Day 13 Food Reboot

Unique Events for the Day:  Last day for the chiropractor and found a No Starch Diet (NSD) version of hummus.  Today was also a pure vegan day (soup was heated, not cooked).

Waking Up:  Went to bed at 11:30 & got up at 6:20am with the moderate right leg / below buttock area of inflammation with moderate shooting pains.  Back stiffness was quite moderate.

Chiropractor: Today is the last day at my Chiropractor’s office until mid-April.  I will continue home rehab + exercises.  Refer to My Daily Routine for more details.  Head alignment machine, Pettibon / Wobble Chair, neck & lower back / spine adjusted, neck alignment for 12 minutes, Head weights 2X per day (10 min. morning & evening) + Denny roll 1X in evening (20 min.)

Morning Physical Symptom Check:  My normal stiff lower & less mid-back (moderate stiffness).

Smoothie Recipe (Banana, Mango, Papaya & Strawberry Smoothie Recipe)
•1 frozen bananas
•2 1/2 cups papaya (half of papaya)
•1 Cup blueberries
•3 Cups Dinosaur kale
•1 Cup of Rainbow Swiss Chard & Spinach
•Almond Butter 1 Tablespoon (Optional)
•Bee Pollen (1 Tablespoon)
•3 to 4 ounces of filtered water
Synopsis of Smoothie:  Back on the Omni, the overall taste was flat.  Adding the almond butter made it creamier but still more subtle in the tastes. Makes less than 2 1/2 glassfuls.
Mid-morning Snack:  Handful of almonds, walnuts, craisins, 4 dried figs, and a Brasil nut
Lunch Menu:  Salad & Tomato Soup with Broccoli
  • Salad – spinach, 1/2 avocado, broccoli, cherry tomatoes, blueberries, Himalayan salt, crushed pepper
  • Tomato Soup with Broccoli – Salad & Tomato Soup
  • 1 cup water
  • 4 Campari tomatoes, chopped
  • 3/4 cup dried sun-dried tomatoes
  • 1 large red pepper, chopped
  • 1 mango, peeled and pitted
  • 1 clove garlic, minced
  • 1/2 teaspoon dulse flakes
  • 2 teaspoons dried basil (or use chopped, fresh basil)
Directions on Soup:  Blend everything for 35+ seconds in blender. Then heat up on stove (try not to get above 118 degrees) with raw broccoli.
Synopsis of Lunch: Typical raw food average lunch.  Eventually I want the tomato soup to be the base & then add more ingredients later.

Dinner Menu: Stuffed Red Peppers (SOURCE)
  • 2 red bell peppers (cut into sections)

Filling (Blend altogether until thick & smooth)

  • 1 cup soaked sunflower seeds (subbed soaked walnuts)
  • 1/2 pint cherry tomatoes (mixed capri tomatoes with cherry tomatoes)
  • 1 stick of celery
  • 1 small carrot (Not in recipe, I added)
  • 1/2 tsp. each of cayenne powder (subbed chili pepper), paprika (didn’t have it), basil, oregano, and garlic.
  • 1/2 small onion (chopped)
  • 2 tbs. lemon juice
  • 1 tbs. olive oil
  • Sea salt to taste
  • Topped with Avocado (added lemon, salt & pepper directly to it)
  • (1) Kiwi fruit
  • Ended with a piece of Dark Chocolate (over 80%)

Synopsis of Meal:  The chili pepper has a kick, but it wasn’t too strong for me.  A good combination of crunch & creamy.  To break it up, you could add diced zucchini, carrots, and/or celery.  The pate-like filling can be reused for many other quick meals or added to various vegetables (similar to what you would do with hummus).  The filling is basically my No Starch Diet (NSD) equivalent to hummus.

Evening inflammation check:  Throughout the day I had my back right thigh acting up more than usual and I’m also more tired than usual.  However, this might be due to fixing things around the house & all the driving I did over the weekend.  Since inflammation is most prevalent after the Denny Roll, I’m going to report on that from now on.  As usual, inflammation below the right-buttock area & shooting pains in the right hip.  Continued stiffness in back, but mostly tired.  It’s around 10pm and I’m headed off to bed.  I’m hoping for 8 hours this time.

