31. Food Diary – Day 13 & 14

Day 13

Apple

Porridge

Apple

1 Egg with mayonnaise

Cottage cheese and flax oil

Coffee

Chicken and Vegetable soup

Goats milk yoghurt with muesli and honey

Cornflakes with UHT cow’s milk

(Run out of goats’ milk and the corner shop doesn’t sell it)


Day 14

Really misbehaved today. I’ve got very little food in the house, and due for a delivery. Started to make a fish pie, but then realised I have no potatoes, but still carried on thinking I’ll find an alternative.

In the end (and probably due to the time of the month), I went out and bought chips (french fries) from the Fish and Chip shop. The worst type of potatoes you can eat, cooked in cheap vegetable oil that’s not hot enough, so they’re drenched in fat. Now my poor guts are suffering the consequences. I’m not ill – they just protest by way of pain, whenever I abuse them!

It doesn’t end there – I bought a a small chocolate bar too, after being bombarded with images of Easter eggs on TV. Well, I was watching the Saturday night movie, About Schmidt, and both the chocolate and the movie were a lovely treat.

Throughout the day though, I did eat my usual healthy stuff too; porridge, apple, banana, green tea, and the last of my delicious chicken and vegetable soup.

I’m now drinking Camomile tea in the wee hours to try and make my tummy go to sleep. I must do my online shopping order asap.

30. Dairy Free Cream of Mushroom Soup

I’ll be creating sections on different elimination diets. The first post in the Dairy Free section is this delicious recipe for Dairy-Free Cream of Mushroom Soup.

Ingredients:
2 finely chopped Onions,
2 tbsp of Olive Oil
350g or12oz Mushrooms, finely chopped
1 tbsp of Paprika
1 teasp of Cayenne Pepper
600ml or 1pt of Fresh Vegetable Stock
Salt
225g or 8oz Medium or Soft Tofu
1 tbsp of Vegetable Oil
2 tsp of Lemon Juice

Instructions

1. Heat the olive oil in a saucepan then add the chopped onion and sauté for 4-5 mins.

2. Add the mushrooms, paprika and cayenne and stir. Reduce the heat, cover and cook gently for further 9-10 minutes.

3. Stir in the salt, pepper and stock and bring to the boil, then simmer for a further 3-4 minutes.

4. Then place the tofu, vegetable oil and lemon juice in a blender until smooth.

5. Stir this mixture into the saucepan and heat, without allowing it to boil. Taste and adjust seasoning as necessary. Serve immediately.

29. Food Diary – Day 12

Apple

Porridge

Apple juice

Coffee

Baked potato, with goats cheese and spring onion, and a bit of soya spread

Flax oil, Cottage cheese, onion, chives

Apple

Decaf Coffee

Homemade Chicken and Vetetable soup (for recipe see below)

1.5 litres of water throughout the day

28. Chicken and Vetetable Soup

It’s my own, so there are no quantities! Come to think of it, you can use whatever vegetables you like, but this is what I made today:

Soup base; dried pulses, beans, barley etc, soaked overnight
(if gluten allergy, leave barley out)
Cabbage
Leeks
Celery
Onion
Worcestershire sauce
Horseradish sauce
Yeast free vegetable stock
Chicken stock (homemade if gluten allergy)
Cooked chicken, no fat or skin

Simmer for 20 mins then add the diced chicken and stir for further 5 mins

27. Food Diary – Day 11

Apple juice

Porridge

apple

same as dinner last night - pancakes with mince and tomatoes

pistachio nuts

I boiled egg on its own

Goat’s milk strawberry and vanilla yoghurt

Decaf coffee

flax oil, cottage cheese, onion and chives with 3 Ryvita

Hot chocolate! made with water, and no added sugar (it’s STILL hot chocolate, dear!)

Cornflakes

26. Pizza Sauce

Quick Pizza Tomato Sauce (also suitable for pasta dishes) 35mins

Makes approx 240ml/8fl.oz.

