What Do I Eat?

Quite a few people are wondering just what I'm eating these days. I guess I got sidetracked in telling you that part, didn't I?!

Here's my main law:

"I Shall Eat the Whole Foods and Nothing But the Whole Foods, So Help Me, God."

Subheadings and sub-subheadings:
- I shall eat nothing processed or refined.
       (This kicks out the contents of the whole center of the store (including bread), plus the
       dairy department. Wasn't that easy? Store time just got cut by 3/4.)
- I shall eat nothing that has been genetically modified (GMO).
       (This kicks out anything with soy and corn -- which is practically everything. Try 
       reading your labels; you'll see what I mean.)
- I shall eat nothing with pesticides or herbicides or growth-hormones or antibiotics.
       (So, only organic. Isn't this fun?)
- All grains shall be eaten whole and shall be soaked prior to cooking.
       (This makes them easier to digest. Makes them taste better, too -- kind of nutty.)
- At least half of all foods shall be eaten raw.
       (Not eggs. I draw the line at raw eggs -- even if they are Salmonella-free. Ewww.)
- Sweetness shall be kept to a minimum.
       (and then only in the form of whole fruits and raw honey. Or homemade jam that a dear 
       friend gave me. I can't offend her, right?)
- Fats shall be eaten in abundance but shall be of the natural, unprocessed variety.
       (This kicks out such "healthy" oils as vegetable, canola, and corn; but allows butter and 
       coconut oil. Isn't this great?)
- There shall no caffeine pass my lips. (grammar; I know) 
       (except green tea which is so beneficial we'll overlook the caffeine)

Are your eyes rolling back in your head yet? It's really not as bad as it sounds. Honest.
I mean, if you look at all the stuff you can't have, then I suppose it would be depressing. But if you think about all the things you can have . . . it's AMAZING! And if you add to that how awesomely *good* you're going to feel . . . well, there's just no contest at all. The hardest part is finding sources for all the foods you've never shopped for before because -- let's face it -- most of this is not found at your friendly neighborhood Walmart.

So here's what's for Breakfast most days:
 - 2 (organic, pastured) eggs fried in (organic, pastured) butter (yes, saturated fats are 
    *good* for you now; did you know?)
 - topped with 1/2 an avocado, sliced
 - splashed with Cholula or Tabasco (optional)
 - perched on half a sprouted-grain English muffin or a slice of Ezekiel bread (toasted and 
    buttered)
or
 - a cup or so of oat groats (fancy name for whole oats -- not rolled or steel-cut) that have 
   been soaked overnight, then cooked gently for 15 minutes (for detailed instructions, read  
   here)
- topped with blackberries, raspberries, blueberries, pomegranate, pecans (or walnuts), 
   ground flaxseed, and coconut milk (Yes, all of that. The oats are pretty much buried.) It is 
   so yummy!

Lunch is usually a big salad with everything possible on it. Truthfully? I often end up at Clark's Fork for their salad bar -- waaay better than I could make at home. Start with a lovely mixture of colorful salad greens (no iceberg or packaged lettuce at this place!); add some grated carrot or radish from their own garden; some cilantro; some mushrooms; either cauliflower or broccoli; some green peas; a bunch of garbanzo beans for protein; sometimes some boiled egg (if I haven't already had eggs for breakfast); a smidge of real Parmesan cheese (because some days it sounds heavenly); some sunflower or pumpkin seeds -- and then a drizzle of thin Ranch dressing (which is not actually on my program, but until I find a recipe I like, it'll do). Are you hungry yet?

Other days, I'll have some homemade lentil or split pea soup or some black beans and brown rice (both of which have been soaked overnight before cooking). Or, once in a great while, Wendy's fixes my lunch -- their almond-berry chicken salad.  It isn't organic, but it's fresh and good and fills in, in a pinch.  

This is a marathon, not a sprint.

I don't too often eat supper -- for a few reasons. (This is probably a subject for another post, but I'll tackle it here anyway, because . . . well, you're here now, and I may never get back to it.)
  1) I usually eat breakfast around 8:30 or 9:00 a.m. and "lunch" is often around 3:00 or 
      4:00 p.m., so supper would be around 9:00 p.m.  Nah.
  2) I usually have a handful of supplements (that should've been swallowed throughout the 
      day), and taking them with a glass of water takes care of any hunger issues that may 
      have been developing.
  3) System cleaning (another post I'm working on) needs to happen every night, and it 
       takes at least 12 hours to do, so eating late in the evening is a bad idea.
  4) Eating three meals a day is apparently a relatively new development -- within the last 
       200-300 years -- so it isn't strictly necessary. I do fine on two meals a day, so I'll go 
       with it.

Meat:  I was raised on it and always thought I had to have it, so it has come as something of a shock to find out that I really don't need it. Even more shocking, it doesn't even taste good right now! I have no idea if this state of affairs is temporary or permanent or temporarily permanent or permanently temporary or what. I'm just going with it.

Oh! I almost forgot -- I also juice most days. My idea is to flood my body with nutrients so it will have an abundance of Legos (did you read that post yet? it's here) to build and heal with.  Because I'm keeping things simple (oh okay, it's because I'm not very creative in the kitchen), my juice usually consists of:
- 2 large carrots
- 1-2 stalks celery
- a medium-ish beet
- a couple handsful of kale (stripped of the spines) or spinach
- half an apple (preferrably Granny or Pippin)
- a squeeze of lemon
- 1/2 tsp paprika
- and sometimes a small bunch of parsley and/or a thin slice of gingerroot
This makes about three cups of juice. I swig on it all day.

There you have it . . . my "diet". If anyone cares to do the calculations and tell me where you think I'm coming up short, feel free. I'm just listening to what my body's telling me and eating accordingly. It's simpler that way.

I know I've left out a lot of information in attempting to keep this post from becoming a book, so if you have any questions, leave me a comment. Actually, leave me a comment anyway.