Wild salmon with garlic, kale, brown rice, carott I regret not taking a picture of the knuckle on the baby finger of my right hand. When I started the cleanse the knuckle was red, swollen and very tender to move and touch. I think part of me didn't want to talk about my finger on Day 1 in case the problem didn't improve, I should have known better! My finger is 90% better. The redness is gone, it doesn't hurt to move it and it is tender only when I press hard directly on the knuckle. I'm confident that if I continue to eliminate refined sugar and flour, the finger will be perfect within a month. So many people don't need to suffer with inflammation and pain, food is the answer. Green salad, brown rice pasta with garlic shrimp We haven't been eating fancy or complicated dinners on this cleanse but if you're more adventurous and have time then I would reccomend the Candida Albicans Yeast-Free Cookbook by Pat Connolly. I have this book and use it for inspiration. Many people delay a cleanse like this because they are worried about the cooking and finding tasty recipes, well I say dive in and figure it out as you go along, today is the perfect day to start feeling better. Over the last few days, as the cleanse is coming to an end, I have felt a sense of urgency to complete nagging projects. First, I finally organized and filed a big stack of papers that I have been avoiding for about six months, okay more like 18 months. Next I wanted to work on my office. My Wildberry partner Trish and I work opposite days in the office so even though we are business partners we never see each other. We both really wanted to get some paintings up on the office walls so we finally forced the issue and squeezed 30 min into our busy schedules and now we have two lovely paintings for clients to enjoy. These paintings are both by a friend's friend Laura Higgins. When I look at these paintings I think of "Wild" for the one on the left and "berry" for the right. I have owned and stored these paintings for 10 years and now they finally have the perfect home.
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I have no idea where these last days went! We should have installed a revolving door on our garage, instead of the new knob I'll tell you about later. My mom was in the hospital for a total of 3.5 days during which time we tried our best to bring healthy meals and fresh fruit smoothies with greens mixed in. Whole food is so important for optimal health and a speedy recovery. I took a picture of the staples in my mom's knee but I'm pretty sure you don't want to see it! Once a patient with a knee replacement is discharged the real work begins. There are meals to be delivered, exercises to be done, appointments to get to, cleaning, well you get the idea. Even though our house has been a busy place with all the normal household stuff, full time work, kids in school and activities, visits and meals to mom; we have managed to stick with the cleanse and even squeeze in two hours of skiing on the weekend. I must confess that we both "cheated" and had some coffee this week but we have maintained everything else. One thing I've learned about myself through doing these cleanses is I'm an all or nothing sort of person. By this I mean, it's way easier for me to say I'm not eating sugar than it is for me to cut down and just eat half a brownie. You'd think this would be something I'd know about myself before turning 30 but I didn't know it until taking on the challenge of my first cleanse. As the last 3 days of this 28 day cleanse are here I'm already thinking about all the things I will maintain and things I will splurge on. I am pretty sure I will continue to eliminate wheat, or at least drastically reduce it. I am also going continue with my reduced coffee consumption and switch to black coffee from the cream I usually take with mine. I am not going to buy processed snacks and "treats" for the kids anymore. We will make our own snacks or do without. I'll share more plans later Yesterday I started on my Quick Books challenge! You know, it is just so much easier to ask for or accept help when you need it than to muddle through things on your own. A friend was reading this blog and she offered to help get me started with my books. Several years ago I would have declined the offer and just plugged away on my own but this time I couldn't email her back fast enough! There was an ice storm the morning of our first meeting but there was no way I was going to postpone this agony any longer, that's what snow tires, 4 wheel drive and driving 20 mph are for! I learned a few things from my friend so I'll be inputting information over the next couple a days until our next appointment where I'll learn my next step. Baby steps. So back to the door knob. For 10 years we've had this doorknob that sticks, it's no trouble for us but