Vacation, Day 52, and a bit of a rant

I had a busy 2 weeks, and a startling doctor visit.  Don't worry, I am not dying but I will get to that in a bit. This will probably be a long post. Let's start off with my attempt at a healthy vacation.

Day 35

It's been 35 days since I've had cheese.  It's been 35 days since I had any type of pig.  To say my junk food cravings are gone is a joke.  In fact this week was the worst week I've had in the "I need a son of baconator!  No! I need some super gross Taco Bell nachos and a quesadilla!  No wait! I got it, queso...melty gooey cheesy cheese dip from any mexican joint.  I will have you know, I almost failed myself twice this week.  Once, I took Goose to the airport for one of his work trips, and I thought "ooh breakfast, I can get some and no one will know..."  I almost stopped twice.  Almost.  Then I found myself driving right past it all and the next thing I knew I was in my driveway.  The next time, I was at Dierbergs, and I picked up a sammich with extra cheese and put it in my cart.  I felt so guilty that I didn't even make it out of the aisle before putting it all back.

I did find a 98% safe remedy for chips and salsa.  Expensive salsa made without weird junk, (and why should it have weird junk in it?) and Beanitos chips.  Granted, that's still a "rare treat" because beans.  But it's better than tortilla chips which I cannot have...because corn.  You can bet your bippy when tomato season comes back, I will be making salsa for myself.  Also hummus is a good alternative, with some broccoli and carrots.  The other day, Goose told me he liked raw carrots better than cooked.  I pondered it for half a second and said "I am an equal opportunist carrot consumer.  I love them any way I can eat them."   It's been a busy day and I've not had much other than an apple and a little bit of turkey stir fry from my leftovers container.  Can you tell?

I didn't write this on Friday because I came home from the doc with my Adrenal Stress Test to do, and wanted to include that.  So here's my update from Friday:  Things are going super swell, and I don't need to come back for another two weeks since we are out of the crucial stage.  That said, Healer did the DNA damage testing on me and I have brain damage!!! Whee!   Well, no for real...due to the viruses hanging out in my brains, the DNA is damaged in there.  Also some DNA damage in my lungs, DUH and my gallbladder, and another organ I have since forgotten.  Just like when he reset my dopamine levels and voodoo'd my intestines, he did the same thing.  Okay, they call it integrating, but thanks to Goose that just sounds all Math-y to me.  But that's what he did to all my DNA damage.  He reset it with his magical Healer powers.  I have to believe it now, he's proven me otherwise several times with this "reset button".

At least I don't need resetting every 108 minutes.

I am to continue taking all the things until next time.  I did run out of the ACS silver, but since my lung fungus is gone I don't need it unless I chose to have it as a maintenance dosage.  Since my Tri-guard has silver in it already, I opted out of it this time.  My liver cleanse drink, Protoclear, will be gone I think by Friday and that's it with my liver cleanse.  Healer sent me home with a mega strong probiotic, in fact it's so strong I only have to take one pill a month.  Every seven days it regenerates all its probiotic friends to do their magic to my flora in my gut and its one less thing a day I have to deal with.  I talked to him about my oil pulling concerns, since coconut is a no-no for my blood type (I'm still dubious on that, since coconut is everyone's best friend, but that's for another day).  Since I'm already taking the zeolite, right now oil pulling isn't a concern for me.  Otherwise, I can use sesame oil as I suspected.  But because I want to get on top of my tooth game, I took home curcumin because its the best ever and that's all that matters.  Hahah! No no, I kid.  That's for another post.  All that is important now, is that its AMAZING for the body, and swishing with it in your mouth kills all that nasty bacteria you wanna get rid of.

Onto the Adrenal Stress Test.  It's pretty easy, you wake up and follow the directions.  Four times a day you must wear a cotton ball in your mouth til is soaked and place it lovingly in a vial marked "morning, noon, afternoon, midnight" respectively.  For the noon test though I had to do a carb simulation test and eat 75 grams of carbs an hour before drooling on the cotton.  They have a list so that's helpful and I chose the highest carb items because well I didn't want to be eating all day.

Super Easy Dinner

Okay, so with this new lifestyle food plan one might think it would be impossible to have variety in my daily meals.  Not so much the case.  True, I am limited by having to omit some of my regulars (here's looking at you, black pepper) but I'm not even missing it so far.  Even though I can live off a salad every day, and I still like to try, I like to tinker around with stuff.  I haven't really talked about what goes into our food planning, and I think I should.  It's not much different than the paleo life we have been used to for over a year.

