City Island Southern Girl: Day Six of My Health Journey - and the Benefits of Ginger (there's a lot of them!)

I thought I would post early today since I keep the Sabbath. If I don 't post now, I probably wouldn't post at all today. I am doing really good today. After I posted yesterday I had a Gala apple and a little bit of cantaloupe, then when my husband came home we had more of the lo mein we have been eating and we split another apple and had a bit more cantaloupe. Right now, it's 1:23 pm and I haven't had anything except for my filtered ice water today. I'm not really hungry at all. Maybe my tummy is shrinking.... I hope so. Before I moved to New York I rarely ever ate breakfast. I just wasn't much of a breakfast person. Now I am in the habit of it, and that is one reason I put on some weight. If you read my post Something Different then you will know that I didn't eat that much at all before I moved to New York -- I would mostly eat one meal per day, and some days not even that much. I would substitute my supper with Slimfast - not that I was really at a heavy weight, but I just liked the taste of it. I maintained my weight like that. I didn't gain and I didn't lose - I just stayed stable, and I was by NO means raw; in fact, I barely bought anything raw. That's how I would like to be again. It seems like now I can look at something and gain 5 pounds. But, I weighed this morning and I have lost 10 pounds since Sun-day - ten pounds in five days! I lost five the first day, and one every other day, except one day that I lost two. I'm happy! :) Sunday will be a week, and I am thinking that will make 12 pounds lost this first week if the pattern of one pound per day stays stable. I don't know though - we may eat some meat this weekend. My husband is afraid not to eat some meat with his medical condition, so I agreed that weekends would be OK for that. If I eat meat this weekend then I will probably remain at a ten pound loss for this week. I think that the five pounds was water weight, so I don't expect every week to be the same, but do think that I can lose 5 - 7 pounds per week.

My husband woke up with nausea today, so I recommended that he drink a cup of ginger tea, and he did, and it did help him. I kind of wanted some tea (Green tea) but I'm out of honey, so I refrained. He used sugar. He also had a poached egg - his first one. He wanted to try it because they aren't greasy. He liked it. He went by this video to show him how to do it. He also had 2 slices of turkey bacon, and a piece of whole wheat bread (which he now admits that he had hidden from me) so I think his weight loss will be slowed down. He's lost seven now, but he doesn't have the swelling like a woman usually does, so he didn't have a lot of water to lose.

Anyway, I wanted to share the benefits of ginger. It's one of the healthiest foods that one can partake of. It's a root and can be used in tea, juiced or made into a candy. One day I will make a post of how to make ginger candy (dehydrated ginger). It can be used in other ways too, but those are the ways that we use it most.

Ginger is a medicine and was used to fight against the Black Death in Europe.
It promotes sweating - to get sickness out of the body. (I have never sweated after taking ginger - this must be at high qualities.)
Ginger can quell inflammation associated with arthritis.
Ginger can cut the risks of heart disease, cancer and Alzheimer's Disease, as well as prevent the risk of arthritis.
Ginger relaxes the blood vessels.
Ginger eases an upset stomach.
Ginger dispels flatulence and prevents gas.
Ginger helps control heartburn.
Ginger blocks the effects of aflatoxin, which is a mold that can cause liver cancer.
Ginger fights migraines and other headaches.
Ginger fights high blood pressure and high cholesterol.
Ginger prevents motion sickness.
Ginger prevents blood clots, because it has chemical structure similar to an aspirin.

After reading this, my husband and I agree that we should have a cup of ginger tea everyday (after I get my honey)! And we have plenty of it! I bought all this tea before my daddy died in March, and have barely touched it. I love these teas because they are pellets - no messy bags to mess with. Just add hot water and stir!