHAT you eat -you are WHAT YOU DO with what you eat"

What I Ate 03.05.11

2011-05-03T20:30:00.001-05:00

GAPS PHASE 1

Morning: Water with magnesium; kombucha; ginger tea

Midday: Broth; ground lamb; green beans (HCL w/pepsin)

Evening: Chicken broth; zucchini; chicken meat and soft parts (HCL w/pepsin, fermented CLO, sauerkraut juice)

She Doesn’t Eat Carl Smithers

2011-05-03T09:35:00.008-05:00

No, I am not a cannibal nor have I ever been. Just want to clear that up first. (Tangent: if you google 'cannibal' some NASTY stuff shows up, hence no photo...)

Carl Smithers* is not something I have eaten before but rather an evil high school ex-boyfriend. For many years I wish I have never met him. This past week, after 12 years, I have finally found a use for him. You see, he is part of the cognitive behavior tool I have developed to overcome the sugar beast.

source

Having overcome the physical addiction of sugar, I am just peachy when home surrounded by tasty grass-fed meats and organs, vegetables and healthy fats. I feel satisfied – never deprived.

BUT…when I go into public situations sugar is EVERYWHERE. These are the times when being around sugar is inevitable. In our American society people at CONSTANTLY offering you this drug (and are oftentimes taken aback or even offended when you turn it down).

Saying to myself, “I will not eat the sugar” it somewhat helpful but the problem is, the word ‘sugar’ just sounds so NICE.

source

I have so many positive associations with the word and substance (birthday parties, emotional comfort, etc). So inevitably, when someone offers me sugar, I start thinking these positive things. I end up WANTING the sugar for emotional reasons.

This makes it so damn hard to turn it down. When I do, I end up feeling deprived.

I can stop and try to think about all the research I have read about the evils of sugar. Sugar gives you cancer, sugar gives you cellulite, sugar causes acne…

source

The problem with this is the research is so unemotional. These facts prevent me from putting candy in my grocery basket but they don’t quash my emotional feelings of deprivation when confronted in public by a smiling person.

So I devised a method of causing a negative emotional association/response when I think of sugar. Instead of thinking about how the brownie/cake/cinnamon roll/cookie is full of ‘sugar’, I think about how it’s full of ‘Carl Smithers’.

As I mentioned, Carl Smithers was my high school boyfriend. He was a very mean individual who emotionally manipulated and abused me for three years. I’m pretty sure he felt better the worse I felt - he seriously took pleasure in see me miserable.

source

It took me a LONG time to break free from him. What got me to finally buck up and move on was getting MAD…like, REALLY ANGRY. I was always taught to not hold on to anger but in this case it was a VERY good thing for me to do. Thinking about him now causes a visceral reaction within me of disgust, anger and quite frankly, hatred.

So calling anything with sugar in it “Carl Smithers” causes me to immediately associate all these feelings with said baked good/piece of candy/carbohydrate-laden substance. I say to myself, “HELL NO I DON’T WANT ANYMORE CARL SMITHERS”!

And I really don’t.

It is so damn freeing.

Have you ever tried something like this? How did it work for you? If not, let me know if you try it!

*No, his name was not really Carl Smithers so don’t go google the name and start hatin’ on the image that pops up...

Posted as part of Works for Me Wednesday.

Jaime Oliver on Sugar

2011-05-02T21:10:00.004-05:00

I don't agree with Jaime Oliver on everything (I wholeheartedly disagree that part of an animal other than the muscle meat are the 'nasty bits') but this was pretty awesome:

What I Ate 02.05.11

2011-05-02T19:30:00.000-05:00

Morning: Kombucha; ginger tea; fermented cod liver oil

Midday: Beef broth, ground lamb, tomato paste and green bean soup with garlic; sauerkraut juice

Afternoon: ginger tea

Evening: Chicken broth with chicken meat/soft parts; mixed vegetables; sauerkraut juice.

She's not delusional

2011-05-02T10:57:00.000-05:00

OK, so I might be...

BUT, I'm not making up all the benefits that I've experienced from following the GAPS diet protocol. Case in point, CaveGirlEats commiserates the fact that the clearing of my acne is due to the copious amounts of bone broth, fermented foods, coconut oil and fermented cod liver oil that I've been consuming.

Case it point - she published purple-heart-worthy 'before' and 'after' acne pictures in her recent blogpost WAP me Pretty.

I've also really enjoyed our comment banter and so I'm copying it here for posterity.

Rufus April 27, 2011 at 4:41 pm

What an amazing difference, you look beautiful

This post resonates so deep with me as I have also always dealt with the acne thing and have the benzoyl peroxide stained pillowcases and towels to prove it. Yes, I was also sucked in my Ms. Simpsons exclamations about Proactiv... I thought it was a teen thing that would clear up as I got older but now that I’m closer to 30 than 20…I started to lose hope it was my hormones 'adjusting'.

Like you, I struggled with the hairline and jawline especially. Then, BOOM! I stopped eating grains/sugar (basically unintentional paleo?) and stopped getting acne. Like overnight. Now I am whole heartedly all about the paleo/nourshing traditions eating style. Sounds a bit weird but it’s so good to be able to touch my face again!

Some nasty red buggers try to creep back but, like you, I have found Fermented Cod Liver Oil/Butter Oil, fermented foods (kefir, kvass, kimchi, kombucha, sauerkraut, etc) and Coconut oil to be the magic cure. I do the oil cleansing thing as well but now I forgo the Castor/Olive oils in favor of coconut. I have been making and eating copious amounts of sauerkraut and never connected it to my acne staying clear but I guess that’s helping too!

Before I added the Feremented CLO and sauerkraut I did notice that if I ate what I call “non-food foods” (refined sugar, ice cream, white flours, etc) I would be blessed with at least one zit within 24 hours. Now, as long as I slather on the coconut oil, eat plenty of fermented foods and take a probiotic this doesn’t happen (as I happily found out this past weekend while traveling and eating a few foods that would normally ALWAYS cause acne flare-ups).

