Mexico Countdown: 4 Weeks!!!

Last fall my husband Aaron won a trip from work, but I was about to have a baby so we put it off for a bit.  About a month ago on a crazy day I phoned him and said "the last day of school is June 25, let's leave on June 25, let's plan that trip!".  So we did.  Now I've never been down south and I suppose this is not the best time to travel somewhere hot but I don't care.  We're both so excited to have a whole week ALONE. 

Anyway, since planning this trip I've been slightly more motivated to lose some weight!  I guess about 8 lbs. have dropped off in the last few weeks, but I need to drop at least that many more if possible in the next 4 weeks.  Time to be a little more consistent with exercise and more mindful of my eating.  I find my biggest challenge is not restricting  food intake too much, it seems that once I start trying to lose weight I almost lose my appetite and weight loss stalls.  I'm not sure why, unless it's simply that I"m trying to force myself to eat more foods that I don't like as well.  I've been doing well without snacks most of the time lately, just eating more substantial meals, especially breakfast.  I do know that if I drink lots of water, cranwater, and green tea (with coconut oil) and eat enough protein I do fairly well slimming down. 

So here goes!  I plan on bursting (walking/sprinting) 3 days a week, and alternating upper and lower body 3 days a week with core work on all strength training days.  So hopefully something like this:

Monday:   bursting
Tuesday:  arms, shoulders, back, chest, core
Wednesday: bursting
Thursday:  weighted squats, step-ups, lunges (12-15 reps, 2-3 circuits) , core
Friday: bursting
Saturday: arms, shoulders, back, chest, core
Sunday: rest

I may throw in some rebounding  as well, probably 5 or 10 minutes a day for overall toning and lymph stimulation.   As for eating, I'll be following (loosely) Fat Flush phase two.   I'll also be focusing on getting enough sleep, which is an extremely important facet of weight loss as well.  Now, I'm off to  to my  bursting in the driveway!  My neighbors must think I'm crazy...

Fried Bread

Inspired by my new cookbook, "Forgotten Skills of Cooking" by Darina Allen, I decided to try a piece of fried bread this morning with my breakfast.  I fried up my farmer's market bacon, then took a slice of true spelt sourdough bread (also from our amazing local farmer's market) and one of our freshly laid eggs and fried them both in the bacon fat.  I topped the crispy bread with the egg and threw in some bacon slices and I have to say this was very very good.  Who knew something so simple as fried bread would be so good?  If you ever eat bread of any kind, this is definitely something you should try, so much better than toast!

Wonderful Wonderful Books!

Every few months I splurge a little and order some books online.  They are discounted as compared to their local bookstore and if I order a certain amount I get free shipping.  Recently I ordered 4 books and I've been really enjoying them all; yes, at the same time!   They are "Six Weeks to Sleeveless and Sexy"  by JJ Virgin, "real food for mother and baby" by Nina Planck, "Fat Flush For Life" by Ann Louise Gittleman,  and 'Forgotten Skills of Cooking" by Darina Allen. 

I'm almost finished "Six Weeks To Sleeveless and Sexy" by JJ Virgin, who I heard recently interviewed on Underground Wellness Radio (a must listen web radio show!!!).  I especially appreciate her views on exercise which for me are revolutionary.  It's not that they are completely new ideas, but hearing her talk about it was a bit of an 'aha' moment for me.  The book is very simple, easy to read, and gives a basic understanding of health and weight loss.  I would definitely recommend it though probably not as a comprehensive stand alone book, which I'm sure it was not meant to be.  It has a few basic recipes but I think if someone was serious about overhauling their diet they'd want to pick up a few more books to go along with this.  I guess I'd view this book as a great  intro to basic simple changes anyone can begin making when embarking on a new healthy lifestyle.

So that's my little review.  I'll post my thoughts on the other books when I've read more of them, but so far I'm excited about every one of them!  The cookbook literally has me in glorious rapture, I can't even explain the high I get from reading a good cookbook.  I'm really addicted to them (shhh, don't tell anyone) and I can't wait to try some recipes from it.  To give you a little idea of how amazing it is the front cover has a quote from the San Francisco Chronicle "The Julia Child of Ireland" and it's almost 600 pages long.   Doesn't that give you goosebumps??? It will definitely be worthy of a post all its own...

New Blog Address For Lydia's Blog Divine Health

This is just to let you know that Lydia has changed her blog address so if you've bookmarked it you should make note.  The new address is  http://www.divinehealth1.blogspot.com/ .

