Mundane Ramblings

Photo by the_girl

Good morning all,
So I’m changing things up a bit. I got a little tired of talking about raw food and greens smoothies so I’m only going to update ‘The Green Smoothie Experiment’ blog once per week on Wednesdays. I plan to use this blog to document my progress with diet, exercise, & physical changes. I’ll also post photos and videos along the way. I expect I’m looking at another 2 years to reach my goal weight. I’m also going to change my weight loss ticker at the top of my blog just once per week.

I’ve created another blog called ‘Mundane Ramblings’ where I’m going to journal about other stuff that’s going on in my life.

In general, things are going well. I have been less irritable and seem to have more energy these past few weeks. I’ve been more active in recent weeks then I have been in several years. Mostly just helping out around the house but I still feel good about it. For example, on Saturday I changed the shower curtain instead of leaving it for Mary to do. It requires standing while you remove and re-hang the new curtain and I generally prefer to do sitting tasks like dishes or paying bills & handling paperwork since standing for more then a few minutes is painful for me. But I’m standing more and more now. Yesterday we did a couple of dump runs and I helped to load things into and pull things out of the car where in the past I would have left that for Mary. Being able to do my share around the house is a huge motivator for me.

Diet Last Week:
Still living on green smoothies exclusively. Keeping it simple with my usual 3 quarts of mango, mixed greens, lemon, onion, garlic, & flax smoothies every day. I added herb tea into my diet early in the month. I’m hoping it might help with some of my irritability and I am feeling less irritable. Doesn’t seem to be any negative consequences to drinking herb tea so I think I’m going to continue drinking tea for the time being.

Exercise Last Week:
10 minutes neck stretches daily.

Still not doing much in the way of formal exercise but as I shared above, I am moving a lot more in general. I expect my weight loss would be faster if I exercised more and I anticipate at some point I’ll start a regular exercise routine.

Statistics:
Height: 5 foot, 11 inches. (180 centimeters)
Weight loss since March 1 2007: 108.8 pounds (49.35 kilograms)
Weight today: 419.4 pounds (190.24 kilograms)
Weight Last Wednesday: 424.6 pounds (192.6 kilograms)
Weight March 5th 2007: 515.6 pounds (233.87 kilograms)
Weight March 1st 2007: 528.2 pounds. (239.59 kilograms)

I’ll check back in next Wednesday.
VW

Skipped Sunday Blogging

Photo by cosmicopia

So yesterday I skipped my first day of blogging since the end of February. Nothing bad happened. The planet continued to spin and sun rose only slightly later then the prior day. So, after more consideration, I think I’m going to update the green smoothie experiment once a week on Wednesday mornings. In addition to a weekly update I’ll also attempt to do monthly photos and video of my progress. I’m also going to stop measuring the ingredients for my green smoothies. I eat basically the same thing every day and at this point there seems little value to me in recording whether I’m eating 876 grams of mango or 894 grams of mango on a given day. It’s a hassle to measure everything so this will be a nice break.

My diet ticker stopped working but it appears to be the host site since the examples on their web page don’t work either. If it doesn’t fix itself by Wednesday, I’ll pick another ticker host.

See you on Wednesday.
VW

Fairies

Photo by Janet Dancer

To follow up from yesterday’s post. I appreciate the feedback I got in my comments and in particular I like the idea of a once a week post as opposed to posting every day. I don’t plan to make any changes right away, but I’m going to think about not being so damn consistent. I think I’m worried I’m going to jinx it or break the spell if I miss a day of blogging. Irrational and I hate being irrational. I like plans and lists and maps. I like to know where I’m going and I like being in control. I like having a logical reason for everything that I do so I can explain (justify/defend/rationalize) my behavior when called upon to do so. So I’m going to try to loosen my grip. Go a little more with the flow. Do it because I want to or because I feel like it without being able to explain it or without having a good reason for it. I’m not overly fond of this concept but I’m going to try to “follow spirit” a little more. Listen to the universe, my inner guide, the fairies. Give my left brain a little vacation in the Bahamas.

Got my fridge back into the kitchen yesterday. Took down a bunch of pictures, photos, and other assorted wall hangings yesterday. We’re also pulling nails from the walls and filling the holes with spackle in preparation for more painting. After numerous phone calls I finally found a designer for the septic who has to travel from Centralia, over 50 miles away. They won’t be out this way until Aug 3rd, but the plans should be ready by August 17th, and considering everyone else was too busy to take me on as a client that’s just going to have to be good enough. Then the plans get approved by the county and after that we get the septic service out here again to give us an estimate on the cost of the new system.

Last night I was sorting through my son’s old baby photos & school photos. Moving them from the nearly 30 year old baby book where the sticky photo pages had yellowed to a new album. I put a set of duplicate school photos in an envelope to mail to the kid and tossed all the remaining duplicates along with various bad photos and photos of people and places I no longer remember or care about. On the agenda for today is more of the same. We sorted through all of the manuals from the manual drawer. Tossed the ones from appliances we no longer own and made a stack for the manuals of items I’m selling and for manuals to leave for the new owner of the house for the fridge, stove, garage door opener and such. I’ve boxed up the books I decided to keep. I really think I’m going to be able to get everything I want to keep from a lifetime of accumulate junk into two small boxes, one large suitcase, and one small cosmetic type suitcase. That’s not counting the blendtec blender or my CPAP machine. I’ve got more photos to go into the album today. More papers to sort through.