Thanks for writing on this topic and being brave enough to post pictures!

CaveGirlEats April 27, 2011 at 9:24 pm
I love your comment. I believe the addition of CLO, fermented foods, etc. create deep reserves that our body can call on, more so than the Paleo foods alone (I definitely run efficiently on them, but have found much less “wiggle room!”) I was just floored when I realized how many of my medications were actually food elements in disguise. Now, a pea-sized serving of Kraut probably wouldn’t work, but I’m willing to adjust the “dosage” for something so yummy!
I love that I’m not alone in this experience. You’ve verified my personal observations. Thank you!
Reply
- Rufus April 29, 2011 at 11:55 am
  I love the idea of the ‘deep reserves’ and that paleo foods make the body run efficiently. I feel a metaphor forming…perhaps a simile…
  It’s like a car who’s engine is all gunked up. The paleo foods (grass fed animal bits, clean fats, vegetables) are the cleanest fuel possible you can use. They don’t ADD any gunk to the body but they aren’t designed to go to town cleaning up all the gunk leftover from dirty fuels we used in the past (aka junk foods, vegetable oils, sugar, etc). That’s where the mega stars (CLO, probiotics, bone broth and fermented foods) step in and mop up all that old crud. Once the old gunk is removed, the reserved are there just in case you get suck in the middle of the NJ Turnpike on E and your only option is the questionable Sunco with the hot dog/sunglasses stand out front…and you really have to pee…ok, I think I’m losing focus…
  I noticed in another comment you mentioned you have added bone broth as well which is something, along with organ meats, that’s been a HUGE part of my diet lately. What you describe you’ve been eating sounds just like the GAPS (Gut and Psychology Syndrome) diet protocol (www.gapsdiet.com). You’re experiences here and what you write about on your blog have strengthened my resolve to stick with this very unconventional program so that I can continue to heal. Thanks!

Eats for 04/29/11

2011-04-29T19:00:00.000-05:00

Morning: lemon/magnesium water; Fermented CLO; juice (ginger, apple, carrot, bok choy, spinach, cucumber, zucchini)

Raspberry/Spearmint/Nettle Tea; Ginger Water

Afternoon:Leftover sweet breads; sauted greens/spinach mix with mushrooms and butter; broth and garlic

Evening: Wild caught Alaskan Salmon filet; roasted beets; avocado

Hello, my name is Rufus...

2011-04-29T09:44:00.009-05:00

...and I am a sugar addict.

Sugar is my heroine. This past weekend I did not give this addiction the due respect it deserves.

Just one scoop of ice cream is all it took.

One measly scoop.

source

I was doing so well with the GAPS (GUT and Psychology Syndrome) diet. Cravings were gone and I was feeling REALLY good.

But I was on vacation with family and friends. I spent the weekend celebrating. I wanted to just be ‘normal’ for a change. To spend the weekend free of food neurosis.

source

Dessert only came once - Saturday night - in a pretty innocuous form. It wasn’t a big chocolate lava cake. That would have been easy to pass up. It was just a scoop of ice cream and nothing fancy, just plain vanilla.

I got curious. Perhaps I got a little arrogant. I wanted to see if I was healing. Given all the probiotics, fermented foods, cod liver oil and enzymes I brought and consumed throughout the weekend, I did pretty darn well. A little bloating/constipation/gas but NOTHING like what would have happened three months ago. In fact, I haven’t been able to eat ice cream with so little immediate side effects since high school!

AND, I didn’t get all weepy and emotional the next day! This was a new, weird, direct side effect of sugar that had surfaced for me about two years ago. So I know the GAPS diet is working for me.

But here’s the worst part. For the past six days, all I want to eat is jelly beans, cookies, ice cream, cake…

Before that one scoop of ice cream, GAPS had given me the freedom from ANY food cravings. Now f* the steak and gimme some chocolate peanut butter malt balls.

This is why I KNOW for certain now that I am a sugar addict. I thought I could kick the sugar habit out of my life. Man I was wrong.

Although, I do believe the intense craving and basic habit is gone as long as I continue to eat the foods that nourish me. What this past week has made me realize is I now must live with my sugar addiction like an unwanted guest that has over stayed its welcome.

source

I’m not going to lie, it tasted good. It tasted damn good.

But it was not worth it. Even while eating it, I was scared – scared of the symptoms that might resurface.

I NEED to remember that it’s not worth it.

I want to have healthy, happy, strong babies. I want to have the energy to play, love and nurture them. I want to live long and healthy with my family.

‎"...no kids, it looks that way because the WORLD was fuzzy back then..."

THAT will be so much better than any scoop of ice cream could even taste.

What I have been ‘cured’ of since giving up sugar:

Hypoglycemia (getting hungry/woozy minutes after my last meal)
Digestive problems
Disordered Eating/Binging
Depression/Mood Swings
Anxiety
Acne
Sugar Cravings/obsessive behavior
Tendency to get cold/flu
Pollen allergies
Joint stiffness
Severe lethargy/exhaustion
Insomnia/sleep disturbances

Articles on the dangers of sugar:

146 Reasons Sugar is Ruining Your Health

Sugar is as Dangerous as Tobacco

Sugar addiction - yest it's real

Healthier Talk

Articles on how to overcome sugar addiction:

Addicted to Sugar? 4 things you need to heal

10 Steps to control sugar cravings

Sugar Addiction – 3 Stages of Healing

How can I break my sugar addiction?

This post is in participation of Food Renegade Fight Back Friday.

