October 30, 2010

Well, strange things are happening. Now, I have a rash behind my right ear. I mentioned the other day that I was getting eczema on my fingers. Well, the watery rash went away, thanks to some cream that I put on my finger, but now my finger tips are splitting open, which is also a symptom of eczema. Since I ate those deviled eggs my asthma has again been relentless, and my constant allergies (stuffiness in the head, sneezing, etc.) has returned. I have ate a couple more cooked things, which I will show you in a minute. It's been hard, as it's turned colder in New York and the warm food cravings are a force to be reckoned with, but as I am seeing, with the cooked foods returning - so does the illness. I just don't know if I can stand being 100% raw all my life. I doubt it. Even if I give up meat, I still crave the veggie burgers, which I have grown to love. I love bread, and occasional sweets - like the banana breads and other sweet breads that I make, and I just love bread period, though I have for the most part switched to the healthier breads like whole wheat and rye. Well, time will be the judge of my life-long diet, but for the moment I am back on water. I am HUNGRY, but I have to get this asthma back manageable like it was last week. It was so peaceful not really have any asthma symptoms, and these allergies kill me! Enough is enough! I don't know how long I will last on water. I may eat tonight, or I may last two or three days... who knows, but I am going for it as long as I can, and have instructed my husband to eat only foods that I don't like or to eat outside.

Here's the strange things happening to me.

The rash behind the ear...



And the split-open fingers. (It's the pinky finger and the ring finger on my right hand.)



Hopefully these things will pass.

Even though I haven't been 100% raw, I have been eating healthy. Here's what I have had.

Friday night for supper I had a salad with cilantro, spinach, tomato, onion and broccoli - oh, and garlic.



I also had a baked potato. Every topping was natural... olive oil, spices and herbs - no butter, which is my normal topping.



And I had grapes later for a snack.



Saturday, I didn't even have breakfast... only lunch, which was more grapes.



For supper I had a piece of steak and some plantains. Now, this isn't a regular sized plate. This is a desert plate, so you can see the minute amount of food that I ate. It doesn't even take up but barely half of the small plate. My husband really just gave me a piece of his steak and a few slices of plantain. It wasn't what you would call a whole supper.



After that I was still hungry so I had a big salad. Now this is a regular sized plate.



I have lost 30 pounds now! :) Losing weight isn't a problem. It's the symptoms of being sick that I am dealing with... so that's why it's back to the water for me - or at least an attempt to go back to the water. No promises, mind you.

I will be back tomorrow or the next day with another update. Oh, and instead of counting days or calling this a detox or whatever, I have just decided to put the date on top of each post. I think that's the best way to keep up with it.

Blessings,
Kimberly ♥
30 pounds down

Detox Day 8 - Beware of salad dressings or sandwich spreads (EDTA)

