Monday, October 1, 2007

Sat. - Mon. (Sept. 29-30 and Oct. 1, 2007): Chimps as Role Models?

I've referred to our president as "Chimpy" on occasion,
and I'm starting to feel that I no longer want to do that. See, it dawned on me that the chimpanzee is our nearest relative, chromosome-wise, so maybe they're a whole lot smarter than my nick-name for the president implies -- and sure enough, if you look at what they eat, they are!

These three days have been great raw-food-wise ... have fasted through a couple of meals and have eaten mostly fruits and veggies. Have also cut out caffiene and my headaches are letting me know, too. Went to a small college town in the Hudson River Valley on Saturday and found a raw food cafe that made some really cool stuff, a place called Karma something or other. I got dinner to go and enjoyed it later at home -- raw red lentil burgers and a fresh kale and avocado salad w/ raisens and pine nuts. Sunday was a fruit smoothie (pineapple, mango and kiwi) all morning into the afternoon. It felt light and refreshing. In the afternoon into the evening, I had two sprouted wheat sandwiches of cucumber, yellow pepper and lettuce w/ oil and vinegar.

I walked in my neighborhood and generally felt I'd had a good day. I've been feeling very low-key and somewhat down for several days ... some personal things going on ... but all in all, I was happy with how I stuck to my fitness plans despite the blues.

Something I'm getting hopeful about -- in terms of dropping weight much quicker than in the past -- is the addition of what are called "green smoothies" to my daily diet. Rather than just fruit, you throw in greens too. I've had it in my head (erroneously, it seems) that greens and vegetables are one and the same ... and so fruits and veggies mixed together at times can be acidic, blah, blah, blah. Turns out that certain veggies -- the root kinds (like carrot, beet, turnip, etc.) and the flower kinds (broccoli, cauliflower, etc.) are really quite separate from greens -- which grow exclusively ABOVE ground. These greens can easily be mixed with fruit. I learn something new all the time. Greens, when mixed in with smoothies, allow the release of minerals and vitamins that often don't get released when they're eaten in salad form.

Also, keeping the fibre (as opposed to eliminating it with pure juicing) aids greatly in assimilation, digestion and cleansing of tissue cells. This is what brings healing, if needed. Having been diagnosed w/ hypothyroidism (thyroid output of T3/T4 cells totally out of wack thus hindering the body's natural ability to efficiently break down fat), this is why I'm hopeful about incorporating green smoothies. I was on Synthroid (a common hypothyroid medication) for several months, but did not want to be on a drug the rest of my life that was only a band-aid and not a cure. It's why I began researching and experimenting with the more raw foods, hoping my body will rebalance itself naturally.

So the newest tool in my kit will be green smoothies, as they actually are much more vital than fruit smoothies alone or juicing alone. The new things one learns, eh?

Here is a link to some info and a video of someone discussing green smoothies and their incredible healing properties.

Click on: More on Green Smoothies - October 11, 2006

Personal healing story - diagnosed w/ extreme colitus; told he'd need to have part of intestines removed and would need colostomy bag.