Short update

I weighed myself this morning. I was down to 185. I'm happy :-) It means I've stopped the rapid loss that kinda freaked me out, but I'm still losing :-)

I tried 2 new recipes tonight. One was a potato and squash soup. It was better after a couple additions. I'll probably make it again but not too often. It took forever to prep, even using my food processor! The other new recipe was lowfat stuffed mushrooms. Definitely a keeper! I'll post both recipes later.

I splurged tonight... My first treat in over 2 weeks! One square of Ghirardelli Twilight - 72% pure chocolate. It was less than 70 calories and only 3 grams of sugar. Very intense, very satisfying!

Thought for the Morning

Detoxing is not easy with a toddler and a 6-week old... But with my body the way it was before I started the detox, everything was harder than it is now...

The Bad and the Good...

One of the detox symptoms I've had off and on the past few days has been anxiety/claustraphobia. Yesterday evening it got pretty bad :-( But it did ease up! During the night it kicked back in a bit though. Enough that when I woke up at 430am to feed the baby, I was awake for the next 3 hours...

And now for the good. For the first time in my adult life, my gums aren't bleeding when I brush my teeth! They're actually turning a healthy pink color instead of their usual red!

It's so nice to see a tangible change in my body :-D It gives me something encouraging to focus on in the midst of the rough moments...

Ugh

The past few days I've been having noticeable detox symptoms. I had some before this but they seem to be worse now. Headaches, sensitivity to smells, and anxiety/claustraphobia have been more prominent. I'm sitting here noticing how tense my body is, my shoulders especially. I relax them and a few minutes later they're tensed bad again.

I haven't drank as much water today so maybe that's part of the reason? Need to drink a lot before bed to try to dilute and flush these toxins...

Low Carb Lunch

I defrosted some chicken breasts for lunch but didn't know what I was going to do with them. I ended up throwing together something simple with yummy results!

GRILLED CHICKEN WRAPS

Chicken breasts
Mrs. Dash chicken grill seasoning
2/3 c. mayonnaise
3 tbsp. mustard
2 tsp. tarragon
Romaine leaves

Season chicken breasts with grill seasoning. Cook on George Foreman-type grill until done. While chicken is cooking, mix together mayonnaise, mustard, and tarragon. Spread mustaise on Romaine leaves. Slice cooked chicken into strips and wrap in Romaine like a burrito.

Today's menu

I think today's the first day I actually used recipes for both lunch and supper! Breakfast was D'Anjou pears and Golden Delicious apples. Lunch was Aromatic Chicken Breasts and a salad. Supper was Old-Fashioned Lentil Soup and Honey Cornbread. Ideally supper should have had another veggie but the soup had a good many in it. Here are the recipes:

AROMATIC CHICKEN BREASTS (adapted from The Carbohydrate Addict's Cookbook by Richard and Rachael Heller)

4 boneless skinless chicken breasts
2 tbsp. olive oil
3 tbsp. chopped chives
1 1/2 tbsp. lemon juice
1/2 tbsp. worcestershire sauce
1 tbsp. parsley
2 tsp. mustard
1/4 c. water or chicken stock

Slightly flatten chicken breasts with a mallet. Heat oil in a large skillet. Add chicken and cook 6 minutes on medium-high. Turn and cook an additional 6 minutes or until cooked through. Remove chicken from pan. Add remaining ingredients except water to the pan and cook 15 seconds, stirring constantly. Stir in the water until smooth. Move chicken back to the pan and turn in the sauce to coat.

OLD-FASHIONED LENTIL SOUP (from Fit for Life by Harvey and Marilyn Diamond)

7 1/2 c. water
1 clove garlic, minced
1 large onion, chopped
2 large carrots, chopped
2 stalks celery, chopped
1 1/2 c. lentils
1 vegetable bouillon
1/2 tsp. thyme
1 tsp. oregano
1-2 tsp. parsley
1 tsp. paprika
Salt

Bring water to a boil in a large pot. Add garlic, onion, carrots, celery, lentils, and bouillon. Return to a boil. Add seasonings. Mix well. Simmer, covered, for 1 hour.