Well, I have good news and bad news. The good news is that I lost another pound, and I am down 29 pounds now for a grand total since June, 12 pounds since last week. I am excited about that - two more pounds and I will break the barrier of 30 pounds! The bad news is that last night my husband asked me to make him deviled eggs, so I just made the whole carton (there were 8 left in the carton) and I decided to eat some too. I love deviled eggs, and all I had had all day was the watermelon, which I showed in yesterday's post, so I was ready to eat. There really wasn't much here to eat... just some onions and a couple of handfuls of spinach (both of which I used some of to put in the eggs) and that's about it, so I was hungry and I ate the eggs, thinking that I would go on a water fast today anyway and that no harm would be done... Now, normally, I can eat just about anything and I don't feel any side effects. I might get a headache or something later, but I just attribute it to stress, and of course, asthma has been a constant thing for me so I don't really know what causes it and what doesn't, but last night was different. Within 15 minutes of the time that I ate those eggs I developed a headache. That's not all. Right after that my throat started itching and I developed a sore throat and it gets even worse! Last night my breathing got worse, and for the first time in six days I had to take a nebulizer treatment because my lungs were closing off. I took two puffs from the inhaler, and it helped slightly, but did not take care of the problem. There is even more. I have eczema, but it has not really acted up for a while. Last night I started to get two watery blisters on my finger. Oh and I was trying to study and also got a slight dizziness, but pretty intense brain fog, which lasted for a few hours. Is this bad news upsetting me? No. Because this is a blessing for me. Since I have been water fasting or either eating raw just about all week, my body is very sensitive right now, and I can tell more about what bothers me. This allowed me to determine either the eggs or the ingredients in the eggs were what activated my asthma, caused my headache and skin rash, etc. The first think that I did was look at the mustard and mayonnaise jars for their ingredients, and the mustard only had natural ingredients, however the mayonnaise (Kraft) had Calcium Disodium EDTA as a preservative. So I decided to look it up. It is otherwise known as EDTA, and here is what it causes: short dizziness, nausea, joint ache, abdominal pain,kidney failure, thrombophlebitis, fatigue, fever and excessive thirst, suddenly, followed by creating serious headache, muscle pain, and appetite. Now, these symptoms, which are listed here are describing the indications after the patients have been injected, but I am saying right now when you haven't been on additives for a week or longer it doesn't take hours after being injected to feel these effects. That's not all. This page says this, pertaining to EDTA: Calcium Disodium EDTA. Ethylenediaminetetraacetic acid, or simply known as EDTA, is a preservative found in many foods, including sodas, sandwich spreads and sauces. It's also found in many cosmetic products, including shampoos, body wash, deodorant and skin creams. EDTA may cause allergic reactions, asthma attacks, skin rash and possible kidney damage. Studies have also found that sustained intakes of calcium disodium EDTA can lead to essential mineral depletion in dogs. And, if you remember, in this post, I was complaining about asthma after eating Ken's Blue Cheese dressing, and then the next time I ate I switched to olive oil and spices, which was just as yummy. So beware of your salad dressings and sandwich spreads! Use something natural instead, because with these two experiences this week, especially the one from last night, I have learned that salad dressing and mayonnaise are NOT your friends!

With all that being said, here's what I ate yesterday, besides the watermelon that I had for breakfast, which I listed in yesterday's post.


(I did not eat all these eggs. I deviled 8 eggs, and this is the outcome, but my husband and I split them, having 4 eggs each. That was our complete supper...)





And that was all that I had to eat yesterday until I had a few frozen blueberries for a snack.





Regarding my husband, he has not been fasting, and he has been eating raw with me (but he's also been eating lots of cooked foods too), however, since last week he's lost nine pounds, which makes him at a grand total of 17 pounds lost.


Oh, and I accidentally lied to you yesterday - sort of. I told you that I hadn't had meat in at least a week, and I thought that it had been a couple of days before that. Well, I was looking back through my posts, and actually the night before my fast I had some delicious lamb, which I posted here. 


Blessings,
Kimberly ♥
29 pounds down

Detox Day 7

I am still feeling great! At night my asthma decides to show its ugly head a bit, but that's the norm for ashtma, I have read... it's always worse at night. I never could tell that until this week, because mine was bad all day long! I am taking my Advair once or twice a day (sometimes I forget to take it in the morning). And then I am taking a puff of my  inhaler really just once a day -- one day I took two - but even two is great for me. I haven't had a nebulizer treatment for 6 days now (at the end of today).

I really am not having any detox symptoms. Even though I am not strictly on water now, I am still detoxing, as I am completely raw. I just have a backache in my lower back. That's really what is plaguing me the most, and I don't know if it's detox or if maybe it's because we moved the bed and its sleeping a bit different. I am doing really good with the water. My husband bought some Mott's apple juice yesterday, which is one of my favorite things to drink, and he offered me some, but I told him that is just unnecessary calories, and I have been sticking with my water, and I have actually been enjoying it - which I usually do drink A LOT of water, but I haven't never drank STRICTLY water. I always have juice, as well, and sometime an occasional soda too. I know -- bad! I really am not having any cravings at this point. When I was on a water fast I was craving potato chips, but I think it was because I wanted the salt. Since I have been eating raw, I have been eating some salt on my food so the craving for salty foods went away. I haven't had meet in - well, I know it's been at least seven days, but it seems like I didn't eat meat for a few days before that - and it's not bothering me TOO bad. I would kind of like to have a hamburger (one of my favorite foods), but I could replace it with a veggie burger and be just as satisfied, but I am on a focus to stay raw or or water for a while at this point, so the veggie burger will have to hold off.