Jennifer Mclagan, Author of "Bones" and "Fat"

Often times when I get out on my own for a few hours I end up at the bookstore browsing and not buying.  I usually spend a long time in the cookbook section, often shaking my head in dismay, but sometimes coming across a little treasure.  Last time I was there I came across a book simply titled "Fat" and though I've not purchased it yet it looks wonderful.  It made me think of  Lydia right away!   So today I''ve looked it up again and discovered the author has written another book and has a blog as well.   I haven't read through too much but from I've seen so far it looks like it should be amazing!  Go ahead and check out Jennifer Mclagen's blog and if you're interested in purchasing her books you might consider ordering from Amazon through Lydia's Divine Health store.

Migraines and Chronic Shoulder Pain...GM Corn?

When I went away to college at 17, I began experiencing pain in my right shoulder that has been with me mostly ever since.  A few times it's gone away when I was eating healthier, especially when I did my first  liver detox (Fat Flush).  Recently I've had major improvement in this area again as I've begun eating non-processed simple organic foods.  But every once in a while I have another flare up, usually after eating something   highly processed (such as fast food, I know why do I do it!) or popcorn at the movies.  Usually I get migraines that last 2 or 3 days when my shoulder is really acting up, which used to be as often as once a week!  

Today my shoulder is bothering me and I don't have a migraine (at least yet) but I do have a headache.  And guess what?  Last night Aaron and I went to see a movie and I had popcorn.  Methinks I'm seeing a pattern!   And do you know what I found out after a little online research?  Most fast food is made up primarily of corn, along with  many other yucky things of course, which I'm pretty sure will be of the cheapest non-organic GM variety.  I don't think this is a coincidence! 

I don't know a whole lot about genetically modified foods, but I do not it's neither safe or natural.  I plan on studying it more and I'll share whatever I learn.  Meanwhile I think I should always pass on theatre popcorn and fast food!   I think I already knew that....

Anyway, here are a couple of more links if you're interested in reading more:

Genetically Modified Foods: The Latest Findings


How to Avoid Genetically Modified Foods

Goals

I've been thinking about why I am so passionate about nutrition and health.  It really started when my oldest child was around 2...she had (and still has)some health problems such as stomach pain, but she had horrible tantrums that would last for half an hour or more.  They were really similar to night terrors which she also had.  And she was clearly a sugar addict.  I began my journey to learn more and began with raiding my cupboards and removing all processed and refined foods, much to my husband's horror!  I started out with Fat Flush and Nourishing Tradtions, first detoxing myself and then spending hours on end in the kitchen trying new things and putting great fresh food on our table.  It was amazing, we lived like that for a few  months, until I got pregnant with our third child which means I was pretty sick for 9 months, and also bought a house in need of major renovation which had no kitchen for the first several months. Alot of stress and our healthy habits eventually got lost somewhere.  But not all of them, and I couldn't unlearn everything I believed about nutrition and of course never lost my interest even if  I didn't have much time to invest in it! 

Now we have 4 children from 9 yrs. down to 6 months and I'm on  a mission to look and feel healthy again.  And I want to teach my kids foundational nutrition that will hopefully help them for the rest of their life.   But I have some pretty specific goals, both long term and short term,  and I thought I like to throw them out there so I can look back and see how far I've come. 

So here are a few in no particular order:

lose excess fat (just me), help my daughter overcome her health issues, eat more diverse real foods as a family, have clear skin that does not require makeup, get rid of bad body odor, improve our teeth,  get more sugar out, be more or less wheat free (replacing with other grains/flours yet cutting back on intake of grains in general, especially gluten),  harvest my own organic veggies and store for winter through root cellaring and fermentation,  exercise regularly (especially weights and  circuit training (including bursting/intervals, also rebounding),  involve the kids more in food preparation and education, take some holistic nutrition classes either locally or online, continue to build library and self-educate, have lots and lots and lots of ENERGY!

Well, those are a few.  I've a got a good start on some of them and will continue moving forward but without any pressure.  These are things I want, not need, to do.  I find it fulfilling and enjoyable and look forward to feeling better and better!   As for the health issues with my daugher, I plan on taking her to a local natureopathic doctor soon and will include that process as well.  Should be interesting!

Divine Health, My Amazing Friend Lydia's Blog!!!

I'm kind of addicted to learning more about how to be my healthiest and look/feel my best.  I'm pretty passionate about good real food and getting my family to try new things and opt out of junk food on their own, even my young children (a work in progress!)  Lydia is probably even more passionate about all this than I am.  She is an amazing woman (and great friend!) who cooks gourmet meals, is raising 4 young boys as a single mom, and somehow manages to always be learning more about health and nutrition.  I have no doubt she'll be an amazing success as she begins to embark on her new adventure of pursuing business and career ideas.   So go check out Lydia's blog, there's tons of great reading about her day to day health journey and lot of great resources to check out there as well. She is hoping to be producing  some short recipe ebooks in the very near future--I can't wait!  (Please consider donating even a small amount on her site or ordering amazon books through her store to help her get things rolling...she is a stay-at-home mom needing to begin bringing in an income from home.)