Eats for 04.28.11

2011-04-28T20:31:00.003-05:00

Morning: lemon water with magnesium; beet kvass and Fermented CLO; goat milk kefir; kombucha

Midday: Ginger Carrots; Leftover sweetbreads made into soup with beef broth, garlic and mixed greens from FM; poached egg

Evening: cucumber slices with kefir, olive oil, s&p; Leftover beef stew with tomato, onion, carrot, celery, zucchini, green beans, garlic and topped with pemmican

Why I've been M.I.A.

2011-04-28T14:33:00.001-05:00

The Boy proposed

I said yes :)

I was looking at pictures of cupcakes and found this...

2011-04-18T15:45:00.001-05:00

The New York Times Magazine just published an article by Gary Taubes about the long-term toxicity of eating sugar and high fructose corn syrup.

Highlight - Taubes argues it may promote cancer growth:

As it was explained to me by Craig Thompson, who has done much of this research and is now president of Memorial Sloan-Kettering Cancer Center in New York, the cells of many human cancers come to depend on insulin to provide the fuel (blood sugar) and materials they need to grow and multiply. Insulin and insulin-like growth factor (and related growth factors) also provide the signal, in effect, to do it. The more insulin, the better they do...

Why She Eats Fat (and Not Sugar)

2011-04-12T16:25:00.004-05:00

This is a very fascinating article by Dr. Thomas Cowan. I would read the whole thing if you have time.

Fat is king.

Here's an excerpt:

WHY CANCER PATIENTS NEED MORE FAT

If you have cancer of your colon or liver, breast or prostate, and we want to know if the cancer has spread to any other part of the body, we can use a nuclear medicine imaging technique called PET (positron emission topography). This technique highlights any other nests of cancer cells and is the conventional approach for checking on the spread of cancer. The process involves radioactively tagged glucose that is injected into the body and then that glucose is selectively picked up by various cells in the body. We know that cancer cells love to eat glucose, so they actively pick up the tagged glucose. The highlighted nests of radioactive glucose therefore indicate areas of the strongest growth of cancer cells.

In other words, cancer cells thrive on sugar. Cancer cells use an anaerobic respiration of sugar to form acids. That is the metabolism of cancer cells. The reason the cancer patient starves while the cancer cells grow is because they are much better at taking up the sugar than are normal cells. If we understand this selective metabolism of cancer well enough to diagnose its growth, then the next step is to withhold sugar and see what happens.

The trouble is we need a backup fuel source. And there is a back up fuel source: ketones from fats. Cancer cells cannot metobolize ketones. Normal cells do fine on ketones; we know this from fifty years of successfully utilizing a therapeutic very high-fat ketogenic diet. Cancer patients on a ketogenic diet will often have their tumors shrink and will halt their cachexia—their physical wasting and weight loss. The cancer cells starve on a ketogenic diet, but normal cells thrive.
Read more here...

Down the Rabbit Hole

2011-04-11T17:14:00.005-05:00

Once upon a time, I read The Healthy Librarian's blog a lot. Having learned so much about how vital healthy, grass-fed animal products are for humans I have not perused her site in a while.

I looked over there today and this article was posted:

Getting to Plant-Based Nutrition Perfection with a Little Help from Expert Vegan Dietitians Ginny Messina & Jack Norris - The Protein & Supplement Connection

It starts out with the quote, "Vegans do need supplements or fortified foods, and admitting that vegan diet is not automatically pure perfection is way better than getting sick".

This made me think of two questions:

1) If the vegan diet isn't perfection, than isn't that like claiming it is suboptimal?

2) What did humans do before the advent of supplements and fortified foods?

The article goes on to claim Vegan's should focus on the following:

Get adequate protein
Take a vitamin B-12 supplement--and start from the first day that you begin a plant-based diet
Take a vitamin D supplement--many vegans are too low!
Make sure you get adequate calcium--many vegans are too low--half of them are getting less than the 526 mg/day barest minimum!
Getting enough iron (for one's age)
Getting enough iodine
Take a DHA supplement (available also from algal sources) & adequate omega-3s through flax, chia, or walnuts

Other than the iodine, aren't these the nutrients naturally found in grass-fed, pasture raised animal products and wild fish?

Why She Drinks Kombucha (And You Should Too)

2011-04-10T21:09:00.002-05:00

Click here to read the article, Kombucha's Protection Against Radiation: Anecdotes, Legend & Science.

"For decades, doctors and alternative health professionals have been recommending Kombucha to their patients. Though most cancer organizations do not endorse the use of Kombucha Tea as a specific treatment option, that misses the point of Kombucha’s benefits, specifically as a daily health tonic meant to prevent disease and assist the body’s natural processes.
German doctor Rudolph Sklenar famously claimed to use Kombucha to treat cancer (among many other diseases in early stages) with fantastic results. Today, alternative treatment courses sometimes involve adding Kombucha to the daily routine.
Relatedly, some people claim Kombucha alleviates or prevents chemotherapy sickness due to reduction in absorbed radiation".

READ MORE HERE

She drinks the sweet nectar of triumph - Kombucha!

2011-04-08T11:00:00.001-05:00

A face only a mother could love.

And to think, I grew this from a store bought bottle...

After nearly three weeks of anticipation, it turns out my kombucha is a success! Huzzah!

After tentatively tasting a sample and declaring triumph, I began the bottling process.

I also made a SCOBY hotel using half of the mother.

Then placed the other half into my new batch of tea.

In total I have four full bottles. I plan to bottle condition these for a few weeks so, although they taste lovely, I think I can get more fermented-goodness out of them :)

Always further, never straight!

Posted in participation of Food Renegade’s Fight Back Friday.

She Eats Soup: GAPS Intro Phase 1/2

2011-04-07T13:05:00.005-05:00

To better understand how the gut and the immune system are connected, see this excellent post on Gut Health 101.

I have never been a soup fan. It always seemed too…watery. Also, I like to chew. I could never get the temperature quite right either. I always feel like Goldilocks. At the beginning it was always too hot and by the time you take the last bite it was lukewarm and blah. blah blah blah blah....moving on.