It’s been raining lightly here for days and it’s kind of dreary. I’m hoping we get a break this morning so I don’t have to pick greens in the rain…but I will do it in the rain if I have to. The patio boxes are only 5 steps from the front door so it’s not that hard. Then I’m going to blend them up into smoothies, do the dishes, screw around on the internet until Mary gets home from her part time job and we decide what project we want to tackle next. Until tomorrow I’ll leave you with the following.

Yesterday’s 3 quart Green Smoothie Recipe:

290 grams Earthbound Farms Mixed Baby Greens [Organic baby lettuces (red & green romaine, red & green oak leaf, lollo rosa, tango), organic red & green chard, organic mizuna, organic arugula, organic frisée, organic radicchio.]
118 grams Raw Onion
32 grams Raw Garlic
27 grams Fresh Lemon Juice
865 grams Frozen Mango
15 grams Organic Whole Flax Seeds
48 ounces filtered tap water

I had an additional 48+ ounces of water & herb tea. No other food, beverages, supplements, or medications.

Nutritional Breakdown utilizing Nutridiary:
Calories: 792 calories
Fiber: 29 grams
Fat: 8 grams, % of total calories
Carbohydrates: 191 grams, 84% of total calories
Protein: 17 grams, 8% of total calories

Elimination: 1 BM, normal
Menses: Most recent: 7/4/07, Prior 6/3/07, Prior: 5/3/07, Prior: 4/5/07, Prior: 03/10/07, Prior: 2/11/07

Exercise for yesterday:
10 minutes neck stretches

Statistics:
Height: 5 foot, 11 inches. (180 centimeters)
Weight loss since March 1 2007: 105.4 pounds (47.809 kilograms)
Weight today: 422.8 pounds (191.78 kilograms)
Weight yesterday: 423.2 pounds (191.96 kilograms)
Weight March 5th 2007: 515.6 pounds (233.87 kilograms)
Weight March 1st 2007: 528.2 pounds. (239.59 kilograms)

Blogging

Photo by audreyjm529

I’m feeling a little angst over my blog this week. I thought I’d try to write about it. Back in January, February, and March there was nothing I wanted to do more then hang out on raw food forums, read raw food blogs and raw food books, and write about my experiences with raw foods and greens smoothies. Six months later and I’m not feeling the same way. I enjoy talking to folks on raw food forums but having spent countless hours hanging out on the boards this year every new discussion is starting to sound very familiar. I feel like I’ve asked all my questions and found all the answers I needed. I’ve shared my thoughts and feelings about raw food, low fat vegan food, green smoothies, food addiction, & weight loss. I pretty much eat the same thing every day and frankly, I’m even starting to bore myself.

I think whenever you start something new it’s very much at the front of your mind but after a while it becomes a familiar habit and it doesn’t require a lot of conscious thought. I don’t feel a need to talk about raw food or green smoothies as much as I did when I started my blog. More and more I find myself talking about other stuff on my blog. I’m very touched by the people who’ve told me they like my writing style or find my journey inspiring but truthfully, my life is pretty dull. I seldom leave my house and the highlight of my day today was watching Mary successfully cut a notch in a piece of floor molding with a chisel and a hammer. I hate to share that I’m feeling that way because I’m worried that people will leave me comments telling me how wonderful my blog is and I’ll end up feeling like I went fishing for compliments when that’s not what I’m looking for. I don’t really know what I’m looking for which is part of the problem.

My blog served a purpose for me at the start of this journey but I’m wondering if it’s still serving a purpose for me. I’m happy that some folks have found my experience inspiring but there is lots of inspiration to be had in the raw food community if you are open to it. I don’t really think my blog is essential to the movement. Earlier in the week I started adding some food facts to my blog to try and refocus on raw food and healthy eating. Honestly, that idea is not really working for me. It feels contrived and artificial to me. If you want to know what foods are healthy or beneficial it’s easy enough to find out with the many internet search engines available. The internet is filled with people who want to tell you what to eat/think/believe either for free or for a price. I don’t really have any interest in doing that. So what’s left? My ramblings about the small triumphs and struggles in my insulated little world.

Perhaps I’m just in a mood today. I can’t remember if I’ve mentioned this in my blog before but I have on occasion enjoyed reading trail journals for entertainment. These are on-line journals of folks walking, or attempting to walk the entire length of the Appalachian Trail from Georgia to Maine or the Pacific Crest Trail from the Mexican Border to the Canadian Border. I find it fascinating. The writing styles vary wildly but much of it is pretty raw. They all start out with high hopes and as the days and weeks pass their joyful enthusiasm is replaced with weariness and discomfort as they struggle to enjoy what they know is the adventure of a lifetime while at the same time dealing with the day to day drudgery of carrying everything they need to live on their backs as they hike up and down a million hills with blistered feet in dirty socks. Will they make it? Will they give up? Do I really care how many granola bars they ate today or how they manage to blow their nose without any tissue? But I did care and I wanted them to be successful and perhaps it’s that same kind of connection that keeps people visiting my blog.

