Getting Back On Track With This Blog

I started this blog almost 3 years ago with the goal to write about living a more natural life style.  For me this means cooking my own food, growing my own food, eating local and with the seasons, eating healthy and naturally, being creative and not buying everything at the store, or even buying things that are thrifted and "upcycling"them.  Not only am I not really following through with these things on this blog, but I have let go of actually practicing a lot of this in my life (which is maybe why I am finding it so hard to write about it).

I am moving towards a more vegan diet.  As I have written, I have the BRCA2 gene mutation, which places me at a much greater risk for breast and ovarian cancer as well as pancreatic cancer and melanoma.  I still have to decide if I am going to have surgery to reduce my risk, or if I am just going to try to do things a little more naturally.  I have some doctors appointments coming up and have to schedule a couple more.  I am hoping that after these appointments, I will be able to make a better decision on which direction to go.  If I decide to have surgery, I will also continue with a mostly vegan diet and living a lifestyle that has ways of dealing with stress.

The research that I have done, has shown that eating a plant based diet, is something that can greatly reduce your chances of getting cancer.  I figure, even if I have surgery, it can't hurt to take care of my body and eat less meat and more fruits and veggies and whole grains.  I am also planning on really going gluten free and dairy free since I have sensitivities to these foods, or at least I think I do.  I also need to be better at gluten and dairy free meals and snacks for my older son.  He too has sensitivities that seem to manifest as symptoms of Autism.  Since we have greatly reduced his gluten and dairy intake he has greatly improved.  I really believe that diet plays a huge role in how our body reacts, not just physically but mentally as well.

We will be having a garden this year, and I hope that we do better and that we can get a lot of things from our own garden.  I really need to spend some time and research how best to eat locally and seasonally as well as doing it on a budget.  I really want to start making my own foods instead of going out to eat or buying more processed foods.

I also keep thinking about crafting for charity.  I will be creating things for my local twins group to sell at their annual convention.  It will be nice to donate to something that I can directly benefit from and have benefitted from in the past.  As much as this is great, I really want to do something more.  One of these days I will get the courage to talk to my selectman friend about collecting things at the farmers market.  I would love to be more active in my community and maybe this is one way to start.  I have grand thoughts, but am not sure if they are too grand and need to be tailored down.  I will keep thinking and maybe I'll get the nerve to talk to him about it.

Amy

Cancer!

I hate this word!  Like most people, I have been more than touched by cancer within my family.  I also have the breast cancer gene mutation which freaks me out more than just a little.  The decisions I know have to make suck to say the least, but at least I have the options to make decisions (about the only positive that I see in knowing that I have the gene, well along with knowing that my kids are at risk instead of not knowing.

I just found out that someone who I went to high school with lost her husband to pancreatic cancer last night.  As a person with a BRCA2 mutation, I am also at risk for pancreatic cancer, although that risk is low especially in comparison to my breast and ovarian cancer risk.  I also found out that there is more pancreatic cancer in my family that I ever knew.  Granted it is the familial lineage is pretty far away, but at least for me, it scares the crap out of me.

Every time I hear that some has been diagnosed with cancer or passes away from cancer, I get more freaked out.  I know that I need to make certain decisions, really just whether or not I am going to have my ovaries removed or not.  Every time I think I've made the decision, I think and then lose my nerve to stick with it.  Right now I am leaning against surgery and looking more at lifestyle changes.  That may change as I get older, as I get more peri-menopausal, or as life happens.  For me, not having surgery means that I will have the chance to have surgery if I choose at a later date.  If I have surgery when I am not ready, I can never take it back.  I do know that I am putting myself more at risk for ovarian cancer, but for now, that is my decision.  I did get my blood test back for my ovarian cancer test and it was normal, good news, and I have my ultrasound next week.  I still need to schedule my breast MRI, but need to do it at a certain time so I am in a waiting period right now.

After hearing the news of my friends's husband's passing, I really need to stick with my goals.  I really need to focus on eating right, exercising, being creative, and getting my life organized.  Following through with my goals all help me relieve stress on my mind, my body, and my spirit.  Now I just need to keep this resolve and follow through.  As I sit here typing, I am drinking my green shake (after I ate a crappy lunch).  I need to make sure that I actually drink these and eat more fruits and veggies in general as well as good whole grains!