Of course, I have to shop weekly or a little less because I solely buy produce and we all know that doesn't keep so well.  It makes shopping simple.  I often get confused in the store when I need something that's not in the produce section, like maple  syrup.  One day Goose and I walked up and down the store twice looking for bottled water.  It's with the pop btw which is STUPID.  So honestly, I only know what's in my produce section and the two aisles dedicated to "organic/GF/etc".  Oh, and I know the wine aisle but that's not relevant right now.

Since it's just me for breakfast/lunch I tend to be pretty boring.  Like today, I had 1/2 a burger patty from this weekend I made up, topped it with a fried egg and onions and ate a small kale salad on the side.  Later on I grabbed an apple.  I also might have had a spoonful or two of almond butter...with a dab of chocolate in it.  Don't judge, I needed a sweet.

I'm really lucky Goose loves the grill and the smoker.  Seems like every other weekend we are replenishing our smoked meat stock.  It makes lunches and dinner portions easy because I don't have to cook AS much at dinner unless I plan on the leftovers for breakfast or lunch for myself.

I guess I should include a rough description of the lunches I send with Goose to work.  While he's not on this wellness plan with me, he's doing the Blood Type Diet Lifestyle as well, albeit with cheats.  I do not cheat, I have invested too much money to do that.  But alas, since he's not following my path to a T, he's allowed to sneak some goodies here and there.  With that said, he still would much rather not eat fast food every day.

His lunch usually goes like this:

• a nice portion of smoked meat (fish or chicken) or some leftover from dinner  
• sauteed broccoli or asparagus
• another veggie like sweet potato, raw carrots or even some rice.
• a hard boiled egg, 1/2 avocado if we have it
• green onions and his beloved kimchi (Don't forget the kimchi, or I'm going to hear about it after work!  :D ).
• a fruit for snack

At work, Goose keeps a jar of almonds.  So it's not difficult to stick to this style with some REALLY simple planning ahead.  I'm not a menu planner by any means, and I manage to do okay.

A couple weeks ago, we checked out some spice shops downtown in search of some spices that don't have all that extra junk in them like at the store.  I found a salt grinder there, and picked up some roasted chicken spices that were acceptable for even me to eat.  Do you know how hard it is to find pre-made spices that don't have black pepper?

4 chicken thighs
1 sweet potato, cubed
2 C kale, stems removed
1/2 onion, thinly sliced
2-3 TBSP EVOO
1/4 C of spices of your choice

I tossed 4 thighs (I probably only needed to do 3 but I did an extra one for my lunch) in EVOO and the spices and then roasted them in the oven at 400 for maybe 25 minutes.  I didn't pay that close attention because I used  my thermometer to pull them out at 160 degrees.  While that was roasting I sauteed the sweet potatoes until they were soft and starting to brown.  Once I removed the sweet potatoes from the pan, and right away added the kale and onions and tossed them,  Once the kale started to wilt (it won't wilt much because kale is a super food and it's super strong!) I put the sweet potatoes back in and gave it a stir and  topped that with my finished chicken

TA-DA! 

Day 28

I'm still working on my health...told you this wouldn't be a quick fix.  Good news to report, all the pathogens/viruses/bacteria detected in Day 1's test is cleared from my body!  Now to focus on Phase II of this detox.  Everything was gone last week except for the virus, and that's finally gone.  Good.  Get outta here!  I didn't want you in my brains anyway!

Today I did the NeuroLink testing for toxins and metals in my body, and boy do I have some doozies!  No surprise here, considering the country we live in, and its love for crap food.  Last week he had sent me home with some Zeolite(ACZ) to draw out the heavy metals I have in my system.  Those include: PCB's, fluoride, aluminum, cadmium, mercury, lead, and *drumroll* pesticides!  Thanks SAD.  You've really done your job at attempting to ruin my life.  Sucks for you, I'm fighting back!

I've been dealing with some intestinal issues that I'm not sure I really want to get into detail over on a blog, but it's an issue that Healer is working on with me.  Last week I brought it up to him, and I got some decent results this week.  It's still not functioning normally like it should be because of some chemical imbalances but...hey, did you know your intestines have these valves called "The Valve of Houston" and the "Ileocecal Valve"?  I would like to quote the Goose when I first mentioned that these valves are out of whack "Houston, we have a problem."  Hahah!  So today, the Healer adjusted me (it was GLORIOUS) stating that my L5 was out of alignment, and that actually effects the intestines position so this should also help.