OK, enough of that for today. I’m gong to leave you with the usual.

Yesterday’s 3 quart Green Smoothie Recipe:

318 grams freshly picked organic homegrown greens (Hiroshimana, Beka Santoh, Taisai cabbage, Tennis Ball Lettuce, Crisp Mint Lettuce, Forellenschuss Lettuce, Speckled Lettuce, Chickweed, & Dandelion)
122 grams Raw Onion
25 grams Raw Garlic
34 grams Fresh Lemon Juice
878 grams Frozen Mango
15 grams Organic Whole Flax Seeds
48 ounces filtered tap water

I had an additional 48+ ounces of water & herb tea. No other food, beverages, supplements, or medications.

Nutritional Breakdown utilizing Nutridiary:
Calories: 830
Fiber: 27 grams
Fat: 9 grams, 9% of total calories
Carbohydrates: 195 grams, 84% of total calories
Protein: 17 grams, 7% of total calories

Notes: I can’t find nutritional info for most of my homegrown greens so I’m using equivalent amounts of green leaf lettuce and kale so this break down is an approximation.

Elimination: 2BM, normal
Menses: Most recent: 7/4/07, Prior 6/3/07, Prior: 5/3/07, Prior: 4/5/07, Prior: 03/10/07, Prior: 2/11/07

Exercise for yesterday:
10 minutes neck stretches

Statistics:
Height: 5 foot, 11 inches. (180 centimeters)
Weight loss since March 1 2007: 105 pounds (47.63 kilograms)
Weight today: 423.2 pounds (191.96 kilograms)
Weight yesterday: 423.8 pounds (192.23 kilograms)
Weight March 5th 2007: 515.6 pounds (233.87 kilograms)
Weight March 1st 2007: 528.2 pounds. (239.59 kilograms)

Kitchen Counter Trim

Photo by gesteves

One of the reasons I’ve not done a Youtube video of my making green smoothies is because I’m embarrassed about my counter tops and don’t really want to show them off. My little purple cottage was built in 1979 as a vacation home by the prior owner and his sons. They did a laminate counter top which was poorly cut and when we bought the house the counter had a crack and no trim along the front. We are not very handy and we slapped a piece of floor molding up along the front of the counter primarily because I found it kind of sharp against my arms when I was doing dishes. We didn’t bother to miter the corners but we caulked it so water wouldn’t get between the molding and the counter and that’s pretty much how it’s been for the past 3 years. So now that we’re trying to spiffy up the place, we pulled it down because of the un-mitered corners & the poor caulking job where the caulking had actually come out in places. I’ve been looking for several weeks for a solution. Wood trim, aluminum trim, vinyl trim. With everyone buying solid countertops there’s not much info on the internet about how to trim out old laminate. We could try to get more laminate and cement it to the trim but we only need a strip about 2 ½ inches by 10 feet. The whole countertop needs to be replaced but we’re not planning to do that. So we’ve been going back and forth about what to do about it. The cheapest thing to cover the naked particle board. This morning it hit us. Let’s just paint the edge. If it looks bad we can still add trim. So we taped it off, sanded it and slapped some of our lovely pale buttery paint on the edge and it blends in very nicely with the counters and the walls. We’re going to do another coat this afternoon. I also bought some scratch repair stuff at the local boat store and I’m going to clean the counter crack really good and then seal it up so it’s less noticeable. I’m hoping this will be passable for the purposes of the sale.

Earlier this morning we painted the kitchen in the second coat of pale butter. This makes the 4th coat this week since we didn’t like the first color, a rosy tan. Last night we stained some new floor molding and then put a second coat of stain this morning. It only took 10 minutes to apply a coat of stain. So we’ll put up the new molding with properly mitered corners on the floor this afternoon, another coat of paint on the counter edge, and then hopefully I can move my fridge out of the living room and back into the kitchen tomorrow.

Not much else going on. Despite what the vet said we still think our little old dog is not doing well. He’s having a harder time navigating the steps onto the bed and he also missed the step getting out of the car at the beach this morning and took a hard fall. He’s sleeping most of the time and skipping a lot of meals but drinking more water then usual. He still runs a bit when he gets out on the beach and he still gets excited when he hears Mary’s car drive up, but we had the county inspector by this morning about the septic and Mary actually got to the door before he did. Sometimes when he barks at things now he doesn’t even bother to raise his head. It’s kind of comical and kind of sad at the same time. Anyway, with the septic, inspector guy told us it will likely only be the drain field that needs to be repaired. We won’t have to replace the tank, thank you very much. So he’s emailing me a list of designers and I’ll get someone out here to draw up a plan at $1000.00 and then have the county guy sign off so we can get to digging up the yard. Hopefully no trees will have to come out. Fun stuff.