Ingredients:

200g/7oz Tinned Chopped Tomatoes

120ml/4fl.oz. Tomato Juice

Salt and Black Pepper

1 tbsp Olive Oil

1 small Onion, finely chopped

1 Garlic Clove, crushed

1 small Celery Stick, finely chopped

60ml/2fl.oz. Fresh Strong Vegetable Stock


Instructions
1. Place the tomatoes, salt and pepper in a saucepan together with the tomato juice. Bring to the boil then reduce the heat and simmer for 15 minutes.
2. Meanwhile, heat the oil in a small frying pan, add the onions, garlic and celery and sauté gently for 10 minutes until soft and transparent.
3. Add the vegetables to the tomatoes together with the stock. Bring to the boil then cook and a gentle boil for at least 15 minutes. At this stage, it can be cooled slightly and puréed in a blender for a smoother sauce.
4. Use as a base sauce for all types of pizzas.

25. Food Diary - Days 8, 9 and 10

Been away for a couple of days, and didn’t stray TOO far from my healthy unprocessed and wheat free diet!

And the times I did fall off the wagon, it was through no-one’s fault but my own, as my friends had lots of healthy food with them, but on the Sunday at about 4pm, we went out to hire a movie and I suddenly felt extremely hungry. I’d only had two hours sleep from 8.30 – 10.30am, so I had porridge for breakfast and went to meet them.

I forgot I’d not eaten lunch.

So I was climbing the walls in the video shop, and ended up buying a huge packet of Doritos and sour cream and chive dip (for all three of us), but I had to stuff my face in the car on the way home.

That’s what happens when I forget a meal. Very naughty.

Later we all had baked potato and cheese, with green beans, broccoli, mixed peas and sweetcorn.

And I had no willpower whatsoever when my friends got the chocolate out. I only had a few pieces, and considered it a treat for being so good up until now, and I don’t feel guilty for it!

On the Monday I had ‘Oats So Simple’ which wasn’t pure oats, but individual sachets of made up oats and maple syrup favoring. Although the instructions said to make it with milk, I made it with water as usual, and it tasted lovely, but it did have salt, sugar, and ‘flavoring’ in it.

Later we went for a walk and took cheese sandwiches with us. That was the first time I’d eaten bread in ages, and I’ve no idea what spread was on them, but they tasted good! Again – no guilt!

Drinks on both Sunday and Monday included lots of water, apple juice, coffee during the day, and fruit teas.

Today I thought of what I could put in my porridge to add more flavor, and I came up with natural ginger and cinnamon, as well as a bit of honey that I usually have.

Needed 2 bowls today, as I was very hungry, and too lazy to cook!

Did cook tonight: minced pork with tomaotes, peppers and spinach, and wrapped the whole lot up in pancakes made with rye four, goats milk and free range eggs.

24. Food Diary Day 7

Breakfast
Apple
Porridge

Smoothie (same as yesterday)

Coffee

Lunch
Apple juice
Spaghetti bolognaise with spinach

Fennel Tea

Dinner
Baked potato with bolognaise

Water throughout the day

(went jogging this morning for the 1st time in ages, and nearly collapsed!)

23. Three Ways To Ensure Proper Digestion

Most people in the western world eat their food far too quickly and fail to chew their food properly. What happens because of this, is that their food simply doesn’t break down effectively enough, and not only is this food wasted as a valid nutrition, but a lot of what cannot be absorbed properly, your body stores as fat.

Secondly, you are likely to feel hungry much sooner than you would do otherwise.

You owe it to yourself to take your time eating your food, and to chew it properly. I once tried doing this with a piece of toast with butter and jam on, and the rule was I couldn’t swallow the food until it was complete puree. This took a lot longer than I thought it would, for the normal bite size I was having, so I took tiny bites. It took about 10 minutes to eat the whole slice of toast.

But the good news is, not all food is as difficult to ‘puree’ as toast or bread. And you don’t have to puree food in order to chew it better than you have been doing.

Secondly, this may seem hard to get used to, but try the ‘one week’ rule for giving everything a chance, and you should be ok: Don’t drink with food, and for at least 15 minutes before and 45 afterwards.

This will allow your food to be broken down better. And it will force you to chew your food slower and better too.

Another trick that will not only optimise food adsorption, but will result in weight loss, is to eat fruit BEFORE your meal. Our stomachs are actually designed to break down fruit carbohydrates much quicker than protein, so it may take 20 minutes or so before your fruit is absorbed, but it can take up to 90 minutes for a large steak for example, to be broken down.