I've been a wee bit run down this week, or it's lack of motivation maybe.  I wasn't sure but I made sure to tell the Healer anyway because I didn't want to have any emotional issues again because that first week was so awful!  I also wondered if it had something to do with adding the ACZ and the ACG (Glutothione) to my routine as well.  New helpers to attack the bad guys, maybe I reacted by being tired-ish.  Anyway I let him know, I didn't feel I was remotely where I thought I should be as far as the weight loss slump I'm in.  I told the Healer, I was realistic that it wouldn't just start dropping during Phase I because my liver had to straighten itself out, but given that I've been incredibly strict on my diet (not a single cheat day like we used to) I would have expected to see SOMETHING change.  Healer told me "this tells me then that the Adrenals and Thyroid are most likely really off balance and we need to work on getting those fixed."  Of course, I am also aware that my intestines need to get fixed too and I should start seeing results.  But c'mon, I'm a month into this now and I just thought I would see SOME change.  I'm being patient, because as I pointed out there's still toxins/metals in me that need to GO AWAY.

Only because they didn't have one in stock in the office, did I not go home with a super cool Adrenal test kit.  So next week I will be taking a test kit home to send off my spit to some lab who will tell the Healer what's up with my Adrenal Glands.  Next week will also be fun because he wants to test how badly my DNA has been damaged and work on reversing said damage.  I'm gonna guess lots, thanks virus!

Day 21!

Well I made great strides!  I am officially now in Phase II but let me start from the beginning.

Today's appointment was seemingly normal, with the regular NeuroLink checkup.  This week however, the Healer says my virus is completely superficial and nearly gone.  Also, the fungus in my lungs appears to be CLEAR!  Wha?  I just thought I felt the same all week.  I didn't feel any different from last week, but apparently the medicine is doing its job!  I never thought it would be clear so soon.  Since the fungus is out of my lungs, I can stop the Silver as a breathing treatment and continue with it orally as normal.  I can't say I feel different, like I said.  So I am still slightly skeptical.  But as I said last week, I am noticing more dry coughs than I'm used to.  So it's something.  I don't expect to be completely cleared up in a snap though.  

So, to recap: No more bacteria, no more fungus, and practically no more virus!   This isn't to say that when these pathogens leave my body we might find more.  It's very possible.  But at this point the ones I am treating are getting out of here!  I am having some issues in my intestines (remember how he picked up a little virus last week) that he did his fun Voodoo on, so we shall see if that fixes itself.

Since things are going so well, the Healer started me on the detox portion.  This includes two more sprays to take: ACG which is Glutathione.  Its the natural antioxidant in your body that's been utterly depleted thanks to the modern living and crap we put in our bodies.  It gets so overworked that it kinda gives up in your system.  So I am now taking that 4 times a day.  One time a day I am going to try to nebulize it to get it into my lungs, so long as I don't have a weird reaction.  We shall see!  The other spray I am taking is ACZ, Zeolite.  It will bind to all the heavy metals in my body and pull them out through the urine.  I am curious to see if this changes my body like when I first started on these medications.

Now I am taking 10 different things 2, 3, and 4 times a day! WHEE!  No time to do much else but take these fun things!

The outside air has been beautiful this week, I was loving the walks I could take.  Well, except for the fact that I'm not used to all these hills and my hip sockets were mad at me the next day!  NO MOAR COLD!

Movin' on up!

Day 14

My growing supplement stack.  Pool sign not included.

Big jumps today, says the Healer! WHEE!  This week was completely different from last week.  I had energy, enough that I actually worked out EVERY day this week instead of being lethargic and stuck on the couch last week, sobbing over every single thing.  I didn't go crazy, like I suspected.  I just felt back to seemingly normal.  I had a belly ache last night, but emotionally...nothing like last week.

I went into today with my Lung Folder to show him my findings.  He was not the least bit surprised.  It really validated what I am doing is right for me.  He explained that the docs needed to associate a name with what's going on with me.  I am starting to wonder if I even have Bronchiectasis....let's wait and see.

He went on to retest me, and he was SO happy that my virus is now out of the DNA and on its way out of my body.  This is a big deal!  The sooner I can rid the virus from my body the sooner I can detox.  The fungus is now only located in my lower lungs,which makes sense because of my x-rays that is the main concentration of my illness .  I had noted that the last couple of days, I am coughing more dry coughs (that's a normal cough to most everyone) than I usually do.  Normally for me, when I am dry coughing it's SO rare that it is painful for my throat.  Not to say, I'm having less "normal Bri coughs" ...just more "normal human being coughs".  So let's hope that this fungus GETS OUTTA MY LUNGS!  The bacteria I had is gone. GONE I SAY! Whee! So I am right on track still.  He did find a bit of a virus in my gut which was probably my gut issues last night.

Did I say the bacteria is GONE?!?!  In two weeks, I've healed myself of the bacteria, and the other stuff is working its way out.  Why have I not done this sooner?  Why is this "alternative medicine" now and not "normal medicine"?  Why isn't this a normal practice anymore?  Why are people so swayed by the Western Medicine practices?  Why take the quick fix that only allows more problems to arise?  Chemo? No, I'll never.  Especially not now.  Sorry, but I'm taking this route forever.  Western Medicine can suck it.