It’s still raining here on the Washington coast. Yesterday I used store greens but I’m going to get out and pick some more greens from my patio boxes this afternoon when I make smoothies. Until tomorrow, I’ll leave you with the usual.

Yesterday’s 3 quart Green Smoothie Recipe:

348 grams Earthbound Farms Mixed Baby Greens [Organic baby lettuces (red & green romaine, red & green oak leaf, lollo rosa, tango), organic red & green chard, organic mizuna, organic arugula, organic frisée, organic radicchio.]
134 grams Raw Onion
22 grams Raw Garlic
28 grams Fresh Lemon Juice
848 grams Frozen Mango
15 grams Organic Whole Flax Seeds
48 ounces filtered tap water

I had an additional 48+ ounces of water & herb tea. No other food, beverages, supplements, or medications.

Nutritional Breakdown utilizing Nutridiary:
Calories: 782 calories
Fiber: 30 grams
Fat: 8 grams, 8% of total calories
Carbohydrates: 189 grams, 84% of total calories
Protein: 18 grams, 8% of total calories

Elimination: 1BM, normal
Menses: Most recent: 7/4/07, Prior 6/3/07, Prior: 5/3/07, Prior: 4/5/07, Prior: 03/10/07, Prior: 2/11/07

Exercise for yesterday:
10 minutes neck stretches

Statistics:
Height: 5 foot, 11 inches. (180 centimeters)
Weight loss since March 1 2007: 104.4 pounds (47.36 kilograms)
Weight today: 423.8 pounds (192.23 kilograms)
Weight yesterday: 424.6 pounds (192.6 kilograms)
Weight March 5th 2007: 515.6 pounds (233.87 kilograms)
Weight March 1st 2007: 528.2 pounds. (239.59 kilograms)

Food Facts

	Marie Callender’s Frozen Chicken Pot Pie, 10 oz, has 670 calories, 41 grams of fat (63% DV) 14 grams saturated fat (70% DV), 2 grams of trans fat, 35 mg Cholesterol, 1000 mg sodium (42% DV) & 3 grams fiber. Source
	A one pound raw pineapple has 227 calories, 0.6 grams fat, 0 grams saturated fat, 0 grams trans fat, 0 mg Cholesterol, 5 mg sodium, & 6.6 grams fiber (26% DV). Source. Fresh pineapple is rich in bromelain, a group of sulfur-containing proteolytic (protein-digesting) enzymes that not only aid digestion, but can effectively reduce inflammation and swelling, and has even been used experimentally as an anti-cancer agent. In clinical human trials, bromelain has demonstrated significant anti-inflammatory effects, reducing swelling in inflammatory conditions such as acute sinusitis, sore throat, arthritis and gout, and speeding recovery from injuries and surgery. Source

Houseguest

Photo by cheetah100

We had an overnight houseguest last night. The husband of a friend who passed away in May. Mary took him to the Moose for Tacos and he got to talking (and crying) about his wife and the two of them tipped back some tequila shots and they came in around 8:30 a little goofy. While they were out, dude made a play for my Mary. I’m not angry about it because he’s out of his mind with loneliness and grief. It also served to remind me how fortunate I am and it will help to remind me not to take my sweet Mary for granted. Now that I'm feeling more fit, I think I'll tag along on future trips Mary makes to Seattle. Soon we'll be moving across country, something dude was not happy about.

Mary is feeling a little under the weather this morning (Smile), so I’m thinking the second coat of kitchen paint will be happening tomorrow. I think I could also use a day of rest to recover from all the recent activities. I have a bunch of small bruises on my legs & no idea how I got them.

Anyway, it’s another cool and rainy morning on the Washington coast. It’s 7am and dude has already hit the road headed south along the Oregon coast. I haven’t made any more smoothies since my blog entry yesterday, so no recipe today. I’ll leave you with stats and food facts.

Statistics:
Height: 5 foot, 11 inches. (180 centimeters)
Weight loss since March 1 2007: 103.6 pounds (46.99 kilograms)
Weight today: 424.6 pounds (192.6 kilograms)
Weight yesterday: 425.0 pounds (192.8 kilograms)
Weight March 5th 2007: 515.6 pounds (233.87 kilograms)
Weight March 1st 2007: 528.2 pounds. (239.59 kilograms)

Food Facts

	"Milk consumption and acne in adolescent girls" by Clement Adebamowo in the May 2006 issue of Dermatology Online Journal found after studying 6,094 girls, aged 9 to 15, that those consuming two or more glasses of milk daily compared to girls consuming less than one glass, had 20% to 30% more acne. Source
	Celery's potential for reducing high blood pressure has long been recognized by Chinese medicine practitioners, and Western science researchers may have recently identified one reason why. Celery contains active compounds called pthalides, which can help relax the muscles around arteries and allow those vessels to dilate. With more space inside the arteries, the blood can flow at a lower pressure. Pthalides also reduce stress hormones, one of whose effects is to cause blood vessels to constrict. Source