Give me a meaty stew or casserole over thin, brothy soup any day.

So as I began the GAPS Intro diet phase 1, I was a little apprehensive because ALL you eat at first is soup made with broth/stock.

So I made my stock and duuude…

It is SOOOO satisfying. Every bite literally tastes like pure, wholesome nourishment. It is SO different than all that overly salted canned/preheated supermarket/restaurant crap.

I find it pretty amazing that I don’t find myself thinking about food and I’m really never hungry. When I do eat, the soup is so satisfying - I don’t really feel like I need anything else. The first couple days I struggled with a bit of a sugar craving after dinner but I think this was more of a habit thing. Eating a bit more protein and fat usually helps with this.

I should note that during phase 1, my bowl always started out like this:

Now that I’m on phase two, the bowl always starts out like so:

I’m not a big fan of adding the kraut juice to the food so I tend to drink it on the side.

Here is the routine I’ve gotten into:

Morning

Glass of warm water with lemon juice

Biokult probiotic

Given my issues with constipation, I read that it beneficial introduce vegetable juice earlier than Phase 4. Now that I’ve started on Phase 2, I’ve added a little carrot juice and a tiny bit of celery juice.

Midday

· Sometimes a little cabbage juice 30 minutes before eating (helps to stimulate stomach acid).

· Sauerkraut/kimchi juice

· Biokult probiotic

· Started to introduce a little fermented fish (I was surprised how much I like it!)

· Beatine HCL with Pepsin towards the very end of the meal

Evening

Sauerkraut/kimchi juice sometimes mixed with a little Apple Cider Vinegar

Biokult probiotic

Beatine HCL with Pepsin towards the very end of the meal

Sometimes 1 tsp of Magnesium

At first I was making minestrone-type soup over and over again. It was good but I needed a little variety. So after a little googling, I found this website with various inspirations on it. So I started experimenting and while there have been a few epic failures (broccoli, liver and thyme was heinous), there have been many many successes. Here are some of my favorites:

Meatball Soup

Little Meatballs (ground beef, sage, salt, garlic and onion whizzed in food processor and shaped)
Chicken broth
Tomato paste
Large tomato
Fresh thyme, oregano, basil
Chicken pate (puree meat and soft tissue bits leftover from making chicken feet broth)

Butternut Squash Soup

Chicken broth
Butternut squash
Fresh thyme/rosemary
Onion
Chicken Pate

Whizzed all this up with an immersion blender then added…

Beef Liver (soaked overnight in whey/lemon juice, rinsed and cut into bite size pieces added at the end of cooking)

Hamburger Dill Soup

Chicken broth
Ground beef
Onion
Summer squash
Dill

This really tasted like a hamburger with pickles on it. I plan to added tomatoes to the leftovers for a ‘ketchup’ taste. Perhaps adding some kraut juice will mimic mustard?

Sick of soup? For creative ideas of how to turn your soup into GAPS Intro Phase 1/2 legal ‘non-soup’ meal check out this website.

Also, how to keep track of everything you are phasing in? Here is one woman’s idea

So, am I on the right track? Feedback/comment/suggestions/criticism would be amazingly helpful!

She Eats Lard

2011-04-06T15:57:00.008-05:00

I'm going to try my hand at making lard tonight.

I'm going to follow (as closely as possible) the instructions on Revival Meats blog.

Apparently if it's pasture-raised pig, it's suppose to be healthier for you than store-bought butter.

wish me luck...

This post is shared at·Real Food Wednesday.

I love you. I hate cancer.

2011-04-05T14:52:00.004-05:00

I have a dear, precious loved one. Someone I love so deeply and so profoundly.

This person has cancer.

This person is currently undergoing chemotherapy.

This person is currently not recovering well from each subsequent treatment and so, currently, has a severely compromised immune system (and therefore digestive system).

I went and saw this person last night and after a weekend of partying, they looked frailer than I have seen them in a long time. They looked pale, almost translucent. Like a gust of wind could rise and puff them away into a million pieces of dust.

It was scary.

I tried to stay pleasant although I was very distracted as they showed me the cake...

They exclaimed, “LOOK HOW BIG THIS CAKE IS! ITSN’T IT RIDICULOUS HOW MUCH LEFTOVERS THERE ARE?!?!”

I felt like they were bragging about this.

You see, they had gone out to dinner previously and for dessert were brought a massive piece of cake. After everything I’ve learned, I know the cake in front of me is not food. It is poison. I see a mound of sugar, starch and lactose that creates the perfect environment for bad gut bacteria to thrive.

As they showed me this mound of life-stealing man-made sugar, processed man-made grains and processed man-made vegetable oils, all I could think was how they were showing me the source of their cancer.

I thought, “No, what is ridiculous is ingesting those toxic, non-food substances and expecting your body to heal from chemotherapy and cancer”. All I could think about was the article I posted yesterday and kept hearing in my head, ‘Sugar creates cancer cells. Sugar creates cancer cells…”

They were essentially flaunting the source of their addiction. It was like a heroin addict was showing me their latest score and bragging about how it was SO MUCH even they couldn’t finish it all. They were choosing cake for ‘fun’, ‘relaxation’ and ‘indulgence’ just as a drug addict would choose their next hit.

It made me so sad.

I watched them choose a life stealing drug over me, someone who loves them so very much.

It was like watching them slowly commit suicide.

It was like watching them out in deep water and not letting go of the bricks that are causing them to sink.

It was like they chose a few fleeting moments of selfish pleasure over a lifetime of joy with their partner, children, grandchildren and great–grandchildren.

It was like choosing a mean, dangerous high school boyfriend over time with their family.

It was like choosing cake over being at their loved one's wedding. At the birth of their loved one's children.

Now is the critical flashpoint that could change – or eliminate – the rest of their years on this Earth.

Now is the time to be diligent.

Now is the time to do everything in their power to bring success.