I could tell the Healer was checking my dopamine levels to see if I was off balance.  Side note, a couple days ago I dared to read an article about a poor dog that is probably going to die from a tumor, and I only got misty eyed and did not bawl.  Anything dog related, if a dog is hurting, I usually cannot read or watch or see photos because I have such a reaction to them.  Maybe because I knew there was a good ending to the story...maybe it was because my dopamine levels were fixed.  I still got mildly (but normally) emotional, but it was so minute on the scale of last week I can't even count it.  Anyway, the Healer was checking my levels and I KNEW I passed that test! I didn't even study for it!

He added two more supplements to my routine, and I had to make out a new chart.  I am taking all the things, plus a probiotic and some blended essential fatty acids.  It's probably good for me because I don't eat enough sea food as I should.  I can't wait to see what next week has in store for me!

Day 7

Well, here I am back again to report how my first week of phase 1 went!  If you're missing out, I suggest you start at the beginning by reading here, here, and here to catch up.

Week one went as well as can be expected.  I actually wrote out day 1's post and had to go back in later and edit it because I was SO TIRED when I wrote it out.  I noticed a couple days later I left out about half of the information.  So, day 1 I was extremely sleepy all day.  I didn't know if that was coincidence or not, because how could I be so tired that fast? Beats me! I took a nap that day, I never nap.  The next day was a lazy Sunday and the next thing I know, I am taking another nap!  5 out of the 7 days I took a nap and the other two I was in bed BEFORE 9pm.  So I would say, that the sleepiness was in fact related to the toxins moving out of my body, or the meds kicking in and attacking them.

I had another strange reaction, that I didn't know was related until my appointment today.  Tuesday, I thought I was fine and Goose came home and casually mentioned he had taken care of something without me that, normally I wouldn't even get frustrated about.  Instead, I burst into tears and my feelz were so hurt that you would have thought someone had attacked me and left my leg broken in 4 places.  Yes, I have a hairline trigger for tears as it is, but I was VERY upset and I didn't know why.  I blamed it on that fun time of the month when girls get really irritated, got over it and moved on.  Except the next night, I got very angry about how I was making the bed back after washing the sheets.  I mean, making the bed isn't a big deal.  Why was I so uptight about it? I got so angry that Goose started teasing me about it (again somethingdI'd just laugh off), unbeknownst to both of us what would happen next.  I then burst into tears.  Not just normal tears; hysterical wailing tears as if someone died, tears.  I was a mess and ended up crying myself to sleep only to wake up the next morning STILL upset and cried some more, stared out the window, cried some more and then stared out the window some more until I realized I was better.  There was no real trigger as to why I freaked out, I just did.  I am positive I was a pure nightmare for Goose who had no idea why I was being so weird.  I'M SORRY I WAS SUCH A WHACKO, GOOSE! I still heart you!  I should have known it was because of this cleanse, but this was a part I did not expect.  So after crying basically 3 days straight, today's appointment couldn't come soon enough so I could ask.  My puffy eyes and leaky ducts needed a break.

It's not a good look for anybody, really.

I went in to the Healer's office and he asked how I was doing this week and the first thing out of my mouth was "Um, well I was sleepy lots, but I also was hysterically crying for 3 days and I don't know why.  Is that part of this? Because WHOA."  He said, "For some people, they will have an emotional response along with everything else.  You're fine.  This means you're probably improving, lets check you out."  I sighed a big PHEW and hoped this crying crap will be over soon.  He tested me again with the NeuroLink test and checked my current problems' levels.  One of the viruses had gone down quite a bit, meaning last week the virus was deeply rooted inside my DNA and just over the course of a week I was able to pull it out from inside the DNA and now its sitting superficially on top of it.  I still have more work to do to pull it from my system altogether so he readjusted my dosage on the homeopathic remedy he had whipped up for me last week.  He explained the numbers were a major change.  Last week I was at 96MM (BAD) and this week I was at 76M (much better, but not out of the woods).  He wanted to focus on this virus because it was the stronger of the two I have going on.  He also told me that the fungus was in less spots, so that is also improving as well!  (Let's give a big high five to ACS Silver!  *high fives* Keep attacking the junk in my lungs, ACS!)  He then went on to check out my head, and the neurotransmitters and found that my dopamine levels were all out of whack so with his Voodoo, he reset my levels and hopefully I won't be a sobbing psycho about every little thing that happens.