My First Harvest

Good Morning All,
Another cool and drizzly July morning on the Washington Coast. We got the new floor in. The slide show below has some before and after photos. I don’t know why it looks different colors in the different photos. Must be the angle of the light. It’s actually closer to the lighter color. The 1970’s linoleum was not only dated, it was brittle and cracked and after a couple of years of my rolling my office chair around on it, it started to split and tear. We’ve planned to replace it for some time but it is very hard to get people to do this kind of work where we live. We’re at the end of a very long road that leads into the ocean. Mary is in good shape but she’s 60 and doesn’t have a lot of upper body strength. I have strong arms and hands but I can’t get up on a ladder, down on the floor or stand up for more then a couple of minutes. So we put it off and I bought one of those hard plastic sheets that they put on carpets in offices so you can roll your office chair around. I put the hard plastic on the kitchen floor so my chair wouldn’t tear up the floor any more and that’s how we’ve been living with it until now.

It was a lot of work. The whole “SNAP” together thing is harder then it sounds. But we only made one bad cut at the very end. I actually did almost all the board cutting with a jig saw since I could do that sitting in a chair. We only cut one board at a time and then laid down one row at a time so I ended up making about 25 trips out to the garage which is a great deal of activity for me. So I’m kind of wiped out. But we love love love the way it turned out. It reminds me of the last house we sold in that we made a number of improvements right before putting it on the market and I wanted to kick myself for not doing it sooner so that I could have enjoyed the benefits of the improvements myself.

The slide show also has updated photos of my patio box greens. Today was my first harvest from my home grown greens. I’ve already blended them into smoothies and drank my first one. I’ve really enjoyed this project but we decided move after we built the patio boxes and now I’m trying to decide what to do with them. I can’t imagine anyone else would want them. We can dump the dirt onto the back yard after they get done putting in the new septic drain field and then throw grass seed over it. I’m not sure I’ll be ready to part with them when we do garage sales in early September. We’ll see.


BubbleShare -

We decided we couldn’t live with the new kitchen color so we repainted it the pale buttery color and since it’s light over dark we will have to do a second coat but that may have to wait until the morning because we have an out of town guest showing up here any minute. It’s the husband of a friend who passed away in May. He’s spending the night on his way south to visit his brother. We just sold the day bed in the guest room and so we’ll have to put him on the couch and we also just got done throwing out most of the bedding we owned but we managed to scrape up one sheet, a quilt, and a couple of pillows. I wiped down the bathroom but the rest of the house is kind of a wreck with a ladder in the living room and paint cans in the kitchen. Mary’s going to take him to the Moose for Taco Tuesday (and beer I’m sure) since we don’t have any normal food in the house. We’ll try to get the last coat of paint up tomorrow morning, replace the molding, move back the fridge, and reclaim my kitchen tomorrow. I have moved more in the last few days then I did all last winter. I’m holding up well. Tired, stiff, with a back ache but no fibro flare up yet…knock on wood. Until tomorrow, here’s the usual.

Today’s 4 quart Green Smoothie Recipe:

224 grams of home grown greens (Taisai Cabbage, Hiroshimana, & Crisp Mint Lettuce)
180 grams Earthbound Farms Mixed Baby Greens [Organic baby lettuces (red & green romaine, red & green oak leaf, lollo rosa, tango), organic red & green chard, organic mizuna, organic arugula, organic frisée, organic radicchio.]
128 grams Raw Onion
31 grams Raw Garlic
34 grams Fresh Lemon Juice
970 grams Frozen Mango
217 grams Frozen Blueberries
15 grams Organic Whole Flax Seeds
48 ounces filtered tap water

I will have additional 48+ ounces of water, & herb tea. No other food, beverages, supplements, or medications.

Note: Yesterday I only made two quarts of sweet green smoothies and didn’t have any leftover for breakfast. I’ve already made smoothies today and this will last me into tomorrow so I’m not posting yesterdays smoothies.

Nutritional Breakdown utilizing Nutridiary:
Calories: 1035
Fiber: 32 grams
Fat: 9 grams, 7% of total calories
Carbohydrates: 246 grams, 85% of total calories
Protein: 22 grams, 8% of total calories

Note: I couldn’t find nutritional info on the home grown greens so I logged it into the program as half kale and half green leaf lettuce. I figure it’s in the ball park. This is higher then usual but its 4 meals, so it’s for more then just one day as I have 3 quarts per day.

