So I'm ready for a loooooooooooooooooooooong update.
So I'm holding steady on my healthy diet with
First of all, I recently did a food test to see if dairy caused my acne. It didn't seem to make any major difference. I looked into many other things to see if they were the cause of my acne. First off, I tried a homeopathic acne treatment. It seemed to help a little bit, but didn't make any difference worth noting.
The only time my acne has ever truly cleared up was when I was on birth control (for acne) and Proactiv. So I did some research about hormone imbalances. I found that an excess of testosterone can be a precursor to Polycystic Ovarian Syndrome and involves a lot of the symptoms I have been experiencing: hirsutism, anxiety/depression, acne, weight fluctuations and gain, weight concentrated around the middle and some other things. The further I researched, the more it became clear that many of the things I have treated over the years are rooted in a genetic hormonal imbalance. It also appears that my mom and sister might also be dealing with the same imbalance.
I looked up the herbs, vitamins, and mineral supplements that would help with treating the imbalance. I found a wonderful (and very affordable) supplement at Akin's in Tulsa. It's a female hormonal blend for treating just the thing I'm dealing with. I've only been taking it for a few days now, but I'll be sure to update as things change. I'm also taking a multi-vitamin, flaxseed oil, B complex, Zinc, Calcium and Magnesium.
My mom actually found an additional possibility. An overgrowth of candida albicans in the flora can cause hormonal imbalances...which can lead to an overgrowth. It's a vicious cycle really. So to treat the candida, I'm starting with a cup of organic unsweetened yogurt with live cultures a day to start balancing out the bacteria in my gastrointestinal tract. I'm also going to begin taking high doses of vitamin C, which has the same effect. As soon as I find some, I will start taking Grapefruit Seed extract which is a one-two punch to candida.
Overall, I am feeling really great. I was blessed to experience a Raindrop treatment - which is a therapeutic technique using essential oils. It was WONDERFUL! My mental clarity is now through the roof and my stress load noticeably decreased. I definitely recommend them.
More to post tomorrow!
Well first of all...I am almost back to 100%! Despite feeling better during my last post, I went downhill that evening and wasn't going at full strength yesterday. I kept with my regimen however, and am definitely feeling much better now. I managed to get to class today which made me very happy. I really hate missing class :).
So today, as my face is 98% clear (praise Jesus!), I'm starting the first of my food tests. Since I haven't been eating anything I shouldn't, it's a great time to figure out what foods aggravate my acne and which effect my overall wellbeing negatively. There's been a lot of research stating that dairy products contribute to cystic acne, which has been the bane of my existence for more than half my life. So cheese is the first thing on my list. I started out very small today, and ate the rest of the day normally. I added about 2 oz of monterey jack to my yummy vegetarian chili (my sis's recipe :) ). If I have even the slightest allergy to dairy or at least to cheese, my face will show it by tomorrow morning. So we'll see!
(As I'm recommending a lot more products and supplements now, the name is also a hyperlink taking you to the website for further information. :D)
Well first of all...it's gorgeous today!!! I am addicted to days like this. However, as I came down sick last night...I have not been able to enjoy it to the fullest.
About 2 this morning...I started feeling crappy - stuffed up, dizzy, chills, the whole nine yards. I took two tylenol to lower the fever and went to bed. When I woke up this morning, my fever was at 104 so I made an executive decision and decided to rest rather than walk my flaming self to class. I was incredibly achy and weak so bed sounded better than Ancient Rome anyway. I did grab my water bottle and a glass of Simply Apple juice which I highly recommend as it 100% straight apple, not from concentrate. (It's about 3 bucks for a jug at Wal-Mart). Anyway, I woke up 6 hours later and felt a little bit better. Another big glass of water and another of apple juice and I set off to find some more natural remedies.
Stillwater has this cute little natural foods store that I love. There I found the most glorious throat lozenges ever (my throat feels like somebody poured broken glass down it.) I got the Zand Echinacea Zing lozenges - wild cherry flavor. I got a bag of 15 for $2.39 which had me jumping up and down. The amazing thing is that they take "all natural" to a new level. Using organic rice syrup as a sweetener - there is no sugar! No corn syrup, dextrose, not even pure cane. It also is composed of herbs, extracts, and natural cherry flavor - making it a very healthy option. Amazingly, they work like a dream. I sucked on one while I was in Wal-Mart and within 5 minutes my throat was soothed without the heavy coating you feel with unnatural lozenges. I thoroughly recommend them!!