I am right on track for what he expects of me.  My med intakes stay the same, so still the crazy 2, 3, and 4 times a day on everything.  I can't say I have noticed anything significant going on in my lungs because I am just so used to it, it's hard to gauge if there's any change.  I'm used to coughing, I'm used to being stopped up, I'm just used to it.  I have lived all my life with it, so I don't even notice most times when I cough.  So I can't make heads or tails if it's working, or if I feel different because to me, it's all the same.  Not much else has changed on my end, I couldn't really work out this week on account of all the sleeping I've been doing, or how lethargic I was during the day.  I should be able to jump right back into that next week with no trouble.  Hopefully my energy levels will start to spike!  I'm pumped for week two and to see what weird stuff happens to me this week!

Maybe THIS will happen next? GIMME ALL YER MONEY!

Starting a new path!

WHOA, how long has it been since I have written?!? A long, long time.  My three followers were probably going into shock waiting. I apologize.  We have moved and settled into our new house and I have enjoyed every second of it.  I have been extremely busy regardless of not working anymore and it seems like we have had company almost every weekend.  This really threw me off my good-eatin' train big time.  I completely derailed once we got here. *slaps self*  It was all fine and dandy until mid-summer.  I was walking until it was too hot for the dog to go with me, and we were in the hotel most of the summer so I didn't want to leave her in the room.  The swimming in the pool helped a lot, but still I stopped working out altogether. I am ashamed. *hangs head*

Right now, I am just shocked at how I let things go and frankly embarrassed that I threw all my health by the wayside post-move.  I got so busy planning, packing, unpacking, organizing, enjoying shopping, trying new restaurants, and all the other stuff that wasn't real food/work out related that the next thing I knew, I wasn't happy with myself.  So many excuses, and there's no apology to myself big enough for it.

In late October, I met with my new Chiropractor and let me tell you, I was chomping at the bit for the holidays to be over so I could go back to him and start his Wellness Program.  When I say that, I mean I literally went home and ordered the "Eat Right for Your Blood Type" book that he follows with his program.  I am 99.6% sure my blood type so I studied that list inside and out!  I am planning to document weekly how I am doing with this program, so cross your fingers I remember to do it!  I am curious how things change and I feel documenting them in the blog will just help me see where I was vs. where I am in the end.  I probably won't post all my measurements and personal stuff because NOT YER BIDNASS!  Maybe I will after I feel better.

Enough of the back story.  Today, I went in for my first meeting with the chiro.  I learned what I will be doing as far as HIS wellness program goes.  When I go back, I will go in detail over that.  But for now, the most important parts are 1. sleep 2. hydrate with purified water 3. exercise 4. get your Vitamin D levels up 5.eat REAL FOOD.  Luckily I am slightly ahead of that and it won't be as taxing on me as some other people.  I already know what food/exercise is required of me. I know I should be hydrating more than I am and have been working on it.  For the most part I get enough sleep, but I need to turn it around as in "go to sleep sooner/wake earlier"  Sleeping at 1230am to 8am isn't really ideal for me because I still have to force myself to get up at 735am at my alarm and still lay there til 8am.  For shame. I know some of you are thinking, "what a lush, sleeping in til 735! That jerk!" Hey, it's better than sleeping til 11am...just sayin' is all.  I need to slap myself around and tell myself "workouts at 830am!".  Unless its walking outside,  then I want it to be mid day and hot! I'm back into my workout videos, so that's also a step ahead.

I also got the basic panel done so that the chiro can contour the wellness program for me.  Funny thing, most nurses can't find my blood veins and end up murdering my arm before they get any blood.  I warned the nurse of this, so she spent more time investigating my teeny tiny deep in the tissue veins before saying "I'm not going to try to poke you 100 times, let me get the vein whisperer."  She went to get another nurse who also spent a few minutes looking for the best place and got my blood on the first stick.  NICE!  Three vials of blood and some stolen urine later, I was finished with my end.   However, tonight I have this great blood blister from where the BANDAGE came off.  Huh?  The needle hole is red, but then there's this giant blood blister next  to it.  STRANGE.  Anyway, they tested for a variety of things that will be discussed next appointment.

With that, you are caught up on my current health crap.  :D I hope to get back into the blogging along with the other things I just gave up on.  I think it helps that we got the PC working again, 6 months later!

Back in the saddle. Again.

Man, things have been CRAY around here.  I have been so incredibly busy but now I am back and ready to blog!  It's been a very busy summer and my workouts and super clean eating all but halted.  Basically I failed my workout challenge I gave myself.  We were living back and forth between the old house and the hotel.  I did pretty well the first couple weeks at the hotel with the workouts, doing some swimming and taking advantage of the gym but then things got so hectic (and the chromebook broke down again, had to get it replaced) that I just had to stop.  Even though we had a kitchenette in the little hotel room, and we went to the farmers market on the regular, we still went out to eat a lot.  And we craved ice cream.  To say that I was knocked off my routine is an understatement.  Now that we are into our new house, and things have settled into a normal routine, I am jumping right back into our lifestyle.