Gas / Bloating Check:  Over the last 2 days I’ve reduced my psyllium intake to 3/4 teaspoon 2X / day.  I’ve noticed an increase in gas / bloating this afternoon & evening.  I’ll go back to my normal dosage tomorrow.

Day 10 Food Reboot

Unique Events for the Day: Tackled a Chinese Buffet today.  It’s a landmine of Starches and inflammation foods.  Look at the dinner portion to check out & see what I got.

Waking Up:  Went to bed at 11:30pm & got up at 6:30am with the right leg / buttock area of inflammation with shooting pains.  While I see improvement in the continual pain, the shooting pains are at their worst when I’m sitting for too long or out of bed.

Chiropractor: Head alignment machine, Pettibon / Wobble Chair, neck & lower back / spine adjusted, neck alignment for 12 minutes, Head weights 2X per day (10 min. morning & evening) + Denny roll 1X in evening (20 min.)

Morning Physical Symptom Check:  My normal stiff lower & less mid-back (less than moderate stiffness), I’m fine turning my head all the way + the chiropractor saw a major improvement.  Smoothie gave me another boost this morning & really helps out the tiredness & pain.

Smoothie Recipe (Papaya-Banana Smoothie Recipe) Papaya might not be completely ripe, but I’m not waiting any longer…
•1 frozen banana
•2 Cups Papaya
•4 Cups Swiss Chard
• 1 Cup Frozen Berries
• Almond Butter (1 Tbsp)
•3 to 4 ounces of filtered water
• Bee Pollen (1 Tbsp)
Synopsis of Smoothie:  Yep, this works.  It’s got a nice, even taste to it & doesn’t seem overly sweet.  I can easily see subbing Kale & spinach.  Made 2-2 1/2 glassfuls.
Lunch Menu:  Nutty Mixed-Up Salad (Jason’s Deli)
Nutty Salad - Jason's Deli
  • Natural, grilled chicken breast
  • organic field greens
  • grapes
  • feta
  • nuts
  • dried cranberries
  • pumpkin seeds
  • raisins
  • strawberries
  • organic apples
  • citrus balsamic vinaigrette
Synopsis of Lunch:  Salad was quite tasty.  However, it wasn’t big enough and I ate more of the tomato soup from Day 9 with raw broccoli (heated up in the saucepan).
  • bean sprouts
  • broccoli
  • squid
  • red peppers
  • onion
  • green beans
  • salmon
  • imitation crab (1 small piece)
  • shrimp
  • egg drop soup (1 spoonful – my friend Mary Anne mentioned they usually use corn starch to thicken the soup – NSD nightmare!)
  • pineapple
  • oranges
  • fish eggs & seaweed (I did not eat the rice underneath nor the fried tofu “breading” around it)
Synopsis of Meal:  So I went a little crazy here tonight.  It’s Friday night and I don’t want another salad.  Except for the fruit, everything was cooked and I could tell a big difference. After eating all this food I still felt hungry.  Even as I write I feel hungry.  Clearly there are some nutritional deficiencies when eating cooked food covered with sauces.  The Mongolian Bar they had (look at 1st picture of cooked food on the left) did have raw ingredients that they prepared to cook for you.  I wouldn’t grab it because they’ve got the buckets of meat right next to it.  To me that’s asking for food poising.  I’d rather be hungry than sick.

Evening inflammation check:  Right thigh & right buttocks area  are noticeable, but ok.  Still my biggest issue is the shooting pains when I get out of bed. The worst is during the Denny roll exercise.  That pain is brief, but it hits around a 9 out 10 on the pain scale.  I’m anxious to get that issue out of my life. Stiffness in lower back – not bad, but noticeable.  I added a helpful lumbar support in the car so that my sacroiliatic joint areas (lowest parts of back) don’t press against the seat;  only my mid-lower back does.  

Day 4 Food Reboot

Waking Up:  Went to bed around 10pm-10:30pm last night woke up at 3:30am, went to the bathroom (I have to check my future water intake after 7pm).  I got up at 7am.

Morning Physical Symptom Check:  Overall stiff & sore body, but not horrible.  I’d give it a 3 on a scale of 1-10 (10 is worst).  Some inflammation behind right thigh, left hip.  Stiff mid-back & sore neck.  Range of motion is there, but if I turn my neck to the left too much, I get a dull shooting pain.  Lastly, the flatulence continued throughout the night & some in the morning.  Alas, beans don’t look good in my future.