As this new lifestyle has made me an herbal tea aficiando, I knew that finding one formulated to help with colds would be very useful and it wouldn't break the all natural streak I'm on. There were many to choose from all over Stillwater, but the most cost effective (at $2.49) was Good Earth's Tea for Colds and Cough Supressant. I'm actually just finishing a cup right now. It contains Meadowsweet flower, peppermint oil-menthol, Wild Thyme, Licorice root, plaintain leaf, juice of Echinacea, and elder flower. Believe it or not, the combination tastes wonderful. Mildly sweet, and without the bitter, pungent taste often associated with herbal teas. It's very soothing to the throat and the vapors helped clear my head. I also haven't coughed at all since I started drinking it....so I give it my seal of approval! It is pharmaceutical grade so it recommends the approval of a doctor for kids...but I would think it would be a better alternative for munchkins than guzzling tons of cough syrup that has a lot of other chemicals unneeded by the body.
Also recommended (and my splurge for the month) was Kalahari Cafe's Artisan Chocolatte Green Tea - Matcha mint. If that sounds sinful....it isn't :). It's delicious and once again - all natural and good for you. With the exception of a small piece of chocolate cake, I have not eaten any sweets other than fruits for almost a month now (woohoo!). This tea was bought to help serve as a dessert when I was craving chocolate. And I must say............WOW! It's like liquid peppermint patty...it takes indulgence to a whole new level. It contains organic sencha and matcha green teas, organic peppermint, organic dark roasted cacao, and organic chocolate flavor. I have not tried the other varities yet (cherry vanilla, hazlenut mocha, orange ginger, and raspberry truffle) but I'm anxious to. Price wise, the website has it listed for $4.99 and I believe I got it in the store for $5.99 so I would say buy in bulk online and it will be the most affordable.
Needless to say, with this combination of pure apple juice, rest, water, tea for colds, natural lozenges, and some chocolatte to cheer me up....I feel so much better than I did this morning!! And the only thing I took that was unnatural was two tylenol to lower my fever before bed last night (per Mom's orders).
I also want to recommend the book that Mom and I have basing our food choices off of in this new lifestyle: Prescription for Dietary Wellness by Phyllis A. Balch. It is by far the most inexhaustible resource we could find at Whole Foods and then we bought it off of amazon. :) The text takes you through a thorough overview of the immune system and how your body responds to food. Then she talks about each major food group and its constituents, listing off the pros and cons, as well as having several appendices prescribing fruits, vegetables, grains, and other natural remedies. So far, I've combatted two of my health issues by eating more of the things recommended and less of the things that aggravate it. This books is a huge blessing and gives you a great guide to changing your diet and your methods of treatment. For example, when I use to use anti-inflammatories for my bad knee...I now use a tea made of ginger root. More affordable, less toxic, and overall a healthier alternative.
The only thing I'm still feeling that I haven't found a remedy for is my runny nose...but considering how much better I feel overall...I think my nose can run a bit if it wants :).
Happy chocolate tea drinking :D
Bethany
Sooooo....it's been a while. For those reading this regularly, I apologize! School picked up quite a bit with midterms and papers galore so there hasn't been a lot of extra time to blog (or sleep). I am however, back for a more steady stream of updates as I just finished my last midterm for the semester :).
I had to shorten my fast a little due to financial strains (out of veggies and money :( ) but I can still give some relevant info on how it went.
For one, I lost 21 pounds as of today! So I definitely achieved my goal...times two! I would like to say though that I didn't lose it all through the diet - I worked out daily. Lots of cardio and some killer workouts from a Navy Seal trainer. Also important to mention is the fact that I DID NOT BINGE when I cam off the fast. I eased myself into solid food very slowly, and for the first week, I stuck with broth or vegetable soups and whole grain soft pita bread.