Kimchi

I am sure, as most of the world has heard, probiotics are all the rage these days.  What with Jaime Lee Curtis promoting Activia like its the next Micheal Myers movie...don't get me wrong, I'd love to see her adorable grey head fight that jerk all over the big screen but, wait.  That's not what this blog is about! *slaps self* Probiotics!  For those who live under a rock or just don't ask google, I'll summarize:  Super healthy live bacteria that we would call "good bacteria" that helps balance out you gut.  

For a more specific answer:

Gotta hold myself accountable!

Day 1 done...whoa all over again. 

Well after almost a year of not working out (please hold while I punch myself in the face for admitting that....okay done!) for MANY reasons excuses, I have gotten back on the workout train and taken off.  What a dumb metaphor.   Anyway, I can sit here and give you a long list of reasons why I didn't work out...but I will summarize with a few key points which all boil down to laziness if I want to be honest with myself.  And, lets face it ... with this title, I better just be honest.  I started out the year with some injuries, one involved my falling down the stairs that stopped me from working out, and I just got it all up in my brain  that if I went a week or two and didn't stick to schedule, that I had ruined all my work and should start over...which was dumb.  Goose was gone for 7 months (minus the weekends) and I just.got.lazy.(not to mention would have rather had TV dinners instead of making something for just me...STUPID!)  My TV broke, my PC started wearing down and becoming unreliable, my fitbit broke, worked again, then broke. Then my hard drive failed completely, the one I had ALL my workouts backed up on, including old photos and music, etc.  Blah. Blah. Blah.  All excuses if I look at it truthfully.  Except for the hard drive, that just happened.  But it was a week of tears and sap until I realized intelligent me had backed up my photos and music elsewhere....just  the videos were gone.  I suppose the last excuse was I needed to get my eating right squared away and get through the 30 day paleo challenge first.  Done, now what? GET YOUR ACT TOGETHER BRI!

30 day challenge

We blew that one right out of the water!  We did our 30 day paleo eating challenge, and lemme tell you...it was so easy a caveman could do it!  *slaps knee*  Okay, maybe it was the transitioning period we had going into it, maybe it was that we were mostly on that mindset as it were.  I don't think there was a day where we were like "I want pizza" or "I need cheese!", it just kinda went seamless.

Day one, I went through all our sauces and spices, and condiments since it was the last thing in our kitchen to purge.  Anything that had fake flavor, msg, wheat (no matter how they tried to disguise it), rice, added colors or preservatives, or dairy went into a bag and into the basement.  We've since thrown it all out knowing we can live without it.  We instead use herbs from our garden, spices that were just that...spices, sea salt, pepper, evoo, coconut oil, pork fat, ACV, liquid aminos and white balsamic vinegar.  The flavor of the actual food is allowed to really shine without disguising it with "fake flavors".  We still to try to buy as much of our meat we could from the market, but sometimes just had to do with "store bought" and that is okay.  It's how we've been living for months already.  Nothing else really changed except we got smarter about looking for hiding items listed above and didn't buy those.  Oh, and no more rice, pasta, bread, potatoes, or beans.  No problem. *shrugs*

As for what we ate, I was amazed at some of the things we had.  Let's start with breakfast.  I mean how can you have a bad day when you start it off with a fat filet and a veggie omelet?  Or how about "paleo breakfast burritos" for a nice change?  Maybe you want something totally different like cereal?  Well, how about "paleo granola"?  I have tried several variations, but most always have a base of this one.  Every day I had eggs and meat in one way or another.  I figured out the very first week that for my body; if I ate the combo of steak, eggs, and a veggie that I would stay full until dinner time and not even think about food or hunger.  So whaddya know, for me breakfast really is the most important meal!  And to think I had gone SO MANY years without it.  Most mornings we either had a pork chop or bacon with either fried or scrambled eggs because it's just easy.  As we got farther into the month I experimented from probably my favorite website so far: paleomg.com .  She has some of THE coolest breakfast ideas!  I made a meat crust quiche that we couldn't stay out of, and just tonight I prepped a "mexican hash egg bake" for breakfast this week.

Lunch was usually a handful of granola for Goose, or a piece of fruit for myself, if I even thought about it.  Dinner time was Goose's culinary godlike abilities time to shine.  We did some experimenting with sauces.  He ended up  throwing some different flavors together and came up with a very delicious Asian Stir Fry sauce with a tahini base.  I do love tahini.  We liked the flavor so much we've repeated it three times.  We also pulled some great mexican dishes together, paleo style.  We did attempt to make a paleo tortilla for fajitas, but I think for the time it took to make them, it wasn't totally worth my time so I'd rather just eat the fajitas without the tortilla.  Carnitas were also amazing!  Of course steaks for dinner! On those nights I would usually save my steak for the next morning and put it towards my breakfast.

