I need to make some adjustments...I started this diet last monday, June 4, not June 5. When I posted yesterday I was going by the date on the blog, which I had apparently posted after midnight, as I did last night. So, today, June 11 is actually day 8. I week down. Also, I forgot to post that when I started the diet last monday, I weighed in at 135 lbs. My main focus of this diet is not weight loss, but it is one thing that I want to chart as I go along. Today I weight 131 lbs. That's 4 pounds of toxins and probably a lot of water weight in a week.
I also should mention that my bowel movements have regulated. This is one way to tell how healthy your digestion is. Over the first few days they were very irregular in timing, consistency, color and smell. They happened sporadically throughout the day, were various textures and sizes, and ranged in color from orange (1st day I drank carrot juice) to green to black, and the smell was awful! This is just the cleansing process that starts at the beginning of any change to a healthier lifestyle. Over the last 2 days, they have become more solid, and while still changing color, staying in the brown realm. Also, have cut down to one or two per day.
Ok, enough of the gross part...upon awakening today I had vinegar/raw honey/water mixture and a cup of green tea. I feel awake and alert and in good spirits.
...more as the day goes on...
11:00 breakfast- sea vegetable omelet/scramble with onions, garlic and red bell pepper.
I felt pretty good when leaving home, but after a 20 minute drive to work, was feeling pretty groggy. I had to do a presentation, and that woke me up some. Came home to eat lunch at 4:30- salad of romaine lettuce with salmon, hard boiled egg and assorted veggies with homemade dressing- extra virgin olive oil, apple cider vinegar, fresh garlic & herbs, black pepper and a little sea salt.
Monday, June 11, 2012
Day 5
Well, I'm five days in now, and doing a little better. I had intended to post daily, but the week has been very hectic. It's hard for me to get on a schedule, because after almost two years, I've started back to work and am trying to get back on this diet again as well, and I have a few other things on the back burner as well, so it's kind of a lot to deal with all at once. I wish I was one of those people that could just jump into something and run with it, but I'm not. I have to ease myself in.
Wednesday was my second day and after being up all night dealing with some family problems, I was exhausted and had nothing to eat that was allowed on my diet, so I decided to take the day off from work. (I'm very lucky that my schedule is flexible and I'm allowed to do so) I drank my mixture of apple cider vinegar and honey, a cup of tea, which didn't wake me up at all...nor did it take away my headache which had been just quietly hanging around the front of my head since the previous morning. I took sone Advil, and downed a shot of espresso-sans sugar. This helped a little. Then, I made some boiled eggs and ate them with a little bit of cultured veggies that we had bought at the store a LONG time ago. They were still good,of course, because the cultures keep them from spoiling, but they weren't very tasty. I prefer to make my own. In any case, I was fed and alert enough to do my shopping.
Off I went traveling around town to my favorite markets that I had shopped at the last time I was on this diet, and as I went I started remembering all the things I used to eat. I bought coconut oil and ghee, almonds, sunflower seeds, lots of vegetables-especially carrots, because I remembered that I used to juice them with some ginger and it made a nice drink that would diminish my sugar cravings, because on this diet, you will have sugar cravings! I never had much of a sweet tooth, so I didn't think I would ave a problem, but we don't realize how much sugar we actually consume until we make a point to cut it out of our diets! I bought fresh meats,lemons, avocados,blueberries and raspberries herbal teas, millet, amaranth (I already had quinoa at home), Ezekiel sprouted gain (flourless) bread, which contains some grains which are not really allowed on the diet, but again, I have to ease myself in, and this bread is very nutritious. I also got the Ezekiel cereal and some almond & rice milk-again, not exactly within the parameters, but getting there. Its important for me to have something to eat in the morning that's quick and easy until I can get back into the habit of preparing everything that I need.
After a long day of shopping, reading labels and transitioning my brain to think about food in this different way, I was extremely tired. I went home and took a little rest. Then I prepared a dinner of tenderloin steak and steamed broccoli with ghee and lots of fresh garlic.
