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I’ve been plagued with knees that dislocate at will since age 6. My first surgery was at age 13, and 13 more surgeries followed. I saw on a efriend’s blog that she was recovering from her knee pain using diet and exercise rather than surgery and drugs. I asked her a question and she answered it on today’s post! Please visit:
I’ve decided it will serve me well to keep a record of various things related to this new foodstyle, the accounting to be made at month-end and recorded here for future reference.
Starting with the bad (really, really bad) news: My food expenses did almost exactly double over this same period last year. Specifically, I showed an 88% increase in food spending. To get further insight on this shockingly unacceptable development, I will be keeping more detailed records, tracking amounts in various food categories.
Cost of food per person per day: $10 (That might not seem like a lot to a single person or a small family, but our family is large, economic issues are frustrating and I trust that figure will drop. Remember, we came from a totally Standard American Diet frame of reference. I had to start by restocking my kitchen from scratch and am still finding sources for less expensive bulk foods.)
Relevant books read or re-read: Nourishing Traditions: The Cookbook that Challenges Politically Correct Nutrition and the Diet Dictocrats by Sally Fallon, Chemical-Free Kids: How to Safeguard Your Child’s Diet and Environment by Allan Magaziner, Linda Bonvie, and Anthony Zolezzi
Energy Level: Slightly low. I battled a cold early in the month. At first, the cold lasted five days and I felt better but was still very low energy. My body just didn’t seem to bounce back. But I didn’t develop the bronchitis I normally get with every cold. It wasn’t until yesterday, two weeks after the cold symptoms subsided, that the bronchitis hit. That seems to be common with this particular bug, as it is the timetable everyone in my family is experiencing.
Visible health improvements: I have to start with Christy’s eye. That still amazes me. My carb cravings have almost completely stopped and I’m no longer tempted to eat at night. Even when hubby brings out his snacks and offers me some, I don’t want them. I have only had three “bad knee” days that kept me drugged up and on bedrest. That is an improvement over recent months. On the other side of the knee-coin, I walked 10 miles this month, far more than normal for me. I lost two pounds which just completely baffles me as I didn’t weigh my food, didn’t count calories, didn’t go without anything, was never hungry for more than an hour and didn’t exercise to the point of pain.
Other notes: I’m not at all happy with the result I get when I soak grain for baked goods. It might work better to soak in a dairy medium, but because of Rose’s allergies, I’ve been using water and whey. The muffins I make are sour, dense hockey pucks. I don’t mind, but no one else in the family is particularly interested in eating them. I’ve never thrown away a blueberry muffin until this month. Sprouted flour works better for pancakes and the like, but requires a lot of wheat berries, something I am having trouble locating locally, and is much more difficult to schedule. Lacto-fermenting is going well. While my first attempts seemed more like alchemy than cooking, it is becoming a more comfortable process. Our tastes, as a family, need to continue to change to appreciate the pleasant sourness of these gems. I need to continue to research to find lower-priced more local foods in bulk, especially wheat berries and coconut oil. I also need to find additional inspiration for dairy-free nourishing meals.
Photo by BrokenSphere
At the health food store yesterday (one of a dozen errands that kept me from doing a blog post) the young man behind the counter and I were discussing the teen diet. His skin was flawless, his teeth straight and white and his eyes bright and clear. I had to know—did he just not ever eat the junk food out there that others find so tempting?
“I go to parties at my friends’ houses sometimes and have a soda and some chips. I love that soda, but don’t have it very often. But the chips make my stomach hurt,” he reported.
I said, “I know the flavored ones have MSG.”
“Oh no, those I can eat. It’s just the plain triangle-shaped ones,” he said.
“Well, between the GMO corn, the rancid oil and the worthless salt, what’s not to love!?” I joked.
For lunch we had some leftover chicken from stock-making, stirred with curry spices, but just a little because hubby thinks he hates curry. We topped it with Crispy Peanuts and had our Pineapple Chutney on the side. The Pineapple Chutney came out so well, better than the Ginger Carrots that I over-gingered. I’ll have to try that recipe again.
I made Fajitas for dinner that were a big hit. There was only one serving left over, and I’m thinking “omelette” for breakfast! We had it with pico de gallo, guacamole and cortido. The cortido was a pleasant surprise. I don’t like sauerkraut, so a recipe for fermented cabbage was not on my “must try” list. I’m glad I made it. Right out of NT, the recipe was perfect. It wasn’t painfully tangy like grocery store sauerkraut, but just had a nice zip.
After dinner, I fed the sourdough, started a batch of lentils and wheat berries sprouting and sliced five ripe bananas to freeze for a non-dairy ice cream sort of thing later in the week.
The Dark Side of Fat Loss