HONEY CORNBREAD (from Fit for Life)

1 c. cornmeal
1 c. whole wheat flour
1/2 tsp. salt
1 tsp. baking powder
1 tsp. baking soda
1/4 c. honey
1 egg, beaten
2 c. buttermilk
1 tsp. butter

Preheat oven to 375. Combine dry ingredients. Stir in liquid ingredients. Do not overmix! Batter should be a little lumpy. Pour batter into 8x8 pan sprayed with Pam. Bake for 30 minutes or until toothpick inserted in center comes out clean. Cool slightly before cutting.

All the recipes above passed Ethan's (my 2-year-old) taste test!

Let's start at the very beginning, A very good place to start!

I decided to start another blog to chronicle my new journey to a healthier me. A little background...

Oct 1995 - Met Jesse. Weighed about 135, size 12/14.

Oct 1996 - Married Jesse. Weight unknown, size 20ish. No known cause for weight gain.

Nov 2006 - After over 2 years of trying, finally pregnant! Had horrible heartburn last half of pregnancy. Went to ER at least twice with unexplained stomach pain. No diagnosis. Weight at beginning of pregnancy - 227, size 24/26.

July 2007 - C-section to deliver Ethan due to likely placental failure in progress :-(

Nov 2007 - Went to ER after night of extreme pain. Diagnosed with gallstones. Advised to have gallbladder removed. Went straight from ER to my natural health place for advice. Did my first liver/gallbladder cleanse. Periodic cleanses after that. Realized that the stomach pain that had sent me to the ER while pregnant was from my gallbladder.

Jan 2009 - Felt gallstone stuck in duct. Successfully dissolved and passed it with cleanse! Started reduced fat diet.

April 2009 - Found out pregnant again! Increased fat intake some. Throughout pregnancy, heartburn again but no gallbladder problems. Weighed 212, size 22/24.

Dec 11, 2009 - After 2 days of vomiting, woke up with one of Gabriel's limbs pressing into my gallbladder. Went to hospital dehydrated and vomiting bile. Gallbladder extremely inflamed. Found out baby had turned sideways. C-section #2 :-(

Dec 2009 to Jan 2010 - Very low appetite. Nausea. Dec 21 - Weight 217
Jan 13 - Weight 199
Jan 21 - Weight 190

Jan 7 - Back at ER after 2 days of pain. Didn't know if gallbladder messed up still or something else wrong. Found out gallstone was stuck in bile duct. ERCP scope procedure to remove it. Gallbladder still extremely inflamed. Again advised to have it removed.

The next week I had a consultation with the owner of my natural health place about my gallbladder and health in general. He suggested I start a modified version of the Fit for Life eating plan.

So I'm about a week into this new way of eating now. It's taking some getting used to but I'm adjusting! Here's the gist of it:

Breakfast - Fruit or fresh fruit juice ONLY. Nothing else till noon.
Lunch - Proteins and veggies
Supper - Carbs and veggies
Snacks - Fruit
No fried or fatty foods. Olive oil only - no other oils or butter.

I'm also supposed to be eating half a lemon a day as a mild, gradual cleanse. But a few days ago I reacted to it and since I've suspected a citrus allergy for quite a while, I'm taking a break for a few days.

I bought Fit for Life and have read most of it. I'm putting together some questions for another consultation to get clarification on a few things, the lemon issue being one of them.

Fit for Life is primarily a detox plan. Most people do lose weight on it. I know that I am very sensitive to chemicals, and I suspect the intolerance to chemicals in food is a main contributor to my health right now. I would love to eat nearly 100% organic but can't afford it :-(

I wonder if my big unexplained weight gain was due to the increase in eating processed foods at that time. Processed food = more chemicals = bad reaction in my body resulting in weight gain?

So far I am eating a lot more fruits and veggies than usual and less meat. I'm trying to make it a month before I have a cheat day. I think the first cheat I will have though is a piece of Ghirardelli bittersweet chocolate!