Actions matter more now than they have ever.

Now is the time to do or (literally) die.

Now is the time to fill them with as many life-giving and healing substances as possible. They need nourishment more than maybe anyone else on the planet right now. They need to make sure that everything they ingest brings more life to you them - and does not steal it away. They need chicken soup, onions, vegetable juice, garlic, fermented foods and probiotics. Lots and lots of probiotics.

Now is the time to starve the cancer of the sugar, starch and lactose that cancer loves so much. Cancer is mean, ugly and aggressive and people can’t just wish it away. Chemotherapy will kill the cancer but it won’t heal the person.

As around 80-85% of our immunity is located in the gut wall, everyone needs to support their immune system as much as possible. A well-functioning gut and immune system are the roots of our health. Just as a tree with sick roots is not going to thrive, the rest of the body cannot thrive without a well-functioning gut and immune system. The food you put into yourself is the soil around these roots, giving them their habitat, protection, support and nourishment. Why would you add poison to the soil?

A person doesn’t need life stealing cake.

They need to be at my wedding.

They need to be at the birth of my children.

Perhaps you think this stance on cake is extreme?

I think cancer is extreme.

I think death is extreme.

Cake doesn’t care if you live or die.

I do.

And I am sad. Because I know that instead of stopping, and not putting these things into their body, they are just going to hide this knowledge. I see what other families have done and I wonder why my loved one can’t choose life over cake.

It makes me so sad.

Insulin and Cancer Connection Explained

2011-04-04T10:02:00.008-05:00

This is one of the most eye opening articles about insulin and it's connection to cancer, heart disease and bone health I have read to date.

It is the best explanation of the bodily process that occur and explain HOW and WHY things occur in response to sugar and insulin production.

It convinces me unequivocally that if YOU HAVE CANCER YOU MUST STOP EATING SUGAR RIGHT NOW.

Here is one of the passages that was VERY eye-opening for me as to how insulin can cause cancer cells to proliferate in the body.

Nourish Magazine - Insulin Resistance: The Real Culprit

Insulin Restistance Role in Heart Disease, Cancer and Osteoporosis

Insulin stimulates cells to divide. If all of the cells were to become resistant to insulin we wouldn’t have that much of a problem. The problem is that all of the cells don’t become resistant. Some cells are incapable of becoming very resistant. The liver becomes resistant first, then the muscle tissue, then the fat. When the liver becomes resistant insulin suppresses its production of sugar. When you wake up in the morning it is a reflection of how much sugar your liver has made. If your liver is listening to insulin properly it won’t make much sugar in the middle of the night. If your liver is resistant, those brakes are lifted and your liver starts making a bunch of sugar so you wake up with a bunch of sugar.

The next tissue to become resistant is the muscle tissue. Insulin allows your muscles to burn sugar for so if your muscles become resistant to insulin it can’t burn that sugar that was just manufactured by the liver. So the liver is producing too much, the muscles can’t burn it, and this raises your blood sugar.

Fat cells also become resistant, but not for a while. It is only after a while that they become resistant. It takes them longer. Liver first, muscle second, and then your fat cells. So for a while your fat cells retain their sensitivity. As people become more and more insulin resistant, their weight goes up. But eventually they plateau.

As all these major tissues become resistant, your liver, muscles and fat, your pancreas is putting out more insulin to compensate, so you are hyperinsulinemic and you’ve got insulin floating around all the time, 90 units, more. But there are certain tissues that aren’t becoming resistant such as your endothelium, the lining of the arteries do not become resistant very readily. So all that insulin is effecting the lining of your arteries.

Insulin floating around in the blood causes a plaque build up. Insulin causes endothelial proliferation, that’s the first step, it causes a tumor, an endothelial tumor. Insulin also causes the blood to clot too readily. Every step of the way, insulin’s got its fingers in it and is causing cardiovascular disease. It fills it with plaque, it constricts the arteries, it stimulates the sympathetic nervous system, it increases platelet adhesiveness and coaguability of the blood. Any known cause of cardiovascular disease, insulin is a part of.

I mentioned that insulin increases cellular proliferation, what does that do to cancer? It increases it. And there are some pretty strong studies that show that one of the strongest correlations to breast and colon cancer are with levels of insulin.

Putting on My Big Girl Panties – Starting GAPS

2011-04-01T11:26:00.011-05:00

A LITTLE BACKGROUND…

About two months ago, after getting sick, binging on high-sugar foods and overall feeling really bloated, I attempted the Specific Carbohydrate Diet (SCD) introduction diet. I did the intro for about 4-5 days and ended up feeling really good.

Like super duper good. Like better than I had felt in years. My stomach bloating disappeared, my acne vanished practically overnight, I slept soundly and had energy during the day.

After about a week, I found this diet very hard to adhere to as I have always had a problem with dairy and two of the main staples of the intro diet are dry curd cottage cheese and yogurt.

So I started eating “Paleo” (meat, eggs, vegetables, a little fruit, nuts and seeds) making sure not to consume the foods that were on the SCD illegal list. I very much limited fruit and honey and way upped the amount of fat I was eating.

Then, I started feeling like crap again. But the acne didn’t return, the bloating was gone and carb cravings completely disappeared so I knew I was on to something. I had read a few places that the transition could be hard.

(Reflecting now, I think this was a combination of things, one of which is referred to on many of the GAPS websites as ‘detoxing’. As I was no longer feeding easy access sugar to my bad bacteria, perhaps they were putting up a hell of a fight before dying. Persistent little buggers. Please note that I'm not at all dismissing the "Paleo" way of eating. Far from it. When I resume 'normal' eating after this GAPS thing, it will very much look like the Paleo diet...with a big emphasis on Nourishing Traditions foods.)

I had read about the Gut and Psychology Syndrom (GAPS) program a few weeks after attempting the SCD intro and was intrigued by the concept of SCD without dairy.

But, duuude.