The fruit prepares the stomach for the intake of protein, and it will break it down more effectively. If you wait until later to have your fruit or a sweet, your body is working much harder to break down the protein. Anything that makes your body work harder than it should is jeopardising your overall health.

Eating an apple before every meal is talked about in the book ‘The 3 Apple a Day Plan’ by Tammi Flynn
http://www.amazon.com/3-Apple-Day-Plan-Foundation-Permanent/dp/0767920414/ref=sr_1_1/104-8754403-6622308?ie=UTF8&s=books&qid=1174327960&sr=8-1

which goes into more scientific detail of how this works.

22. Food Diary Day 6

Decaffeinated coffee, 1 fruit sugar

Breakfast
Smoothie made with banana, plums and apple juice

Porridge, made with water, and a few raisins

Lunch
Beetroot

Prawns, cottage cheese, flax oil, onion, red pepper, chives, tiny bit of mayonniase and ketchup – in other words; very rich prawn cocktail! - with celery, and 1 slice of Ryvita.

Smoothie made with three very ripe bananas that had to be eaten quick, summer fruits, goat’s milk-pro biotic yoghurt, and a dash of vanilla essence (NOT flavoring).

This was very rich, but enormously scrumptious, so I had two glasses; a pint of the stuff!

Dinner
Half apple

Had friends round later and made Spaghetti bolognaise but with pork mince instead of beef! And I microwaved the meat first to get all the fat off it, then blended it into a powder.

Had wholewheat spaghetti too, and my friends liked it. I’m allowed wheat occasionally, although when I’ve been good and done without it for a while, the symptoms such as an itchy nose(!) and itchy arms tend to be much worse after I do fall off the wagon, than if I ate wheat all the time.

Goat’s milk - strawberry pro biotic yoghurt

Decaffeinated coffee, 1 fruit sugar

21. Aspartame

Not to be mixed up with ‘aspartamine’ which is naturally found in artichokes and is innocent and something else entirely.

Aspartame is an artificial sweetener. It is also a poison. What your body cannot break down and use, aspartame will store it as FAT in your body. It is in Diet Cola and just about every diet drink you can think of. It is even in toothpaste, chewing gum and some MEDICINES! So instead of helping you lose weight, aspartame is keeping you fat!

“Aspartame sugar substitutes cause worrying symptoms from memory loss to brain tumours. But despite US FDA approval as a 'safe' food additive, aspartame is one of the most dangerous substances ever to be foisted upon an unsuspecting public.”

Go here to read more: http://www.holisticmed.com/aspartame/

It is interesting to learn that the diet version of the world’s biggest selling product is killing the very people that choose to buy it (it’s a soda drink by the way).

Just remember that you live in a world where money is more important than people’s lives and more important than the truth.

20. Food Diary Day 6

Breakfast
Bowl of home made muesli with oats, raisins sultanas, walnuts, almonds, sunflower seeds, fresh banana, sliced pear, and cornflake crumbs! + goat’s milk

They were out of my soya milk this week, so I’m using goat’s milk on my cereals. In theory, this should force me to eat fewer bowls of cornflakes, and more porridge as I don’t make that with milk.

Decaffeinated coffee, 1 fruit sugar

Apple juice

Lunch
beetroot, not pickled
1 cold boiled egg
Cottage cheese, flax oil, onions, peppers and 2 slices of Ryvita multigrain

Decaffeinated coffee, 1 fruit sugar

small amount of dried fruit and nuts

Dinner
Very small baked potato, pork with plum and apple sauce, mixed vegetables (peas, carrots, sweet corn and green beans)

Plum and apple sauce recipe:
three large plums with skins on, blended with a small cup of apple juice
1 tsp of tomato ketchup, and finely chopped onion

I never made this before. I just make meals out of what I’ve got in. And this took about 10 minutes to make.

Maybe I should put a disclaimer on this blog. After all this is a diary of what I eat, not necessarily what you should eat. As I make recipes up out of my head, I do occasionally poison myself, but since switching to non processed food (ketchup aside) I haven’t done so far!

Again, approx 1 litre of water

19. The Effects of Red Bull

Red Bull and other cheaper brands of the same thing have lots of caffeine and taurine in them. Taurine is banned in some countries because it has never been proven to be safe.

