So my previous blog posts were intended to document my journey on a 21 day hormone detox. Now I am a health coach, and I have a program to help women feel better during perimenopause. This was just a little more regimented, and I thought I would try it and document it. Typically I eat pretty healthy, I know not to eat premade foods with lots of preservatives, and other ingredients that are not easy to pronounce. Eat organic, don't heat things in plastic containers, etc. I help people understand ingredients and help them lose weight, calm down hot flashes, have more energy, less pain, and help with health recipes. But I have my ways and certain things that I am used to cooking. So this was a bit of a challenge. I did this in November, from 1-21, figuring it would be easier to stick to when there was a holiday at the end of the road. But I wanted to document it first, and then write about it. Anyway, my writing about it, got a little off track, as I didn't keep up daily, and then the holidays happened. Now here it is January, and I'm past it, so I figured in order to move forward, I would juat put the rest of the days, 6-21 in one blog. So, this is it, then onward to 2024! Monday, Nov 6, For breakfast, the grain free cereal, which I really like: Recipe: 1 Tbsp. ground flaxseeds 1 Tbsp. pumpkin seeds 2 Tbsp. shredded coconut 2 tsp. chia seeds ¼ tsp. cinnamon Pinch sea salt 1 vanilla bean, seeded (optional) or dash of vanilla extract hot water 7 drops liquid vanilla cream or plain stevia or ½–1 tsp. sweetener of choice 4–5 strawberries or other seasonal fresh fruit 1 Tbsp. goji berries coconut milk Grind flaxseeds into a fine meal and set aside (Note: you may grind a cup of flaxseeds ahead of time and store in an airtight glass container in the refrigerator for future use.) Using a hand blender like the Magic Bullet, a Vitamix dry blade, or a food processor, process pumpkin seeds, coconut, chia, cinnamon, sea salt, and vanilla until finely ground. Add ingredients to a serving bowl and mix in ground flax seeds. Add hot water to cover. Add stevia or sweetener of choice. Mix well. Top with fresh fruit, goji berries, and a drizzle of coconu Tues, 7 Breakfast, Grain freee cereal, above. I did not eat lunch which is not great because it causes stress, which we are trying to limit, but I did not have time, nor could I find a good salad. I combined both the soups for dinner and made some brussel sprouts and kale for the side Wed Nov 8, For breakfast, Grain free cereal, Apparently I really like this. I put frozen berries on top. You may be getting bored, there are a few more recipes to choose from, but, knowing how to do one or more things and just doing them over so it is easy, especially with breakfast when trying to leave the house, just seems so much easier. An apple for lunch, its all I had with me I was going to make this super easy morrocon chicken for dinner, but I went to the store for the ingredients and forgot the chix stock and tomatoes, so finishing up the rest of both soups, with some veggies on the side. I felt more full adding some veggies, so that was a good idea. Thurs, Nov 9 I had grain free cereal for breakfast. Again, I forgot lunch, so I bought a Kind bar and had it with water. Almonds and cranberries. Although, it was a little too much sugar for being on the detox, but the almonds and cranberries were about the best I was going to be able to do to hold me til dinner. So, I would definitely not recommend this bar if trying to lose weight, and this is an example of a reason why some people have a hard time losing weight. You would think that I kind bar is healthy, and it does have some healthy things, and yes, it can hold you over, but it still has too many ingredients that are not good for helping with weightloss. If you are not looking for these things, or just trusting advertising, this is one place where people go wrong. For dinner, morrocan chicken. It is pretty simple to make. I was going to make the hash, but a little too entailed while making the chicken at the same time. So I made sweet pot fries, which were just sliced sweet potatoes, chipoltle spice, cinnamon and cumin. They were amazing. Morrocan Chicken Recipe: 1 Tbsp. ghee ½ cup shallots sliced 1 Tbsp. fresh ginger, peeled and chopped 1 tsp. turmeric 1 tsp. cinnamon 2 tsp. paprika ½ tsp. coriander ½ tsp. cumin 1 tsp. sea salt 2 cups tomatoes, chopped 2 cups chicken stock 1 lemon sliced, rind on, deseeded ½ cup chopped cilantro 6 boneless skinless chicken thighs ½ bunch green kale, chard, or spinach, chopped ½ lemon, juiced Heat a large sauté pan or pot on medium heat. Add ghee and sauté shallot and ginger until soft. Add turmeric, cinnamon, paprika, coriander, cumin, and sea salt and sauté one more minute. Add tomatoes, chicken stock, sliced lemons, and cilantro and simmer for 10 minutes. Add chicken thighs, cover, and simmer for 30 minutes. Add chopped greens and lemon juice. Cover again and simmer 5–10 more minutes. Remove from heat, and add salt and pepper to taste. I had water to drink with a splash of cranberry juice. For me, still healthier than wine, and while only a splash for a little flavor, it is pretty much water. So far, Friday I have lost 3 lbs. Which for me, that is a decednt amount. Cutting out wine, and pumplin ice coffees are helping a lot, I know. It seems like just a dring here and there, but I know the sugar and other chemicals really mess with you. And knowing I am stcking to this is really helping keep me on track Friday, for breakfast I made the