Elimination: 2BM, normal
Menses: Most recent: 7/4/07, Prior 6/3/07, Prior: 5/3/07, Prior: 4/5/07, Prior: 03/10/07, Prior: 2/11/07

Exercise for yesterday:
10 minutes neck stretches
Around 25 trips in and out of the garage which includes 3 steps each direction.
Cutting most of the boards with a jig saw for our new floor.
Lots more stuff….I’ve been busy busy busy (Smile)

Statistics:
Height: 5 foot, 11 inches. (180 centimeters)
Weight loss since March 1 2007: 103.2 pounds (46.81 kilograms)
Weight today: 425.0 pounds (192.8 kilograms)
Weight yesterday: 425.4 pounds (192.96 kilograms)
Weight March 5th 2007: 515.6 pounds (233.87 kilograms)
Weight March 1st 2007: 528.2 pounds. (239.59 kilograms)

Food Facts

	In January 2007 Consumer Report’s analysis of fresh, whole broilers bought nationwide revealed that 83 percent harbored campylobacter or salmonella, the leading bacterial causes of food born illness. Chickens labeled as organic or raised without antibiotics and costing $3 to $5 per pound were more likely to harbor salmonella than were conventionally produced broilers that cost more like $1 per pound. Source
	Flaxseed is particularly rich in lignans, special compounds also found in other seeds, grains, and legumes that are converted by beneficial gut flora into two hormone-like substances called enterolactone and enterodiol. These hormone-like agents demonstrate a number of protective effects against breast cancer and are believed to be one reason a vegetarian diet is associated with a lower risk for breast cancer. Source

Painting Blues

Photo by PhillipC

Well, we’re not in love with the way the kitchen turned out. We love the ceiling color which is a light buttery color. We selected a rosy tan for the walls and it’s not fabulous. We spent some time trying to decide if we should redo it and decided no, leave it, move along to the next project. After a few paint touch ups this morning we’re going to clean the cabinetry with Murphy’s oil soap, then attempt to fill some scratches with a color stick thing Mary found at the hardware store, and finally polish them up with some old English scratch cover. Then we’ll get busy on that floor. I’m using the word we a lot, and I will help as much as I can, but honestly, Mary is doing 80% of the work because of my physical limitations.

I’ve been thinking about my blog and about how it’s evolved. It seems I seldom talk about raw food anymore. I’m not real big on telling other people what to do so when I write I generally just share what I’m doing. Plus, there are lots of wonderful resources out there if you want to do some research on the benefits of raw foods. I eat pretty much the same thing everyday which is pretty boring. More and more I’ve been sharing what’s on my mind or how I’m spending my time, not so much because it’s interesting but because this is going to take a while and I want to share that I don’t spend all day every day thinking about green smoothies and raw food.

Still, making healthy food choices is the focus of the blog & I think I’m getting some visitors who are just starting to explore a raw food lifestyle, so I thought I’d try something new by adding a food fact box at the bottom of my daily entry. Selecting items for the entries should help reinforce the benefits of raw vegan foods in my own mind as well. Until tomorrow, I’ll leave you with the usual.

Yesterday’s 3 quart Green Smoothie Recipe:

244 grams Earthbound Farms Organic Baby Spinach
485 grams Frozen Mango
260 grams bananas
198 grams frozen cherries
15 grams Organic Whole Flax Seeds
48 ounces filtered tap water

I had an additional 48+ ounces of water, herb tea, and 3 Rolaids. No other food, beverages, supplements, or medications.

Nutritional Breakdown utilizing Nutridiary:
Calories: 801
Fiber: 29 grams
Fat: 8 grams, 8% of total calories
Carbohydrates: 186 grams, 85% of total calories
Protein: 17 grams, 7% of total calories

Elimination: 1BM, normal
Menses: Most recent: 7/4/07, Prior 6/3/07, Prior: 5/3/07, Prior: 4/5/07, Prior: 03/10/07, Prior: 2/11/07

Exercise for yesterday:
10 minutes neck stretches

Statistics:
Height: 5 foot, 11 inches. (180 centimeters)
Weight loss since March 1 2007: 102.8 pounds (46.63 kilograms)
Weight today: 425.4 pounds (192.96 kilograms)
Weight yesterday: 425.8 pounds (193.14 kilograms)
Weight March 5th 2007: 515.6 pounds (233.87 kilograms)
Weight March 1st 2007: 528.2 pounds. (239.59 kilograms)

Food Facts

	One Georgetown University study found that about 30 percent of children with ear infections also suffer from milk allergies. The mucus-producing effects of cow’s milk consumption are so well known that nearly all pediatricians now recommend the elimination of cow’s milk from the diets of children prone to chronic ear infections. Source
	Bananas are one of our best sources of potassium, an essential mineral for maintaining normal blood pressure and heart function. Since the average banana contains a whopping 467 mg of potassium and only 1 mg of sodium, a banana a day may help to prevent high blood pressure and protect against atherosclerosis. Source

Echo

Photo by cosmicopia

It’s a cool gray misty morning on the Washington Coast. On the agenda for today is making green smoothies, going to the store to buy more stuff to make green smoothies, putting a second coat of paint on the kitchen, and a trip to the laundry mat since we don’t want to aggravate our sick septic system by running the washing machine. I don’t think the kitchen had been painted since the place was built in 1979. The walls just sucked up the first coat and it came out kind of streaky so off to the store we went to buy more paint for a second coat. The person who bought the day bed picked it up yesterday and with the daybed, the bike, most of my books, & the hutches gone my little house is starting to echo. I’ll be glad to get the painter’s tape, paint cans, and related paraphernalia out of my kitchen.