Smoothie Recipe (Peach Mango Smoothie Recipe)

• 3 organic peaches, pitted
• 2 bananas, peeled (subbing 1)
• 1 large mango, pitted and peeled
• 4 cups organic Swiss chard, chopped
• 6 to 8 ounces filtered water
• Bee Pollen (1 Tablespoon)
• Spinach (1 1/2 handfuls)

Synopsis of Smoothie:  Overall good, even smoothie.    2 1/2 Glass-fulls.  I’d try again & reduce the peaches to 2.
Food for Next Week:
Went to the local farmers market at:
North Naples Green Market 
Indoor Summer Market – May to October 8am-1pm, Olympia Park, 2320 Vanderbilt Beach Road
Outdoor Winter Market.– November to April, 8am-1pm, Coconut Point Green Market
239-594-9358
Although it was packed, I bought most of my food for next week.  The place most people flocked to (and I got most of my USDA Organic food from) was Worden Farm.  They’re located in Punta Gorda.  So I should be able to find them up in the Venice & Sarasota area.  Then headed to Costco & Publix to pick up what I couldn’t find there in bulk.  Unless listed below, all items are USDA Organic:
Half of weekly food on raw diet

Fruit 
Lime (2 small)
Mangoes (5) – bought 9 at Costco & not organic.
Pineapple (1 small)
Bananas (6 medium) – not organic
Papaya (1 large)  – bought at Costco & not organic.
Orange (1)
Young green or Thai coconut (got that at Whole Foods last week)
Strawberries (2 cups worth)  – bought at Costco & not organic.
Apple (1)

Vegetables
Zucchini (4 medium)
Campari tomatoes (25) – bought at Costco & not organic.
Large Tomatoes (3)
Red onion (1 small)
Avocado (2)
Fresh spinach (1 bunch or 2 chopped cups worth)
Kale (1 bunch or 2 chopped cups worth)
Red bell pepper (5) – bought 6 at Costco & not organic.
Carrots (3 medium)
Cucumber (1 medium)
Sundried tomatoes (1 and ¼ cup worth)
Celery (2 stalks)
Alfalfa sprouts (1 package) – substituted Sunflower sprouts

Sea Vegetables
 Nori sheets (1 package)
Dulse flakes

Herbs and Spices
Fresh cilantro (2 to 3 sprigs)
Garlic (1 bulb)
Fresh dill weed (8-12 sprigs)

All On-Hand But Required for Next Week
Basil
Oregano
Chili Powder
EVOO
Sea Salt (Himilayan)
Vanilla bean / extract

Total cost around $80-$90.

Lunch Menu:  Pineapple Shrimp Salad (Bajio)

image

  • Pineapple juice sauteed with shrimp
  • Lettuce
  • Pico De Gallo
  • Mango Salsa
  • Corn (small amount)
  • Sauteed onion
  • Cilantro

Mid-day snack:  None.  But I did drink carrot & acai juice with my Konsyl fiber supplement.

Dinner Menu: Tuna Salad Sandwich + Holy Yamoli Sandwich (Food & Thought)

After the bean issues I’ve been having all day, the last thing I wanted was anything near the bean category.  After some back & forth with the staff, we found something that I could eat that was raw + part of the NSD.  Sandwiches wrapped in collard green leaves.  I’ll have to remember this for future lunches.

NOTE:  Yams are high in starch.  Next time remove this when ordering.

Evening inflammation check:  Back of right thigh, right hip & left hip little inflammation.  It was noticeable to other people when I went ballroom dancing.  However, I was able to dance (and improve throughout the night) all night.

Digestion:  Flatulence reduced throughout the day as the cannelloni beans were getting fully digested in my system.

Neck Issue Check (Evening):  Almost healed.  Only notice when I turn my head to the right.  I will continue the head weights / Denny roll tomorrow.  I’ve only been using the head weights once (or today none) in the past few days.

NOTE:  I am finishing the evening portion of the post around 11:30pm.  So the inflammation effects, feeling tired, etc. should be better tomorrow unless the starch in the yams did it in for me.