For all that want to know what I put in my shake, this is it:

Green Smoothie

1cups of green leafy veggies (today was swiss chard)
1/2 an apple (green or red)
1/2 a pear
1 banana
1/2 an avocado
1/2 a bag of frozen blackberries
10 oz of water

Blend til smooth and enjoy!  I do have a vita mix.  I'm not sure how it would work in a traditional blender.  I believe that you should have a high speed blender so that it can really get things blended so that your body can incorporate them easily.

Enjoy life and take care of yourself!

Amy

Diet, Diet, Diet!!!!

Ok, so I really should have said diet, exercise and stress reduction!  Right now, that is my plan for how to deal with my BRCA 2 test results.  At this point, I am not willing to remove body parts.  To be honest, I am scared of many things, both having surgery and not having surgery.  I honestly can't imagine removing my breasts without actually needing to, but I also am totally scared that I will get cancer and die early.

I am trying to make some pretty radical changes to my diet.  My goal is to eventually eat a vegan raw diet, but for now, it is very slow going.  I have started eating green smoothies in the morning, the problem is that I am still eating foods that are not really what I should be eating.  I am hoping that I can  increase the good foods and in return, I will decrease the amount of bad foods.  I am hoping to increase my exercise and lose weight.

As for stress management, I have 3 small kids and life is a little crazy.  I need to make sure that I make time to be creative.  That is the biggest piece of my stress reduction plan.  I also need to make time for yoga and meditation.

All this being said, I don't know what the future will bring.  As time passes, I may change my mind and decide to have surgery.  At this point, I don't want surgery, bit this is not a decision I plan to make lightly.  I will be doing a ton of research and try to find out what the next steps should be.

Amy

Going Green (Smoothie)

With my desire to start being healthy, I have started to look at the raw foods world, at least for the summer months.  One thing that I noticed is the whole green smoothie "revolution".  Ok, so maybe not a revolution, but it;s certainly a popular concept.  A few years ago, my husband and I started to make green smoothies.  We bought a book by Victoria Boutenko, who has been promoting green smoothies.  Basically, it is a much easier and tastier way to get in your fruits and veggies, almost like a V8 fruit drink but better and probably better for you since you make it yourself.  Green smoothies basically consist of fruit, a green leafy veggie, and maybe some water and protein powder if you wish ( we've used protein powder in the past but I have used it recently).  I like my greens, but there are only so many I can eat at a time.  I can drink these smoothies and feel like I am being healthy and getting in my fruits and veggies.  Most recently, I have been adding in my homemade kefir with some stevia to sweeten the kefir.  I had some last night for a snack and even when my husband wanted ice cream, I was a little more able to hold off and not be persuaded as easily as I usually am.  I am hoping that one positive impact for me will be relieving me from my cravings.  I don't see it or expect that it will happen overnight, but I am hoping that these small changes I am making will help me with my overall health and in time I'll be able to listen to my bosy and really trust what it is telling me.

Last night, as I was researching green smoothies, I went to a blog I have been following for some time now, www.choosingraw.  One of the things that I read, which totally resonated with me was making small changes.  For along time now, and with many things, I often feel like I have to be perfect right away or else it is a failed attempt.  I am slowly realizing, I can make small changes to my diet that over time will accumulate to large very positive changes.  I am also realizing that it really isn't an all or nothing idea.  I can have some meat even though I want mostly to be a vegan.  I can have dairy even though I don't want to have it every day.  The healthier I get, the more I can listen to my body and the more I can trust it to tell me what it needs..com

Earlier in this post, I mentioned that I have been making homemade kefir.  I am making both milk and water kefir and am loving both.  I love water kefir.  It is fermented water that has some small bubbles in it.  Often I will drink it in a champagne flute or a wine glass just for the fun of it.  I love drinking out of fancy glasses even if it is just water.  I haven't really experimented with flavors yet, but I plan to do that soon.  I haven't really been drinking the milk kefir, but I have been using it in mainly my pancake recipes and have made butter out of it also.  I have strained the kefir and made "kefir cheese" and then used the whey in my pancake batter.  I have started (just yesterday) to add kefir to my green smoothie.  I really enjoyed it though I did need to flavor it with stevia, since straight plain kefir, like plain yogurt, is a little too tart for my taste.  I'm loving my kefir grains!