I was super intimidated by the GAPS intro program (the GAPS Intro is outlined here). It seemed really extreme and lengthy and seemed like a huge challenge to integrate into my life. I was intimidated by the demands of homemade everything – stock/broth, fermented food and consumption of organ meats. It also sounded expensive given the profuse amount of probiotics needing to be consumed. I also always felt that I had the determination and wherewithal to muscle through on my own.

But after (yet another) recent bout of food poisoning, I decided to put my big girl panties on and – with the help of my tax return check – bought an army of probiotic. I also broke my new year’s resolution (gasp! Just being honest folks) and purchased The GAPS book, GAPS Guide and Internal Bliss. If I was going to do this, I needed information.

AS OF TODAY….

I have been ‘practicing’ GAPS recipes and preparation techniques for about two-ish weeks. I got over the creepiness of chicken feet and have successfully (yay!) made my own fish stock, chicken stock, chicken pate, ghee, sauerkraut, kefir, beet kavass, fermented salsa and fermented fish. I even have successfully grown my own SCOBY (stands for Specific Colony of Bacteria and Yeast) and I’m ready to bottle my first batch of kombucha. I ate chicken hearts and beef liver (and liked it!).

I now have a copious amount of glass jars full of gelatinous chicken stock. I’ve got homemade sauerkraut finishing in the back of my fridge and store bought stuff to get me through until it’s ready. I’ve got my supplements: fermented cod liver oil, fish oil high in EPA and of course the bio-kult probiotic. I’ve got my eggs and ghee ready for Phase 2. I’ve got carrots for juicing.

I’ve got a notebook of cheat sheets, shopping list and references.

The best advice I’ve read so far from GAPS websites is to only read and focus on the current introduction phase you are in so as to not be tempted to rush through. For this program to be a success, it must be implemented slowly and deliberately.

The best advice I’ve gotten from The Boy is to take life one day at a time (this is his advice on life in general by feeling very apropos in this situation).

WHY GAPS…

So you may think that such a drastic, EXTREME step seems like too much for a seemingly healthy looking individual. But the more I read about GAPS, the more I feel that the diet could benefit many of the symptoms I have that I’ve always thought were just a part of life.

Warning, here comes some in-your-face honesty.

I was born with strange bumps on my cheeks that persisted for many years. I had numerous ear infections whereby doctor's inserted tubes and prescribed antibiotics. As I got older, I seemed to get sick a lot and every common cold seemed to progress into a secondary infection in which I was prescribed (even more) antibiotics. I was hospitalized twice, once when I was three and again at fourteen, for 'unknown white blood cell infection'. They pumped me full of antibiotics. In high school, I contracted mononucleosis and yet again was prescribed antibiotics. All this resulted in a tonsillectomy at the age of twenty with, of course, a strong round of antibiotics.

Starting at the age of ten, I have dealt (sometimes quite dramatically) with depression. I always had to make lists because my short term memory was crap. Starting in high school, I began having more and more frequent bladder and yeast infections. I also developed a wicked intolerance to dairy, corn and soy.

Throughout my life I have also experienced eczema on my face, legs and the back of my arms, persistent dark circles under my eyes, acne, strong carb/sugar cravings and binging, stomach bloating and alternating constipation/diarrhea. I have also gone through periods of anxiety, mild paranoia and insomnia. Other than the depression, these other symptoms have been more mild and come and go. Now that I have read (and read and read) about the GAPS diet, I am almost certain they are interconnected and it all comes back to the gut.

gut health ---> immune system ---> brain functions --->nutrient assimilation

Just eat whole foods and all will eventually work out right? The trick about this program is that it not only no longer causes damage but actually HEALS the damage that has occurred. So perhaps in three years or so, I can eat a chocolate chip cookie again without all the crazy side effects that current accompany them. Being able to eat dairy again had always seemed like a pipe dream. I don’t just want to be symptom free, I want to be HEALED.

A good description of how the program helps to heal the gut (that I will now quote liberally from) can be found here (bolded text added by me):

"I tell my patients that this system is analogous to a lush meadow with a thick layer of soil (the villi) covered by a lush layer of grass (the healthy bacteria). When both are intact, the meadow is healthy, but if you went to the meadow and stripped off the grass (this would be the equivalent of using an antibiotic in a person, or even not eating probiotic food), a whole cascade of catastrophic events will follow. First, you will get erosion of the soil, then the soil that's left will be weak and unsupportive of healthy grasses. Weaker varieties of grass will grow or even no grass at all. Next, as the soil develops erosion cracks, poisons, runoff, etc., will start to seep into the ground water. At this point the land is dying.

This is exactly what happens inside us. First we strip our grass, then the soil erodes - the villi get weak and blunted, and then can't support healthy micro-orgnisms. The cracks develop, and finally poisons seep into our groundwater, the blood. We now have foreign proteins in our blood, which either directly poison our nervous system (i.e. autism, depression, etc) or create antibody formation in reaction to these abnormal proteins, which is the whole process of auto-immune illness. Diseases which are the direct result of this process include not only intestinal diseases such as IBS (Irritable Bowel Syndrome), ulcerative colitis and Crohn's disease, but all the auto- immune problems such as eczema, asthma, rheumatoid arthritis, and on and on. It is not a stretch to confirm what natural medicine has claimed for literally thousands of years: The majority of human illness starts in the gut and must be healed by treating the gut."

So I now begin this 2+ year journey to heal my gut.

ALWAYS FURTHER NEVER STRAIGHT!

How She Eats Meat

2011-04-01T09:12:00.008-05:00

I get all the moral/ethical/environmental arguments against eating meat. I really do. I am WHOLE-HEARTEDLY against all factory/agro-industrial raising of any species whether it be a plant or an animal. I respect that non-meat-eaters are speaking with their dollars and deciding to not contribute to these horrible practices. However, I think that this is just one step. I think we can do better.