I am glad that I am not afraid to fast anymore. On Yom Kippur I literally counted the hours until the fast was over, and I was so hungry, but having fasted for 4 days now has really given me some freedom in the area of fasting. I didn't count the hours because I knew that after 24 hours I wasn't getting food, and it really wasn't that bad, and I think I would have continued with water only had it not been for the intense nausea, which I got. I still plan on doing some more days of water only though. I am also down 11 pounds now from last week, a grand total of 28 pounds from June. Two more pounds and I will break the barrier of 30 pounds, so I am excited about that.

Here's what I ate yesterday... after you saw the salad and grapes.

I had a cucumber. Usually I don't even peel them for the extra fiber, but this one was going bad, so I really had to pare it off.



There was another cucumber in the crisper, which looked good too - I was still hungry after eating the first cucumber, so I made "chips and salsa" with it.

I placed spinach, basil, tomatoes and vidalia onion in the food processor and whirred it up a bit to create the salsa. On hindsight, I forgot the garlic. I also spiced it up with turmeric, salt, pepper, curry, paprika, and dried herbs. (My husband doctored his up with honey and vinegar and it tasted like a relish - I prefer mine plain.)





And I just put some in the midst of my "chips" - raw cucumber slices.



I had lots of grapes - my favorite food...



Maybe a handful of nuts (my meat for now)...



And for breakfast today I had some slices of watermelon.



And that's been it besides my water.

I will be back tomorrow or soon with another report... I have to get to my American History class for now. I love that history! It stands for HIS STORY. :)

Blessings,
Kimberly ♥
28 pounds down

Detox Day 6

Well, with the exception of the soup and oatmeal Monday night, for the past six days (counting today) I have either been on a water fast or raw. My asthma is still feeling fabulous - almost non-existent. I did say ALMOST. Last night I had a salad of cilantro, mushrooms, spinach, red pepper, tomato, onion and garlic, but the thing is that I used Ken's Blue Cheese dressing on it. Bad move! This morning I woke up and my lungs were burning ever the slightest and my asthma was acting up just a LITTLE bit. Wow! What a difference one ingredient makes in health! Other than the salad I had a piece of watermelon and only water all day yesterday. I didn't get a picture of anything I consumed yesterday, because the battery on the camera was dead, but I did today!

I had the same salad...



But instead of Ken's Blue Cheese dressing, I used olive oil with paprika, salt, curry, pepper, turmeric, paprika and herbs, and it was yummy!



Right now, as I type, I am enjoying this bowl of grapes. That is all I expect to eat today. I may crack a few nuts later. I know... I am not soaking them first. :(



I lost one pound last night, making my grand total of loss 27 pounds. That was the pound that I gained back from the oatmeal and soup. I am staying well below 1000 calories a day, so I expect to see some major changes soon. I was going to try to stick with water, and I may yet have some days with pure water only, but I was looking at foods that detox, and I think as long as I stick with raw that I will do good too - especially if it's mostly greens, onions and garlic. Grapes are good too. This lady cured stomach cancer by eating grapes alone. So is watermelon, because it is mostly water and flushes toxins out of he kidneys. I am just proud that I made it four days on water only. Noe everyone can do that, and it was hard! Bless anyone that can make it 40!

I feel really good today for the most part. I have a slight backache, and I am very sleepy. The sleepiness came on after I ate my salad, which is weird because raw foods is not suppose to cause sleepiness. I have been having some weird pain in my right side. My husband says he can tell my tummy is going down. I am not really having too much detox symptoms, and neither was I when I was only partaking of water. I guess this is because I have always included lots of raw foods in my diet (always meaning for the past two years).