Green Smoothie Recipe #2

1 apple
1/2 C frozen blueberries
1/2 C frozen berries
1C frozen mixed fruit
1/2 C sunflower seeds (magnesium)
1 head of green leaf lettuce (from my neighbor's CSA share)
water to blend to consistency of your liking
1/2 C kefir/yogurt (optional)
stevia to taste (optional)
 (for the first smoothie of the day, I added the kefir at the end and just stirred it in with about 7-8 drops of liquid stevia.  Later that night, I re-blended a glass of the smoothie with some kefir and stevia and I think blending it made it more amalgamated and I really enjoyed it much more)

I usually blend the fruit and water and then add the greens.  You really can use any leafy greens you want.  My husband is lacking in the magnesium arena so I added the sunflower seeds to help increase the magnesium for him.  Blend to your favorite consistency and enjoy.

I am looking forward to trying more combinations as well as using veggies from our garden.  I will post more recipes as I make them.  I am hoping that, in time, these green smoothies with help me get my health back and as I've said, I can start trusting my body!

Have you had green smoothies?  Do you have favorite recipe?

Amy

Disconnect!

Recently, I started looking at a book called Nourishing Traditions.  I had thought I wanted to buy it, but after realizing what it is all about, and not that it's bad it's just not the direction I want to go, I decided that I most likely won't buy it.  What this book did for me though, was to make me think about my diet and how I eat.  I've already written that I have food addictions and I also have an issue with over eating and hiding the food that I eat.  What I realized first is, I have a real disconnect with food!  If you were ask me how I feel after eating certain foods, for the most part I wouldn't notice if I felt different eating certain foods.  I would also say that I couldn't tell you why I eat certain foods, why I over eat, if there are certain triggers that make me eat certain foods or at certain times of the day.  The only thing that I could tell you is that, I tend to eat food whose taste lingers in my mouth.  I tend to want that taste no matter how full I am.

My husband and I have been trying to eat a more vegan diet.  Mainly for health reason, but also for animal rights reasons, at least on my part, I won't speak for my husband.  Unfortunately with the summer here and the grill being used as well as my children seeming to eat more animal protein (they are only 3 and 2 1/2 ), I have found myself eating way more meat that I would like.  One thing I recently noticed is that when I have meat, especially beef, I tend to over eat it.  I'm sure, actually I know that there are other foods like that for me.  Because of this realization, I have decided that I think eating more vegan is the right way for me to eat.  I am also thinking that I need to start a food journal.  I really need to connect more with my food and really focus on why I am eating what  and is there something else non food related that is more what I need?

Now my dilema with going back to eating more vegan is, "What are some good ways to eat vegan in the summer months?"  I really enjoy beans, soups, stews, roasted veggies, rice, but I want to enjoy summer also and I really don't desire eating those heavy foods.  I wrote in yesterdays post that I was thinking about looking at the raw foods diet for the summer.  I still think I will do that, but if anyone has any thoughts on how to maintain a vegan lifestyle through the summer (since I just started going plant strong), and/or any recipes, I would love it!  I would love some good blogs sites as well!

Now as for the handmade part of my blog, I seriously need to get creating again.  Hopefully in the near future, I will be able to find some time to do this!  I have lots of projects, just not enough time to make them!

I am also thinking that I know the direction that I want to go when I truly get back into the workforce.  I am thinking that I want to move towards nutritional counseling and education.  I need to get myself on track first, but I really think I would enjoy that.  Now I just need to figure out how to do this over the next 3-5 years!

Amy

Thought Provoking

As I've written, I am looking to make some huge changes in my lifestyle.  This includes many things, but one of the biggest areas I am looking to change is my diet.  For a few years, I have been wanting to eat a more vegan diet, but I never thought I could give up meat.  Then my husband's doctor recommended that he start eating a more plant based diet so we did.  I am amazed at how much I don't have the desire for steak.  Don't get me wrong, I still eat meat more than I want to, but I am eating way more beans and grains than I ever have.  I started adding in a green smoothie every morning and am feeling so much better now that I am not carb loading my body from the start.  Again, I still need to make major changes in my eating habits, but slow and steady wins the race, right? 