I think more can be done to remedying this situation. Yes, removing yourself from the industrial meat system is good but I think to affect lasting positive change in how humans grow, process and eat food, more needs to be done. I think purchasing and ethically raised, humanly slaughtered meats and then utilizing/consuming the ENTIRE animal is the next step. It makes for a healthy and happier situation for all parties involved.

You can dream of a utopian society where no one eats animals all you want but darlins', I hate to break it to you, this will never happen.

By putting my dollars towards a positive, realistic solution I think I can make a bigger difference. I think this is a better way to, support healthy foods for humans, advocate for the ethical treatment of animals and clean up our food supply.

Due to this, I have decided to purchase any animals and eggs I might consume from my local farmers and farmers markets and insure that these are pasture-raised and grass fed. It’s working pretty well. I am fortunate to live in a very big city that has one at least one good Saturday morning farmers markets. Dude, the egg yolks are off the chain...soooo orange :)

I also believe that if you consume animal muscle meat, you have the responsibility to utilize the rest of the animal (bones, ligaments, connective tissues, organs) to the maximum extent possible. I have been able to successfully do this by making pates, broths and stocks and incorporating organ meats into my meals (chicken hearts are super tasty). Not only is this practice respectful to the animal but these other part of the animal not typically consumed by Americans are INSANELY good for you.

Remember that whole thing about what your great-times-ten-grandmother would recognize and eat? Yes, she would recognize a chicken heart and yes, she probably ate them as well. Again, there is a lot more smart, well-researched and succinct arguments on this subject than I could ever reflect on my silly little blog.

So if you’re interested in reading more and find sources of local, humanly raised meats check out: http://www.eatwild.com/

Posted in participation of Food Renegade’s Fight Back Friday.

Wow.

2011-03-31T12:11:00.008-05:00

I wish I could write this articulately. From The Vegetarian Myth by Lierre Keith (yet another book I want to buy...sigh...).

"And agriculture isn’t quite a war because the forests and wetlands and prairies, the rain, the soil, the air, can’t fight back. Agriculture is really more like ethnic cleansing, wiping out the indigenous dwellers so the invaders can take the land. It’s biotic cleansing, biocide.… It is not non-violent. It is not sustainable. And every bite of food is laden with death.

There is no place left for the buffalo to roam. There’s only corn, wheat, and soy. About the only animals that escaped the biotic cleansing of the agriculturalists are small animals like mice and rabbits, and billions of them are killed by the harvesting equipment every year. Unless you’re out there with a scythe, don’t forget to add them to the death toll of your vegetarian meal. They count, and they died for your dinner…

Soil, species, rivers. That’s the death in your food. Agriculture is carnivorous: what it eats is ecosystems, and it swallows them whole."

Food Coloring Makes Kids More Hyperactive

2011-03-29T15:49:00.002-05:00

"Food dyes are added to grapefruit juice, granola bars, and breakfast cereals. Children eat an estimated five times as many food dyes annually as they did fifty years ago. So while case studies about strawberry-colored poop haven’t been showing up in medical literature, researchers suggest the rising tide of food coloring may contribute to another problem: more hyperactive behavior in more children."

More at good.is

EAT REAL FOOD.

I have no idea what I'm doing

2011-03-19T09:49:00.004-05:00

I did say I wanted to try my hand at making fermented foods...

maybe kombucha?

maybe sauerkraut, ginger carrots and pickled beets?

bone broth?

perhaps goat milk kefir?

...and I don't do anything half-assed.

P.S. Have you voted for Last Organic Outpost today?

Just Breath

2011-03-18T20:56:00.002-05:00

But my god it's so beautiful when The Boy smiles :)

New Blog Crush

2011-03-16T12:00:00.004-05:00

Soooo, how ya doing? :)

I was going to write a REEEEALLY long post about the steps I took to overcome my sugar addiction and kick my binge eating to the curb. About how adopting a meat and fat based diet has helped me escape the oppressive imprisonment of my own nervous system.

It turns out someone much more articulate wrote basically EXACTLY what I was going to write.

So instead of subjecting you all to (another one of) my rambling post (but yeah, I still might post it later...), I give you Paleo Pepper.

She is one of the most unabashed, emotionally intelligent and articulate blog writers I have found to date. She approaches food with a focus on its psychological and mood-altering effects which I completely dig.

So if you're struggling with sugar and looking for a way to be free of constantly obsessing over food, please read Pepper's post.

And before any skeptics think I'm completely nuts for giving up grains (hi dad!), please read the following article written by the one and only Jared Diamond - The Worst Mistake in the History of the Human Race.

Just sayin'...

P.S. Have you voted for Last Organic Outpost today?

Help the Greatest Place on Earth

2011-03-15T12:00:00.000-05:00

Please help the Last Organic Outpost win a Community Garden Grant from DeLoach Vinyards. ALL YOU HAVE TO DO IS VOTE FOR LAST ORGANIC OUTPOST ONLINE HERE.

Last Organic Outpost is the last video in the second row. Click on the link to read about contest and vote for the Last Organic Outpost's Emilie Street Community Farm. Please ask all your friends to do the same.

It takes less than a minute of your time (well, 2:20 if you watch the video). You will not be signed up for any other email/spam/contests. REEEAAALLLLLY IMPORTANT! You can vote ONCE DAILY between now and August 1, 2011.

I want to tell you about two wonderful people - Farmer Joe and his wife Marcella.

They, along with their three children, are some of my favorite people in the entire world. I think the best word to describe these them is tenacious.

Joe works full-time as an industrial AC repair man.

After putting in a full (plus) week at this job, he then spends his weekends farming at the Last Organic Outpost's Emile Street Community Farm. Four years ago, this farm was merely pipe dream and now it is a three acre green oasis in one of the most economically depressed areas of Houston - the fifth ward (The poor economic conditions in the Fifth Ward are well documented, as nearly three-quarters of residents live below the federal poverty level and over half of the adults are out of work).