I will be back later with another update. Eat your raw foods - especially those dark, leafy greens! :)

Blessings,
Kimberly ♥
Down 27 pounds

Detox on Water Fast Day 4

Well last night I broke down and ate. I had been having constant hunger for four days, and nausea was beginning to set in. My husband made me a nice soup, and then I had some oatmeal. It was naughty, I know, but I was beginning to feel so sick. Here's the soup he made me. It was just a simple noodle, pepper, onion, garlic, spinach and red pepper in chicken broth type of soup, but it was good to me. I also ate a couple of wasabi peas (dehydrated peas with hot seasoning on them) and sucked on a frozen blackberry.



I am back on my water fast today though. I told him if I can do a few days at a time and then have to eat a meal or two then that's OK with me. It's still quite an accomplishment for me! My husband is going to try to get me some spinach and melon and things like that though, so at least I can stay in ketosis, plus raw foods are cleansing, whereas soup and oatmeal isn't - especially how I made it. I can't stand soggy, cooked oatmeal so I put a little melted butter, and molasses on it and baked it. Very bad - especially when in a detox!

Anyway, I have been having pain in my right lymph node in my neck. I think it's clearing out. It's not that bad. It's kind of intense but comes and goes. I woke up today with a very greasy mouth. It  must be the butter I ate on the oatmeal. That's kind of weird to have a greasy film in the mouth. My hair is getting greasier to though, so it may just be all the rancid, toxic oils escaping my body. That's a common symptom for this stage of a detox. Although my hunger never left, because I ate, it has intensified a little bit, so I am having to deal with that.  I don't have any headaches. I am really feeling good now, except that constant gnawing in my stomach. My tongue is back pink again today, so I expect that when my body realizes it's not getting more food for a while then it will begin to coat again. My asthma is still doing fabulous! No nebulizer treatment now for three days! I have only been taking one puff from the inhaler at bedtime, and of course, my Advair twice daily. To get off the nebulizer for three days is a record for me though, and I am so happy about it! I so hope this dumb asthma can be cured. I am a little bit foggy headed and very sleepy, and I still have a pimple that came out on my cheek. That's about all that I can think of right now.

Oh, yesterday I had lost ten pounds, but after I ate last night a pound came back, so I have now lost ten pounds - all this was what I had gained from the steroids given to my by my doctor last month for my asthma, which I couldn't take off. I am at a grand total of 26 pounds down since the beginning of my journey in June.

I will be back in a day or two with an update.

Blessings,
Kimberly ♥
26 pounds down

Detoxing on Water Fast Days 1-3

Well, in my last post I mentioned that I was undertaking a fast. Really I would rather call it a detox, because I don't feel called at this time to make it a "religious" thing. It's just something that I am doing for my flesh - to cleanse myself out, to lose some weight, to overcome this asthma and conditions plaguing me, and to get rid of cravings and gain more control over my diet, in general. I have been keeping a little chart of what symptoms I have and things like that, and I hope that they will help someone, so here goes...

Day 1

I experienced some leg pain, some back pain and my tongue became coated. I was hungry, of course, but felt pretty good. I lost six pounds the first day.

Day 2

I was very energetic. My tongue returned to being pink, I had a bitter taste in my mouth and still had hunger. I didn't lose any weight.

Day 3

This was by far the worst day. I woke up really tired and achy, and went back to bed. My coated tongue returned, and the hunger actually wasn't as bad - until about 9:00 p.m. and then I was famished! I couldn't stop thinking about food. I have been craving salty things like potato chips, but cravings were intense last night. I'm glad it's over. I lost two pounds, for a total of eight pounds lost in three days.

Today's better. I will blog on it later, when I see how many pounds I have lost, if any and how the rest of the day finishes up, since it's still relatively early.