As the week has passed, my need for caffeine has diminished somewhat. I'm drinking green tea in the morning now,instead of black,the vinegar/honey mixture followed by a handful of berries(which I'll have to cut out once I get down to the strictest version of the diet). An hour or so later I have sprouted grain toast or cereal and take a boiled egg, turkey sandwich wrapped in lettuce instead of bread, and some almonds to work with me. For lunch at home I had some raw salmon and a salad one day, leftover baked salmon on a salad another day, and today a sandwich of grilled veggies on the sprouted grain bread, and potato soup with a little kimchi that I bought at the store because I haven't gotten around to making my own cultured veggies yet.
For dinners always a piece of lean meat or fish, grilled or baked, steamed or sautéed Veggies, a little green salad and now a little kimchi.
I'm still feeling tired and sluggish sometimes, but when I do, if I'm home, I just take a quick nap. If I'm not at home, I try to move around a little more to get my blood moving. If none of that works I will have a little bit of coffee...but without the sugar. I know from previous experience that as I detox, I'll go through waves of feeling good, and not so good. I've had headaches and body aches that come and go, but they haven't been too bad yet this time. Maybe because I'm easing into it. I still have a drink or two fairly regularly, but I have switched from beer, wine,whisky or tequila to vodka with grapefruit, lemon or cranberry juice concentrate and stevia, and I don't have more than 2. It's a process, but I'm already starting to feel better...and lighter.
I'm going to try to post daily to log what I eat and how I'm feeling. It will be a help to me as I go along, and hopefully it will be a help to some of you trying the body ecology diet to heal your immune system or just looking for a healthier way to eat.
Tuesday, June 5, 2012
Back on the wagon...Body Ecology, day 1
A few years ago I found a book called "The Body Ecology Diet" by Donna Gates. It's a great guide to ridding your body of an overgrowth of yeast, called candida, recovering your health, and keeping your mind and body young and healthy. It basically describes a step-by-step process, guided by 7 principles of eating healthy. I'll explain the details as we go along, but when I first started this diet, I had been on a steady diet of Jack Daniels and Coca-Cola for about a year. I woke up one day with a very painful and strange looking tongue. After some research, I discovered that my sick looking tongue was due to the alcohol and I was on my way to doing some serious damage to my liver. This scared me sober, and onto The Body Ecology Diet, which until this point, I had been dabbling with but had never gotten serious about.
I'm happy to say that I recovered my health, and my liver and was actually one of the healthiest people I knew for a couple of years. When I moved in with my boyfriend, however, it was really difficult to stay fully on the diet, and I slowly stopped eating according to the healthy principles. Over the last year, due to personal problems, lack of work and just plain laziness, my eating habits have really gone south and I've gained a little extra padding! Also, I just feel tired and worn down, so I have decided to start Ms. Gates wonderful, healthy diet again, because at age 40, I still look pretty young, but I want to continue to look and feel as young as I can for as long as I can!
One of the principles on the diet is the principle of step-by-step. In a nutshell it says to get on this diet little by little, because it's really a pretty big lifestyle change. Anxious to get going and lose some weight, and remembering how great I felt when I was on the diet before, I mistakenly thought that I wouldn't have to think much about that principle this time...you know, I had been on the diet before, so surely it would be easy for me to jump right back in.....boy, was I wrong!
I started this morning with the best of intentions...Drinking plenty of liquids first thing in the morning. A mixture of apple cider vinegar and raw local honey first (which really isn't allowed, but it helps my allergies, so I figured "A bit of honey will be ok for now"), then a cup of tea with a little stevia instead of coffee with a tablespoon of sugar...(Again, black tea not really allowed, but "It will transition me easier into the herbal teas that are.") Then my breakfast...I hadn't done my shopping to buy the things I really needed for this diet, so I settled for a serving of millet with some steamed broccoli and a little low sodium soy sauce. I didn't remember if the soy sauce is allowed or not, but I needed some flavor, so again, "It'll be ok for now."
It sounds pretty funny, making those little excuses and exceptions, but that's exactly what the principle of step-by-step is...getting there a little at a time. I really thought I could do it all at once, but that would be nearly impossible, and that's ok. I'm only human.
As a matter of fact, a little while after my breakfast, I started getting quite a headache...the black tea had not quite done it's job replacing the coffee after all! I actually had to go ahead and have a (small) cup before I went to work. This relieved my headache almost immediately! Talk about addiction!