the kids can't open it. Every time we use that entrance the girls have to wait for us which means there is a cluster of us going in the door at the same time. Dennis switched it out of the lever type! (My brilliant idea, his implementation) Dennis has totally gained energy and motivation from this cleanse. Sometimes it can take 10 years for you to realize that something isn't working quite right and then make the effort to make the necessary changes. If you've been thinking about changing your lifestyle and want to find you way to optimal health maybe now is the time to take those baby steps? My mom had her knee replacement surgery today, it's amazing that this is even possible. So with the surgery, kids to lessons and school, work, home and life on the cleanse we are managing quite well. If it was the beginning of the cleanse I think I'd be more stressed but I'm not. I'm not even planning the food that well but we have managed to stay a day ahead so that we're ready. I have missed a few meals these last couple of days but I didn't experience any of the typical hypoglycaemic issues. No headache, no fatigue, no irritability, sure I was hungry but I managed just fine. When sugar is removed from your diet your body is more able to keep your blood sugar at a constant level. (I think I've said this before) Have I learned Quick Books yet? NO! But I did clean out another kitchen drawer. :-) You might notice there is an Epi Pen in the before picture. Meredith was born very sensitive/allergic to milk. She had eczema, rashes and one severe reaction where her breathing was laboured so we've carrying around the pen for 3 years now. I decided to forego the traditional medical route for allergies and intolerances and instead discovered BIE. This is how I got started down the path of Holistic Nutrition and BIE Practitioner. Meredith has had four BIE sessions for dairy and can now eat dairy with out a reaction. I am really enjoying your comments so keep them coming. Let me know what you'd like to see more or less of and I will try to accommodate your requests. People often ask me, "how is Dennis doing on the cleanse?", well he's doing great. It took me about six months to convince Dennis, and myself, to do our first cleanse and we're both happy we took the plunge. For Dennis the Candida is expressed as weight gain, eczema and a puffy face. When Dennis gains weight it goes on his belly and he notices his hockey pants get tighter then he gets a rash on that belly of his after he pays hockey! I'm happy to report that the hockey pants fit nicely again. As a direct result of the cleanse Dennis' skin has cleared up and his face looks so much slimmer and younger. He also notices more energy and the afternoon slump has disappeared. One of the difficult things for Dennis is packing a cleanse worthy lunch, so we usually make extra for dinner then he has his lunch packed the night before. Our girls have been eating almost the same food as us but with extras thrown in. I think Dennis is missing all the snack food and junk food because he keeps bringing stuff home for the girls. I'm working on that, because if we wouldn't eat it why would we let our kids eat it? Also, feeding kids junk food is associated with a list of health issues from the obvious, obesity, to the not so obvious, mood and behaviour. Baby steps for all of us. Dennis is also getting quite involved in the whole Life Cleanse. He has been working right along with me to cleanse the basement and garage. Next he needs to clean up the tool area as I'm not going near that spot! I cleaned and organized our hall closest today. Anything to avoid learning Quick Books! Tonight was my Aunt's 70th Birthday dinner party, it's always fun to see family in a party atmosphere. We were served Greek food including lots of yummy dips and the yummy toasted pita. I was being tortured! Dennis and I lived near the Danforth in Toronto for 15 years where we enjoyed Greek cuisine regularly. We managed to resist the dips but enjoyed lots of the delicious chicken and salad while watching our girls enjoy the other food. When you're past day 10 of this cleanse and eat a small amount of food that likely isn't cleanse worthy then you take an extra digestive enzyme and make sure you get right back on the cleanse for the next meal. For my life cleanse, and to avoid Quick Books, I finished organizing the other half of our basement. This is the half were the flood occurred so we gutted and rebuilt. For such a small space this room does so much. It contains a Murphy Bed (wall bed) for guests, our home gym and even a space for friend clients before we moved to our new office in Uptown Waterloo. Tomorrow I'll update you on how Dennis is coping with the cleanse. |
Carol BalsillieRegistered Holistic Nutritionist, Archives
June 2016
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