Now, lets talk about the sweets.  Sometimes a girl needs a glass of wine or a piece of chocolate, amirite?  Have no fear! I was not deprived of my two favorite things.  I just had to savor them in severe moderation.  I made my own chocolate (a process that can't be easier, and so settling knowing what's actually in it) and stored it in the freezer...you know, for the times I just need to fix my sweet tooth.  Eventually I forgot that it was in there.  I did make a couple desserts that I will most definitely do again and I found chia seed pudding.  Wow, where has it been all my life?  I should have tried out coconut milk long ago...yum!  I made the original version the first time, and put some into a big fruit salad (which didn't last a full 24 hours, fyi) and just yesterday I whipped up a chocolate version that will be divine over the strawberries in my fridge.  For me, I think knowing that these treats are in my freezer and are super healthy (calorie dense, yes but still), makes it easier to not crave them.  I just have a small morsel on occasion, and I'm satiated.

On February 1, we celebrated our 30 days with blue cheese atop our steaks for dinner.  But as far as sticking to strictly paleo, we will.  Every now and then we will have a little cheese, or a bit of potato if we want but really, we are stuck this way.  :)  It was so much fun finding out how some of these super tasty meals were so healthy for us.  For Goose's birthday (today) I surprised him with chorizo and mozz stuffed, bacon wrapped poppers and I nearly died at how wonderful this concoction ended up being!  I have said several times this month, "I can't believe THAT'S PALEO!"  Giving up rice, grains, potatoes, beans, and processed foods may not be for everyone but in this house it's the perfect way to go.  I mean, how bad can it be to be able to enjoy a steak for breakfast?  And any lifestyle that promotes bacon, is a real winner in my book!

As far as our health, I know Goose's BP has dropped significantly along with his weight.  Lucky jerk :) I also have dropped a few pounds but its very slow going, since I'm really close to where I want to be anyway.

Paleo n00bs here

After some researching on the "right" food plan for my household, I came across the Paleo diet.  It's not like I hadn't heard of it before, but I didn't pay much attention to it.  I knew without a doubt that vegan or semi-vegan was not going to work.  Besides, I'm crazy enough as it is.  I don't need meat deprivation (or protein deprivation, whatevs.) to make me a loony.  Since we had already tried to curb as much processed foods out of our lives, the transition will be fairly easy.  Once the Goose got over the idea of having to give up beans, rice and potatoes, he came around fairly quickly.  I like to think its because I armed myself with facts and science, to which he responds to more than hearsay.

Goose is a fan of the cavemen, so this wasn't as far fetched of an idea to give him.  Eat what the cavemen eat.  Hunt and forage for food.  Shy away from processed because clearly that wasn't around back then.  We still have our setbacks.  Come on, STL Style pizza is to die for.  We will have to give up grains because farming was in the NEXT era. Goose decided if he's boarding the Paleo train, he refuses to even cheat with flours to do breads/tortillas/pastas.  Good.  That's a lot of work.  I am already finding I have a lot of work ahead of me.  Boy, for a girl who said she'd marry a guy who cooks for her (and she did! I win.) I sure am taking over a lot of creative responsibility in the kitchen.  I'm not sure I can handle this. :)

I checked out website after website on recipes because as yummy as steak and salad sound, and even steak and eggs...that can get boring.  What I found was that I could make LOTS of things, lots of slight variations from what we already eat!  I can make paleo granola for Goose who needs his fix of "cereal" sometimes.  I even learned I could make my own chocolate.  Uh. Sold!

So I started cleaning out my food stuffs.  I started looking into alternate flours for those "in case" moments.   I had already ordered some coconut flour (which also came with manna, coconut flakes, and coconut sugar to replace brown sugar for ribs) and I gave away all the conventional flours and sugars in my pantry because I felt bad just throwing it out.  Out the door went oats for granola, brown sugar, flours, corn starch, corn meal, panko, Italian bread crumbs, etc.  We had already eliminated any teflon/aluminum cooking skillets because well, I paid almost $100 PER SKILLET and the frickin' things peeled right off and junk within the first 3 years.  O.o  We are sticking with cast iron skillets cuz the Goose says so.  For Christmas I got a Paleo basket with almond flour, coconut oil/flour, flax meal, and a Paleo cookbook.  I was so excited!