Apple/Carrot smoothie. I used organic fuji apples. When I ate one of these apples, they were amazing, so not sure if that is what made the smoothie so great, but this smoothie was amazing. Also, it calls for brewed green tea. I feel like the warmness that the tea brought to the smoothie also made I treallly great. Fat Flush Smoothie, 1 handful parsley or cilantro 4 small apples, cored 2 carrots, peeled 1 Tbspn. ground flaxmeal ½ lemon, peeled ½ tspn. lemon zest ¼” ginger, peeled 3 cups brewed green or rooibos tea I had a salaed for lunch, and being Friday, I had to break down. I had Tuna pizza for dinner, with a glass of wine. Know let me tell you, that we have a pizza place here that is owned, run by a true Italian who gets his ingredients from Italy. So, I feel that his flour and crust, is a little better as far as toxins and pesticides go. And I had Scout and Cellar clean crafted wine. So although I cheated, I feel like my ingredients were quality. Saturday, Nov 11, I had the rest of my apple carrot smoothie for breakfast. It was amazing. For lunch, a salad, and I did end up going out to eat for dinner. I had Fish tacos, and French fries I have to admit. 21 days of a detox isn’t easy with other people eating normal, and wanting to go out,so I just try to do the best I can. Saving things for the weekend, but still trying. Sunday, Nov 12, back on track. For Breakfast, I ended up making the Adzuki Hash. It makes more than one meal, so I ended up also using it as a side a few nights. 2 Tbsp. extra virgin olive oil 1 medium onion, diced 2 medium sweet potatoes or 2 parsnips, peeled and diced small 2 tsps. dried thyme ½–1 tsp. ground cumin 2 cups cooked adzuki beans (you can cook in advance using instructions below or buy Eden Organics canned adzuki beans) 4 to 5 collard greens, finely chopped* sea salt and black pepper to taste Heat a large skillet over medium heat. Add olive oil, onions and a few dashes of salt. Saute for a few minutes. Then add yams or parsnips, thyme, and cumin. Saute for a few minutes uncovered then cover your pan and cook for about 15 to 20 minutes, stirring occasionally, until yams are tender. Watch carefully so they don’t burn. Add cooked adzuki beans and collard greens. Saute a few minutes more, or until collards are tender. Add sea salt and pepper to taste. Adzuki bean cooking instructions: Soak beans a minimum of four hours and up to overnight to reduce cooking time and ease digestibility. Drain and wash soaked beans. Place soaked beans in a pot with water (one cup beans to three cups water). Add kombu seaweed to cooking liquid to increase nutrient absorption and again, digestibility. Cook for 1 to 1½ hours. Yields 2 cups beans. Sunday night, Morrocan chicken, which was also really great. This was 2 meals for me. Monday, Nov 13, For Breakfast, Squash pudding. Noticing that more than one dish called for baked squash, I baked a bunch of squash on Sunday.to make the cooking seem less overwhelming, a Panera fuji apple chicken salad for lunch and more morrocan chicken for dinner. Squash Pudding, I thought this was really great! INGREDIENTS : ½ cup baked acorn or butternut squash ¼ cup coconut milk or nut or seed milk, plus more to blend 1 Tbsp. ground flaxseeds ½ tsp. cinnamon Pinch sea salt 8–10 drops liquid stevia 1 tsp. coconut oil Combine in blender until smooth. Tuesday, I did forget breakfast, which I would not recommend. I made the Cream of Broccoli soup for dinner. I also added boneless skinless organic chicken thighs as Soup is usually not enough for me. Wednesday Nov 14, I had grain free ceraal for breakfast, and a salad for lunch. With the rest of the Cream of broccoli soup for dinner, and also added chicken and sweet potatoes, sliced with cinnamon, chipoltle seasoning and sea salt. This is all I recorded, and at this late date, I cannot remember if I made it the full 21 days, but I not think that I did. I feel like 14 was a good try, and I did lose 5 lbs. Like I said before, I always read my ingredients, do not eat fast food, or drink soda, so my eating is fairly healthy. But here, making the specific meals, and making acutal breakfasts and no wine, are what made it more difficult. What I am hoping you can take away from this, is that detoxing doesn't necessarily mean green juice and No food. There are foods that actually help our body detox. Eating whole foods, without pesticides, and preservatives, adding spices, drinking a lot of water, are some of the things that can help our bodies cleanse themselves. Detoxing is about clearing out the toxins, and to do that we need to clear the detox pathways, so that the toxins can find their way out. If we detox too quickly, or too much, and the pathways aren't clear, we end up having the toxins from our cells just cirulating in our blood and that is not a good thing. Also, although I am a health coach, one reason that I did this and posted it here is to show you that just because I know what to do, I also realize it isn't easy. Health Coaches are human too, and we realize what our clients go through in trying to eat healthy. And if you make a mistake, it's ok, do not beat yourself up. The problem with a slip is it discourages us, and then can have the tendency to make us quit all together. But that doesn't need to happen, a slip is just a slip, just keep going. Sorry if this is the most boring blog I have ever written......lol
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April 2024
Categories nutrition, healthy eating, clean eating, detox, kick the sugar, weightloss |