During work I did pretty good, I drank water, a coconut water and ate a greens bar. Unfortunately, late in the day, I discovered that I would have to stay later than I had planned, and I was getting pretty hungry and my energy level was dropping. Food was coming, they said, and I winced, thinking of what awful things they might be bringing for me and the crew to eat..."Well..." I thought to myself, trying to at least stick to the principle of food combining, "I'll just remove bread from a sandwich and just eat the meat, or avoid any rice or noodles". By the time the food was there I was starving and I heard the horrifying words of my boss..."Come and have some pizza everyone!"
I sighed, and went to investigate. There was nothing I could do...circles of crust (not allowed) mounded with gooey cheese(not allowed) and loaded with pepperoni and various other meats and veggies awaited me. I picked the healthiest looking one I could find...ham and pineapple. (Which actually, now that I think about it was probably the worst one because fruit doesn't digest well with other things at all, and should be eaten alone...and pineapple is one of the sweetest fruits there are!) I took a small piece and chewed it very well, praying the day would be over soon and I could go to the store and buy some yummy veggies to bring with me to work tomorrow.
When I was finally released, I did just that. I went home, baked some salmon and veggies, made a little salad and redeemed myself. Ahhh...my first day is over.
I'm happy to say that I recovered my health, and my liver and was actually one of the healthiest people I knew for a couple of years. When I moved in with my boyfriend, however, it was really difficult to stay fully on the diet, and I slowly stopped eating according to the healthy principles. Over the last year, due to personal problems, lack of work and just plain laziness, my eating habits have really gone south and I've gained a little extra padding! Also, I just feel tired and worn down, so I have decided to start Ms. Gates wonderful, healthy diet again, because at age 40, I still look pretty young, but I want to continue to look and feel as young as I can for as long as I can!
One of the principles on the diet is the principle of step-by-step. In a nutshell it says to get on this diet little by little, because it's really a pretty big lifestyle change. Anxious to get going and lose some weight, and remembering how great I felt when I was on the diet before, I mistakenly thought that I wouldn't have to think much about that principle this time...you know, I had been on the diet before, so surely it would be easy for me to jump right back in.....boy, was I wrong!
I started this morning with the best of intentions...Drinking plenty of liquids first thing in the morning. A mixture of apple cider vinegar and raw local honey first (which really isn't allowed, but it helps my allergies, so I figured "A bit of honey will be ok for now"), then a cup of tea with a little stevia instead of coffee with a tablespoon of sugar...(Again, black tea not really allowed, but "It will transition me easier into the herbal teas that are.") Then my breakfast...I hadn't done my shopping to buy the things I really needed for this diet, so I settled for a serving of millet with some steamed broccoli and a little low sodium soy sauce. I didn't remember if the soy sauce is allowed or not, but I needed some flavor, so again, "It'll be ok for now."
It sounds pretty funny, making those little excuses and exceptions, but that's exactly what the principle of step-by-step is...getting there a little at a time. I really thought I could do it all at once, but that would be nearly impossible, and that's ok. I'm only human.
As a matter of fact, a little while after my breakfast, I started getting quite a headache...the black tea had not quite done it's job replacing the coffee after all! I actually had to go ahead and have a (small) cup before I went to work. This relieved my headache almost immediately! Talk about addiction!
During work I did pretty good, I drank water, a coconut water and ate a greens bar. Unfortunately, late in the day, I discovered that I would have to stay later than I had planned, and I was getting pretty hungry and my energy level was dropping. Food was coming, they said, and I winced, thinking of what awful things they might be bringing for me and the crew to eat..."Well..." I thought to myself, trying to at least stick to the principle of food combining, "I'll just remove bread from a sandwich and just eat the meat, or avoid any rice or noodles". By the time the food was there I was starving and I heard the horrifying words of my boss..."Come and have some pizza everyone!"
I sighed, and went to investigate. There was nothing I could do...circles of crust (not allowed) mounded with gooey cheese(not allowed) and loaded with pepperoni and various other meats and veggies awaited me. I picked the healthiest looking one I could find...ham and pineapple. (Which actually, now that I think about it was probably the worst one because fruit doesn't digest well with other things at all, and should be eaten alone...and pineapple is one of the sweetest fruits there are!) I took a small piece and chewed it very well, praying the day would be over soon and I could go to the store and buy some yummy veggies to bring with me to work tomorrow.
When I was finally released, I did just that. I went home, baked some salmon and veggies, made a little salad and redeemed myself. Ahhh...my first day is over.
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