Please also meet Marcella.

She is a full-time mother, wife, chicken raiser and a full-time (plus) COO of this inner city urban Farm. And get this - she does it without a paycheck. She does all this because she truly believes in the farm. And Joe.

Having gotten to know both Joe and Marcella over the past two and a half years, I have learned how much strength determination, determination and tenacity it takes to run an inner city urban farm. Farming is difficult but throw in the challenge of city codes, neighborhood and urban water systems that are not accustom to farming practices and I am in awe of what Joe and Marcella have accomplished.

And they do so much more than just grow vegetables. They are literally growing and nurturing a community. They support local artists by giving them a creative outlet to display their work.

They host weddings.

They host educational events and community festivals.

All more amazing if you consider Marcella is practically a one woman shop five out of seven days.

Two years ago, they gave me a safe, nurturing family when I moved back to Houston feeling quite broken. They were the first place that began to help me heal.

I tell you all this so that you may help the Last Organic Outpost win a Community Garden Grant from DeLoach Vinyards.

ALL YOU HAVE TO DO IS VOTE FOR LAST ORGANIC OUTPOST ONLINE HERE.

Last Organic Outpost is the last video in the second row. Click on the link to read about contest and vote for the Last Organic Outpost's Emilie Street Community Farm. Please ask all your friends to do the same.The top 5 winners will be announced in the Oct/Nov issue of Organic Gardening Magazine.

It takes less than a minute of your time (well, 2:20 if you watch the video). You will not be signed up for any other email/spam/contests.

REEEAAALLLLLY IMPORTANT! You can vote ONCE DAILY between now and August 1, 2011.

Thank you all for helping support this beautiful community and these wonderful people that are so close to my heart.

Watch video about the farm!

Gut health, depression, acne and probiotics

2011-03-11T21:24:00.001-06:00

Melissa over at Hunt.Gather.Love just wrote an awesome post that I wish I had written.

Hunt.Gather.Love - The Gut-Brain-Skin Axis.

She writes about so many connections that I've been knocking around in my head for a while. Since I went primal/paleo/SCD/meat-lover about a month ago, I have become acne-free, sugar-craving-free and seem to have a really strong grip on my depression.

She talks about a paper she found that articulates how gut health is reflected in the health of your skin (acne) and mood (depression).

This really jumped out at me:

Mental health impairment scores, a measurement of distress, are higher for acne sufferers than from people with these conditions and many other unpleasant illnesses. The gut connection has also been documented, for example in a student of 13,000 adolescents that found that people with acne were more likely to experience stomach problems, in particular abdominal bloating.

And this:

Studies found that people with acne have circulating endotoxins from gut bacteria in their blood, which healthy controls did not have. These endotoxins belong in the gut, not in the blood and it's likely they got there through abnormal intestinal permeability. Eventually the body develops reactions to these toxins, which have been connected to depression and anxiety.

And this:

So what did they do about this issue in 1930? Their prescription was for fermented milk and cod liver oil...

Ok, last one....

Interestingly probiotics might also help with depression. One study found that depression patients had low levels of lactobactillus. Some other studies have shown depression can respond positively to probiotic treatment. Why? They have been found to increase tryptophan levels, alter serotonin and dopamine turnover (those are the neurotransmitters that antidepressants alter), decrease negative response to stress, increase omega-3 tissue levels, decrease internal lipid oxidation and other good stuff.

Melissa has a lot more to say on this so go read her post. SO GO NOW! GO!

It's her burfday

2011-03-11T09:04:00.000-06:00

Love you :)

What She's Been Eating Lately

2011-03-10T17:50:00.000-06:00

This blog is entitled "What She Eats" ya know.

Let's start with breakfast...

Farmer's Market eggs (no color alteration, there that yellow:), sauerkraut, farmer's cheese and Farmer's Market strawberries with a side of probiotic, enzyme, fish oil and Vitamin D.

I've also been drinking some tasty vegetable juice and kombucha but alas no pictures. Another of my favorites fast-breaking meals has been a cup of goat milk kefir I found at the Farmer's Market this last week and two soft boiled eggs. Mmmm, eggs.

Moving on to lunch...

Spinach and herb salad, celery, cucumber, macadamia nuts, farmer's cheese and a side of kraut.

And yet another salad this time: tasty tasty sardines, cucumber, celery, FM lettuce, FM arugula, FM parsley, failed mayo (made with coconut oil that hardened too much. Made it with macadamia oil and it was much better), farmer's cheese, macadamia nuts...i think that's it.

I've been eating a salad for lunch pretty much everyday. I made some liver pate the other day and I was a little overwhelmed by the flavor. Finally, I put it on a salad with lots of lemon juice, lots of parsley and eggs and it was quite tasty :)

And dinner....

Lamb CHOP! Mushrooms and spinach in butter. Lots and lots of butta....actually ghee.

Ground lamb, zucchini, collards, lime juice, ginger and chili flakes.

This one's based on Kat's Lamb Curry Stew and was OH SO TASTY...yeah, Kat is my new blog crush.

For my own reference, here's what I did:

1 chopped onion, 2 chopped carrots, 2 garlic cloves on the bottom of my crockpot.
Layered 1 pound grass-fed chili beef on top.
Spooned 1 jar of tomato paste, 1 T butter and 1 T coconut oil over beef.
Added minced ginger, a dash of cumin, coriander, garam masala, turmeric, salt and a bunch of curry powder. Then added 1 cinnamon stick and a bay leaf.
Filled with water to cover and cooked on low for 6 hours.
When I got home from work, I added half a bag of frozen purple kale and 4 tsp. of coconut flour (super great at thickening as absorbs tons of liquid).

This probably would be even better with lamb (like Kat's original) but all I had was beef. I'll definitely be picking lamb at the Farmer's Market and making this again next week :)