In general, can tell a BIG difference in my asthma. I stopped taking my Singular, as well as some vitamins I have been taking, because I don't want anything in my stomach that could be mistaken for food and which would bring back intense hunger. I am only taking my Advair twice per day, which is a powder that you breath in. I haven't had to take a nebulizer treatment in two and a half days - I have only been using the inhaler. I took two puffs on the night of Day 2, and one puff on the night of Day 3, and really didn't feel THAT smothery when I took it, but just took it to relieve the little bit of tightness in my chest that I did have. My head is really opening up. I still feel congestion in my sinuses, but it's little compared to the stuffiness that I have ALWAYS had. I am beginning to get a couple of pimples on my face. I really haven't experienced much light headedness or dizziness, nor have I been too cloudy feeling in my cognition. I have a little burning in my stomach, which doesn't hurt but I wonder what that is since there is no food in my stomach, I don't think that it should be producing acid. I have had the ever slightest head ache off and on, as well. It's hard, but I'm pressing on - at least for a while. When I break the fast, I think I am going to continue the detox with green leafy vegetables, watermelon, juices and smoothies for a while.

Here's just a nice picture of water. :) It's not my picture. I snagged it off the internet.

Blessings,
Kimberly ♥

I'm Still Alive! Update...

I just wanted to drop by and say hello, and let you know I am not dead. :) I have been EXTREMELY busy trying to get my bedroom finished before school starts on Monday - three days from now. I am so pleased with how things are going. The overhead hanging light fixture makes the room look amazing! The colors and new curtains are great, but it's the light fixture that makes the room. We have to arrange things now, hang up stuff, and I haven't even added the new sheets and bedspread yet, which they will definitely add to the room, as well. Next year when I am a bit more financially stable with a new student loan refund, I am planning on adding new floor tiles to the bedroom.

Here's my light fixture. I will post other pictures regarding the bedroom later.





Wow, diet! Hmmmm... I've been kind of naughty. I have been eating cooked - even more stuff from outside, because it's been kind of hard to get to the kitchen lately with all the mess from decorating the bedroom. I also made some banana muffins, which I will share the recipe soon. :) And my husband has made some yummy soups, which I will try to get him to sit down with me and write out the recipe, as well. Last night he made some killer lamb! YUMMO! I found out that lamb isn't factory farmed, so that's my new beef. :) On the bright side, I am still 17 pounds down, so all this eating of cooked food didn't put a pound on me. :)

Here's the lamb.



and a salad on the side...



Here's the muffins I made... hopefully recipes for all these will come later.





I don't like to announce anything about fasting, because the Bible says to do it in secret and not to show how miserable you are while fasting, but this is for your inspiration, so I can tell you that I started a fast today. I had a TERRIBLE time on Yom Kippur wanting to eat, because I knew that I could eat the next day. Now, I am not saying how long my fast will be. Maybe it will be one day, maybe three, or five, or ten or twenty or maybe forty or beyond, but I am on one, and today I have been just a little hungry and a little jittery, and my tongue has already began to coat over and I have developed a yucky taste in my mouth, believe it or not.

This is what put me in the mood. It's Jeff Hazim's "Detox or Die". I think he's kind of prepared me for it, because I am not dreading it like I was Yom Kippur, but like I said, at Yom Kippur I was counting the hours until I could eat - now I am kind of just determined to go with the flow and realize that I might not see food for a while. My husband is not fasting, so seeing him eat (and drink) will be hard on me. Today he made some cod fish, and I am not a fish person, and I especially don't like cod fish, so that didn't bother me. Well, I am not sure how often the posts are going to be. I have much work ahead on this room and school starts next week, but I will try to be here more frequently than usual. I have stopped the health journey thing, since I was stuck on a plateau and obviously wasn't being an inspiration to you, so I am still deciding what to do next... and for now, it's the detox fast. Any believers.... please pray for me to carry on. I think after the third day it will be easier as the hunger pangs will leave. I am mostly doing this for my asthma.

Until next time...