But even if it were officially safe in all countries, I know for certain it is not safe for someone like me to consume it. I am prone to anxiety, panic attacks and irritability.

However, most normal people will become irritable or have headaches and immense lethargy when ‘coming down’ from this drink.

What Red Bull does is keep you awake. Whenever I was unable to sleep during the night, and I needed to be awake in the day, I would drink it. Within 30 minutes, I would forget about my bad night’s sleep and I’d be ok for several hours. As soon as I found myself flagging, I’d have another Red Bull, and I’d ‘wake up’ again.

But when the effects wore off, I would find myself feeling unable to cope with the simplest of things.

This drink is allowed to be sold in bars, meaning that vast quantities are consumed. Just one is bad for you. So much caffeine should be seriously avoided in the evening.

I once knew a man who had not slept for two nights before his wedding day. So he drank Red Bull all day, and the wedding went well.

That night he crashed out as soon as his head hit the pillow, and had a migraine for the next two days. Suffice to say, his bride was not too pleased.

A lot of clubbers drink it to dance the night away til dawn. One friend of mine who used to take speed (amphetamines) to stay awake, says his Monday mornings were a whole lot worse coming down off Red Bull thatn Speed. No I am NOT condoning speed!

But if that’s illegal, and the effects of Red Bull are worse…? Well, you work it out.

If you absolutely meed caffeine to keep you awake in an emergency, then at least a normal coffee has measurable amounts of caffeine it.

Actually, the thought of throwing up has always put me off drinking in excess, but it doesn’t put a lot of people off. Many millions go out with the sole intention of getting steaming drunk, so those people are probably not going to be too receptive of my Red Bull advice!

Don’t get me started on alcohol. And Diet drinks? – with Aspartame in them? That’s another post!

18. Food Diary Day 5

Cornflakes in the middle of the night again – Terrible insomnia. I need more exercise to tire me out.

Breakfast
Half apple juice/ half mineral water

Porridge with raisins

Small raw carrot

Lunch
Cottage cheese, beetroot, flax oil, onion and chives, with 3 Ryvita

Decaffeinated coffee, 1 fruit sugar

Several pieces of dried fruit, and a few mixed nuts

Dinner
5 thin slices of ham and soft goat’s cheese, rolled up - honestly, that was enough!

Half apple juice

Decaffeinated coffee, 1 fruit sugar

17. Prevent and Cure Cancer with Diet

Last year I met a very famous copywriter called Ted Nicholas who managed to cure both himself and his girlfriend of cancer.

He said the two foods that will not only prevent you getting cancer, but will cure it, if eaten every day, are flax oil and cottage cheese.

Now I forgot to ask him if these two foods should be eaten together or not, but not to worry – I eat them together anyway, just in case.

The flax oil tastes pretty revolting by the way, but just add your favorite natural flavorings and you’ll be fine.

I’m sure there are skeptics reading this, thinking ‘how can that be true?’ Well, when Ted Nicholas gives you advice, you can do a lot worse than listen to him. He’s 82 and worth over $400 million. Google him and see.

I’ve done some of my own research and there are lots of cancer fighting foods available, such as broccoli and green tea, which I try to consume whenever possible.

But to cut out processed food is certainly the best way to prevent cancer and many other serious illnesses.

16. Food Diary Day 4

I’m calling it Food Diary from now on. Accountability is way too long a word.

I spoke too soon last night. I had terrible insomnia, and my stomach was like a vacuum, so I had to feed it at about 3am with a bowl of cornflakes with skimmed goat’s milk, and a pinch of fruit sugar - then again at 5am with ham and shredded carrot.

As my food delivery came early this morning, I didn’t eat breakfast as such. I just picked at my food as I unwrapped it.

Apple juice

1 apple

handful pistachio nuts

1 egg and a slice of Ryvita with soya spread

I had to eat the egg because it was cracked. I know I probably should have thrown it out for hygiene purposes, but I don’t like wasting food.

Usually if there are more eggs broken, I ring them and they refund me for the whole box of 12, even if only three are broken. As it was just one I didn’t bother. I did email to tell them they are losing money, and that a suggestion would be to clearly label shopping bags with eggs in, but they won’t implement it, as it makes too much sense.