Another goal I had set was for my face to clear. I've had cystic acne since I was 10 years old and it has been the bane of my existence. I have tried everything short of Accutane. I was really hoping that this detox would clear my skin. Previously, I was using birth control solely for the skin-clearing benefit and Proactiv. As this cost me about $65 a month, I really needed a cheaper and more healthy alternative. I began using undistilled organic apple cider vinegar and a natural tea tree oil soap. I hate to say that I still sit here with some of the worst acne I've ever had............BUT as I've done more research, it appears that my first breakout was a detox reaction, and when I broke my fast before it completed, the toxins that were coming out through the breakout were stuck in limbo and caused my skin to be more broke out than before. Needless to say, I was a little frustrated and embarrassed at having pizza skin again (as I use to call it). I am waiting a few weeks and I'm going to do the detox again in hopes of clearing my skin permanently and finishing any other detox effects that I stopped prematurely.
Now on to the food. I, the queen of cheesy pastas and cream sauces...crave salads, fruit, and whole grains! I'm amazed at myself. I don't even want dairy. For example, I had a salad today with walnuts, mandarin oranges and gorgonzola cheese...and the cheese made me kind of nauseous. While this saddens my Portuguese taste buds, my body is definitely happier with the food I've chosen to put in it. I've noticed significant differences in my energy level, attention span, and mental clarity on the days that I've eaten for fruits and vegetables than anything else. My appetite has also shrunk....which is a miracle. I've always been known for having an appetite too large for a woman. Small to medium pizza...pfft I got that. At my house, when we have cookouts, our burgers are divided into "kid burgers," "woosy woman burgers" and "burgers," the latter being approximately 1/2 pound of ground chuck. These were my general fare, along with baked beans, chips, corn etc. We had burgers this weekend and I was barely able to finish my little 1/8 lb burger, and actually had to remove the cheese.
Simply put, my body craves what it needs rather than what I think it needs or what I want to taste.
I've accommodated this by making substitutions such as homemade balsamic vinagrette salad dressing instead of ranch (packed with some nasty stuff) and homemade ketchup and tomato soup (that alternatives have corn syrup in it-not good!). Other substitutions include raw honey and organic Grade B Maple syrup in the place of sugar, whole grain instead of white bleached flour, and fruits and home-baked goodies instead of candy and sweets.
The key here is CHECKING THE LABELS. Several people have said they would love to go organic or all natural but it's all at specialty food prices. This is true in some cases but definitely not all. If you check the labels...and watch for brands free of additives, preservatives, and chemical components...you can eat on a healthy diet without breaking the bank. For example, Hunts tomato sauce has a line of 100% natural pastes, sauces, and diced tomatoes. These are only cents more expensive than the store brand. Newman's Own has an awesome line of pasta sauces and salad dressings that are on the low end of cost and can be bought at Wal-Mart. There are also healthy alternatives for bread....just make it! There are scores of easy and tasty bread recipes online, many that take very little time. I use a sourdough recipe that yields a loaf better than Panera's that takes a total of 20 minutes of my time. This healthy alternative makes a huge difference in kids as well, since packaged breads have a lot of preservatives that kids take in on a daily basis. Small concessions like natural peanut butter (Barely Natural is a really yummy kind) provide healthy proteins and Essential acids while still allowing you to eat what you love. I use Polyner Spreadable fruit for jelly...as it has no added sugars or preservatives. It also makes a wonderful syrup when melted for whole wheat pancakes and waffles.
Now, I said all that to say that living a healthier, more natural and organic lifestyle is not as hard as it sounds. It's a matter of reading labels and using healthier alternatives for the things you already eat. You won't be able to replace everything, as few have the budget to allow a 100% organic lifestyle, but the more natural food you eat, the more you're supplying the body with what it really needs. Hey, if a food-loving college kid can pull it off, anyone can :).
Well I'm going to run the lake here in Stillwater. I made some three bean - vegetarian chili that should be done slow-cooking by the time I get back. :)
Have a great day!