Nothing much else going on with me today so I’ll leave you with the usual.

Yesterday’s 3 quart Green Smoothie Recipe:

335 grams Earthbound Farms Mixed Baby Greens [Organic baby lettuces (red & green romaine, red & green oak leaf, lollo rosa, tango), organic red & green chard, organic mizuna, organic arugula, organic frisée, organic radicchio.]
96 grams Raw Onion
18 grams Raw Garlic
26 grams Fresh Lemon Juice
970 grams Frozen Mango
15 grams Organic Whole Flax Seeds
48 ounces filtered tap water

I had an additional 48+ ounces of water and 2 Rolaids & herb tea (Yogi Dong Quai & Raspberry Leaf). No other food, beverages, supplements, or medications.

Nutritional Breakdown utilizing Nutridiary:
Calories: 837
Fiber: 31 grams
Fat: 8 grams, 7% of total calories
Carbohydrates: 204 grams, 85% of total calories
Protein: 18 grams, 8% of total calories

Elimination: 2BM, normal
Menses: Most recent: 7/4/07, Prior 6/3/07, Prior: 5/3/07, Prior: 4/5/07, Prior: 03/10/07, Prior: 2/11/07

Exercise for yesterday:
10 minutes neck stretches
Painting kitchen walls
Moved some boxes
Stripped the day bed
Cleaned a spot on the carpet

Statistics:
Height: 5 foot, 11 inches. (180 centimeters)
Weight loss since March 1 2007: 102.4 pounds (44.45 kilograms)
Weight today: 425.8 pounds (193.14 kilograms)
Weight yesterday: 426.0 pounds (193.23 kilograms)
Weight March 5th 2007: 515.6 pounds (233.87 kilograms)
Weight March 1st 2007: 528.2 pounds. (239.59 kilograms)

Chickadee Harassment

Photo by jackanapes

I’ve had a Black Capped Chickadee tapping on my living room window all morning. He jumps into the hanging fuchsia plant outside the window then onto the widow ledge then he taps on the window with his beak then he flies off for a while then he starts all over again. I get the feeling he’d really like to come inside & that he doesn’t get the whole window concept.

So we painted the kitchen ceiling last night. I did over half of it sitting in an office chair with an extended handled roller brush. I mostly did the middle and Mary mostly did the edges which required climbing on ladders and standing on counters and such. I was happy to be able to help but it was more difficult then I had anticipated. This morning I woke with a stiff neck and shoulders from the activity and also from just spending so much time looking up at the darn ceiling. I’ve been a little worried this morning that this stiffness will turn into a fibro flare up as unusual activity often causes me a flare up. But so far the location and degree of pain seems in proportion to the activity which is good since we now have the kitchen all taped and spackled and ready to paint the walls when Mary gets home today. We took some of the plastic off the cabinets so I can get to my blender and the sink today.

Not much else going on today. I started doing some research on selling your own home without a real estate agent. Looks like we’re on the right track with painting, cleaning, and decluttering. I like Elizabeth’s idea about doing a free blog with photos and Youtube videos of the house. I think Mary would do wonderfully showing the house. She’s good with people and they like her. I, on the other hand, tend to make people uncomfortable, so I’m thinking that if we sell it ourselves she’ll be the front person and I’ll kind of work behind the scenes organizing things and keeping track of everything.

I didn’t make smoothies yesterday because I still had leftovers from the day before. So for today I’ll just leave you with stats.

Statistics:
Height: 5 foot, 11 inches. (180 centimeters)
Weight loss since March 1 2007: 102.2 pounds (46.36 kilograms)
Weight today: 426.0 pounds (193.23 kilograms)
Weight yesterday: 426.6 pounds (193.5 kilograms)
Weight March 5th 2007: 515.6 pounds (233.87 kilograms)
Weight March 1st 2007: 528.2 pounds. (239.59 kilograms)

Dong Quai Dreams

Image by tomt6788

So my Yogi Teas came in the mail yesterday (along with the plumbing bill…ouch!) So I fixed myself a cup of Yogi Woman’s Dong Quai Tonic Tea around 4pm. Pretty good. I’ve missed not having tea. I drank it no problems but guess what? I had a night filled with wild vivid dreams. I think it was the tea. When I was on nicotine patches they gave me crazy dreams and so the doctor told me to take them off at night and it stopped. So I’ve decided to drink this tea in the morning in the hopes that it won’t happen again.

We didn’t get as far on the painting as I’d hoped. I pulled the fridge into the living room and swept and moped the kitchen floor by myself. I’ve never swept or moped the kitchen floor in this house, Mary always does it. I was actually happy to do it because I knew it was a sign I’m becoming more fit. So anyway, we got a little distracted with prep work and cleaning. We went to cover the cabinets with drop clothes and the top of the cabinets were so dusty the tape wouldn’t stick so out came the Murphy’s Oil soap and Mary cleaned the cabinet tops. I made a bunch of smoothies yesterday figuring my kitchen would be unusable today, but now it looks like it will be useable today and unusable tomorrow so I think I’m just going to pull the blender, scale, onions, lemons, and a few bowls out and put them I don’t know where until the kitchen gets done. There is no real rush. It’s just a question of how much energy we have on a given day. Mary is working 4 hours today but we’ll get back in there this evening.