Later whilst working I strated to flag. The thing about working from home is when you feel like you want to fall asleep, there’s nothing to stop you. But that would be lethal, as I’d just be awake all night again – hence:

Caffeine coffee with fruit sugar and goats milk

Lunch
Apple

Half a portion of fish pie

Green tea

Dinner
Last half portion of fish pie

Went out and drank:

2 Pineapple juices

2 mineral waters

1 litre of mineral water throughpout the day

15. Don’t be Scared of Carbs!

If you cut out carbs, or reduce them dramatically, you run the risk of rapidly depleting energy levels, as well as increased anxiety, irritability and even depression.

You are also denying your body a great food source. Food combining, or separating carbs from protein is one school of thought, but not mine. For a start, unless you can afford your own personal chef to go wherever you go, it is extremely difficult to implement such a diet.

The key is to eat balanced meals, and to eat the RIGHT carbohydrates.

Good carbs include:

oats
wholewheat
rice – preferably wholegrain
potato – preferably with the skin left on
sweetcorn
rye
bananas
all fruit

You can still lose weight and gain all round good health when you eat carbs with your meals. Just don’t overdo it. Try and make sure your carbs are about a third of your whole meal, and never more than half.

14. Accountability Day 3

Breakfast
Porridge and raisins

Blackcurrant Tea

Banana

Dried fig, dried apricot, and a few mixed unsalted nuts

Decaffeinated Coffee, with one fruit sugar

Lunch
Cottage cheese, Flax oil, chives, garlic, chopped ham, chopped red pepper, 3 Ryvita

Green tea, with a bit of honey

Dinner
Fish Pie, again - still glorious!

The first improvement I noticed was that my food cravings had completely disppeared after only one day! That’s pretty fantastic.

I always used to have a bowl of cornflakes in the evening or something else to eat. Now I’m eating less but I don’t feel hungry at all. Today I had the banana and dried fruit and nuts at about 12, so I didn’t need lunch until 2.30pm.

Even then, my lunch was about a third of what I used to eat at lunch.

13. Wheat Intolerances

I’m quite lucky in that I’m only intolerant to wheat, so if I were to eat it in small quantities, I probably wouldn’t notice. I am also not intolerant or allergic to gluten, so I have a lot more choice than some of you.

A wheat allergy is more serious than just an intolerance, but it is different from Celiac Disease, which is an aversion to gluten, and requires a complete gluten ban for life.

If you do have celiac disease you cannot eat wheat, rye, oats, and barley.

Most children who are allergic to wheat will grow out of the allergy.

Most people claiming that they have a food allergy may at worst have a food intolerance. Often a person has decided to eliminate a food from their diet based on one bad experience.

In other cases people eliminate foods from their diets because another family member suspects that he or she has a food allergy, or because they have read a magazine article and decided that the symptoms described relate to their own.

As a result they cut out and eliminate foods which in fact may be an essential part of a healthy balanced diet. Such self-medication can be dangerous as it can obscure the real health problem.

I had a food tolerance test by a qualified nutritionalist. Ask your health food shop where to find one. But if you cannot find one, your family doctor can perform the test.

If you find you do have a wheat intolerance or wheat allergy, you need to read food labels very carefully. I’m too lazy to do that, so I just buy fresh, non processed food.

When I go to a restaurant or a friends house, I am less pedantic about my diet. As it is an intolerance, and not an allergy, I can break the rules once in a while. I hate to be a burden to others, although all my friends are very understanding.

Still, I have fruit, nuts and herbal tea bags with me all the time, just incase what’s on offer is so unappealing.

12. Accountability Day 2

Was adding to this all day yesterday, then forgot to post it last night.

Breakfast
Porridge and raisins
Ham and Pickle

That’s right, no bread or butter – just thinly sliced ham with pickle spread on it. Pickle’s a treat too – it’s full of sugar.

Decaffeinated coffee, dash of goats’ milk and 1 flat tsp fruit sugar.


Several dried apricots. I bought these from the health food shop – sadly they contain preservative E220. So don’t assume that everything from health food shops is pure!

Half a fruit smoothie, as yesterday

Lunch
Small baked potato, with three thin slices of ham, a bit of cheese and pickle.