Bethany
Daily updates...well...they have become difficult. lol
Today is such a glorious day! As was yesterday. At this point, I'm more than ready to pack up my sweaters and boots for the year, but as I live in Oklahoma...it could be snowing tomorrow, so I'll probably have to wait a bit. This gorgeous weather makes me want to be back in Claremore (where I heard it's not so gorgeous) working on my garden. Alas, I have a midterm in Ancient Rome Monday so I will sit here and and study :).
Diet-wise, I've done really well the past few days. My energy source kind of shifted and all of a sudden, a handful of carrots was all I needed for a meal! Once I hit that point, it was like someone flipped a switch and now I feel amazing. My sleep is deeper and when I wake up, it's not only earlier than normal, but I'm ready to get up, rather than stay in bed for hours. That development is huge! I've never been a morning person, and now I'm having less trouble getting up and getting on with the day. So thank Jesus for that! :) My skin is improving steadily...I have still some acne in localized areas, but it's definitely improving! And I can tell that the CONDITION is actually getting better as well. I started using Dr. Bronner's Tea Tree Soap, which I got at Whole Foods for about 2.97. It truly feels clean everytime I wash it! In addition, I use apple cider vinegar as a natural astringent, as well as drinking a few teaspoons diluted in water as a daily tonic (tastes bad but has major health benefits!).
My weight is dropping off.....but I am exercising so it's not all the food. Yesterday, Katie and I ran Boomer Lake which is about 5.5 miles, and this morning I went to spin class and burned 1,028 calories! My legs still feel like jello but I feel amazing regardless. During the week, I got about an hour of brisk walking in with going to class so that helped too. I'm also using weights and daily yoga to tone up a little bit. I must say that in combination with the detox, the yoga has become my favorite part of the day. It's a great way to clear out my mind before class and before bed, as I am one to lie in bed and think for hours.
Today, I'm amazing myself. I drank some juice for breakfast (Berry smoothie :) ) and went to go work out. When I got back, I was hungry, but I didn't crave my normal fare - I wanted fruit and granola. So I cut up an organic orange and had some more fabulous Bear Naked granola which I am addicted to, as well as a cup of Peach Detox tea from Yogi Teas (amazing!) with natural buckwheat honey for sweetness. And I'm full! Which considering how much food I usually eat - is a miracle!
Anyway, I feel great and I actually have the energy to do my homework and the drive to get it all done. I feel much healthier already and it's only day 6 of 21. I can't wait to see how great I feel (and look ;) ) when it's all sad and done.
That being said...my neighbor is currently grilling ribs...a smell which is consuming my entire apartment. As I am a carnivore, I have decided that once I'm comfortable with regular food again after the detox, I am making steak (range-fed beef from my Grandpa's farm) and pineapple fajitas (homemade whole-wheat ones!), and anyone who wants some is welcome to come enjoy. :)
I don't know if anybody's actually reading this...but I hope so! Just for the sake of hearing about how great your body can feel during and after this process. I seriously recommend it to everyone. I'm very excited to say that my mom started about two days ago, and other than a slight headache..is doing great!
Now...back to Ancient Rome.
Ta ta for now
Bethany
So yesterday, due to a new detox step, I crashed pretty early so I didn't post...so here we go.
The whole day was pretty tough. I just felt a little worn out and was craving some really good homemade mac 'n cheese :). Which is obviously off limits for a while.
I didn't have a strict diet today. I drank a lot of juice and ate my body weight in raisins and granola. :) I really didn't feel good though, so I decided to do some additional research and found what's known as a ginger bath.
Ginger causes the body to sweat excessively, thus detoxing in a major way through the body's largest organ - the skin. So I went and bought a piece of fresh ginger root and grated about half a cup. I ran the bath water as hot as I could stand it and let the ginger sit for a few minutes before getting in. Within about 5 minutes I started to sweat a lot! Mostly from my face and my scalp. As suggested, I rubbed my stomach, my face, and other main parts of my skin in a clockwise way until they became red. The research I did said to not sit for more than 30 minutes, so I only tried 20 this time around. When I got out, I actually just about passed out...it caused major dizziness for me, but it passed as I drank some cold water. After the bath, you're just supposed to wrap up in a towel, forego your normal nightly skincare stuff, and go straight to bed covered up with some warm blankets. I continued to sweat for about an hour I'm guessing, but I went immediately to sleep when my head hit the pillow.