I am officially ready for us to do the 30 day challenge (the contest part is expired), especially after all the chocolates and treats and sweets that have made it in here over the holidays.  My dad even came up over Thanksgiving break and I made him aware we were going to be doing as much Paleo as we could. We did pretty well!  They came home one morning with Sonic and I furrowed my brow.  Other than that, the meals were quite close to Paleo, if not full Paleo.

I don't even think I have scratched the surface with this whole new lifestyle, but I am excited to try.  We will eventually be experts!  Meanwhile, here are a few meals we created while trying to be total paleos!

Some GREAT recipe sites:
http://fastpaleo.com/
http://paleomg.com/
http://www.marksdailyapple.com/#axzz2GNVtltVX
http://nomnompaleo.com/recipeindex
http://www.paleoplan.com/recipes/

Chicken Soup w/ Quinoa

Steak and eggs 

Kale Salad

Paleo Pork Roast

Mexican Carnitas (sans tortilla)

Duck in Red Wine Sauce 

Rosemary ACV marinated chicken
(topped with mushroom and onion)

Beatiful ribs!

Steak and Kale Salad

HCG

HCG.  I know by now most people have heard of this.  I know there are some very differing opinions of this "diet".  I know there aren't a whole lot of people who have enough willpower for it.  I wondered about it for a while but at the time only the injections prescribed by a doctor were available so I blew it off.  My mother eventually went on it (the injections), and it took me a whole year afterwards to see she kept the weight off before I actually decided I needed to know more for myself.  I am well aware that there are negative responses to this diet.  "How can anyone survive on 500 calories a day? That's so unhealthy!  You can't lose that weight that rapidly, its not safe!" etc. etc.  I am also well aware that there are people who tried it and didn't like it, couldn't handle it, made them sick, etc.  This isn't a story to make you just go out and buy HCG.  Because if you aren't willing to commit the entire time to it for a true reset, you will fail. Period.  Just settle down there sassy and let me just tell you MY story!

red, green, lean

The bottles aren't mine, I SWEAR!
This isn't even Saturday, either!
The apples and tomatoes are being divas and asked not to be photo'd. 

Lately I have been working reaaaaaal hard on getting my diet squared away.  When I say diet, I don't mean "Oh, let me starve and not eat anything at all so I can lose weight.", I mean my regular foods.  With the current workout I am doing, I need to eat a lot of proteins and junk so I can't just eat less and call it good.  However, it feels like I am holding onto the extra carbs and I decided to do some digging and figure things out.  How can I cut carbs from an already low-carb plan?  Where is the extra sugar coming from?

Because I want to get old.

People who truly have jumped on the "healthy bandwagon" usually have reasons why they did.  I'm not talking the fad dieters who choose to drop a few lbs this month, or join a workout group for a month and quit after.  I mean the people who had their eyes opened right up and slapped in the face with "you NEED to get better for YOU".

Here's my reason.  I don't like divulging this as a conversation starter, I don't want to be pitied.  In fact, most people would never know or guess that I have a disease.  I don't tell this story for pity and I refuse to let it define me.  But it is a part of me, and a major factor in my health changes no matter how big or small they are and will be.

Cravings

We went to the market yesterday.  I didn't take photos because one of the tiny humans had an emergency allergy issue and used my curtains as a snot rag/food napkin the other day and my pretty backdrop is currently in the dryer.  Gotta love washable things.  I don't think I ever want fancy enough curtains that I can't just toss in the washer.  I like to be lazy.  Trust me though, I got a lot of green!  Two bags of lettuce, honey (as if Goose needed a fourth jar of honey!), green onions, one tomato (yes one.  Skeptical Goose didn't know if he'd like greenhouse grown maters) and bison rib eye steaks.  I then took him right over to my latest find, Nature Girls.  It's a small local health foods store.  Not like Whole Foods, but good enough for us not lucky enough to be near one or Trader Joe's.  I had wanted Goose to check out the meat prices because I mostly suck at it.  There, we ended up with some kale, shitake mushrooms, cheese, and the little gem I found, Frozen Kefir.  Several times I heard him say "ooooh we need to come back for THAT!" I was too busy trying to show him all the things, and he was just focused on the mushrooms and tomatoes and safflower oil.

We were actually out shopping for an HDMI cable if you can believe that but I am good at saying, "oh we just should stop here since it's on the way", and before you know it I have drug  you all over the place shopping for things you didn't have on your list.  *points to self* IMPULSE BUYER!  Since he had to see if there was such a cable at Walmart, I ended up with an okay batch of asparagus too.  By the end of it all, we had to go to three different stores for the HDMI cable, and Goose wildly proclaimed that we were going all over the place back and forth across town.  "Making a star all over the town of Rolla", he said.  Whatever. Quality time!