Mary is still wheeling and dealing with our stuff. Two people have expressed an interest in our Ikea hutches and she traded our rifle for a small handgun. I checked on-line to find out about registering it and transporting it across country. I was kind of shocked at how lax the gun laws are. Less hassle for us I guess.

Yesterday I spent some time on the phone exploring low interest loan programs for septic upgrades in rural areas. The USDA has a program that requires your income be under 19K and/or that you be over age 62. Our income is too high and Mary is only 60 so no go there. There is another community development project that funds septic upgrade loans in high priority rural areas. I live on a peninsula with the Pacific Ocean on one side and Willapa Bay on the other. The priority areas are set to protect the Oyster industry in Willapa Bay. The rep I talked to said she thought the priority areas on the peninsula were only on the bay side but the peninsula where I live is only 1 mile wide and I couldn’t find a map of the priority areas on line so I’ve got a call into the county to see if we’re in the zone. Likely not. Looks like I may end up borrowing some money for septic repairs from my kid. It’s kind of embarrassing as he’s so much better at managing his money then I am. I think my bad example of money management has actually inspired him to be very thrifty. Oh well, we’ll pay him back when the house sells.

Oh, I wanted to share one more thing. In playing with my vision book I was looking on-line at wall art and I discovered I like abstract art. I thought I didn’t care for it but for the first time I saw the appeal and I got Mary to look at some and we came across several artists that we both like. Cool.

So on the agenda for today is painting. I’ll probably keep it low and slow until Mary gets home from work so I have lots of energy for painting. Until tomorrow, I’ll leave you with the usual.

Yesterday’s 6 quart Green Smoothie Recipe:

685 grams Earthbound Farms Mixed Baby Greens [Organic baby lettuces (red & green romaine, red & green oak leaf, lollo rosa, tango), organic red & green chard, organic mizuna, organic arugula, organic frisée, organic radicchio.]
214 grams Raw Onion
46 grams Raw Garlic
42 grams Fresh Lemon Juice
1444 grams Frozen Mango
236 grams frozen blueberries
30 grams Organic Whole Flax Seeds
96 ounces filtered tap water

I had an additional 48+ ounces of water, 2 Rolaids & 1 cup of Yogi Dong Quai herb tea. No other food, beverages, supplements, or medications.

Nutritional Breakdown utilizing Nutridiary:
Calories: 1480
Fiber: 55 grams
Fat: 15 grams, 8% of total calories
Carbohydrates: 353 grams, 83% of total calories
Protein: 36 grams, 9% of total calories

Note: This looks higher then usual but this is enough green smoothies for two days. So I won’t be posting a recipe or nutritional info tomorrow.

Elimination: 2BM, normal
Menses: Most recent: 7/4/07, Prior 6/3/07, Prior: 5/3/07, Prior: 4/5/07, Prior: 03/10/07, Prior: 2/11/07

Exercise for yesterday:
10 minutes neck stretches

Sweeping and mopping, moving fridge, preparing walls for painting.

Statistics:
Height: 5 foot, 11 inches. (180 centimeters)
Weight loss since March 1 2007: 101.6 pounds (46.06 kilograms)
Weight today: 426.6 pounds (193.5 kilograms)
Weight yesterday: 427.2 pounds (193.77 kilograms)
Weight March 5th 2007: 515.6 pounds (233.87 kilograms)
Weight March 1st 2007: 528.2 pounds. (239.59 kilograms)

Kitchen Makeover

Photo by polandeze

Another day in Green Smoothie Land. I hope you all are having a wonderful day. My world seems to be all about radical change and movement and upheaval. That’s good right? You know, there’s a new psychic in Long Beach and I’m thinking about going to see her. I’ve never had a reading and I thought it might be interesting. We’ll see.

In our quest to lighten up, Mary sold a day bed and my exercise bike yesterday and she was even trying to sell the house to one of my neighbors who owns several houses on the block that he rents out. I doubt he’ll be able to raise the money but I would love to sell it without even putting it on the market.

We bought $120. worth of laminate wood flooring from Costco for our small 6’x7’ kitchen floor. We had hoped to get a local handyman to put it down but he’s so busy he can’t even get over here to give us an estimate until mid August so we’re going to attempt to put it down ourselves. It’s one of those snap together jobs. I can’t get down onto the floor but I can provide all kinds of support for Mary. We figure if we completely mess it up we’re only out $120. bucks. But then we got to thinking that the kitchen walls and ceiling need to be painted and we don’t want to take a chance of dripping paint on the new floor so we’re going to try to paint today and tomorrow and then do the floor after that. I can help a lot more with painting. With an extended handle roller brush I can paint about 80% of the walls and ceiling sitting in an office chair and Mary