Best sleep I have had in ages!!! I woke up today and felt completely energized and refreshed. I went downstairs and looked in the mirror..and half my acne was healed! Not to mention the fact that I've been glowing all day.
I recommend a ginger bath for everybody!
So day 1 is nearly over...woohoo!!
I didn't quite make it to my workout this morning. I'm thinking that may have to be an add-on as I have time and energy during this first week (4 tests next week!). I did get about 40 minutes worth of brisk walking to and from class, and I will be doing my nightly yoga before I go to bed here in a bit, so I guess that's something!
Food-wise, I was really good. I had half of a Naked Energy juice for breakfast (blueberries, blackberries, and boysenberry purees) and a steamed potato and corn mash with curry and dill for lunch. Dinner wasn't anything official, just some raisins while I was working. I think I eat about 5 oz of raisins throughout the day actually. I also drank some of my Bolthouse Farms Berry smoothie...which is like ambrosia :D. I love the stuff: http://www.bolthouse.com/
So symptom-wise, the only thing I noticed today was already an issue. Due to using some lavender oil for the last two weeks, the detox started on my skin a while back. Right now, it looks like I have bright red splatters all over my face, along with the tiny little acne spots everywhere. It's incredibly frustrating...but I know it's a good sign and I'm hoping it means that my acne will heal up after this diet is over! At least that's the prayer.
Spiritually, I just had my regular quiet time before class and will keep reading the book I'm working on ..."The Search for Significance" - really good!
I'm changing up the plan a bit, and allowing a little more leeway. I'll still be doing the juice fast but I can't stick to the exact days, as I have two midterms during those days lol.
I'm going to take a ginger bath tonight, which is a proven detox method as it makes you sweat for several hours. I'll let you know how it goes!
So tomorrow I begin my 22 day detox diet. My mom will follow on the same diet next Monday.
I actually was spurred on by my sister's increasingly healthy habits...although, I chose to go a different route. She will be starting the Master Cleanse tomorrow as well. I was slightly scared to try that one, as I'm a full time student with a part time job. I'm scatterbrained as it is :).
Instead, I will be using fruits and vegetables and their juices, as well as some vitamin and mineral supplements and organic herbal teas to flush out my system. The combination serves to detoxify my skin, lymph system, lungs, colon, liver, kidneys, and bladder.
This diet works in 5 phases:
- Day 1 -2: Eating only fruits and vegetables, can be steamed and seasoned with lemon juice, olive oil, and organic herbs and spices.
- Day 3-9: Eating fruits and vegetables as before, only in raw form. Organic, unsalted nuts and granola can be supplemented if needed for energy.
- Day 10-12: Juice fast! Drink as much fresh/organic juice as desired, as well as water.
- Day 13-17: Back to the raw diet as in days 3-9.
- Day 18-22: Back to steamed and seasoned fruits and vegetables, prepping the body for normal food again.
Goals:
As with any diet or major life change, there have to be some goals laid out here. I'm sure this list will grow as I progress.
- Lose 10 pounds and tone up (I will also we working out every day for approximately an hour. When I got to the gym in the morning, I will record my starting weight and post it on here, as well as a picture so we can see the progress!)
- Cut back on sweets, salty foods, fatty meats, and processed foods (pretty much already there but I'm hoping my cravings will subside!)
- Develop more of a taste for a healthy diet focusing on fruits, vegetables, whole grains, and lean meats.
- Boost my energy, mental clarity, and immune system.
- Be rid of my cystic acne forever!
- Become disciplined when it comes to working out daily.
- Most importantly: delve into a deeper relationship with Christ as I focus on improving his temple.
I will be updating this blog daily, writing what I've eaten and done and thought and all that jazz. While this is definitely more of a way for me to hold myself accountable...I hope you at least enjoy the trials of a woman deprived of chocolate for 22 days :).
Pictures, beginning stats and all that to come tomorrow. For now, off to sleep so I can get up for my 6 am workout!
God bless,
Bethany
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