Snack
I cold boiled egg. I thought I’d hard boiled it yesterday, but the yolk was still soft – never had cold soft boiled egg before – it was yummy! And there’s another 2 in the fridge that I did at the same time.

I dried fig.

Dinner
Glorious Fish Pie!

Camomile Tea

11. Make Porridge the Easy way

Porridge is so good for you, where do I begin?

It can greatly reduce depression, regulate metabolism, keep blood sugar levels up, and of course fill you up better than any other breakfast cereal.

It releases ‘happy’ chemicals in your brain, and will after just a short time, raise your energy levels generally.

It’s easy to make porridge in the microwave. Just get your favorite small glass or cup, half fill it, (or quarter fill it – you’ll get to know) with pure untreated oats, put them in a bowl, and put twice as much water in the cup as you did oats, and pour that in.

Microwave on full power for 1 minute. If the bowl is more than half full, you need to watch it the whole time, or you’ll have a case of the magic porridge pot, and you’ll be scraping it all off the inside of your microwave!

Stir, then microwave for another 30 seconds if not thick enough. Definitely watch it this time!

If desired, add honey or fruit sugar (tiny amounts only, or you’re defeating the object)
or salt. Yes, some mad people like salt with it!
You can even add a dash of milk to cool it down a bit, but try not to make it with all milk.

If you don’t like it, give it a week – I always do that with any new food, or even after changing to daylight bulbs, dying my hair, whatever. You’ll get used to it, if you do it every day.

10. Accountability Day 1

So what did I have today if I’m honest?

Breakfast
Porridge, with half a teaspoonful of honey and a dessert spnfl of raisins

Mug of Green Tea

Lunch
3 dessert spn Cottage cheese, 2 dessert spn flax oil, dash of garlic granuals, dash of onion powder, chopped chives, and chopped fresh red peppr (heaped dessert spn full) with three slices of Ryvita, dark multigrain.

A smoothie with a banana, summer fruits, and organic cloudy apple juice.

Actually, this is going to be very time consuming if I state the amount all the time, so from now on, lets say, “a dollop” of everything. And a dollop of course, is whatever I think is needed!

How do people carry on when they have to weigh and measure out everything…? There’s none of that here!

Mid afternoon, another smoothie as earlier.

So tonight, I made my glorious fish pie. I’ll state the ingredients only – not all the amounts:

4 frozen cod steaks
prawns
mixed frozen vegetables
mashed potato still with skins on

sauce:
soya spread
cornflour
goat’s milk
soya powdered cheese
goat’s cheese
mayonnaise
ketchup (prawn marie rose sauce)
onion powder

And I made enough for the next four days, so this blog is gonna be quite monotonous!

Also made porridge to put in the fridge so I’m not tempted to buy cake or chocolate, and soaked some soup mix ready for tomorrow, consisting of lentils, chickpeas, barley and other good stuff. That’s my base for all my soups.

I also drank 1 litre of Evian – not enough I know.

But so far, I haven’t been tempted to snack all day, and I’ve worked solidly all evening – that’s progress!

9. Diet Intake Accountability

Ok, I’ve decided to blog about everything I eat!

Yes, it’s going to make riveting reading, but it’s so I can see for myself how good or naughty I’ve been.

Obviously there is no point in telling fibs. If I fall off the wagon, I have to report it. This blog will be my accountability.

Recently on TV there were several couples who had been eating healthily with the help of a nutritionalist. They were overweight to begin with, but the benefits were not just weight loss.

They were all asked to make charts of particular health issues, such as sleep levels, energy levels, skin condition, iritability, digestion, sexual function, and headaches.

Within only two weeks, there were dramatic improvements for all couples on EVERY health issue. One woman said the improvement in her energy levels alone would ensure she would never go back to her old eating habits.

And one guy after five weeks said he no longer has the slightest heartburn, and he was previously told he would have to have an operation for his severe acid reflux.

Well, my problem at the moment is poor sleep, headaches and low energy levels – oh and irritability!

I’ve already made a start on improving my blood sugar levels by eating porridge every morning and lots of fruit, and cutting out all sweets and chocolate (although I had a moment of weakness the other night and put drinking chocolate in my porridge – a brilliant compromise!)

Let’s see if I can become the picture of health!