Blessings,
Kimberly ♥
17 pounds down

Redecorating - a Sneak Preview and Food :)

Hello followers and visitors! I was just thinking about closing this blog down, but then I come today and find two more followers. Thank you! :) I am trying to decide what to do with it, however. For the most part it has been about TRYING to eat so much raw to get healthy, but I tell you - it's getting cold in New York and I am struggling to keep as raw. I will probably still have lots of smoothies, but I am craving hot stuff like soups, chili, stews and even some warm bread. Another thing is that I am so tried of battling gnats. They came in with the bulk raw stuff that we buy and we have been infested with them. The other thing that is affecting my raw efforts is money. I received my school loan about a month an a half ago, and I wanted to redecorate. This apartment was so depressing looking. We have lived here for six years and nothing was changed except the painting of the kitchen last year. Everything just looked so - I don't know... drabby. Now they money for buying so much raw is depleting... not that raw is THAT expensive, but it is when each time I have to bring a cab home. That adds up. Bus fare is now going up to 2.50 so that's $5.00 per trip for my husband and I and $20.00 for the cab, for a total of $30.00 just to go buy the bulk raw foods. If we don't buy in bulk the high fare adds up making so many trips. Advice: Don't move to New York - it's expensive any way you look at it! I was thinking of maybe sharing some healthy-like recipes instead of just what I eat and my journey. My husband and I are pretty good cooks. I love that he loves to cook. It saves me so much hassle in going to school, but I like to cook occasionally too. I don't know. I don't really want to close it down. I have fun doing this - especially when I get to go out and take photos of things to share and so forth. Today I have a sneak peek at my redecorating.

Earlier this week we put down a new kitchen floor, and I LOVE it! The old one was UGLY. It was dark gray and was dreary as they come. Its decorative layer (if you can call it that) was peeling off and leaving white spots, to make it look as if we painted with no drop cloth.

Here are the before photos.

Ignore the beat up chairs. I painted them last year, but didn't use a protective clear coating on them, and this is what happened.





Ignore my husband's feet too. :)





Here's the after...









I was pleased at how close we got to the threshold. We are NOT professional redecorators or tile layers, but we had fun LOL.



I scratched it while putting things back. :(



I don't know what's wrong with my camera. It's not picking up true colors. The tiles are actually a much warmer honey color that what they appear here. I want to do the bedroom floor next when more money comes. We have to do everything bit by bit on the tight budget we are on here.

Oh we ate pizza since we couldn't get in the kitchen to cook or make anything raw.



Here is another shelf my husband put up for me in the kitchen. This makes a bit more room in the cabinets.



I am painting my bedroom suit too. I have just done a few drawers, but here's the color. Again, this is not a true color...



This is more the true color that my bedroom suit will be... a little bit lighter.



This is the paint job we did on the walls yesterday... My bedroom is not decorated, but is actually a disaster. We still have MUCH work to do, which I will share with you. :)



Again... this is more like the true color, but I wanted to show you my wall. :) It's the top peachy orange color... it's actually called Eastern Amber.



This is how I decided the colors. I bought this little pillow, and found this bedspread to match. (I bought matching curtains too, which you will see later). And so I just decided to paint these peachy and green colors and tie everything in. I am excited to see the final product - especially when we get the new floor, hopefully at the beginning of next year. Oh, and we bought a new light fixture too! I can't wait until it's installed and ready to show you. - Oh, and I think we are doing the bathroom too. It seems I bought too much paint, so I am going to take advantageous... and I'm hoping to put some tiles behind my kitchen sink and oven... so stay tuned!

We couldn't get to the kitchen yesterday either, so we ate from the deli in the supermarket. We had baked chicken, pasta salad, potato salad and spinach (one meal with mushrooms and avadado - this was from our refrigerator).



We actually at two meals of the same thing...



This is how we ate... in the bedroom on a tv table with the ambiance of plastic drop sheets. It was fun though. :)



We bought some little house plants too. I had none and I LOVE plants.

I bought these...



and these little guys...





More updates to come from the redecorating realm!

Oh and here's some lima beans I made.

Before they were cooked...





and after...



and a grape, berry and banana smoothie...







Blessings,

Kimberly ♥

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