I just finished reading a post at http://sweetlyraw.com/ about how the author is no longer 100% raw vegan.  I was very impressed with her blog and very impressed with most of the comments.  Many people commented on her bravery for coming out and saying that she is no longer 100% raw vegan and that they are so happy that she is listening to her body.  I too want to commend her for listening to her body and eating what she feels her body needs.  One of my biggest goals with my diet is to get my body into a state where I can trust it to tell me waht it needs.  I think that I have too many allergies/intolerances right now as well as some food addictions (which probably play right into the allergy piece) to trust my bosy to tell me what it needs.  I have msotly eliminated dairy from my diet and I think it really has helped.  I know that it has helped my children, and I don't know that i want to try them back on dairy, especially my older son who seemed to have some fairly significant breathing issues from it.  I now want to eliminate the other foods that I seem to react to and see how I feel.  I think once I get into a healthy state, I will be able to listen to my body to tell me what it needs, and I will then feed it the food that it craves because I believe at that point I wll be able to trust it!  I think that I need to not be too hard on myself with my eating.  I know that I need to give myself credit for the chnages that i have made no matter how small.  I also know that I need to continue to work on finding the right diet for me, as I also believe tht no one diet fits everyone!

Amy

Who Am I? Food/Diet Related

To continue with the "Who Am I?" theme, I decided to write a little about my diet/foods I like to eat and foods that I should eat versus foods that I shouldn't eat.  I've written a lot about wanting to eat a more vegan diet.  There are many reasons for this some of which include but are not limited to: health, food intolerances, and animal cruelty.  I have been eating a lot of beans lately, not to say that I haven't had my share of junk food and I wondered if I had a big juicy steak, would I still want to eat beans?  This weekend, my husband decided that he would like to have a piece of steak.  We also thought that maybe the kids needed to have a bit of meat protein.  So, Saturday we went to a large butcher store.  I would much rather have eaten a more healthy version of steak, but this is what we can afford right now.  We went home and cooked it and it was pretty much cooked perfect.  I was good, but I definitely didn't get that "OH MY GOD" feeling when I ate it.  For me, that is a good thing.  I was a little afraid that if I ate a good piece of steak, I would be done for.  I have had a ham in my freezer that one of the neighborhood ladies gave to us.  I wanted to use it before it went bad because I forgot about it so I threw it in the crock pot today and I timed it so it would be ready for me to take to work.  I have absolutely no desire to eat it.  I actually took left over beans and butternut squash casserole type dish to work for dinner.  I have had a huge cheese and bread craving though.  I am working my way through eating a more healthy diet and in the process I am hoping to lose a few pounds.  I did make vegan cupcakes, so healthier, but still junk food.  I am going to eat some baked brie and crackers.  I am resolved to get my eating under control and hopefully, I can do the whole gluten-free, dairy-free, wheat-free diet.  I am also trying to cut out sugar, especially refined sugars.  The cupcakes that I made today are so not refined sugar free, but I can't waste food and I stupidly bought white sugar and white flour over the holidays for holiday baking.  Small steps right?  I will get there, it just may take me a few wrong turns and a few twists in the road, but my diet will ultimately be the way I want it to be!

Amy

Food

Food is one of my biggest struggles.  Along with organizing and housework, food is something that I will always have to work on.  I love food!  I love food that is not good for me!  I really want to eat healthy, but I start off good, then it all goes to pot!  I think sometimes my lack of organizing really gets in my way.  I tried to do good this week and did better than I have in a while with meal planning. Today I went to the mall to do some last minute Christmas shopping and by the time I got home, I never made dinner.  I am trying to move toward a more vegetarian/vegan lifestyle, both from a animal rights perspective and a health perspective.  My husband, for various health reasons, is supposed to be eating a more plant based diet.  This is also something I have been wanting to do for sometime now, so when he was told to limit his intake of animal protein, I thought it would help me get to where I need/want to be.  It has and it hasn't.  With this being Christmas week, I haven't really pushed myself to be really good, but I really should be.  I will be doing moer menu planning after Christmas.  I have one for this week, but I just didn't fallow it today.  I don't want to give my self a break, because everytime I do, I feel like i am just giving myself an excuse to be unhealthy.  So, I am going to hold myself accountable!  I am going to start eating correctly.  I am going to make and follow a meal plan every week.  I am going to start following through with my beliefs!

This will not be the last you hear about my food journey.  There will be ups and downs, but hopefully more ups.  I am going to be accountable to myself and I am going to hold myself accountable for following through with mybeliefs and desires to be a healthy eater.  I will be eating more homemade foods and be hopefully trying new vegetariam/vegan recipes and I will be totally eliminating the foods that aer on my allergen list from my blood test.  I really should also meet with the dietician to talk about how I should be eating.  Hopefully my next posts about food will be positve ones with the changes that I want to make!

Merry Christmas!

Amy